I’ve become a fan of Vegas.
The one I married and the city.
We escaped last week to Vegas so that I could see Reba live in concert for the first time ever. I don’t really listen to country music anymore, but Reba was my absolute favorite for years and years. I never got to see her live, so when I heard she was coming to Vegas I HAD to go.
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Tis the season…
To bake all the foods.
Cookies, fudge, Devil’s food cake, ricotta cheesecake, malted walnut pie… you name it, I’ve baked it. I’ve been baking like a fool! Or maybe a ho ho ho?
#dessertwhore
…
Strange is the new normal.
It is with my dessert-making, anyway.
For some reason I can’t get enough whiskey and bacon in my desserts this season. If you choose a spirit laced with notes of caramel and vanilla, it perfectly compliments a sweet dish. It also is strangely good with bacon. Sweet and salty, ftw!
These brownies are of the fudgy variety. I do love a cake-like brownie, but the richness of my add-ins called for a decadent dense chocolate background.
Even if you don’t do bacon or booze, these would be an incredible dessert. The cocoa powder gives them a deep flavor, and makes them no quite as tooth-achingly sweet as morsels would. Each bite is thick, rich experience. Just how I like my dates.
Bonus: If you make extra bacon and reserve the fat when cooking, you’re well on your way to making a Whiskey-bacon Apple Pie.
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Preheat the oven to 350° F. Prepare a 9 x 13” pan.
In a medium-sized pot, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Whisk in the sugars and apple sauce, stirring until fully incorporated. Remove the pot from the heat, then quickly whisk in the eggs (work fast so they don’t become scrambled egg brownies). Whisk in vanilla.
In a medium bowl, sift together cocoa powder, flour, baking powder, and cinnamon. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet, stirring just until incorporated.
Stir in 1/4 C of the whiskey then pour the batter into baking pan. Bang the pan on the counter a couple of times to release some of the air bubbles.
Bake for 20-25 mins, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of your brownies comes out clean. Brush the top with remaining 1T of whiskey (this is optional, but really brings out the whiskey flavor).
Allow the brownies to cool slightly before cutting.
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How have you enjoyed making co-workers, friends, or family stare with strange but good creations this week? The link up rules can be found here or by clicking on “Strange But Good” in the menu bar above. In short, I want to see what concoctions have earned you weird looks from co-workers, family and friends! Post your Strange But Good creations, grab the logo below for your blog, and link up here.
Remember to use #strangebutgood in any Tweets and Instagrams of your creations. 🙂
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A word of advice: make these fresh and get them out of the house ASAP. I couldn’t be trusted with them alone!
Do you bake with booze? How about bacon?
What’s your favorite #strangebutgood baking add-in?
I spoke too soon.
I’ve often said I need a 5 second delay on my mouth.
This Thanksgiving I ate turkey, and I liked it. My uncle brought the most deliciously moist (yeah, I said it) smoked turkey. So partially I take back what I said about not liking Thanksgiving food. I still passed on the green bean casserole and the stuffing.
First let’s back up. I headed to my mom’s house on Thanksgiving morning to drive the family to my grandparents house in north GA for the festivities. They said they were ready to go, but when I got there only the dog, Honey, was ready.
We finally did get on the road and made it the party without incident (I did have to swerve to miss a kitten in the middle of the road).
The good thing about being late everywhere is that everything is ready when you arrive. We had quite the spread! The turkey didn’t fit on the counter so it’s off to the side, along with a table this size filled with desserts. I’m lucky my whole family likes food as much as I do!
After pre-gaming with cheese crackers, I stacked round 1 with my kale salad, turkey, mac ‘n cheese, sweet potato souffle, pumpkin beer bread (recipe coming!), and had a side of my grandmother’s turnips and ham and a glass of rosé wine I brought back from Napa.
Round 2 looked about the same, but with a deviled egg someone had forgotten in the fridge. 😉
There was PLENTY of dessert too… I brought 4 different desserts, so I’m going to be sharing some fun sweet recipes just in time for Christmas. Yes, I use Thanksgiving to test desserts for Christmas parties.
Today’s sweet treat is from Gabby’s recipe for a gluten-free Apple-Bacon Crisp. I followed her recipe, but added a twist… where she sautes the apples in the bacon pan, I also added 2 tablespoons of whiskey.
The whiskey I used, Balcones Baby Blue, was a smooth addition. The blue corn whiskey from Texas is one of my favorites with its slightly sweet vanilla-caramel taste and notes of candied citrus and baking spices. My other modification was to use hazelnuts in the topping. The rich taste played well with the coconut flour.
It. Was. Awesome. I am thankful for Gabby and her #strangebutgood bacon idea. I scooped it on to my dessert plate with glee.
The leftover whiskey was great to have on hand for the weekend, too. I went to the Tech–UGA game with my cousin and friends Kathleen and Matt. We were all smiles at the tailgate and the first half of the game.
Then the second half happened, and we realized Tech is as bad at football as we feared. It’s a good thing they’re smart.
Kathleen and I, pre-loss
Whiskey is a good wound heal-er. 😉
If you’re like me, you need a very short break from the heavy food, so today I’m also sharing the easiest kale salad you’ll ever have. It’s simply dressed, and you can make it the night before. It’s pretty marvelous.
This was my healthy contribution to Thanksgiving, but kale salads are also one of my favorite things to make during my weekly food prep. Their hearty leaves only get more delicious as they soften in the dressing and the flavor soaks in.
This dressing is light, but doesn’t lack in flavor. It is zesty and garlicky with a little heat on the end. If you really like it hot, add red pepper flakes to the top. I did.
In a mini food processor, process the garlic, lemon, oil, marjoram, pepper, and cayenne until smooth. Taste and adjust flavors, if needed.
Pour the dressing onto the kale and massage it into the kale with your hands. Allow to soften in fridge at least 30 mins, or overnight.
Just before serving, top with cranberries and cheese.
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I’ve been craving greens after the brown fest that is Thanksgiving!
What was the best dish from your weekend?
Are you punctual, or are you the last to arrive? I’m trying to get better… but it hasn’t taken yet.
So. Much. Food.
Atlanta’s Food & Wine Festival may be pricey, but you definitely get your money’s worth. 3 days of education followed by tasting tents.
What’s more is that the restaurants rotate – so all 3 days of tasting are different! Gluttony ensued. Seriously – I still had a food baby until this morning.
Corinne, Adam from UVA Imports, and me
It’s only natural that I do a final (maybe… there’s so much to share!) recap of the festival for What I Ate Wednesday this week.
Though it might be shorter to write a “what I didn’t eat” post. 😉
Check out my eats below; then click here to hope on over to our host – Jenn @ Peas and Crayons – to see the tasty treats everyone else in blog-land has been noshing on lately.
Clockwise, from the top left:
Clockwise, from the top left:
I woke up still full after the tents and the Pig Out dinner… but I powered through like a fat kid champ.
Clockwise, from the top left:
Update: I found Kevin’s list of the 7 terrines served on their site: (1) ChiChili Pork Belly with Calabrian Pancetta; (2) Rabbit and Pork Belly with Lardo and Pistachios with Aspic Blanc d’Apple; (3) Leek with Rabbit and Pork Belly & Black & Pink Pepper Creme; (4) Pork Belly with Mayhaw and Mayhaw Aspic; (5) Pork Belly and Rabbit with Apple and Fresh Sage; (6) Pork Belly Champagne Wrapped in Coppa; and (7) Cheeky Belly ~ Beef Cheek with Pork Belly and Rabbit Liver. #2 was my fav – nom.
By now I had slowed down a lot. Mom and I went together for Mother’s Day… the thought of food was almost too much to take so I did a tasting of her tastes. In fact, I didn’t take a single picture until we were half way through.
Clockwise, from the top left
…scene:
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And that, my friends, is how you become impregnated with a 3 day food baby.
Would you have tried the crispy pig’s ear?
Has anyone else had a 3 day food baby? Moderation who?!
Recipe Googling isn’t necessarily sophisticated inspired.
Google’s Zeitgeist (a yearly report of the most searched items), inspired Bon Appetit to research the most-Googled recipes in the US for 2011. According to their article, Americans are pretty dull in the kitchen.
I’ll give you the cupcakes because they are awesome, but meatloaf?! Gross.
How is pizza not on the list? It appears people prefer to have theirs made for them. In the most searched restaurants category the top 3 restaurant searches were: Pizza Hut, Dominos, and Papa John’s. In that order.
Maybe the next party I cater will be a pizza theme… People need to know there are better options than Pizza Hut!
Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of the well-wishes for my first catering job. I am proud to announce that I survived the party!
There will be more to come on the whole experience. Today I’m still recovering and swamped at work, so this is a short one to report that everything went swimmingly despite me waking up at 5am multiple days in a row having mild panic attacks.
What I didn’t expect was how gratifying it would be to watch people enjoy food I made. Listening to their comments/conversations about each dish was so much fun! Thank god they were positive comments.
Over the next week or so I’ll be sharing recipes from the event. Today I’ll start at the beginning – the cheeses!
Often the most-eaten items at a party, I planned 2 different cheese dishes.
The first was inspired by my friend Jenn @ Peas & Crayons. She made this Pumpkin Basil Cheesecake Spread a couple of months ago and I’ve made it 3 times since she posted the recipe! For this party, I made a Pumpkin Rosemary-Basil version of this spread.
My modifications:
Like every other time I’ve made it, this spread was a hit. It’s a great, savory cheesecake–like spread that is wonderful with some salty crackers. The addition of rosemary was a good one – I may try it again with just rosemary and sage!
The second was a simple sugar-nut-whiskey baked brie. Yes, its old school. Be honest though – who doesn’t love warm, gooey, decadent brie?
What I love about the whiskey is the melted caramel-like texture (think ice cream topping caramel) is takes on when heated with the brown sugar. No need to use fancier spirits here (not that there’s anything wrong with Jack) – the sugar takes the edge of the alcohol taste and leaves you with the underlying sweet-smokiness.
Recipe after the Monday fitness re-cap. Much-needed fitness after that brie. 😉
Google’s Zeitgeist also looked at how people worked on their fitness. The most popular workout search was the Thor Workout and the top diet was the Dukan Diet. I must be out of touch – I don’t know what either of those are!
My hectic week forced me to take 2 “rest” days… but I have absolutely no regrets about it! Here’s what my week looked like:
Workout Recap (12/12 – 12/18)
Combine sugar, nuts, and whiskey in a small bowl. Cover and place in fridge, allowing flavors to combine overnight.
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Place brie in an oven-proof dish and bake 7-8 mins, until softened. Remove from oven and pour topping over the brie. Return to oven for 3-4 mins.
Serve with bread, crackers, and apples.
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After being so focused on this party, it felt weird to be sitting on the couch without any food prepping to do last night!
What is your favorite cheese or cheese dish?
What has been the best food/dish you’ve had at a holiday party this season?
