One (more) local summer

Lemonade stands. Swim lessons. Backyard barbecue. Catching fireflies. Warm evenings out on the porch with grandpa listening to Harry Caray's seventh inning ode to America's game. These are the sense memories from the summers of my youth. Memories flavored with the sweet tang of my grandmother's bread and butter pickles atop a barbecued brat, the tart taste of my great-aunt's strawberry rhubarb pie smothered in sweet cream from Harry's dairy cow, a creamy potato salad studded with bright yolked hard boiled eggs from Julie's chickens. Several decades before I heard the word locavore I savored favorite summer flavors from local purveyors.

Fast forward to 2008. I'm not half the gardener my grandmothers were, but I'm fortunate to live in a land of year-round farmer's markets and CSA deliveries so a farm fresh local meal is never far away. For the last couple of summers I've been inspired by One Local Summer, and I was rather disappointed to learn that Liz had closed up shop; her Pocket Farm blog and the event I enjoyed so much were a part of the past. So I was delighted when Nicole over at Farm to Philly chose to take up the torch and host One Local Summer 2008. Beginning June 1, she's asking participants to make one meal per week using locally sourced ingredients, and she'll post a weekly roundup of the results.

In anticipation of good things to come I compiled this morning's pre-workout breakfast from a handful of local ingredients: 1/2 cup (give or take) of Redwood Hill Farm Plain Goat Yogurt, a handful of Capay Organic strawberries, a teaspoon of honey and a sprinkling of blueberries, the last of the bounty from last weekend's field trip to the farmer's market. Sweet, tangy, simple, nutrition-packed and satisfying. Move aside Mary Lou... *this* is a breakfast of champions!

Technorati Tags: Food | One Local Summer

TWD: Two great tastes...

Okay so perhaps I'm showing my age, but Dorie's taken one of my favorite kid candies and turned it into a grown up treat. And then Elizabeth at Ugg Smell Food chose it as this week's TWD assignment. A creamy, dreamy, chocolate and peanut buttery Peanut Butter Torte.

I could have subtitled this post "How to Torment your Personal Trainer." Because I didn't want the cream, cream cheese, peanut butter and chocolate in this one taking up permanent residence on my waistline, I chose to make it in "mini" heart shaped torte-letts. "Mini" torte-letts that would easily serve 3 people each. And I wasted NO time shuttling them out of my refrigerator and onto the dessert menus of friends and family everywhere.

The morning after I made them, John had a standing appointment with our trainer Lisette. Lisette is our personal antidote to all of the caloric wonderment you see on this blog; she is in our lives so that our mutual love of food doesn't turn us into middle aged diabetic heart attack candidates in the making. She provides both the trade-off to a weekend of indulgence and the voice of conscience that keeps us from sliding into OVERindulgence. And she apparently has a weakness for peanut butter. A weakness John chose to exploit...by taking her a torte all her own.

Like a lot of my friends and acquaintances at the other end of Generation X, Lisette's favorite form of communication is the cryptic text message. So I came out of my Wednesday morning staff meeting with my cell phone alerting me of a new message:

OMG! U R Fired! So good!

I guess she liked it. And I'll probably pay for that on Friday...

A peanut butter & chocolate care package to the first reader who identifies the actors in my classic commercial. No fair Googling it!

From the archives...
In 2006 I found a food blogging meme and shared some linky love.

Technorati Tags: Food | Baking | Tuesdays with Dorie | Key Ingredient: Peanut Butter

Dorie's going to be a few days late...

Sorry to disappoint you folks, but there's just not any room on my counter (or on my thighs) for another dessert just yet. So my homage to peanut butter and chocolate will wait until the weekend, when I can share it with friends. Until then, go check out the hundreds of others available at Tuesdays with Dorie. Or try it yourself... Elizabeth's posted the recipe at Ugg Smell Food.

From the archives...
In 2006 I followed the yellow brick road to Barbara's first annual Taste of Yellow.

Technorati Tags: Food | Baking | Tuesdays with Dorie

I picked the *right* month...

...to ditch the ATM card in favor of cash.

I shop at the Danville Lunardi's not Los Gatos, the culprits only tapped a single register's ATM, and the store and its owners have been wonderful with the affected customers, but it's good to know no one's wandering around Southern California partying with access to MY checking account...

From the archives...
In 2006 I went through the first of what's now four blog remodels. If you like my new look, go check out Shauna's other amazing work.

TWD - The one that almost wasn't: Ricotta Polenta Cake

I almost opted out of this week's Tuesday with Dorie assignment: a Fluted Polenta Ricotta Cake chosen by Caitlin the Engineer Baker.

It was nothing personal; it's just been a butter/flour/sugar heavy month. I'd just foisted the last of my Keller Cake onto a very willing group of house guests over the weekend. I still have a handful of marshmallows bouncing around the island. And Sunday's cheesecake pops were over the top indulgent.

I made a personal pact: this was going to be a week of fruit for dessert. Apples. Bananas. CSA fresh strawberries.

And then Tuesday came, and I opened my feed reader. And 100-some Doristas were more temptation than my resolve could withstand. I hadn't gotten to "D" and I started making a shopping list, knowing I had a date with the Kitchen Aid when I got home. Hey... fig's a fruit! And polenta's kind of a grain.

I decided to go small and pulled out my mini tart pans. I chopped the requisite 12 kadota figs and set them in a combination of chardonnay and warm water for a soak. And Inspired by Cheri at Adventures in the Kitchen, I chopped up a handful of organic rosemary from my CSA and tossed it with the dry ingredients.

The result? Probably not as healthy as an apple, but not devoid of nutritional value, and quite tasty. The ricotta added tang, the honey lends a fruity note, the polenta and figs contribute to a complex texture, and the rosemary brings it all together and gives it a real Mediterranean flair. Most excellent topped with a dollop of honey flavored Greek style yogurt.

From the archives...
In 2007 I failed at crepe cake 101.

Technorati Tags: Food | Dessert | Baking | Tuesdays with Dorie

Pop!

Subtitle: Playing with Food.

Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey? Yeah you got *that* right.

Brought to us by Elle of Feeding my Enthusiasms and Deborah of Taste and Tell, his month's Daring Baker selection would be the *perfect* project for a tween/teen slumber party. Or a red hat girl's night in. Or any estrogen-heavy event in between.

Cheesecake Pops!

I procrastinated. Again. Started the cheesecakes yesterday, where cream cheese packaging and egg shells fought for space with crawdad shrapnel in the discard bin. And I think I've finally found a recipe that overwhelms Mo's trusty four quart Kitchen Aid. Five 8-ounce packages of cream cheese pushed the mixer bowl nearly to the brim.

I chilled the cheesecakes overnight as directed, and started forming cheesecake balls early Sunday morning. I had big plans: my 2 ounce cookie scoop would make the perfect cheesecake sphere. I abandonned that brilliant idea with pop number 3 (out of seventy-some... not the 30-40 the recipe promised) and resorted to my fingertips and the palms of my hands. Messy yes, but far more efficient.

Into the freezer for two hours while I tidy the kitchen and prepare the rest of the house for company; we were an hour away from hosting our dance group's monthly board meeting. And I discovered that dipping cheesecake in melted chocolate and and rolling them in graham cracker crumbs is a great way to diffuse the frustration these meetings often engender. When I was done with the pops, I was still in the mood to feed and socialize with the group.

After we cleaned up the barbecue fixings, we packed up the pops and toted them to the dance the group was hosting that afternoon for beginner dancers. And I'm proud to say my pops were the runaway hit of the buffet table.

Want to try cheesecake pops for yourself? Elle and Deborah both have it posted for you. Curious how the other 900-some Daring Bakers fared? Check out the blog roll. And while you're surfing, head on over to the brand new Daring Baker website and see what's happening in the public forums.

Technorati Tags: Food | Dessert | Baking | Daring Bakers | Key Ingredient: Cream Cheese

Mudbugs!

Lynn Swann: You gonna add another championship trophy to the old case downstairs?
Coach Red Beaulieu: That's kinda like my old man told me one time, Lynn. The only thing better than a crawfish dinner, is five crawfish dinners.

-The Waterboy (1998)

I'd have to agree with the coach's father.

Which is a very very *good* thing when one has fifteen pounds of them to dispatch, peel and employ in something tasty good.

How did this California girl happen upon fifteen pounds of Louisiana's beloved mudbugs?

It all started in email.

Joshua said he liked my blog (I'm still often surprised that a bunch of people I've never met *read* my blog) and he was wondering if I'd be willing to try out one of the products offered at Cajun Grocer and blog about the experience. He offered a choice of Crawfish or Turducken.

Um... TurDUCKen? What would I do with turducken?

Not wanting to embarrass myself in front of my aforementioned readership, I selected the crawfish. Nothing difficult about crawfish. Boil. Peel. Eat some. Search Google for a recipe for the rest. This isn't exactly rocket science...

'cept for the true crawfish enthusiast, I suspect it has its similarities. In hindsight, the boiling process might have been easier with this. Or one of these. Having neither at our disposal, we put my 18 quart stock pot to some heavy duty use.

The fish arrived on Friday evening. After spending the evening on my island (and freaking me out a bit when I walked through the kitchen and heard them milling about in their container... yeah, they're most definitely alive), we broke out the stockpot and broke open the packaging to see what lay in store for us.

My only previous experience with crawfish is at the Bay Area's nod to Cajun Country: New Orleans by the Bay. The contents of my carefully packaged styrofoam container were at least four times the size of anything I'd seen there... some of them small-lobster sized. And based on their fresh but slightly earthy scent, I don't doubt the claim that they were fished and shipped the same day.

We boiled the crawfish according to the instructions on the seasoning package and I'm proud that my little stockpot that could held up beautifully to the task. We rapidly realized that the boiling was the easy part... the challenge was going to be in the peeling.

And peeling...

And peeling...

John did his part almost entirely with his fingers, while I chose to employ a paring knife so my manicurist won't have a seizure when I see her next week. It took us the better part of the afternoon to get them all peeled. We snacked a bit along the way and decided that the seasoning packet permeated perfectly, and enhanced the natural sweetness of the meat.

Now, what to do with all of that crawfish meat?

We thought about beignets, but that felt like a lot *more* work. I'm not a huge fan of etouffee or jambalaya. After some amount of deliberation, I chose to make a riff on Emeril's Crawfish and Cream over Pasta, employing a bunch of asparagus from this week's CSA box in place of the green onions and parsley, both of which would have required a last minute grocery shopping expedition. I used a package of Pasta Etc.'s fresh Lemon Chive Linguine which played beautifully with the chardonnay cream sauce.

In the end, the coach's dad would be proud... It's a rich, indulgent dish, easily allowing for five to seven crawfish lunches and dinners.

Others who've tried this recipe:
Elizabeth shares a sensational story of two families meeting in the wake of a storm as she prepares Emeril's feast.

Technorati Tags: Food | Cajun | Key Ingredients: Pasta, Crawfish

TWD - My cupcakes runeth over...

...and then they fell flat. The end result was pretty ugly, but they sure *tasted* good!

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie assignment was brought to us by Amanda at Slow Like Honey: Bill's Big Carrot Cake -- which I translated into Bill's lava-like Carrot Cupcakes. I wasn't sure about the whole carrot cake thing; like many other Dorista's out there I haven't historically been a big fan. But this is a Dorie challenge, I had a bunch of CSA carrots calling from the counter, and everyone loves cupcakes, right? So off I ventured.

I grated my carrots by hand, managing not to bleed in the process. My "mix-ins" included raisins and shredded coconut. And I seem to be out of cinnamon, so I tossed in nutmeg in its place. The batter came together quickly and easily, and before I knew it my cupcakes were expanding in the oven.

And expanding...

And expanding...

Then as they cooled on the counter, they caved. I noticed a lot of other cupcake-making Doristas had this problem (owing perhaps to the weight of the ingredients in proportion to the small amount of leavening in the recipe?) and chose to cover the flaws with frosting. In hindsight perhaps I should have tried that... but I figured there was no salvaging them physically and packaged them up for our dance group without frosting them.

And they were a hit. Even those of us who aren't crazy about carrot cake loved them. Without frosting, they pair beautifully with plain yogurt for an indulgent but quick breakfast.

Technorati Tags: From the archives...
In 2006 we took a field trip to the Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market

Food | Tuesdays with Dorie | Key Ingredient: Carrot

Please pardon the interruption in our programming...

...but your heroine's laptop appears to have to have the stomach flu. So the only time she has access to the internets is from work. My version of Bill's Big Carrot Cake (and a handful of other goodies) will appear as quickly as possible... but probably without pictures, at least to start.

Donut Muffins. Because Butter makes everything Better

Paired with Katie of One Little Corner of the World for the April Edition of Taste and Create, I chose to replicate her Donut Muffins in my kitchen as an antidote to an hour in commute traffic for me and a tax day treat for my coworkers. Because as a dedicated Dorista, I'm no longer afraid of a pound of butter -- I just make sure the majority of it isn't headed for *my* thighs. The muffins came together quickly and easily; my only modifications to the published recipe were to add a cup and a half of dried blueberries for a little color and to fill the nutritional void, and to nix the cinnamon in the coating in favor of some lavender-vanilla infused sugar. They had a nice dense texture reminiscent of a cake donut and they were a hit among my colleagues: the serving plate was empty in under fifteen minutes.

From the archives...
In 2006 I found my comfort zone in my little corner of the Internets.

Technorati Tags: Food | Baking | Dessert | Taste & Create

Cheetah-licious: It's a Marshmallow World

It's a marshmallow world in the winter,
When the snow comes to cover the ground,
It's the time for play,
it's a whipped cream day,
I wait for it all year round.
Those are marshmallow clouds being friendly,
In the arms of the evergreen trees,
And the sun is red like a pumpkin head,
It's shining so your nose won't freeze.
The world is your snowball, see how it grows,
That's how it goes, whenever it snows,
The world is your snowball just for a song,
Get out and roll it along.

Imagine my surprise when a Google search for the lyrics to this classic kids' holiday tune led me to that Disney Dynasty: the Cheetah Girls. Yeah, the Cheetah Girls. You know... the kid from the Cosby show. And the blonde that danced with Kristi Yamaguchi's partner in LAST season's Dancing with the Stars...

Where am I going with this? This week's Tuesday with Dorie assignment, chosen by Judy over at Judy's Gross Eats celebrates the star of the s'more, the king of the krispie treat, the sweet silky sweet potato topping: the Marshmallow.

As she often does, Dorie gave us options with this recipe. Chocolate marshmallows. Pumpkin marshmallows. I took the recipe another direction, pulling out my prized bottle of lavender extract and creating lavender-scented marshmallows.

Oh. My. Gawd.

Ladies and gentlemen if the marshmallow cream I poured into the pan is any indication, this 'grown up' version of the classic confection is going to be quite a crowd pleaser. And I have big plans for my finished marshmallows. Stop by later this week and see...

From the archives...

In 2006 we visited a marvel of modern marketing capitalizing on a Hollywood legend.

Technorati Tags: Food | Tuesdays with Dorie | Key Ingredient: Egg White

Market-Fresh Magazine Monday

It's been a while since I've turned to my magazine collection in celebration of Magazine Monday. But when last week's CSA delivery included tender-crisp asparagus and beautifully bulbous spring onions, I knew I was going to turn to my Fine Cooking collection for inspiration. And so, with a little help from my friends at Boccalone, this riff on Fine Cooking's Asparagus, Goat Cheese and Bacon (Guanciale) Tart was born.

For my version, I replaced five slices of bacon with 2 ounces of Cosentino's amazing guanciale. Because I was using the spring onions (sliced similar in size and shape to the asparagus) I also left out the shallot. And I employed a scant 5 ounces of herbed goat cheese that had been languishing in the back of the deli drawer in my refrigerator.

Preparation was fairly easy, with lots of opportunities for multi-tasking. I sliced the guanciale into thick bacon-like strips and rendered it while I prepared the asparagus and the spring onions. While the vegetable medley sauteed, chopped the cooked guanciale, prepared the puff pastry and the tart's goat cheese base. Next time, I'll mix a tablespoon or two into the goat cheese... it would have spread with far less mess if I'd diluted it a bit. Finally, I spent the twenty minutes that the tart was in the oven washing the few dishes I'd dirtied and getting mis en place for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie assignment.

I served my tart warm over a handful of mixed greens drizzled with balsamic vinegar and a glass of Foxglove Chardonnay. Another tasty, relatively healthy, easy to prepare Monday night meal. And even better, because other than the puff pastry my ingredients were sourced locally, this meal qualifies for the new "Farmer's Market Fare" Carnival over at Eat. Drink. Better.

From the archives...

In 2007 I found the antidote to office apathy in these Banana Crumb Muffins.

Technorati Tags: Food | Magazine Monday | Recipe

Kitchn Cure Update

Inspired by the Kitchn Cure 2008, I spent the better part of an afternoon paring through my plastic (and glass) container collection. It proved at least as much a psychological exercise or a physical one. As a child of children of the depression, I'm more than a bit of a pack rat. If it's functional, I'll hang onto it, whether or not it has a function in my kitchen.

Example: We don't have a dog... do we really *need* to hang onto the complimentary dog food bowl we received from some hotel looking for business for if/when we do? And yes, I save empty mayonnaise, mustard and peanut butter jars with the intent of storing staples... but if they're piling up in the container cabinet (where I'm convinced they reproduce) what value are they bringing?

In the end four and a half boxes of discarded containers (including the dog food bowl) hit the recycle bin. And I now have half of my container cabinet to house my Kitchen Aid...

From the archives...
In 2006 we spent a girl's night indulging in good wine and substandard sushi.

Technorati Tags: Kitchn Cure

Cash Only - Week 2

Continuing my cash only quest to balance the food budget, here's this week's shopping list:

C&H Granulated Sugar (10 lbs) - $5.69
Barilla Pasta - Mostaccioli (1 pound) - $1.39
La Tortilla Factory High Fiber Tortillas (10 count) - $3.49
Strawberries (1 pint) - $1.69
Red Bell Pepper (0.88 lb/1 count) - $1.31
Organic 1% milk (1/2 gallon) - $3.29
Bananas (0.8 lb/3 count) - $0.71
Organic White Bread (16 count) - $4.49

Add the CSA box: mixed baby lettuce (12 oz.), red chard (1 bunch), spinach (1/2 pound), green d'anjou pears (2 pounds) and nantes carrots (1 bunch) for $21.50 and the grand total comes to $43.56, or $6.44 under budget.

From the archives...

In 2007 I try to pull a rabbit out of a hat.

Technorati Tags: Food | Grocery Budget

A Keller-Inspired Taste of Yellow...

Thomas Keller. The James Beard Foundation's best California Chef in 1996. Best American Chef in 1997. Not one but two Michelin three-star restaurants under his stewardship. And from everything I've read, it looks like he runs the the quintessential 5S, lean six sigma kitchen.

I received Thomas Keller's French Laundry Cookbook as a housewarming gift, and it's occupied a prestigious spot on my cookbook shelf ever since. It's my culinary equivalent of special occasion jewelry... it's there, waiting for an event momentous enough to merit employing it.

Well this April is an especially significant month of celebration. The perfect opportunity for Keller to make his debut in my kitchen. And I can't think of a better event to kick off my Keller-inspired month than Barbara's Taste of Yellow event in support of the Lance Armstrong Foundation's LiveStrong Day 2008.

As I mentioned in my contribution to last year's event, I love the fact that Lance has chosen yellow as the color of cancer awareness. Yellow is loud. It's vivacious. It's nobody's corner-sitting wallflower.

So in honor of LiveStrong Day 2008 I've turned to Keller and his Lemon Sabayon Pine Nut Tart, because as anyone surviving cancer will tell you, each day is a special occasion and a cause for celebration. And as we went through the process of making the tart (John's help was critical in the 15-20 minutes of constant whisking the sabayon required), I decided that Keller's recipe and his approach to preparing food pair beautifully with the spirit of LiveStrong. Keller pulls you firmly into the moment, forcing focus on the task at hand rather than dwelling on what has already happened or fretting about what's to come in much the same way a cancer diagnosis pushes the patient and everyone it touches into the here-and-now, living and enjoying every possible experience. The honor and respect with which Mr. Keller approaches each ingredient and each step in the process mirrors the way a cancer survivor savors each hour, each day for the blessings it brings.

And while what emerged from my oven is probably a bit more rustic than what you'd see on a plate at the French Laundry, I'm proud to offer it in honor of my cancer surviving friends and family.

Want to try it yourself? You can find the recipe here.

From the archives...
In 2006 I took my first look at a local/organic/sustainable diet and I haven't looked back.
In 2007 I contemplated the subtle and not-so-subtle impacts children have on holiday celebrations.

Others who've cooked this one with Keller:
I'm with Carol, the smell of the pine nut and vanilla tart shell as it evolves is transcending.
Tanya of Expat Chow found this Keller a keeper.
Mrs. VJW opted for a taste of green with her key lime rendition.

Technorati Tags: Food | Baking | Food Blog Event | A Taste of Yellow

04.09.1968...

...while the country mourned Martin Luther King Jr., at 6:06 PM Mo and Jo gave birth to a 3 pound 15.5 ounce baby girl.

And the rest, as they say, is history...

From the archives...
In 2006 we opted for the Atkins special.
In 2007 someone else baked the cake.

Check out all of Dawn's sensational cakes.

TWD: Another week, another pound of butter...

This Tuesday's tryst with Dorie takes us to a Paris patisserie-lined street corner, where we celebrate the demi-god of French pastry: Pierre Herme.

Mary of Starting from Scratch offered us two options this week: either Dorie's Most Extraordinary French Lemon Cream Tart or her Fresh Orange Cream Tart. Neither recipe is for the faint of heart; each packs in over a pound of butter, a cup and a half of sugar, and several hundred calories per serving.

I chose the orange cream option. Sadly while the cream itself ranks up there as worthy of licking off someone you love, my photography of the finished product leaves a lot to be desired. So if you want to see cream tart food porn, you'll have to head over to the Tuesdays with Dorie blog roll and check out the hundreds of other French tarts.

Next week the egg white replaces butter as we master marshmallows.

From the archives...

In 2007 we celebrated Easter.

Technorati Tags: Food | Baking | Tuesdays with Dorie

Why pay $6 at Safeway?

...when leftovers make a sensational lunch?

When Pam announced April's edition of Leftover Tuesday, I knew exactly what my contribution would be.

I've been on a panini kick for the last few weeks, despite their exorbitant retail price. When I whipped up Joe's Cocoa Chili Rubbed Chicken (itself a product of leftovers and pantry staples) last week, I knew that the two leftover breast fillets would make a sensational chicken salad.

I shredded the chicken, sliced up a shallot, added in a handful of dried cranberries and tossed it all with a tablespoon of mayonnaise. Piled the salad on some crusty wheat bread with a couple slices of avocado and a handful of spring greens. Warmed it up on the grill pan and served it with the ubiquitous broccoli salad.

From the archives...
In 2007 I cooked with quinoa to combat cancer.

Technorati Tags: Food | Leftover Tuesday | Key Ingredient: Chicken

Taking Stock, Making Soup

Three months and a few days ago, I made some predictions; I set some goals. Perhaps it's that the milestone I mentioned then is now just a couple of days away. Or that it's annual review time in my professional life. Or that it's just natural to reflect as we close the door on the first quarter of 2008.

To bring you up to speed, professionally I'm midway through my project; we'll be wrapping up the analysis phase next week. I completed six weeks of coursework and passed the final exam, so the completion of this project and a second one scheduled to start in the fall are all that stand between me and Lean Six Sigma "Black Belt" certification. The project hasn't been without its share of hiccups, but it's been an ongoing learning, growing experience for me, my team and my company.

In my blog world I've had some successes and some struggles...

I've managed to drop 15 pounds in thirteen weeks without limiting my repertoire to fat-free, carb-free, sugar-free, tasteless plastic food. I've made some healthy choices and some butter-laden choices, but I think the key to my success in this arena is that I made *conscious* choices -- and that I kept my activity level in line with my caloric intake week to week.

I've done a better job of employing my cookbook collection and entertaining our friends in-house than I have at blogging about the experiences. And the Blog 365 thing has been a bit of a bust... I've found that I write better (and enjoy the process more) when my head's in it, rather than when I'm writing for the sake of writing. There's a lot of ME on these pages, and I like it that way... I'm not interested in publishing content I wouldn't bother to read. So that means more often than not I'm posting once or twice a week. And so the journey continues...

The soup? Oh. Right. The soup. (Cream of) Carrot & Cilantro Soup. Made with Nantes carrots from the CSA box and a vat of turkey stock I found at the back of the freezer during my Kitchn Cure clean up exercise. Fragrant and full of flavor, the perfect lunch paired with a hunk of French bread.

Technorati Tags: Food | Soup | Recipe | Key Ingredient: Carrot

Having a Par-tay

A full pound of butter.

8 egg whites.

Over a cup of whole milk.

Over two cups of sugar.

I think I gained two pounds just reading the recipe (and another two or three drooling over the photograph). To prevent further weight gain, I decided that Dorie Greenspan's "Perfect Party Cake" BEGS to be shared with a crowd. A large crowd.

Lucky for us, large crowds are often our specialty. This month, the tasting honor fell to John's Wednesday night square dance group, who hosted their annual Circus Circus hoedown this evening. (Yes, a more accomplished baker would have decorated the cake in the circus theme. But my cake decorating skills rival those of a four year old).

Morven of Food, Art and Random Thoughts was the gracious hostess of this month's Daring Baker challenge and she offered bakers plenty of leeway in interpreting Dorie's recipe. In the interest of meeting our get-out-the-door deadline, I stuck pretty close to the original, baking the cake in a single half sheet pan and slicing the finished product in thirds to create a rectangular layer cake that would fit perfectly in my cake carrier and slice easily on a crowded buffet.

John jumped in and assembled the butter cream with the same ease he displayed with December's yule log. We used blueberry preserves as the filling, providing a worthy counterpart to the meyer lemon scented cake and butter cream.

The cake made the 45 mile journey to the dance just fine. The refreshment committee opened a rather impressive buffet at quarter to nine. At 9:05 I decided I'd better snag one of the last dozen pieces if John and I were going to taste it. By 9:15 the refreshment committee had washed and stowed my cake carrier.

Three people asked me to share the recipe. Eleven asked me to bake this cake for them for {insert significant event here}.

Dorie. Morven. We have a hit.

I'm late to this month's Daring Baker challenge, but if you missed the hoopla last weekend you can catch up here. And to try the cake in your own kitchen, Morven has the recipe here.

Technorati Tags: Food | Baking | Daring Bakers

A del.icio.us quarter...

Across the course of the last thirteen weeks, I meandered through one of Moosewood's cookbooks mixed results. I joined Jamie on a tour of the Italian countryside. And Dorie became a regular Tuesday evening companion. In addition to the 'celebrities,' several of you provided dinnertime inspiration, even if you didn't know it. At 1262 links strong (and growing) my del.icio.us list rivals both my cookbook shelf and my magazine rack for attention. Here are the recipes that have made it to the dinner plate so far this year.

Arguably our most successful meal from my collection of bookmarked must-tries was this Soba and Steak Salad I found on My Bit of Earth. Yes, there's quite a bit of prep involved so a bit of pre-planning is necessary. But it's well worth the effort. My favorite part was the salad dressing; it ties east and west together beautifully.

Also a hit -- a thirty minute meal with fresh, healthy ingredients that plates worthy of company: Roasted Salmon in Grapefruit Shallot Sauce, which Michelle of Je Mange la Ville found at the Food Network. Proving that at least some of their "talent" is capable of creating a meal without opening a bunch of prepackaged, processed food.

The focus of my participation in Kitchn Cure has been my refrigerator and my freezer, where forgotten items languish far longer than they should. The freezer purge unearthed a pound of perfectly deployable chicken breasts, so I turned to the internets for inspiration. In the Kitchn Cure theme, the goal was a dish that would use ingredients already in "inventory". I found just such a dish in Joe's Cocoa-Chile Rubbed Chicken. A little bit sweet. A little bit spicy. And on the table in less than 30 minutes. My kind of meal.

Never again will I discard chard stems, thanks to Helen of Beyond Salmon. I paired her Parmesan-Roasted Chard with Jaden's magic formula for converting cheap steaks into good eats and an avocado-salsa topped roasted red potato. The fact that the disparate dishes played well together on a plate didn't surprise me. And preparation was smoother than (though probably not as sexy as) a Kristi Yamaguchi and Mark Ballas tango.

From my CSA, this simple satisfying salad of potato and avocado in a lemon dressing is a fine way to show winter the door and say hello to spring. And its clean flavors pair perfectly with a variety of finicky leading men and ladies, neither overpowering the main course of choice nor blending completely into the background and boring the palate.

I'm not sure where I got this Tilapia with Hazelnut and Avocado Sauce... I know it was online but subsequent Google searches have turned up empty. A pity, since it was a weeknight warrior that could easily be prettied up for company.

What lies ahead? Stay tuned, faithful readers. Your heroine's planning to continue her Tuesday trysts with Dorie, will spend the second quarter with Thomas Keller, Deborah Madison and Ted Allen... and who knows what she'll uncover on the internets.

From the archives...
In 2006 we tried to replicate Kentucky Fried Chicken Livers but came up empty. (If anyone's got a good recipe, we're still looking).
In 2007 I opened the envelope and revealed the winners of March's DMBLGIT.

Technorati Tags: Food

Okay folks...

...what do I do with these?!?

For the first time in my 3 year history with my CSA, I got something in my box that I'm not sure what to do with.

Pea greens.

I tried Google. Not much there there.

Wikipedia's never heard of them.

And while there are a handful of recipes out there, nothing looks like what I have here.

So I'm counting on you.

Someone out there's surely got some experience working with these. Or a recipe bookmarked somewhere. My pea greens await your inspiration.

From the archives...
In 2006 we found Pho in Fremont.

Technorati Tags: Food

Cash-Only...

Last summer Jenny at All Things Edible spent a couple of weeks on a cash-only budget. Intrigued, I've been contemplating a similar experiment ever since.

It's probably a combination of tax season and the Kitchn Cure, but I've decided April's the month. I can relate to Jenny's experience; it's far too easy easy for me to mindlessly toss unplanned items into my grocery cart, quickly converting a quick $20.00 shopping trip into almost twice that. And it's easy to dismiss the financial impact when sliding a piece of plastic through a machine and punching in a four digit code, rather than forking over cold hard cash. So I'm curious how my little experiment's going to change how I approach the shopping experience.

Again in response to the Kitchn Cure this week I'm eating primarily out of my well overstocked pantry, refrigerator and freezer, so my first trip to the grocery store was mercifully easy:

Beckmann's Whole Wheat Sour Dough Bread (16 slices): $4.29
Clover Organic Lowfat Milk (1/2 gallon): $3.59
Bananas (3 whole, 1 pound): $0.99
Top Blade Steak (1.33 pounds @ $2.99/lb): $3.98 - I'm going to go Jaden with this.

Add to that this week's CSA bounty: 12 oz mixed salad greens, 1 bunch red chard, 1 bunch pea greens, 4 whole ruby grapefruit, 2 pounds green D'anjou pears, 2 pounds golden delicious apples and 1 bunch Nantes carrots for $21.50 and the grand total for the week is $34.38, well under my average of $50 - $60 using the plastic.

Edited 4/3/08 to add a quick trip to Target to pick up a quick read thermometer for next week's Dorie challenge ($12.99) and a container for storing kosher salt ($3.49). With tax, total purchase: $17.84.

Stay tuned to see how next week goes, when I can't live as well out of the freezer.

From the archives...
In 2006 we discovered Amador County is the new Napa/Sonoma/Livermore.
In 2007 I announced the supporting cast of DMBLGIT winners.

Technorati Tags: Food | Grocery Budget

Got Milk?

Dorie suggests that you serve her Gooey Chocolate Cakes with something to play off of their chocolatey interior. Ice cream. Creme Anglaise. Bittersweet Chocolate Sauce. I submit that a tall, ice-cold glass of milk makes a perfect pairing, and I'm betting Sean Whalen would back me up. I also think it would play nicely with your favorite port.

Leigh of Lemon Tartlet and the Dust Bunnies offered up Dorie's Gooey Chocolate goodness as this week's Tuesdays with Dorie project, and I couldn't wait to give it a shot. Dorie recommends using a 6 cup muffin tin for these, and I briefly considered pulling out the rose shaped bundt pan. But in the end I went traditional: six small ramekins lined my baking sheet.

For the chocolate I selected the last of a dense, dreamy collection of Belgian chocolates we received from John's sister and her family for Christmas. And because there *is* no kill like overkill, I dropped three espresso caramel bonbons into each of the ramekins to give my tasters a bit of a surprise.

For as elegant as these individual desserts present, they're fairly simple to prepare and I'm sure I'll add them to the dessert after a dinner party rotation. Dorie's advice is to served them immediately, warm and gooey from the oven, but I found that 10-15 seconds in the microwave returned them to a delightful molten status. And my day-two tasters had no complaints about the 'leftovers'. Check out the blog roll to see what other bakers thought.

And stay tuned Dorie Fans, next week we tackle the French Lemon Cream Tart.

From the archives...
In 2006 we indulged in an obsession.

Technorati Tags: Food | Dessert | Baking | Tuesdays with Dorie | Key Ingredient: Chocolate

My party's been postponed...

In her introduction, Dorie suggests flagging this recipe with a brightly colored post-it for future reference.

With a fairly full plate in my professional, personal and culinary life right now *and* the big 4-0 looming next week (and John's birthday following the day after) I'm going to take her advice.

So if you're interested in following my experience with Dorie's Perfect Party Cake, the recipe Morven of Food, Art and Random Thoughts chose for this month's Daring Baker challenge, you'll have to come back on April 9. But don't wait for me. There are hundreds of creative adaptations of this amazing recipe popping up all over the internets. Head on over to the Daring Baker Blog Roll to check them out.

Technorati Tags: Food | Baking | Daring Bakers

Kitchn Cure 2008

I blame the bulging seems of my pantry on my parents. Children of the great depression, they stocked the refrigerator, freezer and cupboards so full that we could have gone a month or two without a trip to the grocery store for anything more than perishables. We didn't have a couple of cans of fruits, vegetables and soups. We had a couple of cases. They shopped sales, and stocked up. And they taught me to manage my kitchen the same way.

It flies in the face of my new lean six sigma "5 S" self, but I haven't figured out how to employ what I learned in the classroom in my kitchen. Until I discovered Kitchn Cure.

I learned about Apartment Therapy's Kitchn Cure 2008 from Becke over at Columbus Foodie and decided I want to join in. I'm a bit late jumping on the bandwagon, but for those of you who don't remember last fall's battle bug, I think I've got a bit of a head start.

Week one was about taking an honest assessment and beginning the declutter process by tossing expired or spoiled food. Been there, done that, and washed the t-shirt very carefully with strong anti-fungal detergent.

I've also got a bit of a head start on week two; the twinkie book convinced me that high fructose corn syrup and other highly processed, minimally nutritious additives are a part of my past. There will *always* be a package or two of ramen noodles in my pantry, but I'm going to spend the next week purging my kitchen of a lot of the processed stuff, donating what I can't use and NOT replace to the local food bank. Everybody wins.

I'm also going to go through the tool cupboards and drawers. Anything I haven't used in a year is going to get donated.

I'll let you know how it goes...

From the archives...
In 2006, I became part of the cool kids club when I got tagged for a meme.

Technorati Tags: Kitchn Cure 2008

The incredible, edible egg

For as long as I live, every time I make deviled eggs, I'm going to think of Neal.

Neal was another in my father's merry band of eccentric friends. Neal cooked for the county jail, and his class in culinary skills for the inmates was one of the things that convinced me that my parents would balk if I announced I wanted to skip college and head to the CCA. He was at least partially responsible for Mo's decade-long obsession with orchids. And he and his catering business taught me a bit about managing food costs and presenting a pretty plate. And over the course of one afternoon, he changed forever the way I approach a deviled egg.

I have no recollection of what the event was, but it was mid-way through my senior year of high school. My parents were officers of the parent board and active in many of the school's fund raisers. Whatever the event was, it involved feeding people, and they enlisted Neal. It was springtime, and one of the focal points on the appetizer buffet would be stuffed eggs.

Four hundred stuffed eggs.

I don't remember the boiling process (it must have been quite an event)... the first task to which my mother and I were assigned was peeling them. Neal was very particular about how to peel an egg (Neal was particular about a LOT of things... I learned that's how you succeed in the catering industry). It was critical that the delicate whites remain pristine, sans nicks or bruises. (Whatever method he employed to boil them, Neal's whites *were* delicate... none of the rubbery stuff of cafeteria egg salad here, no how, no way.)

But the peeling, we soon learned, was the easy part of the job. Next, we sliced 400 eggs into 800 half-eggs with one of these. Which even with Google took me almost thirty minutes to locate. Then we carefully removed four hundred yolks. And wiped all traces of yolk out of the cavity and the serrated surface with a damp paper towel. Rinsing them, we were told, would tear them or make them tough.

The fun part (in my 18-year old head) Neal kept for himself: whipping up an egg yolk cream of mystery ingredients in a robot coupe and piping them through an 8B star tip into trays and trays (and trays and TRAYS) of egg whites.

The whole process took three hours.

My process is far less complicated and labor intensive. And my end product, far less visually appealing. For this batch, I boiled a dozen eggs, peeled them warm (and succeeded in not marring the egg whites in the process), split them with a paring knife, mixed the yolk with a bit of mayonnaise, mustard, and a handful of parsley and cilantro, and stuffed them with a teaspoon. Twenty five minutes, start to finish.

And they lasted almost that long on the buffet table...

But as I prepared them, and later as my audience enjoyed them, I thought of Neal and smiled.

From the archives...
In 2006 I made peace with my kitchen after several weeks on the road.

Technorati Tags: Food | Key Ingredient: Egg

Raisins A'blazin'

For some of the Doristas, it was setting raisins on fire that put the fear of the pastry gods in them. For others, it was working with yeast. Or making pastry cream.

For me it was all about the temptation. Three cubes of butter. 12 egg yolks. A dozen warm gooey cinnamon-y raisin pastries whispering in my ear. The voice of my personal trainer as she outlined the regimen I'd have to undergo to work them off in another.

So I decided to share the wealth. Save them for the holiday weekend, when we'd have a house guest. Only to discover he is diabetic, so sugary breakfast treats are out. Strike two.

But this week's Tuesdays with Dorie assignment came from Peabody. I *couldn't* skip it. So I've got a double recipe of Brioche Raisin Snails in my freezer, waiting for my next set of hapless victims beloved house guests. Stay tuned... I'll be back in mid-April to let you know how "home made slice and bake" works out...

From the archives...
In 2007, another update on DMBLGIT.

Technorati Tags: Food | Baking | Tuesdays with Dorie

Skeevy. The new Skanky.

As I hurtle headlong into a decade that begins with a 4, allow me a moment to indulge my inner teenager.

In 1986, skanky was the adjective we used to describe something... well... skanky. Undesirable. Icky. Gross. Apparently in 2008, the new word is skeevy. At least according to Annie of Forest Street Kitchen, and the dictionary of all things 21st century seems to agree. As Annie did in December, today I share my personal collection of skeevy foods... kind of the antithesis of last week's guilty pleasures.

1. High Fructose Corn Syrup - the more I read about it, the less I like it. It dupes your digestive system into eating more. It's hell on your kidneys. It tastes chemical...not a surprise when you study the chemistry involved in producing it. And it's in *everything*.

2. Tongue - I'm with Annie. Gross gross GROSS.

3. Liver - See tongue. To quote Ondrya Wolfson, barf out! Grody to the max!

4. Beets - Yeah, I know they're the in thing right now. But I can't get past the canned slices on top of cafeteria salads. Yuck-o.

5. Soy Sausage. Non-Dairy Creamer. Cool Whip - Sausage is made of pork, not plants. Cream IS a dairy product. My grandparents knew this. Why are we making fake forms of real foods that don't begin to live up to the originals?!?

I could go on, but that's my short list. What about you? What foods ick you out?

From the archives...
In 2006, I found Flat Out. Which doesn't contain HFCS.

Technorati Tags: Food

An Apple a Day

S and C are coming over for dinner on Friday. S is living a low-carb lifestyle. C has given up chocolate for Lent.

We've picked out an entree (that you'll read about in another couple of days) that meets everyone's dietary needs, but what to do for dessert?

Natalie of Burned Bits came to my rescue with this week's Tuesdays with Dorie project: Russian Grandmother's Apple Pie Cake. Part pie, part cake, this recipe's actually quite similar to my Swedish grandmother's Apple Bake. And it satisfied on multiple levels.

1. It contained not a drop of chocolate.
2. Packed with apples and raisins, if you don't count the 2 cubes of butter you could *almost* consider it healthy.
3. It employed ten apples, 2/3 of the bounty from this week's CSA box.
4. The scent from the oven as it was baking was intoxicating.
5. Leftovers make a convenient pre-workout breakfast.

Curious how other Doristas fared with this week's project? Check out the blog roll.

From the archives...
In 2007 I cataloged some of the most mouth watering food porn on the internets.

Technorati Tags: Food | Dessert | Baking | Tuesdays with Dorie | Key Ingredient: Apples

Guilty Pleasures

I saw Garrett's confession over at Vanilla Garlic a while ago, and I've been meaning to play along ever since. Today's as good a day as any; I give you five guilty pleasures my kitchen would feel naked without:

1. Chicken Flavored Ramen Noodles - They're the trailer trash version of the medicinal magic chicken noodle soup, but when I'm sick with a cold or the flu, these freeze-dried noodles boiled with salt-smothered bouillon (with a poached egg stirred in for protein) are my comfort food of choice. And while my version probably makes cardiologists everywhere wince, it's nothing compared to John's. He boils the noodles, drains them, then sprinkles the flavor packet on top and tosses them with a couple of tablespoons of butter.

2. Post Cocoa Pebbles - While the marketing material still tries to convince us they're healthy (I give you: "Post Fruity Pebbles and Cocoa Pebbles are wholesome, sweetened rice cereals. They are low in fat, cholesterol free, and provide 10 essential vitamins and minerals. While Fruity Pebbles has a delicious fruity taste, Cocoa Pebbles chocolaty flavor comes from real cocoa!") the nutritional information scares me. But not enough to banish the small box occupying a dark corner in the back of my pantry. They make *great* chocolate crispy treats!

3. Girl Scout Thin Mints - Sugar and spice and everything nice my (_]_). Heavily processed flours, sugars and transfats is what these babies are made of. But nothing beats a frozen thin mint with a big glass of milk after a long day. At least nothing non-alcoholic.

4. Mountain Dew - Dew was a key component to all-night study sessions in college, and while I'm decades past the all-nighter, there's always a can in the 'fridge in case I need a quick kick with caffeine.

5. Canned Cream Style Corn - The trendy garlic/wasabi/chipotle mashed potatoes have their place, but my grandmother's recipe for mashed potatoes (a couple of pounds of boiled potatoes, a glug or two of whole milk, and a can of cream style corn) is still one of my favorites.

How about the rest of you? surely you've got one or two items in your pantry that would make you cringe if your food-loving friends knew about it. 'fess up!

From the archives...
In 2007 I announced the esteemed judges of the March DMBLGIT.

Me: an introductory course

I saw this over on Nava's blog, and I liked it so much I stole it borrowed it considered myself tagged. Without further ado, a few bits and bites about me.

On Culinary Arts...
Q. What is your salad dressing of choice?
A. Balsamic + olive oil

Q. What is your favorite fast food restaurant?
A. Chipotle.

Q. What is your favorite sit-down restaurant?
A. The best are listed over there on the right.

Q. On average how much of a tip do you leave at a restaurant?
A. 20-25%; more when the service merits it.

Q. What food could you eat every day for two weeks and not get sick of?
A. Sushi.

Q. What are your pizza toppings of choice?
A. Ground beef (or GOOD Italian sausage), mushrooms, onions and olives. If I'm feeling really festive, pine nuts.

Q. What do you like to put on your toast?
A. Toast is a receptacle for sugar and fat: peanut butter & strawberry preserves, butter, or cream cheese and a thin slice of smoked salmon.

On Technology...
Q. What is your wallpaper on your computer?
A. This.

Q. How many televisions are in your house?
A. One. It's ten years old. But it works, and that's good enough for me.

Q. What kind of cell phone do you have?
A. Motorola razr.


On Biology...
Q. Are you right-handed or left-handed?
A. Left-handed. Though I can use a mouse with either hand. I keep it on the left at work to confound my colleagues.

Q. Have you ever had anything removed from your body?
A. Nothing significant.

Q. What is the last heavy item you lifted?
A. Fifty pounds of flour.

Q. Have you ever been knocked unconscious?
A. Too recently for comfort. My own stupidity before an early morning workout kicked my (_]_).

On Psychology...
Q. If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die?
A. I don't think so.

Q. If you could change your name, what would you change it to?
A. I don't know. I'm not good at girl names. Gabrielle? Michelle?

Q. what color looks good on you?
A. bright blue.

Q. Have you ever swallowed a non-food item by mistake?
A. Not that I'm aware of.

Q. Have you ever saved someones life?
A. Not literally.

Q. Has someone ever saved yours?
A. My mother's obstetrician.

Truth or Dare (or a Bribe)...
Q. Would you kiss a member of the same sex for $100?
A. Probably, in my younger years. These days $100 doesn't buy much... there'd have to be more in it for me than that.

Q. Would you allow one of your little fingers to be cut off for $200,000?
A. No.

Q. Would you never blog again for $50,000?
A. Nope. My creative outlet is worth more than a fraction of a year's salary.

Q. Would you pose naked in a magazine for $250,000?
A. Nope.

Q. Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1000?
A. Depends on the sauce. I'm not ripping up my intestines (or wanting to rip them out) for any amount of money.

Q. Would you, without fear of punishment, take a human life for $1,000,000?
A. Not just no but hell no.

On stupid stuff...
Q: What is in your left pocket?
A. My car keys.

Q: Is Napoleon Dynamite actually a good movie?
A. Heck if I know.

Q: Do you have hardwood or carpet in your house?
A. Both. Hardwood in the kitchen. Carpet everywhere else.

Q: Do you sit or stand in the shower?
A. Stand.

Q: Could you live with roommates?
A. Been there. Done that. Glad it's behind me.

Q: How many pairs of flip flops do you own?
A. One.

Q: Last time you had a run-in with the cops
A. Define "run-in"?!? My last ticket was a couple of years ago. That's as close as I come.

Q: What do you want to be when you grow up?
A. Independently wealthy.

Q: Last person who called you?
A. John.

Q: Person you hugged?
A. John.

On Favorites...
Q: Number?
A. 7. 21. 27. 40.

Q: Season?
A. Autumn.

Q: Holiday?
A. Groundhog's Day. It's highly underrated.

Q: Day of the week:
A. Friday.

Q: Month?
A. October

Current Events...
Q: Missing someone?
A. Yep

Q: Mood?
A. Content.

Q: Listening to?
A. Alton Brown, waxing poetic about milk.

Q: Watching?
A. See above.

Q: Worrying about?
A: A project at work. Taxes.

In conclusion...
Q: First place you went this morning?
A. The gym.

Q: What can you not wait to do?
A. Crawl under a blanket with a good book.

Q:What's the last movie you saw?
A. I think it might have been Ratatouille. I need to get out more.

Q: Do you smile often?
A. Not often enough.

Q: Are you a friendly person?
A. Once I get past the shyness, yes.

From the archives...
In 2006 we discovered the joy of high end cheese and Wednesday night wines.

Flavors of March: Jamie's Favorite Frittata

As the winter gloom lifts a bit here in Northern California and gives us the first glimpses of the spring flavors to come, I've chosen Jamie Oliver's Jamie's Italy as my flavor focus for March. I find Jamie's collection of Italian favorites the perfect way to approach this seasonal transition: he offers stick-to-your-ribs comfort foods sure to drive the chill out of late winter evenings while showcasing fresh flavorful ingredients that abound each spring.

I prepared La Migliore Frittata di Gameretti e Prezzemolo (Shrimp & Parsley Frittata) without straying much from the recipe. I employed farm fresh eggs from my brother, parsley from a neighbor's herb garden, meyer lemons from a colleague's front yard, and a half pound of rock shrimp I picked up from my fishmonger. I served it alongside roasted red potatoes and a handful of salad greens tossed with avocado from my CSA.

The recipe is quick and easy to assemble, relying primarily on kitchen staples. It's filling and satisfying without overwhelming. The lemon gives the dish a wonderful brightness, which complements the punch of the pepper flakes brilliantly. Next time I'm going to add some fresh vegetables (artichokes, asparagus or edamame would be wonderful) and perhaps top it off with a chipotle cream or a tomato-avocado salsa...

Other bloggers who've tried Jamie's Frittata:
Ruth at Once Upon a Feast broke in her housewarming gift a bit prematurely with a frittata built on must-use-before-the-move ingredients.
For Deborah at Taste & Tell, Jamie's frittata is the perfect antithesis to carbohydrate-loaded pasta.

From the archives...
In 2006 we were surrounded by kids' tables at one of our favorite restaurants.

Technorati Tags: Food | Key Ingredient: Eggs | Italian

Dorie & Blake: the Love Child

Ha! Now that I've got your attention... :D

Brought to us by Erin of Dinner & Dessert, this week's Tuesday with Dorie challenge is a grown-up look at a childhood favorite: Snickery Squares.

Come on, you remember...

Caramel.

Peanuts.

Chocolate.

How can one improve on that kind of perfection?

By taking a dab of Dorie and adding a bit of Blake. In the form of his now legendary Peanut Butter Dulce de Leche, which arrived in my mailbox the morning I embarked on this sugar-coated adventure. Rather than supplement my little jar of the good stuff with (gasp) commercial DDL, I spread Blake's bounty over the shortcrust pastry, then layered the commercial stuff on top and added the candied peanuts.

The result? My tasters loved my "love children," which disappeared before I could pull out the camera for a bit of photographic evidence. Lots of other bloggers have great pictures of their Snickery Squares though. Check out the blog roll at Tuesdays with Dorie. And if you want to jump on Blake's bandwagon of merry sooper heroes head on over and join Soopz.

From the archives...
In 2006 we made the extreme Lenten sacrifice at Santana Row's Blowfish Sushi.
In 2007 I returned from an extended hiatus to announce the pending DMBLGIT.

Technorati Tags: Food | Dessert | Tuesdays with Dorie

A half life, not a shelf life

Introducing...

enriched bleached wheat flour [flour, reduced iron, "B" vitamins (niacin, thiamine, mononitrate (B1), riboflavin (B2), folic acid)], sugar, water, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, partially hydrongenated vegetable oil and/or animal shortening (contains one or more of: soybean, cottonseed or canola oil, beef fat), whole eggs, dextrose, contains 2% or less of: modified corn starch, glucose, leavenings (sodium and pyrophosphate, baking soda, monocalcium phosphate), sweet dairy whey, soy protein isolate, calcium and sodium caseinate, soy flour, salt, mono and diglycerides, polysorbate 60, soy lecithin, cornstarch, corn flour, corn dextrin, cellulose gum, sodium stearoyl lactylate, natural and artificial flavors, sorbic acid (to retain freshness), fd&c yellow 5, red 40.

Quite a cast of characters, huh?

And now thanks to Steve Ettlinger's "pop science journey" into the Neverland of processed, packaged foods, I know a whole lot more about who they are, where they come from, how they evolve, and what roles they play in the many foods that line grocery store shelves. In Twinkie, Deconstructed Ettlinger explores the industrialization and the globalization of the processed food industry as he traces genealogy of each of the sweet snack's ingredients to some rather surprising roots. And he does it without preaching or proselytizing.

Inquiring minds should skip the glorified infomercial that is the Food Network's Unwrapped and head to the bookstore or the library for a copy of his bright orange book. I only wish I'd been able to attend his recent presentation in Mountain View...

Technorati Tags: Food | Processed Food

An Emerald among Zirconia: The Branding Iron

When I was in high school, my mother had a bit of an infatuation with several of the 'personalities' on QVC. She'd watch "In the Kitchen with Bob Bowersox", and we'd come out of the deal with a new nonstick skillet or a counter top oven. Good investments... I still use my four-quart Nesco roaster today. And she adored Kathy Levine, who spent the majority of her QVC career hawking Diamonique, a fake gem that's still apparently quite popular. I'm not sure the half dozen small pieces of Diamonique in mom's jewelry box were the best investment, but she enjoyed them, and that counts for something. And among *my* most prized possessions is a pair of emerald earrings set in white gold that Pat James-Dementri convinced her I would love for my 18th birthday. (I don't know what's more frightening. That Pat was right? That several of the hosts are still with QVC twenty years later? Or that I remember their names?)

My point? Sometimes, often when we least expect it, we find a treasure that exceeds our expectations; an emerald among zirconia.

I confess I wasn't optimistic when I spied the menu in the motel lobby. Merced's not exactly renowned as a restaurant hot spot. But it beat the heck out of the alternatives: Bakers' Square, Denny's and McDonald's... so we gave it a shot. And The Branding Iron delivered, well beyond our wildest expectations.

Sure, the steak would probably be good. But I didn't hold out a lot of hope for "The World's Greatest Gazpacho!!!", especially in February.

The first surprise: Owner Greg Parle at the host stand. When we arrived at 5:15 without reservations (who needs a reservation in Merced at 5:15?!?), he wasn't sure he'd be able to seat our party of four. He turned several parties away while we waited to see. Thankfully he was able to find a space for us.

The second surprise: A tray of artisan cheese and crackers in the lobby: an appetizer for those waiting for a table.

The third surprise: The ladies' room. I'll spare you the details and leave you with one word: Opulent.

The fourth surprise: the wine list. Extensive. Without being overly expensive. And all of them available by the glass. We settled on a lovely Cosentino "Legends" Cabernet... packed with blue and black fruit flavors that would play well with roast beast.

The fifth surprise: the gazpacho. Perhaps not the world's BEST, but pretty darn spectacular. In February.

The sixth surprise: the service. Our waiter was phenomenal. Always present without hovering. Attentive but not pretentious. And when we ordered a single dessert with three forks, he brought it to the table on three plates. Home run!

Ditch the Diamonique, folks.

The Branding Iron is a gem.

We'll be back.

With reservations.

The Branding Iron
640 West 16th Street, Merced, CA | 209.722.1822

We agree with Anne and Dave, we've found a reason to return to Merced.

Technorati Tags: Food | Restaurant