Hope you all are slowly coming out of a nice Thanksgiving food coma (and just in time to enjoy the last of the leftovers!). Obviously, this post is too late for this year, but be sure to flag it for next year if your turkey-cooking skills could use a little work. As some of you may know, we have crowded, rowdy Thanksgiving every year at my parents’ house in Tucson—complete with tequila shots and sports gambling. The food is always amazing, but the birds don’t get as much love as they should. The 50 or so lbs of turkey are my dad’s job, and suffice to say he’s more of…
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The one day a year when bingeing is socially acceptable …
… is nearly upon us!! Hip-hip-hooray!!! As far as food goes, holidays don’t get much better than Thanksgiving. Last year’s Thanksgiving post pretty much covers things so I’m posting the link again (hey, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it). There’s also my Southwest Thanksgiving post and the Paula Deen post to give you a little turkey-day inspiration. Also keep an eye out for a special Thanksgiving Day post. Happy gorging!
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Backblogged
I won’t be one of those bloggers that pretends to have thousands of clamoring fans that didn’t know what to do with themselves when their favorite blogger went on hiatus. That being said, for the three of you out there who actually care, sorry for depriving you of dry humor and french toast recipes. It’s been an insanely busy summer, but I’ll spare you the excuses and get straight to the good stuff … Portobello, red pepper and goat cheese flatbread/pizza You’ll need: 1 red bell pepper, chopped 1-2 portobello mushrooms, chopped 8 oz. goat cheese 3-5 cloves garlic, minced Crushed red pepper and salt to taste 1 bag of…
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Saying “I do” to our caterer
Three cheers for the winning caterer!!! We’ve chosen Berghoff—a candidate we almost overlooked because we assumed they were all about beer and brats (although, as you can see from the menu, they go far beyond that). Thanks to an event at our gorgeous venue, we were able to sample a few of the preferred caterers—including Berghoff. We also came to find out that one of Dave’s former high school classmates worked there—Kelly’s thoughtful and detailed proposal reinforced my warm and fuzzy feelings about Berghoff. But I’m getting ahead of myself, let’s start from the beginning … Tasting #1: Calihan Catering The appetizers were pretty good overall. Standouts: butternut squash pizza,…
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Any way you slice it
Full disclosure (I don’t want to get sued by the FTC). This post is sponsored by the Slice Slab. You see, Dave has sort of stumbled into the cutting board business. That doesn’t sound at all odd, does it? Long story short, we got our hands on some excess Corian (think poor-man’s granite), a state-of-the-art machine designed for cutting countertops and the like out of huge slabs of wood, granite and plastic, and an ingenious design for a unique and fabulous carving board. See, not weird at all. A pretty neat design (thanks Roy) was made even better after we had the idea to put a graduated “spout” on the…
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Nothing’s better than Effen on a rooftop
OK, so I stole my post title from the concept for Effen’s new cheeky ad campaign. I’m sure they won’t mind. Recently, I had the pleasure of enjoying some “Liquid Luxury”—courtesy of Effen and the Effen awesome folks at Zocalo Group—while contemplating sustainable design, really cool succulent party favors and apple and bacon pizza. And let me tell you, the chefs and mixologist at ROOF at The Wit aren’t Effen around (OK, I’m done with the Effen jokes, promise). The food and drinks were fantastic. And the bottles of Effen (again, courtesy of Zocalo and Effen) we got beforehand weren’t so bad either. Who gets a bottle of vodka messengered to their office??…
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Chocolate babka … just like Nana used to make (or buy at Publix)
For some reason, lots of my childhood memories with my Nana revolve around food—the good, the bad and the Jewish. The good: delicious, sweet and savory meatballs. The bad: Rice Dream (sorry Nana, but that stuff is just awful). The Jewish: Chocolate babka. Mmmmmm, delicious babka. Come to find out, its origins are debatable (some say it’s Polish, some Eastern European, but from what I can tell it is largely a favorite of Jewish New Yorkers), but that doesn’t change the fact that it is AMAZING. I fondly remember this delectable treat (and chocolate rugelach … mmmm) as something enjoyed exclusively in our yearly visits to the Jewish retirement capital…
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Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24: Cooking for cavemen
Geico commercials don’t give cavemen enough credit. Eating like one is, in fact, not so easy. That’s what I’ve learned cooking for Dave, who is on the Paleo diet, otherwise known as my worst nightmare: No carbs. No cheese. No butter. No salt. No diet coke. No alcohol. Sounds like a living hell, if you ask me. The concept is that the healthiest diet involves eating what early man ate during the Paleolithic era (and before the agricultural revolution). That means absolutely no grains (bread, rice, quinoa, pasta, etc.), no dairy and absolutely nothing processed or sugary. Basically you can only eat “healthy veggies” (corn, potatoes, yams, root veggies and legumes…
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Blushing bride
No not me, the drink: For Valentine’s Day I cooked dinner. It was good, but this is really the only thing worth posting about, if you ask me. Even Dave, not a big fan of sweet, girly drinks, loved it. I told you about my excuse to use my frozen pomegranate. Well, as it turns out, I got lazy, and ended up taking the easy route and using them as a garnish in this drink. Just as well, because I used them straight out of the freezer to act as the ice cubes, and I found myself munching on them as I sipped. Plus, they float at the top so…
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PAMAphrodisiac
I have a bad habit of throwing things into the abyss that is my freezer and forgetting they exist down there. Then I wonder where all my tupperware went … … hmmm, oh yeah! It’s holding three gallons of freezer-burned chili … Then there’s my two plastic bags full of frozen pomegranate seeds from these gorgeous pomegranates I picked up this past fall: So imagine my excitement when I got an excuse to use these little gems this Valentine’s Day. The folks at PAMA liqueur sent me some samples, along with recipes and news about a local cupcake shop that I may just have to visit for these little beauties.…