My newest infusion

Last night, I pitted over 1 pound of fresh bing cherries, enough to fill a massive mason jar half full of vodka all the way to the top. There is something so refreshing and satisfying about seeing that clear liquor turning red with the cherry juice (fittingly, I did this just before watching True Blood, using my "cherry guillotine" that lets me core 4 cherries at once). I have no idea how long the cherry vodka will need to infuse before it is ready, but I have very high hopes for this one. Even if I do either have to throw another party or find someone else's party to take it to just so that it all gets consumed.

I also have 2 more batches of the peach-cinnamon bourbon brewing, but those are already spoken for, headed for someone else's party and as a gift. If you want me to brew you up an infsuion for my Christmas gift to you, let me know and I will get one started before the fruits go out of season. It really is so easy and delicious, I am surprised I didn't think of this sooner.

Pictures to come soon.

So, I guess I'm back...kinda?

A long rambly multi-topic catchup post wherein I pretend all 3 of my remaining readers still care...

Last night I scrolled through my first two pages of posts and realized that was all I had so far for 2010, and it's nearly freakin August. This made me feel terrible about my chronic blog neglect. Luckily several massive projects completed either last week or Monday of this week, and so while I am certainly still swamped I no longer feel like I am swimming for the surface but just don't know if I will make it before I drown. Living in that feeling for the last 3 months, and in other spurts for most of the last 10 months, has really sucked. And I'm sure it will suck again soon.
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So, like I said in the infusions post, I had 2 parties in June and July. It wasn't really the greatest idea I've ever had, but it's done now and it was for the most part fun. Also, crazy expensive. Also, this post from my dear friend Susan is like the greatest thing ever. Read it, learn it, live it.

I made so many different dishes it is hard to pick just one or two to share recipes for, but one is something I sort of invented based upon a suggestion from a friend, and it was delicious, and easy:

Feta-Stuffed Mini Peppers

2 packages of miniature red, yellow and orange peppers, tops removed, cleaned, split down one side
1 package of good feta cheese
olive oil, ideally infused with some herbs, garlic or red pepper for extra flavor
balsamic vinegar
8 leaves fresh basil (if oil is not infused)
salt and pepper

If using basil, cut into a chiffonade and place a pinch of the basil into each pepper. Stuff each pepper with feta, packing tightly. Drizzle liberally with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and any remaining basil. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour to allow flavors to meld. Skewer each pepper and either place on top rack of a grill away from direct flame, with uncut sides of peppers down, or place on a rimmed baking sheet and broil in a hot oven until the cheese browns and the peppers have just started to soften. Be careful when removing the peppers from the grill or oven, as the filling will want to fall out. (If it does, just discreetly stuff it back in. Nobody will notice.) Serve warm.

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I've decided that when I get my bonus in December, I need to do something big with it. Option #1 is a major trip somewhere outside the U.S. where I can get away from it all for awhile. Suggestions on locale are welcome...right now, I am considering exotic places like Italy, France, New Zealand, Tahiti, Barbados, etc. Ideally it should be somewhere that the weather will be lovely in January or February when I can afford to go. Honestly, my biggest concern is that none of my friends will be willing to go with me because of either financial restraints, lack of interest in traveling to where I want to go, or fear of flying. I've been trying to explain to people recently that traveling alone as a single girl is just way dicier than as a guy. My friend who went to France last year by herself and got mugged 3 times in the span of a two week trip, including having her wallet stolen on the very first day she arrived in Paris, is a classic example. She hung in there, got money wired by her parents, and made the best of it, but I would probably be so dejected at that point that I'd just want to turn around and come home. I travel alone all the time for work, but that's different--I never GO anywhere or see anything, I just go from airport to hotel to deposition back to airport. But if I'm traveling abroad, I really don't want to be alone. There should be a place where you can find travel partners for things like this who aren't shady or annoying. (Feel free to also volunteer to be my travel partner in the comments, although I won't be fronting your costs if you do...)

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On the mini-vacation front, I need to go visit a friend in New Orleans for some weekend in August, and I am also probably going back to Biloxi for the poker tournament around Labor Day. This was a total bust last year, but a friend is also going that same week for other reasons and asked me to join her, plus they have lowered the buy-ins considerably from last year. I wonder if that's the effect of the economy? At any rate, I never have the time or desire to play poker in my Thursday night game anymore, so in order to get some practice with live play I am probably going to have to start playing bar tourneys a few times a week. Suggestions for good places in Atlanta with bar tourneys that start at 9pm (not 8, which I can never make it to) are welcome. I used to play at the Brewhouse but apparently new folks are running it so it may suck now.

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Local politics is depressing the hell out of me. I seriously don't like any of the candidates on either side of the aisle who ran for Governor of Georgia, and I will probably write in my friend Page in November. (It's a thing, we write in Page when we don't know who to vote for.) I waver between resolving not to give a shit because it's too upsetting to pay attention to, and resolving to make my own change by working to revamp the Democratic party in this state into something effective and inspiring again. Y'know, with all that free time I have.

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So it's late July, and I resolved in March to maybe run a half marathon this year, and yet I haven't even been able to string together 13 miles on the treadmill across one whole week since that promise, let alone actually starting to train for it. I keep waiting for things at work to get less hectic so I can get home at a normal hour and have the energy and time to recommit, but it just hasn't happened. I wish I didn't have to choose between getting in shape physically and getting my career in order. But doing both at the same time has proven nearly impossible.

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I'm getting ridiculously excited about FSU football this year, even though Vegas has apparently only pegged us to win 8 games. Still, this is one of those years that has the potential to be really special--not national championship special (despite what Tim Brando apparently predicted), but a better year than we have seen in recent memory. I think we could conceivably run the table in the ACC, which would be great if we didn't also have the incredibly difficult non-conference schedule of Oklahoma, BYU and Florida to deal with. Still, the most frustrating thing about FSU's decline this decade has been our tendency to let mediocre ACC teams beat us, and the first step to returning to former glory is to stop letting that happen and start kicking conference asses again.

...

I think that's all I got for now. Whew, I was storing up a lot of random junk!

Twigs & Berries

Tomorrow, just to see if I can do it (and also to see how much it impacts my weight in a given week), I'm starting a 5 day vegan cleanse. Basically, I'm not eating any animal products for as long as I can stand it. This will be hard for me, but I think I can manage. Here are some of the meals I plan to make:

Tuesday
Breakfast: pineapple
Snack: orange
Lunch: Humongous salad (since I won't have time to prepare anything tonight)
Afternoon snack: popcorn
Dinner: Roasted beets, sweet potatoes, zucchini, peppers, summer squash and portobella mushrooms sauteed with couscous, sun dried tomatoes and olives

Wednesday
Breakfast: cantaloupe
Snack: vegetables with garlicky egg-free aioli (if I can perfect a recipe)
Lunch: Roasted vegetables and large salad
Afternoon snack: strawberries
Dinner: Sweet potato enchiladas, grilled corn, baked tortilla chips & guacamole

Thursday
Breakfast: pineapple
Snack: Orange
Lunch: Roasted vegetable tacos with refried beans & guacamole
Snack: Cucumber salad
Dinner: Grilled Portobello mushroom sandwich with sweet potato fries

You get the point. I am out to prove I can make 5 days worth of delicious meals without any animal products. I might waver on Friday night and Saturday, but if so I will try to make up for it by several more days next week. The hardest part will actually be giving up dairy--I drink a lot of skim milk and love greek yogurt. But I'm happy to find out that the pita bread, whole wheat couscous and whole wheat pasta I have in my cupboard do not contain eggs or dairy, so I should have options. If I come up with any particularly great options I will share the recipes here. There are so many delicious dishes and snacks that are 100% vegan--olive tapenade on water crackers, roasted garlic hummus and olives on grilled pita, vegetable fried rice (w/o eggs), pasta with lemon, garlic and pine nuts, mushroom burritos, etc.--that I am excited about the nearly infinte possibilities.

Also, I will probably be dying for a hamburger or piece of bacon by Thursday. I am realistic about this.

But, if I need motivation in addition to the health benefits of cleansing my body of bad foods for awhile...mama's gotta be able to wear a swimsuit in public in just 3 short weeks!

Recipe of the week (a new feature, if I can remember to keep up with it)

My best friend from high school, Samantha, is currently in town and decided she wanted to throw a dinner party at my house last night. While I was at work, she spent the day slaving away cooking insanely delicious things like tuna and avocado tartarte and sweet potato goat cheese ravioli with hazelnut brown butter sauce. Since she'll be writing about those recipes elsewhere (hopefully), I'll be posting the recipes for the only part of the dinner I actually made. Both are ridiculously easy, but always a hit for dinners.

The first is so easy I don't even need to actually write it out like a real recipe. I intended to grill asparagus, but unfortunately did not notice that my grill is out of propane. Oops. So, instead I snipped the ends off 2 bunches of asparagus, drizzled with olive oil, sprinkled with salt and pepper, and roasted them in the oven. Then I grated fresh parmesano reggiano over the top (which I would have done right off the grill, if I'd been able to grill them). Speaking of--grilling asparagus is simple as hell: you just have to put down tinfoil on the grill (ideally top shelf of the grill) so they can cook without burning. Turn once, and take off the grill when they just start to brown.

Now the actual recipe, which comes from my aunt Collette:

SHREDDED ROMAINE WITH GARLIC VINAIGRETTE

4 Garlic Cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Dijon-Style Mustard
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
1 large head of Romaine, rinsed, spun dry and shredded
Freshly ground pepper to taste
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted lightly

In a small pot of boiling water, boil garlic for 10 minutes and drain. In large salad bowl, mash the garlic with the salt until it forms a paste. Rub some of the paste up the sides of the salad bowl. In bottom of bowl, whisk in mustard and white wine vinegar into remaining garlic. Whisk in oil in a stream, and whisk until fully emulsified. Add the shredded romaine, pine nuts, and parmesan and toss well to coat. Sprinkle with pepper. The dressing actually develops flavor if it sits for awhile on the leaves before serving.

Healthy Recipe of the day: Roasted Vegetable and Feta Couscous

Last night I made an old favorite of mine that is both healthy and delicious: Chicken Tagine with Lemon and Olives. While I have shared the recipe here previously, I served the chicken stew over a new recipe that I have not previously provided and thought I should share.

Roasted Vegetable and Feta Couscous

1 1/2 c. dried couscous (I use Trader Joes' whole wheat couscous)
1/4 c. crumbled feta cheese
1 1/2 c. water
1/4 c. chopped roasted zucchini
1/4 c. chopped roasted summer squash
1/4 c. chopped roasted portabella mushrooms
4 chopped sundried tomatoes
4 sliced pitted olives, any variety
1/4 c. chopped roasted red, yellow and orange peppers
1 T. olive oil

If you have never roasted vegetables before, here is how I do it: spray a cookie sheet with olive oil spray. Arrange thick slices of squash, zucchini, peppers, and portabella mushrooms on cookie sheet, spray with olive oil spray, and salt & pepper. Roast at high temperature in oven 15 minutes, turning on broiler at the end briefly if desired.

For this recipe, chop the vegetables into small chunks and add to a saute pan with 2 tsps olive oil. In medium sized pot with a lid, bring 1 1/2 c. water and 1 tsp olive oil to a boil, adding salt to the water to taste. Stir in couscous, cover with lid and remove from heat. Let sit 5 minutes, and when done fluff with fork. Add couscous to saute pan with vegetables and olive oil, and on low heat cook 1-2 minutes while mixing the vegetables with the couscous. Sprinkle with feta, remove from heat and continue to toss until feta is mixed evenly and just begins to melt.

This makes about 4 large or 6 small servings, and has approximately 4 Weight Watchers points. The Chicken Tagine has about 4 per serving as well, so this entire meal is about an 8 in terms of points, if you're into that sort of thing.

Cupcaking Returns

This weekend I made test batches of two new cupcake flavors that we are making later this week for my friend Beth's wedding. They were both delicious! I figured I should share.

These are the Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting, courtesy of Smitten Kitchen:

Pumpkin Cupcakes With Maple–Cream Cheese Frosting

Yield: 17 to 18 cupcakes

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for greasing pans

1 cup firmly packed dark-brown sugar

1/3 cup granulated sugar

2 cups cake flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 large eggs

1/2 cup buttermilk mixed with 1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/4 cups canned solid-pack pumpkin

Frosting

Two (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

2 cups confectioners’ sugar

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

Make the cupcakes:1. Preheat the oven to 350° (175°C). Line a cupcake pan with 18 liners.
2. In a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugars on medium speed until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, salt, and pepper into a medium bowl. 3. Add the eggs 1 at a time to the mixer, scraping down the sides after each addition. Alternate adding the flour and milk mixtures, beginning and ending with the flour. Beat in the pumpkin until smooth. Scoop the batter among the cupcake liners — you’re looking to get them 3/4 full. Rap the filled pans once on the counter to release any air bubbles. Bake the cakes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20 to 25 minutes. Cool the cupcakes on racks completely.

Make the frosting:In a stand mixer beat all the ingredients on medium until fluffy. To assemble the cake, frost the top of one cake, place the other cake on top. Frost the sides and top, swirling decoratively. Refrigerate the cake for 30 minutes to set up frosting.

These are Almond Cupcakes with Amaretto Frosting, courtesy of Modern Domestic:

ALMOND CUPCAKES WITH AMARETTO FROSTING

Ingredients:
4 large eggs

1 1/3 cup sour cream

2 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

3 1/3 cups sifted cake flour

2/3 cup, ground, unblanched sliced almonds, toasted and finely ground

2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

3 sticks softened butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with paper lines, and lightly grease the top of the tins.In a medium bowl lightly combine the eggs, ¼ of the sour cream and the extracts. In a large mixing bowl combine the dry ingredients and mix on low speed for 30 seconds to blend. Add the butter and remaining sour cream. Mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened. Increase to medium speed (high if using a hand mixer) and beat for 1¤½ minutes to aerate and develop the cake’s structure. Scrape down the sides. Gradually add the egg mixture in 3 batches, beating 20 seconds after each addition to incorporate the ingredients and strengthen the structure. Scrape down the sides. Spoon the batter into the paper liners – each cup should be 2/3 full. Bake 25 minutes or until a wire cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes, before gently transferring them to a rack to cool. Allow to cool completely before frosting with amaretto frosting.

Amaretto Frosting

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

6 to 8 cups confectioners’ sugar

1/2 cup milk

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbs amaretto

Place the butter in a large mixing bowl. Add 4 cups of the sugar and then the milk, vanilla, and amaretto. On the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat until smooth and creamy, about 3-5 minutes. Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition (about 2 minutes), until the icing is thick enough to be of good spreading consistency. You may not need to add all of the sugar. If desired, add a few drops of food coloring and mix thoroughly. (Use and store the icing at room temperature because icing will set if chilled.) Icing can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Makes 24-28 cupcakes.

My un-recipe for perfect peach pie

For Labor Day weekend, I traveled to Biloxi to play some poker. (I haven't been able to bring myself to write about the trip yet, and maybe never will. It wasn't bad at all, but stuck alone with my thoughts for the weekend and the long drive back, I feel like I have already done more than enough self-analysis about the trip.) When I returned, I discovered four huge, perfect Georgia peaches sitting in my refrigerator just begging to be eaten or cooked. I decided that since it was Labor Day, and I was in Georgia after all, the only answer was to make peach pie.

I didn't really have a recipe, but I was undeterred. First, I decided to try peeling the peaches with a carrot peeler rather than using the traditional boil then plunge into ice water method of peeling. This worked beautifully! I will always peel peaches this way from now on, and they are much easier to slice when still firm and cold. I peeled, pitted and sliced the four peaches and added them to a bowl. In with the peaches went the juice of one lemon, an eyeball approximation of roughly 3/4 a cup of brown sugar, a splash of almond extract, a healthy dose of cinnamon, 4 heaping spoonfuls of flour, and what was left of a stick of butter. (I think it was about 5 tablespoons' worth, softened.) I mixed all of this with a spatula until the peaches were completely coated, and let it sit for a few minutes.

I had a Pillsbury pie crust in the fridge, so I cheated on this part rather than making my own. I rolled out the bottom crust and pressed into a pie plate. Then I re-mixed the peaches mixture one more time, and poured it into the pie plate while making sure the peaches were as level as possible. I rolled out the top crust and put it over the peaches, carefully pressing the sides and fluting the edges. I cut four small vents in the crust, and placed into a 425 degree oven for 30 minutes. After that, I turned the oven down to 350 and baked for another 45 minutes, until the pie was just golden brown.

This was the end result:



I was a bit nervous about how well the pie turned out, given that I had completely made up the recipe for the filling from nothing. When I finally tried it...holy jeebus this was good. I warmed a slice in the microwave with a scoop of ice cream and then tried not to die from the deliciousness of it all. Seriously, if every food this tasty were this easy to make, I would weigh 300 pounds.

So now, you too can make perfect peach pie before the peaches go out of season!

Coca-cola cupcakes

For a housewarming party on Saturday I was inspired to create a recipe for Coca-cola cupcakes. The "Co-cola cake" tradition is one of my favorite discoveries upon moving down south, but the cake is such a strange concoction that I wasn't really sure how well it would translate into cupcake form. For starters, co-cola cake is traditionally glazed or iced rather than frosted, but that makes for not so pretty cupcakes. However, I didn't find any great cola frosting recipes on my many Googles, so I became concerned that the presence of cola in a buttercream based frosting might destabilize it, much like real lime juice did when I made lemon lime cupcakes a few months ago. I also was worried the cupcakes would be lacking if they didn't have that traditional glaze element, because the icing is the best part of a co-cola cake.

I decided to give it a shot and wing it with an amalgamation of a few recipes, and thankfully things turned out right on the first try and it was simply divine. My worries about unstable frosting did hold, however: these were starting to get a little drippy after 2 hours on the cupcake stand at the party. However, if you keep them refrigerated and serve them pretty quickly, then you won't even notice the frosting issues.

For Cupcakes:

2 2/3 c. cups plain flour (I used Swan cake flour)

1 ½ c. sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 large eggs

1 c buttermilk

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 c. (2 sticks) unsalted butter

8 Tbsp cocoa powder

1 ½ c. Coca-Cola

1 c. small marshmallows

For Coca-Cola icing:

½ c. unsalted butter

3 T unsweetened cocoa

6 T Coke

16 oz. powdered sugar

1 t. vanilla

For Coca-cola frosting:

1 c. unsalted butter

5 to 6 cups powdered sugar

¼ c. milk

2 t. vanilla

1 to 3 T Coke

1 to 2 T cocoa

Preheat oven to 350F. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. In a separate jug, mix together the egg, buttermilk and vanilla.Gently heat the butter, cocoa and Coca-Cola in a heavy saucepan until melted, then add marshmallows, turn off heat, and stir until melted. Add mixture to the bowl of dry ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon. Add the buttermilk mixture to the batter and stir well until everything is incorporated.

Portion out the batter into paper-lined muffin tins. Fill to about two-thirds to three-quarters full. The recipe should make about 24-30 standard sized cupcakes. Bake at 350F for about 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Let cool completely (or overnight) before icing or frosting.

To make icing, melt 1 stick unsalted butter in saucepan with 3 tablespoons cocoa and 6 tablespoons Coke, stirring until all butter has melted. In bowl, add butter mixture to 16 oz. powdered sugar and whisk until lumps disappear. Stir in vanilla. Poke holes in cupcakes with fork and spread icing on each cupcake just to glaze the top. Chill remaining icing for at least 1 hour.

To make frosting, combine 2 sticks unsalted butter and 4 c. powdered sugar in mixer at high speed. Add vanilla and milk and mix until smooth. Add 1 c. sugar and cooled remainder of coca-cola icing and mix on high until well-blended. Add 1 c. sugar, 1 T coke, and 1 T cocoa, and mix until well-blended. (You will have to play with the amounts of coke, cocoa and sugar to make sure frosting reaches desired consistency.) Chill in refrigerator at least one hour, then pipe or spread onto cupcakes over coca-cola glaze. Decorate as desired. Cupcakes will retain their frosted shape best if refrigerated for at least an hour after frosting.

Makes 24-30 iced and frosted cupcakes.

The butterfly decorations in the photo were purchased online from Baker's Nook, and are fully edible (made of sugar). The daisies are from Wilton, and were purchased at Michael's.

The return of cupcaking

Red velvet with cream cheese frosting. Here are the two recipes I used, which were both delicious:

Red Velvet Cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery

Ingredients:

3 1/2 Cups cake flour
3/4 Cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 Cups sugar
3 Large eggs, at room temperature
6 Tbsp red food coloring (2 bottles)
5 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 Cups buttermilk
1 1/2 tsp cider vinegar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda

Preheat the oven to 350 F. In a small bowl, sift the cake flour and set aside. In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. In a small bowl, whisk together the red food coloring, cocoa, and vanilla. Add to the batter and beat well.

In a measuring cup, stir the salt into the buttermilk. Add to the batter in three parts alternating with the flour. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated, but do not overbeat. In a small bowl, stir together the cider vinegar and baking soda. Add to the batter and mix well. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl, making sure the ingredients are well blended and the batter is smooth.

Line two muffin pans with paper liners. Arrange the oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and bake the cupcakes, switching positions halfway through baking, until a tester comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool the cupcakes in the pan about 10 minutes, then remove and cool completely on a rack before frosting. Makes 24-36 cupcakes depending on the size of your muffin pan and how much you fill them.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:


2 (8 oz) packages of cream cheese, softened
2 sticks of butter, softened
1 Tsp vanilla extract
4 Cups sifted powdered sugar

In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla until smooth. Add in the sugar on low speed until incorporated, and blend on high until light and fluffy. Chill 2-3 hours in refrigerator to allow to solidify. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes using pastry bag and large star or round tip. Will frost approximately 24-28 cupcakes.

If this lawyer thing doesn't work out...

I could probably give it a go as a cupcake baker. Behold my creation for my father's birthday:

Random Post-Christmas Babble

I've lost my blogging mojo. There's so much going on at this time of year, and yet so little that feels like it's worth writing about. But because I feel guilty when I go more than 5 days without posting, I figure I should give a little quick and dirty snapshot of the things bouncing around my addled brain.

* Despite the pronouncements from the family that this would be a low gift giving year due to the economy being in the shitter, I really did clean up quite nicely. I got some wonderful bath stuff, a buffet from Pottery Barn, a Kitchenaid stand mixer (finally! and I didn't even have to get engaged or married to get one, either!), a new wreath for my front door because my mom decided the current one is "sad," and a terrycloth loungewear set. I am also allegedly getting a 2 parent painting crew to finally finish the painting of my house. And finally, I got at least one of the intangible cosmic sort of things I was hoping for, and still have my fingers crossed on a couple others. Hopefully the universe will deliver on those too.

* We had three vegetarians at Christmas dinner this year, and you would think my mother was told that these people would die if they accidentally touched meat the way the news threw her into a state of confusion and panic. She could NOT figure out what to make for a Christmas dinner meal that would be appealing to vegetarians, and then suddenly she decided that as long as we had eighty-two types of vegetables on the table, she could serve ham AND turkey. The vegetarians brought a quiche with fake tofu ham in it, and all was well. But the week of menu planning with my mom before she just decided to make every vegetable in the known universe, that was not fun to be a part of.

* We have this new stupid Christmas tradition here in the office that I'm very unhappy about. The new head of our department brought in a little stuffed elf doll that is supposed to "do mischief" to people's offices. Basically, whoever gets hit by the elf is supposed to pick another target and mess up their workspace somehow. Predictably in a place filled with soulless lawyers, this has been taken to serious extremes already. Last week saw one poor secretary's workspace blocked off with boxes floor to cieling, behind which there was tape 12 feet across in all directions from her filing cabinets to her desk to the walls of her cubicle. It took her several hours to undo the damage.

Despite my prounoucement that I found this whole thing stupid, some brave soul decided to mess up my office in the elf's name sometime before I got here on Friday. We're supposed to send a cheery little email to the group about how Paul the elf messed with our space, but I refused. Instead, I fixed everything he'd messed up, took the elf to another associate's office, and took every piece of paper on his desk and stacked it on top of his bookshelf. That was enough. There was no taping, no crazy decorating, no fire hazardry. And this associate has not sent a cheery little email about the elf's mischief, either. I think hopefully people by now have realized that a) Christmas is over and b) this idea was pretty dumb to begin with.

Bah Humbug. (Yeah, they say I should be more positive at work. What of it?!)

* Pray for my friend Jen, who is going to the dentist for the first time in years tomorrow because she has a serious tooth issue. She's very nervous, and she will need the support. I sent her to my dentist, who you may remember treated me mostly OK when I showed up there after nearly 9 years without a dental visit back in 2006. It helped that they gave me Nitrous, and then Valium when I didn't like the Nitrous. I told Jen to ask for both!

* I have absolutely zero plans for New Year's Eve as of right now, though I must say that the event at the Graveyard with a burlesque striptease that Tessa wrote about certainly sounds like it has potential. Or, there's always the incomparable Francine Reed at Blind Willie's, if I want to pay $50 for a reserved table seat. (Probably not.) I am not someone who feels the need to have crazy New Year's plans every year, and in fact I have not particularly enjoyed some of the more memorably over-the-top planned events I went to in years past. But still, I want to do SOMETHING to ring in the new year. (Other than watch a certain wedding webcast...)

* So maybe it's because we were drunk, or maybe it's because we were reminiscing about the geeky former life in which we both met, but Jen and I had a hilarious conversation just before Christmas about....bacon. We were talking about the problem with earthy crunchy people--the type who always eat healthy, do outdoorsy shit and are environmentally responsible (you know who you are--and I prounounced that I do not trust anyone who does not eat bacon. And I meant it! Seriously, bacon is one of life's great unexpected pleasures, and anyone who does not recognize its innate wonderfulness is suspect in my book. Fine, eat turkey bacon if you must, but do so with the recognition that you are attempting to compromise between bacon-y goodness and your earthy crunchy ways.

Along similar lines, I proclaimed on Christmas Eve (again a little drunkenly) that "mayonnaise makes everything better." You might expect to see a new blog dedicated to these concepts in the near future, as soon as Jen and I get off our asses and make it look like an actual blog.

* I can feel the natural progression of my sports allegiances to Atlanta teams occurring now, particularly as the Falcons and Hawks are actually pretty good this year. (Braves are going to need to work harder to win me over from the Red Sox.) You may recall that I have a pretty solid record of bringing sports championships to my city, and yes I do take all the credit for it. I've now been in Atlanta for 3 years, so it's about time for things to start turning around. I believe in Matty Ice! And I would totally have his babies.

* Congratulations to Jen and Tony, who in just 2 short days will be tying the knot in Vegas on New Year's Eve. I can honestly say this will be the first wedding ceremony I will have watched over the internet, but somehow it all makes sense. Have a great time, and best wishes for a wonderful life together.

See, thinking and talking about those two taking the big leap snapped me right out of my curmudgeonliness from earlier in this post. If that isn't a sign of real inspiration, I don't know what is.

Recipe Fest

I went on a cooking spree yesterday in an effort to test out 2 recipes I am trying to convince my mother to make for Thanksgiving. Both were excellent and easy, so I wanted to share.

My mother mentioned that she had tried to make a butternut squash soup with fontina cheese and sage, but that it had not turned out as she hoped. I liked the idea of a fall vegetable soup, and found this very easy recipe from Ina Garten (the Barefoot Contessa.) I added the butter & pine nuts at the end because I feel like every pureed soup requires some sort of garnish to make it complete, and the flavors mend very well together in this dish. Originally I wanted to add chopped shallots to the stock but I was out, so I added garlic instead. It was still great.

Roasted Vegetable Soup with Pine Nuts
(from Food Network/Barefoot Contessa/my modifications)

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1" chunks
6 medium carrotts, peeled and cut into 1" sections
1 small butternut squash, peeeled, seeded and cut into 1" chunks
2 T olive oil
1 T chopped garlic (or chopped shallots)
dash dried sage
dash dried rosemary
dash nutmeg
1 t dried ginger (or 1 T chopped fresh)
3 T butter
1/2 c. pine nuts
4 c. chicken stock
salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 425. Drizzle vegetables with olive oil and toss to coat. Spread on baking sheet and sprinkle with salt & pepper. Roast in oven until soft, approximately 35-40 min, turning at least once. (Do not allow to burn.) Remove vegetables from oven and let sit to cool slightly. In saucepot, heat chicken stock, 1 T of butter, sage, rosemary, nutmeg and ginger. In food processor, puree 1/2 of vegetables with 1/2 of stock. Pour into large stockpot. Puree remaining 1/2 of vegetables with 1/2 of stock and add to stockpot. Add additional chicken stock as needed to reach desired soup consistency, and simmmer on low for 5-10 minutes until just starts to bubble.

In small pan, sautee pine nuts in remaining butter, stirring constantly, until just lightly browned. Top each bowl of soup with 1 heaping spoonful of pine nut & butter mixture just before serving. Serves 4-6.


At my office Thanksgiving potluck last week, someone brought in a corn casserole that was so light and tasty that I have not been able to stop thinking about it. I decided the consistency sounded more like a corn pudding than any of the other recipes I found when I searched, and because I have a million chives growing in pots on my back porch I decided I would try this recipe. I ended up overcooking this by almost an hour from the recommended 45 minute cooking time, but it still did not burn (got a little crusty at worst) and when I took a bite it was fantastic. I'm hoping to convince my mom to have this on our Thanksgiving menu this year.

Corn-Chive Pudding
(from Epicurious)

4-5 ears of sweet corn, steamed or boiled (or 20 oz. frozen corn kernels)
4 eggs
2 c. milk
1/4 c. chopped fresh chives
1/2 t. vanilla extract
3 T flour
1 t salt
1/4 c. sugar
butter to coat souffle dish

Heat oven to 350. Generously butter a souffle or glass/ceramic casserole. If using fresh corn on the cob, strip kernels from cob. Chop 1/2 of corn kernels in food processor or finely mince by hand. Add chopped corn and whole kernels to bowl and stir in salt and sugar. In another bowl, combine milk, eggs, vanilla, flour and chives. Whisk until smooth. Pour into bowl with corn mixture and stir all until well mixed. Pour into buttered souffle or casserole, and bake in oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour, depending on when pudding appears set in the middle. Serves 6-8.

Today's Funny

I have always aspired to be one of those women who makes beautiful and delicious birthday cakes decorated perfectly into amazingly gorgeous designs. Alas, my hand-eye coordination ain't the greatest and I discovered long ago that making a birthday cake takes WAY too much work when you're a bit of a perfectionist. I hung up my icing bag and star tips a few years ago, and will only be pulled out of retirement for the most important of occasions.

But even though I've quit the trade myself, I still enjoy some good cake porn, or better yet, the opportunity to make fun of hilariously awful cakes. Someone sent me today's funny link, the Cake Wrecks blog, and it is a doozy. Be sure to keep reading the entries beyond the first page, because they just get better and better. My personal favorites are the creepy ass clowns at the top, and the decorators who take the written instructions for decorating just a little too literally.

I can assure you that back when I was an active cake baker, MY cakes were never vulgar or marred by hilarious misspellings. I did, however, once turn an entire party's worth of mouths an unfortunate color when I was instructed to make a black and white cake. Let's just say mixing all of the food colorings until the frosting was as close to black as I could get it MAY have been a bad idea.

Upon Request

Someone has asked that I post the recipe for my dinner last night, and I will oblige. I discovered this recipe in Cooking Light magazine 6 or 7 years ago and have been enjoying it ever since with my own modifications, which are reflected below as opposed to the linked recipe. While it takes awhile to cook, the prep time is not bad and the results are fantastic. Even though it is called a tagine, you do not need to have one of the fancy conical bakers pictured above in order to make this; any dutch oven or deep saucepan will do.

Chicken Tagine with Lemon and Olives

2 large or 3 smaller skinless boneless chicken breasts
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. black pepper
1 T. olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 c. reduced-sodium chicken broth
3/4 c. whole green olives, pitted and sliced
3/4 c. white mushrooms, sliced
1 T. cinnamon
1/2 t. ground ginger
1 1/2 t. grated lemon rind
Juice of one lemon
1 T. fresh cilantro, minced (or 1 t. dried)
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, minced (if desired)

Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over high heat. Add chicken; cook 3 minutes on each side or until browned. Remove chicken from pan. Add onion, mushrooms and garlic to pan; cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add chicken, broth, olives, cinnamon, and ginger; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 45 minutes. Turn chicken over; cook, uncovered, 15 minutes. Add lemon rind, juice, cilantro, and parsley to pan; cook for 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Serve chicken either pulled and shredded in the sauce, or as whole breasts with sauce spooned over.

I like to serve this over whole wheat couscous, which you can find at any grocery store and make from a box in under 10 minutes. Last night, I put the tagine in the oven for an hour rather than simmering it on the stove for 45 minutes, and I roasted carrots, sweet potatoes and golden beets alongside it. The end result meal took awhile, but was truly wonderful.

(This can also be made with chicken thighs or pieces instead of breasts, though the fat content will rise.)

Recipe Fest continues

For a few months now, I've gotten a box of organic locally-grown produce delivered to my house once every two weeks. Usually there is at least one thing in each box that I don't eat (most commonly eggplant or raspberries), but the rest of the box is always a surprise of the culinary challenges I will have for the following two weeks: Can I figure out a neat way to use each item so that nothing in the box goes bad before I have a chance to eat it?

The last box I received contained a pint of blueberries, and I had intended to use them but hadn't gotten around to it when the next box arrived on Friday...with another pint of blueberries. Virtually wallowing in blueberries at this point, as well as a boatload of peaches and cherries that I'd bought for myself and hadn't yet eaten, I realized on Friday night that I should set about baking something with all of these fruits. I found and made the following recipe on Saturday morning, and it was absolutely delicious. Enjoy!

Blueberry-Lemon Bread

1 1/2 c. all purpose flour, plus 1 T flour
1 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
6 T. (3/4 stick) butter, room temperature
1 c. granulated sugar
1/3 c. powdered sugar
2 large eggs
2 t. grated lemon peel
1/2 c. milk
1 1/2 c. fresh blueberries
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 325°F. Butter nonstick 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 1/2-inch loaf pan. Wash and drain blueberries, and in a small bowl toss with 1 T flour until blueberries are just coated. Combine first 3 ingredients in small bowl. Using electric mixer, cream butter with 1 c. granulated sugar in large bowl until mixture is light and fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add lemon peel. Mix in dry ingredients alternatively with milk, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Fold in blueberries. Spoon batter into prepared loaf pan. Bake until golden brown and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, bring 1/3 c. powdered sugar and lemon juice to boil in small saucepan, stirring until sugar dissolves.

Pierce top of hot loaf several times with toothpick. Pour hot lemon and sugar mixture over loaf in pan. Cool 30 minutes in pan on rack. Turn bread out of pan and cool completely on rack.

(This recipe is modified slightly from the online version in the flouring of the blueberries to prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the bread during baking, and changing the sugar in the icing to powdered instead of granulated to give a smoother icing consistency.)

Enjoy!

Since I still have way too many peaches for my own good, I am going to attempt to make a definitive peach cobbler this evening. If that turns out well, I'll share that recipe later this week.

Rediscovering my inner chef

Normally, cooking dinner just for myself seems like far too much work. I either make something easy like a burger or tuna salad, or I eat something frozen, delivered, or purchased at Whole Foods. When I do cook, I often am left with leftovers that I don't ever eat, so I end up feeling really guilty for letting so food go to waste. (My farmer mother taught me well.) But as part of a general push to try to save money, eat healthier and hopefully take off the pounds I have put on since moving to Georgia and discovering both stress and beer, I am trying to cook more often and eat junk and restaurant stuff less. Last week, I made meatloaf with brussels sprouts and mashed potatoes, an old standby of comfort food that I have made for years. But much like the Grilled Stuffed Chicken Saltimbocca I invented a few weeks ago, I have had the urge lately to create more new recipes that are uniquely my own.

Tonight, I created the following meal:

Lemon-Oregano Shrimp
Greek Vegetable "Risotto"
Sauteed Zucchini

Rather than give traditional recipes, I'll just explain how I made this dinner. All amounts are approximate and yielded two generous or three normal sized servings.

For the shrimp:

Devein and peel one pound of large gulf shrimp. Soak in a bowl of lukewarm water with 1/2 cup of salt for 10 minutes. Squeeze and zest one large lemon into a small bowl. Add 3 T fresh chopped oregano, 2 cloves crushed pressed garlic, and 1/2 c. olive oil. Drain shrimp and toss with mixture to coat. Let sit for at least 15 minutes for flavors to absorb. Add to medium-high saute pan and saute until cooked through. Salt and pepper to taste.

For the zucchini:

Wash and chop zucchini into 1/2- 3/4 inch thick slices. Add 1 T olive oil to skillet and one T fresh herbs (I used oregano since I had it) with salt and pepper. Over medium heat, saute zucchini until lightly browned but NOT mushy.

For the Greek "risotto":

I intended to make couscous but got home and realized I did not have any. Oops. Instead, I cooked 1 c. orzo in a pot of half water and half chicken broth, for 7 minutes before draining. I chopped 1/3 of a red pepper, 1/3 of a yellow pepper, and 1/3 of an orange pepper along with 1/2 of an onion and a half a pint of mushrooms, and sauteed in olive oil. I also added about 10 pitted kalamata olives. When vegetables were nicely sauteed, I added the orzo and stirred slowly for 2 minutes. I added 1/2 c. feta and continued to stir for 2 minutes to allow feta to partially melt before serving.

It was fantastic! Though not a great photo, here is the finished product:

"I should have a restaurant."

That's what I always think on those rare occasions when I work in the kitchen without a net, creating a meal without any recipes at all. Of course I know that owning a restaurant is insanely hard and creating an entire menu that people will want to eat and enjoy is beyond my self-taught cooking abilities. But still, sometimes when I invent a recipe that's truly fantastic, I forget all that and start to dream.

Last night, I invented this recipe for a dinner with friends. It was so good, I've got to make it again...possibly tonight. It seems like a lot of work, but it looks beautiful and tastes phenomenal.

Grilled Stuffed Chicken Saltimbocca

I made Grilled Stuffed Chicken Saltimbocca. It was so good, I figured I'd share the recipe in case anyone else wants to try it.

4 boneless chicken breasts
8 slices of prosciutto
4 slices of fontina cheese
4-5 leaves of fresh sage per chicken breast
3/4 c. marsala wine
1 c. olive oil
1 t dried rosemary
1 t dried sage
1 t dried thyme
1 t dried oregano

Roasted Garlic-Oregano Vinaigrette, recipe follows

Slice through side of each chicken breast almost all the way through, to form a deep pocket for stuffing. Into pocket of each chicken breast, layer 4-5 leaves sage, 2 slices prosciutto, and 1 slice fontina. Fold chicken breast over so that stuffing is covered. Mix olive oil, herbs and marsala wine and pour over chicken breasts. Chill 1 hour. On medium hot grill, place chicken breasts on edges of grill away from open flame, and grill 15-20 minutes each side, turning periodically. Continue grilling until chicken is cooked through and cheese in center has melted. Remove from grill, and pour vinaigrette over top to serve.

Oregano vinaigrette:

8 cloves garlic, roasted in olive oil
2 T chopped fresh oregano and 1 t dried
2 T honey
1/4 c. white wine vinegar
1 t dried or 2 T fresh parsley
3/4 c. olive oil

Whisk ingredients together and let sit 20 minutes for flavors to meld. Pour a generous spoonful over each warm chicken breast fresh off grill. Serve.

Will wonders never cease

Despite my whining and worry, our Thanksgiving dinner was in fact entirely edible. My aunt's mother has apparently learned her own limitations and did not attempt to make things that were too complicated or prone to failure. So, there was no gravy or mashed potatoes, but baked white and sweet potatoes which were fine. (Luckily thanks to my mom making me a full turkey dinner last weekend, I'd about had enough mashed potatoes and gravy to last a lifetime anyhow.) The stuffing she made had apples and sausage in it and was actually very tasty, the turkey wasn't too dry, and we made the standard green bean casserole as a side to accompany their bland sauteed zucchini and summer squash. Mom and I also made the pecan pie and pumpkin cheesecake, which were as good as ever.

All in all it was a very nice dinner and I felt guilty for doubting their abilities. Not having gotten the cooking bug out of my system, however, when we got home that night I decided to bake a ton of pumpkin bread. I fear I will be eating it for weeks, I made so much!

On Friday we decided to brave the outlet mall up on 400, which was probably a bad idea. Every year we swear we'll never do Black Friday again, and every year we ignore it and do it anyway. About $1000 later, a hefty chunk of my Christmas shopping is done AND I got lots of new fall/winter clothes for myself. But still, it was terribly exhausting.

Now I'm trying to get a ton of work done so that I can head out of town on Wednesday evening for the *gulp* poker tournament in New Orleans. Anxiety is growing by the day, but expect a full rundown of the plan before I leave on Wednesday. I'm going to try to take my laptop with me as well and blog about it on the road.

Why moms are great

Yesterday, I drove up to my parents' house to bake two pumpkin cheesecakes--one for Thanksgiving, one for our office potluck tomorrow. My oven is too tempermental to make a cheesecake because the convection turns on whether I want it to or not and the oven cooks unevenly, so I made arrangements to go and use theirs for the afternoon. When I got there, my mother had made an entire turkey dinner for me! She knew how bummed I was about not getting a really good Thanksgiving dinner so she made one ahead of time. And she also packaged a bunch of it up for me and for a friend of mine who is not going to be with family for Thanksgiving so that he will have a wonderful feast. It was such an unexpected and wonderful thing to do that I was really touched. 32 years old and she's still spoiling her baby.

Meanwhile, the cheesecakes turned out great and will hopefully be a big hit at the work potluck tomorrow.

Thanksgiving plans foiled!

Every year, I look forward to cooking a huge Thanksgiving feast with my mother. It's probably my favorite part of the holiday season, because we always come up with an elaborate and awesome menu and work together to make it a great holiday for everyone. And when my parents lived in Florida, I knew that even if my mother wasn't hosting Thanksgiving, at least we'd be going to my grandparents' house where my grandmother is a phenomenal cook.

I have one unfortunate dim memory from about 10 years ago when my aunt's mother decided to host Thanksgiving, in the trailer park where she and my aunt's father lived. My aunt is not a great cook but she makes do, but her mother was just terrible. I distinctly recall not wanting to eat anything that she made, and having to push food around the plate to avoid appearing rude.

Well, I just talked to my parents and my aunt and her mother are adamant that they want to host Thanksgiving this year and do all the cooking. They will allow us to bring only a vegetable/relish tray, and dessert. And the second I heard this my heart just sank. Last week I bought the November Gourmet magazine and was looking forward to poring over it with my mom on Sunday to come up with our new menu, and instead I'm faced with the prospect of not cooking anything other than my cheesecake, and having to eat what will certainly be unappetizing food. I feel like a terrible person for saying that, but for someone who actually finds the prospect of cooking a huge meal for a special holiday, taking that away from me is really hard to swallow.

I wish I could organize a small Thanksgiving evening dinner with friends so that I would have an excuse to cook. THAT is how desperate I am to make a feast this year. Hell, I may have to make a turkey breast with dressing, potatoes and green beans for dinner tonight just to get my fix. At least we're having a Thanksgiving potluck here in the office next week, which even if it's only so-so will probably top what I'll have on the actual holiday.

Yes, I'm sulky and insulting of their cooking skills. But some people should just realize that they are not made to be cooks, and give it over to those who know what they are doing. There, I said it.