Just Another Meatless Monday #35 Vegan Kabocha Soup Recipe

Winter squash? Japanese pumpkin? Yes! Kabocha is a winter squash commonly grown in Japan and thus called a Japanese Pumpkin. They are definitely gaining popularity in the United States, I know this because if something reaches Alaska it's getting mainstream. I'm glad the kabocha squash is on that list, because we really love the mild flavor of the kabocha, and it's fun to say. KABOCHA!

I'm buying my winter produce from Azure Standard and I ordered A kabocha, a 12 pound kabocha for a great price. HA! I got a CASE of 9 kabocha for my money. After I ordered I got to thinking about the general size of kabocha and figured I would maybe get 2-3 squash as 12 pounds worth but 9 was a delicious and pleasant surprise and I will not be complaining.

For my first recipe I decided to revisit a recipe I made last year with the one kabocha I was able to find at the local organic store, Roasted Chewbacca Soup. Roasted Chewbacca came about because my kids thought I was saying Chewbacca not kabocha and we didn't really correct them. It was cute and it made them excited to try the soup. They inhaled it. This year I decided to veganize the recipe by leaving out the cows milk and using coconut milk instead. The soup was velvety creamy and the perfect lunch for Halloween, although it was a little sweet for me and I think I might prefer the cows milk version better.

Vegan Kabocha Soup
2 medium size kabocha
2 TBSP oil, divided-I used avocado oil, use your favorite oil
salt
pepper
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 powdered ginger
4 cups vegetable broth or water ( I used water)
1 cup coconut milk

preheat oven to 400˚
meanwhile wash and cut squash in half
remove seeds and set aside for roasting
drizzle the cut halves of the squash with 1 TBSP oil
sprinkle with salt and pepper
lay them cavity down in a 9x13 baking dish
bake in a 400˚ oven for 30 minutes or until the flesh is soft
meanwhile clean and separate the seeds, rinse and pat dry
spread on a baking sheet, salt them if desired and roast at the same time as the squash, making sure not to burn them (WHOOPS!)
heat the remaining oil in a large soup over medium heat
add the onion and cook slowly for 10 minutes or so
when the onion is tender and translucent
add the spices and cook for 30 seconds, stirring constantly
pour in the water and stir any browned bits up
stir in the coconut milk
simmer until the kabocha is done
check on the seeds and kabocha, the squash should be easy to poke with a knife through the skin
the seeds should NOT BE ON FIRE remove before this stage
when the kabocha is done scoop the flesh into the soup and puree with an immersion blender until smooth
add salt and pepper as needed
serve hot in bowls topped with a few roasted seeds

linking all these great recipes up with:





Peace and Love--

Paula Deen's Popcorn Balls

How long has it been since you had a popcorn ball? Yeah, me either! Our neighbors made them when I was growing up but we never did. I don't know why, perhaps boiling sugar for 10 minutes was too much for my mom? After reading about them on the Mom Food Project blog I decided to make them and I too used Paula Deen's recipe. I made the popcorn earlier in the day and when Union came home from school we had a snack and boiled up some sugar.

It was only mildly fun for them after measuring ingredients out because being my mothers daughter I would NOT let them near a pot of boiling sugar water. So while I cooked and cooked and cooked the sugar they munched apples and then beat the grunt out of each other. That's what they do. When the sugar hit 255˚ I called them back and they watched while I poured it over the popcorn and stirred it in. They liked seeing how it had changed and turned to syrup.

 When it was cooled we buttered our hands and made popcorn balls, or bombs as the youngest decided they were. It was fun visiting and just hanging out. We get to do this everyday but this just felt different. Simple and nice during a 'holiday' that gets more outrageous every year.

the BEST part

X2

and more best part

I have a question for you: who the HELL decided we needed inflatable lawn decorations? for Halloween? It seems they crap they hawk at the store gets more and more outrageous every year. Just a thought.

Peace and Love--

Vegetarian Halloweenies Recipe

Have you seen those cute little mummy pigs in a blanket? I think they're from a Pillsbury cookbook originally, we have a couple of them and my kids love to look through them. I finally decided to make a vegetarian version of them, thus the Vegetarian Halloweenies were born. Uh, made? And then eaten. This is a great vegetarian recipe for a fun little Halloween dinner with young kids.

I have a problem with hot dogs, I have ever since I got sick one time after eating them, I was 9. It was bad, enough said. I have been known to eat them but I really prefer not to. This has escalated since we started harvesting our own birds. I know I'm a freak but it's what keeps you coming back! So where was I? Oh yeah problem with hot dogs, love the cute little mummy pigs in a blanket things, oh what to do? Make my own!

I simply made my own vegetarian patty recipe in roughly nugget form, wrapped them in strips of bread dough and baked them for 20 minutes or so. My kids didn't know I was making them and were utterly delighted I had made a recipe from one of those little cook books. Then when my non-meat loving kids figured out they were their favorite 'veggie patties' in disguise they were double thrilled.

Vegetarian Holloweenies
1 medium onion chopped
1 cup of crushed corn flakes
3/4 cup chopped walnut
4 eggs
2 cups shredded cheese
2 TBSP oil
1 loaf of bread dough uncooked

mix all the ingredients except oil and dough, let stand for 30 minutes
then over medium high heat heat 1 TBSP oil in a frying pan
make 18 nuggets or patties (roughly the size of your thumb but not as round) out of the cheese and walnut mixture
cook 9 at a time until they are browned on both sides
put them on a baking tray to cool a bit
cook remaining patties the same way
divide dough into roughly 18 pieces
roll each dough piece into a snake and fashion mummy style around a nugget
I experimented and found that 2/3 of a strip went around the bottom and 1/3 made a good head covering with enough room left over for eyes to be drawn in
repeat until all the mummies are wrapped
bake in a 400˚ oven for 20 minutes or so

before baking

Here is my basic bread dough recipe. It's easy and good and makes 2 loaves so you'll have a loaf of bread out of this too. Or buy frozen bread dough if you want or even the stuff in the can.

Basic Bread Dough
How I make bread: makes 2 loaves
in a KitchenAid fitted with a dough hook
add 2 cups flour, 1 Tablespoon SAF yeast, 1 teaspoon sugar, 1 teaspoon salt
pulse to mix for a bit
add 1 1/2 cups warm water
run to incorporate water, stop and scrape down sides
add 1-2 Tablespoons of olive oil
run again until all in incorporated, you may need to scrape it down again
now start adding flour 1/2 cup at a time
let it incorporate before adding more flour
as it becomes dough you need to turn it off and check on it if it is still sticky keep adding flour
I usually end up adding between 2 to 3 more cups and sometimes as much as 4 cups, depends on the day, the humidity and if I added a little too much water
once it has taken as much as it will, you'll be able to tell this because it will incorporate less easily and the dough will not be too sticky, let the machine knead it for 5 more minutes or so
when it is done it will climb the dough hook and drop back down repeatedly, or at least that's when I call it done, it should be smooth, moderately stiff and not sticky
turn it out into a greased bowl, flip to grease, cover with a warm damp towel and let rise in a warm place
it will double in about 1/2-45 minutes
punch it down, grease two loaf pans, form your loaves
pop them in the pans, cover them and let them rise until they are about 1 inch above the pan
pre-heat the oven, remove the towel and bake in a 350˚ for 20-30 minutes

Would I make these again? Yes to avoid having cocktail weenies and/or hot dogs I would make these again. Plus my kids loved them and want to make them so they can help. They would have helped make these but we had just made popcorn balls and they were done with being told what to do.

Peace and Love--

a few tips to get you through the FoodBuzz Festival

Well it's true I'm off to the FoodBuzz Festival next week, squee!!, where I'm sure to have a fabulous time in San Francisco. I get to stay in MY wonderful hotel, The Mosser again, too!  I went last year and enjoyed myself, the food was great, the company was great and the swag was to. die. for. I thought I might offer a few tips to fellow bloggers to help make their conference/festival/eat-a-thon go smoothly. Because I'm the expert that's why, I knew you were thinking that by the way.

So here we go, a few tips on surviving and thriving in San Francisco:

• bring business cards-with your name-blog name-twitter name and your email address- no time to get them made? the best cards I saw at BlogHer Food were made from a funky deck of playing cards-sure she had to write them by hand BUT I still remember them
• SMILE-it's free, it breaks the ice and it looks better than a frown--that being said don't smile like a freak ALL the time, especially on the streets
• do not under any circumstances refer to San Francisco as San Fran, it sounds stupid and it doesn't help you fit in
• ditto with Frisco, in fact both of those will garner you some muffled snickers, eye rolling and  possible shunning
• if you must refer to San Francisco as something else 'the city' works just fine
• don't know what to wear? if in doubt wear black
• buy a MUNI pass-a 3 day pass is 20 bucks and gets you unlimited street car, cable car, bus and muni train rides--good for the F line which runs from the Castro district to Fisherman's Wharf about 14 hours a day, the vintage street cars run right down market street stopping about every block or so-plus of course the cable (trolley) cars which run right by the FoodBuzz Festival hotel, these are all good on the unlimited MUNI pass
• have a drink--we're all writers here, how many revisions of your posts do you go through? yeah...have a drink before you start trying to make sense without spell check and second thoughts, you'll be amazed at how easy it is to socialize
• on that same note just because it's an all you can drink event, please don't embarrass yourself, I wouldn't know ANYTHING about that it just seems like a good idea
• and leave your attitudes at home, we're all in this thing together and karma is a bitch

Added by comment:

• bring a big tote bag to the Metreon, the tasting pavillion, you'll need it!! by: Cooking--by the seat of my pants I agree-maybe even two? to balance you out!
• bring stretchy pants by: Beach Eats and I agree you'll need them for the plane ride home! 

the next three tips came from Serene of The Mom Food Project

•  Have someplace quiet to recharge your batteries. If you're not staying at the hotel, maybe a friend's room during off-hours; I ended up using the bathroom stall.
   
• Remember that you're not just there to "grow your brand". You're there because you're interested in some kind of blogging community, at least ostensibly, so talk to people, pay attention to them, and don't spend every second selling yourself.
•  You're not actually required to eat every food that's offered to you, but try not to do what I did the first day and get so overwhelmed that you just eat a tiny plate of breakfast and little else. I felt faint by the time I was going home that night.

Did I leave anything out? Leave a comment and let me know and I'll add yours and a link.


Peace and Love--

The Big Easy Oil-less Infrared Turkey Fryer by Char-Broil

 Let me just repeat myself, The Big Easy Oil-less Infrared Turkey Fryer by Char-Broil. I know many of you, OK perhaps ALL of you are thinking "infrared" turkey fryer? WHAT?!? She must be nuts! But I swear I'm not, because FoodBuzz and Char Broil sent me one to try out as part of their taste maker program so it has to be real, right?

Well it is real folks! It is real and it works. Now I don't own a deep fat turkey fryer because my first introduction to one was watching it catch a pot holder on fire and subsequently send everyone at the party running for cover. It was, to say the least, a little scary. After that little incident I had no desire to ever own one even though I did like the idea of a quick cooking turkey.

Now I can have a quick cooking turkey that takes a little longer but is not so scary to have around. The Big Easy takes about 10 minutes per pound so my 12 pound bird took 2 hours. There is no warm up time needed you simply turn it on and and you are ready to cook. No oil to fill, filter, heat up or cool down or be afraid of, I LOVED this thing. And I don't have to buy oil every time I want to use it, that's a big savings right there!
Perhaps the biggest advantage of the Big Easy, besides the quick cooking time, is that your oven is now completely at your mercy! You can make extra stuffing, fresh pies, all the squash you might want, rolls and whatever else your Thanksgiving meal demands and still have a delicious turkey cooked perfectly that you hardly have to fool with. I checked on my turkey several times yesterday but it was pretty much hands off.



 I think I was more worried about running out of propane than I was about taking care of the turkey. And on a propane note, my tank was NOT full, I'd estimate I had MAYBE a quarter tank left and I never ran out. I sent my husband to get another full tank just in case but I didn't use it. Had I used my grill for two hours my 1/4 tank of propane would have been long gone. So while I can't say it went light on the gas I definitely felt like I got a by on very little.

And finally the taste, heavenly. Juicy, crispy ALL the way around no mushy part that sat in pan juices for six hours. It was a perfectly cooked bird. All the juices ran down in to drip pan that can be fitted with little foil pans. If you want the best gravy ever, just take those drippings, boil them hard reduce the heat and add a cup of two of milk mixed with  some flour. Whisk this over medium heat not boiling just cooking until thickened, then cook another 2 minutes or so. My husband said this was the best gravy he'd ever had. Hmmpf!

All in all a great experience, thanks FoodBuzz Tastemaker Program and Char-Broil, we love the Big-Easy and can't wait to try some ribs, a prime rib roast and a LOT of roasted vegetables.

Peace and Love--

Just Another Meatless Monday #34 Mexican Lentils

This week rolls out another vegan lentil recipe, with a cumin, chili powder twist topped with fresh salsa. I was really looking for a way to use up a grocery bag of tomatoes I have ripening in my pantry and didn't have time to make beans. The lentils cooked up quick and were a handy substitute for beans on a cold windy day. I'm adding a simple salsa recipe too, just in case you don't already have one.

Mexican Lentils
2 TBSP oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
2 TBSP cumin
1 TBSP chili powder-or to taste
2 cups red lentils
4 cups water
1 TBSP tomato paste
pinch of red pepper flakes
salt to taste

saute the onion in the oil over medium high heat in a medium sauce pan for 5 minutes
you're not trying to brown them just cook them down
add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds
add the cumin, toast for another 30 seconds
add the rest of the ingredients stirring to combine well making sure to scrape and brown bits off the bottom of the pan
bring to a boil reduce heat and simmer 25 minutes or until the lentils are cooked through
serve topped with fresh salsa

Fresh Salsa
1 sweet onion, peeled and cut in chunks
1/2 clove of garlic
1/2 cup packed fresh cilantro

4 fresh ripe tomatoes, cleaned and quartered
1/2 a fresh lemon
salt to taste

in a food processor pulse together the onion, garlic and cilantro
add the tomatoes and pulse until chopped to your preference
pour into a bowl add fresh lemon juice and salt to taste
serve immediately or refrigerate until needed
this recipe can be doubled and tripled easily





Peace and Love--

You CAN Make Sausage in your Food Processor

I've been wondering for a while if I could and the answer is resoundingly YES. Yes, you can make sausage in your food processor. I have, it's quick and easy to make too. We harvested turkeys last weekend and I had one in the fridge skinned and ready to use. We had a couple meals off of it but I was ready to get it gone. I was contemplating what do with it beyond just boning and freezing or cooking and using the meat when sausage crossed my mind.

I don't have a big electric meat grinder just an old fashioned crank handle variety which I LOVE but don't want to drag out at 11am on a Wednesday for a small batch of sausage. And I really wondered if a food processor would chop meat well enough to be called sausage so food processor it was!

I started with about a pound of fresh turkey meat, a good mix of white and dark meat to ensure the sausage wasn't too dry. I cut it into pieces about 2 inches by 2 inches so I didn't give my food processor a heart attack. I wanted a simple Italian style sausage so I added about 6 dried sage leaves, a crumble (1-2 tsp) of oregano, 2 inch sprig of fresh rosemary, a good dash of salt and pepper and whirled away. The food processor damned near threw itself into the sink when it first started in and the cat slunk off to hide from the racket. I pulsed it a few times after firmly bracing my arm against the machine and when it seemed a bit more stable I held the pulse button down and let it work. I'd say in total I let it run 30-45 seconds.

This produced a beautiful coarsely 'ground' turkey sausage for me. I planned to use it right away so I didn't freeze it or put it casing, but you could do either one. I used it tonight to make lasagna and even my kids who:

• don't care for meat, but eat it because mama made it

and

• don't like to eat their turkeys

loved it.

So yes the experiment went well. I hope someone else tries it and lets me know how their small batch sausage making goes. I think I'll try again next week, we'll be getting our half of a pig, although I may be making BIG BATCH sausage then.

I linked this to:



Peace and Love--

Thrifted Sunday on Wednesday

OK so I'm NOT completely caught up from my trip yet but I am trying valiantly to get there. I finanlly put my suitcase away, which seems silly because I'll be gone again in two weeks. Yes, Yes I am going to the FoodBuzz Festival, thankyouverymuch. I wish I had a private jet to get me there or thousands of airline miles but next year I'll have a free ticket. I'm not caught up which is why I'm throwing a thrifted post your way on a Wednesday, not Sunday.

Unlike Selena of Apron Thrift Girl, I DID go thrifting in San Francisco while there for BlogHer Food. We hit up Irvin, Mr. Jack Honky, and forced him to tell us where the thrift stores in the Mission were but then Biggie came to our rescue and actually drove us to two stores. OK how cool that the stores are even open on Sunday, channeling my small town girl amazement there, sorry. So we shopped quickly and I found two books that turned out to be VERY HEAVY (because long story short I left them in Biggies car and had to carry them ALL over the city the next day, DAMN those books!) and two little pieces of Christmas kitsch.

Then I want to show off my husband's treasure:

A Motion Computing tablet, one of the best for free hand drawing apparently. We already listed it on ebay to help offset some traveling expenses.

Have you been thrifting lately? What are you looking for? I need pants for a 7 year old, specifically pants made for a 7 year that will fit him. Seems like the manufacturers don't really make pants for that age group, they are either the 4-7s that are too short and tight or the 8-18s which are about teenager size. **sigh** If they could make them indestructible that would be keen, too.

I'm linking in to Apron Thrift Girl Thrift Share Monday, check her out!

Peace and Love-

Your Conviction is Your Power

There were times in the last 18 months when I wondered if our charter school would ever get off the ground. I had doubt and fear and naysayers in my heart. I often spoke these out loud to the board just to get them out there, I needed to hear we were all scared and feeling that way. They were very good at filling me with peace and sending me back out into the world full of conviction. Each time I came to them with worries and concerns they were able to give me an objective view and either tell me the worries were silly or help me understand what was really the trouble.

My fears and doubt were along these lines, what if we don't get school board approval? What if our charter is not written right? what if we completely mess this up? will my kids like the school? what about my family? friends? what if we tried and failed?

That's a big one what if we failed to build and bring in to existence our Waldorf inspired charter school. What if I looked like a fool for trying and failing. Would I want to stay in this community if we didn't make a go of it. Would I continue homeschooling because public school as we know it, is not an option.

But then I needed to hear from these wise women was what if we don't fail? What if we succeed? I needed to hear those words. In that moment I saw my fears crumbling away and I knew they were right. They meant don't even go there in your head, only focus on the school getting over all the bureaucratic hurdles and getting started because that's where we are going. 


I heard these words last week from a pretty powerful speaker at BlogHer Food, Penny de los Santos. When she felt uncertain she asked her brother "what if I fail?" and he asked her back "but Penny what if you succeed?" And that gave her the freedom to go ahead with her first free lance photography job. She took a chance, jumped in with both feet and never looked, back her photography is amazing, I'm so glad her brother questioned her fear!

Are you fed up with something? Why are you not doing something about it? Don't let fear rule your life. You can do big things, anyone can. When you stop listening to the voices that say no-don't and you start listening to the ones that say yes-do. Then your conviction becomes your power. And failures become stepping stones.

See this picture?

That's an eagle being chased by a raven. The raven is tired of the eagle hanging around and he's off to do something about it. He is literally chasing the raven away and he didn't stop chasing him until the eagle had left the ravens perceived territory. An eagle as you can see is about 4 times the size of a scraggly old raven but that raven, he was convinced that the eagle had to go. And right there, his conviction was his power.

Peace and Love--

Just Another Meatless Monday #33 Vegan Barbecue Baked Lentils

I can't believe that 6 short months ago I HATED with a burning passion lentils, I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks after all. I have tried and loved red lentils, green lentils and brown lentils. Though I will confess to liking red lentils best, I think it a color thing the green and brown are just PLAIN ugly to look at but I eat them and so do my kids!

I have been thinking of Barbecue Baked Lentils for a while now after tasting them at a school potluck (yeah we have GREAT parents!!) and I finally made them. So glad I did, they were a huge hit, my 6 year old (now 7 year old) ate 3 kid sized bowls, fresh sliced tomatoes with feta and walnuts and a huge mega fresh carrot from the neighbors garden for dinner. I made a double batch so we had leftovers for lunch and still have some put happily away for lunches later this week. You should try these soon!

Vegan Barbecue Baked Lentils
1 TBSP avocado oil or your preferred oil
1 onion, chopped
5 1/2 cups water
2 1/2 cups dry red lentils-use what color you have!
1 can tomato paste
1/2 cup brown sugar-more or less to taste
1/4 cup molasses
1 TBSP vinegar
1 TBSP salt-more to taste
1/4 tsp of Worcestershire sauce
few drops liquid smoke-if desired-really makes them tasty though

heat the oil in a dutch oven over medium heat add the onions and cook for five minutes or so
meanwhile wash the lentils
when the onions have cooked for five minutes add the water and scrape up any browned bits
bring water to a boil add the lentils and all the rest of the ingredients
bring back to a boil
remove from heat
cover and bake in a 350˚ oven for 45 minutes to an hour
check halfway through and add more water if needed, mine did I added about 1 extra cup total
taste and adjust salt before serving

I've also linked this up with:




Peace and Love--

A Mad Science Birthday Party-Baked Alaska Recipe

When my 6 year old son heard about the Baked Alaska Recipe we had to make for our UL and the Side of Safety contest last week he was instantly smitten. A dessert all about his home state, or maybe it was the fact that it was devoid of frosting(child hates frosting, FREAK!), or flamed, or baked ice cream or whatever it was he was determined to have one today for his seventh birthday party. I tried to sound enthusiastic but damn I was a little, um worried, but promised to try one, and secretly cringed.

The party was loosely based on Mad Science and included lots of things being blown up. I was a kitchen wench and stayed inside MOST all of the time, eating making salsa, drinking coffee cleaning up and in general staying warm busy. First the boys had an all out foam sword battle to warm them up, then mentos soda explosions, building model rockets, launching model rockets, dinner, The Absent Minded Professor movie, 'cake' and presents. They were tired, dirty, full and thoroughly beaten by the time they left. Another great party!

Making a Baked Alaska was truly not that hard, was easily broken down into steps with lots of time between each step, and looks pretty impressive when down. I'm going to say a stand mixer is a great thing to have for this recipe because you can make the meringue and walk away, plus your arm won't go numb from holding a mixer for 10 minutes or so. That being said OF COURSE you can use a hand mixer for the meringue.

Baked Alaska
plan for at least one day of work time to allow the layers to be completed
1 8-9 round cake easy recipe to follow
1 gallon of ice cream-you'll use less but have this much just in case you need it
1 recipe for meringue

find a nice bowl with an opening as wide as the round cake pan you are using
line the bowl with plastic wrap
let the ice cream soften slightly
then pack the bowl full of ice cream
cover with more plastic wrap and freeze about 8 hours
freeze the remaining ice cream for another use

when the ice cream is hardened remove it from the freezer to let it warm up a bit
meanwhile place the round cake on the cake plate-I used a pizza pan so I could run it under the broiler safely
invert the ice cream and layer it on the cake

put this back in the freezer for as long as you need to all that is left to do is add the meringue and brown it
10 minutes before show time turn the oven on to broil 500 degrees
remove the cake and ice cream combo from the freezer
'frost' the dessert with the meringue and then pop it under the broiler for 2 minutes
to brown up
alternately use a kitchen torch and evenly brown all around
to serve use a sharp knife and slice at the table to quickly serve your guests


Simple Chocolate One Layer Cake
oven 350˚

1 1/3 cup flour-(I used whole wheat figuring that the cake would be frozen and it would also need to be sturdy enough to hold 1/2 a gallon of ice cream)
1/4 cup cocoa powder-more to taste
2/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
 2/3 cup of milk
1/4 softened butter
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
preheat oven to 350˚
generously grease a 8-9 inch round cake pan
mix the dry ingredients
add the wet, stir until combined
then mix on high for one minute
pour into a greased round cake pan
bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick insert into middle comes out clean
cool in the pan for 10 minutes
then remove and cool completely
wrap loosely until ready to use
This is a wonderful quick cake that can be used in a myriad of ways, add bananas and chocolate sauce for a fun banana split treat, or caramel sauce and whipped cream, fresh fruit, the list can go on and on.

Easy Meringue

5 egg whites
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon vanilla-use real it's the right thing to do
2/3 cup of sugar
put the egg whites, cream of tartar and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer
beat using a wire whisk until soft peaks form
continue beating while slowly adding the sugar
beat until stiff peaks form
this is an easy to make meringue that can easily be made ahead and left to make itself in the stand mixer while you get other things ready
it will even sit nicely for ten minutes or so
use as needed

The party was great, the food was great, the science was explosive and the Baked Alaska rocked. It was pretty neat to serve a frozen and cooked dessert to a group of 11 boys, they all seemed to appreciate the irony of broiled ice cream cake.

Peace and Love--

2010 BlogHer Food Swag Winner!

First of all I would like to say that ALL the 'swag' I got from BlogHer Food was GIVEN to me, none was stolen or obtained by illicit means. Someone left me a comment that said the dictionary definition was: MY dictionary defines "swag" as: property obtained by theft or other illicit means...hmmmm. Nope all obtained legally I PROMISE. 


Some folks go to conferences JUST for the swag I see it as a side benefit, I'm getting something in ADDITION to the sessions, networking, parties and general fun. I'm learning and getting some free goodies or ahem lots of free goodies. So many I decided to share, again!

The winner of my some of my swag and a BEAUTIFUL Piral 2 1/2 quart sauce pan is:
Tabitha of Double the Garlic and she said...
I really enjoy the open honesty you share on your blog. I like the creativity you show with your family too!

Oh SO SWEET!  I loved all the nice things you guys had to say about me, it made me feel great with each comment. So Tabitha, drop me an email with your address so I can send out your package o'goodies!

I want to leave you with a picture of me at the Berringer Wine Party with the Deen Brothers, geesh I'm way in the back behind some TALL goddess (Recipe Girl) I'm seriously NOT used to being shorter than anyone. And those Deen Brothers can they get ANY CUTER?!

Peace and Love--

My BlogHer Food Recap

After the big win on Thursday night with the UL and their Side of Safety event I wondered if perhaps the rest of the trip might be less rewarding. I shouldn't have though. The first morning I met up with my friends Carol and Selena and their friends and had breakfast. Selena is gluten free and while I had never considered this as a problem for me when we went to Chez Panisse I realized how much this MUST be a problem for other gluten free folks. BlogHer in their infinite brilliance set up a completely gluten free buffet area so anyone who was gluten free didn't have to worry about cross contamination. It was a lovely thought, I appreciated it and would even have been happy to have EVERYTHING gluten free.

Friday I was slated to speak during the early afternoon values track. I spent the first morning session alternating between thoroughly enjoying my beginning photography session and scared witless about speaking in front of people.

Lunch was meh as far as food choices went but I was completely too nervous to eat. I don't think I ate more than 3 bites of pasta and a bowl of soup so can I tell how it was? No, not really. The soup was good, the pasta had a new Kraft Cooking Cream sauce which would make a nice alternative to cream of mushroom soup in casseroles, if you like that sort of thing. I slunk off to the bathroom to collect myself for a while before I headed into my session.

I met Mrs. Q. first off outside the meeting room getting prepped for not having her photo taken, she totally set me at ease. I don't know what she said or if she said anything at all but after meeting her and then instantly meeting up with the moderator, the smooth Elaine Wu, I was set. I stuttered through my first five minutes then settled comfortably into an hour and a half of talking about why we feed our kids crap, how we can change that and WHY we should. I loved every minute of it. The other 2 panelists were: Diana of Dianasaur Dishes who teaches folks in her hometown how to cook the real foods offered by food banks and blogs about eating low cost yummy meals and Mrs. Q. who is spending a year eating a school lunch in America (poor thing). Both wonderful blogs and I HIGHLY recommend following them.

Saturday was another HOT and beautiful day I spent the morning session between two panels that I enjoyed a lot. But the big thrill was going on a scavenger hunt with Flavorstitch author Selena at the ferry building. We basically JETTED off the bus and I drug her high and low around the ferry building on Foodspotting's Savory Scavenger hunt list. We finished it so fast we also did the Sweet Scavenger Hunt and still had time for lunch. The prizes for each were 500 dollars and 250 dollars respectively. They called the winners after the last session with beautiful and amazing Penny de los Santos and before the closing conversation with Gluten Free Girl Shauna, Molly Wizenburg and Michael Ruhlman about the heart and soul of a chef. Selena and I decided to split the winnings whatever they may be so we would have a better chance of winning. After 3 cards were drawn and they were NOT ours I was pretty sure we wouldn't win. They drew the Savory Scavenger hunt last and when they drew Selenas business card she screamed. LOUDLY. In my ear. I think it stunned me and I didn't immediately realize we HAD WON a 500 dollar shopping spree from cooking.com, wow of course we are splitting it because Selena ROCKS and did not take it back immediately upon winning. ( I love that girl!)

Selena, Me and Heather

So my impression of BlogHer Food is this, I WON, I CAN SPEAK IN PUBLIC AND I'M A WINNER. WIN WIN WIN. Some like to complain about national sponsors and to them I say if you can put on a show without national product sponsors I say invite me. Otherwise shut up and have another cookie.

cookie mecca

Yes the egos were there, some earned, some deserved and some should jump in a lake. I take about as much crap from lame bloggers who need to socially climb and use me as I do from my kids, that is to say NONE. I don't have time for that, I have a message and dammit I have prizes to win!

Party(s) recap tomorrow. I think. I'll try. I swear

Peace and Love--

BlogHer Food ReCaps**UPDATED** 17 links

BlogHer Food 2010. The goods. The swag. The fugly. 

1. Fab Frugal Foodie  Top 10 Highlights From BlogHer Food
2. OMG Yummy OMG BlogHerFood 
3. my write up Underwriters Labratory and a Side of Safety
4. my write up Swag For You! (giveaway post)
5. Mrs Q. Fed Up With Lunch Revelations
6. Flavorstitch Food on the Mind 
7. Mom Food Project BlogHer Food, Wild Rice Salad and Tossing Things Together
8. 5 Second Rule Etiquette
9. Will Write For Food BlogHer Food The Love Fest 
10. Wenderly BlogHer Food 10 Spoken Through Photos 
11. VirgoBlue BlogHer Food and I come full Circle 
12. HP Photo Booth link 
13. Charlie Bakes BlogHer Food Report 
14. Wendolonia BlogHer Food 10 Overview
15. The Italian Dish 
16. Two Peas and Their Pod 
17. Use Real Butter 
18. Flavorstitch 
19. Dine and Dish 

So I am heading home today. I will have limited wifi but keep the links coming and I will be adding them as wifi permits either on the plane or in the airports.

Peace and Love--

Just Another Meatless Monday #32

I got nothing. I need it mighty bad though folks, I'm on a food bender. At least it feels that way, I think it's because I haven't eaten out in a restaurant more than 3 times this year, until now that it is. It feels like ALL I'm doing is eating in restaurants now. I'm not going to complain because it has been nice to NOT cook but now I'm ready to head home and get inspired. Inspire me now please!!

Just Another Meatless Monday Blog Hop:

• grab the turkey button or link back in your blog post
• leave a link to your post only
• new or old posts work fine
• check out some new to you blogs or old favorites 

Swag for YOU! 10-10-10

BlogHer Food is over although I still have a bit of time to wander and figure out how to pack all that swag in my bags and haul it home. CSN, where you can buy anything from dutch ovens to tricycles has a little something something for YOU my lovely readers! And I have a little something something too, SWAG! With sponsors like Nutella, Kraft foods, Pepperridge Farms and Nature's Path you can bet that this conference had a whole lot o' yummy swag and I'm sharing with you!

giveaway

• part 1 SWAG! a mystery bag o' goodies!

• part 2-- Piral Terracotta 2 1/2 quart sauce pan--get this a terracotta pan you can cook on the stove with and in oven!

you know the drill!

• leave a comment telling me what YOU like about Piral cookware
• another for a blogroll
• another for following
• another for tweeting
• another for saying something nice about me--it's true!

This will end the minute I set foot in Alaska Tuesday night! Have fun I love you all and I'm working on a BlogHer Food summary right now, oh well after breakfast and a picnic...


Peace and Love--

Laura

Underwriters Labratory and a Side of Safety

Ever wonder what the tag on your lamp with UL on it means? It means that product has been independently tested for customer safety, simply put it's a safe product to use. I was an odd child, but we know this, I used to check things in my house for the UL tag when I was little. I was fascinated with them, I also liked the swirl in the top of peanut butter.

When I was contacted by the lovely Danika and asked if I might be interested in a UL cooking and safety contest pre-BlogHer Food I was totally interested and stretched my trip out just a wee bit longer so I could join in. I'm so glad I did! It was an absolute blast.

We were whisked away to an artists loft where we sipped a little wine, met up with our cooking teams of other bloggers and learned some safety tips. Like watch your cords, don't let them dangle over the edge of the counter. Always unplug your immersion blender before cleaning it! Cut with your fingers bent under and your knuckles towards the blade instead of finger tips. Heat a pan without oil, then add oil and your _______. Put a wet towel under the cutting board to keep it from slipping. All great tips, they made me wonder how many of those do I follow in my home. Yikes!

A couple things I do practice regularly in my home are my 'mama cooking zone' and 'wash your hands is the first step to cooking with me'. The mama coking zone is the area in front of the stove and 5 feet in either direction, no children, pets, toys, nothing is in that area. It's just too easy to miss something in that area and hurt or get hurt. The hand washing is real hand washing, no alcohol gel and get under your fingernails! I may forget a cord but those are two I'm pretty religious about.

The cooking contest was tonight. We were a team of 6, Me, Kristen Dine and Dish, Maria Two Peas and their Pod, Pam and Maggy Three Many Cooks and The Ivory Hut. AKA The Sizzling Sisters! We rocked the competition. Actually we better than ROCKED it we WON it. Yes we WON. We were so stoked to win after a dismal beginning where we waited and waited for the other teams to pick through the ingredients they wanted to use. But after feeling down, Kristen said hey screw it! stay positive! So we planned a kick ass meal while waiting and by the time we got to choose up, we had our meal plan down.
The only ingredients we HAD to use were:

• fennel in the appetizer or salad--we made caramelized onions and fennel on cucumber crostini w topped by a pan roasted grape tomato
• halibut--ours was a simple pan fried halibut on steam seared asparagus with a roasted red pepper pesto 
• baked Alaska--ours was put together in the freezer and the got knocked over! tragedy averted when some smart lady suggested skewering them, refreezing them and covering them with meringue-I used a sweet little torch to brown them up

caramelized fennel crostini

pan fried halibut

All in all a fantastic evening spent with great new blogging friends and topped off with a great prize. Thanks Underwriters Laboratory, I'll be looking for those tags again and DEFINITELY reviewing my home safety skills.

Peace and Love--