Not Much In The Fridge


When Certain Someone is away on business,I use the time to eat lighter and reacquaint myself with veggies. He , being German, is a meat , potato , and Asian noodle type of guy. And when he decides to take it easy on the red meat , he goes to his new found love, Harold’s Fried Chicken. I’ve gained 15 pounds since we have been together. He once commented that he’s eaten more veggies since he’s been with me. His parents have a wonderful garden in Germany ( a green allotment which is typical in Germany) with a abundance of fruits, nuts, and vegetables. He’ll eat some when hes there, but its still all about the meat and potato.

So with Certain Someone being gone,and me not responsible for cooking his dinner, I can freely experiment and eat what I like.Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a vegetarian. But I lean toward less meat as I get older. I love leeks. Incidentally so does he. I had leeks and some Roma tomatoes. I decided to roast them drizzled in olive oil , salt, and fresh ground pepper. I roasted them at 450 degrees for about 40 min . I then took my small hand held food processor , added about 2 cups of water , and a cube of chicken bouillon ( no I don’t have frozen fresh stock waiting for me in my freezer), and pureed the mixture. What I got was a flavorful, satisfying, yet not heavy , autumn soup. I just wasn’t feeling the classic cream based leek and potato combo. So that’s dinner for me tonight. I can sleep without obsessing on what I just ingested. OK, well maybe a guilt twinge as I make and sample my homework of Royal Icing for class later on.

Carrot Frites

Last week at a event I worked, the chef had yummy fried carrot strips garnishing his monk fish.And then the other day I saw veggie chips in Whole Foods with strips of carrots. So at the produce market today I saw some big fat carrots and decided to give it a try. I took out my mandolin that just sits in the corner gathering dust, and sliced the carrots paper thin. I then fried away and then sprinkled with Kosher salt. What I got was a nice sweet veggie chip, reminiscent of a sweet potato ,that wasn’t covered in batter like a lot of fried veggies. But like when I make homemade potato chips, some turn out really crispy and some don’t. I learned a while back to soak my potatoes in cold water to release the starch and get them to fry up crispy. Maybe I’ll try this next time. But a nice healthy junk food snack.

Contest Trial Runs


My pal Gabi forwarded me a link to a Apple Pie contest to be held next week. I grabbed one of the last spots to enter. My first culinary contest! There will be some heavy hitting judges. So this morning I decided to put my ‘concepts ‘ into reality. I researched and researched via books and the Internet . Seems not much is original( as I googled my original ideas to see if they have done) but a a lots of variations on a theme. I never realized so many pie crusts combos existed, but with experimentation I’ve found a good base crust, that I added to to compliment each of my concepts. I wont post my ingredients yet, as the the contest is next week. I made mini pies to test on my friend Vicky, Auntie Mame,and Certain Someone. I slightly over cooked the first one ( but lesson learned on how to adjust temps, etc.) to accommodate my various components. The pies will be judged on taste, appearance, fillings, etc. I can not add any other fruits so I’m limited to spices, juices, etc. I couldn’t wait to post as I figured out how to start photographing better. I still need some work in that area, but I will get there some day.

Birthday Cake Challenge

My Aunt is having a surprise birthday party tomorrow. Her Boyfriend put me in charge of the cake and bar tending. As usual,I’m overly ambitious. I was inspired by a Libra Cake in Colette Peters book on Birthday Cakes.A cake featuring the scales of justice is perfectly fitting, as shes a Libra and attorney. I chose a variation of the blues and teals from my inspiration. I’m just a beginner and had to take the idea and turn it into a full sheet cake feeding around 75 people. And I had no airbrush equipment, so I was totally reliant on piping, dragges,colors, and shimmer gels. I searched high and low for affordable sheet cake pans. I lucked out a hotel”going out of business sale”. They ended up costing $2 a pop. I baked the 2 pineapple flavored butter cakes on Sunday to be frozen. That took all day. Tonight I prepped my board and piped butter cream on the first layer to ‘damn” the pineapple filling.

Then I added the top layers,and crumb coated the entire sheet cake.Now the tricky part….
I’m a total novice with fondant . And to cover a entire full sheet cake was daunting. Needless to say I had some tears, and decided to roll it out in halves. I figured my piping and ornate design would cover most of the flaws..
I etched my design with a toothpick and went to town piping and overlaying the designs. The silver dragges made the design much brighter. I fear the cake is a little over the top for my staid aunt. The cake looks better in person than in my picture. I plan to use those tall thin candles from the new Martha Stewart collection at Macy’s. I hope the friends and family enjoy it. Its not perfect, but I learned so much in the process.

Final Class and Birthday Bouquets

Tonight I finished Wilton Course 1. Our final project was to make a cake with the famous Wilton Rose. Its the cake you see on the cover of their text book. I baked an almond sour cream pound cake ( courtesy of Paula Deen) with coconut butter cream. The roses are hard, but I practiced. I finished rather quickly. In hindsight you always find flaws. Considering my icing smudged in the car ,the heat,etc. ,I’m pleased with my final project. When I got home I quickly set out to make cookie bouquets for a some co workers Birthdays. Vicky will get the cake and cookie bouquet. I’m sure her family will help her finish. This all gets rather fun and addictive. I think even Certain Someone was somewhat impressed with the turnout. Cant wait to go onto Course 2 next week. I face another challenge next week for an aunts birthday cake. Ive been mapping it out and getting inspiration from Colette’s Birthday Cakes. It will be a sheet cake to feed 50. I will post pics.