Fallen Souffle

WOW! That’s what I said when I came home from the bakery and saw the box waiting for me from my BBM4 partner Heather.

When I opened it, it was like Christmas morning, a dream for a foodie like me! Here is a list of goodies:
Cinnamon Glazed Pecans
Fresh Nutmeg
Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta
Tibetian Tiger tea leaves
Freeze dried strawberries
Ginger Chews
two tapenandes, olive and grilled vegetable
Dark Chocolate Covered pretzels, which I have to hide from Evan!
2 packages of dried cherries
Cooking herbs form Spain
Yummy spice cookies
Chicken treats for the mutts
a set of three melamine bowls!
a super cute doggie themed serving dish
a set of New Yorker note cards
cocktail napkins
some foot care stuff form Vicky Secret
vintage coasters
and the coolest book “The Agony of my Leaves” all about teas
oh and a mix CD full of some awesome songs!
(I think I got it all!)

WOW!

I don’t even think “Thank You” is enough to express how cool this package was and how much I appreciate all of the goodies. I will truly enjoy them all! Thanks so much Heather!

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Ok so I have of these random things I want to talk about, so instead of individual posts I am just going to lump them together.

1. Announcement! Check out Very Good Things, conceived by the lovely Alicat. I am a contributor and this issue includes my first articles so check it out!

2. It was a crazy day at the bakery, the mixer blew up just before a group of kids were about to start their field trip of the bakery…there is nothing like large clouds of smoke to set the mood for an educational lesson on bread baking (what’s that burning smell?) Also, our electric bread slicer broke, which does not seem like a huge deal but these people are crazy about getting their bread sliced. Some won’t buy it unless we slice it, and some stared at us- mortified- like we told them their dog just died.

3. Speaking of dogs, I have started volunteering at the Wake County SPCA and I am so glad I started back. There is no better way to start off your day then by snuggling with cute dogs, especially puppies. Even better- I had 5 puppies in my section today- I was so excited. Four of them were siblings, Australian Shepherd and Chow Chow mixes, and they did not take kindly to the leash. So when I tried to take them out one by one, the others would gang up on my and start circling me and barking. It was quite a posse of 10 pound fluffballs- rather intimidating.

So this is my PSA to volunteer when you can. It doesn’t have to be dogs and it doesn’t have to be that often, but it sure does make a difference not only to those you are helping but it also gives you that indescribable fuzzy feeling inside. I also love it when volunteers bring their kids in because it really shows them that it is important to give back…something some kids are missing out on these days.

4. And ending on a food note, I make turkey tetrazzini tonight, it was a recipe from the show “Ham on the Street”. I love this show and had high hopes of the dish but was sadly mistaken. I was excited because all of the ingredients are cheap, something that is important to us these days, and I could whip it up in the morning and have Evan it bake at night.

I am posting the incidents below, I didn’t add the chicken stock because the sauce looked pretty thin to begin with and I didn’t want to make soup. Other than that it is the same…does anyone have any suggestions or a better recipe? I added some cheese when I ate it which made it a little better but it was still missing something. The complete recipe is here.

Turkey Tetrazzini

Vegetable oil cooking spray
1 pound short pasta, such as rotini or gemelli
Kosher salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 pounds ground turkey
Freshly ground black pepper
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 quart whole milk
2 cups chicken stock
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1 small bunch fresh sage, leaves chopped (Ok I didn’t add this either- but would it make that much of a difference?)
Topping:
1 1/2 cups panko (Japanese) bread crumbs, or regular bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

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Ok so not really but I think it’s pretty cool! Evan and I were chosen to appear in the newest issue of The Knot for the VA/MD/DC area and it has just been published! So we only got a half page write up in the magazine but we have a full write up online!

So if you are feeling bored, check us out here!

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So I got tagged by Alicat at Something so Clever and since the hubby is out of town and I am too lazy to post anything else I thought this is as good a time as any to do this.

It actually took me longer than I expected to fill this out. I have a ton of things I want to do before I die (most of them are travel related) so it was hard to narrow them down. I also don’t watch alot of movies, so my range of movies is limited.

So here goes…oh and for some reason everyone is posting a picture of the dogs, here are Bella and Sasha sleeping in the exact same position…too cute!

Seven Things To Do Before I Die:
1. Have Children
2. See the Big 5 on an African Safari
3. Live in Italy and take some sort of culinary class there
4. Write a book
5. Start a business
6. See a World Series game, a Super Bowl, a College National Championship Football Game and The Kentucky Derby
7. Live on a farm where I can have as many dogs as I want

Seven Things I Cannot Do:
1. Take criticism well
2. Whistle
3. Be chipper in the morning
4. Drive a stick shift
5. Eat lima beans
6. Stop being a people pleaser
7. Fathom the thought of losing anyone close to me

Seven Things That Attract Me to Blogging:
1. Motivation to try new things
2. I find other foodies like me!
3. Self Expression
4. Inspiration to try new things
5. Creating a network of friends across the country
6. Keeps me focused
7. Keeps me busy

Seven Things I Say Most Often:
1. “What up G?” (to my sister)
2. “Can I get you a slice of bread today?”
3. “Shut Up!”
4. “Who wants to go outside?” (to the pups)
5. “I Love You” (to Evan)
6. “Sweet!”
7. “What do you feel like for dinner?”

Seven Books I Love:
1. “She’s Come Undone” Wally lamb
2. “I Know This mUch is True” Wally Lamb
3. “Davinci Code” Dan Brown
4. “A Dog Year” Jon Katz
5. “Neither Here Nor There” Bill Bryson
6. “The Notebook” Nicholas Sparks
7. Any Travel Book by Rick Steves (I know I am a travel nerd)

Seven Movies/DVDs That I Watch Over and Over Again:
1. Animal House
2. Mary Poppins (Now that’s an interesting #1 and #2!)
3. The Usual Suspects
4. The Thomas Crown Affair
5. Chicago
6. The Sound of Music
7. Hmm…I’m stumped…I don’t watch too many movies

Seven People (or Dogs!) I Want To Join In Too:
1. Yeah I’m too lazy to do this one right now….

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OK I know…this has absolutely nothing to do with food, but it’s my blog

I just watched the most amazing college football game ever in my life. Two un-defeated teams, one team with two consecutive national titles under their belt and looking for the third in a row…until Vince Young and the Texas Longhorns showed up! I try not to get too excited too early in these type games because with my awful luck my team will always lose, but this is one amazing team with one awesome quarterback! My heart was literally pounding out of my chest…it came down to the last seconds and the Longhorns broke the 34 game winning streak of the USC Trojans. Wow…just awesome!

Now we all go into a deep depression until August when college football starts up again…and I hope Vince comes back to play his senior year but if not…I am still one happy Texas fan!

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I don’t know what I looked forward to most…opening presents, visiting my family, or going to Trader Joe’s. It may very well be a three way tie! I have been talking about this trip since I read that TJ’s opened up in Newport News, a mere 30 minute drive from my parent’s house. I could not wait to go the day after Christmas, I leaped out of bed like it was Christmas morning all over again!

I just about ran into the store, missing the front displays and going for the first aisle, the meat, cheese, and bread aisle. Not a bad start. My Mom, sister, and I shared one cart which was a bad idea because we were all throwing things in like we were kids in a Toys R Us. My sister got mostly vegetarian items as her boyfriend is not a meat eater and she is trying to wean him off of his Taco Bell habit by cooking for him. My Mom went for all healthy foods; whole grain cereal, light cheeses etc. I had no restraint and bought anything I thought I would possibly use in the next couple of months. My bounty included dried cherries, white tea, salami (for Evan), fontina, parmesan, white balsamic vinegar, garlic mustard, chocolate soy milk, a hunk of Ghiradelli semi sweet chocolate and 5 bottles of wine

I also got some artisan french rolls which made a killer sandwich with leftover Christmas ham and the garlic mustard.

Lisa from Comfort Food gave me a few suggestions, all of which I forgot about in the excitement of things, but I will be sure to pick them up when I am in VA next, which may be alot sooner than I had originally planned

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I have never been “tagged” before for a Meme, but the lovely Jaay from Culinarily Obsessed bestowed the honor unto me. I have to decide on ten and only ten of my favorite foods. This seemed like a simple task at first but then I realized that I have some crazy cravings. These cravings are intense and often change rapidly and are based soley on my moods. Yes I am a moody eater, which can get me in trouble sometimes.

Nonetheless I present to you my 10 Favorite Foods (for this week):

10. Feta Cheese
There is nothing like the saltiness of a chunk of feta cheese in a amazing greek salad or on a pizza. I also like to mix it with a bit of mayo and basil and spread it on bread with tomatoes (see number 4)…perfect!

9. Olives
Again, the saltiness. My husband says I am going to have the worst cravings when I am pregnant because I already have really intense cravings, and often times it is for olives. Kalamata olives are my favorites, but I will eat just about any kind. Dirty martini…yes please!

8. Tea
I don’t drink as much coffee as I used to, but I have become a tea freak! I got some new loose tea this weekend, French Vanilla Chai…I can’t wait to try it! It is so relaxing and calming to have a nice hot mug of tea especially on these cold days.

7. Baby Back Ribs
A reason Evan married me, my love for ribs. I like them slathered in a smokey BBQ sauce. My Dad used to own a restaurant that made the best ribs, unfortunately the recipe went with the cafe so we have now have to search for a new place for the perfect ribs…maybe a trip to Memphis?

6. Bread
Um…duh! I work in a bakery! Sure I get sick of some of the breads but I could never tire of our Farmhouse White Bread, the Asiago Pesto Bread or the Cranberry Orange bread. I see it everyday, I eat it everyday…and it just makes me happy.

5. Apricots
Though I have never had a fresh one, I adore dried apricots and use apricot preserves on just about anything. It’s sweetness mixes so well with a spicy mustard for a meat dish and it is perfect on coconut cookies.

4. Tomatoes
Fresh tomato sandwiches are why God created summer. I could eat them everyday. Tomatoes are also used quite often in my number 1 favorite food Oh and I take after my Dad and his love of Bloody Mary’s!

3. Peanut Butter
The go-to food when I am hungry at 11pm or need a protein boost while working. We eat alot of peanut butter and so do our dogs! Get them with an empty jar and you have never seen anything so humorous! I am making a peanut butter pecan pie for Christmas that I hope will be good enough to write about!

2. Cake
The reason I love weddings so much…well and seeing the bride’s dress ofcourse I am a cake snob and I am not ashamed to say that Evan and I had the best wedding cake ever. I like to jazz up simple white cakes with fruit preserves, creams and ganaches…yum! This is actually a picture of our wedding cake, courtesy of Jessica Claire Photography

1. All Italian Food
Yeah there is no way I could pick one Italian food. I could do a top ten of just Italian Foods! Pizza, lasagna, ravioli, paninis, baked penne, tirimisu…even the chianti! I dream of moving to Italy and just eating my way through, I didn’t eat nearly enough in the 3 weeks Evan and I were there! We have Italian food atleast twice a week but I honestly think we could eat it everyday and not get sick of it.

So there ya go! As concise of a list as I could on so little sleep!

So I hope Chan from lick the spoon hasn’t been tagged yet!

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I am so out of whack…I still feel like it is November even though I am surrounded by all things December. I literally did not know what the date was when I took an order today, I was lucky to know the day (even though I thought it was Monday until about lunchtime.) I am closing the bakery every day this week except Saturday and I am opening it that day at 6:30am. I need to bring my air mattress, it’s going to be a long two weeks. We are opening 6 days a week now until the end of the year and being that we are short staffed I will have to work everyday we are open. It’s not that I mind working- I really love it- I just don’t get to spend as much time with Evan and I don’t get to cook anything good for dinner. It’s either some crock pot concoction or an Evan creation, and the Evan creations have been far superior to my attempts. And the guest room is filled to the brim with presents that must be wrapped before we have guests over Thursday night. And somehow I have to squeeze in time to bake for a cookie exchange (which I am so excited about!) as well as two bridal showers! I am going to need lots of caffeine!

So needless to say I have less that inspired to cook anything worth posting about. So bare with me, I will post a few things here and there but hope to pick back up full speed after Christmas!

See…look how much my sweet Bella misses me…staring out the window…she is so cute!

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Or you grocery store cashier or the person at the gas station. It’s really sad when I, as a bakery worker, try to be nice and pleasant and helpful to someone and all they can do is blab on their cell phone. It is so annoying. I bet atleast 10 people come into the bakery on their cell phone and proceed to place an order while still talking to their podiatrist or their accountant or their lonely best friend. I actually had a 10 year old come in and do it today to me. I would hate to think I am interrupting a very important conversation when I ask “Would you like your honey whole wheat sliced?” People don’t even have the decency to smile and be grateful for the fact that people are on their feet for 8 hours straight, doing back breaking work and still have a smile on their face. Even worse is when people come in on their cell phone and proceed to help themselves to the bread we offer samples of with their grimey hands. Eww disgusting, I want to throw the bread away in front of them. I would be happy to slice you a large piece of bread if you would just be patient! We are a busy bakery!

Even worse is when people were mean during Thanksgiving week. It’s bad enough we all had to neglect our families for a week and then we had to deal with rude people who were mad we weren’t making low carb cinnamon raisin walnut bread on Wednesday.

I guess what I am trying to say is be nice to the people that help you out in your day to day life. I always try to be extra nice to the high school kid bagging my groceries and I always thank them for it! A smile does wonders to a person’s day, I try my best to smile when people come in the store the least you could do is smile back and give the respect that is deserved…and get off your damn cell phone!

On that note, I leave you a picture of our Christmas tree. It is in shades of blues and teals and silvers except for the odd red ornament or two, my husband’s NC State ornaments.

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Ahh! I am so slow, I have had my Blogging by Mail 3 package for almost a week and I have not posted about it yet!

I received a absolutely wonderful package from the hostess herself, Cathy from My Little Kitchen on Monday and the timing could not have been any better seeing as all the drama began on Monday! It definitely lifted my spirits to see a package waiting for me!

I received some wonderful goodies from the Maryland/DC area where Cathy is from including some Bean Soup and a lovely ornament. She also baked me some yummy treats including her Grandmother’s Date Bread (which I must confess I have not tried because I am taking it to my parent’s for Thankgiving so we can all enjoy it!)as well as some Swedish Tea Cookies, her Mother’s recipe. I have all but devoured the cookies and cannot wait to make more! They are my new favorite cookies!

And how could I forget the Scharffen Berger Cacao Nibs which made my Mom absolutely jealous. I have to hide these babies from Evan! I also received some Maple Candies which represent her holiday plans of visiting her brother in Vermont- I am so jealous- I have always wanted to go to Vermont! This all in addition to a magazine of the area as well as her local food section and store flyer made for a spectacular care package!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you Cathy for a very thoughtful package, I have thoroughly enjoyed it all!

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