Have you seen these chocolates?

We've had the Askinosie and Patric for a while - both are highly recommended for bean-to-bar lovers. The Blanxart is just a brute of a bar. Big, bold, but nothing fancy. The red wrapper is a Taza Organic stone ground - haven't tried it yet. Others we haven't tried yet: far right - Amatller chocolate; just next to it - a Venchi chocolate bar with absynth, and a Venchi dark. Not too bad for a small town store in the desert! Anybody try some of these others?

Blog of a blog: Chiles in the Desert

eG friend, Klary (linked in the blog list to the left) just returned from three weeks of traveling and eating in our area. You can read her report here. She and I were also noted in a recent newspaper article .

Do Not Disturb (the new Alinea book is here!)

I'm giddy as a 6th grade school girl at a Jonas Brothers Concert! My autographed, limited edition version of the brand spankin' new Alinea cookbook is here. Did I say "cookbook"!? How about shrine to all things that food aspire to be book. You can see that someone (Tyler) already put there grubby paws on the cover, but I'll be spending the next 10 years of my life reading and practicing these amazing recipes.

For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, check out the Alinea website or our blog entry on our dinner there last year.

Sushimania!

On Sunday I taught my first sushi class. I'm by no means an expert, but I have certainly made enough sushi to walk people through the basics to having sushi in there homes. First, one of mine:

Then the class obviously had fun in the nigiri zushi part of the class:




And one participant had way too much fun - note the soy dribble on chin and chest!

Hello Bready!

I recently converted my bread over to a whole wheat (20%) and have almost worked through all of the issues. These loaves are coming out large, round and great tasting...more importantly, the crust has remained near perfect. I'm still getting a few splits, but I'm adjusting my hydration and proofing...it'll get there. Enjoy!

Monday's Drool Pictures

A few things I made over the weekend.

Baklawa using whole wheat fillo, nut mixture (pistachio, walnut & cashew) and a breath of orange water.


Tropical Fruit Cream Pie that was a special request. They actually wanted coconut cream, and they wanted it in just a few hours. I didn't have the ingredients for coconut, so I talked them into this which was blood orange, mango & pineapple curd with a meringue top.


And, we had rare humidity this weekend which made all of my baking very happy! The croissants were as plump as I've ever made them. Perfectly risen, baked, egg washed...and boy were the chocolate ones delicious!

Blue d'Auvergne Cheese

I have quite a few posts to catch you all up on that will rollout over the next few days. Let's start with a cheese that I think is one of the most beautiful there is. Blue d'Auvergne. unlike most blues that have the tell-tale signs of spore injection line, this blue is perfectly speckled with blue. I find it mid-tone in its strongness, as well as in texture - meaning it can crumble or spread as needed. I love blues with a bit of fig preserves more than anything else!