Wilde in the Kitchen

Why Bother? 2012 - Bagels

2012-02-23T06:00:00.001-05:00

Monday morning I walked into work with three bags full of fresh, homemade bagels. I sent around an e-mail to my coworkers and they came by for breakfast. People limiting themselves to a half bagel soon came back for the second half. Some showed up later in the day for a second bagel, wanting to try each of the flavors that I brought in. I don't know whether it was the draw of a homemade treat or that never-dying grad student mentality.

For those of you that don't understand the "grad student mentality," let me explain. Grad students live on a small income and love free stuff. Any free stuff. By the time you hear that there is free food in the building, it's already gone. Grad students are like little piranhas. After five years of perfecting this skill, it never goes away. Former grad students will always find the best free stuff, make friends with them!

Of course I'd like to think that it was the bagels that brought people back for seconds. This past weekend I spent half a day prepping, kneading, rising, boiling and baking two batches of bagels. I decided upon two different recipes, one requiring oil and one a simple dough. Both recipes required quite a bit of hands on time and a lot of flour!

Today I'm sharing the recipe for my blueberry-oatmeal bagels with you (tomorrow we'll have some cherry-coconut beauties). These were the favorite of my two weekend endeavours. Beginning with a traditional bagel recipe, I swapped out some of the bread flour with oat flour. Once the dough came together I poured in a pouch of dried blueberries, they turned the dough a beautiful color.

After a short rise period, the bagels were boiled for a short time in slightly sugared water. A nice egg-wash and sprinkling of rolled oats and the bagels went into the oven. Within a few minutes, the apartment was filled with the sweet smells of yeasty bread. The first batch of bagels wasn't ready until around noon, but that didn't stop me from having one for lunch!

Now the big question, was all the time invested worth the final product? No doubt about it, yes. Store-bought bagels, even some deli-bought bagels, tend to be too tough on the outside and too huge for a normal person. Making your own bagels at home gives you the option to change the flavor, size and texture of the bagels. And really, nothing beats a house that smells like freshly baked bread. It's a bonus.

One Year Ago: Orange Challah French Toast

Blueberry-Oatmeal Bagels

Adapted from Several sources

I decided to change up the original recipe with some oat flour. Be sure not to swap out all of the bread flour with another flour because you need it to develop the gluten in these bagels. Be sure to use dried blueberries, they will rehydrate during the process of making these bagels. There are also a wide variety of dried fruits out on the market now, so feel free to change it up! Mango, apricot, cranberry, your choices are only limited to your grocery stores supply!

1 tbsp instant yeast
2 1/2 cups bread flour
1 1/2 cups oat flour
2 tsp salt
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 1/2 cups lukewarm water

1-3.5 oz package dried blueberries

2 quarts water
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp granulated sugar

1 egg
1 tbsp water
rolled oats

Combine the first 6 ingredients in a large bowl, or bowl of your stand mixer, and mix. Knead for about 10 minutes. Add dried blueberries and knead for 5 more minutes. The dough should be stiff and smack the sides of the bowl.

Coat a large bowl with cooking spray and add dough. Roll the dough ball around to coat it in oil. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and let the dough sit in a warm place for about 1 hour. The dough should be roughly doubled in size.

Grease your work surface with cooking spray and turn dough ball out onto the surface. Divide the dough into 8 equals portions (I used my kitchen scale to weigh out equal lumps of dough). Roll each lump into a ball and loosely cover the balls with plastic wrap. Allow the ball to rise for 30 minutes.

In a wide, shallow pan, combine water with the sugars. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Preheat oven to 425.

To shape the bagels, poke a hole in the middle of each dough ball. Twirl the dough around the index fingers of your two hands until the hole stretches to about 2 inches. Place the newly formed bagel on a parchment or silpat covered baking sheet. Shape the remaining dough balls.

Drop the bagels, 3-4 at a time, into the simmering water. Boil the bagels for 2 minutes and flip over to boil for another minute. Remove from the water bath with a skimmer/strainer and let cool for a few minutes on the parchment-lined baking sheet.

Whisk together egg and water, brush each bagel with the egg wash and sprinkle with rolled oats.

Bake the bagels for 20-25 minutes, or until your bagels are golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a rack.

A Return to Solid Form

2012-02-21T06:00:00.004-05:00

I want to thank you all for sharing your stories of your days in braces. While I'm not looking forward to the next year and a half, I know that it will be all worth it in the end. Sure, I'll spend some time sipping on smoothies and spooning up risotto, but I'll come out of it all with the smile I've always wanted. I'm thinking that we'll have to start monthly smoothie and monthly risotto posts! I'm going to get so good at stirring!

After my orthodontia appointment Wednesday night, I was feeling fine. It wasn't until the next afternoon that I was starting to feel the difference and, as strange as this may sound, I was completely aware of my teeth. Every last one of them. There wasn't pain, just the sensation that I had a whole bunch of teeth in my mouth and that they were trying to move around. After reading a bit about the actual process that occurs during braces, I was happy to know that the worst of it would be over after three days.

Sure enough, come the weekend I was ready to have some (soft) solid foods! I spent the weekend cooking and baking, filling the house with sweet and savory smells. If you were following my crazy series of tweets this weekend, you got a sneak preview of Thursdays bagels. Boyfriend got a cheesey and meaty dinner Sunday night. And I got to break in my new donut pan.

I waited and waited, until I had a good idea of what I wanted to make, before buying a donut pan. I figured that if I didn't have any recipes in mind for the pan, it would just sit in the cupboard and gather dust. Once I collected a bunch of ideas on scraps of papers, boyfriend and I picked up a pan while shopping at Michael's. You can look forward to many donut recipes to come and I'll enjoy eating them all year long, even with my new braces.

One Year Ago: Cherry Turkish Taffy

Banana Bread Donuts

Adapted from Bread Bible

This is an adaptation of one of my favorite banana bread recipes. I increased the amount of flour in order to give the donuts a sturdier texture than the original bread. I like my banana bread with a hint of cinnamon, feel free to add your favorite spices to the mix!

1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 medium, overripe bananas, mashed
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Preheat to the oven to 425 and coat your donut pan with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, beat together oil, sugar, egg and vanilla extract with a whisk. Beat for about 2 minutes, or until the mixture lightens in color. Add bananas and mix. In a smaller bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon, add all at once to the liquids and stir until combined.

Fill the donut shapes about 2/3 full with batter and bake for 9-10 minutes, or until puffed and golden brown. Allow to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes before removing and cooling on a wire rack. Make the glaze while the donuts cool further. Fill your donut pan with more batter and bake, continue until you run out of batter.

Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar
2 tbsp milk
1/8 tsp vanilla extract

Add milk to the powdered sugar and whisk until smooth. Add vanilla extract.

Dip the still warm donut in glaze and allow the glaze to drip down over the donuts. Enjoy!

My Last Meal

2012-02-16T06:00:00.001-05:00

What would you choose as your last meal? Would it be a big, juicy steak with a heaping side of mashed potatoes? Or maybe a creamy asparagus soup topped with crunchy croutons? Perhaps you would go for a large cheese pizza with some chicken wings. Thinking back, I wish I had gone for the pizza and wings, but no, this was my last meal.

No, I'm not dying, but I won't be eating chicken wings any time soon. Yesterday evening I journeyed to the orthodontists office and had my brand new braces affixed to my teeth. Yep, I'm thirty years old and I just got my first ever set of braces.

I always thought that I needed that I needed braces when I was little. It's not that my teeth are crazy out of place, they just need a little rearranging. When I was in middle school, everyone had braces, it was not uncommon for half of the people sitting at your lunch table to have them. I was even a little jealous of this one girls braces, I liked the way she talked with them on her teeth.

When I went to my new New Jersey dentist this past fall, he told me something that I didn't really want to hear, that I would need to wear braces for at least a year. I had just turned thirty the day before and this was not quite the birthday present that I was hoping for. I made appointments with local orthodontists and went over my options. In the end, I told myself that 18-24 months in braces was a small time in comparison to the rest of my life with straight teeth, so I scheduled my appointment.

Tuesday night I cooked boyfriend and I a lovely Valentine's day meal, pasta smothered in a creamy sauce along with crusty bread and a chocolatey dessert. This would be my last real meal until my braces come off.

Now, with my new ice-clear braces adhered to my teeth, I dust off my smoothie cookbooks, buy cans of oatmeal and jars of arborio rice. I'm ready to perfect my egg-making skills and become an expert in panna cotta preparation. I'm also reaching out to all of you, you former wearers of braces, for your favorite food options! Help me out in my time of need!

One Year Ago: English Muffins

Pasta with Gorgonzola Cream Sauce

A Wilde Original

1 lb farfalle pasta
1/2 lb chicken breast tenders
2 tbsp olive oil
salt & pepper
1/2 tsp dried thyme
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
1 cup skim milk
1/2 cup gorgonzola cheese
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
3 cups spinach

Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Cook pasta according to package directions, until al dente.

Place chicken in a zip-top bag and add olive oil, salt, pepper and thyme. Smoosh around until chicken is coated in oil and spices. Grill on your outdoor grill or stovetop grill pan until cooked through. Remove to a cutting board and allow to sit for ten minutes before cutting into pite-sized pieces.

While pasta is cooking, melt butter over medium-low heat. Add flour and stir to combine with the butter. Stir and cook for 2 minutes. Whisk in milk and cook over medium-low heat until the mixture thickens. Add cheeses and whisk until smooth.

Drain pasta, reserving 1 cup of the pasta water. Return pasta to the pot and add chicken, cream sauce and spinach. Stir to coat and add a little of the pasta water to loosen up the mixture. Top with the lid and heat over medium-low heat until spinach wilts. Spoon out a large bowl for yourself and your favorite person!

Sneaky Valentine's Day

2012-02-14T06:19:00.000-05:00

Happy Valentine's day everyone! Have you had your fill of pink, hearts and little cupid angels? Somehow I missed out on this holiday. Heading to the store this weekend I saw mostly St. Patrick's day decorations and candies. Between visiting my parents two weekends ago and moving last weekend, January came and went without so much as a snowstorm.

I have done very little to prepare for this love-centric day. I made no chocolate-covered strawberries, no raspberry covered chocolate mousse, no heart-shaped cookies. I haven't even planned a wonderful dinner for boyfriend yet! It will most likely be a last-minute, what can I make with the stuff in the fridge, kind of meal. I think that as long as I avoid pork, sweet potatoes, shrimp and fruits, he'll like it.

This Valentine's day is a special one for boyfriend and I. It's the first February 14 that we will get to spend together as a couple and we've been together for nine years. I suppose that I should make this a special holiday... Maybe I'll stop at the bakery in Penn station and get him a box of cookies. We can enjoy the cookies with some hot chocolate and peppermint marshmallows.

One Year Ago: Homemade Butterfinger Bars

Chocolate-Peppermint Marshmallows

Adapted from Marshmallows

These marshmallows are light and fluffy and give an amazing flavor to hot chocolate! Once completed, these need to be kept in an air-tight container. The addition of the peppermint flavor makes these guys suck up the cocoa coating, you'll need to toss them in the coating just before serving or giving away.
Marshmallow base

1/2 cup water
1 1/4 cup corn syrup
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar

Cocoa Slurry

1/2 cup Dutch process cocoa powder
2/3 cup boiling water

Bloom

4 packets gelatin, I used Knox
1/2 cup cold water
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp peppermint flavor (use flavor, not extract. I like Spice Islands)

Extras

2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

Coating

1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/2 cup cornstarch

Coat a 9x13-inch baking pan with cooking spray. Using a napkin, wipe out excess oil.

In a 2-quart pot, combine ingredients for the marshmallow base. Stir to mix all of the ingredients and place over medium heat. Brush down any sugar crystals with a wet pastry brush and clip on a candy thermometer. Cook until the temperature reaches 260, do not stir at this time! The sugar syrup will self stir while boiling.

While the sugar syrup is boiling, mix together the cocoa slurry in a small bowl. Also, mix together ingredients for the gelatin bloom. Once the sugar syrup reaches 260, remove from the heat and stir in gelatin bloom. Once gelatin is dissolved in, add cocoa slurry. Transfer to a mixing bowl and whip for 20 minutes on high. You might need to throw a towel over the bowl for the first few minutes, as this mixture will splatter.

At the 15 minute mark, melt semi-sweet chocolate chips in a medium bowl. At the twenty minute mark, add 1 cup marshmallow batter to the melted chocolate and fold to incorporate. Add this back to the main mixing bowl and fold to mix. Pour into prepared pan and cover loosely with a sheet of foil. Allow to set for 4 hours or overnight.

Combine ingredients for the coating and place in a large bowl. Remove marshmallow slab from the pan and coat with some cocoa coating. Using a sharp knife, cut slab into 1-inch square marshmallows. Toss marshmallows in coating and EAT THEM ALL! Maybe share some with your friends.

Sweet Sunday

2012-02-12T19:17:00.001-05:00

Hi Everyone, I hope that your weekend treated you well! Boyfriend and I ventured into the city today for a macaron class (more on that later) then made our way in the chilly cold to S'Mac (our favorite comfort food place!). If I had known that it would be this cold today, I would have scheduled the class for another weekend. Really, any other weekend this winter would have been warmer! Since I booked the class in September, I really had no idea how the weather would be. At least spring is on its way!

Since it's Sunday and I'm cold, I'm going to leave you with this delicious cookie recipe. Then I am going to climb under a pile of blankets, snuggle up to boyfriend on the couch and try to steal all his body heat. Stay warm out there fellow freezing friends!

One Year Ago: Cinnamon Rolls

Sugar Cookies

Adapted from Gerard Mulot

This cookie recipe is actually a pate sablee recipe (pastry) from the chocolate tart I made two weeks ago. I meant to make the chocolate pate sablee for my parents, but they were out of cocoa powder. Replacing the same number of grams of cocoa powder with flour gave a fabulously sweet and moist crust and cookie. Currently I only have the measurements in grams (but weighing out your ingredients is so much easier and more accurate, right!???), but I will add the cups and tbsp measures later this week.

This cookie was moist and light with a great crunch. It paired so well with the marshmallow fondant
and the whole thing just melted in your mouth. Make these cookies right away!

358 g (12.67 oz) all-purpose flour

226 g (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
143 g (5 oz) confectioners sugar
49 g (1.75 oz) almond flour
1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt

In a large bowl, mix butter, sugar and salt. Once combined, scrape down the sides of the bowl and add almond flour and vanilla. Mix to combine. Add eggs, mix. Finally add the flour and mix until everything just comes together. Try to work fast so that the butter doesn't melt. Form into a disk and wrap up in plastic wrap. Place in the fridge and allow to chill for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. After the hour, roll out to 1/4-inch thickness, stamp out shapes with cookies cutters (I used a 3-inch scalloped circle) and place on a non-stick baking sheet. Place in the fridge to cool for at least 30 minutes, this will keep the cookies from puffing up and losing their shape.
Bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack before adding your desired frosting.

Why Bother? 2012 - Fondant

2012-02-11T10:23:00.002-05:00

Sorry for the delay in this challenge post, my kitchen was all in boxes from our move! Believe me when I say, this was worth the wait!

Fondant is a strange concept. When explaining what I was making to my friends and coworkers, they were all confused. They asked "What is fondant?" "Is it that stuff you peel off of wedding cakes?" "Why would I want to eat solid frosting?" Those who watch too much Food Network knew exactly what I was talking about, most were still confused until I brought in the goodies.

I'm sure you've all had an experience with fondant. Generally it covers wedding cakes and has a minimal amount of flavor. Mostly sugary, sweet, stretchy and tough, most people I see at weddings have removed the outer shell of the cake to eat the insides. So I wondered, does fondant have to taste so gross?

I looked through several of my cake cookbooks, searched the internet and read through old baking magazines until I found two different fondant recipes. Traditional fondant, made with gelatin and glycerin as additives, is pegged as the trickier version to make. Marshmallow fondant, made with marshmallows and powdered sugar, is billed as the "everymans" fondant recipe. I found this to be exactly the opposite.

I started the day with making the marshmallow fondant. The recipe calls for melting an entire bag of mini marshmallows in the microwave. Once the mini mallows are melted you pour in almost a whole 2 pound bag of powdered sugar and start mixing. Then comes the messy part, you have to knead all of the sugar into the marshmallows, by hand. Even with repeated greasing of my hands with shortening, I was a big mess. The fondant was sticking to everything it touched. It took a good fifteen minutes to incorporate all of the sugar into the marshmallow and form a smooth fondant. My arms were tired.

Once the marshmallow fondant was safely in a zip-top bag, I started with the traditional recipe. The most difficult thing required of me was to microwave some gelatin in water. The remainder of the hard work was complete by my stand mixer. Everything mixed together much more easily that in the marshmallow recipe and required only two minutes of hands on kneading to finish.

You might be wondering if there was a difference in the outcome of the two recipes. First, they both rolled and shaped easily. Other than a modest color difference (the traditional fondant was pure white, while the marshmallow fondant was slightly off-white), I found no physical difference in the recipes. The major difference came with the taste.

The marshmallow fondant tasted just like a marshmallow, like vanilla. I used this fondant to cover the cookies and they were a smash hit. People were raving about how good the fondant was and how delicious the cookies were (Click here for the cookie recipe). The traditional fondant had the same texture, it was just almond-flavored (because I added almond extract). I enjoyed the fact that I could flavor the fondant with whatever extract or oil that I wanted. Imagine chocolate cake, covered in mint fondant or red velver cake covered in cheesecake flavored fondant. So many possibilities!

In the end, I think that I preferred the traditional fondant recipe for two reasons. 1. The ease of preparation. This fondant came together so much quicker and cleaner than the marshmallow fondant. 2. The flavor. Being able to add different flavors to the fondant open up a whole world of possibilites.

I don't think that I will be buying prepared fondant in the future. Comparing all three recipes, the store-bought stuff comes out as a definite loser.

One Year Ago: Mustard glazed chicken & Glazed carrots

Marshmallow fondant

Adapted from several internet sources

If you want a sweet, vanilla-flavored fondant, go with this recipe. It can be made with items that are easily located in your grocery store. Just be ready to get sticky! This recipe is not for kids :) (I'm sure that you can add flavoring to this recipe as well, just add less water)

1 - 16 oz bag mini marshmallows (buy a brand that you would eat by themselves)
1 - 2-lb bag powdered sugar
2-5 tbsp water
1/2 cup vegetable shortening

In a large, microwave-safe bowl, combine marshmallows and 2 tbsp water. Microwave at 30-second increments, stirring in between, until the marshmallows are all melted.

Remove from the microwave and add 1.5 lb of the powdered sugar. Stir in the sugar with a wooden spoon. Once it is combined, grease your hands and countertop thoroughly. Dump the contents of the bowl onto the countertop and start kneading. Add the remaining 1/2-lb of sugar to the mix and keep kneading. Grease your hands and counter as needed, to keep everything from sticking too much. If the fondant is really dry, add water in 1 tbsp increments. Keep kneading until everything comes together into a smooth, elastic ball.

Grease the ball of fondant and put the fondant into a large zip-top bag. Try to remove as much air as possible and allow the fondant to sit for at least 8 hours before using.

Traditional fondant

Adapted from several internet sources

While simpler to make, this recipe requires you to have glycerin. I found my glycerin at Michael's Arts & Crafts in the cake decorating section, although I'm sure you can find it online as well.

1 tbsp gelatin
1/4 cup cold water
1 tsp almond extract
1/2 cup corn syrup
1 tbsp glycerin
2-lb bag powdered sugar (10x)
1/2 tsp vegetable shortening

In a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water and allow to bloom for 5 minutes. Microwave on high for 30 seconds to dissolve the gelatin. Add almond extract, corn syrup and glycerin and stir with a whisk.

In the bowl of your stand mixer, add 1.5-lb of the sugar and make a well in the center. Pour in the gelatin mixture and start mixing with the dough hook. As the sugar gets incorporated, add the remaining 1/2-lb of sugar. Stop the mixer a few times to scrape down the edges. Once it all comes together, remove the fondant from the bowl and knead in the 1/2 tsp of shortening. Knead for about 2 minutes, until the ball is smooth and shiny. Seal up in a zip-top bag.

Using your fondant

Dust the countertop, rolling pin and fondant with cornstarch. If you are using the fondant to cover a cake, roll out to 1/8-inch thickness. If you are using it to top cookies, roll out to somewhere between 1/8-1/4-inch thickness, depending on how much frosting you want on the cookies. Stamp out shapes with cookie cutters, or leave in one large piece if you are coating a cake.

To attach fondant to cookies, mix 1 tbsp corn syrup with 1 tsp water. Using a small paintbrush, brush the bottom of the fondant with the corn syrup. Adhere to the cookies and allow to set for at least 1 hour.

To attach to cakes, cover the cake with a thin (1/8 to 1/4-inch) buttercream frosting. Gently transfer the rolled fondant to the cake and smooth out. (I didn't make any full cakes with the fondant, yet...)

Moving on up!

2012-02-07T10:05:00.000-05:00

I am completely wiped out after this weekend. Boyfriend and I spent the weekend moving into a new apartment. That might not sound unusual or especially tiring, except for the fact that we moved from the second floor of our building up to the fourth floor. We did this move over the course of three days.

Day One: Wait, before I get into the details of the moving process I should tell you this - I packed almost nothing prior to our move-in date of February 4th. The morning of day one, we were scheduled to get the keys to our new "penthouse" apartment at 10 o'clock. Not wanting to move on an empty stomach, we did what every moving day person does, we went to Dunkin' Donuts. We filled up on egg and cheese sandwiches and hot beverages. Movers need protein!

Upon receiving the keys, we signed our new lease and went up to our new place. We knew we were moving into an apartment with a slightly different bed/bath layout, but we weren't quite ready for what we saw when we entered the room. The main living area was the exact reverse of our apartment downstairs. This is going to hurt my brain for weeks.

Moving day one was fine, with the exception of our harrowing journey with the couch into the elevator, everything went smoothly. We moved our clothes from the old closet to the new, smaller closet. The bedroom set went from our old, weirdly shaped bedroom to our new, normally laid out one. The couch and TV did make it upstairs without being broken or leaving too many marks on the walls. It was a good move.

We did not have that soup for dinner. Oh no, no. We had Chinese food from the take-out place down the street. The Thai sweet potato soup that you see above was made last week and enjoyed by one and only one person in the apartment, me. Someone doesn't like sweet potatoes. Someone is a weirdo.

Thai Sweet Potato Stew

Adapted from The Vegetarean Times Cookbook

This soup is the perfect wintertime soup. It's spicy and warming. I'm glad that I didn't have to share any of it, because then I would have had fewer delicious lunches! The only item you might have trouble finding in your regular grocery store is lemongrass. I found a small package at Whole Foods, but try your local Asian foods market, or even the specialty section of your produce department. If all else fails, Penzey's spices sells a dried version!

3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
1 tbsp lemongrass, minced
1 tsp chili paste
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp sesame oil
1/2 large white onion, chopped
3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled & cubed
1 cup vegetable stock
1 14-ounce can light coconut milk
dry roasted peanuts

In a mortar and pestle, combine garlic, ginger, lemongrass, chili paste and salt until it forms a paste (if you don't have a M&P, just mince it all together).

Heat sesame oil in a large, deep saucepan (or dutch oven) over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and browned. Add paste from mortar and pestle and stir to heat, about 30 seconds. Add sweet potatoes, stock and coconut milk. Stir and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and put the lid on it. Simmer for 25 minutes, or until your potatoes are fork tender.

Ladle out into your serving bowls and sprinkle with a small handful of dry roasted peanuts.

Afscheid to Europe

2012-02-02T13:23:00.004-05:00

Here we are at last, we've finally made it to Amsterdam. It's been a long journey through the continent (and you even got to sit out our time in Austria and the long drive across Germany!) and The Netherlands is our country of exit. After our time in Venice, boyfriend and I headed through Innsbruck and on to Munich. The Munich airport had a plethora of automatic transmission cars and we were on our way, on the autobahn!

Through Germany we travelled, stopping at castles and small towns, and into Holland, with its speed limit, boo. We drove our tiny little rental car into the heart of Amsterdam and checked into our super cool hotel. The front desk held a dish of stroopwafels, delicious little caramel-filled wafers, which we stole many of during our short stay there.

Boyfriend and I weren't really sure what to expect in Amsterdam, but we were both pleasantly surprised. It's a beautiful city, cross-hatched by canals and green with parks. We passed by more museums than we could possibly visit with a whole week in town. We enjoyed a fragrant walk through the flower market and bought my mom some "blue" tulips (they turned out to be pink when they came up in the spring). We finished up our evening with a table full of Indian food and a late-night stroll through the red-light district. The very next morning we headed off to Schipol airport and back to the United States, with my new cookbooks in tow.

Mmmm, so gouda...

One Year Ago: Orange Chiffon Cupcakes

Poffertjes: Cheese Pancakes

These little guys were packed full of flavor. The recipe suggested I cook them in a poffertjes pan, which I strangely do not have in my American kitchen. Instead, we cooked them like pancakes, on a griddle. Be sure to buy some aged gouda, it's expensive, but it will give you the most flavor. I got some 5-year aged gouda from Wegmans.

400mL (14 oz) milk
1 package dried yeast
200g (7 oz) flour
100g (3.5 oz) buckwheat flour
pinch of salt
1 egg
100 g (3.5 oz) aged gouda, grated

Warm milk until lukewarm. In a small bowl, combine yeast and a small amount of milk. Allow to sit for 5 minutes.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, buckwheat flour and salt. Add yeasty milk, remaining milk and egg. Whisk together until the batter is smooth. Cover loosely in plastic wrap and allow to sit for 1 hour.

Heat a frying pan or griddle over medium heat. Spoon out 1 tbsp batter into small pancakes. Allow to cook until little bubble appear on the tops of the pancakes. Flip and cook for 1 minute more.

Un viaggio attraverso l'Italia

2012-02-01T06:00:00.003-05:00

After our journey through Paris and our trials in getting a rental car, we made our way through Switzerland into Italy via train. We decided that it would be a bad idea to try and learn how to drive a manual transmission car and drive it through the Swiss alps. This was the best decision of our entire trip. While we ended up missing out on a day in Interlocken, we gained so much more time by travelling by train.

Rather than focussing on maps and driving directions, we took our time on the rails to learn about our next destination, play games and talk with fellow travellers. We travelled through the mountains, skirted lakes and pulled into Venice, from our window seats.

After we checked our luggage at the baggage drop, we made our way through the winding streets of Venice. A pair of American tourists gave us their vaparetto passes (their friends gave us a second pair, which we passed along to a couple on their honeymoon), which allowed us access to the Venice boat busses.

We rode the vaparetto along the grand canal and under the Rialto bridge, passed by gondolas and ancient churches. As the grand canal opened up into the lagoon boyfriend turned to me and "This is completely surreal." Even though we had seen so many famous landmarks, climbed an unbelievable amount of stairs and taken hundreds of photos, this was truely a surreal moment.

Of all the days we spent travelling across the continent, I remember that day in Venice so vividly. Our walk around Piazza San Marco, the amazing mushroom tortellini from a hidden bistro and the hazelnut gelato we ate while watching a crazy house dog, all combined for a perfect day in such a unique city. It would have been a perfect day, had our hotel not given away our room and sent us to the Hotel Marco Polo.

At least it has one redeeming quality, it's PINK!

Brining memories home with mushroom ravioli

One Year Ago: Caramel Thumbprints

Ravioli di taleggio con salsa alle spugnole

1 lb chicken breast
olive oil
salt & pepper
1 large package cheese ravioli (5 servings)
6 ounces oyster mushrooms (or morels), roughly chopped
1 shallot, minced
2 tbsp butter
1/2 cup chicken stock
chives & chervil

Coat chicken breasts with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill chicken until cooked through. Remove from the grill and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Chop into bite size pieces.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add ravioli and cook according to package instructions. They tend to cook fast, to prepare the sauce while the water is coming to a boil.

In a large skillet, heat butter over medium heat. Add shallot and stir to coat in butter. Saute shallots until fragrant. Add mushrooms and stir to coat in butter, saute until mushrooms soften and reduce in size. Add chicken broth and cook until the volume is reduced by half.

Drain pasta and return to the pot, add chicken and mushroom sauce. Add fresh chives and chervil (I could only find dried chervil) and stir to combine.

Bonjour Paris!

2012-01-31T06:34:00.000-05:00

If I can give you any advice about Paris, it is this. Do not wait until the day before you need a car, to try and rent one, especially an automatic. If you wait until the last moment, you will find that there isn't a single automatic car in the entire city of Paris. But this advice is for the end of our trip through the city of light, the beginning is so much more fun.

Boyfriend and I set out from London to Paris via train, arriving in Gare du Nord. Then it was time to put my French to its test. Beginning in the fifth grade, I started learning the French language. I continued through college and collected a base knowledge and limited fluency of French. One thing was true, I was much better at reading French than speaking it. At least this meant we could find our way from the train station to our hotel on the outskirts of Paris.

My grasp of the French language seemed to fool some people, but mostly I would speak in French and be spoken to in English. Apparently, I need a little more practice. We did manage to find our hotel, navigate the train system back to the city center and find our way down the Champs Elysee to the Arc de Triomphe. We made it to the top of the monument just before the Tour Eiffel burst out in a thousand sparkling lights.

Now, how about a little nostalgia? Shortly after we returned from Europe, I received an e-mail from my mom with the following scan attached.

In French class, way back in middle school, I wrote this itinerary. My mom wanted to know what I could cross off my list. Four down, three to go. With only three days in Paris (and half of one spent looking for a rental car), we couldn't quite get to everything on the list. I'll practice my French and plan for our next trip to Paris, so that I can finish my list. Although maybe I'll switch out "Visit EuroDisney" with "Take a trip to Versailles."

One Year Ago: Cranberry Celebration Bread

Tarte au Chocolate au Lait

(Milk Chocolate Tart)

Adapted from Gerard Mulot

Heading to Paris and in search of les macarons? Sure you've heard of Laduree and Pierre Herme, but I suggest you head to the Latin Quarter and go find Gerard Mulot. You might even find the man himself at his Saint-Germain-des-Pres location, like I did! We had a nice conversation (in French since he told me he didn't speak any English!) and he even signed my cookbook. Everything that I have made from this book is delicious and the pastries that we purchased from this patisserie were both beautiful and mouth watering.

Pate sablee chocolat (chocolate pastry)

Less like pie crust and more like a cookie crust. It melts in your mouth and would be delicious with any no-bake filling.

339 g (12 oz) all-purpose flour
226 g (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
143 g (5 oz) confectioners sugar
19 g (2 tbsp) cocoa powder
49 g (1.75 oz) almond flour
1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt

In a large bowl, mix butter, sugar, cocoa powder and salt. Once combined, scrape down the sides of the bowl and add almond flour and vanilla. Mix to combine. Add eggs, mix. Finally add the flour and mix until everything just comes together. Try to work fast so that the butter doesn't melt. Form into a disk and wrap up in plastic wrap. Place in the fridge and allow to chill for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. After the hour, roll out to 1/8-inch thickness and place in your desired tart pan. (I went with four mini tart pans) Prick the bottom of the tart shell with a fork and line with parchment paper. Add either pie weights or beans to keep the pie from puffing up during baking.

Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack before adding the ganache.

Ganache chocolat au lait

240 g (8.5 oz) milk chocolate (good quality)
200 ml (3/4 cup plus 1 tbsp) heavy cream
2 egg yolks
30 g (1 oz) sugar
10 g (1 tbsp) butter

Chop up chocolate with a sharp knife. Place in a medium bowl and set aside.

Pour heavy cream into a small saucepan and heat over medium-low heat. Do not allow it to boil. In a small bowl, beat egg yolks and sugar until combined. Slowly add heated cream to egg mixture, stirring continuously. Once all of the cream is added, return the entire mixture to the saucepan. Heat over medium-low and stir until slightly thickened. The liquid should be thick enough that it coats the back of the spatula. When you drag your finger through the layer on the spatula, it stays there and doesn't fade.

Pour the heated mixture over the chocolate and stir to combine. Do not beat the chocolate in, just gently stir. We don't want to incorporate any air bubbles because it will make the chocolate less shiny (according to Gerard). Allow the chocolate to cool for ten minutes before adding butter in small pieces. Stir to melt and combine.

Add chocolage ganache to the cooled tart shell(s). Allow to sit at room temperature before moving to the fridge to set overnight.

Welcome to Europe

2012-01-30T06:37:00.000-05:00

Our trip around Europe in the fall of 2010 began in London, after a harrowing flight from Newark international. We just barely got out of the country before a hurricane pummeled the east coast. In true London fashion, we landed in the middle of a light drizzle which slowly turned into a full out downpour. This would have been fine, except we had decided to walk from the train station to our hotel.

According to the map, it looked like we only had to walk a few blocks to get to our destination. Unbeknownst to us, London blocks are a lot bigger than New York City blocks. They also seem to twist and turn and lead you in the wrong direction. At one point we wound up by Harrod's, trying to find some internet to activate google maps.

We finally made our way to the right street and slowly began making our toward our hotel, checking building numbers as we went. Counting, counting, wait, where's our hotel? We had passed from one building number to a much higher number, skipping our desired number in between. We circled the block, thinking that we just couldn't have missed a huge Marriott hotel. Maybe it was the jet lag, maybe it was the crazy London numbering system (I blame you London!), but had we kept walking to the next block, we would have found the hotel.

Soaked to the bone, we checked into our hotel room. After changing into dry clothes, we headed out to find what we knew was close, Wagamama. Those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about are confused. Those who do know what Wagamama is, understand. Located all over the city, Wagamama tempts you with its noodles, soups and salads. If you are in Boston, you should get yourself to Quincy Market. You'll find Wagamama there.

The soup that I got warmed me through and through. Boyfriends Chicken Katsu curry (his favorite and the only thing he ever orders there) tempted me too. Wagamama fueled us for the crazy trip ahead and brought me my first cookbook of the trip.

Thankfully the rain abated (just after we got to our hotel) and gave us a few beautiful, sunny days in London.
One Year Ago: Buttermilk Cornbread

Raw salad & Wagamama Dressing

Adapted from the Wagamama Cookbook

1 red bell pepper, chopped
4 cups spring mix greens
1 English cucumber, sliced
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

1 shallot, minced
1 1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled & grated
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp ketchup
1 tbsp water
3 tbsp lite soy sauce
100mL (3.5 oz) light olive oil

Toss fresh vegetables in a large bowl. Combine ingredients, shallot to olive oil, in a small bowl and whisk together.

That's about it. It's a salad, you know the rest.

A Culinary Journey Through Europe

2012-01-29T06:00:00.008-05:00

I'm so excited to be a part of the Foodbuzz 24x24 this month! My little dinner party last night was meant to be a culinary journey through Europe, tracing the path of my most recent trip to the continent. In the fall of 2010, boyfriend and I spent almost two weeks travelling by plane, train, taxi, boat, furnicular, gondola and bus. Along they way we ate and ate. We had some of the most wonderful food through our journey and I picked up several souvenirs along the way. Cookbooks.

Our trip through Europe began in London, England and continued through France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Germany and The Netherlands. It was a long and crazy trip, but I came home, exhausted, with cookbooks in several languages. The recipes within their pages would allow boyfriend and I to relive our trip. It was with these recipes that I introduced my family to Europe.

Let's take a walk through Europe!

With these foreign cookbooks, I was able to bring a multi-cultural dinner to my family back home. Originally I had planned on holding this dinner party in our new apartment with new friends from our new town. There was a small hiccup in the plan when I realized that I had to head home, to Buffalo, for the weekend. My dinner party guests would change from friends, to family.

Dinner started off with an English salad. Our main course was an Italian ravioli with mushroom sauce. The Dutch gave us poffertjes, tiny cheese pancakes, packed with major flavor. Our drinks were of German descent (surprise, they are non-alcoholic). And of course, dessert was handled by the French pastry master, Gerard Mulot.

I was a little concerned that the flavors from five different countries wouldn't play well together. Luckily, that wasn't a problem at all. In fact each recipe had a few ingredients from another recipe. Each person had their own favorite item from the menu. Personally, I loved the poffertjes. My mom loved the pasta dish, with its rich mushroom flavor. My brother wanted to eat the entire chocolate tart, while his girlfriend went back for seconds of salad. Dad? He's a big chocolate fan too.

I think my family enjoyed their culinary trip to Europe. If you can't take a European vacation this month, be sure to treat yourself to one (or more) of these recipes. Today you'll find a quick recipe for our German beverage, followed by the remaining four recipes throughout the week.

Come with me on a trip through Europe and enjoy some tasty meals along the way!

Germany

Apple-Spritzer (Apfelschorle)

Germany many be known for Oktoberfest and beer, but my family isn't really the beer-drinking kind. After some recipe searching, I found the apple-spritzer. A popular German soft drink, combining a splash of apple juice with sparkling water. Each person was given a glass and allowed them to mix their desired amount of juice with water. I went heavy on the sparkling water to keep the flavor light.

Natural apple juice

lemon sparkling water (you can use plain)

Combine apple juice and sparkling water in your desired ratio. Prost!

Additional Recipes (links will be active on the listed dates!)

England: Wagamama Salad (1/30/2012)

France: Milk Chocolate Tart (1/31/2012)

Italy: Ravioli with mushroom sauce (2/1/2012)

The Netherlands: Poffertjes (2/2/2012)

Why Bother??? 2012 - Soft Pretzels

2012-01-26T06:00:00.000-05:00

Shopping malls. Sporting arenas. A street corner in New York City. An odd collection of places, but they are some of the only places that you can find a soft pretzel. Sweet and salty, yeasty and warm, soft pretzels are one of the food items that you would rarely think to make on your own. These huge pretzels are among the only reasons that I like going to sporting events. Especially baseball games. I have many memories of sharing a box of soft preztel bites with my mom and these memories also have to do with sporting events too.

Back in the days of the early nineties, the Buffalo Bills were a football team to be reckoned with. In those years, we had Jim Kelly, Bruce Smith, Steve Tasker, Thurman Thomas and Andre Reed, all under the direction of Marv Levy. You'll remember that I am indifferent to football these days, which means that these guys were a big deal, because I remember their names to this day. The dream team went to the super bowl four times in four years. They also had one devoted fan, my dad.

He would hunker down every Sunday in front of the big screen (or the radio) and watch his team fight their way to victory. In the years of the dream team, wins outnumbered losses and it was a happy time. Unfortunately, the dream eventually faded and we were left with a team that was recovering from the retirement of many of its stars. The win-loss record suffered and so did their fans.

In the years of awakening, those sad years after 1995, the Buffalo fans held out hope that their team could rebuild and return to their old glory. Those of you who follow football know this, Buffalo has yet to return to those dream win-loss records. Sundays of those post-1995 years were spent escaping the house, running from the game and hiding from the darkness it brought over the house. Football meant sadness and depression (and yelling and the TV).

To escape the football fog, my mom and I would head out Sunday afternoons. We would hit the mall and shop to our hearts content. Trying on clothes, looking at sparkly jewelry, but mostly just enjoying some time together. At the end of each shopping trip, we would head to the pretzel stand and get a pack of pretzel bites. I'd get the nacho cheese and mom would get the cheddar. These buttery little bites of bread would be the prefect end to our escape day.

The decision to make soft pretzels at this time of the year was motivated by the upcoming Super Bowl. Of the two recipes I tried out, I preferred the buttery mall pretzels. The boiled pretzels just didn't turn out like I wanted them. My verdict on this challenge? It was totally worth it to make these guys. They didn't take nearly as long as I thought they would and were completely delicious. I think that I can skip the mall pretzels now, because these were just as good.

I was unable to replicate the stadium pretzel. This just means that 1. I'll have to keep trying and 2. I'll have to keep going to sporting events until I get it right! Let's go BUFFALO!

Buttery Mall Pretzels

Adapted from King Arthur Flour - The Bakers Companion

These pretzels tasted just like the buttery ones you get at the mall. Perfect when they are hot, they would be even better if I had access to a tub of nacho cheese sauce. Be sure to check out my little video of making the pretzel shape! 30 seconds per pretzel, you'll be done in no time flat.
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
2 1/4 tsp instant yeast
7/8 - 1 cup warm water

Extras
1/2 cup warm water
1 tsp sugar
coarse salt
3 tbsp butter, melted

Mix together the dry ingredients. Slowly add in water until the dough comes together, you may not need to add all of the water. Once all of the flour is incorporated, knead the dough for about 5 minutes.

Coat in a bowl with cooking spray and toss dough in. Roll it around to coat the dough ball in oil. Let the dough sit for 30 minutes, it should approximately double in size.

Preheat your oven to 500.

Lightly coat your work surface with cooking spray. Divide the dough ball into 8 equal portions and allow them to rest for 5 minutes. Roll out each piece into a 28-inch long rope. Form into a pretzel shape (see video!) and carefully dip in a bowl containing 1/2 cup warm water and 1 tsp sugar. Transfer to a baking sheet and sprinkle with salt.

Allow the pretzels to rest for 10 minutes before baking for 10-11 minutes (or until golden brown), rotate pans 180 degrees at the halfway point. Remove pretzels from the oven and coat with melted butter. Use ALL of the butter! That way they taste super delicious!

Boiled Stadium Pretzels

Adapted from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

I think it's the recipe that I went with, but these pretzels didn't come out exactly as I had hoped. They are still crisp on the outside and chewy in the middle, but they lack that dark brown color that you get from the stadium pretzels. While these were tasty, I think that they would make for a better sandwich roll than snack.

You'll also notice that these pretzels are shaped a little differently than the butter ones. These are actually tied in a knot. The knot helps to maintain the pretzel shape during boiling. Had I put the other ones in a pot of boiling water, I would have been fishing out tubes of boiled dough, not pretzels!

1 1/2 cups warm water
3 tsp dried yeast
3 tsp kosher salt
3 tsp sugar
3 cups plus 2 tbsp flour

1 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp cream of tartar
1 egg

Mix together water, yeast, salt and sugar. Let sit for 5 minutes to allow the yeast to wake up (the mixture should start to foam).

In a large bowl, or the bowl of your stand mixer, add the flour and mix in the yeasty water. Using the dough hook attachment, mix until all of the flour is combined. The dough will be very tacky. Loosely cover the mixing bowl and allow the dough to sit at room temperature for 2 hours. You can hold the dough here in the refrigerator or use it right away. It is a little easier to work with when it is cold.

When you are ready to make pretzels, remove dough from the fridge and dust the top with flour. Turn out onto a flour-dusted countertop and be sure it's all covered in a light layer of flour. Cut the dough into 8 portions. Roll each out into a 12-inch rope. To shape the pretzel, tie the rope in a loose knot. Set the pretzel on a parchment (or silpat) lined baking sheet.

Fill a large pot with water, 1 tsp of baking soda and 1 tbsp cream of tartar (it will bubble). Bring the pot to a boil. Preheat oven to 450 F. Working 4 at a time, carefully transfer shaped pretzels into the boiling water. Boil the pretzels for 2 minutes before flipping, boil for 2 more minutes. Transfer pretzels quickly to a flour-dusted towel (to remove some excess water), then onto a baking sheet. Boil the other 4 pretzels.

Beat egg with 1 tbsp water and brush onto each pretzel and sprinkle with salt. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire cooling rack. Eat warm with mustard!

Creamy Vegetable Soup

2012-01-24T06:00:00.001-05:00

I have been trying to decide what to share with you today, then I realized that all of the recipes that I made this weekend either consisted of soup or pretzels. And since pretzels are delegated for Thursdays post, I am giving you some more delicious soup! I have been quickly going through my stock of stocks (hah!) because of one person. Boyfriend.

Boyfriend has come down with some sort of fever-raising, cough-inducing sickness, brought on by the below-human temperatures that exist in his office. I think that many people deal with the same thing at this time of year, especially if you work in an office and most definitely if you work in a lab. These two environments are not good at regulating temperatures. Office buildings are broken up into little rooms and it is unlikely that there will be a heat register in each office. This means that some offices are a million degrees and some offices are freezing cold.

The same hot/cold situation exists in most lab spaces as well, but for a completely different reason. Chemists work inside of hoods, which are basically like your oven hood, except our hoods are completely enclosed and have doors that raise and lower like a garage door. These hoods pull air in from the lab space and send it out through the filters on the roof. The rate of air being pulled out of the lab isn't always matched by the amount of air replaced by the heaters. Hence, the labs and offices get pretty chilly.

Look how thick and delicious!!!

I have the ability to throw on an additional sweater under my labcoat, where boyfriend has to look like a business guy and not wear layers of jackets around the office. Therefore he gets chilly and lowers his defenses to the cold and flu viruses floating about in the office. Then he gets sick and I feed him lots of vegetables and vitamins!

One Year Ago: Thai Chicken Curry

Creamy Vegetable Soup

Adapted from Vegetarean Times Cookbook

I was really surprised by this soup. It looks really, really green and vegetabley. I was concerned that it would be too much vegetable for the guy who loves mac'n'cheese and chicken nibblers. Luckily, the addition of the oatmeal really mellows out the flavors and brings everything together. The flavor of the stock really shines through (I used my homemade stock!) so be sure to use a good quality stock. If you want more broccoli flavor, just add another cup!

Olive oil
1/4 cup white wine
2 cups broccoli, chopped
1/2 large white onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried basil
3 cups vegetable stock (plus 1/2 cup more)
1 cup rolled oats
salt & pepper

In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion, broccoli and garlic and cook until tender, about 15 minutes, stir often. Add 3 cups stock, thyme and basil. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes. Transfer entire pan to a blender and blend until smooth. Return to the pan and keep warm over low heat. Add salt and pepper to taste. If you think the soup is a little thick, add final 1/2 cup stock. Serve to your sick loved ones with a big slice of bread.

Country Sausage Pasta

2012-01-19T06:00:00.001-05:00

I have been enjoying a week with very few things on my calendar. My meeting reminder has only been going off about once a day and I was even able to ignore the ones from yesterday! It's a nice change from last week, where I had meetings non-stop from Monday through Wednesday. This quiet calendar week also comes with perfect timing as I am crazy busy with lab work right now!

It hasn't been since I was a postdoc that I've had this much time to spend in the lab and my feet are wondering what I'm doing! At this very moment, I am transitioning from one project to another. The only problem is that I'm not quite finished with the first project and I need to dive right into the second one. So this means that I'm working double duty to try and make both project leaders happy.

Luckily my multi-tasking skills haven't atrophied since I left Connecticutt. I've been running reactions, purifications and analysis, all at the same time, over the past few days. This makes me happy, I like seeing reactions stirring in my hood and I like checking the analytical data and seeing that I have indeed made what I wanted to. Let's share a happy moment from earlier this week, with a little background information.

As a non-chemist, you may imagine me in my lab, surrounded by multi-colored beakers and flasks, all bubbling away. Steam pours out of the reactions and there are miscellaneous coils full of colorful liquid in the background. Dry ice bubbles in water baths, white smoke pouring from the bowls. Bunsen burners alight with their blue flames, heating reactions and making chemistry happen.

Sadly, none of the above is true. Firstly, nobody uses beakers. I keep my dirty stir bars and spatulae in them. Secondly, and most sadly, organic chemistry is a science with very little color. If you want to see reds, blues and greens, become an inorganic chemist. Everything in organic chemistry is either clear or yellow or light yellow or if you're really lucky, bright yellow. It's so sad... Which is why my week was made on Tuesday afternoon while running a new reaction.

The chemicals were added together at -78 C (that's cold) and slowly warmed to room temperature. The reaction started off yellow (of course) but as the temperature warmed, magic in a flask happened. The reaction turned blood red! As it got closer to room temperature is lightened and eventually settled on a bright pink hue. It was seriously pink, like I took a My Little Pony and stuck it in a blender pink. I was so sad to add water to the reaction to end it, where in it turned back to boring old yellow.

One Year Ago: Ham & Cheese Scones

Country Sausage Pasta

Adapted from Pasta Sauces

I generally try to make enough for three servings. That way I can have dinner, boyfriend can have dinner and I can have lunch for tomorrow. Unfortunately, this was super delicious and someone ate the leftover serving as seconds. I decided to use spicy Italian sausages in order to install a little heat in the sauce early on. If you like it mild, just be sure to buy to sweet variety, rather than the spicy ones!

8 oz cavatappi pasta (or your favorite spirally pasta)

Olive oil
1 package italian sausages (5 links)
1 cup chicken stock (homemade, if you have it!)
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 cup frozen peas
handful of fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup parmesan/romano cheese, grated

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package instructions, generally 8-10 minutes. Drain and place in a large bowl.

In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Remove sausage from casings and add to the skillet. Break up the meat and cook until browned. Remove to another bowl.

Add a little more olive oil if necessary and add onion. Cook for 3-5 minutes or until softened. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add chicken broth, peas and parsley and simmer for 2 minutes, or until the peas are thawed. Add sausage back to the pan and stir everything together. Allow mixture to simmer for 5 minutes before adding cherry tomatoes. Stirring occasionally, cook until the tomatoes wilt around the edges. Pour into the bowl with the pasta, add cheese and toss to mix.

Serve with a little extra parmesan cheese on top. Hide the leftovers if you want to have lunch tomorrow.

Boysenberry Buckle Muffins

2012-01-17T06:00:00.001-05:00

The days of summer seem years away right now. This weekend felt very reminiscient of wintertime in Wisconsin. Over the five years that I spent living in the midwest, I learned to adapt to the blustery winter weather. Oh, and apparently "blustery" isn't a weather term you hear outside of the northern states. For those of you living in the milder climates of the United States and the world, blustery means "Stay in your house or don your snowsuit." Those winters in Wisconsin made me wish I owned one of those onesie snowsuits that you zip little kids into. They always look so warm...

In Wisconsin, and the rest of the Midwest, you also learn the phrase "too cold to snow." Now, this might seem a little strange, but there is a certain point where it becomes just too cold for clouds and snowflakes to form. This is when you see a crystal blue sky outside and you know your eyeballs will freeze if you set foot outside. I learned to layer everything, pants on top of pants, sweaters under more sweaters, two hats.

This Sunday was one of those "too cold to snow" kind of days in New York City. Boyfriend and I were in the city meeting his dad for dinner. We took the afternoon train to Penn station and set out to do some shopping. Even with wearing a heavy sweater, coat, hat, scarf and gloves, I was cold. Boyfriend said "It's so cold, my face hurts." To which I answered "I know! It's killing me too!" He didn't appreciate my sixth grade humor and needed the joke explained to him...

The only thing that my story has to do with this recipe is that I want it to be summer already. Unfortunately, we are months away from fresh picked fruits and vegetables. If you go to the grocery store and buy berries, it is very likely that they will be lacking flavor. Luckily there is a solution, canned berries!

I was completely unaware that you could get almost any berry in canned form, until I was contacted by Oregon Fruits. After seeing my post fot cherry coconut muffins, Oregon fruit contacted me about using my recipe on their website. I ventured over there to check out their product and noticed they sell all sorts of berries and fruits! They wound up sending me a sampling of some of their fruits, including blueberry, raspberry and gooseberry (if you know what to do with a gooseberry, let me know!). After the hectic holiday season, I finally had the time to break out the berries and give myself a taste of summer.

One Year Ago: Fruit Salsa & Cinnamon tortilla chips

Boysenberry Buckle Muffins

Adapted from The King Arthur Flour Bakers Companion

If you happen to have fresh boysenberries, then feel free to use them instead of the canned variety. While these little guys look like muffins, they actually are more like a dessert buckle. My coworkers weren't too picky and ate them all day long! It would seem that they are just as good for breakfast, snacktime or topped with ice cream as a dessert.

Muffins
3/4 cup granulated sugar
4 tbsp butter, room temperature
1 egg
1/2 cup skim milk
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cans boysenberries, drained (1 1/2 cup fresh)

Streusel
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp lemon zest
1/2 tsp salt
5 tbsp butter, softened

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a large bowl, cream sugar and butter together for 30 seconds. Add egg and beat to combine. Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Alternately add flour mixture and milk to the sugar mixture. Add vanilla extract. Carefully fold in boysenberries.

In a medium bowl, mix together the dry ingredients. Add butter and cut in with two forks or a pastry blender until it looks like coarse crumbles.

Grease a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray. Add 1/4-cup batter to each muffin and top with streusel. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely in the muffin tin on a wire rack.

Serve with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream!

Thai Chicken Soup

2012-01-14T15:02:00.002-05:00

The weather has taken a turn for the worse here in New Jersey! Walking out of my apartment yesterday morning I was confronted with a torrential downpour. By the time I got to work, the temperature had dropped by ten degrees and the wind had increased by twenty miles per hour.

The weather seemed to deteriorate as the day went on. By lunchtime, the winds howled and a chill began to take hold. Shortly after returning from lunch we sat in our office (discussing highly intellectual things like chemical bonding and cell assays) (actually, I think we were talking about food), I looked out the window to discover hail bouncing off of the windows.

Waiting on the train platform everyone looked like cows, with their backs to the wind. Forty mile per hour gusts blasted us commuters, tearing through even the thickest jacket, scarf or hat. I was never so happy to see the train lights cutting through the night.

In an effort to warm up, spicy soup was in order. Luckily, this soup was ready in no time flat. The stock and chicken were prepared this weekend, the thing that took the longest time was cleaning the mushrooms! Boyfriend and I were warm in no time!

One Year Ago: Raspberry Meringue Cookies

Thai Chicken Soup

Adapted from Cooking Light

This chicken for this recipe is from the soup stock we prepared earlier this week. Once it comes out of the stock pot, let it sit on a sheet pan and cool for a while. Once you can handle it without burning your hands, tear the chicken apart with your hands or two forks. If you didn't make stock this week, I like to use those grocery store roasted chickens, they work just the same!

1 tbsp canola oil
1 cup mushrooms, quartered
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 1/2 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 (3-inch) stalk lemongrass, sliced in half lengthwise
2 tsp chili garlic sauce (mine has a rooster on the jar and is written in Vietnamese)
3 cups chicken stock (homemade or prepared)
1 1/4 cup coconut milk
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp sugar
2 cups shredded cooked chicken
3 green onions, cut into 3-inch pieces and cut in half lenghtwise
3 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
juice for 1/2 lime

In a 4-quart pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add mushrooms, bell pepper, ginger, garlic and lemongrass, cook for 3 minutes. Add chili sauce and cook for 1 minute. Add chicken stock, coconut milk, fish sauce and sugar. Stir and bring to a simmer (liquid will bubble and foam). Reduce heat to low and cook for 10 minutes. Add chicken and cook for 2-3 minutes to warm chicken. Add green onions, cilantro and lime juice. Serve up a big bowl and warm up!

Why Bother??? 2012 - Stocks

2012-01-12T06:00:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the first post of the Why Bother??? 2012 challenge! Have you had a look at the schedule of events for this year? Do you have a post that you are already looking forward to? I'm excited about this years challenge and I'm very happy that all of you were instrumental in creating it. All of the challenges for this year were thought up and posted by you guys, whether it be here on the blog, on Facebook or through Twitter.

While the challenges were set out by all of you, I took the liberty to choose when to complete each of these tasks. Condiments and buns wound up in the weeks prior to Memorial day weekend so that you could make some for your own summer parties. Jams are set to be prepared in the midst of the summer fruit season, when I can get the best produce from our local farmers market. Stock was set for the first post of the year because we are in the midst of soup season, with months of winter left ahead of us. Unfortunately, my friends in the southern hemisphere are on the opposite schedule as I am... Maybe we can meet up in the middle, spring and fall?

Boyfriend and I spent this weekend at home in New Jersey. We decided to relax at home and enjoy the nice weather in our town. I spent much of last week reading my many cookbooks, researching stocks in all of their incarnations. There are many options when it comes to making your own stock. First you must choose what flavor you would like, chicken, beef, fish, vegetable? Then you have to decide what your background notes will be, veggies, herbs, spices?

I decided to make the two stocks that I am always buying at the store, chicken and vegetable. Once I completed all of my reading, I discovered that it is a very easy task to make stock. Simply choose your flavors, cook them up in a big pot of water and strain to collect your stock. Do you own an 8-quart pot? Do you have some paper towels? Can you purchase food at the grocery store? If you said yes to those three questions, you can make stock.

The vegetable stock was beyond simple to make. I chose a variety of vegetables and some of my favorite herbs to make a flavorful stock. Fennel is used as the major flavor in this stock, with celery, onion and carrot as the milder flavors. The house smelled of herbs and anise while this stock was simmering. Boyfriend asked if I had spilled a jar of pepper on the floor. After simmering for two hours, filtering of the stock gave a golden colored stock with a pleasant aroma. I used this stock as the base for my cheese potato soup.

For the chicken stock, I decided to stick with classic flavors - celery, carrots, onions and parsely. My only concern was simmering the stock long enough to cook the chicken and impart the right amount of flavor into the stock. After averaging the times in each recipe, I decided that between 90 minutes and two hours was the right amount of time to cook the chicken and make good stock. This stock needs to sit overnight to allow you to skim off the chicken fat, so make it one day ahead of time. You'll see this stock in use this weekend in a tasty Thai-style soup.

Would I make stock at home again? I definitely would, the flavor varieties offered by making your own stock has made me a convert. However, I don't really need to make or buy more stock for a while. Each pot of simmering ingredients gave me about ten cups of stock. My freezer in now well stocked...

Vegetable Stock
Adapted from Vegetarean Times Cookbook

3 large carrots, sliced
1 large yellow onion, sliced
1 large bulb fennel, chopped (including fronds)
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 medium red potatoes, quartered
1 bay leaf
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp dried basil

Combine all ingredients in an 8-quart stock pot. Add 10 cups of water and bring to a boil. Cover with a lid and reduce the heat to low. Allow the stock to simmer for 90 minutes.

Line a medium mesh sieve with a paper towel and strain stock into a large bowl. Allow stock to come to room temperature and transfer to air-tight storage containers. Keep stock in the fridge for up to three days or the freezer for up to six months.

Chicken Stock
Adapted from several sources

1 tbsp olive oil
chicken neck from the gizzard bag
1 whole chicken (3.5-4 pounds)
4 medium carrots, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 large yellow onion, quartered
2 tsp black peppercorns
5 stems parsley

Heat olive oil in an 8-quart stockpot over medium heat. Cook chicken neck, browning on all sides, should take about 10 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and 12 cups of water.

Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low. Cover pot with a lid and allow to simmer for 2 hours, flipping chicken halfway through the simmer time.

Remove chicken from the pot to a baking sheet and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Line a mesh sieve with paper towels and strain the stock. Allow the stock to come to room temperature before covering with plastic wrap and setting in the fridge overnight.

The next day, skim the chicken fat from the top of the stock and transfer to storage containers. The stock will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days or in the freezer for 6 months.

Cheesey Potato Soup
Adapted from Cooking Light Magazine

1 tbsp butter
1 red onion, diced
2 1/2 tbsp flour
3 cups potato, chopped (I used a mixture of russet & baby yukon)
1 1/4 cup skim milk
1 1/4 cup vegetable stock
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper
salt and pepper to taste
green onion and extra cheese to garnish

Melt butter in a medium pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook for 5 minutes or until the onion is softened. Add flour and stir for 1 minute. Add potato, milk and stock, bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, partially cover and allow to cook for 10 minutes.

Once potatoes are cooked, remove about half of the potatoes. Using either a hand/stick blender or transfer to a blender and puree. Return reserved potatoes to the soup and stir in the cheese and red pepper. Season with salt and pepper.

Ladle soup into bowls and top with a dash of red pepper, extra cheese and green onions. Serves four. Enjoy with some crusty bread, which I forgot, bummer.

Cherry Stripper Cookies

2012-01-10T06:00:00.002-05:00

Here we go, the first full work week of the year. And you know what? We don't have a holiday for five whole months! I really think that there needs to be an extra holiday thrown in the calendar around the middle of March. Looking at our corporate calendar and seeing that the next long weekend isn't until Memorial day makes me think about last year at this time.

I'm not terribly sad about not having a long weekend because I'm still in a very happy place. Last year at this time I was still a postdoctoral associate, working long, long hours in my lab at Yale. It was a very stressful time of year because we were right in the midst of job hunting season and I was toiling away, trying to finish my total synthesis. The four members of my lab would inevitably be at their hoods seven days a week, putting in 70 hours a week, easilly. According to most professors - Evenings and weekends aren't holidays. (Holidays generally weren't holidays either, I remember spending a few Easter Sundays in lab)

A lot has changed in 365 days. These days I get two whole days off, every week! Those of you who have been working like a normal person for a while might see my glee as strange, but a five day work week makes me so happy! And do you know what I do with those weekends?

Whatever I want! Go sky diving! Build a house! Train seeing eye puppies! Spend hours at Starbucks thinking deep thoughts! Make ever more creative yoga poses and name them after my friends! Paint exact copies of the Mona Lisa! Write profound statements in library books!

But mostly, I make cookies...

Cherry Strippers

Adapted from Cooking Light Cookbook

One Year Ago: Chicken and Pineapple Chutney

1/3 cup sugar
5 tbsp butter
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg white
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup cherry preserves
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp almond extract

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Cream together sugar and butter. Add vanilla extract and egg white, scraping edges of the bowl to ensure complete mixing. Add flour, baking powder and salt. Mix to combine.

Divide dough in half and roll each section into a 12-inch long rope. Create a trough in each rope, about 1/2-inch deep. Add cherry preserves to fill in the trough.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and move to a cutting board.

Combine powdered sugar, lemon juice and alond extract. Drizzle over the still warm cookies. Using a sharp knife, cut each big cookie into 1-inch pieces. Place cut cookies on a wire cooling rack and allow to cool to room temperature. Eat COOKIES!

Light Shepards Pie

2012-01-05T06:00:00.003-05:00

We have been living in bonus time for the past few months. The weather in the northeast has been anything but wintery this year and I was loving it. The sun shone bright and the winds were calm for the Thanksgiving day parade. Rather than inches of snow for Christmas, a light rain fell. We hit fifty-five degrees on New Years Eve in the city and it was pleasant enough to stroll the streets of Manhattan with your coat open.

Yesterday, it seemed like winter had finally won and we were at last in its grip. The temperature dropped into the single digits overnight and I was not looking forward to my morning commute. Waiting for the train in the bitter cold is not my idea of a good time. I decided to brace myself for the wait with knee-high boots, an extra heavy sweater, thick scarf, hat and gloves. I decided that crazy hair for the day was worth it, just call me Kramer!

Even our offices weren't immune to the cold. My chemicals all were cold, those with high freezing points were solid blocks in their bottles. Space heaters were out in full force under desks, sadly I was without one. I wrapped myself in my scarf and sweater and drank lots of hot chocolate. I'm okay with winter being outside, but in the office too? No fair!

Thankfully I had refuge waiting for me at home. (No, I didn't run home and dive under the blankets. I actually came home and went to the gym!) Our apartment is perpetually warm! It's a big problem in the summer, with the place heating up to nintey degrees easily. In the colder months though, it's a fabulous thing. The temperature went down to nine degrees here in New Jersey, but our apartment only fell to a comfortable seventy-two (that's 25 C for all my foreign friends!).

January Sheperd's Pie

A Wilde Original

One Year Ago: Pineapple Upside-down Muffins

Dinner in our warm apartment was destined to be comfort food. Since it's January and we're all watching what we eat, it wound up being healthy comfort food. Yes, potatoes are good for you, because they are tasty... Stay warm everyone and eat more pie!

1 lb Yukon potatoes, peeled & cubed (I used baby Yukons, so I didn't peel them)
1/4 cup skim milk
2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup sharp cheddar, grated
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 lb ground turkey
1/2 cup chicken stock
2 tbsp Worchestershire sauce
1 tbsp tomato paste
1/2 cup frozen corn
salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 400 F and place 6 medium ramekins (mine are 10 ounces) on a baking sheet.

In a medium pot, cover cubed potatoes with 2-3 inches of water. Boil potatoes until they are fork tender, depending on how large you cubed the potatoes, it should take 20-30 minutes.

In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium. Add onion, carrot and celery and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add ground turkey and break up with a spoon. Cook until no longer pink and slightly browned. If it is taking a long time, pop the lid on for a few minutes.

In a small bowl, whisk together stock, Worchestershire sauce and tomato paste, add to the skillet. Stir until the liquid has been absorbed. Add corn and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 2-3 minutes or until the corn has cooked through.

Your potatoes should be done by now, drain them in a colander and transfer to a large bowl. Start mashing potatoes with your masher or handheld mixer. Add butter and mash to melt it into the potatoes. Add milk and switch to a spoon, stir in the milk. Finally, add cheese and stir to mix.

Spoon the turkey mixture into the ramekins, trying to add equal amounts to each serving. Add potatoes evenly across the top of the turkey mixture. I used a 1/4-cup ice cream scoop to evenly distribute the potatoes. Spread the potatoes over the top of the turkey. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before curling up under a blanket and enjoying your dinner.

Iceberg Wedge & Blue Cheese Dressing

2012-01-03T11:58:00.001-05:00

Welcome to the new year everyone! I hope the first two days have treated you well. If my first two days of the year reflect how everyone else spent their first two days, I hope you all enjoyed shopping at Walmart and Target, buying storage containers and hangers!

Yesterday, boyfriend and I spent the day cleaning and organizing the apartment in preparation for our move to a slightly smaller apartment. We filled up three huge garbage bags with clothes than no longer fit into our wardrobe and dropped them off at the donation bin. The huge pile of metal hangers made their way to the recycling bin. The pile of shoes in the bottom of the coat closet got organized and whittled down.

Along our cleaning journey, we realized that we had accumulated lots of new clothes for christmas and were in need of hangers. A series of thoughts brought us to getting in the car and driving to the closest Walmart, only to discover that everyone else in the county decided to go there too. Were you at the big box store this weekend, because I think just about everyone in the world was in my checkout line. (Warning - if you take a cart FULL of items into the "Speedy Checkout Line" you're going to get quite a few snide comments)

At the end of the day, our closet was slightly cleaner and our bodies were tired. There was very little energy remaining to prepare anything for dinner. Chopping a head of lettuce into four pieces was just about the amount of prep I could handle.

Iceberg wedge & Blue cheese dressing

Adapted from Williams Sonoma - New York

One Year Ago: Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

I've had a couple of wedge salads in my time and I've always wanted to make it at home. The dressing always had the same notes, but I didn't have a good base recipe. This recipe from Williams Sonoma really hit the spot. Although, to be completely honest with you... After I photographed the pretty wedges of lettuce, I chopped it up and tossed it into a big bowl. So much easier to eat, just less pretty to look at!

1 head iceberg lettuce, cut into 4-6 wedges

1/2 cup mayonaisse
1/2 cup light sour cream
juice from 1 lemon
dash of Tabasco
1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
4 oz crumbled blue cheese
1 tbsp fresh chive, finely chopped

1/2 cup candied walnuts
1/2 cup dried cranberries

Plate one wedge of lettuce per plate.

In a large bowl, whisk together all ingredients for the salad dressing (mayo through chives). Spoon a few tablespoons of dressing over each wedge. Spinkle with cranberries and walnuts.

Wilde Favorites - 2011

2011-12-31T20:36:00.001-05:00

The stats of 2011 tell a very sugary tale in the Wilde kitchen. Four of the five fan favorites from this year were a part of candy challenge 2011, but were they my favorites? I actually have a whole different set of favorite recipes from this year. These are things that I have made again and again this year, proving that they are a keeper in this kitchen. They also prove that I did in fact eat more than just sugar this year...

5. Rosemary Foccacia - This foccacia was made early in the year as a part of my attempt to make it through the Bread Bakers Apprentice challenge. I didn't finish the cookbook this year, but luckily I made it to the 'F' recipes. This foccacia, while time consuming, was a lot of fun to make and totally amazing to eat. Even though this recipe made an entire baking sheet full of focaccia, I ate the entire slab. The majority of it was made into sharp cheddar paninis and greedily eaten without a napkin.

4. Indian Pizza - I made a bunch of different pizzas this year and this was by far my favorite. The chicken curry beneath the mild mozzarella made the perfect pairing that made me not want to share any of this. I tend to make this dish during the summer, otherwise the apartment smells like curry for a week! Next year I plan to make more strange and delicious pizza flavor combinations.

3. Thanksgiving Potato Pies - This meal was a total winner with everyone that ate it. Boyfriend and I didn't have a traditional Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday, instead I made these bad boys for us earlier in the week. They were declared "The best thing you've made, ever." I want to make them again and again, changing up my potato pie mix-ins.

2. Coconut Joys - Okay, of course one of my top 5 had to be from the candy challenge. While there were very few challenge recipes that didn't win praise, these were my all-year favorite. Compared to a Bounty or Mounds bar, they were spot on for the store-bought candies. I ate the vast majority of these before they even made it to work.

1. Buffalo Mac 'n' Cheese - Something that I first had at S'Mac in New York City, I decided that I wanted to have it all of the time. The combination of Buffalo sauce and blue cheese makes this dinner absolutely fantastic. I've made this recipe again and again because I love it and so does boyfriend! If you're in the mood for something a little Upstate NY, throw this together and enjoy.

There we have it! My top 5 recipes for 2011, don't they look delicious! Now you can see that I did indeed eat more than candy this year, although it was a sweet year in many, many ways. Here's to a great 2012, I look forward to seeing you all there!

Fan Favorites - 2011

2011-12-29T08:45:00.000-05:00

As we approach the end of 2011, I though we should look back on some of our favorite recipes of the year. From the stats, it's pretty easy to see which recipes were your favorites, but maybe you are curious about which ones I liked the best. Or, maybe you're not. Either way, the completion of the year is a good time to look back and reflect on our past. Let's sift through the entries and reminisce on some of our go to recipes of 2011.

Starting with the fan favorites!!! These are the top five recipes with the most blog hits all year. Since this year was the year of the Candy Challenge!!! we saw lots of candy recipes, and they seemed to strike a chord with all of you.

5. Ganduja & Caramel Candy Bars - These dense, rich and chewy bars came about as a part of the Daring Bakers August challenge. A peanut and pretzel-filled layer of sweet caramel, topped with a peanut butter and chocolate slab, these bars were rich. They needed to be cut into 1-inch squares in order to be considered "one serving."

4. Three Musketeers Bars - Another candy favorite! I was totally sceptical when I started making this recipe. There was no way that I could duplicate the classic candy bar. And I was right, it wasn't exactly the same, it was better. This bar is a slightly denser and way more chocolatey version of the classic. These didn't last long on the snack table at work.

3. English Muffins - A departure from your love of all things chocolate, the English muffin recipe comes in third for your all-time favorite this year. In the early days of 2011, I tried to take on the Bakers Apprentice Challenge. After a few months I realized that trying to complete two challenges in one year was a bit crazy. Thankfully I made these guys before I abandoned my yeast for a while.

2. Pumpkin Pie Mallomars - In my year of the Candy Challenge!!! I produced a ridiculous amount of marshmallow. From raspberry to chocolate, key lime to pomegranate, there was no flavor that I wouldn't dare to make. Around October I decided that I was time to give the Mallomar another try. It was totally worth it, these were super delicious.

1. Buffalo Sponge Candy - By far, your favorite recipe this year has been my sponge candy recipe. It has received twice the number of hits at our number two finisher and continues to popular every week. Sponge candy is a hometown favorite, but people from around the world have their own brand of the candy. With names like fairy food, honeycomb, violet crumble, crunchy and sea foam, it permeates the candy world without being obvious. With the popularity of this recipe, I've decided to film a how-to video next year. Look forward to seeing me in the kitchen, whipping up a batch of my favorite treat!

So there we have it, your top five recipes for this year! It would seem that you all have a bit of a sweet tooth! With Candy Challenge 2011 coming to a close, you'll see fewer candy recipes in 2012. Don't worry though, I just got a new candy cookbook for Christmas and I've got to try it out!

Stay tuned tomorrow for MY top five recipes of the year! You'll remember that I did a little more than eat candy all year, there were a few vegetables in there too!

Peanut Butter Rice Crispy Bars

2011-12-29T08:18:00.002-05:00

Slowly, I'm coming back from the dead. The cold virus that knocked me down like a freight train has been galliantly fought off by my immune system and I'm on the mend. It has been rough, being sick at this time of the year, because this is the most fun time of year to cook! This is the time of year that you can make everything red, green and blue, cover everything in sprinkles and frosting and feed your coworkers endless supplies of sugar. They don't complain because it's festive.

I had big plans to make you lots of cookies the week leading up to Christmas, these bars are as far as I got. While they were certainly delicious, I can't say that they are terribly festive. Now that we've made it past December 25th and the presents have been put away, I suppose that you need some treats to celebrate the New Year.

Now that I'm living withing throwing distance to New York City, I've been getting lots of questions about what I'm doing for the big night. Sadly, since I've been sick, we haven't made any plans at all! A few years ago, before we were living here, boyfriend and I came to New York for the ball drop. We figured, "You have to do it once!"

Unfortunately, that year it was freezing cold. I'm talking single digit temperatures as we approached midnight. We had layered pants upon pants and sweaters under our jackets, yet still, we were cold. There was no way we were going to sit still in Time's square for eight hours. We would have been peoplesicles. Instead we wandered the city from four in the afternoon until the ball finally came down to ring in the new year.

We actually had a good view of the descending ball from our final position at the southeast corner of Bryant park. The winds were even blowing in our direction and we got a nice shower of confetti and balloons. However, moments after midnight, the crowds quickly dispersed and we hoofed it back to our hotel room as fast as our frozen bodies could take us.

This year looks to be a lot warmer here in the Big apple. Does that mean that you'll see me in with the throngs of people in Time's Square? Not a chance! HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope you spend it with people you love, whether you decide to ring in the new year at eight o'clock or midnight.

Peanut butter Rice Crispy Bars

Adapted from Cooking Light Cookbook

One Year Ago: Blueberry Macarons

These bars are simple and delicious, the perfect thing to throw together if you are running out of time before your party! If you're feeling festive, you should top these bad boys off with some sprinkles. It will be a few months before you have a good reason to celebrate with sprinkles! Groundhogs isn't really a sprinkle-requiring kind of holiday.

1/3 cup creamy peanut butter (like Jif)
1 tbsp butter
1 - 10.5 ounce bag of mini marshmallows
6 cups crisp rice cereal
Cooking spray
1/2 cup peanut butter chips
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Coat a 9x13-inch baking pan with cooking spray.

In a medium pot, combine butter and peanut butter over low heat. Stir until melted and combined. Add marshmallows and stir until melted. Add cereal and stir to coat the cereal completely in marshmallow. Transfer to oiled baking pan. With oiled hands, press down cereal into the pan, even out the top.

In a small pot, combine peanut butter chips and chocolate chips over low heat. Stir until melted and combined. Pour over the slab of crispy treat and spread out evenly with an offset spatula. Cut into 24 squares and hide them from your family members.

Spicy Sesame Noodles

2011-12-15T06:00:00.002-05:00

It's official everyone, I work at my company! I know, it's an odd thing to say. You might even be thinking "Wait Vicki, didn't you start your new job in July?" First, thank you for remembering! Second, yes. I did start working at my job in the summer, but today I got my first set of business cards.

They are so pretty. My name Dr. Wilde, Ph.D., in bold black lettering, tells everyone that I am an official member of the team! Before I would go up to people and be all, "Hi, I work here!" and I would have no tangable proof to back up my claim.

Not any longer! I work here now and I can prove it! I can even back it up with a little information about what I'm working on. I can spew fancy chemistry and pharmaceutical words and sound like a professional. But don't let the business cards and fancy language fool you! I'm still feeling my way around my new job.

When I joined the team I was told that my first year would feel like I was thrown into the deep end of the pool. I've learned to float and now I'm learning to swim. Soon, I'll have all the goods necessary to back up that business card. That little piece of card stock holds a lot of pressure and responsibility! Here's to finding my sea legs!

Spicy Sesame Noodles

Adapted from Williams Sonoma - New York

One Year Ago: Chorizo & Vegetable Soup

1 bag of broad egg noodles

4 tbsp sesame oil
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter (like Jif)
2 tsp tahini
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp siracha sauce
1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped into big pieces
1 tbsp ginger, peeled and chopped into big pieces
1 clove garlic, peeled
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp white pepper
1 cup low-sodium chicken stock

1 english (seedless) cucumber, cut into 2-inch matchsticks
3 carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inch matchsticks
2 green onions, green parts thinly sliced

Bring a big pot of water to a boil, add salt. Add egg noodles and boil for about 10 minutes. While they are cooking, prepare the sauce.

In a food processor, combine all ingredients for the sauce except chicken broth. Pulse to combine everything. Once it's all in a big peanutty paste, add chicken stock. Scrape the sides if necessary to combine all of the peanut butter.

Drain the noodles and return to the pot. Add sauce and chopped vegetables. Stir to combine and dish out the bowls!