What Happens When a Bakeanista Crosses a Geoduck and a Flaccid uhh..

penis? Well she gets the best damn cheesy bread she's ever had.. YES you heard me, PANERA. It blows your Asiago bread right outta the water! Last weekend, in between our monthly trip to the West Side Market and Trader Joe's, plus a jaunt to the local greenhouse for the biggest basket of purple & white petunias we could find for Mommie's Day.. was a late blooming starter, lots of flour and even more CHEESE. The newly named "Bakeanistas" got together again for a day of baking and chit chatting on Skype. Wondering who the Bakeanistas are? Just a fantabulous group of sexy women including Mary, Sara, Ivonne, Helene, Laura Rebecca, Kelly and Stephanie - oh and me! Wondering what cheesy bread it was that we baked? Check out this step by step tutorial for Gruyère-Stuffed Crusty Loaves and the recipe can be found here. Knowing full well that this recipe called for a starter that was to be made the night before, I sent out a call for help from my other Bakeanista sisters - "SOMEONE PLEASE REMIND ME TO MAKE MY STARTER ON FRIDAY NIGHT!!" I knew damn well that without a reminder, I'd completely forget to make it. And because these ladies are AWESOME, I received, not one but TWO reminders on Friday to make my starter that night. PHEW! Thank goodness for reminders! Have I ever told ya'll about the two month period last year that I left Nigel at home on his grooming days? If I did tell ya'll that story - do you remember how I stuck post-it notes on the front door, the door to the kennel that Nigel and his sister, Chloe, sleep in during the mornings AND the post-it I stuck on the inside of my car windshield? Okay well, admittedly, I didn't stick the post it on the windshield until the 2nd month, since I had forgotten him the prior month. And do ya'll remember how I got 3/4's of the way to work when I realized that my goreous son was still sitting at home wondering WTF? Mmm hmm.. I woke up Saturday morning - BAKING MORNING - like I normally do (at the butt-crack of dawn), made my coffee, let the kids out for their morning constitutional, filled up assorted doggie and kitty food & water bowls, sat down at the PC with lists upon lists of things that needed to be taken care of.. and promptly blowing said lists off so I could read new email.. when at six bells this shudder of terror crept down my spine. HOLY SHIT I FORGOT TO MAKE THE STARTER LAST NIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank God, Thank God, Thank God, and Hail Mary, I knew I couldn't start baking until later than the rest of the gals because of the monthly grocery shopping extravaganza. So I bound down the hallway, bouncing off walls, to the kitchen and slapped that shite together. I noticed how dry it was and was kinda taken aback, as every starter I've had to make (hehe every.. like I've made TWO now and one of those died a horrible death that I try not to think about) has been spongy and wet. But oh well.. no time to dwell! I put her in a warm place and went about my usual morning routine and then left for shopping with Hubbs. I didn't get to participate in much chit chat this month, which was a bummer because I missed all talk of vajayjays, exploding mammories and other unsavory topics that usually trip my trigger. Dammit. So in between TJ's and the greenhouse, we stopped home to unload the car and I made the dough. Left it to rise while we visited my mommie and when I got home I rolled it out and filled it with cheese, then rolled it up into a considerably long log. Another hour or so later, I cut the log up into 4 "mini" loaves (so not mini!) and pulled apart the outer layers so the cheesy goodness would have plenty of room to bubble up and out like the most delicious lava from a volcano I've ever seen. Into the oven they went and back to the office I went to chat with Kelly and Mary for a bit.. I was also doing something else, but I can't recall what it was at this moment. Regardless of what it was, it wasn't too long after my cheesy volcanos went into the oven that I started to smell an all too familiar scent when I'm baking bread.. smoke. Dear sweet jebus the smoke alarm went off next. Gah. I ran to the kitchen to find puffs of billowy black smoke emerging from the back of my oven - WHAT THE FUCK, BAKING GODS??? CAN YOU GIVE ME A BREAK JUST ONCE???? I took the loaves out and was more than alarmed to see that they had morphed into what can only be explained as a cross between a geoduck and a man's flaccid hoo-haw. I KID YOU NOT, kids. The Baking Gods were having another belly bustin laugh spree at my expense ONCE AGAIN. Helene's vajayjay-looking bread had nothing on these pornographic sea monsters. Oh hells no. I ran back down the hallway in a frightened panic (you always know when I've been baking - that frightened panic takes over) and pounded out the words on my keyboard to Mary.. "OHMYGOD THERE'S SMOKE EVERYWHERE AND MY BREAD LOOKS LIKES LIKE SOMETHING OUT OF DEBBIE DOES DALLAS - HELP!!!" Mary calmly asked how high my oven was (425º as per instructions) and then recalled that I had a hot spot in my oven from when she was here back in October of 2007 - so she advised me to turn down the oven to 375º, and put them back in. They might take longer to bake, but at least they'd stop smoking. And the funny thing was.. the loaves, other than their embarrassing appearance, weren't burning.. nor was the cheese erupting from them like.. well.. GAH we will not discuss what the oozing cheese looked like - but the oven itself was smoking. So I did as she said and by the time I got back to the office, she and Kelly and I think Helene was there at that point, came up with a couple conclusions.. I had sprayed cooking spray on the parchment paper (no, didn't do that) - my oven was smoking because it might have just been cleaned and the heat was causing the residual cleaner to smoke (BINGO!). These gals are so smuckin' fart! :D Hubbs had cleaned the oven out with soap and water a couple days before and it looked as if a lil soap residue was still there. PHEW. The rest of the baking process went beautifully - it did take an extra 10 minutes for them to bake through, but I was rewarded with the most AWESOME tasting cheesy bread that I've ever had. The outside had just the right crispiness, the inside was soft and gooey and the flavor.. ohhhh the flavor! Gruyère is the BEST cheese to bake with, in my humble opinion. This is one of those recipes that I can not recommend enough. The dough was a snap to make and very easy to work with.. not sticky at all and it rolled out beautifully. Now it might not be the prettiest loaf of cheesy bread ever, but that just adds to the rustic charm of it. We (and by "we" I mean ME) inhaled the first loaf that afternoon.. I shared the 2nd loaf with him the following day and froze the other two.. they did not last longer than a week as I just toasted up the last of it this past Monday. My only advice to you would be to either double - nay triple - this recipe so you've got plenty in the freezer to get you through until next cheesy bread baking day. ;) Thanks so much to my sexy bread bakin' mamas - I can't wait for the next Bakeanistas adventure! Love you all SO MUCH! :) xoxo PS - Sorry that my post is a couple days late.. but the good news is I can sit for almost an hour now without having to request help to get outta my chair! hahahaa! Fakkin' sciatica. Gah. xoxo

Everything is Better on a Stick!

So I'm on this diet lifestyle change.. I recently hit 40 and well.. I think it's starting to hit me that I'm no longer on the uphill climb, but rather on my way downhill. Not that it's a bad thing, just makes me realize that if I don't really get serious, the next 40 years are going to be miserable. I don't like miserable. Yanno? The diet lifestyle change has been going okay.. lil iffy in spots, but rather well - surprisingly well in other areas. Such as cutting out all sugar. I KNOW. I can't believe I'm saying this let alone living it. But it's a true story.. no sugar, no chocolate.. and.. okay well.. some of you might want to look away for a minute, what I'm about to say next is not going to be pretty.       No butter. ***crickets***     Tell me. I've most assuredly lost my everfluffin' mind. I'm now all about low-fat cheeses and reduced fat mayo, olive and canola oil in place of my beloved butter.. fish and ground turkey - salads and fresh fruit.. dear sweet jebus somebody hold me. So knowing myself as well as I do, I knew there'd be no fakkin way I could make this challenge without inhaling half of it. I mean c'mon.. it's cheesecake on a freakin' stick. Covered in chocolate. It's Brilliance in the form of a lollipop is what it is. I'm weak and only human.. and as a co-founder of this amazing group, well I knew I had to take one for the team and get all of my cream cheese bricks and chopped chocolates in a row, if yanno what I mean. And I think that you do. I threw on an apron so that my thighs, hips and ass wouldn't see what I was about to do and got to it. This started as a New York style cheesecake.. no crust. It's just creamy heavenly cheesecake baked until just set - frankly, one of THE BEST cheesecakes I've ever had. And the recipe was really easy.. this is a time consuming and kinda messy recipe, but all in all, no problems and I really enjoyed making them. I kept 90% of them at 2 ounces.. but after counting 35 of them and still having a boatload of cheesecake left, I took out my big star cookie cutter and made a few big whammer jammers.. those I used for quality control. Because our Daring Bakers mean the world to me and I'd do anything to protect them, including eating a giant star shaped cheesecake lollipop double dipped in first peanut butter coating and then dark chocolate to make sure they were NOT poisonous. Well I am here today to tell my story, so I guess we can all assume the cheesecake is safe for consumption! (Actually, they are more than just safe... they are BIG DEE - lil licious) :D These cute lollies were brought to our attention by two of the sweetest and most kind hearted women that I've had the pleasure of meeting, Elle from Feeding My Enthusiasms and Deborah of Taste and Tell. Excellent choice, gals! Thank you so much! Elle and Deborah found the recipe in Jill O'Connor's Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey: Desserts for the Serious Sweet Tooth. By this recipe alone, this book has got to be good! Ya'll must give the blogroll a good clickin' this month, the creativity used in making these pops - both in flavoring and decorating - is going to blow ya'll away! Bake on Daring Bakers! Bake on! :D xoxo

LiveSTRONG Day - May 13th, 2008

As mentioned in my last post, April and May bring two very important foodie events to me. Cooking to Combat Cancer was the first, and LiveSTRONG Day is the 2nd. LiveSTRONG is the motto behind Lance Armstrong's Foundation about cancer awareness, surviving cancer and living with cancer YOUR way. I think this is an amazing and unique organization and it's refreshing to know it's not all about money.. Lance's foundation truly helps those who are battling cancer. Last year, Barbara of Winos and Foodies hosted the first annual LiveSTRONG with a Taste of Yellow and an amazing 149 bloggers participated.. This year she is holding the 2nd annual LiveSTRONG with a Taste of Yellow 2008 and the deadline for participation is April 27th - I hope we all unify to surpass last year's number, especially since she's moved the participation dead line from April 19th. :) I'm quite happy about the extension as my last post kinda left me with nothing afterwards. Not to mention, I wanted to blog about an amazing dish in tribute to Lance AND Barbara and although I had two "yellow" dishes all ready to go, they weren't very special to me. So I decided to hang up my written post and think about what kind of dish I really wanted to submit. Well here in NE Ohio, I think it is safe to assume (am knockin on wood all over the place) that Spring has sprung! We've had lovely weather, not too rainy.. just the right temps - high 60's lower 70's and because we live right on the lake, there is a wonderful breeze coming off it each afternoon. There are Daffodils, Crocuses, Hyanciths, Irises and lots of other beautiful flowers popping up everywhere. The trees have started to bud and the smaller flowering trees are completely covered in their gorgeous blooms.. one cannot help but to think about new beginnings, fresh starts, and awakenings after a gloomy winter has passed by. Now, flowers and trees certainly do scream Spring! to me, but so do fresh vegetables.. for now is the time to start thinking about that garden you'll be planting in a few short weeks. Some of us already have our seedlings growing steady just waiting to be transplanted to their warm summer homes (San Marzanos! Thanks to my beautiful Creampuff! squeeeee!). The hubbs and I have been talking incessantly about what perennials we're going to plant this year and arguing over where the zucchini plants will go in the garden. hehe Last year we found the perfect spot and I had so many zucchini that I didn't know what to do with (thank God for neighbors, co-workers, friends, family and the occasional stranger off the street) and they pretty much took over the middle part of the garden. hee! So I knew I wanted this dish to represent Spring and all of the renewal it brings. Hope, if you will. A startling realization that after the gloom, there is sun. The corn from down south is starting to arrive in our supermarkets and I couldn't resist buying some this past weekend. I wanted to make something light that allowed the corn's sweetness to shine through and I think I did a damn good job of doing just that. :D I roasted 4 ears of corn on our grill until I could no longer stand the amazing fragrance coming from them. I let them cool for a bit and while I left them to do that, I thinly sliced up 4 green onions, diced half of a yellow bell pepper and 1/2 of an avocado. Once the corn was cool enough to handle, I cut the sweet kernals from their cobs and threw about 1/2 of them in with the onions, peppers and avocado. I dressed this mixture simply with a little lime zest, the juice of 1/2 a lime, a sprinkling of sea salt and a splash of good quality olive oil. I mixed gently and let all sit together for a while so that their flavors could meld. Next up was simple grilled, boneless pork chops with nothing but garlic, salt & pepper for seasoning. Once the chops were just cooked through, I topped each with 2 huge spoonfuls of the roasted corn relish. OHMYGOD. I can't tell you how shocked I was at how good this turned out! The bitterness of the lime with the sweetness of the corn and a background zing of the fresh spring onion.. all with the creaminess that the avocado lent.. my, my, my, my and my. I don't think I could have come up with a better tribute to Spring, the new hope it brings, and Barbara and Lance for all they do to keep spirits high. Thank you both for giving so many people the hope and awareness it takes to not look at living with cancer as a death sentence, because it's not. I firmly believe that mind over matter is very, very important. With a better outlook that can be obtained by knowledge, unity and strength the better the chances of kicking cancer's ass until it runs home screaming like a sissy girl to it's mommie. ;) xoxo

Cooking to Combat Cancer 2

April and May bring two very important events that mean a lot to me. Two events that will bring awareness to many people. These two events are part of the effort to kick cancer's ass. Because seriously? Cancer's ass deserves to be kicked. Thoroughly. This first post is for Cooking to Combat Cancer 2 - an annual event held by one of the most beautiful souls I've ever met.. Chris. She's the author of Mele Cotte, a wonderful friend, and a cancer survivor. Thank you for doing this every year, sweetie.. your contribution to helping us to never forget is so very important. Love you!! In November of 2005 I was diagnosed with cervical cancer.. one radical hysterectomy later, and I was cancer free without much physical fuss. Meaning, I did not get sick. Mentally, there was fuss.. lots of it. When you've always taken for granted that you'd have kids one day.. and then are told it ain't gonna happen.. yeah, that kind of messes you up some. But, as I've said a million times over, I'm alive. I'm (relatively) healthy. I'm lucky. And I'm grateful for the chance I've been given. Six years before my own brush with cancer, I was introduced to it's devastation when my great uncle was diagnosed with lung cancer. Coming from a large Italian family, I had many, many aunts and uncles. My father was 1 of 14. Yes, you read that right.. my dad had 13 brothers and sisters. And although I did love my paternal aunts and uncles very, very much.. it was my mom's great aunt and great uncle, who I was closest to. My Auntie Ann and Uncle Sol. My Auntie was and still is my mom's best friend. They are only 10 years apart, and they grew up together more like sisters than an aunt and her niece. So we spent a lot of time with them. I consider my Auntie as my second mom.. for it was easier for me to talk to her than my own mother sometimes. And my uncle.. well.. he tortured me. har! My uncle never passed up the chance to pick on me, to annoy me, or to embarrass me. But this predicament I was in wasn't such a bad thing. No, for all of his fun had at my expense, the only thing that I took from all of it was how much attention he lavished on me. As I'm told often, I was the first girl in a family of boys. My uncle adored me. And I adored him. When such an amazing man was taken away from us so abruptly, it felt like a betrayal. How could this be?? This was a man who loved his family so much, he was loved by everyone he met and he was such a wonderful uncle to my sisters and I. Actually, he was known to my youngest sister as her grandpa.. as both sets of grandparents had passed years before she was born, he and my auntie took on the role. I rarely ever told my uncle how much I loved him. I assumed he always knew. As a matter of fact, the only time I can remember actually saying to him how much I loved him was right after he had the surgery to remove part of his lung.. he cried. I'd never seen him cry before. And he told me he loved me back. This was our first and only spoken exchange of our feelings for each other. He passed a couple days later. To say I was devastated is an understatement. I was wrecked. I still am.. several years have passed and the pain isn't as constant as it was before, but I still can't control the tears and the hurt inside when I think about him. Oh how I wish that I would have told him how much I loved him until he was sick of hearing it! How I hate that I just assumed he knew. Although he didn't say the words to me either, and even though I knew from earliest memory that he loved me very much.. I still wish that I would have said the words out loud to him more than once. Just as I always knew his unspoken feelings for me, I can only pray that he knew my unspoken feelings for him. The recipe I am about to share doesn't really remind me much of my Uncle Sol.. no, we were more of the pizza, soft pretzel, Twix bars kinda eaters. hee! But this recipe contains a few ingredients known to help cancer stay away, so I find it very fitting. I also find it very delicious and I'm glad we finally tried it. It's a simple recipe for Salad Niçoise, which comes to us from Nice, France. This is a salad made up of seared tuna, blanched green beans, tomatoes, steamed red potatoes, boiled eggs and of course, Niçoise olives. Everything but the tuna is tossed with a simple vinaigrette which adds just the perfect tang. And the tuna is usually seared quickly on each side, then placed on the salad in thin slices. Never being one to follow a recipe to the T (Other than Daring Baker challenges!!!), I decided to coat my tuna in toasted sesame seeds first. We fell in love with this salad immediately and it will become a common quick dinner in my repertoire. The tuna is rich in Omega 3 fatty acids, which are good for a healthy heart. The green beans have been shown to prevent or slow genetic damage to cells. The garlic and scallions in the vinaigrette contain a number of compounds believed to slow or stop the growth of tumors. And the tomatoes contain lycopene, which has been shown to be especially potent in combating prostate cancer. So all in all, this salad is not only delicious and quick, but very good for your body. Salad Niçoise Makes 2 generous servings, or 4 small servings 8 oz. fresh Ahi Tuna or Albacore - (try to find sushi grade - you won't be sorry) 1 TBS olive oil or cooking spray (recipe for sesame seared tuna below) 1/4 pound green beans, trimmed and blanched - (I suggest salting the boiling water) 3/4 pound of new red potatoes, quartered and steamed until fork tender - (My trick here is to put 2 crushed garlic cloves on the bottom of the steamer basket.. it gives the potatoes a light garlicy flavor that's delicious) 1/4 c. red onion, either thinly sliced or minced 1/4 c. pitted Niçoise olives 1/2 c. cherry tomatoes, halved 1-2 eggs, hard boiled, peeled and quartered Vinaigrette 2 TBS. Champagne vinegar - (I used Trader Joe's Orange Muscat Champagne Vinegar) 1 TBS. fresh tarragon, chopped 1 tsp. Dijon mustard 1 small shallot, minced 3/4 c. olive oil sea salt, to taste ground black pepper, to taste Arrange salad ingredients in separate piles on a large serving platter. Drizzle the vinaigrette over the salad and then lay thinly sliced tuna on top. OR you can go non-traditional and put all ingredients in a large bowl with the vinaigrette and lightly toss (which is what we did). Serve alone, or with garlic toast. If you want to use the same tuna that we did the recipe is as follows (I cut the recipe in half for one 8 oz. tuna steak): Sesame Seared Tuna Courtesy of Allrecipes.com 1/8 c. soy sauce - (I used reduced sodium) 1.5 tsp. mirin (Japanese sweet wine) - (We omitted this because we didn't have any) 1.5 tsp. honey 1 TBS. sesame oil - (Sesame oil is VERY strong.. I cut this down to 1 tsp.) 1.5 tsp. rice wine vinegar 4 (6 oz.) tuna steaks 1/4 c. sesame seeds 1 TBS. olive oil In a small bowl, whisk together the soy, mirin, honey, sesame oil & the rice wine vinegar. Spread the seeds out on a plate or shallow bowl. Dip the tuna into the soy mixture, making sure the whole steak is coated and then press the tuna steak into the sesame seeds - coating both sides well. Heat the olive oil in a cast iron or other heavy skillet over high heat until it's VERY hot. Place tuna steaks in pan and sear for 30 seconds to 1 minute on each side. You can go longer, but you chance the possibility of burning the seeds and over cooking the fish. Slice thinly and place warm tuna over Salad Niçoise. And hey.. if the opportunity to share a Twix bar with someone you love arises afterwards.. why not take it? :) xoxo

Dorie Rocks!

As ya'll know by now I'm sure, this month's hostess is the very lovely Morven, and she chose Dorie Greenspan's Perfect Party Cake which is featured in Dorie's BAKING: From My Home to Yours. (My baking bible) All I can say is that this was a great cake. Not very challenging but that's okay.. I need a breather once in a while. Light and fluffy! Betchas didn't know how great a dog kennel doubles for a cooling rack, did you? :P Morv allowed our imaginations to run wild in the flavor department. (Thanks sweetie!) So after much debate, I finally ended up staying with the lemon cake as written by Dorie and for the filling I decided to change it up a bit and went in search of something that tripped my trigger. The West Side Market - you just have to love it. I found quite a little treasure trove of imported jams, preserves and jellies. I couldn't decide between Pineapple, Bitter Orange or Pear, so I bought them all. Hey!! I LIKE toast! Sheesh.. so judgemental. :P I also found a jar of imported Dulce de Leche.. so yeah, that went up to the cashier as well. :D I decided on the pear preserves but kicked it up a notch (ugh.. sorry Emeril) by dicing up 4 Bosc pears, and caramelizing them in butter and brown sugar until they were goldeny and well.. caramel-y. Delish!! I could have ate them piping hot, right there standing over the stove. As for the buttercream, I knew immediately what I wanted to do and that was salted caramel. *swoon* Wonderin' why there's no shots of the whole cake? Remember back in grade school when you were taught to "stop, drop and roll" if you were to catch on fire? What the hell was wrong with those people?? Tellin' kids they could catch on fire! No damn wonder I'm not right. :P Anyhoo.. I froze, frosted and sliced. :D So a lemon cake, filled with caramelized pears and pear preserves topped off with salted caramel buttercream. Does that squick anyone out? I couldn't decide if I had a great flavor combo that many people would like.. or if I was just weird because it appealed to me. har! And if you were starting to feel a little despair at the thought of a challenge going perfectly well for me just because it wasn't exactly "challenging" well fear not, my lovelies.. I did manage a screw up - and a royal one at that! :D *blush* I didn't read the recipe for the buttercream and just assumed it was the Italian meringue kind.. I know! Who the hell do I think I am just assuming, eh? Well, in ignorant bliss, I carried on making it the Italian meringue way, but instead of drizzling in the molten hot sugar syrup, I decide it'd be awesome if I were to cook that sugar until it was dark amber - hell yes! Can you imagine how caramel-y it would make the buttercream?? Yeah, well it doesn't. And for the love of Christ, don't try this at home. The instant the dark amber sugar syrup hit those cold whipped egg whites.. Mmmm... hmmmm.. *clunkedy* *clackedy* went my stand mixer. It sounded like there was GRAVEL in there. hahahaha! I quickly threw that batch out. And then started my usual panic. :P I decided that this would be an opportune time to actually read the recipe.. lo and behold it's the Swiss meringue variety. Go figger. Well, all I had to do was google caramel Swiss meringue buttercream recipe and there it was! I found an excellent recipe that was written exactly like Dorie's, except you make a caramel by cooking the sugar to that dark amber point, and then add heavy cream. You let that cool a bit, and then whip it into the buttercream after you've whipped in the last of the butter. What the recipe didn't tell me is that it would thin out my beautifully thick and creamy buttercream almost instantly. $#!*% At this juncture, it was late and my sis was over for a visit so I had kind of passed the point of caring. So I pretty much just poured my buttercream over the caramelized pears on three layers, topped it off with the final layer of cake and popped it into the fridge to sit while I finished dinner. Oh yeah, and I threw my bowl of buttercream in the freezer too. Twenty minutes later I was rewarded with a set cake and gorgeously thick and creamy buttercream! *Snap!* (Did I just say Snap!? WTF?) I frosted that baby and sliced her up toot sweet! The cake was delish - although a little sweet for my tastes, believe it or not. I should have made my caramel a lil more saltier and I could have left the imported pear preserves off and just used the caramelized pears that I made - it would have been less sweet and that would have made this a truly perfect cake. :D Thank you, Morv my love! And thank you, Dorie Greenspan! I will definitely make this cake again.. and I can't wait to play with more flavors! Any guesses to how many shots of a single slice of cake one person can take? :P The new Daring Bakers are calling.. looks like we've got about another 100 some members joining in April - soon we will hit that 1,000 mark! Then.. world domination! :D 'scuse me.. how many shots of a scraggly lookin' slice of cake one person can take? :P~ Do ya'll need me to remind you to visit the Daring Bakers Blogroll so you can drool over hundreds and hundreds of amazing cakes? Yeah.. I didn't think so. ;) xoxo

WCC No. 26 Round-Up - Pressure Cookers, Dutch Ovens and Crockpots - Oh My!

Well right off the bat before I say anything else.. Ya'll are AMAZING! The quality of recipes that landed in my email inbox pretty much blew me away and I truly cannot wait to try each and every one them out myself! Thank you so much to everyone who participated.. the variety in this round-up will surely hold a recipe or TEN of interest to all who read through it. :) If you just landed on the planet or if the sun is blocking your view of the title to this post, I am talking about this month's Weekend Cookbook Challenge. The WCC is the baby of one of my most favorite people in all the world, Sara. Sara came up with this idea three years ago and it's been going strong ever since. The WCC is one of my most favorite events, and probably the only event that I can say I participate in as often as I can. I love the themes that are picked, this event always feels laid back and fun and I rarely feel pressured - because 9 out of 10 times, the theme chosen is usually broad enough that I never have a hard time finding a recipe that will work. Thanks for that, past and future hostesses and hosts! :D So for my inaugural hosting gig (I say that because I hope there will be future months where I can host again! hee!) I chose "Pressure Cookers, Dutch Ovens and Crockpots" as my way of saying BUH BYE WINTER. A last send off to the chilly winds, oppresive blankets of snow and the hateful freezing rains that coat everything in a hard shell of slippery ice.. screw that noise! I want the first flowers of Spring! I want the trees to start budding! I want the sun to shine again! And for those of you who have winter waiting right around the corner.. think of this round-up as a bevy of deliciousness that you can refer back to on those cold mornings or evenings when you just want something quick, easy, tasty and comforting for dinner. :) Starting off our "it's been nice, winter - now go the fakk away" round-up is: One of the funniest gals on the block.. a New Yorker turned Londonite (word?) and loving it.. and one gal who ALWAYS makes me drool through my laughter, AnneMarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. AnneMarie decided to make a very sexy George Clooney taking one of his pot bellied pigs for a walk. Wait. Did she even cook anything? George was mentioned.. I just.. zoned.. AHA! A most delicious dish of Chicken, White Wine, Saffron, Pine Nuts and Raisins! Yes it's all coming back to me now.. this screams elegance to me.. light and delicious that would be just as wonderful in winter as it would be in summer. A stunner, AnneMarie (and no, I'm not talking about George this time) - thank you my love! :) I just realized this round-up is full of Ohioans! Our first represent is Fran of Apples Peaches Pumpkin Pie. Welcome Fran!! And what a way to represent what I fondly call, The Armpit of the Midwest, than this beautiful presentation of Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers. Wow, they are just so pretty and what a fabulous way to use some of the bounty from our garden this summer! I look forward! Thank you! Thank you! Gretchen of Canela & Comino has shared with us a recipe for Spicy Pulled Pork and reminds us that, indeed, the crockpot is not just for winter! And she's right.. the crockpot is a perfect vessel to make delicious meals without heating up your kitchen/house on a scorching July day. And what better mid-summer night's dinner, while the sun sets and the day gets slightly cooler.. some spicy tacos! Fantabulous! Thank you so much for the recipe and the reminder, Gretchen. :) Awww my sweet sister and partner in crime, my beautiful co-founder of the Daring Bakers, Ivonne, took some time away from everything that is going on in her life right now to make us this delicious and OHMYGODIWANTSOMENOW Rice Pudding with Dulce de Leche. Hello? Me.. over here.. holding a spoon.. I want some. Now. Please? Thank you so much, sweetheart. :) Here's a lil ah-spicy Italian Meat-ah Ball Chicken Cacciatore made by Erin of Dinner and Dessert! You sure know the way to my heart, Erin.. I love love love Chicken Cacciatore! And I haven't had it since my mom made it years ago. Whenever I crave it, the thought of a long cooking time usually changes my mind, because I don't have the time after work, but throwing it all in the crockpot is genius! Well done! Thank you so much for sharing with us! :D A very Happy Baker, SaraLynn the adorable, brings our first boozy delight.. and when I say delight, I mean the total pig out, game on, man (and woman) pleaser and tummy filler upper.. Brats in Beer! Yum! We make these often, but usually grill top.. which means not so much in the winter.. again, the crockpot sure does come in handy! Toss those beautiful brats, thinly sliced onions and a whole lotta beer in the crockpot one afternoon and a few short hours later when the grumbellies start making some noise - you've got dinner! Fantastic! Thank you SaraLynn! :D Well well.. here we are.. it's Sara. The love of my life. The apple of my eye. The cream in my coffee.. Sara who started it all with i like to cook and then WOW'd the blogging world with her Weekend Cookbook Challenge! The WCC is one of the longest running monthly foodie events and by the looks of it - and how hard it was to find an open month to host :P - has no signs of stoppin' any time soon! Which makes me a very happy camper. As do these amazing veggie dishes.. Oh how I loves me my veggies.. Firstly (yes, not 1 but 2 dishes) she made Provencal Vegetables from Bouchon, one of her many cookbooks. Would you just take a moment and thank the cast iron Gods for such sexiness? Something that looks that good can only make foods taste so much better.. and Thomas Keller behind the recipe can't hurt much either, right? :D As promised, her second dish is Herbed New Potatoes from everyone's favorite barefooted Contessa. hee! Those are some tots that I could eat every night for dinner - hell they'd be perfect for lunch and/or breakfast! YUM! Thank you so much for allowing me to host! For two fabulous veggie recipes from two fabulous cookbooks! And for just bein' my friend. xoxo A loyal participator in the WCC is the very awesome, Michelle, of Je Mange la Ville. I've been lurking on Michelle's blog for a couple years now and have made some of her recipes - always a treat! On St. Patrick's Day, she and her hubby celebrated with an authentic MEXICAN meal! heeee! Always keepin' those leprechauns on their toes! And whoooo baby, does this crockpot fiesta look amazing! Pinto Picadillio is what it's called. I call it fabulous! Thanks so much, Michelle! Judy of Judy's Gross Eats has joined in! Yay! Judy who should change the name of her blog to "Judy's DELICIOUS Eats" because there's not one gross recipe anywhere! Especially this Moroccan Chicken! There is absolutely nothing in this recipe that I don't adore and I so look forward to making this. I know Hubbs will love it too. Thank you, Judy! You're a doll! An absolutely non-gross doll! :) Peter from Kalofagas is slingin Okra around his pressure cooker.. two things I'd naught thought to join together. Hmm.. and Peter tells us that Okra is also very popular in Greek cuisine. Another thing I didn't know. Well, not only was it a day of learning a few things, but also a day of excitment as Peter submitted Okra Two Ways! Both dishes look divine - thank you so much, Peter! :) Talk about re-thinking the uses of a pressure cooker.. honestly, I thought it was all about liquids and meats.. no sauces.. no vegetables.. and then I came upon a lovely email in my out box from KC of Kits Chow. KC submitted this recipe for Braised Short Ribs, which in and of itself is a lil slice of heaven on a plate! But I couldn't help myself in wandering around her blog for a while.. she makes all kinds of things with her Pressure Cooker - she uses a steamer basket and a ceramic bowl and creates all kinds of culinary deliciousness! Thank you so much, KC! I am officially hooked on your blog. :D One of Germany's most gifted and lovely cooks as well as a long standing member of the WCC, Ulrike of Küchenlatein! As always Ulrike brings something fabulous to WCC round-ups and I always look to see what she's created. For Pressure Cookers, Dutch Ovens & Crockpots, she has made succulent Smoked Pork Neck in Pineapple Sauce with Dried Cherries and Raisins. Will you look at that photo? OMG it looks DELISH! Thank you so much, Ulrike! :) Next is Lisa (love your name!) from LadyConcierge. In my humble opinion, Lisa has brought the sexy back to Pot Roast. Seriously, doesn't that dish make you all warm and tingly inside? Way to go! And thanks so much for sharing, Lisa! Liberal Foodie a fellow Ohioan, had a busy day of NOT shopping at Ikea and finding some delicious items at the local Halal Market. One of those items was some lamb, which she chose to highlight in an Irish Lamb Stew for St. Patrick's Day. The recipe sounds delish and there's a whole bottle of beer in there, so you KNOW it's Irish. hee! Sounds like you had a fun evening - wish I could have been there! But hey.. since I wasn't, this was a pretty good second. Thank you so much! :D Robin of Made With Love brings us another Irish dish - that really wasn't what the Irish of days passed actually ate! Did you know that? The true boiled meat with cabbage dinner was most likely bacon, or salt pork - because there was no refridgeration back then, they had to preserve their meats in salt. Makes sense! I'm sure it was absolutely delicious a 100 years ago, but Woo baby, there's nothing like Corned Beef and Cabbage and Robin's version made in her crockpot looks incredibly yummy! I had to block the view of my monitor from Hubbs as I was reading Robin's post.. if he would have seen it I would have been shopping for a corned beef brisket that afternoon! hee! Thanks for giving me a new way to make this incredible dish, Robin! Awww.. he holds a place in me heart, he does.. Mike from Mel's Diner is up next. The king of 20 questions, the laugh of the party, the very nice man who turns quite curmudgeon-y when presented with a boat load of lamb, some spices and none too big onions for stuffin'. :D Sick he was! Yet he still slaved over his beloved pressure cooker with Nigella close by to bring us this delicious dinner of Beef With Anchovies And Thyme a la Pressure Cooker! heeee! Aww look at that beef.. so tender. And who can say no to noodles?? Not I! Thanks Mike.. hope you are feeling better. :) Our second dessert! The extremely talented and not quite yet there almost stir-crazy mom of two gorgeous babies, Aidan and Cole, Holly of PheMOMenom brings us this KICK ASS lookin' Caramel Apple Rice Pudding - I have just one word to describe this dessert.. *slurp* Holly you are the bees knees! Thank you sweetheart! :D Who's the sexiest hoochie mama blogger of all time? Kelly is! 'kay this woman keeps me in stitches and Kleenex in business with all the droolin' I do over at her blog. This recipe was definitely a 10 Kleenex recipe.. My gal, she made us some SERIOUSLY Savory Chicken and Dumplings! Would you look at the size of that dumpling?? Ohh and those veggies are makin' my engine roar.. or maybe that's just Kel's affect on me.. SAUCY! ;) Love ya babe.. thanks so muchly! Next on this list of talented cooks is a new friend of mine and another fellow Ohioan, Mary of Shazam in the Kitchen! Now ya'll? Send lots of prayers and good wishes for our Mary as she just had a pretty extensive knee surgery a few days ago.. and she's got a long road of recovery ahead of her.. We wish you nothing but the best, sweets! And bless your heart (and your rolly computer chair) for getting in the kitchen and creating for us another boozy and delicious crockpot creation, Lamb Chops in Beer - SWEET! Tender meat and lots of veggies chillin' in a warm and bubbly beer bath.. Oh yeah.. sweet sweet yuminess! Thanks again, Mary! :) Hey.. before we move along to the next talented cook, I'd like to also mention another friend of mine who has also just had surgery - a fellow Daring Baker and all around super sweet gal, Amanda of Little Foodies is recovering from back surgery.. can ya'll squeeze her in your prayers and good thoughts as well? We're wishing you a speedy recovery, love! xoxo I'm quite proud of our next brand spankin' new blogger.. Lovelycats of Sherry Trifle started out submitting her posts to me on the Daring Bakers Non-blogging Members Blog and has since struck out on her own with her brand new blog. Congrats! The WCC was honored to be one of her first posts and she bring us this delicious Red Curry Chicken Braised in Coconut Milk. Having just reviewed a cookbook with recipes chuck full of curry and coconut milk, I can confidently say that this dish IS delicious. And cooked in a crockpot.. how fab is that? Thank you very muchly, Lovelycats! :D Chelle of Sugar & Spice joins in on the fun and brings to the table a lovely Pot Roast that I'd be proud to serve my family. During the magnificent Blizzard of 2008, Chelle whipped out her crockpot and a book of crockpot recipes put out by Cooking Light Magazine (I must get this book!).. I can attest to recipes in other Cooking Light Annual Cookbooks, everything I've had has been flavorful and shockingly good (low fat? low calorie? good for you and tastes good? Well I'll be dipped!), so this recipe will not disappoint! Thanks for sharing this with us, Chelle! :) Another favorite blogger of mine, Deborah of Taste and Tell decided to finally try her hand at cooking Cornish Hens.. Roasted Lemon Almond Cornish Hens.. and in the crockpot no less! Hurray! I love Cornish Hens and have only roasted them before.. am just tickled with the thought of throwing a couple in the slow cooker one Sunday! And this might have to be the recipe I use.. lemony poultry.. *happy sigh* Much abliged, Deborah - as per usual you always have me craving! :) I dare you to find me a sweeter gal than our Gabi of The Feast Within! Always with such nice words to say and with such talent in her kitchen! I saw this Latin concoction and instantly started to swoon. Her Mom's Chalupa recipe is just begging to be made with a nice big dollop of both sour cream and guacamole! Ole! hahahaha gawd I crack myself up with the corny shit I come up with.. Ole! *ahem* Thank you, sweet Gabi.. this is going to be made for our annual summer party! :) Another fabulous Mary on our list.. and guest at Chez La Mia Cucina last summer, Mary the Breadchick from The Sour Dough! Yay! 'kay well Mary wins the Grand Poobah Award for most entries in one post for the use of her crockpot! You go girlfriend! Along with the gorgeous Swedish Stuffed Cabbage pictured above, Mary also made Pot Roast, Hamburger Soup, Corned Beef & Cabbage, and, a Mini Meatloaf! hahahahaaa! Fabulous! Bread Maven and Crockpot Queen! Hugs and smoochies! Thanks sweetie :) Jill of Veggie Queen Adventures, wowed me with this gorgeous salad.. her Orange Scented Beet Salad to be more specific. Sweet beets, cooked quickly in the pressure cooker and then tossed with spicy greens and an orange scented vinaigrette.. I don't think a more simply made salad could be any better. What a fabulous recipe.. thank you so much, Jill! And finally.. the old windbag herself.. Me. :) Well I made my Mom's Spanish Rice and frankly? I outdid myself.. it was sheer tomato-y goodness. The rice was cooked to perfection, the ground beef and veggies were flavorful.. the rice soaked up just the right amount of the sauce.. oh yeah.. we enjoyed this two nights in a row. And then I also made these amazingly simply and unbelievably good, Italian Wings & Potatoes for another foodie event, but would feel awful to not include them here because this is a place someone might come lookin' for a slowcooker recipe and it'd be a crying shame if they missed out on these. Not kiddin.. SO GOOD! Thank you so much to all of you.. this was a lot of fun and I can't wait to experiment with all these delicious concoctions! Ya'll rock. :D Thank you again, Sara my love.. now bring me some taters? ;) xoxo

Festa Italiana!

I don't get a chance to participate in many events these days and it makes me sad because there are so many great foodie events out there! But there was just no way I could miss this event, Festa Italiana, hosted by two beautiful Italian women, Marie of Proud Italian Cook and Maryann of Finding La Dolce Vita (beautiful, AND they've both got amazing blogs that I love to read!). Not only do these lovely ladies promise this to be a gathering of friends not to be missed, but Marie and Maryann are inviting us to join them in a "celebration of the sweet life!" - who could say no to that? Not I! I'm bringing quite the tasty dish to this party.. but I might be cheating on the Italian authenticity of it. Well, okay, there is no "might be" - I am cheating - the only thing Italian about this dish is the salad dressing. I KNOW! How can an Italian cheat on the Italian food?? The way I see it is.. this is a dinner my father would have LOVED. And if my Italian daddy liked it, then so will everyone else! :) Super easy to make (that's what I'm all about these days!) with only 4 ingredients ('kay 6 if you include salt & pepper)! Toss it all together in your crockpot and voila! 7 hours later you've got dinner! Oh and did I mention it's made in the crockpot? -=SHAMELESS PLUG=- Don't forget about WCC No. 26 - Pressure Cookers, Dutch Ovens & Crockpots! Submissions due March 26th! Hey! You don't even need a blog.. if you've got a great recipe.. cook 'er up, snap a few photos and email it all to me and I'll post for you! :D (lamiacucina AT adelphia DOT net) -=SHAMELESS PLUG=- So here I come with bells on, bottles of wine strapped to my back and arms loaded with succulent and savory wings for your enjoyment! "Italian" Chicken Wings and Potatoes 3 lbs. whole chicken wings, rinsed and pat dry 1/2 c. Italian salad dressing - I use Wishbone Robusto Italian 1 tsp. Italian salad dressing mix - I used Good Seasons packets 1-2 lbs. small (baby) red or yukon gold potatoes, cut into fourths salt and pepper to taste Lay the chicken wings on the bottom on the crockpot and sprinkle with 1/2 tsp. of dressing mix and season lightly with salt & pepper, then drizzle with 1/4 c. of the Italian dressing. Lay the cut potatoes on top of the chicken and sprinkle the remaining dressing mix, seasoning lightly again with salt & pepper, then drizzle the remaining Italian dressing. Put the lid on and turn it on high for 7 hours. At the half way point, I usually go in and give everything a little toss just to make sure the wings aren't burning on the bottom of the pot. You will not believe how delicious the wings and potatoes turn out! xoxo