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Showing posts from December, 2019

Curry in a Hurry #FoodieExtravaganza

Foodie Extravaganza is where we celebrate obscure food holidays or cook and bake together with the same ingredient or theme each month. Posting day for #FoodieExtravaganza is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page  Foodie Extravaganza . We would love to have you! If you're a spectator looking for delicious tid-bits check out our  Foodie Extravaganza Pinterest Board ! This month Sneha of  Sneha's Recipe  invited the Foodie Extravaganza bloggers to share their favorite chicken curry recipes. She writes, "January 12 is National Curried Chicken Day. Let's post our favorite curried chicken recipe." Here's the #FoodieExtravaganza line-up... Chicken Curry with Cashews  by Karen's Kitchen Stories Chicken Curry in Frithad Masala  by Sneha's Recipe Chinese Chicken Curry by A Day in the Life on the Farm Curry in a Hurry Culinary Advent

Gin-Washed Pork Rib Roast, With Ribs This Time

Back in July, I hosted Food'N'Flix and asked folks to watch The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society . You can read my Food'N'Flix invitation  here . You can see what inspired me ( here ) ...however, I couldn't find a pork roast with the ribs attached at that time. So, when I saw one this week, I snatched it up. And I redid my Guernsey roast - with ribs this time. Ingredients  serves 4 to 6 one pork rib roast with, at least, 4 ribs (mine was nearly 4 pounds) 1/2 C gin (I used a terroir gin from St. George) Dry Rub 1 C organic dark brown sugar 3 T pimentón (smoked Spanish paprika) 1 t ground cumin 1/2 t paprika dash of ground coriander dash of ground cardamom freshly ground sea salt freshly ground pepper Procedure The night before, or first thing in the morning, prepare the rub. Combine all ingredients, and mix thoroughly until well blended. Brush the gin over the surface of the roast, then pat the ru

My Inaugural Jolabokaflod + Icelandic-Inspired Edibles

When I read about  jolabokaflod , I was immediately enamored. My inner bookworm wiggled with glee and I sent off an email to my girlfriends suggesting that we have one as our annual girls' holiday party. I offered to host! In case you haven't heard of it, it's the Icelandic tradition of giving, receiving, and then reading books on Christmas Eve. Just before Christmas, the gals came over and we exchanged books and chocolate, ate, drank, and caught up on happenings that we miss when we are all ensconced in our separate daily lives. I've been friends with these girls for over three decades. I love that we all still manage to be part of each other's lives after all this time! We kicked off the feast with pickled herring, olives, cream cheese, smoked salmon, cucumber salad, and delicious bread from Chef Ron at Ad Astra Bread Company . For the main dish, I served  Kjötsúpa (Icelandic Meat Soup). That recipe will be coming soon, but it was a hearty warm

'Don't Stop Bayleave-ing' Braised Rabbit and Herb Dumplings + Pre-made Spice Blends #Sponsored

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of the Book Club Cookbook . I received complimentary product for the purpose of review and recipe development, but all opinions are honest and they are my own.  This page may contain affiliate links. I love when friends email me with rabbit availability. I am always game! This time around my Enthusiastic Kitchen Elf was adamant, "Mommy, you need to make rabbit and dumplings this time, okay? Not cold rabbit soup , not braised rabbit with gravy ! Rabbit and dumplings." Done. Earlier, my contact at  The Book Club Cookbook  emailed, offering me a few more spice blends as a thank you for some other posts with their new spice blends . You betcha!  I don't usually like to buy spice blends for one reason - there's always added salt. However, these blends are salt-free. Woohoo. So, I picked Don't Stop Bayleave-ing and decided to add it to my rabbit. Ingredients Rabbit 2 to 3 pound rabbit (this

Lightning Fast Lumpia Rolling

I have rolled a lot of lumpias in my life. I remember rolling hundreds per week with my Grandma Sabado because she brought them to the Fil-Am club in Marina and they sold them during bingo nights as a fundraiser. And I've recently started rolling them again as my boys and their friends have wanted to learn. Well, lumpia was requested for a Festivus party tonight and two friends wanted to learn. Little did I know that they would be able to roll nearly eight dozen lumpias in less than thirty minutes. Seriously, this rolling crew was lightning fast. I did, however, have the filling ready for them. But that's about all I did. They're hired! Quick note: you can use any ground meat that you like. I usually do straight pork, but this time I mixed pork and turkey. During Christmas, my cousin told me that her grandmother added fresh shrimp. I'll have to try that soon because it sounds delicious. Ingredients  makes approximately 4 dozen 1 pound ground pork 1 pound

'Bone Hole!' Also Known As Osso Buco

I can't even begin to explain how much it made my little foodie heart soar with pride when my best friend's son looked at the dinner I was serving and declared, "Bone hole! I love bone hole!" He was referring to my osso buco ...and I am grateful that he knows what that means. Funny story: when the boys went on their cruise with my parents in back in 2014, the Enthusiastic Kitchen Elf would call us daily and tell us what he had for dinner. "Today I had pheasant." "For dinner I had caviar." Everyday it was something fantastic sounding that made my mouth water. One night, he announced, incredulously, "Mom, I ordered  osso buco  and it didn't come with the bone. Can you believe it?!?" Nonna shared that D actually asked their waiter about the missing bone, explaining that  osso buco  literally means 'hole in the bone.' The waiter shrugged his shoulders and leaned down to whisper to D -  You're right...it should hav

Birch-Smoked Salted Chocolate Chunk Cookies

This is a cookie that I made for my dessert platter for my Jolabokaflod  - that's an Icelandic book flood...more on that soon - and I think it was the surprise hit. It was, by far, the easiest cookie to make in that it doesn't require rolling or any kind of decoration. I have always loved the contrast of salty and sweet.  And this birch smoked salt from Iceland* was my inspiration. But feel free to use any flake salt that you have. This recipe is easily halved for fewer cookies. Ingredients makes approximately thirty 3-1/2" cookies 1 C butter, softened 1-1/4 C organic dark brown sugar, lightly packed 1 C organic granulated sugar 5 eggs 1 t pure vanilla paste or extract 2 t baking powder 1/2 t baking soda 3 C flour 2 C semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped flake salt for finishing Procedure Preheat to 375° F.  Beat together butter and sugars until lightened and fluffy, approximately 3 to 4 minutes. Add in the eggs an

Nocino v. 2019

I make this every year and, thankfully, have a local source for green walnuts. My parents have a friend with a walnut tree...and he told her that she should come pick as much as she wanted. Well, that sure beat me trespassing (I don't!) or buying them online (I do!).  So, my parents and my boys headed over to their friend's house and picked a ton of green walnuts for me during the summer. And I mean a ton. Not two thousand pounds, obviously. But do you see D's basket? At least three of those! A ton. This year I had eight gallon-sized jars that went from these green orbs to a potent, delicious Italian-inspired liqueur. The staining take a little while to fade from my fingers. "Witchy hands," the boys called them.  Yeah, whatever. My friends like my witchy brews!  But if you're concerned about the staining, wear gloves! This is a three-part process. Be patient...it's worth every week of waiting. I promise. Ingredients  makes a