November 10th, 2008
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If I even begin to think, talk or silently debate about doing one of these next year, somebody smack me and duct tape my arms down until I come to my senses.
But, that being said and with the fresh memory of just exactly how long this whole procedure took, the end result couldn’t help but charm the smile right out of me. It’s pretty darn cute.
Today, in the food-centric month of November, it’s National Gingerbread House Day. It’s also National Vanilla Cupcake Day and I had every intention of making a delicious batch of cupcakes to celebrate but then this house took over my life and squeezed all the motivation out of me over, oh….about six and a half hours. I tried to be sour about the effort and time, but then something happened…….
I couldn’t help but smile at the snowball fight antics of the gummy bears, those mischevious little things.
Or appreciate the snow covered Christmas tree in the front yard.
The bears have done such a wonderful job hanging lights and garlands around the house.
 
And the fence was so pretty and festive…..they were just finishing it up too.
And Santa Gummy Bear was lurking on the chimney!
So I tried to be all Grinchy about the effort, the time and the frustration involved in trying to piece together lopsided pre-formed gingerbread pieces with angles that were all off-center and not straight, but really, like childbirth, the final effort was worth all the agony. It is really, really darn cute.
It wasn’t until I started in on the pieces of the ‘ready to decorate’ kit- a colossal lie if I ever read one- that I recalled reading far too much about them on other blog sites last year (and the year before if I really want to admit it) that said these kits were extremely difficult to work with. The intentions are good, absolutely, but it just doesn’t have the ease that one is lead to believe. In my kit, the two side pieces were warped, and no amount of shaping could save them. This meant that every piece that was supposed to attach to them wouldn’t fit either. Maybe they aren’t all as bad as this one; I could hope anyway. While I have a large perfectionist streak that led me to work probably way too long on this to be successful, I think someone with less patience would have given up at first sight. Once I was done with the forming of the house, the last thing I wanted to do was futz with any decorations, in fact, all I wanted was a stiff drink. The only thought that kept me from chucking the lopsided thing in the trash was the recurring mantra ‘It will definitely look better once I decorate it!!!’ and so I sat down with ‘NCIS’ because Mark Harmon can cure any ill-will with those blue eyes, even at his advanced age, and also with my knitting- the finest brain silencer I have ever known- and well, by the time ‘Numb3rs’ came on, the ‘house from hell’ was nearly forgotten.
So FAIR WARNING– skip the kits and find a decent recipe and guide to make a house from scratch, that is, if you truly want to do this. It also works to use graham crackers. I had my cake decorating skills from culinary school to support me, and the tools to make it all work, like piping bags and decorating tips. Even given all that, this may be the only gingerbread house I ever make. Thank goodness I have no plans to eat it so it can sit around and be admired until after Christmas when I can stand 10 feet from the open trash can and launch it inside, ceremoniously and with glee.
Anybody got a cupcake????
November 9th, 2008
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I fully intended to get into National Scrapple Day, learn about a new food and tell you all the meritable aspects of it, but what fell onto my plate did little else but make me eye the trash can and wish it was a different food holiday. Sorry about that, but I guess that I can’t be jumping for joy over every one of my NaBloPoMo topics. Looking at the rest of the month, I am crossing my fingers that this one is the worst of the bunch.
Scrapple, for those uninitiated, is arguably one of the first pork foods created in America, owing it’s humble roots to the Pennsylvania Dutch and Appalachia regions of the East Coast and brought about by the age old frugality of rural life where nothing, and I do mean nothing, ever goes to waste. It is composed of pork scraps left over, ideally, from the butchering process and deemed too small to be used elsewhere or sold; the scraps are mixed with water or broth and cornmeal (with additional buckwheat flour on occasion) and cooked into a mush that is then refrigerated until firm and fried in slices. It is a breakfast food, served hot and topped with any number of condiments ranging from ketchup to maple syrup, or it is covered with eggs, mixed with eggs, served on toast, served with toast……you get the picture. Traditional Scrapple is made with pig offal- the head, heart, liver and other bits- boiled with bones and everything still attached to make a broth that has the gelatinous make-up that will chill the mixture firmly. Any seasoning added, like any regional or ethnic offering, is very much the fingerprint of the individual cook, but typical additions are sage, thyme and savory.
I did come across a recipe, and even roasted a nice piece of pork so I could say that I really tried Scrapple, but I’m pretty sure that my rendition was nothing like the original design. That being said, it wasn’t bad; it was like polenta slices with chunks of pork in them and since I have an ongoing love/hate relationship with polenta, it seemed to cloud my judgment of Scrapple. I cooked up two slices, probably too small, we sampled them and the rest went into the trash. So I tried.
It wasn’t that it was bad; it just wasn’t, well…..in my opinion, it wasn’t that good either. I suppose it could have withstood more bold seasonings, a finer chop of pork, maybe some added onion or peppers, something to make it really pop in the mouth, but the bottom line was simple- it was cornmeal mush and I’m just not your cornmeal mush girl. It’s not something I’m willing to work with.
Let’s move on then, shall we??
November 8th, 2008
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In my endless research on food holidays and/or food facts to discuss for 30 days, I came across a site called Learn Something New Today and discovered some rather silly and inane things about food. So before we get to National Cappuccino Day and National Harvey Wallbanger Day, let’s have a chuckle.
Since it is National Fig Week still, here’s a bit of trivia on the good ol’ Fig Newton, one of my favorite packaged cookies. Created in 1851 by the Kennedy Biscuit Works in Cambridge, MA, the previous discoveries had been named for local towns and the Fig Newton nearly was called the Fig Shrewsbury. It’s a good thing that didn’t stick or we likely would have never known the fun commercial jingle done by the guy in the fig suit. ‘Oooey gooey rich and chewy inside; golden flaky tender cakey outside, wrap the inside in the outside, is it good?? Darn tootin! Doin’t the big Fig Newton!!’
When KFC’s slogan ‘Finger Lickin’ Good’ was translated in Chinese, it came out as ‘Eat your fingers off’. Hmmm…..Must. Not. Respond.
In the Great Food Almanac by Irene Chalmers, Elvis Presley’s last meal was apparently four scoops of ice cream and half a dozen chocolate chip cookies. There’s an verbal bomb in there that I won’t touch because I just love ‘Hunka Hunka Burnin’ Love’ and ‘Cold Kentucky Rain’.
In total there have been 37 different kinds of Nabisco animal crackers since 1902. The current crackers are tiger, cougar, camel, rhinoceros, kangaroo, hippopotamus, bison, lion, hyena, zebra, elephant, sheep, bear, gorilla, monkey, seal and giraffe. They’ve also gotten far more detailed too.
Apples are more efficient than caffeine at waking you up in the morning. Anyone want to test this one out and let me know the results??
And um……ewww- The average chocolate bar has 8 insect legs in it.
Double in the ‘ewwww’ department- Coca-Cola was originally green. Yummay, huh?
Peanuts are an ingredient in dynamite so if you eat too many and feel like you might explode then you’ll know why.
Pearls melt in vinegar.
Although it can’t really be proven, in deference to the classic commercial, it takes approximately 317 licks to get to the Tootsie roll center of a Tootsie pop. If you watch the video, prepare for some creative license with a new millenium twist and don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Ok, whooo boy that was fun huh? Let’s move on.
It’s National Cappuccino Day, today November 8th. Having worked in coffee shops and studied coffee and coffee drink history, this is one of those terms that has been so far removed from it’s original form and meaning that almost no one knows what it means anymore. And given the prevalence of those ridiculous machines in convenience stores around the country that dispense scalding hot flavored instant coffee and milk powder and call it a Cappuccino, it’s no wonder most everyone who ever ordered a ‘Vanilla Nut Cappuccino’ from me in the coffee shop had to be patiently educated about what to expect. Or silently beaten over the head; I could never decide.
The very very first coffee drink that was called a Cappuccino was named as such due to the similar color between the espresso coffee, steamed milk or cream drink and the brown color of the robes worn by Capuchin order of Friars- not Monks as many believe, there is a difference and you should know what it is- and in it’s original form, never was topped with a ‘cap’ of foam, suggesting the origin of the name. The Italians were the first to give it the dollop of foam and called it a ‘Cappucio’, wherein it derived into ‘Cappucino’, a diminutive in the Italian language. Whatever people wish to call it, the drink is made with espresso and usually a half milk/half foam topping. Most people who drink the Cappuccino prefer it to be ‘wet, or a Cappuccino Chiaro that has more milk and less foam, as opposed to a ‘dry’, or Cappuccino Scuro, which is less milk and more foam. You can also order a Macchiato, and if it’s made correctly, it should be just a shot of espresso topped with nothing but foam. This was my preferred drink on those mornings in the coffee biz, like the middle of dark and cold January, when I would unlock the door at 6:00am and just know that I needed something akin to an intravenous feed of caffeine to make it to 11:00am when my shift would end. Thankfully those days are long gone- the coffee shop, not the caffeine. I’ve been a caffeine junkie since high school and have no plan to quit any time soon.
It’s also National Harvey Wallbanger Day. This obscure drink is basically a Screwdriver (vodka and orange juice) with a shot of Galliano liquor in it, an herby anise flavored liquid with some hints of vanilla. The origin of the drink is sketchy, but legend has it that a California surfer named Harvey liked his Screwdrivers with a shot of Galliano in them, and after one too many of them, he used to bang into walls. ‘Nuf said about that.
(cappuccino photo courtesy of All Coffee Recipes)
November 7th, 2008
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Unbeknown to me, yesterday’s post about Men Making Dinner and Nacho Day was my 500th post on this blog. That kind of blows my mind; I’ve been at this a long time- yes, 2 1/2 years to be exact- and I’m rather prolific with words so really, it shouldn’t come as any surprise.
Nor should it be any surprise that when you roast root vegetables that include beets, everything will be PINK!
Pretty pink and richly colored, in fact; staining your couscous and your bowl, but filling your tummy and taking the edge off the raw wind that came up.
And the national food holiday today? It’s Bittersweet Chocolate with Almonds Day and I thought about seeking out this concoction and spending copiuos amounts of time bestowing praise on such a delicious combination but then I spotted this roasted vegetable dish and all thoughts of chocolate scampered out the window. I should be declared something- possibly certifiable?- when veggies take precedence over chocolate.
But like I said, the wind turned raw and the rain was pouring down and after our early week flirtation with the 70’s in November– temperatures, not the decade mind you- the chill and damp that came over us was harsh and required not a candy to bring relief but something warming, deeply satisfying and a hot oven.
The original recipe, found here in our local paper’s award-winning Taste section, caught my eye and made me drool; an array of vegetables roasted to tender melting goodness and served over super-simple couscous. With my little carnivore heading out with his beloved Uncle Mike to the Gopher basketball game, it would be a welcome dinner for us- no meat yet tons of flavor.
Beets, rutabaga, parsnips, eggplant, carrots and tomato were my combination, doused with olive oil, a sprinkle of thyme, salt and pepper and a long roast in a 400 degree oven. I knew the outcome even before I started, but the beets were small and tender and I didn’t care if they bloodied my dish. The chopped beet greens added a nice color and tons more nutrients-don’t ever throw those away!! They taste like spinach and are SO good for you. And the nicest part about the whole dish was, as we sat down with steaming bowls in front of us, Mike declared with a high amount of enthusiasm “I love beet greens!” which was the smallest little detail ever, but after six years of marriage, I never even knew this about him. Imagine that! This was, by and large for the blustery night, a much better option than chocolate.
To roast your own:
Take one eggplant, one rutabaga, three parsnips, three carrots and one bunch of beets (mine had three in it) and cut them into uniform chunks. Place them in a roasting pan and pour about 1/3 cup of oil over them and add seasoning of choice. Stir to coat. Roast at 400 degrees, stirring after about a half hour. Roughly chop three tomatoes (minus the seedy pulp) and scatter over vegetables at the 30 min. mark. Continue roasting for 15-20 more minutes, then stir. Everything will be PINK. Saute the cleaned and chopped beet greens separately and stir into the veggies before serving, or serve on the side.
Prepare quick-cooking couscous, polenta or another base of choice and serve roasted veggies over this, sprinkled with some fresh grated parmesan cheese.
Delicious additions to the veggies could be: garbanzo beans, kalamata olives, celery root, turnips…..really the sky is the limit, or your personal taste. Leave out the beets if you don’t like PINK.
November 6th, 2008
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November 6th is National Men Make Dinner Day! woot! woot! woot!
In my house I do virtually all of the grocery shopping. I’m fine with it, really, as the shopping is something I have gotten down to a science from all those years as a single mother where I had to get through the store with a little guy who had a limited tolerance for anything that required him to be confined, stand still, stick by my side, keep his voice down, not touch everything in sight (he’s still the most tactile kid I know) and generally be on the best behavior he could muster. I learned to plot out my grocery list based on the outline of the store and to stick with it religiously, mostly as a matter of budget constraints but also because I knew that I had maybe 30-45 minutes tops, including the check-out, before Griffin would start escalating his voice to near stratospheric levels to make sure I knew of his boredom. The memories of those times include some really hilarious and heart-warming stories of things he did in the grocery store, though, and he loves talking about them with me, but it’s nice now to shop without a young child in tow. I still make my list out according to the store layout and on most occasions, even my major shopping trips, I’m in and out in far less than an hour, including bagging all my own stuff.
And of course I do nearly all the cooking. That’s not really a negotiable aspect with Mike. He can step up to the plate when he needs to, like when I get that glazed over look of total internal implosion, but he works really hard and is always very focused on it, and it just isn’t something that he keeps front and center on his mind. I, however, am constantly thinking about food. It all works out.
Mike makes the most stellar burritos and fajitas ever, including scratch tortillas that we cook up in a big iron horse of a tortilla grill, one of our smartest kitchen purchases. With only a few ingredients kept on hand, we can whip these up at a moment’s notice and have a delicious and easy meal.
And there he is……making Fajitas!
He does a simple preparation of sliced peppers and onions, cooked in a smoking hot pan to give them that seared and sizzling flavor. Seasoned chicken strips cook up really quick, and there’s always a pot of rice, a bowl of my killer guacamole and the ever-present chipotle peppers to give them some eye-popping kick.
The nice thing is, it’s a meal that Griffin will devour no matter what. I just love it that Mike willingly puts this meal together for us to give me a break in the kitchen. I don’t need it too often, but I love it regardless, especially because he looks so cute at the stove.
It’s also National Nachos Day!!! Nothing like a giant pile of toasty chips, melted cheese and a whole host of gooey toppings to mow through, huh??
Do I wish this was right in front of me this minute, and yes it’s before Noon my time but who cares? That kills me in it’s drippy cheesy (but bad for my tummy) jalapeno laden sour cream dressed yummy, and oh my god why don’t I have any?? goodness.
{{nacho photo courtesy of either dailyfoolishness.com or San Nachos Bar in Oklahoma City- you pick cuz I can’t tell}}
So go eat some Nachos if you can, and have a plate for me or better yet, get the Guy to make them for you!
November 5th, 2008
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Today is National Doughnut Appreciation Day. Talk about a perfect day, custom designed for my child.
Griffin is a doughnut fiend, probably because I refuse to buy them or have them around the house, those saturated fat laden, high fructose corn syrup all refined white flour deep fried gut bombs generally found in your average grocery store- sounds delicious, doesn’t it, ewwww!- and so simply due to ‘being deprived’ (as he likes to think) whenever he sees them, it’s a huge WANT!!!
And quite frankly, I really don’t blame him. I love them too. I just don’t buy them as I love my body a whole lot more.
It’s no secret that the best tasting things are always the worst for us to consume; pie crusts made with lard are the flakiest, richly marbled steaks are the most beefy, that Lemon Drop martini- yummy!- is loaded with sugar, and the donut, deep fried and sugary is a delight. You just need to know how to say ‘When’. In college, one of my favorite Sunday morning rituals was to wake early and walk to the corner store to buy a newspaper and a package of Entenmanns Old fashioned donuts, you know, the ones with the cracked edges. I would go home and brew the coffee, then sit in the sunroom of my apartment and proceed to give myself a sugar rush of amazing proportions. Then it was perfectly fine; I only had a mountain bike for transportation and I rode it everywhere, plus I used to swim at the university’s aquatic center three or four times a week for at least an hour- hard- so it never bothered me to put that kind of junk in my body. I was lean and fit. Then.
But that was also before the evils of saturated fat, HFCS and things dunked and cooked in boiling oil became ‘No-No’s’ in any sane person’s diet. Even with that kind of knowledge, it doesn’t mean that I don’t wish for a cakey, flakey sugary oval once in a while. Preferably with good dark coffee and my former collegiate fitness level.
In my search for a donut recipe that I could be pleased to make, I came across this one on Heidi’s site and knew it would be perfect. I also knew that Griffin would be thrilled to help me if it meant he could freely consume the results. With a day off of school for him, it turned into our donut making day and we couldn’t have been more excited about the results.
Indulge me while I brag slightly about my most resourceful husband; while I mused and searched my kitchen for the best tool to cut out the dough centers, pushing everything feasible around in my gadget drawers in a futile search, Mike spied a prescription bottle and said ‘Hey how about a pill bottle sawed off and filed?’ Within 10 minutes he handed me my hole cutter and I nearly knocked him down in my effort to thank him for his ingenuity.
With the dough created and raised to the correct proportions, I set out to cut the rounds while Griffin took charge of making the holes.
He may not looked very thrilled here, but believe me, he was chomping at the bit to eat our results. The donut hole cutter is on the counter in front of him. Pay no attention to my messy hair- I fixed it later!
Once out of the oven we brushed them with melted butter and sprinkled cinnamon sugar over them while still hot. It melted into a nice thin glaze.
Finally!!!!!!!
The results of this recipe were stellar, and would make a perfect base for cinnamon or caramel rolls too. They were sweet and moist, a bit more roll-like than cakey but with an amazing flavor and texture. The plus side was that they didn’t coat my mouth with that deep fried taste, they weren’t heavy at all- so you can eat more of them!- and despite being stellar right out of the oven, they still tasted terrific with a short spin in the microwave the next day to warm them. The bonus, of course, is that they were fabulous with coffee.
If the urge strikes you to make a sweet treat and avoid the deep fryer, by all means give this recipe a whirl. And enjoy National Doughnut Day!
November 4th, 2008
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It’s National Chicken Day
and National Candy Day. Oh the possibilities.
And according to those who insist on making everything about the bizarre, it’s also Waiting for the Barbarians Day, but I don’t think you want me to talk about that in terms of food-relatedness. That would be gross.
AND, if that’s not enough- these food holidays are everywhere!- the first week in November is National Fig Week, I imagine because figs are becoming ripe and ready to devour right about now. Anybody got any?? I love a good fresh squishy tasty fig. And I even love them dried.
Let’s start at the beginning and quickly move on….I mean, seriously, write about chicken?? What can be said that hasn’t been said? What could be done with it that is fresh and new? Chicken is the most widely used domesticated fowl in the entire world, and in terms of cooking, there are those who either love or hate it. It’s everywhere you look. Yes, the ubiquitous boneless skinless breast is lean and a decent source of protein, but the ones that you can normally buy in the market are almost always twice the standard portion size, so if you even eat one of them you’re likely eating too much. They also tend towards flavorless and dull, except, as those would argue, they become a virtual tabula rasa for anything you wish to add. Sure, yeah…..and if you aren’t careful you’ll overcook the thing and it becomes stringy white fowl flesh to choke down. But don’t get me wrong; I buy them and we use them a lot, and I can cook them to be tender, moist, flavor-filled and delicious but I think I am in the minority. I’ve heard way too many arguments against them from others, and it’s just one of those food items that comes down to personal taste. They are all like that and we all just need to deal with it. I don’t begrudge anyone’s choices.
I personally love chicken thighs. I have always been a dark chicken devotee from the time I can recall eating it, and it likely stems from attempting to struggle through an overcooked piece of white meat. But even when I finally discovered that it didn’t have to be that way, the dark meat still remained a favorite. The thighs can be very cheap, and your best bet is to learn how to de-bone them as it will save you at the check-out. Even if you don’t remove the bone prior to cooking, it’s pretty simple to slip the meat free once it’s done. These always hold up well on the grill and take on a marinade like a champion prize fighter. They are nearly impossible to wreck.
I love this hilarious ad campaign. We aren’t big consumers of beef, much to my child’s angst, so I can’t agree more with the Chik-Fil-A cows who urge us all to ‘Eat mor chik-n’.
It’s now about Figs.
I love figs- fresh, dried, in a Newton- they are perfectly wonderful food. Figs go wayyyyyy back and are considered of utmost importance in terms of being objects of worship and cultural interest in many areas of the world. They are noted as being one of the first plant species deliberately bred for agriculture in the Middle East more than 11,000 years ago. We all know what happened in the Garden with the fig leaf, and they are listed as one of the foods found in the Promised Land according to the Torah. It is one of the two sacred trees in Islam, and is pivotal in Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism religions and they are a key component in many tropical rainforests providing food to many animal and bird species. They are an excellent source of fiber, potassium and calcium and have shown to offer protection against macular degeneration. Of the more than 150 varieties grown around the world, the most popular ones are the Black Mission, Calymyrna, Brown Turkey, Kadota and Adriatic, and all of them are subtley varied in terms of flavor and dramatically in color.
Then, finally- CANDY.
I’m not a huge candy eater but I do love my dark chocolate. Our trick-or-treaters got a wide selection of minis of every kind, and hands down when I told them to pick something, they grabbed for the little boxes of Junior Mints. Those disappeared the fastest. I certainly can’t argue; my absolute favorite thing to nibble on lately has been something very similar.
This, to me, is the perfect marriage of chocolate and mint. Not too much of one or the other, and it’s dark chocolate so who can argue? The other perfect combination that I love is the little miniature Milky Way Midnights. Talk about perfection! One little bite of intense dark chocolate and the nougat-y caramel-y goodness of Milky Way. I made sure there were some of those in my Halloween hand-outs strictly so I could indulge. I used to LOVE candy as a kid, and recall with great fondness riding my bike to the local corner shop to peruse the candy selection with my sisters and neighborhood friends. I loved Sugar Babies, Bubs Daddy, Hot Tamales, Brown Cows and LifeSavers. I don’t need candy in my life anymore, but a bite here and there is very satisfying. I’m really glad to have gotten my candy-eating out of my system.
Happy Candy Day, Chicken Day and Fig Week!
{{information for this post was found on the California Fig Board website and The World’s Healthiest Food website. Candy image from Ghiradelli.com, cows from Chik-Fil-A}}
November 3rd, 2008
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But apparently November 3rd is National Sandwich Day. Like I need an excuse to eat a sandwich? Talk about perfect food- press something between two pieces of bread and off you go. I even covered sandwiches recently on this blog HERE, and also HERE. I’m indebted to whoever was prompted to help out the ol’ scallywag, the 4th Earl of Sandwich, keep on with his gambling by wrapping his mutton in a hunk of bread. They were really a genius.
I’m partial to a warm toasty sandwich myself, and with my recent diversion away from all things dairy, this joy has been relinquished to the lower rungs of my culinary repertoire. I sometime just have to have a grilled cheese and ham though, especially when faced with a container of black forest ham and some super sharp cheddar. With those delicious ingredients tucked inside yummy toasted marble rye, it’s really a little slice of heaven on my plate.
So have a sandwich in celebration of National Sandwich Day!
And here’s a few thought processes of mine on what is behind the push for me to do NaBloPoMo this year, brought on by my friend Lily. The nice thing about the whole blogging community- ever so rapidly increasing- is that one person’s comment or post on something, even seemingly irrelevant, snowballs through who-knows-where and touches a lot of other people, often in ways that aren’t expected. It’s a wonderful way to be pushed into exploring a thought, belief or point of view that you might not ever consider. So when I read Lily’s reasons behind NBPM, it seemed a good idea to jot down my own.
I’ve been blogging for 2 1/2 years and much of it has been at a pretty steady pace. I feel no pressure to make it successful or get some kind of recognition from it, and I refuse to prostitute my blog with ads that clutter up the site. I enjoy my comments and marvel when my stat counter jumps to a new high, but it doesn’t control my life. It’s nice when people tell me they like my blog; I appreciate you all who visit far more than I may let you know, and I have listed reciprocal links to other blogs that I enjoy. If life became too busy for me to continue doing this, I would miss my little community, but I wouldn’t feel like I was letting anyone down. Life will go on, and quite frankly, I have struggled lately with walking away from this blog for many reasons. I’ve always been intrigued by NaBloPoMo but never gotten on the ball to do it the past few years, mostly because I have put an undue pressure on myself to cook AND blog about it in the same day. This is an utterly ill-advised mindset. I didn’t want to just post some rambling mishmash of words either to fulfill the daily requirement. Then this year I touched on the idea of the food holidays and daily food happenings during the month of November and pretty soon I was nearly jumping with excitement over writing on a daily basis. You see, I love, love LOVE to write, and when I’m not excited about writing, it just yanks me down. This is making it better, and I can see the idea being one to touch on in the future if my culinary enthusiasm is lacking or I’m relying on old favorites that aren’t worthy of posting. So having a plan and a daily idea to write about makes this more fun for me, and hopefully for the people coming around to visit. I also have a tough time motivating myself to follow through with things, and this is helping me because it’s all planned out for me; each day has a theme, and I know when I have a recipe to make for something and when it’s just an informative post. While the rules of NaBloPoMo are simple- Write a post a day for 30 days- I’m free to create a needed recipe anytime I want, photograph it and file those pictures away until the day I need them, then sit down to create my posts.
Then there is that blogging community, and I do genuinely enjoy being a part of it. I have met so many wonderful people who are instant friends, and it has really enriched my life. This is a way to dangle my toes in it and be a part of something bigger, all the while touching on two things I do very well- write and cook.
So yeah, are you making a sandwich??
November 2nd, 2008
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November 2nd is National Deviled Egg Day; the humble little creamy filled hand held appetizer. So what makes it devilish?
Also called Eggs Mimosa, the deviled egg is a common dish in the USA, France and Hungary, and is known as Russian Eggs in Germany, but the origin claims to be from Ancient Rome. After the Romans domesticated fowl, they used the eggs in many applications, including hard cooking them and covering them with spices. While the technique comes from 13th century Andalusia, the name is strictly 18th century American.
The first recipes found come from ancient Medieval texts, are referred to as Stuffed Eggs, and the filling included raisins, cheese and sweet spices. One difference in this technique was that once the eggs were stuffed, they were fried in oil and served hot. The name ‘Deviled’ didn’t appear until around 18th century England when the practice of ‘deviling’ was first introduced and meant ‘a highly seasoned broiled or fried dish’. The earliest use of the term was loosely associated with kidneys and other meats, not with stuffing eggs. Deviled dishes were popular in the 19th and 20th centuries, especially for seafood options and appetizers. Those of us old enough to remember the Underwood Devil and the can of spicy ham have seen where the term was taken. It was around this time that Deviled Eggs, possibly including some of that chopped spicy ham, firmly took hold in the culinary world.
Earliest renditions of Deviled Eggs had cayenne and/or spicy mustard in the filling. The recipe has evolved so much over time that there is no clear idea of what goes into the filling; it’s each cook to their own taste. Some recipes in the past have deep fried the final results, others show to spread the yolk mixture in a baking dish, arrange the whites on top and cover with bread crumbs, broiling until crispy and then sprinkling with cheese. Some recipes contain meat, other have capers and vinegar, pickles, fresh herbs, chopped celery or onion, olives and anchovies. Although it’s not stuffed, the fried version makes me think of Scotch Eggs, my absolute favorite egg-eating option- a hard cooked egg wrapped in spicy sausage and fried, then dipped in sweet mustard. Oh dear, now I want a Scotch Egg!
For Griffin’s Deviled Eggs, shown above, he simply mixes in a little Miracle Whip, spicy brown mustard and salt and pepper. He loves the little orbs, and it’s a simple and easy snack for him to prepare.
{information for this post was found at The Food Timeline for all your food history. Watch yourself if you visit this website, it’s addictive and really informative. You might get happily lost for a long time.}
November 1st, 2008
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I might be a little crazy to feel excited about National Blog Posting Month but there it is, my true feelings. I didn’t even mind the cat’s usual wake-up call at the crack of dawn this morning. Past years of blogging have intrigued me to the principle behind the month but I have never gotten motivated enough to participate. This year, I’ve been scheming since early in October.
For the uninitiated, NaBloPoMo is simple; write a post a day for 30 days. That’s it. November is the traditional month for it, developed after the idea of National Novel Writing Month where you challenge yourself to write a novel in 30 days. Since my current novel is running towards the two-year mark, it’s unlikely I could do that, but write 30 food posts in a month? That I can do. These days NBPM happens year round, usually with a theme.
Back in October I posted about monthly happenings, holidays of the sort, that occur for our 10th month. Just to grease the wheels and really get me out of the garage, for this post I’ll discuss November. If you want an entire breakdown of monthly celebrations, go here. I plan to just mention food occurrences, and a few other important ones.
November is American Diabetes Month, Gluten Free Diet Awareness Month (visit my friend Angela for some amazing GF/CF recipes- she is tops in her field!) Good Nutrition Month, I Am So Thankful Month, National Adoption Month, National Georgia Pecan Month, National Life Writing Month, the aforementioned National Novel Writing Month, National Peanut Butter Lovers Month (we will happily re-visit and discuss this in depth on the 20th) National Pomegranate Month, National Roasting Month, National Vegan Month, Pepper Month and Raisin Bread Month.
I mention Nat’l Adoption Month for the sole reason that adoption is something that has touched the lives of many people I have known in my lifetime, including my best friend Joanna. When she knew she couldn’t have children of her own, there was no doubt in her mind that her and her husband would adopt, and I had the monumental joy of watching the entire process unfold in her life from the moment she met her future family until the day they sealed the deal forever. Jay and Cecelia are wonderful children who have really blessed her life and I couldn’t be more thankful for her opportunity.
There’s another one; being thankful- as in I Am So Thankful Month. We shouldn’t set aside just one day a year, the fourth Thursday in November precisely, to be thankful for everything in our lives, including the wonderful family, friends, acquaintances, coworkers etc. that bless our lives each day. That being said, while a month is better, we really need to remember every day of what brings joy and happiness to our lives. I could list out everyone in my life that’s important to me, but they all should know anyway- even if they don’t read my blog, which they should!!-and that would bore you to death. I’ll just gently remind everyone to make more of an effort to recognize this in your own life.
Good Nutrition- this just shouldn’t be sneezed at; good nutrition, healthy eating and regular exercise are vital to well-being. Again, it’s something that needs to be recognized daily, not just one month a year. I really don’t need to talk any more about this.
Gluten Free Awareness- I’m hardly one to start on about this topic; my personal awareness of this has only been enhanced by the presence of Angela who has Celiac disease (she’s a silly yak….teehee, get it?) and the amazing and inventive way that she turns cookies, cakes and other goodies into delicious and healthy treats for her family, which includes two daughters who are silly yaks too. You hardly even know that what you’re eating is gluten-free as you can barely contain yourself from gobbling down all her delicious foods. Visit her blog and enjoy.
Then there’s the foods. And if you stick around this month and visit me to see if I’m keeping my NBPM promise, then you will see 29 more posts all centered on a particular food (and a beverage or two) each day. Along with those monthly holidays there are daily ones as well, and that’s the journey I will take you on this month.
See you tomorrow!!
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