For the Love of Food

Voting is now open!  Please cast your vote for me here. 

Now, I have hosted many parties in my short life: impromptu dinner parties, lunch parties, brunch parties, garden parties, winter solstice parties, children’s birthday parties, Thanksgiving parties…I could go on for quite a while.  But, I’ve never hosted a luxurious dinner party.  So, when Foodbuzz challenged us to host a luxurious dinner party I hit the web to get ideas on how to host one.

To my utter surprise, there is not a lot of information out there on how to host a luxurious dinner party – needless to say a small intimate dinner party.  There is plenty of information on how to throw huge and elegant wedding bashes, but since I cannot seat 100+ in my home, I had to turn to other sources.

I quickly emailed the two people I knew would have detailed thoughts as to what a luxurious dinner party would entail.  Could I hold it in my home since my dining table is in my kitchen?  Would I need a server?  These are just some of the questions I had.  Surprisingly – well, maybe not – I got quite different answers from both sources, but good advice none the less.

So, what do you need to put together a luxurious dinner party?? Continue Reading »

So, the reason I wasn’t blogging last week is because I was enjoying some company at home from my brother and sister in law. My brother-in-law, who is currently a chef at a country club in Colorado, shared his secret for making delicious salsa.

I was expecting it to be complicated, but, as is much of the time, the best recipes are the easiest to put together – it just comes down to good ingredients.

This salsa is oven-roasted. Please don’t let that cause you to run away now – I promise this is EASY and delicious. It’s as simple as throwing roughly chopped ingredients on a baking sheet with some olive oil, roasting, pureeing, and seasoning with some salt, lime juice, and some cilantro. You can change it up as many different ways you’d like. My brother-in-law said it is just important to have twice as much tomato (or tomatillo) as onion. I do have to add, though, that the more tomatillo you use in comparison to tomato will leave you with a thicker salsa. So, if you want it a bit more runny, only add a few tomatillos or leave them out all together.

Goes really well with the taco salad I made last week. Continue Reading »

When Foodbuzz asked us to pick a cuisine that was from another culture – and outside of our comfort zone – I had to think really hard.  First I had to think of where I have never traveled to- I have traveled to quite a few countries -  AND then also take out all the cuisines of countries I regularly “travel to” in my kitchen (Chinese, North African, Japanese, etc).  Picking something outside of my comfort zone is also pretty hard since I generally enjoy all foods.  BUT, everyone has something they’re just not so keen on.

Two foods that I am generally less comfortable eating are anything with curry and fish.  Fish is generally eaten everywhere in the world, but there are places in the world that eat more fish than others.  So, I pulled out my map (I’m a geographer and always have  a map handy) and started looking for someplace I’d never been, never had cuisine from that region, and predominantly ate fish.  Soon my finger was circling around Iceland.

I’ve never been to Iceland, but have always wanted to go.  It just seems so beautiful there with it’s majestic mountains and fjords.  And, they eat fish – lots of fish.  Dry fish, salted fish, cooked fish, smoked fish, baked fish…fish, fish, fish – and sheep heads (and other body parts).  This was it – I was already starting to feel nervous – I would have to not only make a fish dish, but most of the recipes looked through either had disgusting looking food in their pictures, or no picture at all.  I opted for a recipe with no picture so that I wouldn’t have any bias as to what it would look like, and tried to keep calm.

I decided on a recipe for fish soup since I’d never had fish in a soup before and I’m all about trying new things.  I read through many many recipes, and settled on one that had many interesting ingredients, but was quick to prepare.

And, to my utter surprise – it was good.  It had a wonderfully mild flavor, and I promptly found myself at the end of my second bowl.  My husband was not so thrilled – he doesn’t like anything that has to do with fish.  Luckily, my older son is head over heals for fish and was able to share in the delight with me.  I also went ahead and packaged some up for a friend of mine who always brings me different soups to try, and she called my in the evening to get the recipe.

This soup is good.

Continue Reading »

I have been craving spicy food for the past few weeks like crazy. What I wouldn’t give for some really Jamaican jerk chicken that leaves your mouth burning with happiness. But, I don’t have any plans to travel to the Caribbean right now, so when I was paired with Denise from Eat Laugh Love for this month’s Taste&Create, I was excited to see her recipe for Jalapeño Poppers!

Now, I have eaten quite a few jalapeño poppers over the past few years, but I have never eaten any filled with refried beans. I was really surprised how easy these were to make. I never could quite figure out how they could easily be de-seeded, but the trick is in the few minutes you microwave them to soften them! Oh, and if you leave a few too many seeds inside it will be very spicy.

I love making taco salads, so I thought this would be a nice change to my typical taco salad toppings. I also made a fabulous roasted tomato and tomatillo salsa that my brother-in-law taught me – but more about that next week. Continue Reading »

Last week I shared with you my love of blogging and why I would make a great food blog star.  Today, it is your turn to help me out and vote for my post to help me win!

Please click here to vote for me now!

The last day to vote is Thursday, September 23!

I’ve been around the food blogosphere for over 5 years now, and what made me a food blogger 5 years ago is quite different from what makes me a food blogger today.  To be honest, I was quite skeptical of blogging back in 2005, and my photography skills were, to be nice,  boring!  I have come a long way, and I have not done it on my own.

Could you imagine being the only food blogger out their?  …with no inspiring recipes and posts from your fellow foodies?!  Just think back to how many of us almost had a panic attack when we found out that Tastespotting had shut down – to our relief only temporarily.

And, because there are so many of us out there with so much to share for so many different reason, I thought I would share with you today who I am and what makes me a great food blogger.

Instead of filling this post with my favorite food images that define me as a food photographer blogger (we’ll save those for another day), I decided to pick the 3 that say it all:

Maraschino Cherries, Baker’s Coconut, and Cheeseburger Pizza.

Now, when it comes to food blogging, it’s important to keep in mind that it’s not all in the recipe or the pictures.  Yes, those are very very important aspects of food, but more importantly, it’s the ideas behind them that make the recipes and pictures what they are.

Anyone can buy a jar of hot pink “Maraschino” cherries at their local grocery store – well, almost anyone.  Some of us are not so privileged to have access to such food or be in top health to not be allergic to certain ingredients  such as corn syrup, preservative, and red 40.  That’s where I like to come in.  I enjoy being creative with the seasonal fruits and vegetables that I have around me to make all those delicious things we take for granted – like Maraschino cherries and even Ketchup!  Did you know that the sour cherry that is used for making the traditional Maraschino cherry is only in season for 3 weeks of the year!!

As I mentioned earlier, not all of us are lucky enough to be in top health.  A few years ago I was unable to eat sugar (table sugar, molasses, dextrose, brown sugar), and if it wasn’t for that 2-year “health issue”, I would not be the food blogger that I am today.  Yes, there are plenty of recipes out their for homemade ketchup or agave sweetened ice cream, but what about homemade baker’s coconut?  There’s just not much out there.  Because of my love and perseverance in cooking, I don’t let something like that stop me.  I never see anything as being impossible to accomplish – somethings just take longer to figure out than others.

So, what does cheeseburger pizza have to do with Maraschino cherries and baker’s coconut??  Quite a lot.  Good cooking (and good blogging) require a lot of ingenuity – as well as some trial and error.  Sometimes you spend hours (or days) searching for the right recipe – you know what you’re looking for, but you don’t really know how to make it, but when you see it you’ll know it’s the one.  Well, sometimes you never come across that perfect recipe and you have to get your creative juices flowing.  That is where cheeseburger pizza comes into play.  I spent days looking for a recipe that promised the flavor of a cheeseburger in pizza form more than the flavor of a pizza with cheeseburger toppings.  And, since I never found the recipe I was looking for, I made my own – and to everyone’s delight it was absolutely divine.

What really sets For the Love of Food apart from much of what’s out there is the homemade recipes that we’re often looking for, but just aren’t out there.  I try to avoid ingredients that include “can of Cream of Mushroom Soup” since that’s not available to me. Food needs to be made from scratch here.  I “cater” to a lot of American ex-patriots in the same situation.  Nothing makes someone feel less homesick than some good home-cooking – like a truly homemade Green Bean Casserole!

And, while all of this makes me a great cook and food blogger, does it make me food blog star?  YES!  My readership is increasing, a true sign that star-dom is the next step, and I hope to be moving into the ranks of some of my favorite food bloggers (Jaden’s Steamy Kitchen, La Tartine Gourmande, MattBites) that have inspired and taught me the most.

We’re back again for another great month of recipe sharing.  We had a great 3-year anniversary last month, and I thank everyone for making such delicious desserts!

I have been getting ready for some out of town (out of country) guests and have been very very busy around the house. I apologize for the partner list being late!

Just a reminder:
-the rules can be found here.
-please do not email me your submission, go to the Taste&Create website, register/sign-in and submit your entry there by the 24th of September, 2010.

The next Taste&Create you can sign-up for is October and sign-ups will end on October 8th, 2010 for that event.

Here is this month’s partner list:

TastyCurryLeaf & American Women Don’t Get Fat
Busy-at-Home & Cupcake Project
Holy Cannoli Recipes & Vrybzy baking and more!
Searching for Spice & chefhema
YUM FOOD & Baking and Cooking, A Tale of Two Loves
Live to eat!!! & NO REASON NEEDED
Rhubarb and Honey & The Bad Girl’s Kitchen
What Would Cathy Eat & Sweet N Spicy
For the Love of Food & Eat Laugh Love
Jeanette’s Healthy Living & The Tailgate Goddess
A Boulder Table & My Green Mouth
Dragon Musings & Everybunny Loves Food
Not So Unique Ideas & Indecisive Baker

I have been dying to try to make Chinese dumpling (in any form) for quite some time now. And, when I stumbled across Jaden’s really easy-looking recipe I decided it was time to stop procrastinating and time to start cooking!

She has a really great step-by-step tutorial on how to fold them – and it is really fool-proof! I did have some issues in making the dumplings, but this problem started at my local grocer. Where the heck do I find dumpling wrappers in my small town?? No Where. But, I never let that stop me – I was determined to make these babies. So, I grabbed a pack of wonton wrappers and made my way home. And, yes, wonton wrappers do hold up well, but you will end up with rectangular dumplings. And, I’m not sure if the flavor is any different than that of dumpling wrappers. Oh, and although I have 3 huge bouquets (or bushes) of chives growing in my garden, I somehow came home without any and ended up having to use the green onions.

We really enjoyed the dumpling, despite their rectangular coutures. The pork and cabbage filling is full of flavor and I promptly started dreaming up other dishes that I could use it in. Jaden recommend enjoying the dumpling with some hot chili sauce, but we found that the slippery consistency of the dough wasn’t able to hold much of the flavor of the sauce. Maybe this wouldn’t have been the case had I pan fried them?? On the other hand, the next day my Chinese friend stopped by the a bowl of Congee (she stops by practically twice a week with some sort of new and exciting Asian food for me to try) and we warmed it up with these dumpling inside (did I just commit a mortal sin by doing that??) and they worked wonderfully together.

Here’s the recipe, and you can find Jaden’s step-by-step tutorial on how to fold dumpling here in her Steamy Kitchen. Continue Reading »

Yesterday I shared my Naturally Ella-inspired roasted spaghetti al pomodoro with you, and today I am going to share with you my favorite take on her recipe!

Originally, I had planned on making her exact recipe – in tostada form, but when I went to start cooking, I realized that my guys had eaten all the tortillas as a snack the day before (the baby starts to wiggle with excitement when he sees a tortilla!). So, I went to emergency plan B and made some rice instead, and decided to turn the meal into a taco salad.

And, wow, we were so blown away by the easy and delicious flavors of this recipe that we have made it 4 times in the last 2 weeks! It just amazes me that something as simple as roasting a tomato – as opposed to frying, grilling, or simply eating raw – can not only the change the flavor of that ingredient, but really transform an entire dish and take it to a whole new level.

This is definitely worth making for friends at dinner parties! Oh, and it re-heats very well in the microwave the next day – so this would make a great left-overs lunch for work! Continue Reading »

After yesterdays very important post on Food Styling – I am almost embraced to post this picture. I rummaged through my refrigerator for quite a while before giving up – nothing green to go on top! Everything living and green was sitting in my garden a 15 minute walk away…sometimes it’s impractical to not have your herb garden in your kitchen!

Anyways, I still think the dish is worth of posting because it was so delicious.

I was recently introduced to the idea of roasting tomatoes in the oven by Naturally Ella in her recipe for Roasted Vegetable Tostadas – which I made 4 times in the last 2 weeks! I will post about those later. Anyways, it got me to thinking that if roasted tomatoes can taste so delicious in Tex Mex, they sure would taste great in an Italian dish like Spagehtti al Pomodoro (which is basically spaghetti in tomato sauce). Continue Reading »