When I was very little my parents decided to start their own compost pile. It was in this green barrel thing and they were supposed to turn it every day. I think the concept of saving all of our food trash and using it to fertilize our garden was a good one in theory, but the end result was that we still have a green barrel in our backyard and not one load of compost ever was put in the garden from what I can remember.
A gardener in Stamford,CT found out this week that her attempts to grow organic produce with the city's compost pile might have contaminated her food. It turns out that the city compost pile sits on top of a landfill. The park next to the landfill was shut down last month, because there were toxic chemicals found in the soil from the landfill. Now there are concerns that the compost, which has been used by many in the city for the city garden and for individual gardens, is contaminated by the same materials that leached from the landfill into the park.
Organic farming is a wonderful option to all of the pesticides that are prevalent in so much of the produce we buy from the store. Unfortunately there are still a few kinks in the system. One of the kinks comes in the preparation of the soil. Compost piles have to be carefully turned and managed. If you prefer to put manure on your soil it should not smell like manure when you put it on or it is too ripe for the soil. Diseases like ecoli live in that manure and a careless farmer could make his or her produce deadly if they are not careful about what is put on the soil.
Another kink comes from the labeling process and most people's misunderstanding of this process. Certified Organic is a hard label to come by in the produce business. It is a long and expensive process, that most local farmers don't have the time or money to obtain. This means that when you buy certified organic it is most likely from some large corporate farm miles and miles away. The smarter choice is to buy local. Unfortunately many people do not understand this and they assume that, that stamp of organic is just some magical stamp that means the produce is smartest choice. Often it is not.
I live in a farming community. When I was little I remember going over to the farmers and watching them milk the cows. Every year we would buy 100 ears of corn from the farmers and shuck it and my mom would cut off the kernels and freeze it for the winter. She would also make a giant corn pie. Watch for that recipe once the corn is at its freshest in June and July.
Obviously not everyone has been fortunate enough to live within walking distance of a farm with fresh produce, but a little drive to your nearest farm or farmers market would be a much smarter (and healthier) choice for your produce. Yes your local farmers might use some pesticides, but that produce was picked that morning not 5 weeks ago and that produce did not sit on a gas guzzling truck for miles and miles.
As the summer produce starts to come in start to think local and fresh. Also start thinking relationships. If you want to have a garden of your own, who is better equipped to answer your questions and tell you whether you can still put tomatoes in in June than your local farmer. Small scale organic is easy. My mom has never once used pesticides in our summer garden. For the things that you have trouble growing, buy local from a farm or farmers market. Skip the organic section of the store, save some money, and support the local farms in your community.
Happy Eating!!!
Emily
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Saturday, May 30, 2009
But he cut pancakes out of the menu
The Pioneer Press ran a story about a county sheriff in Ohio trying to cut costs by making his inmates grow their own food. The inmates were actually happy about this, because the previous cuts had caused their food to be less than tasty. What was more alarming to me about the whole thing was that one of the previous cuts the county sheriff had made was to cut pancakes out of the menu. Pancakes? Does he not have a heart?
I don't know about you, but pancakes and me go way back. My mom was not a mom who had time to wake up every morning and make us a five course breakfast, so pancakes were a treat to us. Normally this treat surfaced in the form of dinner. My mom would have an appointment(she did and still does family counseling in our house) and she always made dinner and we always sat down as a family to eat. This was not the Stauffer's commercials of sitting down with the family to eat; every meal was homemade. But sometimes mom did not have the time to make a big meal, so we'd have pancakes and bacon. You might as well have told us that we were going to have candy for dinner, because no one complained when mom was making pancakes for dinner.
I don't know who invented pancakes, but it was truly a brilliant idea. Whether you like them thin and flat or thick and cake, whether you like them with peanut butter, jelly, or syrup, whether you eat them with bacon or just eat them as you're running out of the house, pancakes are a great meal.
When I lived in Oregon, two of my roommates wanted to go out on our day off and we ended up at this diner in Bend, Oregon. I had heard all about these pancakes and had even witnessed half of one in our refrigerator one day. These pancakes that they served at this diner were the size of a large plate. If you finished a whole one it was an accomplishment. My roommate ordered two and took one home, so that the rest of the household could stare in awe and taste a bite of a giant tasty pancake.
There is something about pancakes that reminds me of childhood. Even when I think about those pancakes in Oregon and their size it just brings out the kid in me. When my roommate ordered them and they were brought out all of our eyes were as big as saucers and we just wanted to look at the ginormous pancakes in front of us. I think to me eating pancakes still feels like I'm cheating the system. Somehow I am getting away with eating dessert for a meal and no one ever says anything about it. I'm like the kid who stuck the hand in the cookie jar, ate a whole cookie, and everyone just watched and smiled.
I don't know how much of an expense the county sheriff in Ohio cut by cutting out pancakes, but I really would like to ask him, "do you have a heart?"
In honor of those poor pancakeless inmates I pronounce today to be officially a pancake day. Whether you use Bisquick, Aunt Jemima, or make your pancakes homemade, make some pancakes. Mix in some blueberries, strawberries, chocolate chips, bananas, nuts, or whatever you can think up. Don't forget the butter and syrup and eat plenty of pancakes, because I bet if those inmates in Ohio had the chance they would be eating plenty of pancakes too today.
Happy Eating!!!
Emily
I don't know about you, but pancakes and me go way back. My mom was not a mom who had time to wake up every morning and make us a five course breakfast, so pancakes were a treat to us. Normally this treat surfaced in the form of dinner. My mom would have an appointment(she did and still does family counseling in our house) and she always made dinner and we always sat down as a family to eat. This was not the Stauffer's commercials of sitting down with the family to eat; every meal was homemade. But sometimes mom did not have the time to make a big meal, so we'd have pancakes and bacon. You might as well have told us that we were going to have candy for dinner, because no one complained when mom was making pancakes for dinner.
I don't know who invented pancakes, but it was truly a brilliant idea. Whether you like them thin and flat or thick and cake, whether you like them with peanut butter, jelly, or syrup, whether you eat them with bacon or just eat them as you're running out of the house, pancakes are a great meal.
When I lived in Oregon, two of my roommates wanted to go out on our day off and we ended up at this diner in Bend, Oregon. I had heard all about these pancakes and had even witnessed half of one in our refrigerator one day. These pancakes that they served at this diner were the size of a large plate. If you finished a whole one it was an accomplishment. My roommate ordered two and took one home, so that the rest of the household could stare in awe and taste a bite of a giant tasty pancake.
There is something about pancakes that reminds me of childhood. Even when I think about those pancakes in Oregon and their size it just brings out the kid in me. When my roommate ordered them and they were brought out all of our eyes were as big as saucers and we just wanted to look at the ginormous pancakes in front of us. I think to me eating pancakes still feels like I'm cheating the system. Somehow I am getting away with eating dessert for a meal and no one ever says anything about it. I'm like the kid who stuck the hand in the cookie jar, ate a whole cookie, and everyone just watched and smiled.
I don't know how much of an expense the county sheriff in Ohio cut by cutting out pancakes, but I really would like to ask him, "do you have a heart?"
In honor of those poor pancakeless inmates I pronounce today to be officially a pancake day. Whether you use Bisquick, Aunt Jemima, or make your pancakes homemade, make some pancakes. Mix in some blueberries, strawberries, chocolate chips, bananas, nuts, or whatever you can think up. Don't forget the butter and syrup and eat plenty of pancakes, because I bet if those inmates in Ohio had the chance they would be eating plenty of pancakes too today.
Happy Eating!!!
Emily
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Would you pay someone to make your job harder?
A bill is right now being passed through the House of Representatives that would give the FDA more power to regulate the food industry and would cost each food supplier $1,000 for the extra work that it will cost the FDA.
In recent years there have been many food scares. Last summer I remember guests at the Bar Harbor Inn requesting no tomatoes on their salads because of the possible e-coli tomato scare. The summer before it was the spinach scare. All of these scares were "innocent" as far as these kinds of scares go. No one was formally charged with intentionally distributing or contaminating the food.
The recent peanut disaster was a totally different story. TV stations were splattering stories about how the head of the plant knew about the entire thing and was sending out contaminated food on purpose. This incident was the focusing event that the lawmakers in Washington used to push this recent bill.
The Washington Post spun this entire story as a wonderful new way to make sure our country's food supply is safe. I am a little more skeptical of this whole thing. This bill calls for a charge to be placed on food suppliers for the extra work that the bill creates. $1,000 per supplier is going to be passed down to the restaurants and grocery stores who will kindly pass the bill on to everyone who eats food (that'd be me and you). I am not sure if you have received a piece of this illusive stimulus package, but I haven't and can't possibly afford anything to go up in price. Basically while the government is spending money bailing out struggling companies it's going to fine companies that might be doing ok. This isn't right.
I understand that what that producer did with contaminated peanuts is wrong, but for that one man there are a lot of honest men and women who supply food. It is important for the FDA to watch over the food industry. There are also checks and balances within the industry. If a supplier is sending out bad food, any chef worth his or her salt is going to send that food back. No one wants people to be sick, especially when your business is dependant on a person's experience of your food.
I will step off my soapbox for a second and say that it has been grey and rainy in PA. Grey and rainy days are never fun when it should be sunny and nice out, but they always make me want to bake. In the past two day we've made a strawberry rhubarb pie, brownies, and chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. I don't know if everyone else hibernates like I do, but I hope that you are enjoying food and friends and the beginning of summer. On these colder days take advantage of the fact that your ovens won't be heating up your house. One of my favorite comfort food baking recipes is the recipe for soft pretzels.
6 large 12 small
3 ½ C of flour(bread flour works best-half whole wheat/ half bread flour makes good whole wheat pretzels-all purpose flour works just fine too)
4 T brown sugar(I have used honey or white sugar-honey works well with whole wheat)
2 tsp. salt (sea salt preferably)
1 Tblsp yeast, dissolved in the water(one package of yeast is roughly one tablespoon)
1 C water (120°) fairly warm but not hot.
2 t baking soda mixed with 1 Cup hot water (in a small bowl)(I never actually measure this; just pour some baking soda into water)
1 egg beaten with 1 teasp. water
(in a small bowl)
Mix water/yeast, brown sugar and salt in a bowl. Add flour and mix until dough is smooth. Add more flour if sticky. (If possible let the dough sit overnight in a bowl or plastic container in the refrigerator.) I think I hardly ever let it sit over night; cover well if you do.
Divide the dough into 6 or 12 pieces. Roll each piece into a rope; the thickness depends on what kind of shape you want to make. If you want a traditional pretzel roll into a thin long snake. If you are just going to make a knot, it can be shorter and fatter. If you want a traditional pretzel shape, shape into an upside down U shape on your table. Bring the ends together and twist them. Flatten the ends and bring to the top of the pretzel and press in the dough to secure making it look like a pretzel.
Place on a greased cookie sheet. Now let the pretzels rise for a 45 minutes or till about double in size. I hardly ever let them sit and rise; they will most likely sit for that time when you roll out all of the pretzels. Cover with a semi-wet paper towel if the dough looks like it’s drying out.
Put the water and baking soda in a saucepan and boil. Dip the pretzels in the water-soda solution for about 10 seconds. Brush with beaten egg and water solution. Sprinkle with; coarse salt, sesame seeds, and/or parmesan cheese, or
cinnamon sugar
Bake in hot oven 450 degrees (225 degrees C) for 12 to 15 minutes or until well browned.
Try not to eat them all at once, and be creative you can make almost any kind of pretzel you can think up.
Happy Eating!!!
Emily
In recent years there have been many food scares. Last summer I remember guests at the Bar Harbor Inn requesting no tomatoes on their salads because of the possible e-coli tomato scare. The summer before it was the spinach scare. All of these scares were "innocent" as far as these kinds of scares go. No one was formally charged with intentionally distributing or contaminating the food.
The recent peanut disaster was a totally different story. TV stations were splattering stories about how the head of the plant knew about the entire thing and was sending out contaminated food on purpose. This incident was the focusing event that the lawmakers in Washington used to push this recent bill.
The Washington Post spun this entire story as a wonderful new way to make sure our country's food supply is safe. I am a little more skeptical of this whole thing. This bill calls for a charge to be placed on food suppliers for the extra work that the bill creates. $1,000 per supplier is going to be passed down to the restaurants and grocery stores who will kindly pass the bill on to everyone who eats food (that'd be me and you). I am not sure if you have received a piece of this illusive stimulus package, but I haven't and can't possibly afford anything to go up in price. Basically while the government is spending money bailing out struggling companies it's going to fine companies that might be doing ok. This isn't right.
I understand that what that producer did with contaminated peanuts is wrong, but for that one man there are a lot of honest men and women who supply food. It is important for the FDA to watch over the food industry. There are also checks and balances within the industry. If a supplier is sending out bad food, any chef worth his or her salt is going to send that food back. No one wants people to be sick, especially when your business is dependant on a person's experience of your food.
I will step off my soapbox for a second and say that it has been grey and rainy in PA. Grey and rainy days are never fun when it should be sunny and nice out, but they always make me want to bake. In the past two day we've made a strawberry rhubarb pie, brownies, and chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. I don't know if everyone else hibernates like I do, but I hope that you are enjoying food and friends and the beginning of summer. On these colder days take advantage of the fact that your ovens won't be heating up your house. One of my favorite comfort food baking recipes is the recipe for soft pretzels.
6 large 12 small
3 ½ C of flour(bread flour works best-half whole wheat/ half bread flour makes good whole wheat pretzels-all purpose flour works just fine too)
4 T brown sugar(I have used honey or white sugar-honey works well with whole wheat)
2 tsp. salt (sea salt preferably)
1 Tblsp yeast, dissolved in the water(one package of yeast is roughly one tablespoon)
1 C water (120°) fairly warm but not hot.
2 t baking soda mixed with 1 Cup hot water (in a small bowl)(I never actually measure this; just pour some baking soda into water)
1 egg beaten with 1 teasp. water
(in a small bowl)
Mix water/yeast, brown sugar and salt in a bowl. Add flour and mix until dough is smooth. Add more flour if sticky. (If possible let the dough sit overnight in a bowl or plastic container in the refrigerator.) I think I hardly ever let it sit over night; cover well if you do.
Divide the dough into 6 or 12 pieces. Roll each piece into a rope; the thickness depends on what kind of shape you want to make. If you want a traditional pretzel roll into a thin long snake. If you are just going to make a knot, it can be shorter and fatter. If you want a traditional pretzel shape, shape into an upside down U shape on your table. Bring the ends together and twist them. Flatten the ends and bring to the top of the pretzel and press in the dough to secure making it look like a pretzel.
Place on a greased cookie sheet. Now let the pretzels rise for a 45 minutes or till about double in size. I hardly ever let them sit and rise; they will most likely sit for that time when you roll out all of the pretzels. Cover with a semi-wet paper towel if the dough looks like it’s drying out.
Put the water and baking soda in a saucepan and boil. Dip the pretzels in the water-soda solution for about 10 seconds. Brush with beaten egg and water solution. Sprinkle with; coarse salt, sesame seeds, and/or parmesan cheese, or
cinnamon sugar
Bake in hot oven 450 degrees (225 degrees C) for 12 to 15 minutes or until well browned.
Try not to eat them all at once, and be creative you can make almost any kind of pretzel you can think up.
Happy Eating!!!
Emily
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
How well do you know know your quests?
Recently on facebook everyone has an inclination to create a quiz about themselves. In these quizzes there are questions every twelve year old has had to answer to prove their true friendships. "What's my favorite color?" "What am I more afraid of spiders or snakes?" "What is my favorite girl name?" These are just some of the important questions only someone who is your best of friends could answer, or someone who is rather observant/overly obsessed about all things you.
As cooks, we take quizzes like this all of the time, but our scores aren't posted online for all of the facebook world to see. Whether you are cooking for your family, friends, or, like I do as a cook at a country club, complete strangers, you are constantly answering "how well you do know me?" quizzes. These quizzes are a little bit different than the ones infiltrating my minifeed on facebook.
Will the guests like a big salad with chicken on a hot summer night or will they be more fond of an outside feast of grilled burgers and hot dogs? Should I make peanut butter pie or should I bring something with a little less Anaphylactic shock potential to the work picnic? What are my 4 year old's favorite vegetables and how can I introduce him to more so his diet is balanced?
We never truly have the time or the magical little calculate button to determine how well we do on these every day cooking quizzes. An occasional fail might be obvious when your rushed and the meal was thrown together from an assortment of everything in your freezer, cupboards, and refrigerator. The key is to not lose heart and order out for the next week.
I have always felt that cooking is more about the experience. Some of my earliest memories are cooking with the women in my family. Every year my Titis (Aunts) would come over and we would pick five giant plants of basil, grate 3 things of Parmeson cheese, and taste and puree what seemed to be 500 pounds of pesto. At the end of the day my Titi Stella would make up some chicken fingers and we'd toss some of the pesto into spaghetti and have a feast. The most enjoyable moment was not the feast, even though it was always tasty, because there are plenty of good cooks in my family. The most important moment was all of the little moments that went into the finished product. It was the moment when my mom tasted the pesto and said it needed more salt and Titi Stella tasted it and said it needed more oil, but was definitely salty enough. It was the moment that Titi Carmen decided we needed something else and should go out to get more ingredients, or the moments where Titi Stella and I would realize we were the only ones working on the pesto.
I know that I am lucky to have memories like these, as not many families do things the way my family did things. As the summer months progress and things start to slow down, as corny as this is going to sound, create some memories. Take time to cook and don't worry so much about getting a 100% on the cooking quiz. The perfectionists who get 100% probably didn't giggle once over flour shooting across the kitchen or take the time to teach someone else the art of making the perfect pie crust while they made their dinner.
Happy Eating!!!
Emily
As cooks, we take quizzes like this all of the time, but our scores aren't posted online for all of the facebook world to see. Whether you are cooking for your family, friends, or, like I do as a cook at a country club, complete strangers, you are constantly answering "how well you do know me?" quizzes. These quizzes are a little bit different than the ones infiltrating my minifeed on facebook.
Will the guests like a big salad with chicken on a hot summer night or will they be more fond of an outside feast of grilled burgers and hot dogs? Should I make peanut butter pie or should I bring something with a little less Anaphylactic shock potential to the work picnic? What are my 4 year old's favorite vegetables and how can I introduce him to more so his diet is balanced?
We never truly have the time or the magical little calculate button to determine how well we do on these every day cooking quizzes. An occasional fail might be obvious when your rushed and the meal was thrown together from an assortment of everything in your freezer, cupboards, and refrigerator. The key is to not lose heart and order out for the next week.
I have always felt that cooking is more about the experience. Some of my earliest memories are cooking with the women in my family. Every year my Titis (Aunts) would come over and we would pick five giant plants of basil, grate 3 things of Parmeson cheese, and taste and puree what seemed to be 500 pounds of pesto. At the end of the day my Titi Stella would make up some chicken fingers and we'd toss some of the pesto into spaghetti and have a feast. The most enjoyable moment was not the feast, even though it was always tasty, because there are plenty of good cooks in my family. The most important moment was all of the little moments that went into the finished product. It was the moment when my mom tasted the pesto and said it needed more salt and Titi Stella tasted it and said it needed more oil, but was definitely salty enough. It was the moment that Titi Carmen decided we needed something else and should go out to get more ingredients, or the moments where Titi Stella and I would realize we were the only ones working on the pesto.
I know that I am lucky to have memories like these, as not many families do things the way my family did things. As the summer months progress and things start to slow down, as corny as this is going to sound, create some memories. Take time to cook and don't worry so much about getting a 100% on the cooking quiz. The perfectionists who get 100% probably didn't giggle once over flour shooting across the kitchen or take the time to teach someone else the art of making the perfect pie crust while they made their dinner.
Happy Eating!!!
Emily
Monday, May 25, 2009
But what if I want pizza at 2 am?
D.C politicians are blaming crime on pizza parlors that stay open till 4:30 in the morning. According to Fox News, these politicians are actually trying to pass legislation to control these pizza hangouts. I am not a night person so I can't imagine ever being hungry at 2 a.m., but I know a lot of people who really do like to eat at those hours of the night. It seems the safer option would be to just keep some pizza dough frozen so that when you get the urge you can take it out and whip up a pizza however you like it.
I am personally a big fan of slicing up fresh tomatoes and tossing them in chopped garlic, a pinch of salt, oregano, and a little bit of olive oil. Throw this mixture and some fresh basil on the dough and cover with any cheese you like. Of course, fresh pizza is so much tastier with fresh ingredients. There is nothing like a sweet juicy tomato and fresh basil on a homemade crust.
Members of a community in Stratford Connecticut are fighting to create community gardens, so that a lot of people can enjoy these kinds of summer bounty. Of course no endeavor is seen without some form of problem. The Connecticut Post wrote that the town council is trying to take the gardens, that are already growing, away from the citizens of the town, who are hoping to donate some of their produce to food banks. It seems not everyone is as excited about going green and helping people out in these tough times.
Today is Memorial Day, so I hope that you are all enjoying a hamburger or hotdog, maybe some pasta salad or potato salad. If you are feeling creative and want to try something new, make that fresh pizza a grilled pizza. It is the easiest thing to do and it tastes amazing.
1 cup warm water(your body tempurature is normally around 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit, so if it feels slightly warm to you the water will be at the perfect tempurature. If the water feels hot, it is too warm and will kill the yeast)
1 tablespoon white sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Mix the water, sugar, yeast, and salt. Watch for the yeast to bubble a little so that you know the little yeast people are still alive. After letting the yeast bloom a little, mix the olive oil in the water mixture(If you don't have olive oil, use another oil. Don't ever not make a recipe because you don't have one ingredient. Just look for an alternative.) Kneed in the flour. You may use more or less flour depending on the humidity and temperature. Bread is a very alive thing. Touch it, kneed it, and listen to it. If it's sticky and being mean, it's probably telling you that it needs a little bit more flour. Make sure it is still moldable and stretchable. Kneed the dough till it becomes smooth. Let the dough sit for an hour in a warm spot in the house.
Stretch the dough out. Make sure your other ingredients are all prepared and on hand. If you're using the fresh tomato mixture above, have it ready and in a bowl. Take all of your ingredients down to the grill. Make sure the grill is not too hot or the dough will burn before the cheese melts. Stretch the dough out onto the grill. Grill one side till it's crusty and looks baked. Flip the dough and place the tomato mixture on the dough and some fresh basil and cheese. Leave on the grill until the cheese is melted and the dough is firm and looks nice and brown. Take it off the grill, cut it up, and enjoy the pizza and the fact that you didn't have to heat up the house while making this tasty meal.
Happy Eating!!!
Emily
I am personally a big fan of slicing up fresh tomatoes and tossing them in chopped garlic, a pinch of salt, oregano, and a little bit of olive oil. Throw this mixture and some fresh basil on the dough and cover with any cheese you like. Of course, fresh pizza is so much tastier with fresh ingredients. There is nothing like a sweet juicy tomato and fresh basil on a homemade crust.
Members of a community in Stratford Connecticut are fighting to create community gardens, so that a lot of people can enjoy these kinds of summer bounty. Of course no endeavor is seen without some form of problem. The Connecticut Post wrote that the town council is trying to take the gardens, that are already growing, away from the citizens of the town, who are hoping to donate some of their produce to food banks. It seems not everyone is as excited about going green and helping people out in these tough times.
Today is Memorial Day, so I hope that you are all enjoying a hamburger or hotdog, maybe some pasta salad or potato salad. If you are feeling creative and want to try something new, make that fresh pizza a grilled pizza. It is the easiest thing to do and it tastes amazing.
1 cup warm water(your body tempurature is normally around 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit, so if it feels slightly warm to you the water will be at the perfect tempurature. If the water feels hot, it is too warm and will kill the yeast)
1 tablespoon white sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Mix the water, sugar, yeast, and salt. Watch for the yeast to bubble a little so that you know the little yeast people are still alive. After letting the yeast bloom a little, mix the olive oil in the water mixture(If you don't have olive oil, use another oil. Don't ever not make a recipe because you don't have one ingredient. Just look for an alternative.) Kneed in the flour. You may use more or less flour depending on the humidity and temperature. Bread is a very alive thing. Touch it, kneed it, and listen to it. If it's sticky and being mean, it's probably telling you that it needs a little bit more flour. Make sure it is still moldable and stretchable. Kneed the dough till it becomes smooth. Let the dough sit for an hour in a warm spot in the house.
Stretch the dough out. Make sure your other ingredients are all prepared and on hand. If you're using the fresh tomato mixture above, have it ready and in a bowl. Take all of your ingredients down to the grill. Make sure the grill is not too hot or the dough will burn before the cheese melts. Stretch the dough out onto the grill. Grill one side till it's crusty and looks baked. Flip the dough and place the tomato mixture on the dough and some fresh basil and cheese. Leave on the grill until the cheese is melted and the dough is firm and looks nice and brown. Take it off the grill, cut it up, and enjoy the pizza and the fact that you didn't have to heat up the house while making this tasty meal.
Happy Eating!!!
Emily
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Here comes the bride er cake...
I woke up early this morning and put all of these flowers on the cake. Honestly I could not see doing it any other way. It was so easy and so much fun. Real flowers look amazing and I chose ones that would survive through the heat of the day so they were just as perky and beautiful at 4 in the afternoon when they cut the cake.
I know that I have a pastry degree and at times I like to feel like you can only do things like this if you know what you're doing and have been trained, but in all reality this cake was more flower arranging and less pastry skill. It was just so much fun. After the disastrous frosting experience yesterday it was really nice to just enjoy decorating the cake today.
Enjoy the pictures and I promise you will not have to read about weddings for a long time. I am happy to announce the wedding cake saga over.
Happy Eating!!!
Emily
Friday, May 22, 2009
On my wedding day I will throw the cake at my husbands face and it will feel so good
If I make my own wedding cake the above statement will be very true. Depending on the process I might just throw the whole cake.
This is a blog. It is my life. It is the truth or I hope that it will attempt to be. I have a degree in baking and pastry, but there is a reason that I have not attempted a wedding cake, outside of class, up until now. I really hate flat icing cakes. I love ganaching cakes or using chocolate coating. I'd even use fondant before I would flat ice a cake again. Today started out ok. I trimmed the cakes, filled them with blackberry jam, and began the icing process. After 2 hours of icing the cakes I put the cake as it was into the refrigerator about ready to throw the cake off of the deck of my parent's house.
After a break, a slightly rejuvenated me went back to it and fixed it and made it as pretty as I could. As of right now the wedding cake looks worthy of the people I am making it for. It will look even better tomorrow morning when I put on the flowers, unfortunately you will all have to wait till later Saturday or Sunday for the pictures of the final cake as my brother is graduating from college tomorrow. I will be bringing you pictures and the end of the wedding cake saga as soon as I possibly can.
I didn't have my paparazzi with me while I was icing the cake, but I did manage a few pictures so you could see some of the process. I don't want to reveal any pictures of the cake as a whole till it is complete. Stay tuned.
Happy Eating!!!
Emily
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue
The recipient of this wedding cake is not from the United States, so I was a little worried that they might not have known of this rhyme and the happy wedded life it is supposed to bring. To remedy this situation I was trying to think of how I could incorporate all of these things into their cake.
Something old: Most people would prefer if they didn't eat an old cake, and I really don't blame them. I had to think a lot about this one, but I quickly saw the thing that brought something old to this cake. The history of the wedding cake goes pretty far back. During the Roman Empire, bread was baked and eaten at the wedding ceremony. This tradition of bread become some sort of sweet pastry in Medieval England. Early 19th century upper class England had a tradition of a bride's pie, which turned into a bride's cake. These simple desserts were nothing like the grandiose concoctions bride's pay thousands of dollars for today, but the tradition of eating and sharing a sweet dessert is what links the idea of a wedding cake throughout history. The tradition is my something old.
Something new: I am a big fan of new ingredients when I'm making a cake. Old eggs, milk, and butter does not seem very appealing to me. As one of my mother's many pets, we had chickens one year. We quickly discovered a few things about eggs. First eggs are actually in a perfectly contained environment and do not need to be refrigerated. We also found out what fresh eggs really look like. Fresh eggs have a nice thick white and a yolk that is picture perfect globe shaped. The yolk has such a nice thick membrane around it that separating the yolk from the white is a job a five year old could do without breaking the yolk. After witnessing these beautiful fresh eggs, it's a little easier to spot the old eggs. The whites on an old egg are watery and kind of pour of the eggs when cracked. The yolk is a funny blob shape and could break just from cracking it into a pan. I used the newest freshest ingredients I could find to make this wedding cake, so I think it's fair to say that they are my something new.
Something borrowed: I have never been asked to make a wedding cake before and I never really had a need to buy the pans for the job. Last year I helped my mom's hairdresser make a anniversary cake for her parents. I knew she had the pans, so I called her up and asked her to borrow them. Without these pans I would have had to cut a bigger cake into the proper size and my job would have been a lot harder. I am very thankful for the something borrowed portion of this cake. The right tools always make the job a little easier.
Something blue: I am still unsure as to the blue that will go into the cake. I haven't bought the flowers for the cake yet, but I can't imagine that any of them will be blue. A tiny bit of blue food coloring will make the icing whiter, so I may be adding that as my cake progresses. I am sure at some point a little bit of blue will find itself in the cake and if not I will find a way to sneak it in.
This rhyme actually has one more part to it. Maybe some of you wedding connoisseurs know about this last line of the poem, but I had not. "And a silver sixpence in her shoe" is the true ending to the poem. Unfortunately there will be no shoes on this cake, but if there were I would be sure to stick a sixpence or some form of an American equivalent into the cake. When I think of what this coin would mean to a new bride I think of the need in our day for savings. One never knows when they might be coming upon hard times and for a young bride, who is going into a marriage, hardship is probably the last thing she is thinking about. This sixpence is, to me, a token of the amount of work a marriage is and the fact that one never knows what might be around the next corner. I am making this cake as a gift to my friends, so they will be saving more than 6 cents. I do hope that whatever they face in the coming months and years they will always have a little set aside to see them through the toughest of times.
Tomorrow I will be putting the cake together. Right now it is sitting all wrapped up in my refrigerator. As a side note my mom's strawberries are coming in and they are delicious. My dad also stopped at a stand by the road to pick up tomatoes yesterday. I hope you are also enjoying these delicious harbingers of summer.
Happy Eating!!!
Emily
Something old: Most people would prefer if they didn't eat an old cake, and I really don't blame them. I had to think a lot about this one, but I quickly saw the thing that brought something old to this cake. The history of the wedding cake goes pretty far back. During the Roman Empire, bread was baked and eaten at the wedding ceremony. This tradition of bread become some sort of sweet pastry in Medieval England. Early 19th century upper class England had a tradition of a bride's pie, which turned into a bride's cake. These simple desserts were nothing like the grandiose concoctions bride's pay thousands of dollars for today, but the tradition of eating and sharing a sweet dessert is what links the idea of a wedding cake throughout history. The tradition is my something old.
Something new: I am a big fan of new ingredients when I'm making a cake. Old eggs, milk, and butter does not seem very appealing to me. As one of my mother's many pets, we had chickens one year. We quickly discovered a few things about eggs. First eggs are actually in a perfectly contained environment and do not need to be refrigerated. We also found out what fresh eggs really look like. Fresh eggs have a nice thick white and a yolk that is picture perfect globe shaped. The yolk has such a nice thick membrane around it that separating the yolk from the white is a job a five year old could do without breaking the yolk. After witnessing these beautiful fresh eggs, it's a little easier to spot the old eggs. The whites on an old egg are watery and kind of pour of the eggs when cracked. The yolk is a funny blob shape and could break just from cracking it into a pan. I used the newest freshest ingredients I could find to make this wedding cake, so I think it's fair to say that they are my something new.
Something borrowed: I have never been asked to make a wedding cake before and I never really had a need to buy the pans for the job. Last year I helped my mom's hairdresser make a anniversary cake for her parents. I knew she had the pans, so I called her up and asked her to borrow them. Without these pans I would have had to cut a bigger cake into the proper size and my job would have been a lot harder. I am very thankful for the something borrowed portion of this cake. The right tools always make the job a little easier.
Something blue: I am still unsure as to the blue that will go into the cake. I haven't bought the flowers for the cake yet, but I can't imagine that any of them will be blue. A tiny bit of blue food coloring will make the icing whiter, so I may be adding that as my cake progresses. I am sure at some point a little bit of blue will find itself in the cake and if not I will find a way to sneak it in.
This rhyme actually has one more part to it. Maybe some of you wedding connoisseurs know about this last line of the poem, but I had not. "And a silver sixpence in her shoe" is the true ending to the poem. Unfortunately there will be no shoes on this cake, but if there were I would be sure to stick a sixpence or some form of an American equivalent into the cake. When I think of what this coin would mean to a new bride I think of the need in our day for savings. One never knows when they might be coming upon hard times and for a young bride, who is going into a marriage, hardship is probably the last thing she is thinking about. This sixpence is, to me, a token of the amount of work a marriage is and the fact that one never knows what might be around the next corner. I am making this cake as a gift to my friends, so they will be saving more than 6 cents. I do hope that whatever they face in the coming months and years they will always have a little set aside to see them through the toughest of times.
Tomorrow I will be putting the cake together. Right now it is sitting all wrapped up in my refrigerator. As a side note my mom's strawberries are coming in and they are delicious. My dad also stopped at a stand by the road to pick up tomatoes yesterday. I hope you are also enjoying these delicious harbingers of summer.
Happy Eating!!!
Emily
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Going to the chapel and we're gonna get married
I am far from my wedding day but this weekend I am making a wedding cake for a friend of mine and I would like to bring you all along for the ride.
I have a degree in Baking and Pastry Arts from Johnson & Wales University, so I have made a wedding cake for a class. This is a little bit different, because real people are going to eat it and I don't have every kitchen tool and a knowledgeable chef to help me out. So here I go on my own, with you all to watch.
Tonight I got home from a day of work and I decided that I needed to bake the cakes. It is very hard to frost a cake you made that day. If the cake is warm, the butter in the icing could melt a little on the cake and the cake will not be as kind to me bumping and moving it while I frost the cake. If I had made the cake more than one or two days before I was going to frost it, I would have frozen the cakes; but because I am going to frost the cakes on Friday I will just wrap them tightly and refrigerate them.
I have an amazing recipe for chocolate cake, but vanilla really isn't my strong point, so I did some web surfing and find this wonderful recipe for white cake. I tweeked the recipe a bit and doubled it because it was only for one 9 inch round cake. This cake should fill a 13x9 inch pan, but I used it to fill the 6 inch pan and the 7 inch pan.
2 cup white sugar
1 cup butter
4 eggs
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup milk
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 13x9 inch pan or a 6 inch and a 7 inch pan. Cream the sugar and butter. Beat in the eggs then add the vanilla. Combine flour and baking powder, add to the creamed mixture. Stir in the milk until batter is smooth. Pour batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until cake is done by the toothpick test or when you touch the top it feels firm.
I thought that this journey definitely deserved pictures. I am sure they are all pretty self explanatory, but be sure to get all of your ingredients out before you start. It will save you from having to go back and forth from the cabinet to the refigerator to the counter and back to the cabinet. In the kitchen we call this mise en place or everything in its place. I promise it will make your baking experience more efficient. The cakes are baked and perfect and will be wrapped and ready to be trimmed and frosted on Friday so be sure to check back to see the frosting process and the end result.
Happy Eating!!!
Emily
Put down the cookbook and no one will be hurt
I can always tell the person, the one who follows recipes to a T and can't make that soup that she's made 1500 times unless she finds the recipe. There are some times when recipes bog down the cooking and make it a lot less fun.
For example, my sister just had her wisdom teeth removed. I, being the good sister that I am, went out to get ice cream to make milkshakes. I have seen many many cookbooks for milkshakes and smoothies, but I really don't see a point in them. The best part about making milkshakes is being creative and throwing everything you can think of into them. For my sister's milkshake, I put chocolate ice cream, a banana, and peanut butter. It was pretty good if I do say so myself, but the key was that I didn't measure the exact amount of peanut butter and I can't tell you how many scoops of ice cream I put in or how many cups of milk. I just thought about what might taste good and threw it in.
I think that this form of cooking, the lack of cookbook kind, is the kind of cooking women and men have been doing for years. My grandmother on my dad's side did not have a recipe for anything. Her mother taught her to cook just like her mother's mother had taught her to cook. It is such a beautiful process and one that I fear we have lost in our Stauffer's lasagna 500 activities a day lifestyle.
I do think there is hope for us if we will right now put down the cookbooks. I'm serious just put them down. This is time for change, so don't argue. Now I want you to go into your cupboards and pull out some pasta. It can be any kind of pasta. I'm sure you can make pasta without a recipe, just make sure it's not over cooked. Go into your refrigerator and pull out whatever you think would go good with the pasta, maybe some tomatoes or squash or garlic or chicken or chop meat. Be creative and think back on everything you did with pasta and what you liked best. Fry up and cook all of the extra ingredients and toss them with the pasta, maybe toss them in the frying pan with a little bit of olive oil and some salt and pepper. I know this sounds like a silly exercise, but it will get you thinking about different ingredients and flavors and how things taste.
Recipes can be neccassary. In baking, I try not to make anything without a recipe or formula, because if you forget to add salt, you can't add it at the very end. Baking is a science and in science formulas are needed.
There is a definite time and place for recipes, but you don't always need a recipe to make something taste good. Venture out and be creative. Get some ice cream and let everyone add what they want. Have a milkshake party. Or chop up a bunch of different ingredients and cook some pasta and rice and have your own little Fire and Ice experience at home. Create your own family dishes and if they turn out really good write down what you did, if you can remember. During this recipe intervention you might create some food that isn't as edible as you'd like. If it's really that bad, there is always the Stauffer's lasagna.
Happy Eating!!!
Emily
For example, my sister just had her wisdom teeth removed. I, being the good sister that I am, went out to get ice cream to make milkshakes. I have seen many many cookbooks for milkshakes and smoothies, but I really don't see a point in them. The best part about making milkshakes is being creative and throwing everything you can think of into them. For my sister's milkshake, I put chocolate ice cream, a banana, and peanut butter. It was pretty good if I do say so myself, but the key was that I didn't measure the exact amount of peanut butter and I can't tell you how many scoops of ice cream I put in or how many cups of milk. I just thought about what might taste good and threw it in.
I think that this form of cooking, the lack of cookbook kind, is the kind of cooking women and men have been doing for years. My grandmother on my dad's side did not have a recipe for anything. Her mother taught her to cook just like her mother's mother had taught her to cook. It is such a beautiful process and one that I fear we have lost in our Stauffer's lasagna 500 activities a day lifestyle.
I do think there is hope for us if we will right now put down the cookbooks. I'm serious just put them down. This is time for change, so don't argue. Now I want you to go into your cupboards and pull out some pasta. It can be any kind of pasta. I'm sure you can make pasta without a recipe, just make sure it's not over cooked. Go into your refrigerator and pull out whatever you think would go good with the pasta, maybe some tomatoes or squash or garlic or chicken or chop meat. Be creative and think back on everything you did with pasta and what you liked best. Fry up and cook all of the extra ingredients and toss them with the pasta, maybe toss them in the frying pan with a little bit of olive oil and some salt and pepper. I know this sounds like a silly exercise, but it will get you thinking about different ingredients and flavors and how things taste.
Recipes can be neccassary. In baking, I try not to make anything without a recipe or formula, because if you forget to add salt, you can't add it at the very end. Baking is a science and in science formulas are needed.
There is a definite time and place for recipes, but you don't always need a recipe to make something taste good. Venture out and be creative. Get some ice cream and let everyone add what they want. Have a milkshake party. Or chop up a bunch of different ingredients and cook some pasta and rice and have your own little Fire and Ice experience at home. Create your own family dishes and if they turn out really good write down what you did, if you can remember. During this recipe intervention you might create some food that isn't as edible as you'd like. If it's really that bad, there is always the Stauffer's lasagna.
Happy Eating!!!
Emily
Monday, May 18, 2009
Ants are not the only unwanted guests at picnics
May and June are prime picnic season. With graduations and Memorial Day and the warming weather it's no surprise that everyone has the sudden urge to get out their potato salad, cut up some watermelons, and grill some hot dogs and hamburgers. Unfortunately if you're not careful there might be some hidden guests at your picnic that could make people's memory of that day rather miserable.
Food born illnesses are serious business. I had a professor one time who told us that there was no such thing at a 24 hour bug. If you have a stomach bug for 24 hours, you probably were the victim of a food born illness. This statement made me rethink every time that I got home from a picnic or party with a stomach ache. Now of course a tummy ache is not the worst that a food born illness can give a person. Poor food handling can result in death, especially to the old and the really young.
Thankfully there are some very practical things that you can do to make sure your next picnic ends with everyone happy,full, and not in need of extra trips to the restroom that night.
The first thing you should do is make sure if you're touching raw meat and your fruit salad, that you wash your hands. In fact even if you're not touching raw meat or something that might obviously cause sickness you should wash your hands. You never know if your guests might have a food allergy. I know this seems like something so simple, but when you're doing 500 things and everyone is coming in an hour taking 15 seconds to wash your hands might be the last thing you think of doing.
The second thing you should do is to consider the location of your picnic. If it's going to be outside make sure you have ice baths to put your potato and macaroni salad in. Anything that contains mayonnaise and even some fruits like melons need to be kept cold because they have the tendency to grow bacteria when left out. Keep them cold with a constant ice bath or if you have the option, leave them inside, where they might have a better chance of being colder. Also after 2 hours of being out, either put the food away or get rid of it. Any food that is out and not kept cold with an ice bath could be dangerous.
Finally make sure that all of the meat is cooked to the proper temperature. If you consider yourself a grill master you probably already have a meat thermometer by your grill to check the temps of your meat, but for the rest of us who still need a little help in that department here are some helpful temps:
Steaks and Roasts - 145 degrees Fahrenheit
Fish - 145 degrees Fahrenheit
Pork - 160 degrees Fahrenheit
Ground Beef - 160 degrees Fahrenheit
Chicken (breasts or thighs not whole chicken) - 165 degrees Fahrenheit
Now of course if you are someone who is a fan of rare steak, your steak will most likely not reach 145 degrees Fahrenheit, but when you're cooking for other people, especially children, try to make sure the community meat supply reaches at least these temperatures.
Some of you may be inviting some people to your picnics that you are not very fond of. It is probably wiser to make your feelings known in ways other than food, since more than one person will probably be eating your world famous macaroni salad. Keep the food safe or as safe as you possibly can. These tips I gave you are what they make us follow in restaurants. They also make us check the temperatures of food to make sure it stays cold or hot enough, but if you keep a generally close eye on your food to make sure it is staying cold or hot as it should be you should be fine.
My favorite picnic hands down was on a cliff by the ocean in Maine. The pastry chef and I brought bread, cheese, and fruit and sat on the rocks enjoying the ocean view and the simplest little picnic I ever attended. There are always a million things to consider when planning a picnic, but never forget the simple pleasures of a little bit of food, beautiful weather, and a nice view.
Happy Eating!!!
Emily
Food born illnesses are serious business. I had a professor one time who told us that there was no such thing at a 24 hour bug. If you have a stomach bug for 24 hours, you probably were the victim of a food born illness. This statement made me rethink every time that I got home from a picnic or party with a stomach ache. Now of course a tummy ache is not the worst that a food born illness can give a person. Poor food handling can result in death, especially to the old and the really young.
Thankfully there are some very practical things that you can do to make sure your next picnic ends with everyone happy,full, and not in need of extra trips to the restroom that night.
The first thing you should do is make sure if you're touching raw meat and your fruit salad, that you wash your hands. In fact even if you're not touching raw meat or something that might obviously cause sickness you should wash your hands. You never know if your guests might have a food allergy. I know this seems like something so simple, but when you're doing 500 things and everyone is coming in an hour taking 15 seconds to wash your hands might be the last thing you think of doing.
The second thing you should do is to consider the location of your picnic. If it's going to be outside make sure you have ice baths to put your potato and macaroni salad in. Anything that contains mayonnaise and even some fruits like melons need to be kept cold because they have the tendency to grow bacteria when left out. Keep them cold with a constant ice bath or if you have the option, leave them inside, where they might have a better chance of being colder. Also after 2 hours of being out, either put the food away or get rid of it. Any food that is out and not kept cold with an ice bath could be dangerous.
Finally make sure that all of the meat is cooked to the proper temperature. If you consider yourself a grill master you probably already have a meat thermometer by your grill to check the temps of your meat, but for the rest of us who still need a little help in that department here are some helpful temps:
Steaks and Roasts - 145 degrees Fahrenheit
Fish - 145 degrees Fahrenheit
Pork - 160 degrees Fahrenheit
Ground Beef - 160 degrees Fahrenheit
Chicken (breasts or thighs not whole chicken) - 165 degrees Fahrenheit
Now of course if you are someone who is a fan of rare steak, your steak will most likely not reach 145 degrees Fahrenheit, but when you're cooking for other people, especially children, try to make sure the community meat supply reaches at least these temperatures.
Some of you may be inviting some people to your picnics that you are not very fond of. It is probably wiser to make your feelings known in ways other than food, since more than one person will probably be eating your world famous macaroni salad. Keep the food safe or as safe as you possibly can. These tips I gave you are what they make us follow in restaurants. They also make us check the temperatures of food to make sure it stays cold or hot enough, but if you keep a generally close eye on your food to make sure it is staying cold or hot as it should be you should be fine.
My favorite picnic hands down was on a cliff by the ocean in Maine. The pastry chef and I brought bread, cheese, and fruit and sat on the rocks enjoying the ocean view and the simplest little picnic I ever attended. There are always a million things to consider when planning a picnic, but never forget the simple pleasures of a little bit of food, beautiful weather, and a nice view.
Happy Eating!!!
Emily
Sunday, May 17, 2009
In Season
Those two little words mean so much to anyone who enjoys food that tastes like it's supposed to.
My mom has strawberry plants outside. She bought them at a yard sale and in typical my mother fashion left them in their pots and set them in her flower bed, hoping to get to them. The summer came and went and the pots were still there. In the spring they sent out shooters and planted themselves in the ground. If there were ever a children's book written about my mother, it would be about the fact that she never touches her plants, but somehow they magically take care of themselves. My mother has a beautiful garden and beautiful flower beds, but unlike most people who spend most of their spare time trying to make things grow my mother just lets them grow themselves, because she doesn't have spare time.
But anyway eventually my mom felt silly leaving those pots out in her flower bed so she planted the big plants next to all of the little runners and - fast forward 3 years - and half of the flower bed is filled with strawberry plants that are packed with berries. Just one bite of a fresh strawberry from my backyard and you will never want to touch a store bought strawberry again. It is truly a lightbulb moment, because it tastes like a strawberry should taste, like the warm sun slightly sweet, gushing with juices.
During the summer so many things are in season. Blueberries picking is one of my favorite summer activities. Fresh tomatoes are just bursting with flavor. Green beans I could snack on all day long. And you can't forget the watermelon that is fresh and crisp and juicy.
Having spent the summer in Maine last year I can't help remembering lobster season. Many people try to go up in June or even May to get their lobsters and, while they will probably enjoy their lobster and think it is the most amazing thing they've ever eaten, lobsters aren't at their best until July. In July they are the perfect size and are just flowing off the lobster boats.
It is so important to know seasons of fruits, vegetables, and even fish and seafood. Knowing seasons will allow you to buy something that actually tastes the way it's supposed to taste and buy it more reasonably. Anyone who has bought a tomato in the middle of winter, paid an arm and a leg for it, only to bring it home and find out that it is the most dry, tasteless thing they've ever seen, can attest to the fact that fresh produce is really the way to go. I understand that sometimes we just can't help it and it is necessary to buy that tomato (I always buy canned during the winter because they are canned when they are fresh), but it's May and the fresh produce is just starting to come in. Be sure not to miss out on the bounty of food that is at it's freshest in the next few months. The memories will last you all, or most of the winter.
Strawberries and Rhubarb are coming in. Be sure to take advantage and make a strawberry rhubarb pie.
Strawberry Rhubarb Pie:
Crust: 3/4 cup of flour, 1/2 cup of butter or shortening, 1/4 cup of water
Cut fat into the flour. Add the water and form into a patty. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate or freeze till fat is firm. Roll out with lots of flour.
Filling:
3 cups rhubarb stalks cut into 1/2 inch pieces (make sure to trim away any and discard of the leaves which are poisonous)
1 cup strawberries, stemmed and sliced
1 cup sugar
1 and 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
3 Tablespoons of quick cooking tapioca (if you don't have tapioca I use flour or cornstarch or a combination of both)
1/4 teaspoon of salt
Mix filling together and let sit for 20 minutes. Pour into pie crust. Cover with a lattice top if desired. I normally do my latice on the pie when the filling is in. I've seen people do it on a cutting board and move it, but that seems more stressful to me.
Bake at 400 degrees fahrenheit for 20 minutes so that the upper crust will get a nice color. Reduce heat to 350 and bake for 40 minutes. Because this pie has to be in the oven for a long time, it's probably not a good "hot day" activity. When the pie is bubbling and finished let it sit for an hour or till mostly cooled and serve. Trying to serve it before it's cooled will most likely result in a frustrated chef and a bunch of pieces that fall apart. This pie is always watery for me, so don't fret if it seems like it has a lot of liqued in it. It is one of my favorite pies, because I think it just tastes like spring and early summer.
Happy Eating!!!
Emily
My mom has strawberry plants outside. She bought them at a yard sale and in typical my mother fashion left them in their pots and set them in her flower bed, hoping to get to them. The summer came and went and the pots were still there. In the spring they sent out shooters and planted themselves in the ground. If there were ever a children's book written about my mother, it would be about the fact that she never touches her plants, but somehow they magically take care of themselves. My mother has a beautiful garden and beautiful flower beds, but unlike most people who spend most of their spare time trying to make things grow my mother just lets them grow themselves, because she doesn't have spare time.
But anyway eventually my mom felt silly leaving those pots out in her flower bed so she planted the big plants next to all of the little runners and - fast forward 3 years - and half of the flower bed is filled with strawberry plants that are packed with berries. Just one bite of a fresh strawberry from my backyard and you will never want to touch a store bought strawberry again. It is truly a lightbulb moment, because it tastes like a strawberry should taste, like the warm sun slightly sweet, gushing with juices.
During the summer so many things are in season. Blueberries picking is one of my favorite summer activities. Fresh tomatoes are just bursting with flavor. Green beans I could snack on all day long. And you can't forget the watermelon that is fresh and crisp and juicy.
Having spent the summer in Maine last year I can't help remembering lobster season. Many people try to go up in June or even May to get their lobsters and, while they will probably enjoy their lobster and think it is the most amazing thing they've ever eaten, lobsters aren't at their best until July. In July they are the perfect size and are just flowing off the lobster boats.
It is so important to know seasons of fruits, vegetables, and even fish and seafood. Knowing seasons will allow you to buy something that actually tastes the way it's supposed to taste and buy it more reasonably. Anyone who has bought a tomato in the middle of winter, paid an arm and a leg for it, only to bring it home and find out that it is the most dry, tasteless thing they've ever seen, can attest to the fact that fresh produce is really the way to go. I understand that sometimes we just can't help it and it is necessary to buy that tomato (I always buy canned during the winter because they are canned when they are fresh), but it's May and the fresh produce is just starting to come in. Be sure not to miss out on the bounty of food that is at it's freshest in the next few months. The memories will last you all, or most of the winter.
Strawberries and Rhubarb are coming in. Be sure to take advantage and make a strawberry rhubarb pie.
Strawberry Rhubarb Pie:
Crust: 3/4 cup of flour, 1/2 cup of butter or shortening, 1/4 cup of water
Cut fat into the flour. Add the water and form into a patty. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate or freeze till fat is firm. Roll out with lots of flour.
Filling:
3 cups rhubarb stalks cut into 1/2 inch pieces (make sure to trim away any and discard of the leaves which are poisonous)
1 cup strawberries, stemmed and sliced
1 cup sugar
1 and 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
3 Tablespoons of quick cooking tapioca (if you don't have tapioca I use flour or cornstarch or a combination of both)
1/4 teaspoon of salt
Mix filling together and let sit for 20 minutes. Pour into pie crust. Cover with a lattice top if desired. I normally do my latice on the pie when the filling is in. I've seen people do it on a cutting board and move it, but that seems more stressful to me.
Bake at 400 degrees fahrenheit for 20 minutes so that the upper crust will get a nice color. Reduce heat to 350 and bake for 40 minutes. Because this pie has to be in the oven for a long time, it's probably not a good "hot day" activity. When the pie is bubbling and finished let it sit for an hour or till mostly cooled and serve. Trying to serve it before it's cooled will most likely result in a frustrated chef and a bunch of pieces that fall apart. This pie is always watery for me, so don't fret if it seems like it has a lot of liqued in it. It is one of my favorite pies, because I think it just tastes like spring and early summer.
Happy Eating!!!
Emily
Saturday, May 16, 2009
People have to have their mac and cheese and chocolate
It seems that there are certain food items that are recession proof. According to an article on Cabin.com sales of Spam, Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, and Hershey's chocolate have gone up in the last three months. I am truly not surprised. People know how to cut food costs and these old favorites have always been a reasonably priced option to the homemade alternative. Consider making macaroni and cheese yourself. You need to buy cheese, which will most likely cost you around $3 and then the milk and the noodles. The cheese alone costs more than the $1 or a little over $1 box of Kraft Mac and Cheese. When I was living in Oregon, my roommate and I even tried to make baked Kraft Mac and Cheese with bread crumbs on top. It wasn't quite the mom version we were hoping for, but it was pretty close and it made us happy. This is why these products never really have a bad day. They are a tasty, cheaper alternative to a homemade meal.
You all know my feelings about Hershey's chocolate, nothing makes me happier than a bar of it. I think the up in chocolate sales, 20% in the last 3 months, is probably because of Easter and the fact that, when you don't have the money to go out to the cheesecake factory for dessert, a bar of chocolate will make you feel like you aren't really missing out on anything.
There are of course less processed options that can cut food costs, during these tight times. Fruit salads, like the one in the picture above, can be a healthy and reasonable option for an afternoon snack, dessert, or a piece of a picnic lunch. For this fruit salad I purchases a cantaloupe, two kiwis, and strawberries and spent a little over $4. I scooped out the cantaloupe with a melon-baller, which put it in nice bite-sized pieces. I peeled and slices the kiwi. To get them to turn up into a bowl-like creation I sliced from the outside of one end to the end of the center and turned the pieces up. I sliced off the tips of some of the strawberries to put in the middle of the kiwi to add some color. With the rest of the strawberries I sliced them relatively thin. I mixed the strawberries and cantaloupe in the bowl I was going to use and then I gently placed the kiwi on top kind of nestled into the cantaloupe and strawberries. As a finishing touch I fanned a few strawberries by setting the strawberry leaf side on the table and slicing 4-5 slices into the berry, without actually cutting through the berry. Basically you want there to be pretty slices that you can fan out without the strawberry falling apart.
The true key to eating smart during the recession is thinking before you go out shopping. Where do you shop? If you are shopping at the cleanest, newest grocery store in town you might be paying more than someone who is shopping at a discount or not-as-flashy grocery store. What fruit and vegetables are in season? Fruit that is in season is normally more reasonably priced. Does the name brand really taste that much different? I have learned that sometimes it does, but there are some foods that can be bought cheaper if you buy the store brand. Food is a neccassary expense, which is why grocery stores are normally a recession proof industry, but that doesn't mean that you need to exsist off of Ramen Noodles and Spam. Think smart and buy smart. Spend some extra time grocery shopping; it will probably pay you big in the long run.
Happy Eating!!!
Emily
Friday, May 15, 2009
Let them eat chocolate
I was just sent the link to apply for the Mars Real Chocolate Relief Act. https://secure.realchocolate.com/ This site allows 500,000 people to register for a free bar of chocolate every Friday through September. You only have 5 minutes to register and it takes 6 weeks to get the chocolate, but where there is free chocolate I am always in.
According to an article on msn.com the purpose of the promotion is to increase awareness about the need for cocoa butter in chocolate. Supposedly some of these other brands are using vegetable oil instead of cocoa butter and the Mars company has decided it needs to make a statement about it's pure cocoa butter chocolate usage in a big way.
It is pretty easy to spot out candy bars with vegetable oil in them. Cocoa butter melts at about the same temperature as your body temperature. This is why holding chocolate in your hand might not be the best of ideas unless you enjoy a goopy chocolate mess. Vegetable oil on the other hand is emulsified into the chocolate in such a way that it won't melt at body temperature. If you've ever gotten a candy bar that you really had to chew and it kind of didn't melt in your mouth. That was most likely made with vegetable oil or a mixture of vegetable oil and cocoa butter. Of course vegetable oil is cheaper, so companies using chocolate to coat a candy bar might not see the harm in using some vegetable oil to stretch out their profit.
Chocolate has basically three main ingredients: cocoa solids, cocoa butter, chocolate liquor and in milk chocolate, milk or dried milk solids. Europe has strict guidelines for chocolate and what can be called chocolate. They didn't give white chocolate the nod till just recently. Before it had to be called something else since it didn't have any cocoa solids in it. This chocolate that candy companies are making with vegetable oil isn't really chocolate in the purest European sense of the word. It is what we in the industry call coating chocolate. If people are willing to buy and eat something that is not going to taste as good and does not have the ingredients that make chocolate melt in you mouth, then companies are going to continue to make more money by using subpar ingredients.
I give Mars props for trying to bring this problem to the forefront by giving away their chocolate that has real cocoa butter in it. I am pretty picky about my chocolate choices, as in if it's not a Hershey's chocolate bar I'm probably just going to nibble on it. Thankfully Hershey's bars are still all cocoa butter.
It saddens me when anyone says that chocolate is just chocolate and that it doesn't matter. Would it matter if you ordered steak and someone gave you beef tips? I think it would. I'll be online getting my free bar from the Mars company every Friday. Join me in celebrating free chocolate and the use of real cocoa butter.
Happy Eating!!!
Emily
According to an article on msn.com the purpose of the promotion is to increase awareness about the need for cocoa butter in chocolate. Supposedly some of these other brands are using vegetable oil instead of cocoa butter and the Mars company has decided it needs to make a statement about it's pure cocoa butter chocolate usage in a big way.
It is pretty easy to spot out candy bars with vegetable oil in them. Cocoa butter melts at about the same temperature as your body temperature. This is why holding chocolate in your hand might not be the best of ideas unless you enjoy a goopy chocolate mess. Vegetable oil on the other hand is emulsified into the chocolate in such a way that it won't melt at body temperature. If you've ever gotten a candy bar that you really had to chew and it kind of didn't melt in your mouth. That was most likely made with vegetable oil or a mixture of vegetable oil and cocoa butter. Of course vegetable oil is cheaper, so companies using chocolate to coat a candy bar might not see the harm in using some vegetable oil to stretch out their profit.
Chocolate has basically three main ingredients: cocoa solids, cocoa butter, chocolate liquor and in milk chocolate, milk or dried milk solids. Europe has strict guidelines for chocolate and what can be called chocolate. They didn't give white chocolate the nod till just recently. Before it had to be called something else since it didn't have any cocoa solids in it. This chocolate that candy companies are making with vegetable oil isn't really chocolate in the purest European sense of the word. It is what we in the industry call coating chocolate. If people are willing to buy and eat something that is not going to taste as good and does not have the ingredients that make chocolate melt in you mouth, then companies are going to continue to make more money by using subpar ingredients.
I give Mars props for trying to bring this problem to the forefront by giving away their chocolate that has real cocoa butter in it. I am pretty picky about my chocolate choices, as in if it's not a Hershey's chocolate bar I'm probably just going to nibble on it. Thankfully Hershey's bars are still all cocoa butter.
It saddens me when anyone says that chocolate is just chocolate and that it doesn't matter. Would it matter if you ordered steak and someone gave you beef tips? I think it would. I'll be online getting my free bar from the Mars company every Friday. Join me in celebrating free chocolate and the use of real cocoa butter.
Happy Eating!!!
Emily
Thursday, May 14, 2009
How many of you played doctor and gave fake pills in the form of Cheerios?
Well you might have been ahead of your time. According to newsmax.com the FDA wants to make General Mills go through the process of registering Cheerios as a new drug.
Cheerios boxes have been making claims that it can lower bad cholesterol in six weeks by 4 percent. General Mills said that all of these claims were FDA approved and that the label had been promoting the 4 percent in 6 weeks for two years now. In all reality it is this labeling that the FDA has a problem with and what they are asking General Mills to change, because they say the claims pretty much make Cheerios a drug and since it isn't a tested drug Cheerios would have to file under a new drug status.
I have to wonder where does it end. Quaker Oatmeal had commercials out a few years ago about its potential to lower bad cholesterol. Is the FDA going to prosecute them too?
I am also confused as to who the FDA is helping in this case. The consumer should be informed that these foods might be helpful in their fight against cholesterol. Not everything has to be solved with a drug or turned into a drug. So that leaves the big drug companies, who would rather that people take their drugs than try other, more natural routes, this legal battle definitely helps their cause. I would rather not get political over this, but it saddens me when politics mix with food and it never comes out tasting very good.
On a lighter note I worked my second night in a kitchen yesterday and I came home in desperate need of something to make my tired achy body feel just a little bit better. There was ice cream in the freezer, so I scooped a bowl and sat down for the first time in eight hours to enjoy the frozen milky goodness. I'm not sure what the FDA would think of it, but I think ice cream needs to put on it's label "will solve all of the world's problems." There are countless flavors of ice cream so you never really hear anyone saying that they don't like ice cream and everything that was bothering you normally disappears as you're slirping down the sugary cream.
It's almost summer time, which means ice cream time. I suggest having a constant stock in your freezer or making at least a weekly trip to your closest local ice cream shop. (Coldstone and Dairy Queen don't count. They're open all year round.) Get out there, eat some ice cream and start calling it "the solves all of the world's problems alternative drug." The FDA will still be battling with Cheerios, so I think we'll all be safe.
Happy Eating!!!
Emily
Cheerios boxes have been making claims that it can lower bad cholesterol in six weeks by 4 percent. General Mills said that all of these claims were FDA approved and that the label had been promoting the 4 percent in 6 weeks for two years now. In all reality it is this labeling that the FDA has a problem with and what they are asking General Mills to change, because they say the claims pretty much make Cheerios a drug and since it isn't a tested drug Cheerios would have to file under a new drug status.
I have to wonder where does it end. Quaker Oatmeal had commercials out a few years ago about its potential to lower bad cholesterol. Is the FDA going to prosecute them too?
I am also confused as to who the FDA is helping in this case. The consumer should be informed that these foods might be helpful in their fight against cholesterol. Not everything has to be solved with a drug or turned into a drug. So that leaves the big drug companies, who would rather that people take their drugs than try other, more natural routes, this legal battle definitely helps their cause. I would rather not get political over this, but it saddens me when politics mix with food and it never comes out tasting very good.
On a lighter note I worked my second night in a kitchen yesterday and I came home in desperate need of something to make my tired achy body feel just a little bit better. There was ice cream in the freezer, so I scooped a bowl and sat down for the first time in eight hours to enjoy the frozen milky goodness. I'm not sure what the FDA would think of it, but I think ice cream needs to put on it's label "will solve all of the world's problems." There are countless flavors of ice cream so you never really hear anyone saying that they don't like ice cream and everything that was bothering you normally disappears as you're slirping down the sugary cream.
It's almost summer time, which means ice cream time. I suggest having a constant stock in your freezer or making at least a weekly trip to your closest local ice cream shop. (Coldstone and Dairy Queen don't count. They're open all year round.) Get out there, eat some ice cream and start calling it "the solves all of the world's problems alternative drug." The FDA will still be battling with Cheerios, so I think we'll all be safe.
Happy Eating!!!
Emily
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Can I have mustard with that?
The Chicago Tribune reported today that President Obama's character is now being analyzed through the mustard that he eats. According to the Tribune he ordered "spicy" mustard at a burger place in Virginia last week, and the conservative talking heads were yammering about it all night long.
All of this mustard talk got me thinking. Can a person's character really be judged by the mustard or condiments they consume? Do lovers of Dijon mustard have a finer or as Hannity said "more expensive" pallet than lovers of yellow mustard?
My personal thought is that the President's mustard choice was just a bad food choice not a display of character. Spicy mustard is not going to do what most condiments do to a hamburger. It will add some flavor, but it's such a dry mustard it will hardly even soak into the bun. The flavor of a hamburger, if it's a good hamburger, might be too strong for the subtle nuances of Dijon mustard. Choosing spicy mustard for a hamburger, in my eyes, is like choosing yellow mustard for a honey mustard glaze on a ham. There is a place for each kind of mustard where their flavors will be best represented and by using them elsewhere you're not really doing the mustard justice.
When I worked at the Bar Harbor Inn last summer a girl ordered honey mustard with her chicken strips. As the line cooks were shaking their heads and saying there is no honey mustard, a waiter grabbed the mustard and the honey and started mixing a little of each in a bowl. I had never actually thought of mixing my own honey mustard. It is of course the easiest thing in the world, but I stood behind my line almost awe struck. Sometimes I think we forget in the course of our busyness how simple the things we buy would be to make.
Frozen chicken nuggets will be a thing of your past when you try to make real ones. Just cut up chicken breasts into bite sized or strip sized pieces. Chop up a clove of garlic into small pieces and rub the garlic into the chicken. Squeeze half a lemon onto the chicken and cover and place in the refrigerator for up to two hours. Crack one or two eggs into a bowl and beat them. Pour bread crumbs into the other bowl. Dip the chicken into the egg then into the bread crumbs and place in a frying pan that is hot with oil. Fry on medium/medium high, flipping occasionally until the chicken is cooked. Drain on paper towels and serve, possibly with a side of honey mustard or whatever condiment you choose.
I promise I won't judge you if you use spicy mustard, although you may want to keep it quiet because someone might.
Happy Eating!!!
Emily
All of this mustard talk got me thinking. Can a person's character really be judged by the mustard or condiments they consume? Do lovers of Dijon mustard have a finer or as Hannity said "more expensive" pallet than lovers of yellow mustard?
My personal thought is that the President's mustard choice was just a bad food choice not a display of character. Spicy mustard is not going to do what most condiments do to a hamburger. It will add some flavor, but it's such a dry mustard it will hardly even soak into the bun. The flavor of a hamburger, if it's a good hamburger, might be too strong for the subtle nuances of Dijon mustard. Choosing spicy mustard for a hamburger, in my eyes, is like choosing yellow mustard for a honey mustard glaze on a ham. There is a place for each kind of mustard where their flavors will be best represented and by using them elsewhere you're not really doing the mustard justice.
When I worked at the Bar Harbor Inn last summer a girl ordered honey mustard with her chicken strips. As the line cooks were shaking their heads and saying there is no honey mustard, a waiter grabbed the mustard and the honey and started mixing a little of each in a bowl. I had never actually thought of mixing my own honey mustard. It is of course the easiest thing in the world, but I stood behind my line almost awe struck. Sometimes I think we forget in the course of our busyness how simple the things we buy would be to make.
Frozen chicken nuggets will be a thing of your past when you try to make real ones. Just cut up chicken breasts into bite sized or strip sized pieces. Chop up a clove of garlic into small pieces and rub the garlic into the chicken. Squeeze half a lemon onto the chicken and cover and place in the refrigerator for up to two hours. Crack one or two eggs into a bowl and beat them. Pour bread crumbs into the other bowl. Dip the chicken into the egg then into the bread crumbs and place in a frying pan that is hot with oil. Fry on medium/medium high, flipping occasionally until the chicken is cooked. Drain on paper towels and serve, possibly with a side of honey mustard or whatever condiment you choose.
I promise I won't judge you if you use spicy mustard, although you may want to keep it quiet because someone might.
Happy Eating!!!
Emily
Monday, May 11, 2009
Recipes Recipes Recipes
I have been completely tearing everything in my room apart to try to create a little bit of space to store all of my things. In the midst of this process I have collided with my notebooks and scraps of paper and full binders of recipes. It was so daunting to look at all of the recipes that, I am ashamed to say, I simply put them back into one big container.
Recipes and I go way back, back to the day my mom let me look through her cookbooks and said I could make whatever we had the ingredients for. I love trying new recipes, I love when a recipe is beyond all expectation, but I more importantly love going back to my classic recipes that I keep on my computer and on recipe card close-by. This is probably why I don't feel very motivated to clean out the recipes that I found today. They were all excellent recipes and I know that one day I will need to know how to make chocolate lava cake and will spend most of my day digging through the container, but for now I will be content knowing where my favorite recipes are stashed away.
In honor of classic recipes that I love and will never end up at the bottom of a pile of recipes I wanted to post my mom's recipe for chocolate chip applesauce cake. I recently made this cake into muffins for my final law class and they were devoured. Whether you make a cake or muffins this recipe should always remain close to the kitchen.
Chocolate Applesauce Cake:
Cream together:
1 and ½ cup sugar ½ cup shortening or vegetable oil
2 eggs
Add:
2 cup applesauce
Sift together and add:
2 cups flour 1 and ½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt ½ - 2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons cocoa, heaping if desired
Pour batter into 13x9 inch pan and sprinkle with:
¼ cup brown sugar 2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon flour 1 cup chocolate chips
½ cup chopped nuts (optional)
Bake 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 40 to 45 minutes.
Happy Eating!!!
Emily
Recipes and I go way back, back to the day my mom let me look through her cookbooks and said I could make whatever we had the ingredients for. I love trying new recipes, I love when a recipe is beyond all expectation, but I more importantly love going back to my classic recipes that I keep on my computer and on recipe card close-by. This is probably why I don't feel very motivated to clean out the recipes that I found today. They were all excellent recipes and I know that one day I will need to know how to make chocolate lava cake and will spend most of my day digging through the container, but for now I will be content knowing where my favorite recipes are stashed away.
In honor of classic recipes that I love and will never end up at the bottom of a pile of recipes I wanted to post my mom's recipe for chocolate chip applesauce cake. I recently made this cake into muffins for my final law class and they were devoured. Whether you make a cake or muffins this recipe should always remain close to the kitchen.
Chocolate Applesauce Cake:
Cream together:
1 and ½ cup sugar ½ cup shortening or vegetable oil
2 eggs
Add:
2 cup applesauce
Sift together and add:
2 cups flour 1 and ½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt ½ - 2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons cocoa, heaping if desired
Pour batter into 13x9 inch pan and sprinkle with:
¼ cup brown sugar 2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon flour 1 cup chocolate chips
½ cup chopped nuts (optional)
Bake 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 40 to 45 minutes.
Happy Eating!!!
Emily
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Calling all pig lovers
In light of the recent Swine Flu or H1N1 as the pig farmers would prefer it be called I have been considering the plight of the pig. I feel like over the years these little oinkers have really gotten the shaft. Consider the slogan "Pork, the other white meat." Who wants to be the "other one" of anything. Not me and definitely not Wilbur. In George Orwell's 1945 classic Animal Farm pigs were the fat lazy communists who became worse than the farmers who the animals overthrew. More recently, in Art Spiegelman's Maus, the swine were the communist Germans. All of this just makes me wonder, where is the pig skin, bacon fat, pork roast love?
Before all of the recent Swine histeria I was given a press pass to attend Cochon 555 in Boston. It was a beautiful event with the intent of celebrating Heritage pigs (the curly tailed version of free range chicken and grass fed cow). 5 of the top chefs in Boston had the task of each preparing one of these Heritage pigs and serving them to the 300 some guests. In the front of the room was a giant bowl of flavored lard with slices of toasted bread sitting next to it. I was intranced by this pile of fatty goodness and when I actually tried it my mouth would never be the same again.
Lard has to be one of the most unappreciated of pork products. All a person has to do is see lard in a recipe and they instantly start scouring websites and cookbooks to see if it is safe to replace the lard with butter, shortening or something even more vile like margarine. Like all pork products lard has a special place in the food world.
Lard will create the most ideal pie crust. It will be flaky and buttery. The crust will literally melt in your mouth. The only downside some people see to using this is that there is a slightly meaty flavor to lard, so it might not be ideal for your fresh summer strawberry pie. It needs strong flavors to offset the possible meaty undertones. Personally after my Cochon experience I feel like replacing all of the butter in the fridge with garlic infused lard would make me as happy as a pig in fresh mud.
The CDC has informed us that H1N1 is now no worse than the regular flu and it was never passed to people by eating pork. So go out and buy some lard and make some pies, or make my boyfriend's favorite breakfast of bacon and eggs cooked in the bacon fat.
Happy Eating!!!
Emily
Before all of the recent Swine histeria I was given a press pass to attend Cochon 555 in Boston. It was a beautiful event with the intent of celebrating Heritage pigs (the curly tailed version of free range chicken and grass fed cow). 5 of the top chefs in Boston had the task of each preparing one of these Heritage pigs and serving them to the 300 some guests. In the front of the room was a giant bowl of flavored lard with slices of toasted bread sitting next to it. I was intranced by this pile of fatty goodness and when I actually tried it my mouth would never be the same again.
Lard has to be one of the most unappreciated of pork products. All a person has to do is see lard in a recipe and they instantly start scouring websites and cookbooks to see if it is safe to replace the lard with butter, shortening or something even more vile like margarine. Like all pork products lard has a special place in the food world.
Lard will create the most ideal pie crust. It will be flaky and buttery. The crust will literally melt in your mouth. The only downside some people see to using this is that there is a slightly meaty flavor to lard, so it might not be ideal for your fresh summer strawberry pie. It needs strong flavors to offset the possible meaty undertones. Personally after my Cochon experience I feel like replacing all of the butter in the fridge with garlic infused lard would make me as happy as a pig in fresh mud.
The CDC has informed us that H1N1 is now no worse than the regular flu and it was never passed to people by eating pork. So go out and buy some lard and make some pies, or make my boyfriend's favorite breakfast of bacon and eggs cooked in the bacon fat.
Happy Eating!!!
Emily
Friday, May 8, 2009
Your food news source
I was going to start this during the school year, but that obviously didn't get very far. Expect food news, food information, and food commentary, oh and a couple of helpful hints here and there. I am a pastry chef getting a journalism degree. I have a lot of dreams and goals and you're welcome to come along for the ride.
At this very moment I am trying to decide what I will make for a Mother's Day lunch. My mom loves tea, so it's going to be biscotti for dessert. My biscotti are super easy. Find a recipe for chocolate chip cookies. Make it adding about 2 extra cups of flour and anything else you want. My personal favorites are pistachio white chocolate biscotti with a little bit of nutmeg or cranberry almond biscotti with a little bit of cinnamon. Be creative. Form the dough into a log. You will probably get at least two nice sized logs out of a recipe. Push down a little so it looks more like a speed bump and less like a baseball bat. Bake in the oven at 325 degrees fahrenheit till the top looks brown and cracked. Remove from the oven. Cut at an angle into thin (not too thin it'll break) slices while warm. Carefully place the cookies back on the baking sheet and back into the oven till they are golden brown and crunchy.
I have no idea what I will make for the real meal, but I guess I will have to decide quickly since Mother's Day is only 2 days away.
Happy Eating!!!
Emily
At this very moment I am trying to decide what I will make for a Mother's Day lunch. My mom loves tea, so it's going to be biscotti for dessert. My biscotti are super easy. Find a recipe for chocolate chip cookies. Make it adding about 2 extra cups of flour and anything else you want. My personal favorites are pistachio white chocolate biscotti with a little bit of nutmeg or cranberry almond biscotti with a little bit of cinnamon. Be creative. Form the dough into a log. You will probably get at least two nice sized logs out of a recipe. Push down a little so it looks more like a speed bump and less like a baseball bat. Bake in the oven at 325 degrees fahrenheit till the top looks brown and cracked. Remove from the oven. Cut at an angle into thin (not too thin it'll break) slices while warm. Carefully place the cookies back on the baking sheet and back into the oven till they are golden brown and crunchy.
I have no idea what I will make for the real meal, but I guess I will have to decide quickly since Mother's Day is only 2 days away.
Happy Eating!!!
Emily
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