Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Holiday Baking Blues

Well, the holidays have come and are almost gone. This year, I just didn't get the same baking done and I had very little desire to do more. The season was kind of a blue holiday for me and one filled with stress. Strange because usually baking and cooking help relieve that. My husband asked why I do all that I do at the holidays and proceeded to tell me that no one would miss it if I didn't do everything.Maybe he's right. I asked my mom about it and she disagreed completely. There are some things that are a comfort and a tradition that people come to rely on each year. For her it is the pinwheel and molasses cookies I make just like her mom used to make. For my brother, it is the deep fried rolls. For me...I guess it is the process of putting everything together. It is how I keep that little spark of Grandma alive for me.

Christmas dinner itself was a small affair, just us and the kids, our parents, my brother and my cousin. We had the standard prime rib, popovers and side dished, nothing special. I was sick of pie so there wasn't a pie within 100 yards of us, but we did have chocolate mousse and cinnamon vanilla creme brulee. They were tasty.

Last night I finished up the last of the cookie dough and made several dozen snickerdoodles and molasses cookies to put in the freezer for later dates. Now it is all but done. There is a small piece of mint fudge left and I think I saw a couple of lemon sable cookies floating around, but they will soon be gone and I will be on my healthy kick trying to get thinner...in time for the cooking competition my husband has entered me. I have to perfect my grilling of cupcakes, chocolate is perfected and now on to the cocoloco tequilla cupcakes. If I get that down on the grill I might get a good review in the paper. Wow, that might actually impress my students! Well, off to practice. We all know the saying..."practice makes perfect" and trust me,  it doesn't make for a skinny cook!

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Ciao Bella Gelato

I love a good cookbook, and the Ciao Bella Book of Gelato and Sorbetto is definitely one of my favorites. While some people in my family like to stick with the same ol', same ol'...I love to mix it up and have the flavors of the gelato or sorbetto compliment the meal, much like a glass of good wine. With this recipe book, I always have just the right flavor to go with a meal.

The first flavor I tried was a blackberry cabernet sorbetto. Not being able to have raw alcohol, this was a real treat for me. I chose one of my husbands favorite cabs and cooked it up with the blackberries. The flavor was outstanding. There is something about the headiness of the cab simmering, it made the whole house smell like the crush season.  This was the perfect flavoring to go with a nice barbecued tri-tip meal and was very refreshing in the heat of the summer. (We get a little hot here, and it was 107* the day we first tried it.)

A few days later I made up some of the cinnamon caramel gelato. It too, had wonderful flavor and texture. I found it to be light and not too sweet, which was a nice surprise. A lot of people at the neighborhood BBQ really liked it and gave it a lot of compliments.

The last flavor I tried in that short time was the plain old chocolate. My brother-in-law had brought me some nice Swedish chocolate bars, so I decided to put them to good use. WOW!  It was like eating a frozen brownie. The flavor was intense and the texture was beyond creamy. Every spoonful was a little bite of chocolate heaven.  


As time goes on I know I will continue to rely on this book for some new flavors to match the meal or season. I have tried the pumpkin spice (WOW!) but I'll save that for another day.

You can trust me...there's no way I'll ever be a skinny cook!

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Another Thanksgiving Gone

The smell of fresh baked bread, spiced cider and turkey wafting through the house, now that's what I call a holiday. There's something about the culinary smells that send my senses on a magical journey this time of year and I have to say I love it. I wait all year for Thanksgiving, you can have your Christmas with the stress of presents and decorating, I'll keep Turkey Day and the joy of the food and family that come with it.


As long as I can remember, Thanksgiving meant traveling to my grandparents house through the fog to spend the day with my father's side of the family. My grandmother was never the "best" in the kitchen, but her stuffing, known as "snotty dressing"to us kids, was always the highlight of the meal. Now that we have kids, my husband and I have taken on the responsibility for the Thanksgiving meal. There is no more driving through the fog to get to grandmother's house, but it's still foogy out and I still serve her stuffing.

This year we had a friend visiting from England and celebrating his first American Thanksgiving. For 2 days Les had to sit and watch as I baked and prepped. I'm sure he would have much rather have been out sight seeing, but he sat in the kitchen a bit and it was nice to have the company.  I think he enjoyed the meal and the company that came with it.  It was definitely an international affair as we also had a Canadian with us. Each year we invite our adopted players from the Stockton Thunder Hockey Team to join us. While my parents' player (Jim McKenzie) was from Minnesota, our player (Bretton Cameron) was from the Calgary area of Canada. It was interesting to learn how Canadians celebrate their Thanksgiving in October and it seems it is much like ours.

I have to say, Jim made my whole holiday. He ate 2-3 servings and for dessert he had a sample of EVERYTHING!  Apple pie, pumpkin pie, pumpkin cheesecake, cinnamon gelato, and vanilla gelato, he had it all. He loaded me up with the compliments on all of them, too.What good sports they were and they brought some nice bottles of wine with them, as well.

SO... now on to Christmas. I'm not really looking forward to the season. There's so much to do at work and all I really want to do is stay home and bake and cook and bake and try new recipes. I guess I really need to get going on my cookbook and see where it leads. I would love to find a job working with food and creating....not reading essays and half-hearted attempts at reports and assignments. I guess this is what will follow my Christmas blog-- my new year's resolution. Soon....trust me, I'm not a skinny cook!

Here is the recipe for the pumpkin cheesecake I used. It came out creamy and smooth. I added a bit more pumpkin to the mix, about 1/4 cup, and it didn't affect it at all, just gave it a more pumpkiny flavor.  It comes from the Joy of Baking web site: 
http://www.joyofbaking.com/PumpkinCheesecake.html

Friday, September 10, 2010

After a long, hard week

It would be so nice just to be able to come home and have a glass of wine and chill out, but no, I have to be allergic to raw alcohol. I don't believe my allergist when he tells me there is no such thing as an allergy to alcohol. If that is true then why do I have the exact same reaction when I drink alcohol as I do when I have a reaction to my allergy shots????

Well, I guess I just have to deal with my stress the best I can, so I'll turn to cooking and baking. This week I felt like adding gelato flavors to the fridge. We are down to just 3 different flavors. I made up some chocolate base using a 53% chocolate from Sweden. The base was sooooo good it tasted just like chocolate brownies. I will have to thank my brother-in-law for that lovely gift of chocolate he brought me.  Tomorrow, I think I will turn the plain base into a nice refreshing lemon. I'll have to make some lemon cookies to go with it, of course.

I'm also thinking it is time for a batch of tequila cupcakes. These are so yummy I am forever in debt to Joanne Weir for sharing this recipe. I only hope I have some left to share with my fellow tequila cupcake lovers at school on Monday. They could use a couple, too. If this year doesn't get settled down....we'll all end up weighing 300 lbs.

Oh well, never trust a skinny cook!

Sunday, September 5, 2010

A New Adventure

Hmmm, I never thought I would do a blog. I'm not particularly good at writing in journals, I am much better at reading them. I also don't type so well.  But here goes nothing.  I started this blog because I wanted to sign up for French Fridays with Dorie and in order to register, I had to have a blog spot.  Perhaps this will be a new outlet for me.


Outside of school I love to cook and I love to read. I am currently working on a recipe book for outdoor cooking. It is a long, slow process as I test recipes and see what is easily doable for those who may not have the same skill level or desire to cook as I have.

This year I turn 40 and to celebrate I will spend the weekend in Las Vegas eating my way through the strip. I'm ok with gambling, but I'd personally rather spend the money on a great meal. Not only do I actually get something for the money spent, but it takes a long time to eat $200 worth of food and enjoy a meal. I can lose $200 in a slot machine or at the tables in a matter of a few minutes.  I'm also planning my big trip for my birthday. The family is heading off to one of my favorite cities...PARIS. A culinary smorgasbord that delights every sense of the body. We'll have a little stop over in Iceland to visit my brother-in-law, but Paris is what I am most looking forward to.

Today we are off to do wine tasting in Lodi and the home for me to cook dinner for my parents. The recently celebrated 40 years of marriage so we'll celebrate with entre cote and frites, topped off with chocolate mousse. It is our favorite meal and since the one restaurant in California that served it has closed, we don't eat it very often. Ah, but that is a story for another blog.

Until then...never trust a skinny cook.