Foodie Forgiveness May 30, 2009

Well, I’m back and it is with an apology.  I have been a sucky blogger.  There, I said it.  So, for those of you I have abandoned, I am truly sorry.  And to be honest, I don’t even write for you as much as I do for myself sometimes.  It’s just nice to put words to my thoughts and hopefully along the way, someone will get something out of it. 

For those of you that know my family and I, you are probably aware of a lot of changes going on in our life right now.  We are in the process of doing long-term missions work overseas, so there is a lot of stuff involved in the process and blogging isn’t always my priority.  But, I found myself missing it, and I decided that if I’m gonna do it again, then I will do it right.  So, here we go again. 

By the way, I have missed you all!

Rice pudding regret March 4, 2009

Do you have a food that you’re afraid of?  I mean, really creeped out by.  I have some serious texture issues with certain foods and they downright scare me.  Stupid, I know, but true.  There’s a list, not a very long one, but a list that includes bananas ( I like the flavor, just not the texture), sweet potatoes, rice pudding, flan, tapioca…..you get the idea. 

This past month in one of my favorite magazines Bon Appetit there is a recipe for Vanilla Bean Rice Pudding.  I’m all about conquering my fears lately, so I decided that I would be a big girl and give it a try.  So, after 20 something years of never eating rice pudding, I now have a new favorite dessert.  It’s quite liberating to try and succeed at something you’re afraid of.  So, I’m gonna give to you the recipe that changed my rice pudding mind forever……no more rice pudding regret.

1 1/2C water, 3/4C basmati rice, 1/4 tsp. salt, 3C whole milk, 1C heavy cream, 1/2C sugar, 1 vanilla bean split lengthwise.

Bring water, rice and salt to a simmer in heavy large saucepan over med-high heat.  Reduce heat to low; cover.  Simmer until water is absorbed, about 10 minutes.  Add milk, cream, and sugar.  Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add bean.  Increase heat to medium; cook uncovered until rice is tender and mixture thickens slightly to a soft, creamy texture, stirring occasionally about 35 minutes.

Remove pudding from heat and discard vanilla bean.  Divide pudding evenly among small bowls.  Serve warm or press plastic wrap directly onto surface of each pudding and chill thoroughly.  Keep refrigerated. 

So, are you ready to conquer your culinary fear?  Let me know what you think!

Holiday hangover December 30, 2008

Well, did you survive the holidays?   I would hope you actually enjoyed them instead of just surviving them.  I hate that we usually end up hanging on for dear life and trying to just “make it through.”  As for me, this year proved to be one of the busiest I’ve had in a while.  In addition to working a million hours at Christmastime for all of the parties that companies have, I have established my own clientle that I bake consistently for and they pulled out all the stops at Christmas, too.  So, I had my baking to do, along with all of the baking at work for the gazillion different parties, and the people that pay me to bake for them, too.  Aren’t I supposed to be sick of it all by now?  Call me a glutton for punishment, but I never seem to reach that point. 

I was thinking of things and ways to make it all easier….now I know this is too late for Christmas, but perhaps you can use this tip for a  future chaotic time.  I have tons of cookbooks.  I love them.  I can sit down and read them like novels, really.  However, when I need a recipe fast and I don’t wanna take the time to try and remember which cookbook I saw it in, I need an alternative.  So, I’ve created my own little computer cookbook if you will.  Here’s how it works……whenever I see a recipe online, it could be anywhere.  On a cooking website, on someone’s blog, anywhere, I highlight it, copy it, and then open up a notepad or word document and paste it into the document.  Then I title the entry with the recipe title.  I have a system of folders labeled with every type of food possible….appetizers, bars, brownies, cookies, side dishes, veggies, soups, dips, drinks….you get the idea.  Then, I save the document to the appropriate file and when I need something specific, say an appetizer, I know exactly which folder to go to.  Granted, these are different recipes than in my cookbooks, but my database grows daily and is probably more extensive now than my cookbook collection.

The point is, it doesn’t have to be hard and stressful.  Take a few shortcuts and make it easier on yourself.  Maybe that way you’ll have some time to actually enjoy it all!

By the way, what did you end up making for Christmas?

Christmas Confections December 17, 2008

Christmas is my favorite time of the year.  I know everyone says that, and I’m sure they mean it, but everyone means it in their own way and for their own reasons.  Me, being a baker, makes it the time to dust off old recipes, try out new ones and get a little crazy whippin’ up some oldies but goodies!   I love the smell in the house of baking cookies and having flour all over the counter from using cookie cutters and having frosting all over the place.  It doesn’t get much better than that.

I also love playing scientist.  Let me clarify, I love trying to conquer things that have alluded me before or things I’ve just never tried.  I especially love it when it involves a candy thermometer!  That’s when I know it’s gonna get tough!!  I relish the challenge and almost always relish the results…..I said almost.   So, I figured I’d put you up to the test and see what you can do……are you up for it?

I’ll start with an easy challenge….I’ve tried several variations of this recipe and the easiest one I’ve found is a recipe by Paula Deen called creamy caramels.  I love the thought of homemade caramels but have never had great results with it….until this recipe.  This takes a little patience but is well worth the result.  The patience comes from letting the sugar butter and syrup mixture come up to temperature slowly, so that it doesn’t scorch.   Don’t be tempted to turn up the heat to hurry the process, I promise it’s worth the wait. 

2 sticks butter,  2 1/4C packed light brown sugar, 1/8 tsp. salt,  1C white corn syrup, 1-14oz. can sweetened condensed milk, 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Butter a 9×9 square glass pan.  Set aside.  In a heavy saucepan, over MEDIUM heat, melt butter; stir in sugar and salt with wooden spoon.  Stir in syrup, followed by condensed milk. Using candy thermometer, cook mixture to 245 degrees, stirring constantly.   Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.  Pour into prepared pan and allow to cool completely.  While mixture is cooling, cut waxed paper or plastic wrap in rectangular pieces.  Cut cold candy into small pieces and wrap individually.  You can get as many as 100 pieces out of 1 batch because of the thickness.

Ok, there’s your first challenge……let me know if you beat it or if it beats you!!

What to pick? November 12, 2008

I don’t know if you’re like me, but every year at holiday time I make a pile of the recipes that I want to try and make that season.  It runs the gammut from a new take on green bean casserole to truffles to a kind of pie that my husband may actually like.  Every year it happens and every year I set myself up for burn out.   There is such a thing as too much.  Granted, for me that is farther away than for most of you, but even for me there is a limit.  I sat down yesterday and counted out the number of recipes in my pile and it was 94.   Since there are only 43 more days until Christmas (gasp)! that would mean I would have to make more than 2 a day to accomplish my goal.  Impossible!!  So, here’s the dilemma.  Which ones do I pick?  How do I choose?  Don’t make fun…..this is actually something I struggle with.  Laugh if you must, but I end up trying to reach the goal and never having fun with it in the process.

This year’s goal is going to be different.  I took my recipe pile and I divided it into categories of food (i.e. appetizers, entrees, desserts, soups, etc.) and then, in each pile I picked out the 2 that I most wanted to make.  My pile of 94 has now been scaled back to a manageable 18.  Is that still too much?  Well, I figure I can accomplish that and who knows, if I get that all done and still have time on my hands, maybe I’ll go back to the pile.

What are you most looking forward to making this season?  Time-honored favorites that you’ve made the same way for years or new takes on an old classic?  I’d love to hear about it!

A Magazine Mess October 15, 2008

I don’t know if you’re like me, but I cut out recipes from any magazine that I get.  Instead of keeping the entire magazine for just a few recipes, I cut out the ones I want and throw the rest of the mag away.  Well, this worked for me for a while, but then my clipping collection started to take over!  I literally had clippings pouring out of every cookbook and recipe file I have.  So, I decided to take action and I thought I would tell you how easy it was.

Here was my idea…..I wanted something I could mount the clippings in, much like a cookbook.  So, I bought an empty 3-ring binder, a pack of notebook paper and some tape.  I went through my clippings, and this is the part that took a while, and sorted them by type of recipe.  Then I taped a recipe, or in some cases 2 recipes to a piece of the notebook paper.  I labeled them with a marker, big and bold so that I could see the title when flipping through the pages.  Then, I just put them in the binder in the order that I wanted.  It was super easy, it just took a little time.   I’m a mom, like most of you, so I don’t have big blocks of time to myself.  So, I just kept my stuff out and when I had a few minutes here and there I worked on it.  It probably took a couple of hours total, but it majorly cleaned out my recipe stash.  Just an idea….tweak it to fit your situation.

As for fall baking, I’m doing surprisingly well, as are some of you.  I’ve tackled iced pumpkin bars, pumpkin bread, apple cider cupcakes, pear-apple tatin….so far so good.  What have you tackled?

Purely Pumpkin October 3, 2008

Fall is in the air, ovens are turned on, and the smells are wafting through the house.  This, by far, is my favorite time of year.  I’ve never been one for summer or sweating to death on a daily basis.  Give me sweaters and layers and windows open and the smell of banana bread and I’m a happy girl!

I was pulling my fall recipes out today and deciding on what I wanted to make next and I was struck by how many pumpkin recipes I have.  I think most of you are aware of this, but if not, here it comes….pumpkin isn’t just for pies anymore!!  There, I said it.  The pumpkin is very underrated.  So, in the spirit of fall baking, which I’ve heard some of you are doing and I’m very proud, here are a few ideas for pumpkin.

Pumpkin Butterscotch Pie, Pumpking and Brown Sugar Creme Brulee, Pumpking Prailine Trifle, Pumpkin Ice Cream with Toffee Sauce, Pumpkin Spice Layer Cake with Caramel and Cream Cheese Frosting, Pumpkin Cheesecake….just to name a few.  All of the recipes that I just told you about can be found on epicurious.com.  That is the database for all the recipes from bon appetit magazine and gourmet magazine.  It’s a really good database to pull from and I use it a lot.  Or heck, just go to your favorite recipe website and type in the word pumpkin and see what you get.   I’m telling you, pumpkins aren’t just for pies anymore!!

Here are some other sites to try:  foodnetwork.com, allrecipes.com, kraftfoods.com, kingarthurflour.com,  those are just a few of my favorites!!  Enjoy and let me know what kind of pumpkin delight you make next!!

Bacon and banana birthdays September 15, 2008

If any of you have children, you will understand that some kids have an odd taste in food. My youngest daughter is 3 today and I was asking her what she wanted for her birthday dinner. Her response to me was “bacon.” Not quite what I was expecting….I proceeded to tell her that she needed to eat something else besides bacon and she told me she wanted bananas. Bacon and bananas. What kind of birthday meal is that? I was trying to think of what I could possibly make with those ingredients. Not much came to mind, by the way. So, I decided to tackle it 2 different ways. I used the bananas to make chocolate chip-banana bread. It’s just like banana bread, except for the chocolate chips and it’s fierce! One of my favorites. I decided to leave the bacon alone, at least for her and I would juice it up for the rest of us. I mixed 1C brown sugar, 1 tsp. black pepper and 1 tsp. cayenne altogether in a bowl and sprinkled it on top of raw bacon on a sheet pan. Pop it into the oven until it’s crispy and you’ll have some killer bacon. If you think that may be too spicy for you, cut the cayenne back a little, but it’s supposed to have a kick!

I would love to know what some of your favorite birthday food requests have been. Especially the moms. I think the bacon and banana birthday is gonna go down in our family history as one of the oddest, that’s for sure!

How do you feel about organic? September 4, 2008

I was reading one of the new cookbooks that I got for my birthday, and in it there is a chapter about organic foods.  It got me wondering how important organic food is to everyone or if its something that “other” people do, but you don’t mess with.   To be honest, I find myself somewhere in between an organic goddess and totally ignorant.   I realize there are certain foods that should be purchased organically, but I also don’t subscribe to the entire lifestyle.  Anyway, in this cookbook, which is called “The Sneaky Chef” there is a chapter about organic foods and which ones are the most important to buy organically.  I thought I’d share that with you.

Apparently there is a list referred to as “The Dirty Dozen.”  This list contains the most heavily contaminated foods by pesticides and residues.  Because these foods have thinner skins than others, they absorb the pesticides easier.  The foods you should buy organically are:  Peaches, strawberries, apples, spinach, nectarines, celery, pears, cherries, potatoes, sweet bell peppers, raspberries and grapes.  Keep in mind next time you go to the store that many of the foods we eat on a regular basis are heavily contaminated.

On the flip side of that are a list of foods that are the least contaminated due to their thick skin or coating.  They are:  Sweet corn, avocados, pineapples, cauliflower, mangoes, sweet peas, asparagus, onions, broccoli, bananas, kiwis, and papayas.  Those have officially made the safe list.

Again, I’m not a huge organic promoter, but I do realize the importance of buying some foods this way.  I thought you may like to have a list to have handy next time you head to the store.

Cake crisis August 28, 2008

Hey.  I know it’s been a while.  I’m in a funk, that’s the best way to describe it.  So, I haven’t been exactly brimming with culinary anecdotes to share.  I’m working on it.  I do have a dilemma that I need some advice on, however.

My birthday is coming up on Sunday and my husband asked me what kind of cake I wanted.  I don’t want him to go buy a cake, when I can make a perfectly good one.  But do I really want to make my own birthday cake?  Should I make him do it?  I thought about picking out a recipe that was easy enough that he could do it, but then I figured I’d just hover over him and end up doing it anyway.  Should I just suck it up and let him buy me a cake?  Or should I make my own?  Is it weird that I’m even concerned about this? 

Maybe it’s not a huge crisis, but it’s what plaguing me at the moment.  My “so-called” funk has put a damper on my culinary escapades lately.  I think it’s stemming from my daughter starting kindergarten.  That was hard.  Ok, enough blabbing for now.  Let me know what you’d do.