Call me old fashioned, but when the cold weather hits I yearn for stews, soups and steaming cups of coffee. You too? Good. Well, get your hands on a slow cooker and get cooking. I bought the All Clad Slow Cooker from Williams-Sonoma and, literally, my husband just told me that ‘we do have other cookware in our kitchen, dear.’ Literally just now when I told him we could make short ribs in the slow cooker! I guess I’ve been going overboard.

When we were all sick I made chicken noodle soup and it was like my mom popped in and whipped up her magic in the kitchen. She lives in New Orleans. I live in San Francisco. She rarely gets a chance to just ‘pop in.’ Oh, but how nice to have a mom moment. In fact, I was so happy that when my girl’s preschool teacher told me she was home sick with the flu, I brought the soup to her. Like a good neighbor! My daughter loved ringing the doorbell and handing over steaming soup to her robe-clad, sniffling teacher.

Then, I made Spanish Chicken, a recipe by Rachel Ray, who I sorta despise because of her whole e.v.o.o. thing. I mean, every time she says e.v.o.o. she has to qualify it by saying extra virgin olive oil, so what’s the point? Still, her recipe rocked my world.

And then the Beef Bourguignon by Ina Garten. Oh. My. God.

Now I can’t stop myself.

When my cousin went through the same crush on her slow cooker, her husband would walk through the front door and say, “what flavor of gruel are we having tonight?” Good thing she has a sense of humor!

So be warned.

Oh, and due diligence…I’ve heard that some people have had problems with the coating on this model. I haven’t had any problems myself, but just so you know.

photo courtesy of Williams-Sonoma

This is a small thing…You know what grosses me out: stinky sponges. I swear. That icky moldy smell they get. And we wash out dishes with that crapola. Yuck! It happens to the best of us, I know. Some of my friends – and my sister – use a cloth instead. That’s cool. I can relate. But I can’t do it.

I don’t know what it is, but I feel like I cannot, in good conscience, wash dishes with anything other than a sponge. So I usually wind up throwing sponges out very quickly. It’s wasteful, I know.

At my grocery store, I found a thin sponge by Casabella. It’s a sponge, only like 1/4 of the thickness. And it doesn’t stink! I guess, because it’s so thin, it dries before any mold and mildew has a chance to grow. Brilliant. And so simple.

The scrubby part does fall apart, but that’s the same as every other scrubby sponge I’ve used.

Just a little tidbit of info, from me to you. Go thin. You can find them on Amazon.com, Target or your local grocery store if you happen to have a hoity toity grocery store like Whole Foods.

Photo credit: Amazon.com

Are you done drooling yet?

Can you believe those were made by a kid no older than my twelve-teen?

And I’m not sure which I admire more: her cooking prowess or her ability to keep from licking the spoon.

These were created on the online-only show Kids Who Love to Cook. Part of the Season 1 line-up, these Chocolate Cupcakes with Dark Chocolate Frosting were created along with other culinary amazements like Brazino al Cartoccio, Mini Turkey Burgers, and Thai Shrimp.

The Kids Who Love to Cook website is devoted to getting kids in the kitchen with video segments, recipes, and tips and how-tos (from easy stuff like “how to boil an egg” to more complex stuff like “how to make a substitute for Mirin”). There’s even a section of the site devoted to “food trips” which includes the “best of food trucks” … I love it!

If you have a child that is interested in cooking, this is a must-view website.

What I love about it is the depth of the recipes. Most kid-focused recipes are for things like trail mix or flavored popcorn. Great for snacks but not complex enough for the kids to feel like they’re part of creating dinner. However, stream this on your iPad or laptop in the kitchen (or print out the recipes before hand) and ask your child to help create an entire meal. Then sit down and have dinner as a family.

Not only will your rising culinary star feel a sense of pride in his creation, he’ll also be more likely to try everything on his plate (even if some of it is green).

Check out the Kids Who Love to Cook website … season 2 will be starting soon.

What recipes will you encourage your kids to try first?

photo credit: kids who love to cook

For most moms a quick cheese sauce is easy: Kraft. Open packet. Add milk. Done.

But! There is another way. Something *almost* as quick and infinitely yummier and healthier. Though, we’re talking cheese sauce so I use the term ‘healthy’ loosely.

I thought of this – well, I’m lying, my sister-in-law thought of this – when I opened my “cheese drawer” and found an entire collection of cheese nubs. Lots and lots of just a smidge of cheese left. Not enough for snacking or doing anything with. Too much for throwing away.

As I dumped them all out on the counter to see what goodness was there, I realized that A) I like me some cheese and B) I’m too frugal for my own good and, finally C) I am the product of my mother – I use to tease her mercilessly about all the cheese she left to rot in the fridge.

Now, that’s me!

So, instead of letting these little forlorn ends rot away, I (with my husband’s sister’s expertise) made a delicious cheese sauce. It’s almost as easy as melting them all together in a pot. Almost. You need a secret ingredient…and that is…mustard.

Just a touch.

The fancy mac and cheese recipes that I know of call for mustard seed and I’m sure there is a reason for this. I never have mustard seed. But I do have Dijon or some other sharp mustard on hand, usually at all times. Just a touch will give the cheese some life.

Or – and I think this is brilliant – you can always faux-fondue your sauce and add some dry white wine. Just a little when you’re melting the butter. Talk about good.

So, here’s the recipe. Please pardon the lack of measuring, but since this was born from cheese stubs, well, I didn’t bother with particulars.

• Melt 1-3 pads of butter in pan
• Add 1 teaspoon mustard (or a big splash of wine)
• Add 1/4 cup of flour and be sure to not brown it (you don’t need much, just enough to have the cheese not get gloppy)
• Stir in 1 cup milk (you might need more, depending on the amount of cheese sauce you need)
• Throw in the cheese – you’re going to want at least 1-2 cups

Stir until thick but be sure to not have it get gloppy. If it does, stir some flour in a little milk (so it’s not lumpy) and then add to your sauce, stirring away, until it is nice and creamy.

Done!

Add to anything. Pasta, broccoli, hot dogs, crackers, fingers. Everything tastes better with cheese.

A quick note about what cheeses to use. White soft-ish cheeses are best. Cheddar makes everything better. Don’t be afraid of stinky toe-y cheeses (like blue); just use a small amount because a little goes a long way. Basically, if you’re clearing out your own cheese drawer to do this, then you’ll automatically have the kind of cheeses you like.

Enjoy!

photo credit: gadl

Who knew there was such a thing? Oil cloth chalkboard placemats! I’ve long loathed the typical sickly sweet look of oil cloth. I’m sure I could find something that didn’t make me conjure a picnic back in 1950 but I have yet to find a pattern that I like. And yet, I love the idea of oil cloth. I mean, a wipeable table cloth or placemat that is easy to store AND clean.

Now, I don’t know if my kids would truly use a chalkboard placemat to ‘busy’ themselves before dinner and then magically change gears once the plate is served. Something tells me they’d be pretty preoccupied. That said, maybe this is just what I’ve been needing to add some calm around dinnertime?

Ahh. Probably not. But still. Fun!

Here are a few of my favs that I’ve seen around:

Polkadot birthday
Beautiful Life Photos
Bellocchio
And taking this all a step further, Chalkydoodles

photo credit: Polkadot Birthday

Too late for this year, but I can’t help myself. For my uncommon family – presents from Uncommon Goods I wish I gave this year, food definitely included!

For my daughters:

Mmm. Pancakes. Made better with a dip in the dish, to make the perfect pool of syrup.

For my husband:

Separate but equal. Sushi separator:

For my OCD brother:

A chef who takes to heart the old adage, measure twice, cut once. Even for veggies!

For me (cuz momma needs a little TLC, too, right?):

Soup and sandwich = comfort food!

I’ve stumbled onto Uncommon Goods too late for the gift giving season, admittedly. I can’t even think about more Christmas gifts right now. But that said, it’s a pretty cool online store just the same. You never know when you want to buy someone something, just because. Plus, don’t these dishes just look delectable?

photo credit: Uncommon Goods

If I were throwing a new year’s eve party, I’d seriously think about one of these drinks to serve. Yum. I’m more of a low-key wine or beer girl, or bubbly. There’s always room for a little bubbly. That said, sometimes wine and beer don’t LOOK so festive. They come off a little snoozy. I wish I knew of a way to snazzy-up a wine presentation. In fact, if you know, I’m all ears.

In the meantime, check out the bright colors of these drinks. And, might I add, I bet the drinks would be just as good without the alcohol for an afternoon shindig or even a kids party.

Kiwi Strawberry Ice
1 oz. Stoli Vodka
2 Blackberries
Splash of lemon
Splash of white cranberry juice
Topped off with Strawberry Kiwi Sparkling ICE

Pink Grapefruit Ice
1 oz. Beefeater Gin
4 Cucumbers muddled
2 Drops of lime juice
1 oz. Blueberries muddled
Finished with Pink Grapefruit Sparkling ICE

Lemon Lime Ice
1 oz. Bacardi Light Rum
1 Splenda
6 Basil leaves lightly muddled
Splash of lime
Finished with Lemon Lime Sparkling ICE

Orange Mango Ice
1 oz. Herradura Silver Tequila
3 Shiso leaves
Lime wedge muddled
Topped with Orange Mango Sparkling ICE

Black Raspberry Ice
1 oz. Makers Mark Bourbon
½ oz. Dry Vermouth
2 Bourbon Cherries
1 Splenda
Topped off with Black Raspberry Sparkling ICE

So what is this Sparkling ICE you see listed in each of the recipes? It’s a blend of water, fruit juice and just a little bit of carbonation. I’ve never had it, but it sounds good.

Last year I discovered Hint water. Discovered is a strong word. I’m not claiming to be Columbus or anything, Hint water was around before I discovered it! But this year I re-discovered Hint water…Hint Sparkling water. It’s like pop rocks for your mouth.

No, really, it’s not like pop rocks. It’s sparkling water, so it tastes like fizzy water. But, not Pledge-infused water, or weirdly sweet water.

Hint sparkling water is like you’ve squeezed a drop of watermelon into sparkling water. Or strawberries. Like it’s name, just a hint. And it’s a great alternative to alcoholic beverages this holiday season.

I can totally see myself serving my daughters “bubbly” this holiday season. Bubbly water, that is.

You can find it nationally at Whole Foods, Inc. Or, if you want to see where else it’s available, check out their website – you can type in your zip and they’ll tell you who around you sells it. Luckily for me, it’s right around the corner at my local grocery store!

YUM! You gotta try it. Literally, after finishing mine just now, my husband said, “maybe we should just get a 100 pack of these things.”

May! Be!

You know the ‘Magic Bullet’ hand blender? Oh how many infomercials have I seen with that thing? I’m surprised I don’t own one because it looks downright handy to have.

Now, they’ve made a baby food version called the Baby Bullet. Unfortunate name, but cool product. I know, I know, they have to be concerned with branding and consistency, so I’ll give them a break, but Baby Bullet?

Anyway, it’s BPA free and non-toxic. It looks easy to use. Super easy.

If you are like me and dream of being the type of mom who makes her own baby food but gets bogged down in the details because it can be daunting, then check this out. It’s kind of goofy looking (did they have to put a smiley face on it?), but it seems to work as advertised.

They also have made the Turbo Steamer which they throw in if you buy a Baby Bullet. It works in half the time as regular steaming and, even better, doubles as a sterilizer. So, more uses less gear. Sold!

Giada De Laurentiis is the bomb. Seriously. So perky and beautiful and oh how she can cook! I could stand to channel my inner Giada a little more…I found this dessert recipe of hers and I think I might start with this.

It’s a Hazelnut Crunch cake with chocolate and mascarpone. What I love about it is that you start with cake mix from a box! I can do this!

Hazelnut Crunch Cake with Mascarpone and Chocolate
Makes eight servings

What You’ll Need
1 box chocolate cake mix
1 cup hazelnuts, toasted and skinned
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
2 (8-oz.) containers mascarpone cheese
1 cup cream
¾ cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup bittersweet chocolate chips
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon orange zest

Here’s what it’ll look like (maybe):

Here’s how to make it:

Prepare cake mix according to package directions for two 9-inch spring foam cake pans. Let cool on a wire rack.

Toast hazelnuts: Place hazelnuts in a small skillet over medium-low heat. Heat until fragrant and golden brown, stirring constantly, about 5 minutes. Let cool. Tip: Place hazelnuts in a towel and rub together – this will make the skins come off easier.

Place toasted nuts close together in a single layer on parchment-lined baking sheet.

Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir until dissolved. Bring to a boil and let cook until sugar is light brown, about 8 minutes. Let bubbles subside then pour the caramelized sugar over nuts.

Place baking sheet in refrigerator and let cool until hard, about 30 minutes. When cooled, top with another piece of parchment paper and pound into small pieces, or place on a cutting board and cut into small pieces. Set aside.

Using an electric mixture (on a low setting), beat mascarpone cheese, cream, powdered sugar and vanilla until soft peaks form. Fold the crunch mixture into the whipped cream.

Finely grind chocolate chips, sugar and zest in a food processor.

Put 1 cake on a serving plate. Top with 1-inch of the whipped cream crunch mixture. Top with the second layer of cake and continue frosting with the remaining whipped cream crunch mixture. Sprinkle top and sides of cake with ground chocolate and zest. Yum!

photo credit: A Bulls Eve View

Here’s a Thanksgiving appetizer you might want to try today. If you’re cooking Thanksgiving dinner from scratch you might already have all the ingredients except for the minced pork. Think pigs in a blanket, but for grown ups. These are finger licking good. Seriously. You might even embarrass yourself by hovering over the plate, warning people that they ‘might not like these’ just so you can eat them all yourself.

I got this from an Australian friend and when she made them I almost knocked her son over as I went back for thirds. Ok, fourths. He is five. I, on the other hand, am 40.

The recipe comes from the Bourke Street Bakery Cookbook by Paul Allam and David Macguinness. Bourke Street Bakery is Sydney’s most famous bakery and while I have never been there, if the rest of their baked goods are half as good as these pork and fennel sausage rolls, it’s worth flying half-way around the world just to visit them.

Here’s what they look like on the inside – yummy!

So here’s the recipe:

1 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 1/2 tablespoons fennel seeds, finely chopped
4 thyme sprigs, leaves picked
5 1/2 oz. onions, finely chopped
5 1/2 oz. celery, finely chopped
5 1/2 oz. carrots, finely chopped
2 lbs 10oz. lean minced ground pork
1 1/2 oz. breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon salt
3 teaspoons white pepper
puff pastry (buy this because I don’t have a recipe for it. And it’s easier.)
egg wash (for brushing: 1 egg, 1/2 cup milk, pinch salt combined together)
fennel seeds for sprinkling

Heat oil over medium heat and add the garlic, fennel seeds and thyme until aromatic – 1 minute. Add onion and celery, cook for 5 minutes. Add carrots and cook 20 minutes or until mushy. Remove from heat and let cool.

Put the ground pork in a large bowl and add the cooled veggies, breadcrumbs, salt and white pepper. Using your hands, mix well.

Preheat oven to 400. Roll the puff pastry (that you bought) into a rectangle (36 x 12 3/4inches). Cut the pastry into 6 rectangles about 6 x 12inches each.

Divide the filling mixture into 6 even sized portions. On a clean work surface, roll each portion out into a 12-inch long log (like a sausage without the casing). It should be about 1 1/4 inch in diameter. Place each log length ways in the center of the pastry rectangle and brush one long edge with egg wash.

Firmly fold the pastry over, pressing to enclose the log tightly, leaving the ends open. Cut each roll into 2 even sized pieces and place on baking tray lined with baking paper. Brush the top of each roll with egg wash and sprinkle with fennel seeds.

Reduce the oven temperature to 375 and bake for 35-40 minutes or until they are a golden brown roll of steaming oozing goodness. It sounds harder than it is.

Whatever you end up making for turkey day, have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

photo credit: I Dream in Chocolate

I’m slowly discovering how much I like North African cuisine. It’s really no surprise, seeing as I’m from New Orleans and there is a huge African influence on cooking there. I don’t know if it’s specifically North African, but the melange of spices, the slow cooking – it’s all in there.

Plus, I tasted a few lovely couscous dishes while in France. I had no idea that couscous could be such a comfort food, but beautiful and exotic at the same time. And tagines! For me, a tagine is like an exotic stew, an African gumbo. So when Pat Crocker asked if I’d like to review her new cookbook, 150 Best Tagine Recipes, I jumped at the chance. Me…cooking my own tagine!

So, first off, the cookbook is packed with all sorts of information on those conical tagine pots and why it is so important to cook with them. I, myself, don’t have a tagine pot so I used a regular pot the stovetop. Well, I’ll let you read why I’m now searching for my own tagine. I rather like this one from Williams-Sonoma, but it’s a tad frilly for me:

There is a whole section, complete with illustrations, on herbs and spices. Fascinating! Did you know that caraway (you know, the seed in rye bread) has long been used to comfort babies with gas? This part is gorgeous, it reminds me of my mother – her painting and her cooking – and it’s worth a good read if you want to know all about spices.

And talking about spices, the section on flavor combinations is all about making your own spices in order to flavor the recipes. At this point, I sort of got overwhelmed. I mean, I love cooking. I really do. But I can hardly find enough time to make a homemade meal for my family, much less tinkering with measuring out herbs and spices before even beginning to cook. So I bought Ras el Hanout spice at the store instead of making it.

Ras el Hanout, an amazing blend of sometimes over 100 different spices, herbs and aphrodisiacs is known as the “top of the shop” or the best the spice merchant has to offer. You can see why I left the making of this up to the specialists and bought it. Especially when called to use my mortar and pestle. (I don’t even have a mortal and pestle!)

Now for the tagine…I made Lamb Tagine with Mediterranean Vegetables. The recipe is actually pretty basic and all you need to really pay attention to is the order and the timing of adding ingredients. I boldly thought I knew better than Pat and added my chickpeas too early.

Long story short, I made a fantastic gruel. It looked horrible on my plate. In fact, I was going to take a picture but just imagine beige colored slop, with dashes of green and orange and that’s about it. But damn if it didn’t taste delicious!

See, I thought chickpeas needed a big boil and long, long simmer to be soft and creamy. THEY MOST CERTAINLY DO NOT. They fall apart to mush when overcooked.

Plus, not having a serving dish/lovely tagine to adorn the table, my stuff looked blah. I think, if I would have stayed true to the timing and order of the recipe, I could have avoided the mush. Moral of the story, trust Pat. She knows of what she speaks.

I would highly recommend this cookbook for anyone out there who wants to have a different flavor for dinner. Tagines are surprisingly easy and they make a great one pot meal that most, though perhaps not all, the family can enjoy.

Ahh, Paris. As I might have mentioned, I’m in love with Paris now. Especially now that I’m no longer IN Paris, I’m looking back through rosy shades, over romanticizing it all I’m sure. I could fill your mind with all of our lovely memories, but then I’d probably sound terribly pretentious and snobby because of course I would. I’d be going on about Paris! I’d probably have to stop moving my jaw, speaking in lockjaw-ese much like Thurston Howell III, my dear, of the Gilligan Island Howell’s.

One thing I can share, without being a bore, is that most every day we stopped and had tea time, sipping away, as if we didn’t have two screaming kids under foot. Yes, I know this is NOT a French pastime, but still we did it there so it remains a Paris memory for me. We had the most amazing leaf tea by Kusmi. My favorite was Sweet Love because well, need I say why? Paris and all.

No, it wasn’t an aphrodisiac but a chai tea smelling of wonderfulness.

Kusmi Tea was born in St. Petersburg, Russia about 100 years ago. They moved to Paris in 1917 and from there developed a reputation throughout Europe. And now, friends (and you, too mom!) Kusmi is available here. Now. So put some water on the boil and have yourself tea time, sipping and speaking unintelligible lockjaw-ese yourself.

There are many Kusmi teas to choose from: green, black, decaf and herbal. They even have wellness tea, like Detox, that might just be the thing for winter colds! If nothing else, holding a steaming, delicious smelling cup of tea is good for the soul, right?

Tea connoisseurs might already know of Kusmi. It was new to me, though, and now I’m addicted. Not a bad thing to be addicted to, right? I mean, it could be worse.