Christmas Dreams Really Do Come True.

Sometimes, when I daydream, images of all the cooking gadgets I would like to own, and the appliances I would love to buy, drift through my head. This, I know, is totally not normal.

But, the image that makes the most frequent appearance in my brain is definitely a 5.5 Quart, Commercial Grade, Candy Apple Red Kitchenaid Stand Mixer.

I am elated to report that as of December 23, 2010 (because I couldn't wait until Christmas to open my presents, and begged and pleaded with N to let me open them two days early), that daydream came true. I am by far the luckiest, happiest cook on the block now. I've got my mixer, I've got my deep fryer, and I've got three Sur La Table serving platters. You better watch out, y'all.

When Starbucks stops selling your beloved Pumpkin Spice Lattes.

"When you're alone and life is making you lonely, you can always make...

Homemade Pumpkin Spice Lattes!

You can forget all your troubles, forget all your cares, when you make..

Homemade Pumpkin Spice Lattes!"

Did you like that? I think its pretty creative. Maybe I can get a patent on it.

I decided to whip up some homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte's the other day, and they were definitely worth the effort! Try these babies - they're simple, as long as you have a blender.

Jinxy Cat

I’ve got a cat named Jinxy Cat. This cat has somehow completely wrapped me around his squishy little pink paw, and I am completely and utterly in love with this 3 year old feline. He will be featured in the occasional post because besides my cooking/boyfriend/family…he’s one of my very favorite things. So, without further adieu, say hello to Jinxy Cat.

Lettuce and World Peace

I’ve got an obsession… with homegrown vegetables. I think that if everyone in the world just grew their own vegetables, all our problems would magically be solved, and we would finally achieve world peace.

No, I’m kidding. That would never happen. But homegrown produce really is outstanding and I decided to jump on the ‘natural/organic/green’ bandwagon all them folks are raving about, and grow some of my own stuff this year…

I live in a VERY tiny flat. Have I mentioned that before? I don’t think so. But I do. So, its not like I can have window boxes full of fruits and veggies, and since we rent said flat, I can’t exactly go and dig up some 20X20 garden. So I have to settle for growing stuff in containers on my front porch. I swear it doesn’t look that tacky, really. I decided to start small this year, because I have NEVER grown my own produce/herbs before…and I was nervous. (And my parents grow just about every vegetable under the sun, as does my next door neighbor, so really, who needs ANOTHER tomato plant???) So, I just have one container…and some small pots…but still. That container and those pots are my babies and I treat them as such. I’ve got 3 different varieties of lettuce, chives, banana peppers, parsley and basil. They’ve been going for a few months now, and I just have to say that I’ve got myself quite a green thumb… Check out my before and after pictures of my lettuce…its quite scary/my pride and joy.

The herbs are all doing great except for the parsley I was growing in my window…that duded out. Oh, and my banana peppers. And I had to buy another basil plant and the chives sort of shriveled up. But, who’s judging, right? My lettuce turned out so therefore, I have a green … pinky, I suppose...

Before:

After...

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Birthday....Cupcakes.

Figured it was time for a new blog entry….I mean, its only been, what, 3 months???? I’ve never been very good at sticking to things, sorry about that. Call me a commitment-phobe.

My mom’s birthday was a few weeks ago, and I decided to take on the task of making her a homemade. birthday. cake. Don’t really know what I was thinking, but I definitely got in over my head with that one. I had been browsing through blogs and kept oohing and ahhing over pictures of fondant covered cakes and thought to myself, “I can do this!!.… it can’t be that hard…” So, I set out to make my lovely mother a two-tiered chocolate cake w/ raspberry filling, homemade butter cream frosting and tiffany blue fondant to cover the cake, with some very chic brown fondant cut-outs to top it off. Sounds easy, eh?

Anyways. 2 and a half days later, close to $50.00 spent on decorating supplies, pounds of wasted too-thin fondant, a whole entire cake in a garbage, and many, many tears and swear words later …. I had no cake. To make a long story short, I wrecked it. Ever heard of the blog “Cake Wrecks”? Mine could’ve taken ‘the cake’ on that site. I seriously did everything wrong. Then deeply blamed myself for doing everything wrong and moped around the house for hours and hours. But, I didn’t completely give up…I had a brilliant idea to salvage what fondant I had leftover, and throw it over some cupcakes I whipped up from a mix, top it with some fondant designs….and honestly…they didn’t look too bad. Nowhere near the masterpiece I had planned, but we don’t always get what we want, do we? My Mom absolutely loved them and that’s what matters. And after I told her all the trouble I went through to make those things…I think I got lots of ‘good daughter’ bonus points, which was great because my birthday was a week later and there was a great bedspread that I was deeply coveting….

Deep Fried Pickle Time.

Oh boy. This recipe has been a long time coming in this household. Its been talked about, joked about, and argued about. Who knew such a oddball recipe could generate so much ruckus?

Last Christmas my Dad bought me a deep fryer. Too me, that was truly the best present a girl could get. Really. I've waited years to own my own deep fryer. I don't know why I didn't just buy one for myself. I think I knew deep down that a deep fryer had to come from my Dad, it just did. Growing up, my Dad was the sole commander of our Deep Fryer. My mom wouldn't touch the thing, she hated everything about it. So my Dad, never one to worry about calories, or gross smells, or smoke, or danger....took the job. At least a few times a month, we would get homemade french fries. Those fries...those fries were amazing.

Anyways. At Christmas, my Dad got me a Presto Cool Daddy (ironic name, eh?) deep fryer. . I immediately went about making his french fries (yes, they tasted almost exactly like his!) and mushrooms and beignets and all that jazz. But what me and N were really TRULY craving were DEEP FRIED PICKLES. This Southern specialty is not very popular here Up North, they are almost a delicacy. So, when we do find them in a restaurant...we act like starving children that haven't seen food in weeks. We devour them.

For some reason, it took me over 3 months to actually get around to making them. N would, without fail, bring this up at least once a week until the day (last Monday) I made these. I had a great batter recipe (which will follow), some good Vlasic Dill Spears, and my trusty Hidden Valley Ranch packet to make 'homemade' ranch dressing. It took me all of 15 minutes to prepare them, and 5 to fry them. These things were BLISS. Pure bliss. The tang of the pickle, with the light crispy-ness of the batter...and can't forget about how GOOD they taste when liberally (VERY liberally) dipped in ranch...oh...my....goodness....Why we don't live down in South Carolina where these things are as common as sweet tea, I don't know. But we should.

Deep Fried Pickle recipe:

For Pickles:

Jar of Pickle Spears (or Chips, whichever you prefer!)

For Batter:
1 c. Flour

1 t. Baking Powder

1 t. Salt

2 eggs

1/2 c. Milk

1 t. Veg. Oil

Mix all batter ingredients together. Coat Vlasic Dill Spears or Chips (which have been thoroughly dried with paper towels) liberally with batter. Deep fry in batches for 4-5 minutes @ 375 degrees. Drain on paper towels, serve with ranch dressing.

Caramelized Banana Loaf Cake

Was leafing thru an old issue of Every Day with Rachael Ray (I buy this magazine every single month, without fail, and without fail, never get around to actually making her recipes....its not that they don't look absolutely delicious or anything, they do. They're perfectly acceptable recipes. But sometimes I just don't want to go out and buy 23 ingredients, you know? I like my ingredient lists to be short and sweet).

Anyways. Back to my story. Was leafing thru an issue and found a recipe for Caramelized Banana Loaf Cake. And something inside me stirred. I had to make this. The list of ingredients was short enough, the description sounded outstanding, and really, any recipe that calls for "caramelizing" HAS to be good. So, I went ahead and made it. I was a little worried that making the sauce would be tricky, but it turned out pretty easy and gave me this ridiculous urge to carmelize every fruit I could find in the kitchen, just because I was so damn proud of myself for mastering the art of caramelization. I didn't though.

I followed the recipe to a tee, and served to the always eager to test any and all foods "N" and myself. We both agreed that this was outstanding. Really, I don't think I could ever make plain Banana Bread again. I mean this thing had whole pieces of banana soaking up a to-good-to-be-true caramel sauce as its 'topping'. This is a souped up, superstar version of Banana Bread. We ate the whole thing in one day. I'm not lying. I am ashamed at our utter lack of regard for how many calories this recipe MUST contain. But it was THAT good.

Getting Started

Hello all!

I decided to start a Food blog because of my slight obsession with cooking. Okay, make that HUGE obsession. As in, I spend about 14 waking hours a day either cooking, thinking about cooking, grocery shopping, thinking about grocery shopping, imagining super successful dinner parties I could throw, and the list goes on and on.... My boyfriend and friends find this pretty amusing and endlessly teasing me about it has become THE new favorite activity when we get together on weekend nights.

I watched my Mom cook homemade meals for my dad, brother and I all throughout my childhood and I became a permanent fixture in her kitchen - I absolutely fell in LOVE with every aspect of the cooking process, and even enjoyed the mundane tasks, such as putting the groceries away (Oh, the thrill I would get, stacking all the soup cans in a perfect 'diamond shape' in the cupboard!). I was an odd child, what do you want me to say?

When I got my first apartment at 21, I dove right into cooking. I had a few successes....and quite a few more messes.... but still I continued on. I am in my mid-20's now, and am just trying to hone my skills and become the best I can be.

I can truly say that cooking is my number one passion, and has provided a wonderful outlet for me whenever things have gotten a little hard. Through breakups and lost jobs, 3 different colleges/career changes, and bank accounts frequently under $10.00...cooking has allowed me to get thru it all, sane.

Although I am still a beginner, and have a VERY small starter kitchen that a professional chef would balk at, it doesn't deter me in the slightest. I am going to continue doing what I love, as the sense of fulfillment that cooking gives me is phenomenal. =)