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Look at the color in this picture. Who didn’t fall in love with the kaleidoscope of spiraled colors in Disney’s Pixar movie Ratatouille? After seeing Remy the young rat make this creation I was saying “Anyone can Cook!” just like Auguste Gusteau had stated. I walked away thinking I’d really love to try this recipe. Someone was listening to me. Along comes this new group Recipes to Rival. Founded by Temperance of High on the Hog and my first foodie friend Lori of Lipsmacking Goodness, their June choice was Ratatouille!!! Now I can keep putting off why I haven’t made this and just do it! Read more…

I love traditional chicken parmesan. Sauteed chicken breast covered with sauce, topped with mozeralla and then baked in the oven. Quite a satisfying meal. So when Megan of My Baking Adventures chose Parmesan Chicken from Barefoot Contessa Family Style (page 82) I was excited to try something different from the version I know. This recipe makes for a perfect summer meal and entertaining a joy! Barefoot Bloggers are an extraordinary group of people with a love for all things Ina. Interested in joining Barefoot Bloggers? All you need to do is participate in the bi-weekly challenges and have a blog! It’s a wonderful way to make new friends. Speaking of new friends, don’t forget to check out what all the other Barefoot Bloggers have created.

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Boy is she wiped out! My little one had a very busy Saturday. She had her favorite babysitter over in the afternoon followed by a slumber party. My good friend had 6 kids in her house ranging from 5-7 years old. Imagine the lack of sleep. I’m told that at 10:30pm my little one went to bed. 10:30!! That is so late for her. She’s usually in bed between 7:30-8 o’clock. My friend said that at 12:30am, the kids were told that they had to go to sleep. She said there was so much commotion that it was near impossible to get these kids to bed. I’m amazed that I didn’t receive a phone call in the middle of the night asking me to come get her . She made it through the night which was great for me. My husband and I went to a surprise birthday party for another friend and got home after 11pm. I picked my pumpkin up today who was like a walking zombie. She crashed around 11:30am. I had to wake her up at 4:30pm! Hopefully she’ll go to bed on time tonight. Now to the cobbler. Read more…

Here is a brief history of the profiterole or cream puff from wikipedia.com. The origin of both the pastry and its name profiterole are obscure. The word profiterole (also spelled prophitrole, profitrolle, profiterolle) has existed in English since the 16th century, borrowed from French. The original meaning in both English and French is unclear, but later it came to mean a kind of roll ‘baked under the ashes’. A 17th-century French recipe for a Potage de profiteolles or profiterolles describes a soup of dried small breads (presumably the profiteroles) simmered in almond broth and garnished with cockscombs, truffles, and so on. The current meaning is only clearly attested in the 19th century.

Olivia Lau at Calyon in London makes her’s with ice cream instead of cream. While a tasty alternative, this is not the classical French method. Nick Poole at Citi in London makes his with whipped cream. That’s a variant from the original (i.e. with vanilla ice cream). This type of profiterole is also known as “British profiterole” (only Englishmen’s palate can bear the taste of it) Read more…

I joined the Barefoot Bloggers! What is that you ask. It’s an extraordinary group of guys and gals who are bakers, cookers and are in love with Ina. Ina? Who’s that? Ina Garten can be found on FoodNetwork.com. Her show is Barefoot Contessa. It’s a fabulous show that I highly recommend be watched and learned from. Barefoot Bloggers test and retest Ina’s recipes and blog about them on the 2nd and 4th Thursday of every month.

The recipe was chosen by Elizabeth at Ugg Smell Food and it is Pasta, Pesto and Peas. You can see the recipe here. Read more…

Before I begin, let me say, don’t even go there about her hair! Every now and then I have to choose my battles. Brushing her hair for the picture was not going to be a winning battle. Bribing her usually saying begins with “Deal or No Deal?” I’ll let you have this treat before lunch if you let mommy brush your hair afterwards. Her response was “DEAL!”

For once in my life I decided to not wait until the last minute to complete a task. An attempt to get my Tuesdays with Dorie task done before the weekend. I need to relax… On Thursday night after a soccer game, I went on a nice walk with my friend J.  Afterwards we came back to the house and began (well I did, she talked) the task of Sweet Tart Dough. After glass of Chardonnay, laughing and some wonderful conversation, I began this simple crust then realized that I forgot to take pictures. That’s how quick and easy this dough was. In fact, I made two kinds; the sweet tart dough and sweet tart dough with nuts. Read more…

Yahoo!! I have been tagged! Lee Sihan of fundamentally-flawed wants to know 5 things about me. There are rules for this round of “about me.”
The rules: Each participant answers questions about himself. At the end of the post the participant tags 5 people. Their names are posted letting them know they’ve been tagged. They then have to read the participant’s blog. The tagged let’s the tagger know when he’s posted his answers.

[Simple enough] Read more…

I was excited about this week’s Tuesdays with Dorie task. Di of Di’s Kitchen Notebook made the perfect choice. Dorie Greenspan’s French Chocolate Brownies on pages 92 and 93. This recipe proved to be rich, deliciously chocolaty, soft and moist. I decided to pretty much follow this recipe to the “T”. Reason being that I didn’t have lots of luck last week baking and being very superstitious, I decided to stick to the recipe and break my bad luck streak. I’m happy to inform, that I broke the streak! Don’t forget to check out the other TWD!

I love being apart of Tuesdays with Dorie. This being my fifth challenge I already feel my baking skills evolving to a whole new level. Everyone in the group is very supportive and I’ve never been made to feel that any mistake was a bad one. It’s all part of the learning experience. My confidence level has soared and I find myself beginning to “think outside the box.” Every Monday I can’t wait to see the task for the following week. Every Tuesday, I can’t wait to see what everyone has done. Tuesdays with Dorie is an excellent baking group and it’s easy to join. The requirements are: you must own the book Baking From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, always post the task on Tuesday and participate in two out of four weeks, and own a blog.

Ingredients

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup raisins (dark or golden) I used golden raisins
1 1/2 tablespoons water
1 1/2 tablespoons dark rum
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 12 pieces at room temperature
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar Read more…