I think it's very easy to fall into a habit of relying on the same foods, turning to the same spices, and whipping up the same dishes. To encourage myself to step out of the box a little, I created a list of foods and spices that I'd like to use (or use more often) this year.
Artichokes
Cardamom
Cherries
Duck
Fish
Fregola
Ginger
Lentils
Olives
Pears
Plums
Wild boar
Za'atar
Do you have a favorite recipe using any of these items? Feel free to send it my way!
What underused ingredients do you plan to use more of in your cooking or baking this year?
Showing posts with label Food-related stuff. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Food-related stuff. Show all posts
Monday, January 16, 2012
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Restaurants I Would Like To Check Out This Year
There have been a lot of new restaurant openings lately, and while I've made my way over to some of the newcomers, there are plenty of others I'd still like to try. Here's a list of the ones I hope to get to this year.
Bondir
Casa B
Kika Tapas
Sweet Cheeks
Sam's at Louis
Temazcal
Trade
Wahlburgers
And here are some not-so-new restaurants I've never tried and would love to go to...
Craigie on Main (I have had drinks here but not food)
Mamma Maria
Sportello
Taranta
T.W. Food
And these are some of the restaurants I've been to before that I'd like to get back to this year...
ArtBar
Beacon Hill Bistro
The Beehive
Bergamot
The Blue Room
Eastern Standard
Henrietta's Table (for breakfast)
Il Casale
Island Creek Oyster Bar
Myers + Chang
Oleana
Russell House Tavern
The Salty Pig
Ten Tables (Cambridge)
Tico
I would also like to attend at least one farm dinner.
Clearly, trying to get to all of these restaurants is overly ambitious both in terms of time and money, but hopefully I can make a dent in my lists!
What restaurants are on your lists?
Bondir
Casa B
Kika Tapas
Sweet Cheeks
Sam's at Louis
Temazcal
Trade
Wahlburgers
And here are some not-so-new restaurants I've never tried and would love to go to...
Craigie on Main (I have had drinks here but not food)
Mamma Maria
Sportello
Taranta
T.W. Food
And these are some of the restaurants I've been to before that I'd like to get back to this year...
ArtBar
Beacon Hill Bistro
The Beehive
Bergamot
The Blue Room
Eastern Standard
Henrietta's Table (for breakfast)
Il Casale
Island Creek Oyster Bar
Myers + Chang
Oleana
Russell House Tavern
The Salty Pig
Ten Tables (Cambridge)
Tico
I would also like to attend at least one farm dinner.
Clearly, trying to get to all of these restaurants is overly ambitious both in terms of time and money, but hopefully I can make a dent in my lists!
What restaurants are on your lists?
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
29 Things
Some of my friends have made 30-by-30 lists in their 29th years, which is a fun idea, but I wasn't that motivated. I know myself -- I make resolutions every year and never follow through with them. However, looking back over my 29th year, I realized that a lot of great things happened and I had some noteworthy accomplishments, so I thought it might be fun to make a list of 29 things that happened while I was 29.
Oh, and a happy birthday shoutout to my brother Martin who turns 16 today!
- A couple days after I turned 29, I trekked up to Vermont to take some baking classes at King Arthur Flour with a group of Boston bloggers, many of whom are now some of my closest friends. The bakers at King Arthur Flour even made me a birthday cake! I think I'll look back fondly on that trip for the rest of my life.
- In October, my blog turned three years old. I can't believe I kept up with it that long and that it's rounding the bend to four very soon.
- I got to spend another fabulous Columbus Day weekend on Cape Cod. This has been a family tradition for at least 15 years now.
- I threw a 40th birthday party for Jeff!
- The week before our three-year dating anniversary, Jeff proposed and we got engaged!!!
- I got to meet Amanda Hesser!
- I hosted a fabulous potluck with some equally fabulous friends.
- I got to celebrate Thanksgiving twice, once with Jeff's family and once with my family.
- I went on a cruise to St. Thomas, St. Maarten, and the Bahamas!
- I was a runner-up in the Olivia's Organics Healthier Holiday Recipe Contest with my Thanksgiving dinner salad. I won lots of coupons to use for free Olivia's Organics greens!
- I made pretzel rolls for the first time and am officially obsessed with them. I just bought some pretzel salt at King Arthur Flour, so I'm sure I'll be making them again soon.
- I learned how to make challah and blintzes from my future mother-in-law. I still need to try making them on my own so I can share those recipes with you guys.
- I finally went to Fore Street and spent some time in Portland, Maine, with my mom on our way to Freeport for our annual shopping trip.
- I experienced a pop-up restaurant for the first time.
- We picked out our wedding venue and set a date!
- We picked out our wedding photographer!
- We celebrated Gunner's 4th birthday!
- My sister Martyann has been running track since high school, but I've never been home to see her meets. When she had a meet at BU, I finally got to watch one!
- I got to take a cooking class with Chef Vosika at the Four Seasons, and I even volunteered to break down a chicken. (I hate touching chicken.)
- I made French macarons that actually came out right!
- I went back to the Cape again to celebrate Easter with my family. It's so hard getting home to Connecticut for holidays like Easter because of all the travel time, so it's nice that my family was able to come up to the Cape so much this past year.
- I spent a week vacationing in Aruba -- this was some much-needed relaxation time!
- I got to cheer on my sister Lindsay as she finished grad school, interviewed for jobs, got the one she wanted, and moved across the country!
- I watched one of my good friends get married and spent some time in Quechee, Vermont.
- We designed and customized our wedding invitations. (Mindy is so great to work with. She really helped us create invitations that were unique and reflected the two of us.)
- I got my dream job!!! In mid-August I quit my job of five-plus years. I now edit recipes and food-related content and sample food all day every day! (Here's a picture from my first day.)
- I gave myself a week off in between jobs, and it was exactly what I needed to recharge and rejuvenate.
- I bought my wedding dress! (I found it at Madeleine's Daughter in Portsmouth, NH, and I highly recommend this dress shop. Ask for McKenzie if you go -- she's awesome!)
- I experienced my first earthquake. It was nothing to write home about but still pretty cool once I realized what was going on.
Oh, and a happy birthday shoutout to my brother Martin who turns 16 today!
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Recipe Relay
For the past couple months I have been interning for a site called Recipe Relay. Have you heard of it? If you haven't, you should check it out. Founders Brianna and Sarah met while getting their green MBAs at Antioch. They have ideas about food that are similar to most of ours: They prefer eating locally and seasonally and love encouraging others to do the same.
Recipe Relay came out of Sarah's idea to create a cookbook that started with one recipe and through variations ended up as a different recipe at the end of the book. In place of the cookbook, Sarah and Brianna created Recipe Relay, and the site gives people the chance to take the idea of starting with one recipe and ending up with a completely different recipe, by carrying over an ingredient or cooking method from a previous recipe. It's a pretty cool concept, and it spans not only this country (Sarah's in NYC and Brianna's in San Diego) but the world (contributors also hail from China, Spain, and other countries).
I'm really happy to be involved with Recipe Relay. I found the internship through Good Food Jobs, another incredible site. Good Food Jobs aims to connect people looking for meaningful food-related work, "good food jobs," with businesses that need those motivated, enthusiastic people. A lot of the jobs are on farms or in restaurants -- I even saw an internship on the Amalfi Coast (if only!).
As an intern with Recipe Relay, so far I've been doing a lot of research and some writing. This week, it's actually my turn to do a relay. I was given the list of ingredients and the title of the recipe prior to mine, so that I could figure out what element of that recipe I wanted to carry over into mine. To see what I did, head over to Recipe Relay.
And if you like what you see, consider joining the relay!
Recipe Relay came out of Sarah's idea to create a cookbook that started with one recipe and through variations ended up as a different recipe at the end of the book. In place of the cookbook, Sarah and Brianna created Recipe Relay, and the site gives people the chance to take the idea of starting with one recipe and ending up with a completely different recipe, by carrying over an ingredient or cooking method from a previous recipe. It's a pretty cool concept, and it spans not only this country (Sarah's in NYC and Brianna's in San Diego) but the world (contributors also hail from China, Spain, and other countries).
I'm really happy to be involved with Recipe Relay. I found the internship through Good Food Jobs, another incredible site. Good Food Jobs aims to connect people looking for meaningful food-related work, "good food jobs," with businesses that need those motivated, enthusiastic people. A lot of the jobs are on farms or in restaurants -- I even saw an internship on the Amalfi Coast (if only!).
As an intern with Recipe Relay, so far I've been doing a lot of research and some writing. This week, it's actually my turn to do a relay. I was given the list of ingredients and the title of the recipe prior to mine, so that I could figure out what element of that recipe I wanted to carry over into mine. To see what I did, head over to Recipe Relay.
And if you like what you see, consider joining the relay!
Friday, December 31, 2010
Favorite Recipes Of 2010
On this last day of 2010, I just wanted to share some of my favorite recipes from the year with you...
Hope you all have fun plans for ringing in the new year! Wishing you all the very best in 2011!
What was one of your favorite recipes or meals from this past year?
Hope you all have fun plans for ringing in the new year! Wishing you all the very best in 2011!
What was one of your favorite recipes or meals from this past year?
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Gift Guide For Cooks
Like my Gift Guide for Bakers, my Gift Guide for Cooks suggests items I think any cook would love to own and would use often in the kitchen. For the cook on your list, check out my guide.
Recommended Tools
I've had a Zyliss garlic press for 5 or 6 years now, and while I love it, the coating has started to rub off of it. I just bought a silly little garlic roller
that I am not at all impressed with, so I'm in the market for a new garlic press now. The one above looks pretty nice to me. I don't think it matters much what garlic press you get as long as you get one. There are so many now that you can get one to suit your personal preference or give one to suit someone's else's preference. I think my next one will be stainless steel.
I just got this paring knife, and I'm already completely in love with it. It's sharp and effective and comes with a matching blade cover.
I like pans that can go from stove-top to oven. While I also recommend the skillet below, I find the braiser better for dishes with more liquid or things I need to cover. Mine is Cobalt Blue, but I'm lusting after the beautiful new Ocean color. (The one above is Caribbean.)
Plain and simple, this is an essential in any kitchen.
While I have been known to flatten chicken breasts with a rolling pin, this is really a much better tool.
I am notorious in our house for not being able to cook chicken properly Now that we have a meat thermometer, I never take the chicken out prematurely.
This is another versatile tool. I use it to skim fat off of soups and stocks and also when I'm frying doughnuts in oil! It helps the doughnuts keep their shape better than pulling them out with tongs.
A good stockpot is also essential in any kitchen. It's perfect for stocks and soups and can double as a pot to boil pasta in.
Recommended Cookbooks
Remember, no matter what you're buying this year, if you do any shopping on Amazon.com, I'd really appreciate it if you'd use this link. I earn a small percentage from all purchases made through my blog, but there's no added cost for you. I'm hoping to save up for a new camera to bring you guys better pictures of all the treats I make.
Happy shopping and happy holidays!
What are your favorite cooking tools?
Recommended Tools
that I am not at all impressed with, so I'm in the market for a new garlic press now. The one above looks pretty nice to me. I don't think it matters much what garlic press you get as long as you get one. There are so many now that you can get one to suit your personal preference or give one to suit someone's else's preference. I think my next one will be stainless steel.
I use these tongs all the time -- whether I'm flipping bacon, pulling corn cobs out of boiling water, or just nudging stuff around in a pan. The silicone coverings on the end will keep you from scratching your nice pans too.
Everyone needs to find a knife that's the right fit for them and that they're comfortable with, and this is my top choice. I love this knife and use it constantly. Jeff hates it because I don't let him put it in the dishwasher, and he always has to hand wash it for me. (I'm not being fussy. You should never put any knives in the dishwasher.)
Recommended Cookbooks
The Flavor Bible: The Essential Guide to Culinary Creativity,
Based on the Wisdom of America's Most Imaginative Chefs
Based on the Wisdom of America's Most Imaginative Chefs
Remember, no matter what you're buying this year, if you do any shopping on Amazon.com, I'd really appreciate it if you'd use this link. I earn a small percentage from all purchases made through my blog, but there's no added cost for you. I'm hoping to save up for a new camera to bring you guys better pictures of all the treats I make.
Happy shopping and happy holidays!
What are your favorite cooking tools?
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Gift Guide For Bakers
The holidays are fast approaching! To simplify your shopping a little, I've put together a list of my favorite baking tools and cookbooks. The person on your list who loves to bake or wants to get into baking would truly appreciate these gifts.
Recommended Tools
A bowl scraper is a great tool to use in place of a rubber spatula when mixing dough or folding in ingredients.
I can barely begin to cover the myriad uses for a baby offset spatula. It can be super helpful in so many situations. Say you've written on a cake and messed up. You can use a paring knife to lift off the ruined writing and then the baby offset to smooth the ruffled frosting. It can also be used to transfer delicate desserts from a pan to a plate.
Recommended Cookbooks
Recommended Appliances
This might be the best kitchen appliance I have ever gotten. I use it to mix dough, to grate or slice zucchini, to make pesto, to make salad dressing, to chop all sorts of fruits and veggies, and so on. It's versatile and extremely useful.
Remember, no matter what you're buying this year, if you do any shopping on Amazon.com, I'd really appreciate it if you'd use this link. I earn a small percentage from all purchases made through my blog, but there's no added cost for you. I'm hoping to save up for a new camera to bring you guys better pictures of all the treats I make.
Happy shopping and happy holidays!
Recommended Tools
This can be used most simply to scrape dough off your counter after you've rolled it out. It's also great for cutting dough and has tons of other uses as well.
Yes, you can use these for biscuits, but you can also use them for doughnuts, cookies, or any other time you need to cut out a circular shape.
A French rolling pin with tapered ends is much easier to handle than a rolling pin with handles.
For any sort of cake or cupcake decorating, piping bags are key. I used to cut a whole in the end of a plastic bag, but a piping bag is a much better idea and the end result is much more professional looking.
And of course, you'll need some tips to go with those piping bags. I recommend a basic set and also a package of larger tips.
This is the best tool you can have for frosting a cake evenly and smoothly.
While a pastry brush is the perfect thing to use to apply an egg wash to croissants before baking them, it can also be used simply to brush excess flour off of dough.
A pastry wheel is essential for cutting clean lines in dough when making anything from croissants to pop tarts to graham crackers. I recommend a fluted one and a non-fluted one.
Ever since I started using cookie scoops, making cookies, cupcakes, and muffins has gotten so much easier. The cookie scoop lets you portion out the same amount of dough or batter every time. I have a small one and a medium one. The small one is perfect for mini cupcakes, and the medium is perfect for regular-size cupcakes (2 scoops). I use both for portioning cookies. I highly recommend the Oxo ones because they're durable and have a comfortable handle.
Recommended Cookbooks
Recommended Appliances
I would be lost without my stand mixer. Most people acquire them as wedding gifts and hide them in cabinets. I say leave it on the counter and at the very least use it for mashed potatoes. I doubt a week goes by without my turning it on for something -- of course, I do bake pretty often.
Remember, no matter what you're buying this year, if you do any shopping on Amazon.com, I'd really appreciate it if you'd use this link. I earn a small percentage from all purchases made through my blog, but there's no added cost for you. I'm hoping to save up for a new camera to bring you guys better pictures of all the treats I make.
Happy shopping and happy holidays!
What are your favorite baking tools?
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