I'm obsessive when it comes to planning ahead.

I'm planning a Blue's Clues birthday party for my son. I was wondering how hard it is to make fondant. Then again since it's a small party I was thinking of making cupcakes instead of a cake.

I just am not ordering a cake again this year. I was talked into doing it last year and the birthday boy hardly ate any of it. It was pretty bad.

I just want to tie the cake/cupcakes into the theme. I'm a bit of a spaz when it comes to being stone walled. Actually if you can give me a blueberry or banana recipe theme that would be awesome too. He likes blueberries and bananas. They're his favorite food. It's his 3rd birthday and he'll be starting school soon. So, it's a big deal. XD

I should probably add that my son is cursed with a winter birthday and is quite possibly the only child I know that prefers fruit to chocolate. As in if I made a cake that was chocolate or vanilla there's a greater chance the table or dog will eat it than he will.

I mean blueberry or banana flavored cake.

Happy New Year!

May the blessings of the past year continue into this one and may the joys flood out the sorrows!

I know that it seems like I have been slacking. And maybe I have been a little. But rest assured I have been cooking! Just not in my own kitchen!

Aside from being ill with the ninja death flu (Even after I got a flu shot! The nerve!), traveled up to Spokane this winter to invade a close friends home and wreck his brand new kitchen which he has so graciously opened to me.

May years ago C and I started a tradition together.

Unbelievable. As every cook knows, New Year's Evening is the red letter evening for the entire restaurant industry. If you aren't completely booked solid, with a waiting list on NYE you are probably doing something wrong. And yet, somehow, I managed to get NYE off this year. For the first time in the 7 years I've been cooking. In fact, I know it was this long, because the last NYE I had off was when I was in cooking school.

So what is a cook to do with his unexpected freedom? Why, cook a 6 course tasting menu for his family, of course!

AND get photographs for the internet. First, allow me to introduce my family- we posed for a cheesy family photo after dinner, and I think it is a good way to start out the post.
( Post-tasting menu Family Photo )Here's us. That's me, second from the right, between my mom and my girlfriend glapaloopscap. My sister Heather and her boyfriend Duncan are on the left, with my lovely parents in the middle.

I really threw together this tasting menu only a few days in advance, and I had quite a few criteria for supper that I was trying to fufill. I wanted to be able to try a few new flavour combinations, create a mini-tasting menu around my mom's proposed large entree. But, Heather and Duncan need to be out by 8PM, so it is crucial that my courses be all but completely prepared in advance. I had some practice with this when I did my 9-courses a few months ago. Furthermore, shellfish and red meat are out, since my sister is a vegetarian, and doesn't care for shellfish. And I didn't want to saddle my mom with a huge disaster to clean up.
So here's what I came up with.

Chioga and Golden Beet Chips with Hot Juniper and Blueberry Gelee
( More pictures and recipes )

Is that furry mold that grows on bread (or muffins, as the case was this morning) actually harmful? Or is just unpleasant?

ahoy pornstars!

after watching way too much food network over the holiday season, I decided to try my hand (and meager resources) at a standing rib roast for a small new year's eve dinner. I watched the Family Roast episode of Good Eats and decided to place my trust in AB. since I turned out a serious spread for my family's xmas dinner, I decided to keep things simple with creamed spinach, some unspectacular (but tasty) twice baked potatoes and brandied mushrooms, with the sage jus from the Good Eats ep. this was a daunting venture, especially in the face of my not so great rental kitchen, but I, a serious eater of beef, was up to the task.

I entrusted the task of documenting the food to a dinner companion. so here, in all of their fuzzy glory, are the pictures of my NYE efforts.

Hello, food pornistas, and Happy New Year!

I know I haven't been posting much--I have been away from the net for a while, but I just started posting on my blog again and I wanted to share with you all the dessert I made for New Year's Eve dinner: pomegranate cheesecake.

It is easy to make, absolutely creamy and delicious and beautiful to behold.

Photos and recipe here.

Yesterday night I made a very delicious food that I call "burrquitos". I call them that because I rolled them up more than a burrito, but not tight enough to be considered a to quito. Hence, burrquitos. I topped them with a sharp cheddar, colby, and Monterrey jack cheese sauce.

I also fried some brown rice in the grease left over from the beef (it was ground chuck) with some store-bought black been & white corn salsa that was lying around.

All in all a very good meal. There are two pictures of the food described here behind the cut.

(Note: the pictures are kind of big. Just, you know, FYI.)

( Read more... )