Baker's Mark

Not quite this extreme, but somewhat.

Since when is "likelier" a word???

Picked up one of these at Gracious Home

Pulled this guy from the back cabinet...

And made these.

Spinach and Cheese Ravioli. Both pasta and filling recipes from Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything.

One note about making ravioli: There tends to be a lotta scrap dough leftover. Me being the resourceful person I am (aka CHEAP CHEAP), I just rolled it up, put it through the pasta machine, and cut it into strips. BOOM - tagliatelle.

GINGERBREAD COOKIE YOGA PEOPLE!

I’m not a huge fan of gingerbread, but these are pretty cute and a good gift idea for the yogis. Con: $35 for 10 cookies? Um.

Raspberry Chocolate French Macaroons.

When I finished baking these and bit into one, I realized that I had forgotten one thing: I’ve never tasted a french macaroon, so I wasn’t sure if they had turned out “right” or not. Whoops. Whatever, they tasted pretty good. (How’s that for a critique?!)

I decided that sandwich cookies, while irresistibly adorable, are really 2x as much work, since it takes 2x the number of cookies to serve the same number of people. (Trust me, folks, I do math for a living.)

Still, they are pretty ridiculously cute. And sometimes, cute > hassle.

urbanfoodie:

delishyourdish:

Delish Detector!- Wisconsin Cheese Cupid

Tis the season to be…struck by the Cheese Cupid. Many of us are busy planning holiday parties and family gatherings for the upcoming winter festivities. Like me, I’m sure you’ve scoured the internet and holiday entertaining magazines looking for the perfect additions for your delish menus.

This year I plan on adding a beautiful cheeseboard to my holiday tablescape. While I usually have a hard time pairing wine and spirits with my cheeses, this year I have Cheese Cupid to help me find the perfect match.

Whether you’re a wine, beer, Scotch or Brandy drinker, Cheese Cupid helps you find the perfect cheese “soul mate” for your drink.

Your cheese, wine, or beer will never go unpaired (or worse, mismatched) again! Don’t forget to click on the cheese picture for more information, such as the flavor, drink pairings, and other serving suggestions such as nuts, fruits, and the like. Not only is this website PURE GENIUS in its utility, the design is quite sexy.

urbanfoodie:

(image via Serious Eats)

When I recently declared that macarons were the new cupcake, I thought I was some kind of trendcasting genius. Token indulgences like this are bound to explode in these difficult economic times, much like lipstick sales skyrocket when times get tough. I even went and did a little Google Trends analysis of searches for “macaron” in the U.S., learning that interest in macarons has gone up dramatically from practically nil in the last two years:

Then I did a little more research and found that the Foodista blog beat me to this trend report by less than a month (goes to show…don’t neglect your blogging). They even included a little Google Trend screen cap (note that most searchers were within France). Then there was the macaron cookbook review featured on Eat Me Daily. Serious Eats has featured many a macaron post since 2007, most recently breaking some news that Starbucks is going to start selling macarons imported from France. That’s OK, this little blogger may not be the most forward food trendcaster, but I will continue to extol the virtues of this most sophisticated cookie (and don’t confuse it with the macaroon).

Pour moi, the X-Factor of a macaron is in the breakthrough of the delicate crust to a soft, airy cookie texture. The closest I have ever come to experiencing macaron perfection is Miette Patisserie.

Bouchon Bakery comes a close second:

Here in the Twin Cities, Sweets Bakeshop in St. Paul brings a respectable offering to the meringue gods. But I do find myself wanting in the texture department with the Sweets macarons, which have more of a dense, somewhat pasty interior. Perhaps the recipe will evolve, as Sweets is relatively new. I do have to say, the flavor of the salted caramel filling is outstanding. Below are a couple of macarons, one pistachio/chocolate and the other some other flavor that was not very memorable.

One of my friends suggested that macarons are too difficult to make to ever achieve the popularity of cupcakes. I am going to put that to the test with my own attempt next weekend. Stay tuned. Project Macaroon will return soon enough with the next effort at making this pastry take over the world.

I’ve been inspired to make these lately, and this might be the final impetus I need. Pictures and a recap to come.

“ Postconvention surfing of food industry Web sites made me even more aware that little in food is really what it seems. It’s possible to create virtually anything with chemicals. [David Michael & Company, a century-old flavor innovator based in Philadelphia] can overlay grilled, braised, seared, or roasted nuances on a basic beef flavor. The company can replace fruit with a manufactured fruit taste for fillings and juices, and it produces a liquid substitute for butter that’s known as Butter Plus, a pound of which replaces fifty pounds of the real thing.

— The End of Overeating, by David A. Kessler

moviesinframes:

Roman Holiday, 1953 (dir. William Wyler)

by fulltimeprocrastinator

[Note: this is a re-frame. You can see the first one here]

“ Because of either swine flu fears or just rampant speculation, the Chinese are hoarding garlic and driving up the price by as much as 40 times. Given that they produce three-quarters of the world’s supply, that’s serious business. You can get along without pumpkin. There is no substitute for garlic.

— [GIMMEALLYOURGARLIC!]