You know how I promised that I would be on time with the challenge this week, well…some unexpected circumstances prevented me from keeping my promise. I don’t know how many of you have seen Grindhouse, but in the Quentin Tarantino “Death Proof” portion of the double feature I find myself completely understanding Zoë Bell’s logic that when she promised to never play Ship’s Mast again, if she had realized she was going to get the opportunity to play it with a Vanishing Point Challenger she would have added a “however”. It’s a slightly convoluted story, but if you’ve seen the movie you’ll know what I’m talking about. Basically, I didn’t realize I was going to be knocked on my tush by what I think is a cold, I don’t think it’s the flu but it’s not far off. By the way, if you like B-movies and the like you’ll love Grindhouse. If you can’t handle lots of swearing, some hilarious, gratuitous gore, and a heaping spoonful of violence then this flick isn’t for you. That’s right, steer the kids away from this one. If you are into camp horror films then this will probably be right up your alley. I’m not usually a horror/B-movie buff, but I do love Quentin Tarantino films, but really I’m all over the place. I still think my favorite film is Amélie though. That or The Big Lebowski. I never get tired of that film, but I digress.
Despite getting a cold I did make the TWD challenge this week. I managed to take a picture of it too before I dropped my camera on the floor (a hair-raising tale for another time, but the short version is that I fixed it, whew!). Arborio Rice Pudding – that’s right rice pudding. Never a favorite of mine, but another happy surprise. This was brought to us by Isabelle from Les gourmandises d’Isa. I decided to do the gelatin and mold version using a couple of different sized pudding cups I had hanging around. I had some trouble getting the pudding out of the cups in one piece. A knife slid along the side came in handy, but it was still difficult to tap the pudding out. Both sugared and non-sugared pomegranate seeds added a splash of color and a sweet/tart kick. Click to continue…
You can thank acute nasopharyngitis for my extreme tardiness. At least I think it’s that and not the flu. You’d be surprised at how crap-tastic you can feel having the common cold setting up shop in the humble abode of your bod.
So here we are at what will most likely be the format for these during most of the year…theme-less. Here’s a bunch of bites that caught my eye last week. Enjoy folks! Click to continue…
It’s Friday and you’re reading my blog so that must mean it’s Tuesday! Yeah folks, I’ve been a bit of a slacker this week and didn’t get this post out until now. I PROMISE I will do better next week!
Dorie brings gifts of breakfast treats this week through our friend Yolanda at The All-Purpose Girl with the Kugelhopf. Here’s another recipe to add to the list of recipes that I’d probably would have never tried if it weren’t for all the great people at Tuesdays With Dorie helping me break out of my proverbial baking box. Click to continue…
I came across this post on Food Interviews the other day and I wanted to give everyone a last minute alert to a deal that Patric Chocolate is offering through Food Interviews until Wednesday, November 12th. First, there’s a contest to win up to $100 of chocolate. The way it works is every tenth person who orders online using the code 3FLMDE will get their order free. Even if you don’t win, the code will take 10% off your purchase (including sale items) AND two complimentary chocolate bars on any purchase over $50. Please make sure you read the fine print in the Food Interviews post. I love supporting these smaller, artisan businesses when I can, and maybe you can get some free chocolate to boot!
It’s getting to be that time of the year. Not that I need an excuse to bake, but no other time can rival year’s end when there are so many holidays that seem to have been invented just for us bakers. Historically though the Pilgrims, at what many consider to be the first American Thanksgiving, did not in fact share anything sweet as they had run through much of the supply of sugar they had brought with them over the Atlantic. We can all give thanks for the change to the Thanksgiving meal as sweet desserts along with side dishes have now become requisites at the table. With that in mind, came this weeks idea of a Thanksgiving edition of the Recipe Round-Up. For those international readers, sorry for the US-centric posts but I do live in the states. Please stick around though because I love to learn about other cultures and as my knowledge increases so will the posts on other traditions. (If anyone wants me to research something specific let me know!)
One of the chief traditions in my family, as I’m sure in many others, is watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade first thing in the morning. Through the years I think I may have caught seeing the very beginning of the parade only once since I tend to be a night owl and when I get the chance to sleep in I generally take it. While I missed the beginning over the years, I’ve yet to miss an end with Santa and his reindeer waving cheerfully, promising a warm winter in the heart if not the weather. Click to continue…
Here we are again with another challenge from the Tuesdays With Dorie group. Sorry for not posting this on Tuesday, but I’ve been overcome by election mania and glued to the TV for the past two days.
As far as this weeks challenge goes, Grace from Piggy’s Cooking Journal’s pick of Rugelach was a real winner for me. I tried a couple of different fillings with one half of the dough in an effort to see what I liked. I did a combination of the apricot, nuts, (semi-sweet) chocolate and crasins since I couldn’t find currants. I did this version with cinnamon sugar and without. Then I took a lead from I♥cuppycakes! and tried Nutella, nuts and toffee bits. Lastly I did one with just nuts and chocolate. And the winner is…none of them – ha! Actually I found elements that I liked in all of them, but I discovered that what I really liked was apricot, nuts, and chocolate without crasins or cinnamon, so that’s what I made with the other half of my dough.
Also, I never used regular nuts. I had been looking through one of my old magazines filled with Christmas cookie recipes and came across a recipe for Sugared-Almond Truffle Triangles. I liked the idea of sugared nuts and cooked up some sugared pecans to use for the nut component. The unfortunate thing about these nuts is they are TOO GOOD and TOO EASY to make that I ended up gorging myself on some leftovers last night. If you’re the type of person who likes to get their sweet and salt fix at the same time, don’t make these because you’ll end up eating them 24-7. Nuts aside, Rugelach was a real treat and I really enjoyed every version I tried. Click to continue…
I know, I know, it’s politics all over again, but I promised these kids I’d put their photo on my blog. Here are a couple of pictures from yesterday’s historic election. My local polling place is actually across the street from my house, but I voted with an absentee ballot earlier in the month. I found out the ease of voting absentee the year I took a contract job out in California. Considering some of the lines that were reported in the state of Florida this year I’m glad I went the absentee route this time around as well. That being said, there didn’t seem to be much of a crowd where I was, but then again I kind of live in the sticks. Click to continue…
Just in case you weren’t aware (right!), the United States will be holding its Presidential election today. I want to stay away from politics for the most part on this blog, but I couldn’t help noting this tidbit that I came across on Serious Eats when I was doing a search on Pumpkin Macarons of all things. It was an ad and I just couldn’t resist. I had to know what the candidates are eating. I have to ponder whether there is some pervasive bib-culture conspiracy because I think in nearly every election I’ve witnessed, some photographer catches each of the candidates wearing one.
One thing I did notice in this slideshow, why are nearly all the open-mouth takes are from Obama? Talk about “gotcha” journalism. Poor guy. I’d HATE to be in a position where people are taking photographs of me eating. I have to admit that in the food department Obama has my vote, I love pie! Not that it factors in my criteria for a good president, I am fascinated by the eating habits of American (or any other for that matter) history.
I’m actually reading a book right now called The President’s Table: Two Hundred Years of Dining and Diplomacy. I’m only a few pages into it but it’s very interesting. For example, did you know that President Andrew Jackson, seventh President of the United States, held a gala on Washington’s Birthday in 1837 where throngs of private citizens and Congressmen devoured a 1,400-pound wheel of Cheddar cheese that sat at the entrance to the Executive Mansion for the previous two years in only a few hours? You can learn this among many other fascinating facts about the history of the American Presidency and their cravings in this fun book!
But seriously, this is history folks. Regardless of who’s your candidate, don’t miss it. Go vote!
Sorry for the delay on this AGAIN. This week’s post ended up being even more of a behemoth than last week’s. Again don’t expect a theme every week, but after the Pumpkin Muffins challenge from Tuesdays With Dorie I had some leftover pumpkin (in addition to the $1 a can sale at the grocery store). I started out the week early, checking for recipes every day but only find one here or there. Then suddenly by the end of the week there was a rush of pumpkin posts. I can’t believe all the great stuff I found. I had so much I ended up breaking the list into categories. Click to continue…
