i'm no david letterman, but...

...Michelle, the brilliant and creative blogger behind Culinography, wants to see my top ten best pictures, so a top ten list I shall do.

Ready or not, here they come...
[from oldest (and most amateur) to newest (and still amateur, but to a lesser degree)]:

bedazzled bread:


bean salad:


sweet potato casserole:


peas & dumplins:


shortbread cookies (so proud of that sheep!):


roasted tomatoes:


ginger biskies:


miniature toitle cheesecakes:


butter mints:


mint brownies:



I'd like to see top ten pictures from the following, if they're up to it (and haven't already done it):

Katie of Salt and Chocolate
Lore of Culinarty
Diva of The Sugar Bar
ovenhaven of :: epicurean escapism ::
Pam of sidewalk shoes

A few last thoughts:
1. It's Kitchen Klutzes of America Day!


Celebrate your disasters!

2. It's Friday the 13th. Watch out for black cats, spilled salt, and broken mirrors.

3. Today also marks the end of Tastespotting as we know it. I want to know who's starting the support group, because Lord knows we'll need it...

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honey honey, how you thrill me

A question of the utmost importance: Where can I find outfits like the ones in this video? I need at least a couple immediately. They're awesome.

You know what else is awesome? Air conditioning. Melanie from My Kitchen Cafe. Coffee. Ear plugs. ABBA (just kidding). Honey bran muffins.


This muffin mix was included in the "Delights of Utah" package Melanie sent to me.


Just add water! I also threw in some dried cranberries and chopped pecans for some sweetness and crunch.


They're wonderful (especially with a little huckleberry honey on the side) and healthy and quite frankly, I decided not to take any to work and just keep them all for myself!

I've also been given two awards! Sophie from Flour Arrangements (love the blog title, love the blog!) feels that I'm responsible for a blog of distinction!


I'm so honored, Sophie! Although they may have already received this award, I want to recognize some blogs that I consider distinct simply because they're maintained (make that well-maintained) by guys:

Jeff at Culinary Disasters
Marc at No Recipes
Mike of Mike's Table
Kevin of Closet Cooking

Male food bloggers are hard to come by! Fellas, do with this award what you will!

RecipeGirl, the blogger behind (you guessed it) The Recipe Girl, has given me the "You Make My Day" award.


I think her recipes and writing are completely fabulous and definitely add some brightness to my day! I want to pass on the award to some ladies who pretty much have a new post every day. Correction--ladies who pretty much have a quality new post every day:

Cathy of Noble Pig
Krysta of Evil Chef Mom
Kim of A Yankee in a Southern Kitchen
Deborah of Taste and Tell

Keep up the good work, gals!

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garden update--good news and bad news

It was hard for me to leave my new babies unattended for even two days, but it had to be done. It turned out to be a bad move.


I'll start with the good news--we have color!


My first cherry-colored cherry tomato. Ain't she a beaut?

I'm also getting some romas...


...two golden jubilees....


...and an early girl bush hybrid:


Here's the bad news. My pepper plants were pummelled by heavy rains, and that gorgeous jalapeno from the last update is no more.


No sign of it at all.

I was also getting some poblanos:


They broke off as well. They were so young--a promising life cut tragically short.

Eulogies for the peppers that would've contributed to some awesomely spicy dishes and words of encouragement for me are greatly appreciated.

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i wanna go home...

(See--even Michael Buble gets homesick.)

I'm easing back into the swing of things after a quick trip home for my cousin's wedding. I know you were worried.

(Bet you can't guess what's on this plate. I'll give you a hint--it's edible and muy delicioso.)

The wedding was incredible, I'm so glad you asked! Lovely ceremony, lots of dancing, AMAZING food, and oodles of friendly people.

(This wedding is not to be confused with the wedding for which I'm preparing the desserts--that one's in July.)

The gorgeous cake:

(Please disregard the unsightly background decor...)

Being at home was very refreshing (except for the oppressive heat)--I guess I didn't realize just how homesick I'd been.

To me, home = good food. For example, even on this short trip I managed to finagle a burger from the grill (stuffed with pepper jack cheese, I promise!):


Before dropping me off at the airport, the Mambino and I had lunch at a snazzy Mexican restaurant in Roanoke--Abuelo's Mexican Food Embassy.

First and foremost, their chips and salsa are incredible. The chips are the most delicate, crispy chips I've ever had, and the salsa is wonderful. They serve a little cup of extra hot sauce as well, and to my slightly-numb taste buds, it was just right.

Mammajamma had fajita tacos, served on a massive plate with pico de gallo, rice, beans, guacamole, and sour cream. She proclaimed it the best fajita dish she'd had at a Mexican restaurant.


I got two enchiladas (also with refried beans and rice)--one was filled with avocado cream (swooooon) and topped with ranchera sauce and the other was stuffed with spicy chicken and topped with green chile sauce.


Plates of Mexican food are not the most neat and tidy, but there's no denying the mouth-watering that occurs upon viewing them...at least in my case.

So, I've returned to NY. More specifically, I've returned to an apartment so unbelievably hot and stuffy, the paint was practically peeling off of the walls. I will say that this heat is nothing compared to what it was in good ol' Virginee, so I guess that's at least one point in favor of NY.

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wuv, true wuv

Chocolate and mint are a match made in heaven, the perfect marriage of flavors. But I'll bet you already knew that.


I'm a fan of Junior Mints, Peppermint Patties, and pretty much any combination of mint and chocolate that's ever found its way into my mouth, so these brownies from Joy of Baking have been on my must-make list for awhile.

As noted earlier, I received some decadent Amano dark chocolate from Blake Makes that's just been itching to be used. For this dessert, I randomly decided to use the Ocumare bar, which is said to have an "incredible complex chocolate flavor with natural hints of red fruit." My palate isn't really sensitive enough to detect those hints (I've pretty much dashed any hope of that with my love for the hot and spicy--I'm actually surprised my taste buds work at all), but fortunately, I can still detect deliciousness. This was darn good chocolate.


The brownie layer of these bars is dense and rich and ooey-gooey. The mint layer is cool and creamy and sweet. The chocolate on top (which is where I used the Amano) is crispy and crunchy and completes the bar perfectly. This recipe, my friends, is a keeper.

Oh, and if you didn't understand the title of this post or my name for the recipe below, you're missing out on another of the best movies of all time. Inconceivable!


Magnificent Mawage (that bwessed awangment, that dweam wifin a dweam) of Mint and Chocolate
(adapted from Joy of Baking)

Ingredients:
Brownie Layer:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

Mint Layer:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1-1 1/2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract

Chocolate Glaze:
3 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease 9-inch square pan and set aside.

Brownies: Using a double boiler or the microwave, melt the butter and chocolate. Stir in the sugar and vanilla extract. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well with a spoon after each addition. Stir in the flour and salt and beat until the batter is smooth and glossy and comes away from the sides of the bowl (about one minute). Pour the brownie batter evenly into the prepared pan.

Bake for about 25 minutes or until the brownies start to pull away from the sides of the pan and the edges of the brownies are just beginning to brown. A toothpick inserted in the center of the brownies will come out almost clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to completely cool.

Mint Layer: In the bowl, beat all the ingredients until smooth. (Add a few drops of green food coloring if you want the frosting green.) If the frosting is too thick, add a little extra milk. The frosting should be just thin enough to spread evenly over the cooled brownie layer. Place in the refrigerator for about 5-10 minutes or until firm.

Chocolate Glaze: Again using a double boiler or microwave, melt the chocolate and butter. Spread over the mint filling and refrigerate for about 30 minutes or until the chocolate glaze starts to dull.

Cut into small squares (seriously--this is rich stuff) and serve.

Have fun storming da castle! (And watch out for those ROUS.)

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giddy for guacamole (and the goonies)

Guacamole is so good. (Thank you, Captain Obvious.) It's great as an addition to taco salads, burritos, enchiladas, quesadillas (or, as my grandma says, "kiss-a-dill-as"), and other Mexican delights, but frankly, I like it best on a chip. That way I can really taste it. And eat lots more of it without getting weird looks.


Every guacamole-lover has his or her own recipe, tweaked to perfection. Mine includes the best darned avocados I can find (obviously), ripe red tomatoes, crispy jalapeno peppers, lots of verdant cilantro, a bit of lemon juice, cumin, salt, and freshly-cracked pepper. Plus, I like mine chunky, like Chunk from one of the greatest movies of all time, The Goonies. (Here's a tangent for you--John Mayer writes really well, and he's a Goonies fan. Who knew?)


Now, a lesson in proportions:
First, we have what's known as nowhere near enough (also commonly called are you kidding me?):


Next we have close, but no cigar...


Finally, the proper chip-to-guacamole proportion (be sure to use a sturdy chip):


(now we're talking!)

By the way, am I the only one who winces when those blasted TV "chefs" leave luscious avocado behind in the peel? It's too delicious to waste, you goons (not to be confused with Goonies, who are totally groovy)!


(a shell of its former self)

Meanwhile, I've been given two awards! Giz and Psychgrad from Equal Opportunity Kitchen love me, they really love me. They gave me the "I Love You This Much" award, and had some really kind words to write about me and my blogging.


I, in turn, would like to acknowledge these four ladies, who consistently make me laugh out loud, produce an unseemly pool of drool, or (more often than not) both:

Elle from Elle's New England Kitchen
LyB from and then I do the dishes
Nic from Cherrapeno
Lorraine from Not Quite Nigella

The second award was actually from Lorraine, and it was the Arte Y Pico award.


I hereby recognize a few folks who are relatively recent additions to my blogroll but completely entertaining and fabulous:

Lori from LUSCIOUS
Erinn from Sunday Dish
Indigo from Happy Love Strawberry
KJ from A Cracking Good Egg

Thanks for all your stellar work!

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pretty in pink

Go ahead and say it, because I know you're thinking it--I'm like a broken record here. Broken record here. Broken record here. Broken rec--


Okay, seriously. First I made those bewitching black bottom cupcakes.


Then, I used the same technique for some cutie-patootie carrot cupcakes.


Now, I'm at it again with some pretty in pink strawberry cupcakes. When will the insanity end? NEVER! (Insert cackle here.)

Now, I hate to disappoint anyone, but I used a cake mix. Hey--nobody's perfect. (I did add some pureed strawberries to the batter before baking it, just to appease myself.) I wanted precious and dainty pink cupcakes, dang it, and that's a color hard to come by in nature (I left my beet root powder and red cabbage extract in my other pants).

Which cupcake is your favorite?

I had a bit of leftover cake, so I decided to bite the chocolate-dipping bullet and make some cake truffles.


Take your pick of reference sites.


(Come on--just try to tell me the one on the right doesn't look like a little piggy--it's even got an ear! And a snout--I love it!)

As expected, they're delicious. Next time I believe I'll go lighter on the frosting. I'd like them a little more cakey and a little less soft and sticky. Not that I minded licking my fingers, mind you (after I was completely finished, of course--nobody wants cook-slobber in their truffles). The chocolate dipping wasn't too disastrous, either. I added some shortening to the white chocolate before melting it and worked as fast as my little paws would go.

These are both great little treats, even if they're artificially-colored.

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