Thanksgiving 2010 Wrap-Up

How was your Thanksgiving? Mine was wonderful! I loved spending time with family, family-to-be, and friends. I also loved having four days in a row without work! I honestly don't get how with a seven-day week, five of those days are work days and only two are work-free. The normal work week should only be four days a week... life would be so much better that way. But I digress...

Thanksgiving No. 1

On Thursday, we went to Jeff's parents' house for Thanksgiving dinner. While all the guys watched football, the girls sat in the other room watching Love Actually -- one of my favorite movies, especially at this time of year. When the game ended, we sat down to an amazing dinner. The spread included challah, chicken soup, turkey, brisket, stuffing, potato kugel, asparagus, sweet potatoes, and warm popovers!

For dessert, Jeff's mother made an apple pie and a chocolate pudding pie. I made some chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting (a favorite of Jeff's father and a huge hit) and some caramel-pecan bars (which I made for my and Jeff's mini Thanksgiving dinner last year).

The bars went over well, and I definitely recommend trying them if you love pecan pie but want more of a caramel flavor to it.

Thanksgiving No. 2

On Saturday we went to the Cape to have a second dinner with my family. We met my mom, my two sisters, my little brother, and my uncle there. (Unfortunately my dad had to work.) I spent Friday making desserts for the dinner and brought all of those along with me.

We snacked on baked brie with local cranberry jam, cheese and crackers, pistachios, and homemade corn chowder around the fire pit in the back yard. I flipped through bridal magazines and teased my sisters about the dresses they'd have to wear in my wedding until it got too chilly and we all decided to head back inside.

My parents had hosted Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday back in CT, so my mom brought up leftover turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, turnip, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, corn, and broccolini. She also brought a huge bowl of turkey gravy -- my absolute favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner. My dad makes the most amazing gravy. I usually just dunk chunks of bread in it and eat it.

Just before dinner my mom roasted some green and white asparagus with garlic. Then she warmed up all the leftovers, and we set everything up buffet-style so we could fill our plates with everything we wanted. It was another Thanksgiving dinner that couldn't be beat! (Does anyone else have a family tradition of listening to Alice's Restaurant every year?)

Jeff and my sisters and I played a game of 9-5 (a version of setback) in between dinner and dessert. And then I warmed up my cranberry crumble tart and set out a cranberry maple pecan breakfast cake and some mini chocolate cupcakes. Somehow all of the cupcakes disappeared before it was even time to have dessert!

We had the warm cranberry tart with vanilla ice cream. It was sweet and tart and had a hint of citrus from some orange zest.

The cake came out so moist and was studded with cranberries and toasted pecans. True to the description that accompanies the recipe, it tastes like pancakes. My mom and I divided up the leftovers, and I ate more of it for breakfast this morning.

I have a post on the cranberry crumble tart coming soon.

The chocolate cupcake recipe is the one in the Flour cookbook (which you can find here), and the dark chocolate frosting is from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes (available here).

The cranberry maple pecan breakfast cake can also be found in the Flour cookbook. It's supposed to be baked in a loaf pan, but I used an 8" x 8" x 2" square pan instead -- just because I wanted it to look like a cake instead of a loaf.

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What did you make for Thanksgiving this year?

Brunch at Towne

Having done enough cooking and eating of Thanksgiving foods over the past couple days, this morning we decided to head out to brunch.  My brother was in town for the holiday weekend, so we were forced to come up with something a bit creative.  Originally we were thinking the Friendly Toast, but our group really could not get our acts together fast enough and I did not want to wait in line for hours.  With the Friendly Toast you never know how long the wait could be.

We decided to go to Towne Stove and Spirits...yes it is on the Burger List, but the burger was not on the brunch menu and there was already plenty to choose from without adding to the list.  Towne is the new restaurant by Jasper White and Lydia Shire, two of Bostons main names in the industry.  The impressive menu reflects each of their indiviudal styles while all fitting together.  I am still not really sure why the two of them got together to do a restaurant, but I am happy they did. 
My only other time going to Towne was just for drinks.  Even then I stayed in the front bar and not until I had to go to the bathroom did I realize that the restaurant was huge with two other bars!  Today we sat on the second floor, which is really bright and welcoming.  The table settings were fun, rather than traditional water glasses, they had beakers...and being the science geek that I am, I thought they were cool.  Also, the salt and pepper grinders had a valve like top, which again is just a bit different to set them apart from other restaurants.

Towne table setting with beaker water glasses

While we were waiting for our food they brought out some home made glazed donut holes that were really light and delicious as well as a lemon poppy bread that was tasty, but the crust was a bit dry, almost over done.  For the main course, my brother and I went with more of the traditional breakfast items...Reed got a fried poached egg over a minute skirt steak that looked delicious.  Not quite sure how you would deep fry a poached egg considering I have enough trouble getting them to come out of the pot still in one piece...but they did and it had a good fried crust.

Poached egg and skirt steak

The side for the dish was a creamed spinach with curried croutons.  I got the chicken and waffles, with grits and bacon and Tabasco for flavor, basically it was a little bit of everything. 


Chicken and waffles

When my meal came out I was excited to see a cute little bottle of Tabasco tucked in the waffle!  So fun!  The fried chicken was plenty moist with a really good crispy crust.  The one thing I wish I had a side of syrup.  There was only a bit on each of the waffles and it had a really nice flavor so I wanted to pour some more on there.  I should have asked, oh well!

Nick went with the curry chicken salad, which looked pretty good.  Although, any sort of chicken salad is something I would definitely NOT order as I don't do mayonnaise...but, the presentation was impressive and he said it was tasty:)

Curry Chicken Salad

Overall, is was a delicious meal and I am still looking forward to trying their burger!  The presentation of everything from the table setting itself to the food had some real thought put into it, which separated it from other restaurants and make me remember that it was special.

Product Review: Fresh Wave Soy Candles

Earlier this month, I took another cooking class at Myers + Chang.  After the class, I was talking with another cooking class regular, Mitchell Green, and he mentioned a fabulous line of soy candles that help with kitchen odor control.  After the class, Mitchell tweeted me the name of the candle brand - Fresh Wave.  Fresh Wave took notice of our conversation and offered to send me a few products to sample.

As a food blogger and a city dweller, I was super excited about trying these products out.  While I love the aroma of roasted garlic, crispy bacon and sauteed onions while I'm cooking, I don't like these odors lingering throughout the rest of the apartment.  Fresh Wave sent over three of their products - the crystal gel, soy kitchen candle and travel spray. 

I received the package of products from Fresh Wave when I was lying sick in bed and doing absolutely no cooking so I didn't get to use it right away.  But this past Monday night, when I was cooking my braised chicken with red sauce and rice, I knew that the candle would come in handy.  After dinner, the kitchen smelled of sauteed onions, seared chicken and tomatoes. 

I took the candle out and gave it a whiff.  To be honest, it smelled faintly of herbs but not much else.  I was doubtful that this candle would really work.

But when I lit it, it really neutralized the odors in the kitchen.  Unlike scented candles, it doesn't cover the smell up temporarily for you to only smell everything again when you blow out the candle.  Instead, the candle managed to neutralize the air. 

Since then, I've opened the Fresh Wave crystal gels and placed it on the small shelf that is above my oven.  It is hard to measure its effectiveness but I figure it will only help deodorize the kitchen even when I'm not cooking.

Thanks to Fresh Wave for letting me test these products out.  While the Fresh Wave products were wholly complimentary, my opinion is honest and completely my own. 

To learn more information about Fresh Wave, you can head to their website.

Epcot: Discover The Wonder

As enamored as I was with Epcot's World Showcase and the Food & Wine Festival, I had a blast exploring the rest of the park. Epcot offers some of the best rides in Disney, many of which were not around when I visited ten years ago. As we finished the our beer and wine the group headed to Future World to redeem our Fast Passes and check out some of the other attractions.
Must ride: Soarin' - an exhilarating rush on a free flying hang gliding adventure.My best advice would be to get a seat in the middle, if you can. Soarin' is definitely one incredible ride.
Must ride: Mission SPACETap into your inner astronaut as you blast into space without leaving Earth.
I was fascinated with the solar system entrance. Experiencing it is even more fascinating and exhilarating. In fact, this was the majority of the guys favorite ride at Epcot. Must ride: Spaceship Earth. I'd say its a "must ride" as long as the line is short. It's a classic, after all.
See yourself in the future as you ride, play, create, compete and explore inside the parks amazing icon.
Drunk smiles all around....I snapped a photo of our photos on the screen in front of us in our car. They were too funny not to!If there's time: The Seas with Nemo & Friends
Board a 'clamobile' and join your undersea pals on a quest to find Nemo. If there's time: Journey Into Imagination - a journey that will engage the imagination and senses. Must see (?): Captain EO - A 3D film that follows Captain EO (played by a young Michael Jackson) and his crew on a mission to rescue the planet through the gift of music, dance and light. I could have passed on this to be honest, but I was the minority (read: the only one). I do understand going in light of MJ's death, but I got nothing out of this whacky movie that does not even incorporate real MJ songs.
Must Ride: Test Track - Aboard a GM vehicle you speed through a racetrack on the fastest attraction in Disney history!

Epcot is just as fascinating, if not more so than I remember it. After this vacation, my childhood favorite Disney Park remains at #1!!

Mama Chang's Pork and Chive Dumplings

For the blogger potluck, some of the girls requested that I make Mama Chang's Pork and Chive Dumplings, which is one of Myers + Chang's most popular dishes.  I learned to make this at the first of many cooking classes with Chef Matt Barros at Myers + Chang.  I've only made these dumplings once for Project Food Blog, which was a bit stressful, so I was looking forward to making these again in a more relaxed manner for the potluck dinner.

First, I gathered all of the ingredients for my pork and chive dumpling filling:

• 1 pound ground pork
• 1 tablespoon chopped ginger
• 6-8 large Napa cabbage leaves
• 1/2 bunch of garlic chive (I substituted with regular chives)
• 2 teaspoons sesame seed oil
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce

I washed and dried the cabbage leaves.  Bret chopped them up and placed them in a bowl with a few generous pinches of salt.  The point of this is to draw out as much of the moisture out of the cabbage as possible.  We set the cabbage aside for ten minutes while I prepared the dumpling sauce, which consisted of four liquid ingredients, along with some chopped ginger:

• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon black Chiangking vinegar (I substituted with balsamic vinegar)
• 2 teaspoons Sriracha chili sauce
• 2 teaspoons sesame seed oil
• 2 tablespoons rough chopped ginger

I whisked together all of the liquid ingredients, while Bret chopped up the ginger.

I added the ginger to the sauce, gave it a mix, and set it aside.

By this time, the cabbage was ready.  Bret put the cabbage in a cheesecloth to squeeze out the extra moisture.

I put all of the dry dumpling ingredients in a large bowl  - the pork, chopped ginger, chopped Napa cabbage leaves, and chives.  I also added a few pinches of fresh-cracked black peppercorns.

I added the liquid ingredients - the sesame seed oil and the soy sauce - and mixed everything together by hand.  I mixed it just enough to combine the filling ingredients without overworking the meat.

Bret and I then got to work filling the dumpling wrappers with a half tablespoon of pork filling, sealing it with water and pinching the dumpling together.  The ingredients call for round dumpling wrappers but I couldn't find any at my Whole Foods so I went with square ones.

This recipe makes a lot of dumplings.  I packaged up thirty of them for the potluck and left Bret with some to cook on his own while I was gone.  I had some extra filling leftover so I also rolled some mini Asian meatballs for Bret to cook with his dumplings.

When I got to Megan's place, I warmed up a skillet on her stove with a few tablespoons of vegetable oil.  I browned the dumplings on one side and then steamed it with a few tablespoons of water.  I had some trouble adjusting to Megan's stove so the first batch came out more brown than I'd like but the next two batches came out a perfect golden brown.

My dumplings were a big hit and I was thrilled when everyone wanted to take leftovers home!

Have you ever made dumplings before?  Do you like to steam or pan-fry them?

Today is the final day to enter my Dancing Deer Giveaway!  You can enter in two different ways but must enter by 11 PM EST!