birthday gateau

As promised yesterday, here is the cake:

It looks pretty good, doesn’t it.  However, I’m not posting the recipe here for two reasons.  First, I cannot find the recipe anywhere on the internet and there’s no way I’m typing it out (it’s long).  Second, this cake took a long time to make, and the result was less than dazzling.  What sounded all sophisticated and French was really just a chocolate Boston cream cake in disguise.  But it was good enough to satisfy that female chocolate craving.  And the kids loved it.

To fulfill Jennifer’s need for pampering and keep her warm, Nicole gave her yummy smelling bath soaps (isn’t that mini bath milk jug cute?), and I picked out a pretty blue scarf.

You’re never too old for trick candles.  I love them.  And doesn’t Jennifer look great for 29?  Happy Birthday, friend.

it’s a party, and I’ll eat if I want to

This was the theme of my friend Jennifer’s birthday party: eat, eat, and eat some more.

And I’m using the term “party” very loosely.  It was more like two friends descending on the birthday girl’s home and cooking a feast that could have fed 12, but just fed us.  I’m still full, and this was a week ago.

We ate so much that I cannot fit it all into one post.  I’ll do dip and dinner here, then dessert later.  Such is life, always waiting for dessert.

First on the menu was a devastatingly naughty and delicious Buffalo Chicken Dip that I found on Tasty Kitchen.  I have seen many variations of this dip plastered all over the internet, but this is the one I picked because it’s served warm.  And it’s chilly up North.  I followed the recipe (click on the dip title above) except that I baked the dip instead of making it in on the stove.  There’s nothing worse than trying to scrape melted cheese out of a saucepan.  The recipe made a TON of dip, so I would halve it next time.  But it worked out because I left half at home for the abandoned family’s dinner.

Along with a lovely salad tossed with toasted walnuts and dried cranberries, foodie friend Nicole conquered the daring task of Italian Sausage and Wild Mushroom Risotto.  There is a bit of mystery surrounding risotto.  Many foodies are intimidated by it and think it takes too long to make.  I can personally attest to the fact that it does not take forever and is not difficult.  The only demanding part is where most of us fall short: risotto needs constant attention during the 20 minutes or so of its cooking.  You cannot leave it like other grains then return and stir.  Undivided attention.  Don’t we all need some of that?

See? Doesn’t Nicole look so peaceful and happy cooking the risotto?  No stress at all.

Did I mention the garlic bread?  I took some softened salted butter, mixed it with a mashed clove of garlic and some Italian herbs, then spread it on the halves before broiling.  One half of the bread also had some Asiago cheese.  Yum.

nordic jammin’

My best friend Cyndi lives way too far away and has for the past 15 (is that right, Cyn?) years.  This South Carolinian married her Finnish love and followed him to chilly Finland.  And while you may be thinking, “Oh, Finland.  I’ve always wanted to go to Helsinki,” that’s not quite where Cyndi lives.  If you travel approximately 6 hours NORTH of Helsinki, you’d be close to their home.  And although I’ve never been there (I know, I need to go), I have seen many photos and have concluded that it is absolutely beautiful.  When there’s sunlight.  Which is only part of the year.

Cyndi grows beautiful strawberries, so when I asked her to write something for the blog, she took some lovely photos of her fruits and jams.  And while we are battling flu AND strep this week, it’s a perfect time for a guest post.  Thanks, Cyndi!

One of the benefits of living at 64 degrees north is that I can walk outside and pick a variety of fresh berries and mushrooms straight from my garden and the surrounding woods: red and black currants, black chokeberries, wild blueberries, and raspberries. Because my husband cannot live without strawberries, we have a very large patch, approximately 40 plants! While this year I left the mushrooms alone in the hope that next year I will be more motivated, I was somewhat industrious and managed to pick and make strawberry, blueberry, raspberry, and lingonberry-raspberry jams.

For those of you who don’t know, lingonberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea) is a shrub in the flowering plant family Ericaceae, and the berries are served in a variety of forms here: as jam, mixed raw with sugar and served as a condiment with elk or game, and cooked into a delicious juice concentrate which is mixed with water and eagerly drunk with (almost) every meal. If you don’t have any lingonberry bushes right outside your backdoor, head to an Ikea and look around their food section.

The jam recipe I use is taken from my grandmother’s church cookbook from the 1960s.  It’s simple and universal and any type of “juicy” berry will work. Excellent instructions (and video) regarding canning your jam can be found here.  Also, I like to play around with the recipe somewhat, reducing the amount of sugar or adding grated ginger or orange peel for variety.

Basic Jam

from foodie friend Cyndi

[click for printable recipe]

• 4 cups of berries
• 2 cups of sugar
• 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

1. In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine berries and sugar. Let stand until berries start to render their juices.
2. Bring the saucepan of berries to a boil over high heat, stirring occasionally. The mixture will bubble up, rising high up the sides of the saucepan. Skim off any foam.
3. When the jam has boiled down (you will see smaller, thicker bubbles), test the consistency by dipping a spoon into the mixture and letting it cool. When jam has cooked to consistency you want, stir in lemon juice.
4. Turn off the heat, and ladle or spoon jam into prepared canning jars, leaving a bit of space before putting the lid on.

foodie less 4

Last weekend, G and I headed an hour away for a one-night breather.  It was nice to discover we can still have interesting conversations when cut off from computers, television, and our children.  We had a great time on the Connecticut shore and ate some fabulously fresh seafood.

We stayed at the Captain Stannard House Country Inn in Westbrook.  I knew I would enjoy our stay when, upon entering our room, I spied a plate of rich flourless chocolate brownies.  My suspicion that they were homemade was confirmed as I bit into the fudge-like, chocolate-chunk filled goodies (as seen above, G also enjoyed them).  A great start.

G and I didn’t want anything fancy for dinner; just good basic seafood.  There are several restaurants around the area, so we drove around to check out the three seafood places that were recommended by the innkeeper.  The first restaurant had neon beer signs and people a lot younger than we are at the door, the second looked calm and cute, and the third had too many available parking spaces in its lot.  We chose the second,  Lenny and Joe’s Fish Tale, and were not disappointed.  If I could have eaten breakfast there, I would have.  I had a shrimp and scallop casserole with butter, garlic, and a thin crust of crushed Ritz crackers.  Perfectly cooked and delicious, with just enough garlic (too much garlic is a real downer, especially on a romantic weekend).  G had a similar dish with just scallops.  He also ordered a bowl of clam chowda (that’s how the salty ones say it).  It was not the thick creamy goo that many places try to pass off as chowda, but the real deal with more clams than cream or potatoes.

For lunch the next day, we meandered over to Old Saybrook, and even though it was a stormy day, we wanted to eat by the water.  We found Dock & Dine, and it was perfect; simple seafood right smack on the water.  We both had hot buttered lobster rolls.  I have consumed many lobster rolls in my day, most of them in New Hampshire during summer, however, I have never had a hot one.  Usually, the summer rolls are cold and filled with lobster mixed with celery and just a bit of real mayo.  But it was blustery out, so we lived large and tried something new.  I wish I had brought my camera into the restaurant!  Just picture the top-split bun, toasted with butter, mounded with warm lobster chunks.  Now imagine a squirt of lemon and drizzle of hot butter on the lobster, and that’s what we ate.  It was almost illegal.

Aside from the seafood, we had a wonderful breakfast at the inn: Sausage and Apple Quiche.  I tend to avoid quiches because of the often chewy and undercooked crust that usually accompanies the egg mixture.  However, this was more like a frittata with a thin crust (the cook must have rolled out real pastry instead of using a pre-made pastry shell).  Our innkeepers started our delightful breakfast with a pairing of fresh banana and homemade orange bread.  Then, we moved on to the main course.  This quiche was beautifully plated (again, I should have taken a photo) with a large slice of grilled tomato as a side.  We rolled out of the inn that morning fully content and fueled for our adventures.

Sausage and Apple Quiche

from The Treasury of Creative Cooking

[click here for printable recipe]

• 1 (9 inch) pastry shell
• ½ pound bulk spicy pork sausage (Jones Hot works fine)
• ½ cup chopped onion
• ¾ cup shredded, peeled tart apple
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 cup (2 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
• 3 eggs
• 1 ½ cups half and half
• ½ teaspoon salt
• Ground pepper

1. Preheat oven to 425°F.
2. Place foil inside pastry shell, partially fill with uncooked beans or rice.  Bake 10 minutes.  Remove foil and beans or rice and continue baking 5 minutes or until lightly browned.  Let cool.
3. Reduce oven to 375°F.
4. Crumble sausage into large skillet; add onion.  Cook over medium heat until meat is browned and onion is tender.  Spoon off and discard pan drippings.  (The innkeeper props the skillet handle up, lets the drippings drain to the bottom of the pan, then wipes with paper towels.)
5. Add apple, lemon juice, sugar, and red pepper flakes to skillet.
6. Cook on medium high stirring constantly, 4 minutes or until apple is just tender and all liquid evaporated.  Let cool.
7. Spoon sausage mixture into pastry shell; top with cheese.  Whisk eggs, half and half, salt, and dash of black pepper into medium bowl and pour over sausage mixture.
8. Bake 35 to 45 minutes or until filling is puffed and knife inserted in center comes out clean.
9. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.  Serves 6.

Here are some photos from our wanderings.

try this: pasta with cajun andouille sausage

I love pork.  I think I get this from my dad, the southern half of my genetics.  BBQ, pulled pork, bacon, even scrapple (I know, isn’t that terrible)—I eat and enjoy them all.  Especially sausage.  My dad is partial to Jimmy Dean’s hot sausage (the kind you buy in a roll and slice into patties).  And while I love a crispy Jimmy Dean patty soaked in maple syrup, I also like the more creative sausages, such as this Cajun-Style Andouille.

Aidells has some amazingly creative sausages, such as Chicken and Apple, Habanero and Green Chile, Spinach and Feta, and Spicy Mango and Jalapeno.  My grocer only carries three of the many varieties, and the Cajun Andouille is my favorite.  I used it sliced thinly on grilled pizza this summer, and last week I tossed chunks with pasta.  Although the sausage is a bit spicy, the sweetness of the sun-dried tomatoes offers a nice contrast.  We usually pass the Parmesan and micrograter around the table, rather than adding it to the serving bowl.  Yum.

Pasta with Cajun Andouille Sausage

from foodie plus 4

[click here for printable recipe]

• 1 pound pasta, cooked
• 1 package (4 links) Aidells Cajun-Style Andouille Sausage, sliced
• 1 medium onion, halved then sliced
• 1/2 red bell pepper, cut into short strips
• 1/2 green bell pepper, cut into short strips
• 1/4 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, cut into strips
• 1 small ball of fresh mozzarella, cubed
• 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese

1. Boil and drain pasta, toss with olive oil, cover and set aside.
2. In a medium pan on medium heat, sauté sausage until slightly browned.
3. Add pepper and onions.  Sauté until veggies are crisp-cooked, about 7 minutes.
4. Transfer pasta to a large serving bowl.  Add the sausage/veggie mix and sun-dried tomatoes and toss.
5. Top with mozzarella and shredded Parmesan or Pecorino.