Some of us (probably most of us) were rebellious in our teenage years. In our young and rambunctious quest to find out who we are, we bucked convention and tradition and the letter of the law in an effort to determine our own and society’s limits. It all seems very romantic when we’re young, and many of use grow out of it. Sometimes though, we hang on to a bit of our rebellious streak. And sometimes our rebellion comes in the form of Christmas dinner.
Rather than write the deeply personal and introspective synopsis of what the past year has meant to me and what changes I intend to employ to make 2009 a more personally fulfulling year, I figured I’d duck all the moosh and make note of what my top ten posts were this past year (based on number of visits). Figuring this may not be the fairest measure of success (since I got a bit better at marketing my posts as time went on), I will try and share some related older posts where relevant.
The next and most interesting step in my bread-baking education was to build my own sourdough starter. Given that I would be trying to create a breeding ground for bacteria, something ordinarily staunchly avoided in cooking, I have to admit to a bit of trepidation. But folks have been doing it for ages, and the process is really fairly easy, so before we left for the holidays, I set about building a sourdough starter following the steps laid out by Peter Reinhart in The Bread Baker’s Apprentice.
The last of the wrapping paper has been cleaned up. The punchbowl has had it’s last meager cup of eggnog extracted. The gifts are being quietly examined and enjoyed. And the cookies have all been distributed.
My undisputed favorite holiday treat is peppermint bark. I’m not a big chocolate-lover, but there’s something about the combination of chocolate and mint that just hits me in the right spot. After noticing that various purveyors have been jacking up their prices for peppermint bark, I set out to make some of my own.
Ah, chocolate. The folks who love it, really love it, and it’s easy to see why. In its most readily available incarnation, it is silky smooth and intriguingly flavored, with seemingly endless variety. It melts at just below body temperature, so popping a piece in your mouth and letting it melt at its own pace allows you to experience the full breadth of its flavor and luxurious texture. It can be enjoyed on its own or incorporated (in solid or melted form) into any number of glorious confections.
After the success we had in preparing the menu from the Market Table Dinner Social last month, we decided to partake of chef Eric Ripert’s Cocktail Party Dinner Social recipes as well. Just as it was last month, the planning steps, ingredient list, and recipes for both canapes and cocktails were obviously carefully thought out and supplied in easily-printable format from the chef’s website.
I’m a dyed-in-the-wool chocolate chip cookie lover. I know it seems strange for me to be fond of something so normal when my eating habits are often times so odd, but I love them. However, holding a steady second place is a cookie I fell in love with on a visit to Brooklyn a couple years ago. The friends we were visiting were on a grad student sleeping schedule (waking roughly at noon, staying up till 5am) while Sean and I were on a go to a regular job every day schedule. We’d fill those hours in between our waking and theirs by strolling around Brooklyn. We happened into a little bakery / cafe one morning and true to form, I picked out something I hadn’t eaten before. That something turned out to be pignoli.
Almond paste is a mixture of ground almonds, sugar, and liquid (the can said water, but I’ve seen plenty of recipes calling for egg white and Sharon Tyler Herbst in The New Food Lover’s Companion mentions glycerin). Sometimes the almond flavor is given a bump up in intensity with the addition of almond extract. Almond paste is different from marzipan, though it’s really tough to pin anyone down on a definition. Generally speaking, marzipan is smoother and sweeter than almond paste.
I’m going to commit a blogger sin and write about the same restaurant twice. And I’m going to do so with relish. This past May, my husband Sean and I had our first experience with the wonder that is Uchi. He enjoyed it so much, that we visited again for his birthday last week – and this time, we brought our camera. Are any of you visiting central Texas anytime soon? If you’re food-lovers, this is the place to visit.