Bread Porn or Fun with Bloggers

Bread Baking with Yes and Yes Blogger Sarah

As promised at Christmas here is one of the exciting things that I've been up to in the kitchen recently...

Now as you can imagine Boyfriend is far more computer friendly that I am.  He's online while I'm still buying the newspaper. However, slowly, he has turned me onto various blogs and resources online. One of them is local Twin Cities Blogger Sarah at yesandyes.org. Sarah's blog covers everything from travel tips to true life interviews and is certainly worth the double click of your mouse.  Do you still have to double click?  Or is now just a finger-jerk reaction?

Annually Sarah creates a list of new things to accomplish/try before her next birthday.  This year Number 11 on the list was "bake bread from scratch".  Upon reading this I decided to step out my Internet box and invite Sarah over to bake bread from scratch.  Who knew she would take me up on it!  So a few weeks ago Sarah came over and along with Sister we baked up some great bread!  

I thought I would keep things simple for a first timer and decided to make a standard white loaf bread (recipe is here) and a sun dried tomato and basil free form loaf (same recipe as above just with some chopped up sun dried tomato from your local grocery store near the olives, pickles and such.  Plus some chopped up fresh basil).  

Sarah was a natural at bread baking.  Below are some of the photos from our great time together.  

Feeling the difference between All Purpose and Bread Flour.

It was really funny. If I could only remember the joke. 

Sarah working the dough. 

Our creation rising on the warm oven!

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Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, Dolly Parton, and Pomegranate Cupcakes

Pomegranate Cupcake with Buttercream

This is my first post of 2012.

According to some (my friend Colleen for one) this could be a short year. I promise to get more out here on the blog just in case that damned Mayan calendar is right.

Last nights festivities were mild. I chose to stay in with Lawyer, try some new chili (I'll put the recipe below), eat some pomegranate cupcakes, and watch Masterpiece Theater (Downton Abbey - it's everything you want in British period dramas. Namely mild gay drama, the Titanic sinking and Maggie Smith. Oh and that woman who was in that Kevin Bacon movie about having baby. See. Everything you could ever want.) I am sure you are asking why was my night not filled with wild and crazy food/booze filled fun?!?! Well Boyfriend is traveling to San Francisco to visit our friend Paty. Sister and Future Husband were busy in their neighborhood and there was a Winter Storm Warning. For those of you in the Minneapolis reading area you know this was a big deal because as of two days ago winter had not yet hit our cold weather state. So I invited Lawyer over after her hard day of volunteering and we caught up over some well deserved chili and cupcakes.

I have now spent the majority of the New Year grazing over day old cupcakes, watching way too many movies on Netflix (9 to 5 has never been so entertaining - Thank you Dolly Parton) and cleaning my kitchen. Below is the recipe for Chicken Chile given to me by Just Joni who got it from Aunt Sharon who got it from Family Friend Donna who I am sure got it from that woman on Downton Abbey that starred in that baby making film with Kevin Bacon.

New Year's Chicken Chili

RECIPE FROM A FRIEND OF A FRIEND OF A FRIEND

Makes 11 (1 Cup) Servings.

ingredients

14.5 oz can diced tomatoes

16 oz jar of salsa

14.5 oz can of chicken broth

1 cup Barley

4 cups Water

1 Tablespoon chili powder

1 Teaspoon cumin

1 can black beans; drained and rinsed

15.25 oz can of corn

1.5 lbs cooked and shredded chicken breast

instructions

1. In a 6 qt saucepan combine first 7 ingredients. Bring to boil over high heat, cover and reduce to low heat. Simmer for 40 mins, stirring occasionally.

2. Add beans, corn and chicken; increase heat to high until chili comes to a boil. Cover and reduce again to low heat. Simmer for an additional 5 mins or until barley is tender.

3. If upon standing the chili becomes too thick, add more chicken broth or water until chili is desired consistency. If desired (and when is it not desired), top with shredded cheddar cheese and sour cream (and not that fat free kind!).

Pomegranate Cupcakes

RECIPE MADE UP ON THE FLY

ingredients (cake)

1 box yellow cake mix (and all items listed on box needed to make cake)

1 jar pomegranate jelly

ingredients (frosting)

1 stick butter

1/4 cup shortening

2 cups powdered sugar

3 tablespoons reduced pomegranate juice

3 tablespoons heavy cream (more if frosting feels stiff)

instructions

1. Bake cupcakes as directed on box.

2. Using a paring knife or melon baller, scoop out a small hole in middle of cupcake. And fill with pomegranate jelly.

3. Carefully frost cupcakes with Pomegranate frosting

I must sign off now and get back to Dolly, Jane and Lily. And maybe another rogue cupcake for dinner. Have a wonderful New Year and just think about Friday's Happy Hour when you get to work tomorrow! And I promise to update in the next few days as I plan to have lunch with Baby Mama. We hope to venture out of our food box and try someplace new.

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Turkey Tom, Penthouse in the Sky, and Al Roker

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The holiday season is upon us. And with that comes travel, food, expanding waistlines, tested livers, and more travel.

It's 530 EST and I'm presently folded into a pleather seat soaring to New York City to join former Minnesotan Joy and her Garden State Lover Kellen in their penthouse pied a terre for Thanksgiving. Joy and I go back to our days whoring our souls to the retail gods while feeding and drinking ourselves around the great city of Minneapolis. I knew Joy had the same love of food and entertaining that I did when she skilfully duplicated authentic tamales one night then hosted a well executed Oscar party (swag bags were included). 

As for Thanksgiving Joy has been hosting her own for the last few years in what I can only imagine to be coffin sized kitchens all over the island of Manhattan. I've seen pictures of brining Toms squeezed into refrigerators that I'm sure were not much larger than the seat I am presently calling home.

This year Joy has planned a feast including two variations of stuffing (that's dressing for all my Southern readers), french onion soup and a buffet of all the regular fixin's. She was also kind enough to allow me to bake dessert for our guests. My plan was to make a traditional pumpkin pie (which I must confess was going to have a premade crust up until about an hour ago when Joy text informing me that Manhattan was sold out!) and a Pumpkin Chai Cheesecake.  In preparedness I sent Joy a pie plate and springform pan along with 2 loaves of my crack like Spiced Zucchini Bread. 

My goal when I deplane is to brave NYC transit by taking the train into the city. Why so pedestrian you ask? Because friends this flying food stylist is broke. How is that possible you you cry? Well readers the crazy glamorous career of food styling is all freelance save for a lucky few. And while I've been beyond busy the last few months making all your favorite foods look beautiful for photos I was not busy the few months prior to that. So that means cash flow is light now but should be normal in a few weeks.  Plus what fun is travel without a little adventure?  Though a little longer than the normal taxi ride the train ride should be easy and uneventful.  The only drawback is that I don't get that majestic view of Manhattan while barreling through the subway.

Organization At It's Finest

It is now noon on Thanksgiving and as evident from my post I clearly survived the train ride into the city.  Thanksgiving prep is underway here on the 24th floor in Midtown.  I was up at 730am getting my Pumpkin Chai Cheesecake in the oven.  Joy and I caught up over coffee and some of the crack like Spiced Zucchini Bread that I mentioned above.  Joy has created a very well planned out day (schedule is pictured...that's right a schedule).  As of right now we are on track for the day.  Joy has kindly chronicled the morning with her camera.

Today's menu includes the following:

Roasted Turkey

Homemade Mac and Cheese

Cornbread Stuffing

Traditional Stuffing

Curried Lemon Brussels Sprouts

Garlic Mash

Giblet Gravy

Jalapeno Cranberry Sauce

Pumpkin Chai Cheesecake

Copious amounts of wine/beer

A view of the Hudson River

A Sassy Brooklynite Named Karen (I will be asking her if she knows Tony Danza, a fellow Brooklynite)

Photos of the day:

At this point we have grown tired and the camera has somehow been put down.  Plus who wants to see pictures of a dirty kitchen?

Fast forward to 5pm on the dot.  After a quick turn in the kitchen to help Joy get some final details in place we are presented with a parade of the following food:

Joy's Tablescape

French Onion Soup

Roasted Turkey NYC Style

Cornbread Stuffing with Mac and Cheese

Entire Buffet on a Plate

Rooftop View with Post Dinner Coctails

Pumpkin Chai Cheesecake with Vanilla Ice Cream

It is now the day after Thanksgiving. And we continue to eat. Breakfast of leftovers and oatmeal below. 

Stuffing with Fried Egg and a side of Oatmeal

Joy and myself had some errands to run on the UWS and left Kellen alone in the pHouse to catch up on HBO, laundry, stint at the gym and some soon to confess raiding of the Thanksgiving leftovers.  While Kellen was at home Joy and I hit up Shake Shack.  This burger joint has grown into a island phenomenon.  We each hoovered down The Shack Burger, shared some fries and washed it down with an Arnold Palmer.

Shake Shack Cherry Pop

As Penny would say, "Amawzing".

We ended our day back at the pHouse, ordered in sushi (sorry no pictures.  There was wine coupled with exhaustion), and finally this was the view from my guest room as we wrapped up dinner:

To recap this Thanksgiving I am thankful for:

1. Just Joni and Sister for being cool enough to let me leave town on Thanksgiving.

2. Boyfriend (update 2016 this didn't really work out) for being cool enough to let me leave town on Thanksgiving. 

3. Joy and Kellen for being cool enough to let me invade their space for Thanksgiving.

4. Sassy Brooklynite Karen for sharing her Thanksgiving with a complete stranger and her willingness to share her story.

5. Al Roker for providing such wonderful commentary on a parade happening just two blocks from my temporary home.

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Pass The Mookies Please

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So I read on the Internets that zucchini is not a vegetable, but is in fact an immature fruit, being the swollen ovary of the the female zucchini flower.

Pictured above was our swollen ovary dinner from a few nights ago. A few weeks ago (which Boyfriend will tell you is code for me not knowing exactly when something happens) Boyfriend's parents sent him home with what I think was a metric ton of zucchini. I immediately imagined towers of chocolate zucchini bread. My chocolate dreams were soon melted because around that same time the gates of Hell opened up and the temperature outside lingered around 100 degrees Fahrenheit long enough for me to go nowhere near my oven. The weather has now cooled and so I found myself back in the kitchen searching for new ways to cook up some swollen ovaries. I found the dish above on Ms. Stewart's web site. I brought the dish down a couple tax brackets by eliminating the olives and using just plain old store brand spaghetti instead of linguine.

Now I must confess today's sin. I personally took down nearly a whole loaf of zucchini spice bread (another recipe of Ms. Stewart's). Like unhinged my jaw, massaged my throat like a pill swallowing dog and ate it over the sink because I couldn't wait to get the plate and sit down like a well trained human.

Last night Boyfriend asked if I could whip up a little something special for him to share at work the next day. And as I aim to please my man I threw together a couple loaves of the zucchini spice bread. I had made it a week before for a housewarming party but must have missed the crack like deliciousness while I was shoving multiple hot dogs in my mouth (side note: we live on the third floor of an apartment building and I have no desire to hoof it down to the grill - so anytime I get a chance to be near one I take full advantage of grilled hot dogs).

Back to this week's crack in a loaf pan. After I pulled myself away from the counter I rolled myself over to the ice box to see what if any swollen ovaries I had left. I NEED MORE ZUCCHINI SPICE BREAD! Thankfully there was a good foot (yes an actual foot) worth of zucchini still waiting to become illegal in most states.

Failed recipes for the week: Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cookies. Though mildly tasty they had the texture of a cake/muffin. Boyfriend and his co-workers labeled it a "mookie". Part muffin, part cookie.

photo by

Grant Bowers

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