International Food Blogger Conference 2012 Portland

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Happy Easter! Make S’meeps

By mlb, on April 11th, 2009%

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I saw this last week on Serious Eats. Brilliant!

It’s pretty self-explanatory.

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Yeah, I made high-end s’meeps with the fancy-pants chocolate…so what?

Get graham crackers, chocolate & marshmallow peeps. Assemble.

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Toast. I did mine for 4 minutes in the toaster oven.

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Remove from oven.

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Put top layer (un-toasted) of graham cracker on. Smoosh down.

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Eat.

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Grumpy-cat is not amused by s’meeps.

Completely unrelated, I played around with some possible new house colors today. We’ve never been happy with the grey/no contrast exterior of the house. Nothing pops. It’s kind of dreary.

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Hopefully, this Summer we will re-side and paint. And do something like this (excuse the kind of crappy photoshop):

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Dark orange door and accents. Green siding/paint. Bright ivory (with a hint of yellow) trim and columns. It would look . . . → Read More: Happy Easter! Make S’meeps

9 comments   Dessert, Holiday, House

Throw Pillow and Strawberry Marscapone Cupcakes!

By mlb, on February 4th, 2009%

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Holy crap! Look at the pillow I just made. I can’t believe it mostly turned out. I even finished it early in class tonight. I only messed up one little part of my satin stitch — it got a little puckery. But just in one small spot. The rest looks nice.

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It was pieced together with ten pieces on the front and two pieces on the back. It even has a zipper back there. Hooray!

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If that wasn’t enough excitement for one night, I also finished making the cupcakes to bring into a work party tomorrow. They are Strawberry Marscapone Cupcakes. I was very skeptical of using a box of mix in this recipe, but it really works. I was kind of a cake snob (okay, fine, I still am) but I cannot recommend this recipe enough if you need a bunch of tasty . . . → Read More: Throw Pillow and Strawberry Marscapone Cupcakes!

2 comments   Baking, Dessert, Fruit, Holiday, sewing

Cauliflower Goat Cheese Gratin + Beef Wellington Pastry Bot!

By mlb, on December 27th, 2008%

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Happy Holidays! I hope everyone had nice meals, presents and what-not. We did. On Christmas we had Beef Wellingtons — thank you cow, again, you were delicious!, this awesome cauliflower gratin and some braised brussels sprouts. Our snow is almost melted now, which is good as I really need to go to work Monday!

Okay, so the cauliflower recipe is based on one by Bobby Flay, but I changed some stuff. Also, our head of cauliflower was on the small side. Adjust amounts as needed for your amount of cauliflower.

Cauliflower Goat Cheese Gratin
Adapted from Bobby Flay
1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 clove garlic, peeled, cut in half
1/2 tsp lemon zest
1 cup Monterey Jack cheese, coarsely grated
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
2 green onion, chopped
3 ounces goat cheese, cut into small pieces
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Add the cream to a small pot . . . → Read More: Cauliflower Goat Cheese Gratin + Beef Wellington Pastry Bot!

4 comments   Beef, Casserole, Cheese, Comfort Food, Holiday, Red Meat...Grrrr!, Vegetables

Spinach & Chicken Meatball Soup or Thanksgiving Wedding Soup

By mlb, on December 5th, 2008%

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This was a quick and tasty soup fashioned together out of Thanksgiving leftovers. Since we had hens for our holiday dinner, there was no turkey meat but I did have a TON of homemade hen stock. The rest will be used in some bean and bacon soup later in the week.

If you do have turkey or other poultry leftovers in the freezer, you could always opt to omit the meatballs and use pieces of the leftover turkey.

This turned out really, really good. It’s kind of like an Italian Wedding Soup. My stock had a lot of flavor as I made it with many garlic cloves, veggies and rosemary sprigs. If you use store-bought, you may want to season the soup up a bit more with your favorite dried or fresh herbs at the end.

Spinach & Chicken Meatball Soup or Thanksgiving Wedding Soup
1/2 lb uncooked chicken sausage (you . . . → Read More: Spinach & Chicken Meatball Soup or Thanksgiving Wedding Soup

3 comments   Comfort Food, Herbs, Holiday, Poultry & Fowl, Soups & Stews, Vegetables

Thanksgiving 2008 — The Planning is Half the Fun!

By mlb, on November 19th, 2008%

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Now with recipe links!

Appetizers: (going light this year!)

* Orange (or Tangerine) Marinated Green Olives (From the book, The New Spanish Table by Anya von Bremzen)

* Rosemary Cashews — scroll down for recipe

* Pumpernickel Crostini with White Bean Puree & Smoked Salmon (Just a few!!)

White Bean Puree:
Adapted from a recipe by Tyler Florence
Extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp anchovy paste
1 (14-ounce) can white cannellini beans, drained
1/4 cup chicken stock, heated
1 tsp white wine vinegar
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a saucepan add tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and anchovy paste and sweat for 1 minute until fragrant. Add the beans followed by the warm chicken stock and cook until heated through. Transfer the mixture to a food processor or blender and puree with a splash of white vinegar, salt and some freshly ground black pepper. Thin with extra stock if . . . → Read More: Thanksgiving 2008 — The Planning is Half the Fun!

2 comments   Holiday, Misc.
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