Doing The Can Can

Doing the Can Can. Doing the Can Can.  Drinking the wine. Feeling fine. And then lets go chop some jalapeños. That may be how my afternoon went. Christmas is getting closer, and I have decided to make some of my Christmas gifts.  Nothing like going to culinary route for this adventure.  My poor friends.  They get to be my test subjects. They just don't know it yet.  Well they might, if they read this blog, but since I know at least two of them don't they will sure to be surprised.  If they aren't surprised, my co workers will be.

The cookbook I am using for this is Delicious Gifts: Edible Creations to Make and Give Cookbook.  I wanted to make the chocolate truffles to give to myself, but because I am a generous person I decided I would make the Apple & Chili Jelly and give it to all my enemies. I mean friends. Give it to all of my friends. 

What it should look like!

My friends Beth and Teresa have been on a huge canning spree, and that has enticed me at least try my hand at it.    This way, when the zombies attack, they will will rescue me because I am useful. I know will know how to can the best jelly ever.  Seriously have you ever had jalapeño jelly over cream cheese? That is the best treat ever. I could eat a whole jar.  

What's that Burning Feeling?

Putting everything together is not all that hard. It is even easier when you con some one else into cutting the peppers.  That way you can laugh maniacally when they rub their eyes with peppers by accident. I wasn't laughing at her, per say I was merely laughing with her, through the burning pain.  Okay, it wasn't a full out laugh, just a giggle. It was funny, in a not funny funny way. 

For the first time ever canning, it went surprisingly well. I can say that because when we sampled the end product it was amazing. As I writing this blog, I am thinking that I may need some cream cheese and some cracker to share with a good friend to devour the extra with.  Not only is it beautiful in the jar, it is beautiful in the mouth. I heart jelly.  

Awesomeness in a Jar!

The success of the adventure can be accredited to the ice tea I was drinking at the time. It was refreshing in the hot kitchen and helped me keep a cool head with the hot hot jars.  Celebration drinks of white wine  from Montinore Estate Winery were consumed in our victory.

I Light Things On Fire and I Like It

I went for an evening of fun and mischief with my fellow cookbook challengers and a few guinea pigs. I was in charge of the appetizer.  There were many things I could I could have made. Most of them involving filling a glass with various liquors, but I went for  the Grilled Pita Pizza instead  out of the The 30 Minute Cookbook cookbook.

Up until two week ago, I had never used a grill before. The male members of my family have dominated this cooking technique.  I have been more comfortable with uncorking the bottles. Armed with a glass of Moscato & Strawberry wine by Villa Jolanda, I decided that it was time to light things on fire.

Before the Grill!

I could not find regular pitas with out them having the pockets, so I used italian flat bread as a substitute.  Arming my friends with various condiments such as pesto sauce, pizza sauce, creamed corn, caramelized onions, sun dried tomatoes and capers, I let them create their own culinary surprises. We topped it all off with mozzarella  and off to the grill it went.  I got to woman the grill and it was awesome. I did not die, nor did I set the garage on fire, as I am sure the menfolk were off to the side with buckets of water, just in case.

After the Grill!

The weirdest thing to put on the pita was the creamed corn, but those that were brave enough to try it reported that it was delightfully sweet and pared well with the saltiness of the capers. In hindsight and perhaps before I actually open the condiments, I will look at what I am buying. The glass of Moscato was a great pairing with this easy and delicious appetizer.

I am looking forward to making this again and will definitely be on the lookout for the wine, since it paired so well.

Smore Brownies

One won't think that 3 hard ciders would give a person a hangover... But guess what I was wrong! I have discovered that hard cider is a  favorable companion when baking brownies. I might have a brownie obsession, since this is the second brownie recipe in a row that I have tried.  Behold the Smore Brownies, Taste of Home, fast fixes with mixes, a ooey, gooey mess of pure confectionery goodness.

This was yet another Taste of Home adventure, seeing that I have discovered I have a fascination with Taste of Home cookbooks, God help me! This means that my coworkers are going to be to a lot of brownies.  This batch successfully made it to the work place, unlike the last batch of brownies, that was pillaged from the inside.

Testing on my co-workers proved that this recipe was a success, seeing that they ate it and no one died and people came back for more.  The consumption of hard cider did not hamper the ease to which this recipe was deployed.  The only thing the hard cider hampered was my spring in my step in the morning.

Someday I will make something other than brownies, and it will most likely include ramen. Or maybe I will find a recipe that is brownies and ramen combined. Perhaps I should be careful what I wish for, or maybe my coworkers should be careful on what I wish for.  Mwaahaha!

Brownines and milk

Hello new friends, I awoke a few days ago with a raging sweet tooth.  So I got out my trusty Taste of Home Cookies cookbook, and after flipping through the pages as well as rummaging through the pantry I decided on the chippy blond brownies. I admit that since I was baking this delightful confection that I choose a glass of milk as my companion. A first for me is I followed the recipe to completion, with one exception I needed to substitute walnuts for pecans. The overall outcome was a success if a bit dry. How you my readers choose to see this is up to you, after I returned from work that evening someone in my household got the munchies. Persons unknown ate the entire middle out of the brownies and left not but the edge pieces! You know nobody steals my ramen!

Cooking Challenge Accepted

My friends, Teresa and Beth have put forth a challenge to go through all of my cookbooks.  You can read about their challenges and triumphs on their blogs.  The whole idea behind it is insane. I love it. I joined in. To summarize, I have to use all of the cookbooks that I own at least once and do so by end of June 2015. I have a really bad habit of collecting more cookbooks, and while debating on this quest, I have managed to increase my collection by another four books.  This should be a very tasty year and possibly a very adventurous one.

I just hope that my parents, my coworkers and my friends realize that they will be my guinea pigs, and that I do so out of love, and not an attempt to kill them. If they are reading this, they have been warned, if they are not reading this, all is fair.   In addition to this challenge,  I really enjoy imbibing in spirits, and like to drink while cooking. This sometimes helps the cooking process and sometimes not so much.

In this blog, you will find the results of this misguided forays into the realms of the kitchen.  And sadly, my love of all things Ramen. You can't screw up Ramen, but everything else is up for debate.  Thank you for joining me and hopefully I can amuse you with my adventures and expand my culinary expertise.