Once In a Lifetime

This past weekend my daughter Lily turned four. I had the privilege of making her a special cake for her birthday. I say privileged because that's exactly what it was. To see her eyes light up on her special day when she blows the candles out on her cake is one of those moments for me, as a parent, that makes the day to day ho-hum bearable. There are many many things that I fail at when I try, but for some reason cooking and baking I seem to be OK at. It's like a gift I get to give to her, and all of my family on special days.

Lily is just like me and nothing like me. She is just like me because she has been talking about and planning out her birthday for the past six months, just like I did when I was her age. She is nothing like me because she is girly girl to the max and wanted a fancy birthday that was going to be pink pink pink, and when I was her age I was a total tomboy.

So for the past six months the two of us put our heads together and planned out her perfect party. We decided to make her party a "Fancy Nancy" themed party after one of her favorite series of children's books, so that it was all going to be pink feather boas and fluff. Of course, there had to be a cake to match. Lily wanted a vanilla cake with strawberries and pink icing. I had seen a recipe for a vanilla cake on Sweetapolita that looked amazing, so I had that part figured out. The filling was going to be some of my homemade strawberry jam with some *ahem* "fresh" strawberries from the store. The part I was having a problem with was the overall look of the cake. Until I saw a cake from a British cake company called Maisie Fantasie. The cake was heart-shaped with white chocolate curls around the perimeter and real roses on top. I showed it to Lily and she was head over heels for this cake. I just had to figure out how I was going to pull it off.

Originally I was going to pipe roses on the top. The problem is that I have never piped roses before. If that was the route I was going to take I was going to have to do it the day of the party and if I failed I was going to be sad sad sad. One night on Twitter I was talking with a couple of ladies about my ideas and concerns. One of them said that piping roses wasn't worth the trouble. She said if you were going to have edible roses on top that chocolate roses were the only way to go. I was all..."chocolate what now??"

Yup, chocolate roses, or in my case white chocolate roses dyed pink. After getting a recipe from one of those lovely ladies on Twitter and watching some videos online I set to work. I won't lie, they took some time... but the good thing about those roses was I could make a few here and a few there and store them in the refrigerator so that come party day all I had to do was assemble the cake.

I used those French wafer cookies filled with ganache to go around the sides. By doing that two great things happened; first, I was able to use half as much icing and since I'm not a big icing fan that worked out for me. Second, the cookies covered up any mistakes that might have been around the sides. Oh, and one more good thing about using those cookies was that when you ate the cake there were all these different parts to it. You had the white chocolate roses, the cookies, and then the cake itself.

Lily had so much fun. Her eyes sparkled all day. So yeah, the cake took a bit to put together, and I had to learn some new things to pull it off. But she will only turn four years old once in her lifetime. So if you ask me if it was worth it...well...do you really need to ask?

If you want to have a go at making white chocolate roses on your own someday here are the links I used to figure it out. If you learn best by videos I found this video really helpful. I also found a blog called Cake on the Brain that had really good step by step pictures of the process.

My own tips:

1. I kneaded the dye (I used a pink gel dye) into the white chocolate plastique. Then I rolled out tootsie roll width logs about 6-8 inches in length and chilled them. When I went to make the roses I would cut them into the proper amount of pieces.
2. I found my roses came out best when I worked with the white chocolate plastique as cold as possible. The key was to be quick and efficient with my movements.
3. I also found that using my fingers to form the petal shapes worked best. I did try a few in between plastic as the video suggested but they were harder to shape that way.
4. Make sure to stagger the petals so that the flower has the proper shape.

#Sevenseas The Maiden Voyage

I apologize in advance for the lack of pictures.

I've been really excited these past few days because I have been getting cookbooks and collecting recipes in anticipation of the #sevenseas challenge I am setting up for myself. If you follow my boards on pinterest you probably have a good idea of where in the world I will be cooking from for the next three months. Just in case you are wondering what I'm talking about when I say #sevenseas I'll do a recap.

Who: This is a personal challenge that I am setting up for myself. However, with that said, I am hoping some more of you might want to join in with me. The more the merrier right? You might decide to join in for the whole thing, or maybe just bounce in and out when you are able to or have an interest in the area I'm cooking in. Whatever works is great.

What: I decided to move my way around the world by dividing the world into seven seas/ oceans. The ones I chose are (in no particular order) The Arctic ocean, North Pacific, South Pacific, North Atlantic, South Atlantic, Mediterranean Sea, and Indian Ocean.

When: Starting in February I will be cooking from countries either bordering or nearest to one of those seven seas.

Where: I will be posting about what I am learning here on my blog bi-monthly. If you follow my posts on a regular basis you won't miss them. If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook watch for when I use #sevenseas hashtag, that will indicate a post related to this topic.

Why: I want to become a better cook. I don't want to be limited to what I know here in America. There are also so many cultures in our world to learn about, and food is a wonderful way to go about learning more. I realize that just giving 3 months per area is really only allowing yourself to dip your pinky toe into the pool of world-wide cuisine, but it will give a chance to use some ingredients and techniques that I may never have used before, and I find that exciting. Plus if other people join in then we can learn together.

How:  For three months I will stay in the area of the world I selected. Once those three months are up I will be moving onto another sea and other countries. This will take 21 months. For the final 3 months I will be combining what I've learned and trying my hand at fusion foods.  If you want to join in the fun on your blog please use the #sevenseas hashtag on Twitter and I'll find your posts that way. If you have posted I will include a link to your blog in my next post. During the time in one region you can stay in one country or jump around as much  or as little as you like.

The first sea/ocean that I have chosen for this challenge is....drum roll please...

Image from geographicguide.com

The Indian Ocean. I'm busting out the cardamon and the fenugreek, tracking down the angelica root powder. Things like mint, cumin, cinnamon ginger, saffron, turmeric and chilies will be like old friends by the time May rolls around. Rice dishes and flat breads will become staples.

The countries to choose from will be: Madagascar, South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Swaziland, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia, North Sudan, South Sudan, Djibouti, Eritrea, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Iraq, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Burma.

Consider the library a friend here. I was able to get several books on African cooking, Indian cooking, Ethiopian cooking, and Persian (Iranian) cooking from my library. What I found right out of the gate is that some countries are far more popular for their cuisine than others. It seemed a little like a culinary popularity contest.

I'm going to be sticking with South Africa, Ethiopia, Iran, and India for my countries. Here are some books I found that look worthwhile:

1. Anything written by Madur Jaffrey looks to be a great investment. She has several cookbooks and is renown for her knowledge in this field.
2. From Mom With Love: Complete Guide to Indian Cooking and Entertaining,  by Pushpa Bhargava
3. Indian Home Cooking: A Fresh Introduction to Indian Food, by Suvir Saran
4. The Soul of a New Cuisine: A Discovery of the Foods and Flavors of Africa, by Marcus Samuelsson
5. South African Gourmet Food and Wine, by Myrna Rosen and Lesley Loon
6. The Africa Cookbook, Tastes of a Continent, by, Jessica B. Harris
7. Food of Life: Ancient Persian and Modern Iranian Cooking and Ceremonies, by Najmieh Batmanglij 
8. The New Book of Middle Eastern Food, by Claudia Roden
9. Afghan Food and Cookery, by Noshe Djan

If you have any books to recommend for these regions just leave a comment or e-mail me etc. I'll include a list of any of your recommendations. The internet is a great tool for recipes as well. I have a ton pinned on my #sevenseas board over on pinterest. Friends are another great source of information. If you happen to know anyone from one of these regions chances are if you ask they will love to jump in and help out. 

Phew! So that's it. I'm really excited about this. I love to push myself in the kitchen and there is so much I don't know and am excited to begin to learn about. If you want to join in I will be officially starting in February. I figured I'd post this to give some time to collect specialty ingredients and any recipes to start with. 

#Baketogether: I'm a boulebaby

Last week I was sitting down to teach Naiya how to knit for the umpteenth time. She really wants to learn how, but her mind drifts when she knits and by the end of the first row she has frequently picked up a few extra stitches. She set her work down in frustration and said to me, "Mom, I'm never going to be able to knit." I put down the throw I'm working on and said, "You're right." Her eyes widened in surprise but I continued, "When you put it in your mind that you can't do something, you have already set yourself up to fail. Some things take more time than others to learn. It took me three weeks working everyday to be able to knit a few good rows." She sighed and picked up her work again.

I think for some people making bread is like Naiya trying to learn to knit. Maybe they heard it was hard and so they went into it with that in their heads. Maybe they heard that some people cook and other people bake, so they feel they can only be good at one or the other. I'm not sure what the phenomenon is that creates this angst around bread making, but it is there. You or someone you know might be yeastaphobic...true story.

Growing up my mom did all the cooking and the baking. I can't remember a time where wonderful smells weren't filling the house. She made seamless transitions from cooking to baking. I would lurk around her waist watching her knead dough and then peer into the towel covered bowls to watch it magically rise. She made it look so easy and effortless. So when I was on my own and decided to make bread I didn't have any hangups. After all, making bread was easy, and so, for me, it was. The only type of bread that I ever had any sort of a learning curve with was sourdough. But me and my starter Edgar Allan Dough are good friends now, we understand each other.

OK so that was a nice little story but there was a reason for sharing. This past month a group of us have been baking Abby Dodge's recipe for a Peasant Boule bread. This was for Abby's #baketogether. We have all been going our own direction, switching things here and there from Abby's original recipe, and coming up with our own take on this bread. And let me tell you, even if you just make the recipe "as is" you will have a wonderful loaf of bread to nosh on. My family has enjoyed this very much.

I started by just following the recipe verbatim. I wanted to get an idea of what I was going to be playing with. The bread is light and buttery. My family gobbled down that first loaf.

Next loaf I started to play with a bit. I had an idea of making a beer bread. I've had beer bread before but only ever as a quick bread. I was curious if you could make a yeast based beer bread. I decided to swap out the water and replace it with some stout beer I had in the house. I was a little concerned that something funky might happen when I decided to do the bread this way. I was worried that something might happen between the yeast and the beer, or the baking powder and the beer. I was thinking I might walk out of the kitchen only to return and be confronted by some over sized, drunken ball of dough rummaging through the cabinets looking for more sugar. But then I decided I really had nothing to lose. This is when it's nice to not have any professional culinary training. My head isn't all cluttered with rules and regulations so I just sort of jump in and do it without a whole bunch of backseat drivers in my head telling me that something won't work. After the first rise I poked my head in the oven (which is where I let my dough rise during the winter. Just leave the light on), the dough had behaved itself and had doubled in size. So I divided it into four small loaves and made beer bread bowls for the Gouda cheese soup I had made for #souperbowl. They came out perfect.

The kiddos enjoyed eating the tops with their soup, while us grownups got to enjoy the bread bowls. I had never made a bread bowl before and I was really pleased with how these turned out. I will be making them again.

Oh, before I forget. Here's a little tip I use to make sure my bread has doubled in size: I just take a Tupperware, oil it, coat the dough in the oil, and mark the top of where the dough is with a rubber band. Then it's really easy to tell when the bread has doubled in size for it's first rise. Once I know a recipe well enough I don't do this, but it's really helpful when I'm first trying out a new bread recipe or anytime I am making sourdough.

I was really pleased with the beer bread version so I took that and added in some thyme that I dried from my herb garden and some Pecorino Romano cheese for the last version of this bread. This version was my favorite. Although I was never able to get all the air pockets and fluffy look that Abby did with hers, in the end, it did not matter. Toasted with some homemade strawberry jam, or better yet with some homemade blueberry rhubarb jam, oh-my-word. I mean really on these cold and gloomy days it was like a little ray of sunshine opened up just over my plate. Abby's recipe is so versatile and will now hold a permanent place in my black recipe binder.

Stout, Thyme, and Cheese Peasant Boule

Adapted from Abby Dodge's recipe for Peasant Boule

(Makes one loaf)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/3 cups of stout beer (warmed to between 115°F and 125°F)
• 1 packet (1/4 ounces) of instant yeast (rapid rise)
• 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar
• 1/2 -2/3 a cup of Pecorino Romano cheese; grated fine
• 1 teaspoon of thyme, plus a little extra for dusting the top of the loaf before baking.
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of table salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 3 1/3 cups (15 ounces) of all purpose flour
• Olive oil for coating the bowl
• 3 tablespoons of butter; melted

Directions:

1. In a large bowl mix together the warmed beer, yeast, and sugar until the yeast is dissolved. Allow the yeast to proof for 10 minutes. Once the yeast is foamy on the top of the beer mix in the cheese, thyme, and salt. In the first cup of flour, add in the baking powder. Stir the flour cup by cup with a wooden spoon into the beer mixture until the dough comes together around your spoon and starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl.
2. Scoop the dough out onto a well floured surface, and dust the top of the dough with some flour too. Knead the dough for 8-10 minutes until it is smooth and springs back when you poke it with your finger.
3. Lightly grease the inside of a bowl or a Tupperware with some olive oil. Pop the dough into that bowl and turn it to make sure that all sides of the dough are lightly coated with the olive oil. Cover the top of the bowl with some plastic wrap or a moist towel and set it in a warm, draft-free spot until the dough has doubled in size. This can take anywhere from 45 minutes- 1 1/2 hours.
4. Using some of the melted butter, generously butter an 8-inch round cake pan. Turn the dough out onto a clean work surface (there’s no need to flour—the dough is soft but not sticky) and press to deflate it. Shape the dough into a 7-inch-wide round and place it, smooth side up, in the center of the prepared pan. Generously brush the top and sides with some of the melted butter and dust with a little of the extra thyme. You may not need all the butter.
5.  Let the dough rise (no need to cover it) in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 25 minutes. It will fill the pan.
6. About 15 minutes before the dough is ready to bake, position a rack in the middle of the oven and the oven to 375°F. When the dough has risen to about 2 inches above the edge of the pan, bake until the boule is well browned and sounds hollow when tapped about 30-40 minutes. Transfer the pan to a rack and tip the baked bread onto a rack and remove the pan. Set it right side up and let cool completely.

*Get a printable version of this recipe here*

#Souperbowl: Gouda Cheese Soup in a Bread Bowl

I was the lucky lady who got to choose the ingredients for #souperbowl this past time.  I chose beer, cheese, and bread for my three ingredients that had to be included, and the soup had to be made with a German theme. While they may not have been the most original trio of ingredients, nor the most challenging, I was in the mood for comfort food. It's cold out, so while I'm still drumming my fingers waiting for any signs of snow here in my itty bitty corner of the world, I figured I could at least pretend it's some arctic type winter with snow up to the windows and a bowl of soup steaming in my cold little hands.

I had all of these ideas when I chose those three ingredients; first, I was going to do a play on French onion soup, then there was an idea of making some more homemade bratwurst and tucking that into a cheesy, beery soup with some sort of bread creation. There were a couple of other half ideas rolling around my head when Abby Dodge 's #baketogether jumped in with all the other ideas I had and pushed them off to the side. I decided what I really really wanted to do was to make a bread bowl.

Some of you may have just sighed a bit. That's fine, I get it, bread bowls are nothing new. Bu,t do you know what bread bowls are??? Bread bowls are an awesome food delivery device, that's what they are. Here are a few reasons to blow your mind...One: I mean, come on, it's bread people. Two: the soup or stew soaks into the bread so when you are done with the soup there is all this amazing soggy and crusty bread to eat. Three: Most people use bread to sop up any soup remnants left in the bowl, so the bread bowl does it while you are eating it. Four: Less dishes...need I say more??? Plus, People have been making them for ages... literally. OK, I'll come clean, back in the middle ages they weren't called bread bowls, they were called trenchers. Trenchers were a thick slice of day old bread that meat was served upon in lieu of a plate. So while bread bowls might not be anything new, you could certainly call them "classic" without getting a rotten tomato tossed in your general direction. See you can learn things here :)

I decided to make a beer bread for my bread bowls, adapting the #baketogether recipe to suit my needs. The bowls were fairly simple to make as you are basically just making a very large roll, or a small loaf of bread...I'll leave that up to you to decide. I went with a dark beer for the bowls so that the flavor of the beer really came through.

Picture taken by Brian Benoit

Another fun fact:
Bread is a staple food in Germany. In fact,they make more different types of bread than any other country in the world. They even have a morning snack called "Pausenbrot" which literally means recess bread.

OK back to #souperbowl. So I had the bread part all worked out for the soup, now I had to figure out what to fill the bread bowl with. I decided on a cheese and beer soup. This time I used a light beer so that the whole thing didn't taste too much like beer and the other flavors had a chance to stand out. Unfortunately, I did not have access to any German cheeses. I decided to use Gouda from the neighboring country of Holland instead. Gouda is a great cheese for soup because it is one of the perfect melting cheeses.

The soup was amazing. I mean really good and filling and wonderful and I used "and" in between each of those adjectives to stress how good it was. Unless you are lactose or gluten intolerant you should give this one a go.

Gouda Cheese and Beer Soup In a Bread Bowl

(Serves 8)

Beer Bread Bowls (adapted from Abby Dodge's Peasant boule):

Ingredients:

• 2 2/3 cups of a dark (preferably German) beer
• 2 (1/4 ounce) packets of instant yeast (rapid rise)
• 4 tablespoons of sugar
• 1 tablespoon of salt
• 1 tablespoon of baking powder
• 6 2/3 cups of flour

Directions:

1. Warm the beer to a temperature between 115°F - 125°F then put it in a bowl and mix in the yeast and the sugar with a fork. Allow to sit for 10 minutes to give the yeast time to proof.
2. Into the first cup of flour add the salt and the baking powder. Stir in the flour until the dough comes together and starts to pull away from the bowl. Then dump the dough onto a clean and well-floured surface. knead the dough by hand until it springs back when you poke it, about 8-10 minutes.
3. Take a clean bowl and coat it with olive oil, using a paper towel to distribute the oil evenly. Place the dough into the bowl turning it in the oil to coat the dough on all sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp towel and place it in a warm draft-free spot until the dough doubles in size. This will take at least 1 hour and maybe closer to 1 1/2 hours. Just be patient, it will get there. Tip: In the winter I put dough in my oven with the light on to rise, since it is draft-free and usually stays at about 70°F with the light on.
4. Once the dough has doubled in size, remove it from the bowl and either punch it, or press it to remove as much of the air as possible. Divide the dough into 8 equal sections and then form a ball with each section, tucking the dough underneath itself, turning as you tuck to form a smooth sphere. Place the bowls onto to baking sheets. Space them apart from each other, keeping in mind that they still have a second rise and will double in size. You don't want them touching when they bake like you would if you were making rolls, think "mini loaves of free-form bread".
5. Let the dough rise (no need to cover it) in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 25-40 minutes.
6. About 15 minutes before the dough is ready to bake, position your rack in the middle of the oven and turn the oven on to 375°F. When the dough is done rising, spray the tops of the dough with water, and then bake until the bread bowls are well browned and they sound hollow when tapped, about 25-30 minutes. Transfer the bread bowls to a rack and allow to cool.

Gouda Cheese Soup (adapted from Savvyhostess's Wisconsin Native's Beer Cheese Soup):

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups of diced carrots 
• 1 1/2 cups of diced onion
• 1 1/2 cups of diced celery
• 3 cups of chicken stock (or vegetable broth if you prefer)
• 2 cups of  beer (use a lighter beer here, like an ale. Preferably German)
• 1/3 cups of butter
• 1/3 cup of flour
• 4 cups of milk
• 6 cups of Gouda cheese; shredded
• 1 tablespoon of good grainy mustard, or Dijon
• 1 teaspoon of dry mustard
• 1/8 tsp. of black pepper
• Salt to taste

Directions:

1. In a large pot over medium heat warm the oil. Once the oil is warmed, stir together the carrots, onion, and celery. Saute until the onions are soft. Pour in the chicken stock or vegetable broth, and beer; simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 12 minutes. Note: you will find that 2 cups of beer will leave you with about 3/4 of a bottle of beer. I suggest drinking this while the soup is coming together.
2. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan heat the butter over medium heat until melted. Stir in the flour forming a roux, cook, continuing to stir until the roux until it is a light brown and smells a little nutty, 3-4 minutes. Gradually stir in the milk a little at a time being careful not to let it get all lumpy. Stir to prevent scorching, until the mixture comes to a boil and thickens. Lower the heat to the lowest setting and slowly add in the cheese stirring to incorporate. Keep warm.
3. Using an immersion blender puree the vegetables until they are smooth. Stir the cheese mixture into the beer mixture. Stir in the mustard, the mustard powder and the pepper. Season to taste with salt.
4. To make bowls: Core the top of the bread like you would a tomato. Scoop out the centers with your hands, being careful to leave a 3/4 -inch wall and bottom to the bowl. Note: save the insides of the bowls to make fresh breadcrumbs with.
5. Ladle the hot soup into the bread bowls and serve immediately.

*Get a printable version of this recipe here*

Fruitcake, Year Two

I know the holidays are over, and when you read the title of this blog you were like, "Fruitcake? Are you kidding me??". I get that, but I would like to point out that it is not my fault that the 5th door to hell opened up right before the holidays this year and precluded me from writing about this. I also have no intentions of waiting until next year to write this post. But we can compromise and I'll keep it short, OK?

Alright, the background. Last year I made two fruitcakes to see which was better (I am on a quest to find the best fruitcake, the non-doorstop variety). I made my great-grandmother's recipe and Alton Brown's recipe. We put them side by side for a taste test. Alton Brown's was the clear winner. I tucked a small loaf of Alton's fruitcake in the freezer to put up against a recipe for a Trinidad Black Cake from Trinigourmet.com. So this year (er, um, last year *ahem*), back in October I started the cake by macerating the fruit in the alcohol for a month. In November I made the cakes and then I wrapped them up in the refrigerator and allowed them to "ripen" for another month.

This past week we broke out Alton Brown's version and trinigourmet's version and had a little taste test to see which was better. The verdict was that Alton Brown's was still a little better. Although trinigourmet's was moister (which I liked), Alton Brown's  just has more flavor. His has more fruit and more nuts which I think is key when it comes to a good fruitcake.

So what's next? Well, I think what I will do is take some time next year and come up with a combination of trinigourmet's and Alton Brown's fruitcake. I think if I take the best from both cakes that I will have a truly amazing little fruitcake recipe to add to my arsenal. I'll also be keeping an eye out for other fruitcake recipes that look worthy. It seems that there are lots of ethnicity's with there own version of a fruitcake. It might be fun to give another countries recipe a go round in the kitchen.

If you have a good fruitcake recipe let me know. I just might try it out.

Goals for 2012 , Not Resolutions

Point of Fact: I have never been a fan of resolutions. It seems that New Years resolutions are made to be broken and I'm just not that kind of girl. I'm a stick-to-it kind of a girl. So at the end of 2011 when I sat down to think of the things I wanted to dip my toe into and dabble with this year I decided to write "2012 goals" at the top of the page instead of resolutions. I thought I'd take a moment to post them here so I can cross them off as I accomplish them. Plus if you read my blog on a regular basis (and I've come to realize that some of you do, which humbles me that other people actually want to see what I'm up to) you'll get a little peak into some of the stuff you'll be seeing here this upcoming year.

Not a scarf

1.  Last year I set myself a goal to learn how to knit. I was only ever able to knit a scarf. Granted, I could knit you a scarf any color, length, or width that you wanted, but still...it was only a scarf. By the end of the year I was knitting all kinds of stuff. I still haven't done a sweater, and I want to, but this year I've decided to set aside my knitting needles a little bit and pick up a crochet hook. So one of my goals for 2012 is to learn how to crochet.

2.  Another skill I want to pick up this year is soap making. This is something I've wanted to learn how to do for years. I'm not talking about glycerin soap, I'm talking soap made from lye. So I'm going to set aside any excuses I might have made up and really do it this year. I really like the DIY approach to life so adding soap making to my skills set seems like a natural step for me.

3.  I'm a lady with ideas. Last year I came up two ideas for books. One is for a children's book that was inspired by my daughter Lily. I started playing with the story last year. This year I want to finish the story and work on the art. I might not get all of the art done for it but I at least want to make headway on it.
   
I also have come up with an idea for a cookbook. I already have 10 recipes made for it and I have a dozen more ideas sketched out in my food journal. This year I want to finish 20 more recipes for it.

I realize that these books might never make it to publication. There are many books that never get picked up by a publisher. However, it is something I have always wanted to do. At the very least I can privately publish a few copies and give them out to friends and families.

4.  There is one thing I plan to eliminate from my house completely this year...diapers. Jude will be turning 3 this year. He is showing all the signs that he is ready to be potty trained (yea!). Honestly I think he was ready to start around Thanksgiving, but I wasn't. I was waiting until the dust from charcutepalooza had settled and I could focus clearly again. So today he is trotting around the house in his big-boy underwear and I'm keeping a positive attitude, and my fingers crossed.

5.  The last thing I wanted to work on this year was food related. I know, I know, it's shocking. Who would have thought that a blog primarily based around food would have a goal based on food for the new year? I really have charcutepalooza to thank for this. During the past year I really started to push myself  in the kitchen. It felt great to get my creative juices going in the kitchen. It was exciting for me. When charcutepalooza was coming to a close a bunch of us were wanting to continue, we wanted to learn more, to create more. Instead of picking up a new skill set I decided I wanted to learn more about different cultures foods.

I have found myself avoiding certain cultures foods because recipes will call for specialty ingredients that spoil if not used quickly enough. The problem is that unless you are cooking that type of food, or food that is inspired by that cultures food, you might not use those specialty ingredients fast enough. This means that a lot of ingredients go to waste. Fish sauce and miso are two examples of those kinds of specialty ingredients in my house.

So I came up with an idea...why not immerse myself in a cultures food for an extended period of time. By cooking a regions food repeatedly tow things will happen. First, I will not be letting those specialty ingredients go to waste. Second, I will be growing as a cook. The problem that I ran into was how to divide the world.

Any cultures food is affected by several things. The first is location. Weather is what originally controlled what could be grown in a specific region of the world. You won't be growing mangos in a desert.  Then trade routes came along and started mixing up the spices and herbs used in different countries in the world. Bigger countries started to take over smaller countries claiming them as territories further influencing regional foods. On and on it went, so how do you split all of that up in a manageable fashion? I pulled out and atlas and took a good look.

I had a time frame of keeping this challenge to a year in length. I quickly realized that this was not going to be possible. The smallest I could group the different regions of the world was into 7 groups. I wanted to spend more than a month in each area. I decided to push it to being a two year challenge instead. This way I can spend 3 months cooking foods from each area. That will leave 3 months at the end for fusion food fun ;) I honestly feel that 3 months is barely enough time to get your feet wet in any ethnicity's food but it's a good way to introduce yourself to new ingredients that you might not have bothered with before.

I'm not sure if anybody else would have any interest in this type of a self challenge but if any of you guys would want to join in and play along for all of it, for part of it, for any of it, it might be fun to learn something new together. There isn't going to be any "prize" except for learning something new and becoming a more informed cook. At least those are my goals for doing this.

The way I divided the world was by using the following seven oceans/seas; N. pacific, S. Pacific, N. Atlantic, S. Atlantic, Arctic, Mediterranean, and the Indian ocean. I will choose one of those bodies of water and all the countries bordering it or nearer to it than to another ocean will be where I will be cooking from for those 3 months. I will find several good cookbooks from those regions and list them here on my blog. Then I will get to cooking and share what I'm up to and learning about at least twice a month. You'll know which posts they are because they will carry the #sevenseas hash tag that I will be using specifically for these posts. If you want to play along let me know either in the comments section, on twitter, via facebook, or you can e-mail me. Heck, send out smoke-signals I'll keep my eyes to the skies ;) If you do a post for #sevenseas let me know and I'll include a link to your blog the next post that I do. I'm planning on starting around Valentines day. By Feb 1st I'll decide where I'm going to start and put a a post introducing that area along with some cookbooks that will be useful.

So that's what I plan on doing this upcoming year. What new endeavors do you want to tackle in 2012?

Comfort Food for #Souperbowl

This morning I sat down with my coffee cup snug in my hand to enjoy the 15 minutes I give myself before the kiddos come tromping from their various locations in the house. I opened up my e-mail to find that I have been chosen to host this round of #souperbowl.

Muahahaha!!!

Truthfully though it was early and my coffee hadn't sunk in so even though I knew I had to post the challenge today I was still a little sleepy and needed a few hours to mull over the ingredient possibilities. I looked over the list of ingredients and there were 3 that jumped out at me. Perhaps not the most original 3 but it is what it is. And what it is, is cold outside...at least here. Cold makes me think of sweaters and scarves and slippers. Cold weather also makes me crave comfort foods in the worst kind of way.

So when I looked over the list of ingredients the 3 that popped out for me were bread, beer, and cheese. So those are your 3 ingredients to work into your soup this month. For our ethnicity lets use Germany to inspire our style of soup.

You will have until January 18th to come up with your soup. Post about it on the 18th, and tweet it using #souperbowl in your tweet so everyone can find you.

If you need a refresher on the rules or want to know more so you can join in the #souperbowl fun check out Sharon's original #souperbowl post on her blog Nickel Moon.

I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with :) Keep warm and carry on!

Here are the links to people's creations for the Moroccan themed soups from the last go round:

Moroccan Ginger Carrot Soup with Sweet Potato Spaetzle

From Wickedrandom

Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Moroccan Style Soup

From Dabblingsandwhimsey

#Souperbowl Moroccan-esque Soup

It's time for another round of #souperbowl. This time the task was to create a Moroccan style soup using garbanzo beans (aka chick peas), ginger, and pasta. I breathed an audible sigh of relief when I saw the list of ingredients for this soup challenge.

I had some ideas, but at the time I was getting ready for my weekend in NYC with my mom and my girls so I decided to deal with it later. "Later" ended up being after all us ladies, both young and old-er returned from a full day of running around the city. After the girls were tucked in bed my mom and I sat down with a couple of glasses of wine and started a little soup pow wow. We came up with all of the ingredients for the soup which just left me with the job of figuring out exactly how much of each ingredient to use.

I had been mulling over some ideas since the ingredients had been posted. I still have 1 lb. of the merguez sausage I made for Charcutepalooza hanging around in the freezer, but I still wanted to make another vegetarian soup. I wanted it to be thick but smooth. I had decided that I wanted a roasted red pepper and tomato soup for the base. I wanted it to be creamy, and I kept saying I would add cream, but my mom said "no" to the cream idea. She said it didn't "need" cream. OK fine Mrs. smarty pants, how about almond milk? She shook her head at me, "why do you keep trying to add cream?". Fine...no cream...sigh...but something to deepen the flavor and thicken the soup some more. I decided on adding in some lentils and pureeing the whole thing with my stick blender.

BTW stick blenders/ immersion blenders are the best. I think it is one of the top 10 tools in my kitchen. I use my stick blender more than my Cuisinart...true story. Anyway, I highly recommend getting one. Now back to the soup.

The pasta part I knew just what to do with. I had wanted to use cous cous. Cous cous is a pasta, not a grain like a lot of people seem to think. I decided to use Israeli cous cous because it is bigger and wouldn't get lost in the rest of the soup. It was going to be the texture for the soup.

I decided to use the chick peas as a topping. Last year I roasted some chick peas for an Autumn inspired salad I made up at Thanksgiving. I loved how roasting the chick peas changed their texture. They were harder on the outside and still creamy in the middle. So this time I tossed the chick peas with some ginger, garlic, and lemon zest and roasted them up. They were really, really good. I made the mistake of letting my kids and my husband taste some. Then I had to worry that there weren't going to be enough left for dinner because the chick peas suspiciously kept disappearing from the bowl I had put them in. Hmmmm....

The soup came together really well. It was a far better success then the last time was for me. The flavors came together perfectly, as was demonstrated by the empty bowls that piled up in the sink after dinner. I will absolutely be making this soup again.

Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Moroccan Style Soup

(Serves 4-6)

Ingredients for roasted chick peas:

• 1 14.5 oz. can of chick peas; rinsed and drained
• 1 Tbs. of olive oil
• 1 clove of garlic; grated
• Zest of one lemon
• 1/2 inch piece of fresh ginger; grated
• A healthy pinch of salt

Ingredients for the soup:

• 1/2 cup of green lentils; picked over
• 1 Tbs. olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion; chopped finely
• 2 teaspoons of harissa
• 1 teaspoon of cumin
• 1 28 oz. can of diced fire-roasted tomatoes
• 1 12 oz. jar of roasted red peppers; rinsed, drained, and chopped
• A pinch of saffron
• Salt to taste
• 1 14.5 oz. can of vegetable broth
• 1/2 a cup of dried Israeli cous cous
• 1 tablespoon of butter

Directions:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 425°. Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil and set aside.
2. In a small bowl combine the chick peas, olive oil, garlic, lemon zest, ginger, and salt. Mix until the chick peas are thoroughly coated. Bake for 15 minutes or until the outsides of the chickpeas are darkened to a slightly deeper brown and their skins have split. Set aside.
3. Meanwhile bring a saucepan with 4 cups of water in it to a boil. Add in the lentils and cook until they are tender, about 15 minutes. Once the lentils are tender, drain and set them aside.
4. While the lentils are cooking heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Once the oil is heated add in the onion and saute until soft and translucent. Once the onions are translucent and in the harissa, cumin and a good pinch of salt, then saute for1 minute more stirring continuously. Next add in the fire-roasted tomatoes, the roasted red peppers, and the pinch of saffron. Bring the soup to a boil and then let it simmer for 20 minutes.
5. Once it has been 20 minutes blend the soup until it is completely smooth with an immersion blender. Then add in the can of vegetable broth and the Israeli cous cous. Allow the soup to simmer for 10-12 minutes until the cous cous is tender.
6. Test to see if you want to add anymore salt. Add in the butter and stir it into the soup.
7. To finish, ladle the hot soup into bowls and top with the roasted chick peas.  

*Get a printable version of this recipe here*

An Eggnog Adventure

Just under a year ago I read a post about eggnog on Zach and Clay's blog A Bitten Word. They had made an eggnog and let it sit untouched in their refrigerator for an entire year. At the end of the year they did a video of them testing the eggnog. To see the video they did (and you should watch it because it's hilarious) and to get their recipe go here.

The idea behind this eggnog is that the alcohol keeps the eggs and the milk from going bad. I was intrigued with the idea so I made up a batch following their recipe, covered it in foil, and then proceeded to let it sit in the refrigerator throughout this past year. I posted about it last year when I first made the eggnog. If you'd like, you can read that post here. There were some naysayers that  didn't think I would be able to hold out for the entire year. After all, I do love me some eggnog. However, I resisted and persisted, so, last night we pulled it out from the refrigerator for a taste test. As a little nod to Zach and Clay we decided to video record ourselves testing their recipe.

So without further delay, I give you our video...

I'm still here today to tell you about it and share our video so "yea!" for that. We had a lot of fun shooting the video together. I know it's a little rough around the edges, but hey, it was my first time trying to edit so you gotta cut me a break. I made an outtakes bit and decided to share it  for what will hopefully be your amusement.

I must include a warning here that while we made this and are fine, and while I know others who have made it and are also fine, if you choose to make it it is at your own risk. I am not to be held responsible for any mishaps that may occur. This recipe includes raw eggs which carry the risk of salmonella, as well as the fact that you are letting it sit in your refrigerator for an entire year. Also since it is an alcoholic beverage please be responsible while drinking.

That having been said I really did like it and will be making it again. I also have to give a big thanks to my husband Brian for being a good sport and being in the video for my blog.

Here's to 2012!