 I have pantry envy. I decided last month that the same pantry that's been adequately storing my food for the last 15 years was suddenly insufficient. 🤷🏻♀️ Soo... I devised a plan to break through the kitchen wall in order to find some more pantry space. (Do we really need a coat closet anyway?) I envision a giant walk in space with beautifully organized shelves and labelled bins. #pantrygoals I think that I was uber focused on my pantry last month because I was storing a ridiculous amount of ingredients for my holiday baking. You'd be surprised how much flour and sugar I can go through in a week. 😬 In addition to the massive amounts of flour and sugar, I also bought and stored a LOT of meringue powder to make the royal icing for my Christmas sugar cookies. Although storing my dry ingredients was an issue, I never had any trouble buying meringue powder. They sell the brand that I like on Amazon, at Wal Mart, Michaels and Jo Ann Fabrics. It never even occurred to me that I wouldn't be able to buy it when I needed it most. And then my meringue powder supply started to dwindle and I was forced to spend an entire afternoon running around from store to store looking for more. 😬 I have so many questions about this apparent shortage of meringue powder. Most importantly, why on earth is everyone buying it and what in the world are they making? 🤷🏻♀️I keep a supply of meringue powder home because I use it to make the royal icing for my sugar cookies but that is the only thing that I use it for. I'm genuinely curious about what everyone else is making with it.  You'll be glad to know that I finally found meringue powder at a Wal Mart in Ohio. I'm still not sure why it was available there but not here. Maybe Northerners don't use it as much as Southerners. Do you add meringue powder to grits? Anywhoo... the panty project is on hold. i've got to work up my nerve to break through the wall. 😬 I'm also not sure I'm ready to render my kitchen unusable while a new pantry is constructed either. So while I work on building my courage to tackle that project, I'll just bake some chocolate chip cookies.  Dairy Free Chocolate Chip Cookies 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 1 cup vegetable shortening 3/4 cup brown sugar 3/4 cup sugar 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 1/4 cups dairy free chocolate chips
 Place on silicone baking mat. Bake 10 minutes at 350.
A really big, warm, homemade chocolate chip cookie is like a hug from the inside out. 🍪 It's comfort food at its finest and... it requires no meringue powder. 😉
Ciao!
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 Baking is always more fun when I get to do it in someone else's kitchen --- and my mom's kitchen is one of my very favorite places to bake. She's the one who taught me to bake so it makes sense that I would find comfort in her kitchen. I spent last week at my parent's house and since the weather in Northeast Ohio was less than cooperative (aka. cold and windy) - we spent a lot of our time inside making yummy meals and scrumptious desserts. (Not so good for the waistline but oh so good for the soul.) 😉  Biscotti is one of my family's favorites. We eat it for breakfast with a cup of tea. We snack on it in the afternoon between lunch and dinner and we eat it for dessert with a cup of coffee after a big meal. Biscotti is the perfect excuse to eat cookies - all day long. Dairy free biscotti has really peaked my interest lately. Sometimes, leaving the butter out of a biscotti recipe can make the cookies super ... "crunchy". 😅(like - hard as rocks.) I've also experimented with swapping the butter for oil in my favorite recipes with only marginal success. So when I ran across this recipe for a Dairy Free Double Chocolate Biscotti - I was super excited to give it a try.  Double Chocolate Chip Biscotti 3 cups all-purpose flour ½ cup cocoa powder 1½ teaspoons baking powder ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon ¼ teaspoon salt ½ cup olive oil 1 cup packed light brown sugar 2 eggs 1 egg yolk ⅓ cup unsweetened dairy-free milk beverage 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar 1 cup dairy-free chocolate chips
 Ahhhmazing. The cinnamon, the brown sugar and the balsamic vinegar all worked together to deepen the flavor of the chocolate to create a beautifully rich and decadent biscotti. I absolutely loved these chocolate biscotti and I can say with all honesty - they weren't too "crunchy". 😂
Ciao!  I don't normally blog a new recipe when I'm cooking for guests. I don't think that people would necessarily object to waiting an extra 15 minutes for their meal while I take a ridiculous number of pictures but they might be offended when I put their dinner plate outside on my back porch in 30 degree weather in order to get the best lighting. 🥶 There's nothing like serving ice cold steak and mashed potatoes to a house full of hungry dinner guests. 😅 Time is also a factor when I'm preparing more than one thing at a time. My brain gets so consumed with getting the meal on the table that I forget to take pictures along the way. It's one thing to prepare and blog a perfectly roasted tenderloin, it's a whole new level to try and do it while also making sure that my potatoes don't burn, the asparagus is cooked to perfect crispness, the cesear dressing gets made added to the salad at just the right time to prevent wilting, the yeast rolls are given time to rise and bake, the carrot souffle is warm but not overly hot and and the apple pie is cooked at precisely the right time so that it's the perfect serving temperature at the end of the meal. In case you're wondering - that perfect dinner scenario almost never happens at our house. There's always at least 1 thing that gets overcooked or even catches on fire. 😂  I actually made this beef tenderloin twice last month just so that I could capture the steps and put it on my blog. If I write a recipe down, I'll probably forget where I put it so blogging is really the only reliable way for me to record recipes for future use. 🤷🏻♀️ The first time I made it - I got so wrapped up in the rest of the meal that I forgot to take about half of the pictures for the blog. The second time - I tried to fill in the gaps but I still never managed to get a picture of this beautiful beef on the dinner plate with all of the colorful sides. 💁🏻♀️ Oh well. When the company of my dinner companions takes priority over taking photographs of the food - I know it's was a special meal. I love making fancy dinners but I love the people that I get to share them with even more. After the food is long gone, it's the memories of our time together that I'll remember. I adapted this recipe from a recipe that I found in a Cook's Illustrated magazine. Full disclosure: I didn't eat any of this beef - on either occasion. I'm just not a beef eater. 💁🏻♀️ Anywhooo - What I can tell you is that everyone that I served it to, really enjoyed it.  Beef Tenderloin with Madeira Dijon Sauce 3 Tablespoons olive oil 2 (1 pound) center cut beef tenderloin filets 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper 1/4 cup minced onion 1 thyme sprig 1/2 cup Madeira wine 3 cups beef stock 2 Tablespoons butter 2 Tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped 1 Tablespoon dijon mustard
Thinly slice beef and serve with sauce.  An accurate meat thermometer is really key in this recipe. It's really the only way to tell when the meat reaches that critical 125 degree temperature. Serve the center of the tenderloin to guests who prefer their meat more rare and the ends to guests to like their beef a little more well done.
Ciao!  I had no idea that there were so many traditions involving New Years Day feasts. When I was a kid, I could count on my mom making a giant batch of pork and sauerkraut for our family every year and I just assumed that that's what everyone else was eating on New Years Day as well. 🤷🏻♀️ After a little research, I discovered that there are all sorts of "lucky" foods to eat to kick off a brand new year. What you choose to eat to commemorate this special day depends greatly on the place in the world that you call home. Topping the list of New Years Day foods that are believed to bring you luck and prosperity for the upcoming year:
I'm not a believer in "luck" by any means but I love the tradition of starting a brand New Year with a special meal. I tend to lean towards the pork tradition because I grew up in Northeast Ohio. (and that's what my mom made) I usually opt for black eyed peas as a side instead of the sauerkraut though. (A homage to my current Southern residence.) And, not that I know that cake is a traditional New Years Day dessert though - I'm on board. (Surprised?) 😂🍰  I'm fairly certain that I could include all 7 of the top "lucky" foods in a New Year's Day menu. Again - not because I think it will bring me good fortune in the coming year but simply because I love a good food challenge. That actually sounds like a delicious way to start 2021. Chances are, Pork Cordon Bleu was not your first thought when planning a New Year's Day feast but maybe I can convince you that it's the perfect choice. This elegant looking pork dish is not only easy to prepare but it's also delicious. Your family and friends will be wowed by the beautiful presentation and amazing flavor combination, but you'll be the only one to know how simple it was to prepare. Throw in a side of black eyed peas or collards and you've got yourself a very good meal that might just bring you good luck in this new year.  Pork Cordon Bleu Mustard Sauce 3/4 cup sour cream 1/4 cup dijon mustard 2 Tablespoons fresh chives, minced 1/8 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon pepper Pork 1/4 cup flour 2 eggs 1 Tablespoon dijon mustard 1 1/2 cups panko 1 pork tenderloin 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper 1/2 cup oil 8 thin slices deli black forest ham 1 cup Gruyere cheese, shredded
  What did you eat on New Years Day? This inquiring mind wants to know.
Ciao! 
It didn't take a lot of convincing to get my husband on board with the cheese and chocolate sampling. I did have to do some persuading to get my better half to buy into the fact that cheese fondue was going to be a sufficiently filling and satisfying meal, however. No sooner had he reluctantly agreed to share a pot of cheese fondue with me for lunch, that a group of 6 very large, very burly, very hungry, Swiss workmen sat down at the table right next to us. They were all served giant meat pies for their meal while we sat dipping our tiny potatoes skewered onto dainty forks in a shared pot of cheese fondue. I'm not sure that my husband has ever felt more emasculated. 😂 He was convinced that they were making fun of his petite lunch choice. Dainty or not - it was delicious. Oh, and before we left, he ordered the biggest dessert on the menu to compensate for his less than masculine lunch portion. Fondue in Switzerland is typically served with a bag of small potatoes and some bread cubes. It's simple and delicious. The fondue that I make at home doesn't even compare to the fondue in Switzerland but it's fun to make and relive those memories of our European adventures. I'm a fan of potatoes but when I made fondue for guests, I gathered up some other tasty treats to dip in our cheese. By far the favorite of all of the choices were the pears. The pear with the cheese fondue was a surprisingly delightful combination. 🍐  Cheese Fondue 1 Tablespoon olive oil 2 shallots, finely chopped 3/4 cup dry white wine 1 1/4 cups heavy cream 8 ounces cream cheese 8 ounces Gruyere, grated (2 cups) 6 oz. Emmenthaler, grated (about 1 1/2 cups) Pinch freshly grated nutmeg and black pepper
 Transfer mixture to a fondue pot and serve with breadsticks, vegetables and fruit.  Happy New Year!!!
Ciao! |
