For the Love of Food

As I hinted at in the last post, my father-in-law visits cooking classes at his local Williams-Sonoma that they offer for free on Sundays to anyone who wishes to attend.

While were were visiting, my husband and I had the opportunity to visit a class with him in north Austin.

I found the set-up quite nice. They had a large angled mirror on the ceiling so that we could see what they were cooking. We were able to taste-test everything and it was quite tasty. I was, however, disappointed that they were using mainly ingredients that you could only buy in their stores – like their roasted version of Ro-Tel for $12!!!

My father-in-law mentioned that they have different cooks for the different classes, and that this lady is the one who plugs their products. Other cooks cook from scratch and give tips as to where the correct ingredients can be found at other locations around town.

So, what did we eat while we were there?? Continue Reading »

While on my vacation in the US my brother took me to a cupcake bakery in Austin called hey cupcake! I’d never been to a bakery before that only specialized in cupcakes.

I have had my fair share of bakery cupcakes in my life time, so I wasn’t expecting too much. Then, I took the first bite…

They were heavenly! So perfectly moist, but not gooey, with the perfect creamy frosting on top – I was in heaven! Continue Reading »

By now many of you may have already read New York Times article about the search for the perfect chocolate chip cookie.

The jury is still out on where exactly the best cookie can be found, but they seem to believe that when baking the perfect cookie, 36 hours of resting time for the dough are necessary.

So, I figured I’d try things out for myself. I used the Nestle Toll House original chocolate chip cookie recipe and substituted sugar with fructose and brown sugar with pal sugar.  Granted, I am not using brown sugar, so my dough does not change colors as dramatically as theirs, but I can tell you that there was definitely a noticeable difference! Continue Reading »

I have 3 partners this month for Taste&Create…don’t ask, I just do.

So, it was pretty difficult to decide what to make from each blog…there were just so many delicious recipes to chose from.

From my first partner, Ann from Redacted Recipes, I finally decided on her Bean and Cheese Tostadas with Pico de Gallo. I happened to have a can on refried black beans at home that a friend brought me from Guatemala, and I also happened to bring back about 100 corn tortillas back home with me from Texas. So, I was automatically drawn to this recipe. That, and it was a quick recipe to create when I dealing to my little guy being sick at home and still having to cook for my husband and I.

So, if you are a Tex-Mex fanatic, go check out this recipe because it’s awesome! And, the homemade Pico de Gallo was so easy and fabulous , I just couldn’t believe that that’s all there was to it!

This post under contsruction due to vandalism.

This post under construction due to vandalism.

All submissions for November’s Taste&Create are finally in! And, almost everyone was punctual – Brilynn from Jumbo Empanadas had something come up and couldn’t take part, but hopefully she will join us again next time. And, we had 2 no-shows from What’s Cooking in a Southern Kitchen and Bake My Day!. I hope everything is ok with them and that we will hear from them soon (leave a comment to let us know!).
Before we get to all the great posts…

I’d like to announce T&C V. Normally this takes place every month, but this time I am going to extend the deadlines so that we can all enjoy the holidays in peace.
What it’s all about: community, sharing, tasting, and blogging.

This is a gathering point for the food-blogger community to come and have their recipes tested by their peers.
How you can T&C:

1. Leave a COMMENT by December 18, 2007, and include:
• your name
• the name of your blog
• your blog’s address
• your email address
2. I will email you by December 21st with your partner’s info, and I will edit this post and put up the partners list at the bottom.
3. You will:
• Browse through your partner’s yummy blog entries, and pick out one dish that looks really interesting to you
• Create the dish you’ve chosen
• Taste it and tell us what you think (aka – blog about it)!
• Don’t forget you have to include a photo – so snap away!
4. Email your entry by January 15th, 2008 with
• your name
• the name of your blog
• the name of the dish you created on your partner’s blog
• your permalink
• 1 photo of your re-creation
• sum up the dish in 1 phrase
• send your emails to: myamii@rezimo.com
5. In your post please include a link to this post and/or include the T&C logo, so we can get the word out and have others join in the fun.
6. Your personal blog entry doesn’t have to be in English, but please make sure that your “summed up phrase” is.

As I have mentioned before, I I am unable to submit this event to Is My Blog Burning – the submission form will not work because my computer bounces around on the internet and does not give its own location – for privacy reasons (and I cannot change it)! And, the “back-up” option to send an email does not work either, so my event doesn’t show up. If one of you signing up next time has the possibility to submit events to Is My Blog Burning, I would appreciate the help, just contact me ahead of time so 20 people doesn’t submit the same event!
Now, to the good stuff!! Continue Reading »

We got some salami from this salami stand at the Fürther Kirchweih, and it was really great. Continue Reading »

Another must-have when you visit the Fürther Kirchweih is grilled ox. It’s so juicy and meaty. Last year, while I was conversing with one of the grill attendants, he told me that they generally go through 3 of these a year. I would guess that this year they need more since larger amounts of visitors are expected for the Fürth’s 1000th birthday (which is officially in November BTW).

Will get back with more recipes soon! We’ve been enjoying the Kirchweih a bit too much lately, and cooking a little less. I’m currently getting my community garden plot ready for winter, so I haven’t had much time to cook – will post some garden pictures once I’m done!

If you ever have the opportunity to make it to the Fürther Kirchweih, I highly suggest going to the Fürther Bratwurst stand across from the Fürther Freiheit. Specifically a long bratwurst rolled into a spiral, placed on a brötchen (roll) and topped off with saurkraut.

Delicious!