Overachieving

Relax, I've got nothing important to announce here.

This isn't about us.

But a couple in our Wednesday dance group is getting married soon. And the club wanted to surprise them with a celebration. And a cake. From Costco.

Costco?!?

John insisted we weren't serving no stinking Coscto cake while he and I stood idly by. So we made a frightening mid-holiday-season trek to Michaels for a twelve-inch cake round, some cake supports and the dancing couple, pulled out the caramel cake recipe, rolled up our sleeves and got to work.

We're not professionals and we have no intention of quitting our day jobs, but I'm hoping our efforts won't make the front page of Cake Wrecks either.

Lessons learned and/or reinforced:

1. All ovens are not created equal. For logistical reasons we did our baking in John's parents' kitchen. Their oven is the same make as ours, an earlier model in a different color. And a completely different animal.

2. When baking in a kitchen not my own, I will make no assumptions about what might/might not be a pantry staple. What's in ready supply in MY kitchen may be an exotic ingredient in yours.

3. We are MUCH better bakers than we are cake decorators.

4. Our friends are either very very kind, blind, or have never seen a professionally decorated wedding cake (or some combination of the above).

In the end, the bride and groom-to-be were suitably surprised, and everyone who tasted it raved about the cake. A qualified success.

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From the archives...
I went digging in the ancestral archives in 2006 an emerged with a 1960s Bavarian Mint for Retro Recipe Challenge #5.
In 2007 Barbara captured a summer dessert prize in the heart of winter.

Click! Flour!

I've watched from the sidelines as you interpreted the image of the incredible, edible egg. Negotiated the art of the noodle and the nut. And captured the motion of liquid love in megapixels. In awe of your creative genius.

My little point and shoot camera and I are simply not worthy.

But when flour was announced as February's photographic focus, I knew I wanted a part of the action. Don't get me wrong... my photography's still not prize-winning material. But it's something I'm proud of and wanted to share.

I took these photographs last summer when I tried my hand at the very first Daring Baker challenge: the soft pretzel. I was mostly playing with the settings on my camera and not expecting a lot... but I love the "before, during and after" theme I inadvertently captured here. I hope you like it too.

Technorati Tags: Food | Food Blog Event | Click!

Lots of lemon leftovers

Hey... it's FULL of Vitamin C!!

From the archives: a year ago today, I introduced the Ciolinos and their sensational syrah.

Carbonara alla Cosentino

Back in early December, our bi-weekly "piglet" sachetto of tasty salted pig parts came with a nice chunk of Guanciale (a salt-cured pork jowl, mostly found in the region of Emilia-Romagna) which the newsletter proclaimed is the traditional cured meat used to make the famous dishes Amatriciana and carbonara. They provided a recipe for the former. And we've been after the guys at Boccalone for Chris' recipe for carbonara ever since.

We got it a week or so ago.

And it was wa-aaaa-ay worth the wait.

I can't comment on the ease of preparation or lack thereof on this one; my contributions included stopping at Whole Foods for cheese, then boiling and draining the pasta. Have I mentioned lately how much I appreciate the fact that John knows his way around the kitchen?

I can, however, comment on the taste. Rich. Unctuous. And quite authentic, if what came out of my grandmother's and great-aunts' kitchens are any indication. A little of this goes a long way (which is good because it's pretty calorically dense). Next time (and there will be a next time) we're going to scrap the oak-y California chardonnay (which was open) in favor of a crisper pinot grigio in the recipe -- that should play better against the dish's richness. And we're going to take a piece of John's go-to carbonara recipe and add a bit of Boccalone's spicy Italian sausage to the mix. Because one can never have too many tasty salted pig parts...

Technorati Tags: Food | Italian | Key Ingredient: Pasta

Conservative, yet... Purple?

Like the purple family car that inspired the subject line (an inside joke among my friends a decade ago) this defies explanation.

It doesn't match anything in my kitchen.

I already have a nice fully-functional, goes-with-everything white one. And a hand mixer. And several whisks.

But I found this while I was blog surfing, and it's like a magnetic field I can't control -- I keep gravitating back to it.

Technorati Tags: Kitchen Toys

We have a winner

Some good guesses out there.

In the end, Barbara had it right: It's an ice cream scoop. The little key at the top twists, and runs a scraper along the inside of the cavity to loosen the ice cream.

Barbara, if you'll drop me a note in email (dolores dot ferrero at gmail dot com) with your address, I'll get this out to you in the mail.

A year ago today, I discovered Laura Rebecca's Retro Recipe Challenge #5. Stay tuned as later this week I'll participate in the tenth edition of this event.

What is it?

On a recent road trip to the coast, we found ourselves wandering through antique shops with time to kill before our late lunch/early dinner reservation. I was fascinated by this well worn household tool I found among the relics.

Who is willing to guess what purpose it served in the 19th century kitchen?

A small prize for the first person who gets it right...

Last year today, I reflected on learning to let go of a recipe and to cook by instinct in Maria's kitchen.

T-Minus Four: Prepping for the Future; Surrounded by the Past

First on this evening's agenda: meatballs. Followed by coconut and chai-scented bostini chiffon cakes. And pumpkin puree to be incorporated into cheesecake later this week.

The emotions evoked by my recent Apples & Thyme reflections are still with me...

I can sense Henri's approval with my onion dice... I'd have had no problem out pacing her at that quickfire challenge.

I can feel Mo hovering to ensure that my meatballs were uniform.

And Maria is almost certainly with me as I whip up the egg whites for the chiffon.

Come Saturday, I'll have an extra dry martini, a screwdriver and a glass of sherry set aside in the bar area to acknowledge their presence and in gratitude for their guidance. Several of our guests may think I'm a little off. But if Grandma Sylvia should make it (at 97 she's slowed down a bit), she will smile and nod in understanding.

Last year at this time, the kitchen looked about like it does today

Technorati Tags: NaBloPoMo 2007

A glimpse inside the chill chest

I couldn't resist Sam's recent invitation to a bit of culinary exhibitionism...

So there you have it -- my obsession with artisan condiments, jams, jellies and yogurt, my carefully packaged CSA bounty, two dozen farm fresh eggs originally destined for a future in chocolate crepes, a tray of deli meats and artisan cheeses and oh-so-much more -- my refrigerator, exposed.

An added bonus -- I got quite an abdominal workout crouched on the kitchen floor trying to get it all in...