“C” is for Cookie!

by Chewy

My Sesame Street days are over. I’ve  paid my dues with years of endless sing-a-longs, counting with the Count, and celebrating the letter of the day (Wasn’t that a great sponsor? All those days “brought to us by the letter ___” meant no commercials!). Oscar was one of my favorites as I connected with him on so many levels, grouchy being the least of them. Wouldn’t it be nice to be as blissfully clueless as Elmo, wandering through lift in wonderment and joy? I was always jealous of Cookie Monster. He could eat as MANY cookies as he wanted, no limit. And yet he kept his svelte figure, no cavities, no detrimental consequences whatsoever. Now there is someone worthy of jealousy.

Speaking of Cookie, can you think of him without humming his theme song? “C is for cookie. That’s good enough for me!”! Now that I have put that tune in your head for the rest of the day (Bwahahaha) let’s consider a few other comments from the big CM: “Me want cookie!”, “Me eat cookie!” and the finale to it all, “Om nom nom nom!”. But, here’s a trivia question for you: What is Cookie Monster’s favorite cookie? If you said chocolate chip, you are wrong. His preference runs to good old fashioned sugar cookie. You need proof, don’t you?


Apparently Cookie doesn’t just EAT cookies, he bakes them as well and he has his very own original cookie recipe that has recently resurfaced (kind of like the Rosetta Stone). It debuted first in the 1970’s publication, “Big Bird’s Busy Book”. Here, in his own words, is his friendly introduction to this recipe:

“Dear Reader, Hello, There! Me Cookie Monster and my favorite thing is eating cookies. In this wonderful set of books me going to show you how make all kinds of cookies! But first…..me tell you secret recipe for Cookie Dough ( It been in my family for years.)”

For those who don’t have, can’t find, or won’t pay for the above best seller, I’m sure that as long as we keep this secret between just us, Cookie Monster won’t mind if I share his recipe with you.  The instructions are as follows:

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Cookie Monsters Original Cookie Recipe

Ingredients
¾ cup unsalted butter or margarine, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla  
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Equipment
Medium sized mixing bowl
Measuring cup and spoon  
A fork

Instruction
1. Put ¾ cup of butter or margarine (that’s a stick and a half) into your mixing bowl.
2. Measure 1 cup of sugar.
3. Pour sugar over butter.
4. With fork, squash butter and sugar together until they are blended.
5. Crack open two eggs and pour eggs over mixture.
6. Measure 1 teaspoon vanilla and pour over mixture.
7. With fork, blend everything in the bowl together.
8. Measure 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour and pour over mixture in bowl.
9. Measure 1 teaspoon baking powder and sprinkle over flour.
10. Measure 1 teaspoon salt and sprinkle over flour and baking powder.
11. Mix everything together, either with a fork or with your hands. (Is there any doubt which one I will use? Ten finger squeeze for me!)
12. Put dough in icebox to chill for at least one hour.

photo by schleicher

Cookie Monster says you can make lots of dough at once, and save it in a plastic bag in your freezer for future baking.

But “Wait!” you say. “Do we bake these or just eat the dough out of the bag?”. Not a bad option, and CM doesn’t really say, so here are some approximates to pull off  the cookie baking caper. Chewy recommends that you roll out the cookie dough about ¼ inch thick, cut into shapes (the Sesame Street gang would be appropriate), sprinkle with sugar and bake at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until slightly golden at edges.

If You Say It’s Healthy, They Will Eat It! (and a lot of it)

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by Chewy

Marketing is a very interesting field. It’s sole purpose is to get you to buy something, regardless of whether you need it, want it or can use it. Statements don’t have to be entirely true as long as there are partial  facts in evidence, no matter how minute or skewed. This is especially true when it comes to manufactured sweets.

Take for example the “fat free” craze. When at it’s height, candy, cookies, ice creams, were all touting the fact that they removed this villain ingredient from the product. What they didn’t disclose was the fact that many of the items were already naturally fat free. Nor was it advertised about the extra sugar they had to use in order to make it palatable. This is when I started reading labels.

This was followed by the “sugar free”  mania. In some instances, instead of cane sugar, chemical sugar substitutes were employed. Subsequent studies showed that some of these were the same caloric amount as the “real” thing resulting in your stomach digesting a laboratory experiment with no positive advantages. The zero calorie versions were no better. Shown to have no effect on weight loss, they may, in actuality, contribute to obesity.

My favorite are the low calorie (as in 100 calorie snacks and cookies) which come pre-portioned for convenience. What a great idea! Now when I eat five of them I know exactly how many calories I’ve eaten. Wasn’t there a lot less guilt when you didn’t know precisely how damaging that binge was?

What’s our latest food fetish? Organic, of course. Organic MUST be healthier, right? The USDA defines organic as ”produced without using most conventional pesticides, fertilizers with synthetic ingredients, bioengineering or ionizing radiation”. Beyond the concern about the use of the word “most” aside, we see from this definition that organic refers only to how the food is farmed. It has nothing to do with what happens to it afterwards. In fact, organic foods can be highly processed (meaning it has been changed in some way from it’s natural form).

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Take for example the beloved chocolate chip cookie. Let’s take that cookie and make it organic. Must be healthy = must be able to eat more! You have your organic flour and organic sugar, both of which can still be white and refined. Yikes! You know what this means? The nutritional value is no different than the regular cookies that cost you significantly less.

Then there is the evil evaporated cane juice. Surely organic brown rice syrup is better! Guess what, it’s still sugar. Put it in a candy bar, carbonated beverage or any other product with no nutritional value and you have the quintessential “organic” junk food.

The lesson learned from this is that we will NEVER be able to eat sweets at the same promotion as fruits and vegetables. And that is the way it is suppose to be. If we were forced to eat dessert at the same level, how enjoyable would it remain (not cookies and cake for dinner AGAIN!)? Enjoy, without guilt, that “icing on the cake” of a meal , dessert, and ignore those who are trying to make it healthy.

Zaba Zaba Doo

by Chewy

The other day I ran across a word I didn’t know. Zabaglione. I’m going to give you a chance to prove you are smarter than I am.

A zabaglione is:

A. One of those machines that smoothes the ice during hockey games.
B.  A cyst composed of joint fluid.
C.  Fred Flintstone’s  famous tagline.
D.  An Italian dessert.
E.  None of the above.

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If you answered “D”, an Italian dessert,  you get to go to the head of the class. Yes, today’s blog is brought to us by the letter “Z”, as in zabaglione.

The origins of this classic dessert are, as usual, a bit uncertain, although it’s Italian roots are undisputed. With a  possible date of the ninth century, the area of Turin or Venice  are cited as the inception of this dessert.

It is a very light custard, composed of four simple ingredients, egg yolks, sugar, whipping cream and a sweet wine (usually Marsala). Whipped into a frenzy (or is it whipped with frenzy?), large amounts of air is incorporated which gives it the “light” moniker (not to be confused with “lite” as in low calories. Did you read the ingredients?). Traditionally served with fresh figs, newer versions have been updated to include strawberries, blueberries and peaches.

by J-Stuart

It is served  after preparation, once it has attained room temperature. However, if you wish to prepare ahead of an event, it can be served chilled, especially with berries. If children are present, the wine can be omitted (to avoid a covert call to children’s services. Note, this is not a problem in Europe.) and sometimes replaced with small amounts of espresso. In my mind,  removing the wine removes an essential flavor and it now becomes a totally different dessert.

United States restaurants serve zabaglione in a champagne glass, Argentina in an ice cream bowl (very popular ice cream flavor!) and Venezuela in a glass suitable for drinking (as in eggnog). For this Zabaglione Recipe. I recommend serving in any fancy wide mouth stemmed glass you have available.

S’More is Better

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by Chewy

August 10th is  National S’Mores Day and I couldn’t be s’more excited!  Do you remember the first time you experienced this ooey gooey sugar coma inducing treat? I must have been very young, because I don’t have a clue. Coming from a long line of Girl Scouts (on my mother’s side) it was just naturally a part of my culture and DNA. Must-have- s’mores! I believe the three necessary ingredients were packed in all of our emergency kits. Kind of like the keg of brandy on the Saint Bernard dogs (I’m thinking I may have some of that in my DNA too.)

Like so many of our classic desserts, culinary transitionists are attempting to add a twist to our traditional s’more line up. Nothing wrong with that as long as it doesn’t get too crazy (I don’t want to see any anchovies added for the salty/sweet principle).  Offered for your amusement are my top ten entries for the “Twisted S’More” category.

The Turtle: Adored in candy and ice cream, what could possibly go wrong with adding pecans and caramel to chocolate and marshmallow? In this case, more is merrier!

The Oreo: A nod to another iconic confection and working with the dark-creamy-dark theme, this is created by using chocolate graham crackers, marshmallows, white chocolate and crumbled Oreos.

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Banana Split: I’m not sure how you’re suppose to stuff all of this between two crackers, so I am advocating a bowl for your safety. There are just some things you have to adjust for amateurs. Take your basic s’more and add strawberries, bananas and nuts. Also counts as a fruit serving.

The Caribbean: Nothing like bringing a bit of the tropics to your campfire setting. Starting with the classic s’more, add a ring of pineapple and sprinkle with coconut. Stick an umbrella on it and you’ve created a fiesta!

The PB&J: Two classics go toe to toe with graham crackers, marshmallow, peanut butter and jelly. Variations on this theme could involve the Reeses, skip the jelly and add the chocolate back in.

The Grasshopper: For that minty fresh feeling, replace the chocolate bar with Andes mints. I’m pondering real grasshoppers to add protein and an international flair. Remember the cicada ice cream?

Mexican: The traditional line up with a smattering of cinnamon and nutmeg. Reminds me a little of horchata.

Fruit Pizzazz: Simply add your favorite fruit to the original. What fruit doesn’t taste better with melted chocolate on it?

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Peep-O-Rama: Instead of your run of the mill marshmallow, use a sugared marshmallow peep. Grab several colors and add a rainbow to the festivities.

The Elvis: Saving the best for last, this list would not be complete without a nod to pork progression. You know I mean BACON! Made famous by the King, this concoction entails graham crackers, marshmallow, peanut butter cup and a banana slice. Where’s the pork, you ask? The chef left it out, but I am strongly advocating it’s re-addition. All in favor say “aye“. The “ayes” have it and the motion passes, bacon there is!

Now that your imagination has hopefully been stimulated, feel free to make your own list of campfire cuisine dessert combos slapped between two graham crackers. If you create any winners, be sure and share!

S’More to it Than That!

by Chewy

Why anyone would want to camp in this weather is beyond me. But, hopefully, cooler weather will finally reach us and once again our nature lovers will want to pack up the tent, and all the gear that goes with it, and hit the trails. Unless you plan on eating off the yield of the land  ( a true Man, Woman, Wild adventure), food will require a great deal of forethought. Not to be overlooked are your campfire desserts.

Growing up, we did a lot of camping.  Compared to other campers, we had pretty deluxe accommodations. A three compartment tent consisted of the children’s wing, parent’s boudoir and a spacious “no man’s land” in-between. My dad created quite the traveling kitchen and dish washing system. It was almost like home. No it wasn’t. No electricity, no indoor plumbing, no refrigeration. It is why I don’t camp today!

It was, however, a great family bonding experience and I did learn a few culinary lessons germane to the outdoors. First, baked potatoes are better if you don’t leave them in the fire too long. This results in oblong charcoal briquettes. Great for starting another fire but not so much for dinner. Second, those little white round things in the fish flesh are worms. THROW THEM AWAY! Preferably bury them a great deal of distance from the camp site. Bears don’t mind the worms and, along with the disgusting fish, will grab a to-go snack from your food reserves. Third, s’mores can pass as a complete meal if all the prior events occur. Once again, never underestimate the power of the dessert!
As delicious as they are, s’mores can become a bit mundane if your dessert selection is limited to these as a nightly ritual. After a while, the time it takes to roast the perfect golden marshmallow becomes a bit tedious leading to sloppy cooking procedures. These fall into two categories. Under cooking, a gratuitous waving of the marshmallow over the flame and the flash roast, a deliberate flaming followed by the extinguishing, either by blowing it out or wildly waving around of stick. Here’s an alternative to the procedure. Grab a flour tortilla, sprinkle some mini chocolate chips and mini marshmallows on it and wrap like a burrito. Seal in some aluminum foil and place on coals until melted. Check frequently, a lesson learned from the potato debacle. Open carefully and let cool a bit.

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When you think éclair, you think campfire right? Although taking some forethought, a campfire éclair provides an alternative dessert on a stick (the traditional campfire cooking utensil).  You’re going to need some refrigerated bread stick dough (such as Pillsbury), vanilla pudding (grab a 4-pack of the already made snack packs)  and a container of chocolate cake frosting. Wrap your dough around the end of your stick in a coil and roast over fire until golden brown (golden brown is the ultimate goal of all fire roasted items).  Gently slide your bread coil off the stick. You now have a ready made center receptacle for the pudding. Spoon it in or get all fancy and pipe it in through a plastic baggie with tip cut from corner. Spread with the chocolate frosting.

Our final entry is shortcake-on-a-stick. You can make the dough ahead of time and bring it with you if you have sufficient refrigeration. If not, save this for the patio campfire. For the dough you will need 2 cups of Bisquick, 4 tablespoons of melted butter and ¼ cup of heavy cream. Mix and roll dough into 1 ½ inch balls. Flatten balls to ¼ inch and wrap around the end of your prerequisite stick. Then roast over your fire until when? Yup, golden brown. Crumble into a bowl and cover with those fresh berries you foraged from the woods. Remember, not ALL blue berries are blueberries!

After a hard day of pitching the tent, swatting the bugs, inflating the air mattresses, swatting the bugs, hanging the food (remember the bears, raccoons and other critters like people food too), finding a water source, swatting the bugs and FINALLY getting that fire started, you can bask in the warm glow and  relish your golden brown dessert!

Uprising at the Leavening Corral

by Chewy

Have you ever made the mistake of using baking powder instead of baking soda (or vice versa)? I have. Did it make a difference? I’m not sure. Can it make a difference? Apparently so, or why would they differentiate between the two. Want to know the details? Too bad, I’m going to tell you anyway.

Both baking soda and baking powder are leavening agents. When they are added to baked goodies before cooking, it produces carbon dioxide which causes them to rise. To muddy the waters a little, baking powder contains baking soda. To go all chemistry on you, (an Alton Brown-Good Eats moment) let’s take a look at their individual makeup, what the differences mean to your baking, and under what circumstances you use each.

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Baking soda is pure sodium bicarbonate. Dipping into pure baking soda, you will find it has a bitter taste. When combined with an acidic ingredient (yogurt, chocolate, honey, buttermilk, etc) it neutralizes. This results in a chemical reaction that produces bubbles of CO2 (carbon dioxide). Since this reaction starts immediately upon combining the ingredients, these recipes need to baked at once or fluffy will turn to flat. Baking soda also tends to become unstable at higher temperatures, so typical recipes would be those that don’t require long baking times, such as cookies or pancakes (ah, now you’re seeing the bubbles, right?).

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Baking powder contains sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), cream of tartar (an acidifying agent) and starch ( a drying agent). These ingredients change both the taste and the results. There are a couple of purposes for the cream of tartar. Since it is an acid it gives an overall neutral effect and recipes don’t require an acidic ingredient. It also acts as a second leavening agent and kicks in when the sodium bicarbonate becomes inactive after long exposure to heat. The starch absorbs extra moisture and prevents the sodium bicarbonate from acting too quickly. Coming in two types, single acting powders are activated by moisture and must be baked immediately, and double acting powders reacts in two phases and  can stand for a while before baking. Examples would be, cakes, muffins, biscuits and non-yeast bread (banana, zucchini, etc).

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By now you have figured out that these two items are NOT interchangeable. But here’s where all this knowledge comes in. In a pinch, you can exchange baking POWDER for baking SODA but you’ll need more of it and this may (will) affect the taste (bleak!). It’s a four to one strength exchange, so 1 teaspoon of soda would require 4 teaspoons of powder. If only it were that simple. You then have to figure in acidic ingredients, neutralizing, blah, blah, blah. Just go buy a box! You cannot substitute baking soda for baking powder. That being said, you can make your own baking powder if you have baking soda, cream of tartar and corn starch. To make 1 teaspoon of baking powder, combine ¼ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon cream of tartar and ¼ teaspoon corn starch.

Here’s a trivia question for you; Which one lasts longer, baking powder or baking soda?
Baking soda can be passed down as an inheritance (aka, forever). Baking powder has a shelf life of about one year. If it gets wet or is stored in a humid environment it will lose potency. If you are unsure of it’s age or efficacy, simply put some in a glass of water. If you get bubbles, get baking. No fizz means a trip to the store and if I have to do that, I’m heading to the bakery.

I Want My Just Dessert!

by Chewy 


I think we can all agree that it is HOT! Not the kind of hot where you bask in the sun and sip margaritas. More like the sidewalk egg frying, banned alcohol (because it dehydrates),  bathtub temperature pool water, I don’t even want to go outside for the mail hot. You don’t even need charcoal for the BBQ pit. Food just sizzles when you place it on the grill. Who feels like eating let alone cooking?  Where does this leave our desserts if we ‘re barely eating a meal? I’ll tell you where….first. Not merely first but possibly “only”. Yes, dear readers, I am advocating getting your “just desserts” for dinner!

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Instead of that patio soiree with heavy brats and pork steaks, why not offer your guests an opportunity to fulfill a childhood dream, a dessert laden buffet as the main course. A true Charlie and the chocolate factory moment come true. Themes are definitely encouraged and forget the homemade baked goods. No need to heat up the house. Show Me the Sugar offers suggestions, descriptions and locations for all your “to go” sweet needs.

There is a reason that half the dessert holidays in July revolve around ice cream. Apparently that’s all we want to eat. Cool, refreshing, no cooking required, what’s not to celebrate? Gathering an assortment of ice creams, gelatos, and sorbets makes for one rejuvenating gathering. While good frozen treats can stand on their own, it would not be inappropriate to offer a smattering of toppings in order to customize your bowl. Of course, if you own a Cuisinart ice cream maker (which some of you may know I do), you may present your guests with unique flavors limited only by your imagination.

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This time of year also means summer fruits and berries. A plethora of fresh fruit makes for not only a visual treat but also one for the taste buds. Who doesn’t salivate over a fresh fruit torte or a bowl of sugared strawberries with fresh whipped cream? How about some peaches swimming in a smooth brandied sauce? Can you picture a watermelon sorbet served in it’s carved out shell (scallop the rim and do a little shallow carving and it‘s also a center piece)? Fruit also makes a great delivery system for chocolate fondue, marshmallow fluff, clotted cream and caramel sauce. Create your own dipping station with plenty of small plates, long picks and lots of napkins (neat this is not).

Not to be overlooked is your local patisserie. Nothing like a little French flair to add some exotic ambiance. If you haven’t tried the macarons yet (not the coconut macaroons), now is your chance to become acquainted with this little delicacy. Order a few Napoleons, éclairs, crème brulee, petit fours and mousse and arrange on tiered platters for optimum visual delight. This scenario also doubles as a European vacation and, may I add, it’s significantly cooler there, so crank down the air conditioning a bit.

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While I am not advocating this option as a permanent lifestyle, just dessert meals seems like a fair trade off for surviving our record breaking atmospheric conditions. I, for one, intend on staying cool and sweet!

It Use To Be So Simple

by Chewy

Remember the days when your go to flavors of ice cream revolved around strawberry or chocolate ripple? Then Baskin Robbins came along with their 31 flavors and the villagers went insane over the idea. Not satisfied with the original 31, some were retired or replaced with ever surprising infusions of flavor. Even with all this diversity, flavors still followed a traditional trail. Sweet things go with sweet things, savory with savory and never the twain shall meet. Even Ben and Jerry usually followed this scenario.

That whole idea has been kicked to the curb and it’s no longer cool to use the mundane in your frozen treats. While bacon didn’t start it, it certainly has helped to perpetuate and inspire ever more challenging combination, although, even this ingredient is bordering on the blasé at this point. Yet, I’m positively piggish about pork still!

There’s no doubt that around the world there are some pretty scary traditional ice cream flavors that fall along cultural divides (this will be dealt with in a future blog), but today I will keep this relatively indigenous.

Ruth and Phils, lauding from Chicago, take advantage of fresh summer fruits and vegetables to concoct Summer Sweet Corn ice cream, Cantaloupe Avocado Jalapeno sorbet (you know how I feel about avocados!) and Cucumber Blueberry Lime sorbet. Presently only available in limited locales, it may soon be coming to your local Whole Foods store.

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New York is no new comer to food fads and il laboratorio del gelato is no exception. For the adventurous palate they provide Fresh Brown Turkey, Sweet Potato and Tarragon Pink Pepper.  They are proud to hand make all the flavors in small batches and I think I grasp the reasoning behind limited production. I don’t imagine a huge rush for Turkey, even seasonally. Sweet Potato is igniting my curiosity.

Another New York establishment, Max and Mina’s Ice Cream has heated things up with sweet and spicy combos. Sugar tempers the fire in their Spicy Peanut Butter which culminates in a warm glow due to the added red peppers and chilies. Following in the same genre are Black  Pepper and Corn Horseradish.  Traditional Italian flavors in an egg yolk base make up their Pizza ice cream and  what goes best with that? A cup of their Beer ice cream!

Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, Columbus, OH, follows the “It’s cold! It’s hot!” theme with Queen City Cheyenne and Bangkok Peanut (secret ingredient, Cheyenne pepper, of course). Apparently, pepper has become the new “salt” in savory/sweet pairings. While I have often seen people salt fruits to bring out the sweet, my roommate in college was the only person I knew who peppered hers. She was obviously decades ahead of her time!

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One last nod to the porcine premise goes to Humphry Slocombe of San Francisco and their Boccalone Prosciutto. And not sure which way to go, they covered all the bases by adding both salt and pepper.

The following flavors are honorable mentions, only because they come from Europe and can not be obtained locally. Cigar Smoked Caramel, combining two after dinner pastimes and perhaps an age limit and required ID, has increased sales by 60% for one establishment. Others have followed a theme with grass, strawberry and hay for Wimbledon. Another nod of creativity goes to parsnip and wasabi, and smoked olive oil and black pepper.

These examples have definitely had their effect on my creative senses and with my little  Cuisinart ice cream maker ever ready to serve, the sky’s  the limit on ingredients. If I ever come up with anything palatable, you can be assured you’ll read about it here first!

Fruit of the Vine

by Chewy

You planted the garden, composted responsibly and spread that fertile gold around the sprouting plants. Now that they have pushed above ground they are open season for squirrels, chipmunks and slugs. Trapping slugs is fun. All you have to do is finish off most of a can of beer and place in the garden. Trapping the rodentia  is pointless. If you don’t take them far enough they find their way home (why they didn‘t use them during the war instead of homing pigeons, I‘ll never know). If you do manage to get visas for them and send them to Canada, their relatives  take advantage of the abandoned quarters. I suggest standing guard with a pea sling shot. It doesn’t kill them, it just reinforces the negative consequences of crossing the line. Kind of like a dog and a rolled up newspaper.

Pest problem solved, you devoutly water and weed, and soon little blossoms and produce appear. Then one day, as you proudly peruse plot, you realize things have gotten out of hand and you are facing massive amounts of ripened yield. Torpedo zucchinis, vines of cucumbers,  bushes of tomatoes, sweet peppers, jalapenos and eggplants. What is a gardener to do?  Make dessert of course!

What, you say? These are vegetables! Oh, contraire mi amour, these are FRIUTS.  Being the helpful person that I am, I am sharing the "fruits" of my research to lighten your garden burden.

The first comes from my own kitchen, Zucchini Crisp. This is particularly appropriate for those zucchinis that “get away from you” and attain lethal weapon status. I have never served this dessert and had anyone correctly guess it’s main ingredient. You and your guests will swear you are eating an apple crisp.


The next on the list are cucumbers. When I think of summer cucumbers, my mind wanders to that delicious and refreshing cold cucumber and yogurt soup.  So it comes as no surprise that they make a delicious and refreshing sorbet as well (see Cucumber Sorbet). Yet another opportunity to use my Cuisinart Ice Cream maker (Tired of me fawning over this appliance yet?).

Tomato crops seem to fall into two groups. Those partially eaten by vermin resulting in compost fodder, and those that reproduce like rabbits resulting in bags of them being left anonymously on neighbors doorsteps ( along with that zuke with a glandular problem). What’s needed is a recipe for Sweet Baked Tomatoes. Dried fruits, nuts, spices and honey are used to enhance this red berry (botanically speaking).

When ever I have cultivated jalapenos, they all seem to arrive at once and reproduce immediately after harvesting. The interesting thing about hot peppers is that adding sugar tempers the heat and you end up with an interesting flavor combination with just a little warmth at the end.  I managed to find a recipe that combines a couple of traditional  favorites. Dubbed Jalapeno Happiness Dessert, it’s a jalapeno pepper, stuffed with peanut butter and covered in chocolate. I can not wait to try this!

 Not to be left out are the sweet peppers. Sweet Pepper Upside Down Cake uses the attributes of butter, spices, sugars and cornmeal to make a dense dessert. No heat here, it’s sweet all the way.

Finally, we come to eggplant. It’s purple, my favorite color, so it had to get a mention. A far cry from the parmesan rendition, the Spicy Eggplant Cake delights with nuts, honey, sugar, spices, white and whole wheat flours. Topping it all off is a light cream cheese frosting.

All these recipes can be found on the website under recipes. My hope it that some of these will make it to your table and be enjoyed. I would love to hear any of your experiences and opinions and I promise to get back to you on that Jalapeno Happiness Dessert!

Only the Best

by Chewy

You’ve gone to the grocery store, stuck religiously to your list, brought the coupons you meticulously cut out and avoided all the stores padded for profit items. Much to your surprise, there is a little left over for a treat. Now comes the hard part, what to spend it on. None of us want to buy that item with the exceptionally yummy photo on the packaging, only to get it home, open it up and discover you bought a mutant facsimile that leaves you disappointed and under-satisfied. Thankfully, we have Consumer Reports to aid us in obtaining our “just desserts” .

In July’s issue, they have rated the best frozen treats, and it’s none too early as some of us have been scouting out frozen treats since March! They broke the article down into three sections, taste, nutrition and bottom line. There were a few surprises and some “of course, what else” responses.

Take, for example, the strawberry fruit bars. Whole foods 365 Everyday Value placed an Excellent, the only one to do so. It has a few more calories then the others on the list, but isn’t that where the great flavor is? Actually contains large chunks of fruit! Runners up in the Very Good column included Dryer’s/Edy’s, Whole Fruit and Blue Bell. Coming in third under Good was Weight Watchers and Dole.

When it comes to Ice Cream Bars (dark chocolate over vanilla ice cream) there were no real shockers here. Haagen-Dazs’ and Dove’s strong dairy/vanilla taste and rich chocolate coating, raises them to Excellent status. Although the coating was painted slightly chalky, Julie’s Organic ranked Very Good. Klondike, Magnum and Good Humor ( flavor described as waxy, artificial vanilla, and hint of wooden stick….still if this is your fancy, who am I to judge) arrived at Good.

Ice Cream Sandwiches (vanilla ice cream inside chocolate wafers) was a tough category, no one ranked Excellent. The top of this class, Very Good, goes to Walgreens Old Fashioned (still supporting my jaw over this one). I would have never sought out this brand, but with this knowledge I will definitely put it on the “list”. Trailing behind under Good, we find Klondike, Great Value (Walmart), Blue Bunny, Weight Watchers, Klondike 100 calorie and Skinny Cow.

When it comes to nutrition, no real stunners to consider. Fruit is lower in fat and calories, the dairy items have comparable calories to each other and the “diet” entries didn’t necessarily have fewer calories.

There is a small blurb for non-dairy (think soy, artificial flavoring, corn syrup). Delicious Dairy free Vanilla minis and Tofutti dairy Free Cuties Vanilla sandwiches were summed up tersely as, artificial vanilla flavor, soft and sticky wafers, stale and NOT delicious. This is why I prefer to make my own non-dairy ice cream.

The bottom line seemed a bit simplistic but sensible: choose the ones with an excellent rating.

With this information in hand, I hope it helps to make your summer a little sweeter!

OOPS!

by Chewy

There is no doubt that some accidents have lead to great discoveries and inventions. Everything from Isaac Newton’s apple knocking, to glue that wouldn’t stick post it notes, to burr covered dogs leading to Velcro. Things are the same in the culinary world as well and those “oops!” have lead to some masterpieces. One example, if you are to believe the story, is salt water taffy (Taffy, A Sticky Situation) where the Atlantic Ocean recreated the whole taffy industry.

I also picture a scenario where prior to a dinner party, the hostess places the dessert in the middle of the table as a center piece. Just as she is lighting the candles, her adroit husband, open wine bottle in hand, trips over the dog and splashes some on her dessert. Startled and upset she drops the match and whoosh……flambé is invented. It could have happened.

There are some more reliable mishaps that have ended up being quite the sensation. Take for example the chocolate chip cookie. Did you grow up thinking this came from the Nestle labs, slapping the recipe on every package of their chocolate morsels? The last part is accurate but the recipe comes from a failed baking experiment. Credited to Ruth Graves Wakefield, owner of the Toll House Inn (has a nice ring to it) in Whitman Mass, the now famous Toll House cookie recipe was really a work of substitution. Legend has it that in 1930, Ruth ran short of baking chocolate and decided to use smashed up pieces from a bar of semi-sweet chocolate. Adding these to her dough, she was pleasantly surprised to find that the chocolate did not melt into the batter as planned. Nestle later acquired the rights to the recipe and became a global giant.

Another misstep occurred in 1905 in San Francisco. Eleven year old Frank Epperson wanted to make soda pop and mixed soda powder with water. Using a stick to stir the concoction, he accidentally left it on the porch overnight. The next day, Frank discovered it had frozen solid with the stick still in it. Fast forward 18 years, Frank decided to market his childhood invention. Meeting with instant success, he patented the idea. Originally dubbed the “Eppsicle”, his children implored and convinced him to rename it “Popsicle”. The original 7 flavors have now grown to 30; the most popular flavor being classic orange.

St. Louis has long taken great pride in our next entry, the ice cream cone. During the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair an ice cream seller ran out of dishes. A nearby Syrian pastry vendor, Ernest Hamwi, rolled his pastry into a cone so the ice cream could be scooped inside. An instant hit, it has competition on originality. Appears and Italian immigrant, Italo Marchiony, had also paired these two items and acquired a patent for it earlier in the year.

photo by becco

Our final entry comes from down under. One hundred years ago, Lord Lamington (governor of Queensland at the time), accidentally dropped a cake in some melted chocolate. It was then decided to cover it with coconut so it wouldn’t look so messy. Thus the Australian Lamington was born, and enjoyed ever since.

The lesson we can take away from these legends is always to keep an open mind. Never fear to cook outside the lines, improvise, substitute and experiment. If mishaps occur, and they will (Kitchen Klutzes Unite), trust your eyes, nose, ears and mouth and smear it, dust it or slather it with an interesting ingredient. Perhaps your gaffe will make the “famous desserts created by mistake” list.

  

Kitchen Klutzes Unite

by Chewy

June 15th, which lands on a Friday this year, just happens to be one of the more colorful and whimsical culinary celebrations. It’s Kitchen Klutzes of America Day. If you’ve ever even been in a kitchen, you must have a story that is worthy of noting on this day.  Even those of us who think we’ve mastered our way around small appliances, a myriad of ingredients and several cooking techniques, have found ourselves slapping the forehead over a “duh” moment.

My latest entry in this department happened only weeks ago. Making my famous brownies (the recipe is in a sealed envelope only to be opened upon my death) for the umpteenth time, I gathered, arranged and started blending ingredients. I was taught to crack eggs into a bowl and then add them to the batter. There are a couple of reasons for this. The first is to make sure there is nothing wrong with the egg. The second is for exactly what happened. Using my trusty Oster stand mixer on full power, I cracked the egg and proceeded to drop egg and shell into the batter. The savvy person would have pushed the “stop” button on the machine and picked out the shell. The “klutz” that was actually present tried to fish them out with her fingers while trying to avoid the whirring beaters. This inane maneuver only hastened the shell’s journey into the beaters resulting in shell fragments becoming completely incorporated into the batter.  Brings new meaning to the term “shell shocked”.

photo by ravasolix

Happily, I have plenty of company. Perhaps you know someone who manages to set off the fire alarm during frequent forays into the kitchen (Raise you hand if you’ve done this and notice that mine is up.). Ever set fire to the oven? Does the family know the fire department on a first name basis? Ever confuse sugar with salt, baking powder for baking soda or cinnamon for chili powder? Ever misread the recipe and mentally transpose ingredient amounts ( 1 teaspoon mysteriously becomes 1 cup)?  Ever gotten creative with kitchen utensils and discovered those warning labels are there for a reason? Ever forgotten to turn on the oven and “roasted” a raw turkey for 4 hours? Then hold your head high, this day’s for you.

Here are some delightful real life experiences, either amusing anecdotes or life lessons, to ponder.

This day is for the mom who cut herself in a knife-skills class she was given as a gift so that she’d learn to stop cutting herself in the kitchen.

This day is for the hopeful pumpkin pie maker who tossed a pumpkin down the stairs as a last resort after unsuccessfully trying to slice it with a knife. This falls under “creative utensils” .

This day is for the culinary artiste who made cornbread and couldn’t figure out why it was white instead of yellow. She’d forgotten to put in the cornmeal.

This day is for the person who had a “shattering” experience when she placed the cold casserole dish in the preheated oven. Appears she missed the step where she was to bring it to room temperature first.

My favorite comes from an individual who decided to reheat tortilla chips with his left over Mexican meal. A little soggy,  he deemed the toaster oven as a perfect way to dry them out and restore crunch. Placing the chips in the toaster oven and hitting the toaster button, success was imminent. A minute later, the chips caught fire and flames were pouring out of the oven and up the cabinet. Grabbing the fire extinguisher and pulling the trigger resulted in the discovery that it was empty. Flames are growing, fire alarms are blaring, dogs barking and security people are trying to talk to him through the alarm speaker system. Now what? He couldn’t use water on a plugged in appliance and he couldn’t reach the plug for the flames. Grabbing a bag of flour and dumping finally put the fire out. All evidence was covered up with a brand new toaster oven, a thorough scrub down of kitchen and repainting of cabinet. I counted 17 lessons we can learn from this account.
So what is the best way to celebrate this day? Select your favorite restaurant, make a reservation and stay OUT of the kitchen!

  

Avocado in My Kitchen. Ole!

by chewy

Returning once again to the kitchen as promised, La Confectionista (LC) and I were enthused to start our new venture. Our mission: Avocado Ice Cream. I can see by the look on your face that you are not completely sold on the whole avocado idea. Not to worry, our compelling reasons for using this item will win you over. One thing to consider is that the avocado is actually a fruit. Additionally, the fat content adds a great deal of creaminess and that delightful “whole” feeling in the mouth. That is why this recipe requires NO dairy products and is perfect for the lactose intolerant or those with allergies to milk. Finally, a green dessert just looks refreshing.

A relatively simple recipe, I still can’t help but put my fingerprint on it and change a few things. I will provide my version based on the outcome. First, we gathered all the ingredients. Well, we gathered my assigned ingredients. LC was in charge of RIPE avocados and wouldn’t you know it, when she went shopping the day before, they had one ripe and 3 rocks with pebbly jackets on doing a good imitation of an avocado. Bringing them home, she tried all the tricks to ripen overnight. I think she should have brought in children to scare them. As a parent I can attest to the fact that nothing ages you faster than when your children do something that scares you (usually death defying). The bag of limes she purchased mysteriously remained at her house. But I don’t like to point fingers!

The day before, I placed  the bowl for the Cuisinart Ice Cream maker ( Have I mentioned how much I love this machine?) in the freezer. I then placed water and sugar in a pan and boiled for 10 minutes, making a simple syrup. After removing from the heat I added the lime juice, let cool, then covered and placed in the refrigerator.

The next day, LC arrived with the avocados (sans limes) .We proceeded to peel and de-pit them and place them in a food processor to cream.  Ripe one was perfect, three hard rocks, not so much. We used 4 different  methods to try and pulverize these puppies but all we ended up with was avocado gravel. LC, responsible person that she is, headed off for the grocery store in search of a soft avocado. And a lime. Mission accomplished, the creaming of the avocados proceeded flawlessly. The avocado and previously made syrup were combined and the secret ingredient added…..Tequila! (The fact that our first documented recipe also contained alcohol does not constitute a running theme. But it could.) Having compiled all ingredients, that looked eerily like green slime, the concoction was then placed in the refrigerator for one hour.

The time had now arrived and the frozen bowl and green goop went from fridge to machine. Anticipation was high as we watched the swirling green mixture start taking on a frostier look. Approximately 30 minutes later, we determined it was time. LC got to lick the paddle and as she leaned over the sink, I began hearing "yummy" sounds of pure pleasure. Placing a spoonful in my mouth, I resorted to the same “mmmmmmmm” noises. There are not enough superlatives to describe how delicious this is!!! A quote from The Counte, “I can’t stop eating this, it’s so goooooood!”.

The consistency from the bowl was comparable to a soft serve custard. After placing in the freezer for awhile, it became a little firmer but still remained quite pliable. I attribute this to the alcohol and fat content of the avocados. All in all, an acceptable and pleasing texture that has a nice glossy finish. Since it contains no dairy, it is technically a sorbet, but don’t let that fool you as it has all the creaminess of the dairy-ized  version.

Avocado Ice Cream Recipe

It should be noted that all photographs that accompany this are to be credited to La Confectionista and her “fancy” phone. Constant reminders from The Counte ensured thorough documentation!

No Sweat Desserts

by Chewy

photo by Tombre

Why do we like to bake in the fall and winter? Because heating up the kitchen is a plus during these seasons. Not so much in the summer when the mercury is hovering at 90 and above. Those of us who love the heat (La Confectionista) are too busy with outdoor activities to be bothered with creating confections. Those of us who don’t (Chewy) are too busy trying to figure out whether to hibernate in a meat locker or just have blocks of ice delivered to the house to recline upon. In the basement. With a TV and a remote control. Neither of these activities mean forgoing dessert. In fact, while most of the world packs on the pounds during winter, I tend to do it in the summer. In the basement. With a TV and a remote control.

I started thinking about the sweets that can be made without turning on the oven and was surprised at all the options. The first, and most obvious, is ice cream. I am a big fan of Cuisinart’s ice cream maker (not a paid spokesperson)  and have had much success with simple recipes. After placing all the ingredients in the frozen “pot”, you can be eating ice cream in as little as twenty minutes. This does take a little forethought as you need to freeze the container for 24 hours. What this fuels is anticipation and makes it all that much sweeter when you finally get to delve in.

There is a wonderful website (yes, I will share) that is partially devoted to the non-baked dessert. With recipes like Popcorn Cake, Raspberry Cheese Cake, and Chocolate Peanut Butter Torte Cake, there is no shortage of the yum factor and no straining of the air conditioner. You can find these and others at Recipes 4 Cakes. 

Plenty of choices to last you all summer.

Why this has never occurred to me before makes me question my whole IQ level. Where do we go to cook in the summer so we don’t heat up the kitchen? Out on the patio sits our ersatz oven, the BBQ grill. Many of us have tried grilled fruit, either skewered on a kabob or sliced and directly placed on the grill. The heat really brings out the sweet and caramelizes the natural sugar. Fancier fare is available in the form of Baked Alaska and Cherry Chocolate and Bailey’s Irish Cream Cherry Pie.  While I am sure I could find BBQ dessert recipes from women, I found it interesting that the majority of recipes I found came from men. Apparently an outdoor grill brings out a man’s inner dessert meister as well.

  Cherry Chocolate and Bailey’s Irish Cream Cherry Pie 

Not to be overlooked is the Directory of Delish on this website. Feel free to roam around, select you genre and enjoy at your selected establishment. While you’re there, would you ask if they deliver to basements?

Taffy, A Sticky Situation

by Chewy

I like my sweets chewy. Aha, you say. That explains the moniker, Chewy, that’s slapped on these musings. Wrong. That’s another story. But back to my preferences. Caramel, fruit gels, taffy, gum drops, spearmint leaves, jelly beans, I’ll take them over chocolate every time. There’s something about the need to masticate these gems for a longer period of time that extends the enjoyment in my mind and mouth. They can also yank a filling if you’re not careful, but putting a little danger factor into it simply improves the experience. Kind of like flambé. So, when I saw that May 23rd was National Taffy Day, I couldn’t let it pass without recognition and celebration.


Taffy is a relatively new creation in the world of sweets. Only dating back to the early 1800s, it’s really a youngster. Originally called treacle, it was sugar or molasses thickened by boiling and made into hard cakes. Later, we see the process evolving to what we are familiar with today. Cooked in copper kettles over open coals and cooled on marble slabs, it was then pulled on a large hook on the wall. Draping 10-25 pounds (this was not for sissies) over the hook, it was then pulled away up to a length of 5-6 feet. It was then looped back on itself over the hook trapping air between the lengths. Repeating the process resulted in aerating the taffy and keeping it soft. Stretching the lengths also allows the taffy to take on that satiny shine. Rolling the stretched and prepared candy on a hard surface resulted in a taffy “snake” that could be cut into bite size pieces with scissors.

Probably the most well known taffy is Atlantic City’s salt water taffy. A sucker for legends, I can’t pass up sharing this one with you. This popular and unconfirmed story involves a great storm in 1883. David Bradley’s candy store was flooded by the Atlantic Ocean and his entire stock of taffy was soaked in the salty water. Offering the “salt water taffy” as a joke it became a big hit and so a new sweet was born. Not literally made from sea water, as implied, it does contain water and salt (there’s our sweet-salty experience again). Popularized by Joseph Fralinger in Atlantic City, it was later refined by Enoch James, who mechanized the pulling process. Both opened confectioneries in the late 1800s and both shops still  operate on the Atlantic City boardwalk.


Taffy pulling was a household enterprise and social event on Saturday nights. While not a weekly adventure in my home (contrary to popular belief, I’m not quite that old), we did put on an occasional pot of taffy ingredients, greased up, and pulled till our arms ached. No matter how much cleaning that was done post pull, everything in the kitchen still seemed sticky for a week afterwards. I have to say, that homemade, home pulled taffy was the best.

I think we should bring back the tradition of the taffy pull. Consisting of relatively inexpensive ingredients, it literally provides hours of family activity on a limited budget. And you know the old saying, the family that pulls taffy together, sticks together.

Taffy Pull Taffy Recipe

Spoonerism Leads to Dessert Sensation

by Chewy

     Growing up in northern Minnesota (unintelligible) years ago, we were not privileged to have the same growing season that the southern climes enjoyed . Add to that fact, the grocery stores, at the time, were confined to seasonal fruits within a limited geographic area. While we could procure fruits that held up well under travel (apples, oranges, bananas), more perishable varieties (berries, melons, plums, etc) arrived only in the summer. And, of course, our summers were much shorter as well. We use to joke that when summer arrived we hoped it landed on a weekend.

     One item that we could grow in spades was rhubarb. And I am proud to say that my grandfather introduced a strawberry variety that could withstand the colder weather. He was a city farmer, meaning he lived in the city but had acreage, that he had personally built a log cabin on, and cultivated with raspberries, plums, strawberries, rhubarb, tomatoes and potatoes. As a child, roaming through those strawberry fields was intoxicating. Many a contest occurred to find the biggest most perfect berry. Winner got to eat the other’s offerings. This determination could be subjective and many an older child took advantage of a younger’s naiveté  and literally enjoyed the fruits of another’s labor!

     With the available ingredients aplenty, it became obvious that a classic combination was possible; strawberry rhubarb pie. I wish I could say that my family invented strawberry rhubarb pie, but if I did, you could probably pull out an old family recipe to prove me a liar. Not the first to create it, we did rename it. One family gathering, my Aunt Eulalie produced her rendition of this confection. Quite the baker, she was always in charge of desserts and proffered them up with much aplomb and fanfare. Parading her latest creation to the table she proudly announced her “Strawbarb Rhuberry Pie”. Now, I’m not sure if this was an innocent spoonerism or Grandpa’s homemade plum wine had an influence. All I know is that from that day forward any previous nomenclature had been replaced and I could never call it anything else.

photo by enrika79

     I wish I could say that the following recipe is my aunt’s original but, sadly, it’s nowhere to be found and Aunt Eulalie is no longer around to advise. Lesson: ALWAYS document family recipes and make sure they include ALL the ingredients. So in memory of my aunt, I offer you the Strawbarb Rhuberry Pie.