cooking ahead...

last year for new year's eve, our sweet friends from ATL came to visit the delta. to celebrate, we had a fo-real dinner party and then went to ground zero blues club for dancing and (just a teensy weensy) bit of drinking. NYDay we vegged out, watched football, and ate the lucky foods for the new year. 

we'll be in austin ringing in 2012, but even though we'll be away from home, that doesn't mean i won't get to do a little new year's cooking.

champagne jello shots for NYE, anyone?

found this recipe on pintrest and definitely want to try it: Boil 1 cup of champagne and mix in flavorless jello then add an additional 1 and a half cups of champagne distribute into cups a viola you have champagne jello shots! (if you want them to stand on their own then just use less liquid...like 3/4 cup instead of 1 and a half)

and then black eyed pea hummus for good luck new year's day!

if time (and my hostess) permits, then we may even get some cabbage or turnip greens for money, and pork for progress. what are you cooking for the ny?

brainstorming boone's birthday..

cake. 

i really get excited every march to make boone's birthday cake...i really love baking for his birthday since time in the kitchen= love. anyway, it's the one time i feel totally justified going ALL OUT and spending hours and racking up a pretty significant grocery bill buying ingredients for a baking endeavor.  the first year we dated i made him an icebox cake with chocolate wafers and whipped cream, and last year i made smitten kitchen's chocolate peanut butter cake that was a huge ordeal but SO, SO worth it.

this year I want to top that. boone's favorite flavors are chocolate, peanut butter, ice cream, and caramel. here are my thoughts thus far...

1. chocolate stout cake from smitten kitchen

2. a sweet and salty caramel cake from baked.

 3. an oatmeal chocolate chip cake from bake or break...

4. ina garten's black and white angel food cake...

5. or a coconut cake (but mostly this would be more for me and because it's beautiful and less for the birthday boy.) enjoy the photo because I probably won't make it this time.

what kind of cake would you make for your lover's birthday? can you think of a great recipe (with chocolate/caramel/peanut butter) i could make for boone?

why they call it FAT tuesday...

so tomorrow is ash wednesday, marking the beginning of Lent. i'm not sure what's gotten into me, but i've decided to give up sweets for all forty days. God help me.

in my own "last hurrah" to all things delicious, i decided to make two giant king cakes this weekend for our church's mardi gras celebration. this way, i could use up my excess butter/sugar/eggs AND store up as many calories as possible. good idea? i think so. anyway, this is absolutely the most authentic recipe i've found (and growing up so close to new orleans, i know my king cake) so it's totally worth the time and caloric intake. it's just perfect.


well, it's perfect if you think that using nearly a pound of butter and enough sugar to give anyone diabetes is ok...


i wish you could taste this over the interweb...


if you like what you see, leave a comment and i'll email you my new recipe plus a few tweaks I added from other king cake versions i've tried. It's sooo good..the dough has a lovely depth of flavor and stays moist for a relatively long time. anyway, i'd LOVE to share it... or i can post it. let me know!

the most perfect king cake recipe

can you read this? I think if you click on it and open it in another window it should get bigger...
if not, leave me your email address below and I'll send a bigger file to you! it's so long and involved that it would take days to type out.
also, make a note to add lemon zest to the dough (1 1/2 tablespoons) and use brown sugar instead of white sugar in the filling to make it extra delicious. In case you're wondering where i got it, I think this came from USA Today or something like it...enjoy friends!

time suck strategy #6 in action...

#6 bake something that smells good with flour and/or sugar...
so last night i made some chocolate chip banana bread before boone got home from class to kill precious time AND because our bananas were the color of mississippi mud. while toodling around the internet i found this recipe on the delicious life and when sarah says it's "the last chocolate chip banana bread recipe you'll ever need," she wasn't kidding. it's just plain fantastic.




we ate one loaf in less than 12 hours, and knocked back 1/2 of the second loaf after dinner tonight. seriously. make this bread...now.



ps- sorry the photos are so bad... i'll figure lighting out sooner or later. also, i didn't have any baking soda (it all got dumped on our rug because it gets a strange musty smell every so often. i'd get rid of it, but it was a gift, plus the baking soda works) anyway, the bread didn't rise as much as it should have, but, so what? the chocolate/banana combo totally hit the spot.

a beautiful kitchen isn't THAT complicated...

when the power (and heat) went out on Christmas day, the boone family decided to movie theatre to stay warm. apparently everyone else in town had the same idea. anyway, my wonderful, adorable MiL and i wanted to see it's complicated, so off we went.





guys, i was super disappointed. everything and everyone, (espesh the three blonde, blue eyed, WHITE-toothed children) was just way too perfect looking... and i thought that every actor except meryl streep was overdoing it.

but the set design was wonderful. every time they'd have a scene in the kitchen i'd stop paying attention to the dialogue and just look around at the way they'd decorated it. the whole movie revolved around gutting this kitchen and building a better one, but WHY? it's perfect.. white dishes, double ovens, aluminum finishes on everything, a big window, bottles of balsamic vinegar everywhere...i bet i could cook for days in that place without sleep.




anyway, thought i'd share a few shots from the movie in case you haven't seen it yet. it's not as good as something's gotta give, but the sets were pretty fantastic. maybe one day, if i'm a very very good girl, i'll have this kitchen in my own house.

stay tuned! i'll post a few non-kitchen photos later!
images from traditional home and remodelisa

mmm...

friends,
sorry for being MIA. real life has been keeping me from playing on the interweb! boo.
things haven't calmed down much but i was looking for something delish to make for dinner this week and found THIS... swiss chard and sweet potato gratin.


i know, right? who wants to make it with me and compare notes?

$30/week

today was rainy and icky in the ATL... which was fine since boone and i were swamped with homework. our only plans (other than writing our papers) were to go to the grocery store for the week and watch house. (which was fab, btw).

i mention that we went to the groc. because this week we're participating in a hunger awareness project coordinated by tami of the ATL food blog, running with tweezers.

here's the deal. we're going to eat on $30/person this week and i'll blog about it. we're not going to cheat and eat things we already have in the freezer or pantry... nope. today, we're going to the store and starting from scratch since the national average for a person receiving food assistance is between $21 and $24 per week. can you believe how low that is?

if you're as incredulous as i was then here are some other hunger stats from her blog:

• At some point during the year, 1 in 5 Americans receives food assistance from 1 or more of the 15 programs providing help.
• In 2009, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will help feed 31 million people per month. The average monthly benefit? $101.
• Between March 2007 and March 2008, the global price of food rose 43%. 1 billion people - 1/6th of the world's population - live on $1 per day.

check back for our grocery list and recipes from this week and to see how our experiment is going...

***update
so as it turns out, this wasn't a stretch for us. in fact, i did a little backwork and research and realized that, er...um.. this was what we ALREADY spent on groceries each week. i admit, i was pretty surprised to realize that we were completely capable of meeting this challenge. I didn't post our recipes because it sort of seemed like cheating. I'll try again soon and maybe try to create fab, easy things on this "budget"

seriously...

i'm not kidding, guys... i want your fall recipes!

get excited! it's the fall recipe swap...

so a friend made a post yesterday calling for everyone's fav fall recipes, and i think i need to follow suit and expand the pool of delishy options.

so, if you feel so inclined (and i hope you do) then post your fav recipes for cool weather food as a comment on my blog.

i know it's a pain to type a bunch of stuff into a little box, but think of the time you spend leaving the comment as service for the greater good. seriously, we'll all benefit from the recipe sharing!

i posted my favorite cool weather recipe from veg. times over on her blog...and here's my other new favorite from the flying biscuit cafe.

really and truly my fav fall meal is my grandmother's chicken and dumplings, (but that's a family secret and you just can't post those on the internet). we just ate this vegetable cobbler and it's warm, filling, and super cheap to make. basically this recipe is same as the FB, but i leave out the turnip and add more carrots. Also, you can use store-bought pie crust if you're in a rush.

For filling: 3 Tbs butter, divided
1 lg onion
2 stalks celery
1 1/2 lbs red potatoes cut in half
3 lg carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2" pieces
2 cups frozen peas
8 oz fresh shiitake mushrooms
1/4 cup chives
3/4 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
salt
1 cup water
1 cup whipping cream
1 Tbs all purpose-flour
In a heavy stock pot, melt 2 Tbs butter over med. heat. Add onion and celery and saute until tender and golden. Add potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, chives and seasonings. Stir well. Add vegetable broth and water and bring to a strong simmer. cover and cook until everything is tender (15 minutes or so). Stir in cream and add peas.
Mix remaining butter and flour into a small bowl and blend. stir into stew and simmer until it thickens slightly. Ladle stew into ramekins or large corningware dish.

For Cobbler crust:
2 cups flour
1 Tbs double acting baking powder
1 tsp salt
6 Tbs chilled butter cut into 1/2" pieces
2 lg eggs
1/2 cup whole milk
preheat oven to 425 degrees. sift flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. add butter and rub it in with fingertips until mixture resembles a course meal. Add eggs and milk and stir until soft moint dough forms.
Turn dough out onto generously floured surface. knead gently just to combine. Place an equal amount on top of each of your containers with the vegetable mixture and press down. Bake until topping is golden (18-25 minutes).

sorry that both of my recipes i shared are sans-meat... but they're both delish, promise!

district nine and the drive in...

we went to see district 9 last night at the drive-in and had a picnic.

#1 seeing a movie at the drive-in is just plain awesome.

#2 our dinner was pretty delish too. i made turkey and roasted red pepper pinwheels, a great pasta salad, and boone made us cookies and an avacado, black bean, corn salsa doused in lime. mmmmm. the only thing missing was a red checkered tablecloth and wine in a juice-box.

#3 go see district nine. it's one of the best commentaries on apartheid, intolerance, and violence that i've ever seen. the thing is, i usually hate violent movies--hate them-- but this one doesn't glorify it. in fact, it shows violence for what it is- complicated, devastating, sometimes unavoidable.

honestly, i didn't know anything about district nine (save that it was some sort of sci-fi alien thing) but as we drove away still listening to the soundtrack on the radio, boone and i couldn't stop talking about it's implications. seriously... if you want to see a GREAT social commentary and pretty effing cool sci-fi movie, go see it.


photos from here and here

the King of Cakes...

it's shrove (or fat tuesday) so i thought today it would be fun to share my fav mardi gras tradition... the king cake! the bad news is that making one is an arduous process and Fat Tuesday is the last day they're traditionally eaten... so hop to it!





my friend's mom (who's a fab lady from new orleans) sent me this king cake recipe after i fawned all over her to do it... mostly because i love them, but also because i have tons of friends who've never tasted this delishy mardi gras delicacy.
they don't get that the baby inside is the "king" jesus (but also has something to do with the three magi) and that finding it is good luck. and they don't know why it's a ring, or what the colors mean. can you imagine?

i haven't used her recipe yet, but i thought i'd whet your appetites with some photos from hankins flickr photostream (he takes BEAUTIFUL food and other kinds of pictures) and then give you the recipe too, so you can make your own.

-----------------------------------------------------------

King Cake from Jambalaya p 206
Makes 2 9x12” cakes. Freezes well.

Cake:
1 stick plus 1 tbsp butter.
2/3 cup 99% fat free skim evaporated milk
½ cup sugar
2 tsp salt
2 packages dry yeast
1/3 cup warm water
4eggs
1tbsp
orange zest
6 c flour

For the cake, in a saucepan, melt 1 stick of butter, add milk and 1/3 cup of sugar and salt. Cool to lukewarm. In a large mixing bowl, combine yeast, 2 tbsp sugar, and water. Let stand until foaming.
About 5 to 10 minutes. Beat eggs into yeast; then milk mixture and zest. Stir in flour, ½ c at a time. Reserving 1 c to flour kneading surface.
Knead dough until smooth, about 5 to 10 min. Place in large mixing bowl greased with 1 Tbsp of butter; turning dough once to grease top. Gover and let rise in a warm place until doubled about 1 ½ to 2 hours.

Filling:
½ c dark brown sugar. Packaged
¾ c granulated sugar
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 stick butter, melted

For filling, mix sugars and cinnamon. Set aside.

Topping
1 egg, beaten
1 c sugar, colored (1/3 c each purple, yellow, green)
2 plastic babies or 2 beans

For topping, tint sugar by mixing food coloring until desired color is reached. A food processor aids in mixing and keeps the sugar from being too moist. When dough has doubled, punch down and divide in half. On a floured surface, roll half into a rectangle 30 x 15. Brush with half of melted butter and cut into 3 lengthwise strips. Sprinkle half of sugar mixture on strips, leaning a 1-in lengthwise strip free for sealing. Fold each strip toward the center, sealing the seam. You will now have 3 30-in stips with sugar mixture enclosed in each. Braid the three strips and make a circle by joining ends. Repeat with the other half of the fough. Place each cake on a on a 10 x15 baking sheet. Cover with damp cloth and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
Brush each with egg and sprinkle top with colored sugars, alternating colors. Preheat oven to 350. Bake 20 minutes. Remove from pan immediately so sugar will not harden; while still warm, place one plastic baby (or a bean) in each from underneath.

c is for cookie! that's good enough for me...

rather than give each other presents this year, my girlfriends and i decided to bake and decorate christmas cookies together... i'm really glad we decided to do it because it was so fun.
the cookies didn't quite turn out like these from martha...but they were still pretty tasty. and not too bad to look at, either.

i would definitely recommend the giving of time rather than stuff as an alternate gift idea this holiday season (or any time!) other ideas include: cooking a big dinner together, going to see the nutcracker or some other show/concert, planning a picnic, or renting a cabin for all of your friends (and significant others, even!)

baking delishiousness...

over the next few weeks, make sure to look for some holiday inspired baked treats on wishfulfillment!

today i'm going to kick things off with boone's fab roomie (cht's) december b'day cake. it's a pretty standard recipe... german choc. cake, sweetened condensed milk, caramel sauce, whipped cream, and heath bar = delish. and the best part was that the birthday boy pretty much ate the whole cake by himself within three days. that means he liked it, ya'll. ;)



and tuesday, while studying for exams, boone and i made martha's winter bark to give to our coworkers and pals. instead of peanuts we used cashews and, well... it tastes a little like heaven. i forgot my camera to take pics of our bark, but it looks like this. (i'll post photos of our packaging later when we've had some time to work on it. right now the bark is hibernating in his freezer).

now can we talk about this cake please? please?
it's VEGAN and has ALCOHOL in it, is made with CREPES and looks VERY holiday-ish.
if I hadn't forsworn crepe cakes after making a crepe birthday cake last year (they take FOREVER) then i might be making this for a holiday soiree or with my girlfriends next week during our holiday cookie decorating event (which i'll definitely catalog). As it is, i'll probably just steal the icing idea.

which brings me to an important question. what are your fav holiday cookie recipes or decorating techniques? my gals and i will need them next week... so if you've got 'em and want to share 'em PLEASE post 'em!