Homemade Marshmallows

Who knew that making homemade marshmallows was so simple...or even possible? When I first read the article, I knew that it would be a great project for a chilly fall or winter day. Last weekend was the perfect opportunity, so I set out to make them!













The first step was boiling the corn syrup, water, and sugar mixture to 240 degrees. Easy enough.
The next step was to add the hot mixture to the gelatin and water mixture that was ready in a mixing bowl.
Magic happens! It start to actually look like marshmallow goop in just a few minutes.
After adding vanilla, you pour the mixture into a baking pan and let set for four hours to firm up.
Cutting the marshmallows make be the trickiest part as they are pretty sticky! Once they are cut, you dust them with a mixture of powdered sugar and potato flour so that they don't stick together.
Chocolate fondue for dessert! What a great way to spend a Saturday in Vermont. It was really very simple to do and they of course tasted so much better than store bought marshmallows. I will definitely be making these again. Can't wait to try them in hot chocolate or s'mores!

Farmer's Market Find #3 - fresh eggs

Beautiful blue, pale pink, and brown farm fresh eggs. I finally was able to get Craig to the farmer's market early enough to get some before they sold out. I had just read an article this morning about the glorious taste and the beautiful color of the yolk of a farm fresh egg in the most recent issue of Saveur. It was an issue devoted entirely to breakfast...mmm. Just in time for me to plan a Sunday morning brunch.

I had been wanting to make this Ricotta and Roasted Pepper Frittata for a while (actually, I wanted to make homemade ricotta and then make the fritatta, but there wasn't really time for that today), so I made that along with some scones with butter and strawberry jam and had a nice brunch.

Farmer's Market Find #2 - Zucchini Blossoms

I had literally been looking for these gorgeous blossoms for years and all of a sudden, there they were at the farmer's market on a Saturday morning in early July. I had read about them, seen pictures of them, had recipes for them, but had never actually seen them available to purchase. I don't know what intrigued me so about them, I just knew that I had been craving them.

I knew that I would prepare them battered and deep fried, but then I had the brilliant idea to stuff them with Boursin. They were amazing and worth the years of waiting.

Boursin Stuffed Zucchini Blossoms

zucchini blossoms

Boursin

2/3 cup flour

3/4 cup beer

canola oil

Mix the beer and the flour. Set aside. Place a small wedge of cheese inside each blossom and gently press together. Fry the blossoms in hot oil (375degrees.) Drain on paper towels and season with salt. Enjoy!!

Farmer's Market Find #1 - Swiss Chard

On Saturday mornings, we like to head in to the farmer's market in Union Square in Somerville. We plan our meals for the weekend based on what we find fresh that day. Last weekend we bought radishes, sugar snap peas, swiss chard, Tazo chocolate, zucchini, and some pickling cukes. Neither of us had ever had swiss chard before and we used it in a Swiss Chard and Salami Frittata. I left out the salami, but added some shredded zucchini that I had leftover from making Amy's Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread. It was really quite tasty!

Smolak Farms Strawberry Festival

I had been wanting to go strawberry picking sometime this summer and was excited to find out that a strawberry festival was going on at a local farm on the day I had been planning on going! Smolak Farms is only about a 20 minute drive from where we live, but it was the first time we had ever been there.


By the time we got into the strawberry field to start picking, we found that almost all of the strawberries were already gone! There were a lot of people in the field and a lot of empty baskets. Craig decided to head to a corner of the field that was a little unkempt and weedy, but where no one else was picking. That was where we hit the jackpot! We were whispering and trying not to appear too excited so that no one else would notice what we had found. We went home with over six pounds of strawberries!




I made strawberry jam for the first time in my adult life. I have made it hundreds of times before, but not since I was about twelve years old and not without my mother! I ended up with a little over three pints.












I also made this Strawberry Lemon Curd Tart to go with our first smokin' party of the summer. It was supposed to have a different crust than the one pictured here, but I somehow didn't inherit my moms skill of making pie crusts. The original crust ended up in the garbage and I substituted a simple graham cracker crust.

We started out the meal with Dates with Goat Cheese Wrapped in Prosciutto. We had experimented with these the night before and ended up substituting boursin for the goat cheese and putting them on the grill instead of under the broiler. Craig smoked three racks of ribs. Our friends Gordon and Jill brought over homemade cornbread and an Asian-style slaw (that was really yummy!) We rounded out the meal with some corn on the cob and baked beans that Craig put in the smoker with some bacon that he also smoked. Craig's ribs were his best yet!

My First Soufflé...

...turned out perfectly! It didn't fall, it wasn't fussy, it was actually very easy! I made the Grits, Cheese, and Onion Soufflé for our breakfast this morning. Craig loved it, but thought that adding bacon would make it even better (isn't that true about just about everything???) I'm going to be trying out more soufflés...they are so much lighter than the omeletes that I usually make when we have eggs for breakfast.

Bread? Or pizza?

This Georgian Cheese Bread, a bread known as khachapuri in the Republic of Georgia, is the best of both worlds. It is doughy and yeasty like a bread and cheesy and greasy and crusty like a pizza. It is so unbelievably easy to make..you just have to be patient while the dough rises...try it this weekend!

Delicious and Nutritious!

This Mango-Radicchio Caprese with Basil Vinaigrette salad has 'fancy five-course dinner party' written all over it! It is beautiful, delicious and unique. Look for 'champagne' mangos - they are so much sweeter and more flavorful than the regular mangos that you find in the grocery store.

Happy Easter!

I made this scruptious lemon meringue pie for dessert for our Easter dinner. We also had a baked ham, au gratin potatoes, and asparagus w/hollandaise sauce.

I also made these adorable little place cards for our table setting, but we ended up eating in the living room becuase it got so late! (I didn't really want to write our names on them anyway!)

Cinnamon Rolls 101

I'll admit that I have only used yeast a handful of times in my life (and not always successfully!) When I read an article in Bon Appetit by Molly Wizenberg (a.k.a. Orangette) titled "The Trouble with Yeast," I knew that I had to try to make these gooey Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Glaze for myself. I had to put the rolls directly on the heat register so that they would be warm enough to rise, and it took a lot longer than the recipe suggested, but they were a success! I took a picture of the rolls in the pan so that I would know when they had "doubled in size." This picture shows them at the peak of plumpness.

A Trio of Chocolate Treats!

It was two of my co-workers birthdays on Saturday, so I decided to make something sweet to bring to work: Peanut Butter Bon-Bons, Truffles with Grand Mariner, and Chocolate Brandy Balls. They were a hit!

The recipe for the Peanut Butter Bon-Bons comes from the Glenwood City Centennial Cookbook published in 1985. The recipe was submitted by my aunt, Sandi Canfield.

Peanut Butter Bon-Bons

Mix together:

3 c. Rice Krispies

2 c. powdered sugar

2 c. chunky peanut butter

1 stick butter, melted

Roll into balls.

Melt over double boiler:

1/2 cake paraffin wax

16 oz. chocolate chips

Dip the peanut butter balls into the chocolate mixture and let cool. Enjoy!!

Super Bowl Sunday - It's All About the Food!

Baby Greens, Pear, and Blue Cheese Salad

We wanted a light lunch on Super Bowl Sunday so that we would have plenty of room for excessive amounts of food during the game. After all, that's what the Super Bowl is about, right? The food!!

We had some juicy pears from Harry and David and made this salad along with a fresh baked bagette (from Whole Foods - did you know that they sell frozen specialty breads that you just pop into the oven for 10-15 minutes?)

Fried Chicken with Bacon and Pepper Cream Gravy

How do you make an already deliciously greasy meal even better? Add bacon!

This was my first time ever frying chicken and my critic thinks that I need a bit more practice. I think that means that he just wants more fried chicken!

Steaks with Merlot and Boursin Sauce

We love to cook together on Saturday nights and have a few drinks and relax. This Saturday, we made a recipe from Bon Appetite, Steaks with Merlot and Boursin Sauce.http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/241087 We used dry-aged angus ribeyes from Whole Foods and cooked them in a cast-iron skillet. We used no oil as the steak was so nicely marblized. Next we tented the steaks with the cheese on top while we prepared the refined merlot sauce in the cast iron skillet. We then drizzled the sauce over the cheese and the steak and it was truly amazing.

Cara Cara Oranges

Here is a nice breakfast side. Sunny Cara Cara oranges, topped with brown sugar and melted butter and cinnamon and broiled. Finish with torch.

Summer Beaujolais Party with Smoked Lamb

Here is some of the table spread. Local Duxbury oysters and marinate olives and feta with toasted pita points. http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/101876

We smoked three leg of lamb with different rubs over hickory for 10 hours.

Very tasty. Here I am mopping with thyme & rosemary bundles.

Cioppino

We had been planning on making Cioppino, a San Francisco style seafood stew, for a special New Year's Eve meal at home. Craig ended up going to New Deal Fish Market the day before New Year's Eve to pick up all of the seafood. He got so excited about the meal that we had to make it that night! Happy December 30th everyone!!