for the past 48 hours or so i have had a deep and unyielding craving for mussels. i've been daydreaming.

scrub them and rinse them and watch the shells close up slowly. throw away those that stay open, gasping. lightly cook in butter, white wine, butter, and several cloves of garlic covered in a big metal pot just until the shells pop open. the wait is short, but torturous. pour them clattering and steaming into a huge blue ceramic serving bowl set beside a basket of crusty ciabatta bread.

you can share here. but i wouldn’t.

with a tiny silver fork, skewer and pull the little morsel. it should be tender, not rubbery. pile the shiny black shells on a plate. tear hunks of the dense bread from the loaf with you hands, dip them into the broth. take your time, enjoy each bite, confident in the knowledge that all is right with the world.

My lovely mother made cupcakes for my graduation party, which is tomorrow.

These are not just any regular old cupcakes, these are graduation cupcakes, complete with mortarboard and tassel!

 

( Yay for cupcakes! )

From my local naturopath's cookbook, modified a little.

Mix the following in a bowl:

1 pkg. tempeh, cut into small cubes (best to do this when it's partly frozen, it cuts much easier)
2 tblsp minced dill pickles or to taste
1 bunch green onions (original recipe used regular onions)
1 grated carrot
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped (they said red: I had green - I'm sure any colour would work fine.)
4-5 tblsp mayonnaise
1 tsp mustard (they said regular, I used dijon)
1 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp dill
1/2 tsp basil
dash paprika (this wasn't in the original, but it worked.)
dash garlic powder

I had this in a wrap; it's tasty. Kind of similarish to what I remember chicken salad being like.

For food porn of the literary sort, I recommend Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Food Critic in Disguise For me this book gets 4 out of 5 stars. The missing fifth stars says more about me than the book. Five stars would require taking my breath away.

The book appealed to both my passion for food and cooking (complete with descriptions of amazing meals and recipes) and the sociologist in me (Ruth Reichl descriptions of how she was treated in various disguises). The book also offers a reminder of the power of food and dining as social experiences that creates connections to the past and to identity.

I'm having a stupid momment (tooth pain, pain killers, loss of brain. It's a thing.) and I was wondering exactly how to cook asparagus. Nothing fancy, as I'm at my mothers house, and the woman has no spices besides salt and nutmeg.

Just wondering how/what temp/easy recipes.

And really, I'm much more lucid when not in pain.

I took the first suggestion, everything looking very nice!

Thank you! I promise to repay everyones' speedy responces with some food porn as soon as I'm able to funtion again.

I've been really lax in sharing my fun recipes on here, I've been cooking some wonderful foods lately and taking a lot of pictures, and now I've got the time to slow down and actually post everything up here - so fellow Foodies, I apologize in advance for the glut of posts from me! I hope you enjoy!

I'm originally from Cincinnati, OH and I am currently living in Sacramento, CA - all the way on the other side of the country. Sometimes I really miss the local foods we have there. One thing in particular that I miss is Gold Star Chili. So, I pester my mother until she sends me out the little packets you can buy at the grocery store that have all the spices all together, so I can make the tasty chili here in sunny California. But, because not everyone has a mom who lives in Cincy, I also included the recipe for the chili, as well as the things I did to change it up some to make it into a layered dish!

( Recipe and Photos! )

And lastly - my husband loves to bake/cook/experiment just as much as I do.

His latest experiement in cooking was making Ciabatta Bread from scratch. I have to say it turned out absolutely perfect!

( Bread Recipe and Photos )

Yay for having a free night and nothing to do but edit food pictures! So, here we go...

A few nights ago my husband and I were at the grecery and saw that whole chickens were on sale for a very reasonable price so we picked a couple up and I made a wonderfully juicy flavorful roast chicken.

First I removed all the goodies inside my chicken and set them aside for the kitties, who incedentally didn't eat them. Then I loosened the skin and put some margerine between the skin and the meat, then added some more margerine to the outside of the skin as well as sprinking some "italian blend" spice that I got at the grocery, and topped the chicken off with some asiago cheese. Around the outside of the chicken I added some potato chunks (the insides from when I made potato skins) quartered mushrooms, sliced celery, onions and chopped garlic. I placed some margerine on top of the veggies, then sprinkled it with salt, pepper, and "italian blend" and popped it into the oven until the internal temperature registered at 180 degrees.

I have to say that was one of the best chickens I have had in a very long time, and the vegetables were to die for. I am definetly looking forward to making it again soon!

( And now for pictures )