Blog party!

I'm still trying to figure out what was going on in December 2007 that prompted so many people to start food blogs.  It seems like I keep finding other bloggers that I feel like have been around forever that started their blogs right around the same time I did.  Today, I'm excited to wish Shelby of The Life & Loves of Grumpy's Honeybunch a very happy 4th anniversary for her blog!  A while back, Shelby sent me an invitation to a virtual party to celebrate her blogiversary.  We're all bringing one of my favorite types of party food--appetizers and small plates.  What better way to get to sample lots of yummy dishes without getting full too quickly. =)

I decided to share a recipe that I've made a bunch of times, but somehow never blogged--Cheddar Cheese and Pecan Crisps.  They're flaky, buttery, nutty cheese crackers that are excellent with a glass of celebratory beverage. =)  You can cut out round cookies, but I like to do other shapes, like these stars. (Snowflakes are fun too, this time of year.) I've confused people a few times, when they thought they were picking up a sweet cookie and instead ended up with a savory mouthful.  Not a bad thing, of course, just unexpected.  The recipe suggests using a mix of cheddar and parmesan, but you can use other sharp cheeses as well.  I usually make mine with just cheddar.  I'm not a big fan of spicy things, but the bit of cayenne in these gives them a little kick that's very tasty.  One last note--the recipe calls for 7 ounces of butter--that's 14 tablespoons.  The first time I made these, I misread the amount, and used only 7 tablespoons.  The crackers actually turned out okay.  I'm not sure they really need the full amount (feel free to try it and see what you think), but I have increased the amount I use from 7 to 10 tablespoons, which I think works well.  

The verdict?  These crackers are always a hit whenever I serve them.  The recipe makes lots, so I usually even have a few left over to snack on for a couple of days.  I pretty much only make them for parties, otherwise I'd be tempted to eat the entire batch myself. =)  

You can find the recipe here on the Fine Cooking website.  For lots more great appetizers & snacks, be sure to check out all the other links to Shelby's blogiversary party.  Also, to celebrate her blog anniversary, Shelby is sponsoring a giveaway on her blog.  Here are the details:

• Receive one entry by leaving a comment on this blog post telling me about your favorite appetizer.

• For additional entries, visit the blog links that will take you to the blogs of others who have joined in the celebration party and leave a comment on each of their posts.

• The giveaway will end on January 7th at 5 PM EST. The winner will be announced on January 8th via a blog post on The Life & Loves of Grumpy's Honeybunch. 

• The winner will be chosen via a random drawing (drawing to be done by Grumpy). The prize will be a $50 gift card which can be for ONE of the choices listed here: Sears; Kohls; Amazon; Target; Wal-mart; Chili's; Uno's; Marshalls/TJMax; Bed, Bath & Beyond; Macaroni Grill; Olive Garden; Starbucks; Barnes & Noble

• The giveaway is limited to US and Canadian residents only.

New arrivals (and giveaway winner!)

I mentioned in my post last weekend that one of the things my mom taught me was to love reading and books.  She also taught me about the wonder of the library.  It's great for figuring out if I want to buy a particular book, especially cookbooks.  Plus, there are lots of books that I want to read but don't feel like I really have to own them.  The ones that I buy are the ones that I know I will want to read over and over again.  But even though I don't buy tons of books, I still have a pretty large number of them (and I'm not even counting Jamie's).  Every time I've moved, I always underestimate the number of boxes it's going to take to pack up all of them...

I'm still reading and buying regular books, but the fastest growing section of my personal library has to be the cookbook section.  I like to cook and bake from them, but I also like to just read them.  I always have something to read with me--I think the people at work are amused by the fact that I often read cookbooks while eating my lunch.  =)  I tend not to buy cookbooks that are just collections of recipes.  I want more--stories about the recipes and how they came about.  Or information about techniques or ingredients.  The books above are a couple of the ones that I've purchased for myself recently.

Ratio by Michael Ruhlman is a book about a neat idea.  It talks about the relationship between ingredients in a lot of classic preparations, and how you don't really need a recipe if you understand those ratios.  You can read more about it here.  One thing that I most definitely agree with--if you don't own a scale, buy one! =)

The other book I picked up recently was sort of an impulse buy.  I've seen a lot of reviews lately of Gale Gand's Brunch!  I stopped by Borders to look at it.  I decided it wasn't one that I wanted to buy, but while I was there, I happened to find another breakfast and brunch book that looked interesting.  It's Breakfasts & Brunches, put out by the Culinary Institute of America.  I had a coupon that I was dying to use, so it came home with me.  I already have Cooking at Home with the Culinary Institute of America, which I really need to bake from more often...  (Check out Sandy from At the Baker's Bench, who is baking her way through it.)  Breakfast is a very popular meal around here, so I think this one will definitely come in handy.

Then came Mother's Day last weekend, and my wonderful husband got me not one, but two new cookbooks!  The first is portable, so it's the one that I've been taking it to work to read during lunch. =)  It's Baking Artisan Bread, by Ciril Hinz:

And the second is one that I've seen on a lot of blogs.  Plus I've talked lots about how much I love Sur la Table.  It is however, probably too heavy to lug to work with me on a daily basis.  I'm the proud owner of a copy of The Art and Soul of Baking:

Hopefully I'll have a chance to try some new recipes soon and share the results here.

Okay, it's taken me way too long to get to this, but now let's find out who was the winner of my giveaway!  My lovely helper Brianna wrote all the names on pieces of paper for me: 

There were ten people who left comments (before the deadline) about their favorite cookbooks:

Once they were written out, we folded them up and put them in a hat:

Gillian mixed them up:

And then picked one out:

And the winner is:

Congratulations to Cathy of The Tortefeasor!  She said that the next cookbook on her list is How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman.  

Thanks again to everyone who participated and left me comments about the cookbooks they have and want.  Now I can add to my wishlist! =)  

A pick me up - pay it forward

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was chosen by Megan over at My Baking Adventures.  She picked Tiramisu Cake for us to make this week.  I was kind of looking forward to it, because I've never made tiramisu in cake form or otherwise.  Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be, at least this weekend...  Last Thursday, I had the day off.  I spent part of my morning making a batch of Dorie's Chocolate Chunkers to share with a friend.  I'd forgotten how much chocolate goes into those things!  That evening, I turned the oven on to preheat--I was just going to throw in some frozen chicken strips for Jamie and me to eat for dinner (it was a long day...).  After a while, I realized I should check on the oven.  It had been more than long enough for it to be preheated.  Imagine my dismay when I opened the oven door and discovered that the oven was still completely cold!  

The scientist/engineer in me demanded that I try to figure out what the heck was wrong.  I have a gas oven & stovetop.  The burners worked just fine.  The broiler (mine is in the top of my oven) also worked.  There was definitely gas flowing.  Jamie and I figured it was most likely something with the igniter for the oven.  I called my friendly neighborhood appliance repair people Friday morning from work.  But they don't work weekends at all, and there was no way for one of us to be home Friday afternoon.  So the earliest I was able to schedule an appointment was Monday morning.  That left me with an entire weekend to cook with no oven.  It temporarily threw a wrench in my usual BYOB plans.  I eventually got the idea to try making flatbread on my griddle.  But that's a story for another post...

Anyway, the oven got fixed Monday morning.  As we suspected, the igniter was at fault.  It has now been replaced.  But not soon enough for me to have time to bake cake.  I did bake bread Monday evening (the dough was already in the fridge) and it seems like the oven is working much more efficiently than before.  I'm going to have to watch that until I get used to how it's different.  Since I don't have the same sort of pick-me-up as you'll find on the blogs of the other TWD bakers this week, I thought I'd go in a different direction...

Quite some time ago, I was the lucky winner of a giveaway from Margaret at Tea and Scones.  She offered the winner a choice of gift cards, and I had a hard time deciding between Williams-Sonoma and Sur la Table.  I ended up choosing Sur la Table, and had a great time shopping.  I swear, I can spend hours in that store, even if it's just window-shopping.  I finally came home with the items pictured above--a new 8" springform pan, two sturdy 8" regular cake pans, and a cool new spatula.  I had some old 8" pans, but they were all pretty cheap (in construction).  I've had lots of fun using all of my new toys.  Thanks, Margaret!

One of the only conditions of the giveaway was that at some point in the future I would "pay it forward" by offering a giveaway of my own.  Well, I'm finally getting around to doing that.  But in the process, I want to pick your brains a bit.  So here's how it's going to work...  To enter, leave a comment on this post, and tell me a couple of things:  First, what cookbook do you have that you absolutely love?  (like I need an excuse to add to my collection...)  And second, what cookbook are you just dying to own?  One lucky winner will receive a $25 gift card or gift certificate for the book seller of their choice (as long as I can reasonably manage to get my hands on one--otherwise, there's always Amazon).  You just have to agree to pay it forward in turn.  The deadline is 11:59pm CDT on Friday 5/8.  The winner will be chosen at random by my lovely assistants, Brianna and Gillian.  I look forward to hearing about your cookbook choices!