Voila-ve

Last night we made French Onion soup for the first time - a recipe out of Saveur. Didn't much care for it thank you. But we also made latkes from the same issue and did enjoy them. Served with applesauce.

What's for Dessert?

You know a dessert has to be good to get people to eat it the weekend after Thanksgiving when everyone is dessert-ed-out. So I made three. Amernick's Chocolate Viennese Cake (Sacher torte), a Spirited Peach Chocolate Cake, and a Hungarian Chestnut Cake with crushed Cacao Nibs. All were hits and eaten out of existence.

Spaghetti & Meatballs...our way!

Continuing our childhood favorites, I updated spag and meatballs by using a premium, nested Italian pasta, jarred cortina pomodoro sauce and buffalo meatballs.

Tis the Season

For pumpkin walnut raviolis - very fast using gyoza wrappers from our store.

To top of our weenie meal, I made Amernick's Chocolate Babka - light coffeecake swirled with apricot jam, cake crumb and chocolate.

What was he thinking?!

Last night Tyler wanted to recreate a part of our childhood. He made pasta with red sauce and cut up hot dogs. Of course it was fancy creste pasta, jarred Cortina sauce, and Applegate Farms hot dogs, but still...

Akuna Cassata

This is the cassata cake from Amernick's Art of the Dessert. Six layers of pound cake layered with currant jelly, ricotta/cream cheese/cinnamon/marsala, and wrapped in fudge frosting.

And the Welcome Home meal

Turkey soup from the leftover turkey carcass with a quiche that had blue cheese, pimiento strips, and fresh mushrooms that some homeless guy sold us that he had picked in the mountains - we're still alive, and they were good.

Another Home Alone meal

A simple omelet (I only had 2 eggs and odds and ends in the fridge) with Candoni Mediterranean olive pesto.

Gobbled Up

Today I got to make a turkey for our local LGBT Thanksgiving potluck. Actually Tyler volunteered us, then promptly left for Tucson. Anyway, not being a turkey maker/roaster/cooker dude, I consulted www.eGullet.org for unique but trustworthy cooking techniques. I settled with a technique offered by The_Old_Foodie, a woman from New Zealand. She suggested emersing your turkey in milk overnight, covered. Then bake as usual, but breast down, in the milk. I did and it was incredibly moist, and gave a super broth for the gravy. It was a huge hit. (My little secret - I also stuffed pancetta under the skin just to be sure.)

Home alone

Now keep in mind that I fed myself for many years, but when Tyler leaves, I don't remember how to make nice meals from scratch. But, I go for full fat when I do it myself. Last night it was miniature gnocchi that I finished is the skillet with pancetta, cream & 5 year gouda. Pretty dern good.

Strudel

When Rob interviewed Pastry Chef Ann Amernick and asked what one food would she gorge herself on, she responded, "Maryland Strudel." So tonight he made it:

Pizza boys

Homemade pizza dough, Candoni pesto, and whatever we could find in the house...and still the best pizza in town!

A bit of Africa

Every now and then Tyler prepares a meal of nshima to remind him of his days in Africa. The meal is polent (used to pick up the other items similar to enjima in Ethiopian food), greens with nuts, and chicken.

Another fun class

This past Saturday we held a youth holiday confections class. The kids prepared pumpkin pie marshmallow, French nougat and Seafoam dipped in dark chocolate. Here's what one participant thought of the afternoon: