Bawlmerese for Enjoy Your Meal
In the world before Facebook, Anne was one of the few people from my days as an awkward adolescent that I kept in contact with. She introduced me to Jane’s Addiction and Kudos Chocolate Chip Granola Bars and I introduced her to driving a stick shift. I’d say that was a pretty even exchange. Here’s her food memory, which shows that not all our food memories are old and dusty sitting on a shelf in the back of our minds. Continue reading “Food Memories – Anne’s Birthday Butter Cake”
The following originally appeared on 5/28/08 at Exit 51
Win Some, Lose Some
Try as I might, not everything that goes on in my kitchen can be considered successful. And I can’t figure out where I go wrong. Am I missing some critical gene in my DNA to produce flawless results every time I put my apron on? Or do I just get ahead of myself and miss steps along the way?
Take this past weekend for example. On Friday we had a lovely dinner of Tenderloin with Chocolate Wine Sauce, Roasted Asparagus, and Mushroom Risotto. Not one bad dish in the group. And very few leftovers…only a few slices of beef which quickly got polished off as lunch the next day. It truly is one impressive dinner. Continue reading “Flashback Friday – Win Some, Lose Some”
Facebook has an annoying habit of suggesting that I may “Like” certain things based on what my friends like. To which I said “Dear Facebook, would you stop with the suggestions already? If I wanted to “Like” random crap, I would have done so already. Please and thank you.” Somehow, it hasn’t gotten the message because every time I visit Facebook, it has new suggestions for me. Now, if meat loaf had a Facebook page, I would “Like” it in a hearbeat. Continue reading “Meat Loaf Muffins”
Technology is amazing. We have a world of information at our fingertips. Our cell phones have more computing power than my brother’s Commodore 64 computer from 1982. The idea of Maxwell Smart’s shoe phone in 1965 was absurd and comical. In 2010, iPhones are common, almost expected. Continue reading “Spicy Sugar Snap Peas”
Dear Ed(amame),
I humbly ask your forgiveness for the unkind things I said to you in my last letter. I need to accept full responsibility for our failure. Because I didn’t give you what you needed in order to become the best version of yourself possible. I hindered you and then I blamed you for becoming what I made you. I now see that. I also now see that with just a little bit of heat, you and I have chemistry.
It took a third party for me to see the error of my ways, but I’m not too proud to admit that sometimes I have to ask for help. If Adam and Joanne of Inspired Taste ever decide to ditch the food blog, perhaps they can start a relationship blog. Because they got me to see a completely different side of you. And for that, I am grateful.
Edamame and Pea Bruschetta
Adapted from Inspired Taste’s Recipe
BAH Note: Use the ratios below as a starting point. I made a double batch of this for a party and decided to add more olive oil until it was as smooth as I wanted it. I also threw in more basil for an additional punch of flavor. And I used fresh peas, because I had them. If using fresh peas instead of frozen, cook them in a separate pot. They will take longer than the edamame to soften.
Prepare an ice bath in a large bowl and set aside.
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil, add and the edamame, cook for 4 to 6 minutes or until just tender, then add the peas and cook for another minute or two.
Remove the edamame and peas from the boiling water and transfer them to the ice bath. Once cooled, drain and set aside.
Pulse the garlic and scallion in a food processor until roughly chopped. Add the basil leaves, edamame, and peas and pulse a few times until the mixture is roughly chopped. With the food processor running, slowly stream the olive oil into the mixture until looks like a thick pesto. Add the parmesan cheese, a pinch of salt and freshly ground pepper and continue to process until it reaches your desired texture.
Serve on top of toasted baguette slices.
I may or may not have recently celebrated another birthday. You’d have to check my driver’s license to know for sure but hypothetically speaking, let’s just say that I am now a year older than I used to be. As Truvy said in Steel Magnolias “Honey, time marches on and eventually you realize it is marchin’ across your face.” In honor of that, I’d like to tell past me a few things. Continue reading “It’s My Party”
Jen at My Morning Chocolate was gracious enough to send Bon Appetit Hon a Sunshine Award. I don’t care who you are, having another person say thanks for inspiring me or supporting me or just doing what you do, feels good. As greedy as I may secretly be, I can’t hoard all this sunshine. So I am passing the award on to a few folks who make my world brighter.
As Simple As That – “I used to admire fashion designers and thought why did God make me a writer and not a seamstress? I wanted to be able to create a piece that could speak out loud to the world and hang from the shoulders and waists of elegant people. I wanted so badly to mix silk and satin, beads and pearls, to ultimately create something beautiful. Something wonderful. But then I learned with age and experience that I am already a designer. A creator. A maker. I am a weaver of sentences, a seamstress of stories. I create the hemlines to a plot, the V-necks to a poem, the ruffles in a romance. When the last period has found its home at the end of a sentence, I have made something that can resonate to the world like a fine piece of clothing. The gift that I find to be the most beautiful part of my work is that it cannot be felt on my body, the way silk feels to my fingers. It can be felt in my soul. I can read a sewn together sentence over and over again and bring it everywhere with me, just like my leather bag or over-sized Audrey Hepburn sunglasses. I can take words and allow them to seep into my being and then use the passion behind them to do unto others in this world that needs more love. That is more blessed than the most timeless fashion pieces. I can give to others what I sew on my heart.” That is what Hanna Katy posted on her ‘About’ page and that right there is why I admire her. She says the most powerful, thought provoking things. I wish that I had a fraction of the grace and awareness that she possesses.
Honey & Jam: I could stare at Hannah’s photos all day long. And sometimes, that’s exactly what I do. One day, I hope to possess the skills to capture images like this.
And since I am not one for following rules, and it’s been far too long since I’ve bestowed any It’s A Major Award!, I’m going to take this opportunity to hand out a few of those cheekier awards as well. (For the genesis of the IAMA!, please read this and this.)
The Kitchen Witch: Whether she’s writing about something serious that is touching and brutally honest or she’s giving you her coveted Grandma Rhetta’s lemon bar recipe, Dana never fails to impress me with her wit, her love of life, or her humanity.
Three Baking Sheets to the Wind: I’ve finally found someone else whose brain is filled with as many inane pop culture references as mine is. Could we have been separated at birth? Doubtful, considering the mad kitchen skills and creativity that Ali clearly possesses.
You Are What You Eat…Or Reheat: We all secretly love trashy food. Katie gives us a safe place to own those feelings…every Wednesday! Spaghetti casserole anyone?
Thanks to Jen for sending a little Sunshine my way. I hope you’ll take a few moments to check out these other blogs that make my world a little brighter. And now that they have received some of these sunny rays, I hope that they too will pass them on.
The following originally appeared on 5/16/08 at Exit 51
Mash Ups
Standing at the sink the other night doing dishes, I got to thinking. Why is it that we christen the rich, famous, or infamous with mashed up names? There’s JLo, LiLo, Bennifer, and let us not forget Brangelina or TomKat. Is it so hard to use a complete name? Have we really lost the ability to speak in anything but sound bytes?
Of all the nicknames I’ve had, none of them have every employed the mash up. If they did, I could be WeMi (nope), WeMo (no, not that either), WeJay (neyt), or JEndi (actually, SFC and I do get called this and I don’t really mind).
So, what’s your mash up name?
There’s been some lively discussion among the Baltimore Food Bloggers recently about peas. Not just any peas. Fresh picked peas. From the Farmers Market. To quote Noel of 990 Square, “And if you have never had peas from the pealady – you simply don’t know what you’re missing. These are the best peas ever. And they never fail to disappoint. These peas are to pea-experiences what the chicken I had in Florence was to eating poultry. A revelation. Am I exaggerating? Check out the line they garner every Sunday – it’s bigger than the Zeke’s line….. and doesn’t really die down until the peas are gone. People ask – why’s the line so long? And you know they have never had these peas. Because if they had, they’d be in line and not asking stupid questions. The line’s long; it’s because it’s good.” Continue reading “God Doesn’t Make Mushy Peas”
Don’t you just want to reach out and grab one of those cookies up there? I really wish you could because they are freaking fantabulous. Chocolaty, but not overly sweet, with a nice hit of spicy heat. In a moment of either sheer genius or outright madness, I dug into the spice cabinet and pulled out a secret weapon to really turn up the heat because I’m a sweet/spicy freak. How else would you explain that I used a Chili Spice Rub in cookie dough? Continue reading “Chocolate Double Spice Cookies”
Bon Appetit Hon by Wendi Mosteiko is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Bon Appetit Hon 