Oh the horror!

Ok, so my camera cord is LOST! It's a tragedy to be sure.  I have one ordered, but still... I have PICTURES to share and BLOGS to post!!  Bah!  I'll just leave you with a taste of what I have cooking for you. (Get it?! Because this is a FOOD blog?!...Yep, I went there.) 

*White Beans with Sausage & Tomatoes (Italian peasant food)
*Brown Sugar Cupcakes with Caramel Filling & Caramel Buttercream Frosting
*44-Clove Garlic & Chicken Soup
*Maple & Mustard Panko Crusted Chicken

Is your mouth watering?  Mine is.  I'm going to go eat another cupcake and wait for my camera cord to come.

Chicken Elixir and an Apology

As many of you may know, I am currently going to school in order to complete my bachelor's degree.  I have been insanely busy and swamped with schoolwork.  Luckily, as I near the end of my education (read: GRADUATION!), I am finding that the amount of work I'm doing is less.  This is probably due to the fact that I took all of my 400 level classes first and am finishing up with the 200 and 300 levels.  Anyway, the point of that whole non-food-related explanation is that I'm so sorry to have left you recipeless for so long.  You missed me right?!  Of course, you did. 

If winter is a harbinger of the common cold, the flu, and other maladies to your home as it is to mine, then you will benefit greatly from the following recipe for a super amped-up chicken stock.

Chicken Elixir

from Lucinda Scala Quinn's Mad Hungry

1. Roast a chicken.  Or, if you are sometimes prone to laziness efficiency like me, use a broasted chicken that you buy at the grocery store.  Bone it, save the meat, throw the chicken bones, skin, and assorted debris into a large stockpot with a pasta insert. 

2. Add carrots, celery, onion, bay leaf, parsley, thyme, garlic, salt/pepper and enough water to cover all of the good stuff.  (This a great excuse to use those carrots and celery stalks that are withering in the bottom of your vegetable drawer...)

3. This is the step that turns chicken stock into chicken ELIXIR.  Add a large peeled knob of garlic and 2 jalopenos cut in half and seeded. 

4. Simmer over medium-low heat for about 5-6 hours.  Strain the debris from the broth.  Separate broth into 2-cup portions and freeze. 

5. When illness befalls you, thaw out a portion and drink it as hot as you can stand it.

Check out Mad Hungry for more detail on the health benefits of Chicken Elixir and assorted other awesome recipes.

Thanksgiving - The Sequel

If you love Thanksgiving like I love Thanksgiving, then you know that it's ok, nay, encouraged to enjoy Thanksgiving flavors at other times during the year.  Here is a wonderful and amazing link for some Thanksgiving-esque foods.  Visit. Read. Drool. Make. Eat. Enjoy!

Fudgy Liquory Yum-ness

Sometimes, there are only three words: Fudgy. Liquory. Yumness.

If you have a "La Madeleine" restaurant near you, you should go there now.  NOW!

That is a shot glass filled with layers of chocolate mousse and booze-soaked chocolate cake.

It had me at hello.

Enjoy your weekend!

RECAP!

In honor of "wordless Wednesday", here is a little glimpse at what I've been eating:

Fresh Lake Superior Lake Trout

with lemon, sage & pepper

Spaghetti & Meatball Risotto with fresh basil

Buffalo Chicken Flatbread

Chicken Parmesan Meatballs

Coconut Macaroons

In case you were worried about where I have been or what I have been up to since my last post, I am here to allay your many concerns: I am in the Twin Cities!  (You were worried, right?!)  Visiting family, seeing friends, having lunch dates, seeing a flash mob.... You know, the usual.  (Don't know what a flash mob is? Click here.)  I'm not here to tell you about flash mobs though.  I am dropping in to tell you that if you are in Minneapolis, you should run (not walk) to the

The Salty Tart bakery is in the Midtown Global Market on Lake Street.

You can eat these:

Those, dear friends, are coconut macaroons.  They are warm, buttery, and chewy.  Are you not yet sold?  You can have them dipped in dark chocolate.  If you are still not sold, you are probably a robot - please power down.  Seriously, I had one and it moved me to tears. 

I could probably make these....stay tuned!

Green Thumb

My kitchen bucket list is full.  Tonight's dinner will be steaks on the grill with caprese salad.  The weekend will include things like sweet corn and pork tenderloin and pimiento cheeseburgers.  The weather is nice and we are on a grilling kick. 

Because I have a lack of new recipes to share with you, I am going to brag about the fruits of my labor.  (Herbs of my labor?!)  This summer, I planted my own herbs and have actually kept them alive long enough to use them.  One noted exception would be my sweet basil.  Although, the basil's demise might have more to do with the neighbor boys using their squirt guns on my plants and less to do with my wannabe-green thumb.  Without further adieu, my herbs.

Lemon Thyme

Thai Basil

Flat Leaf Parsley

Sage

Cilantro

Aren't you amazed by how green my thumb is?  Stay tuned for things I will do with these herbs. 

Under the Weather

Dear Summer Cold,

Please GO AWAY!! I hate you and your stupid face.  I need to be able to breathe through my nose and to hear through my right ear.  I am tired of this sore throat and the sneezing and the coughing.  Do you know what this all means?  That's right.  I can't cook.  Well, I could...but then the rest of the world would become infected.  I can't cook and cooking makes me happy.  You stupid summer cold.  Why did you have to show up NOW just as my blog was starting to get good?  You're just so mean, you summer cold. 

In hate,
Bethany

 PS: All I want is THIS:

Maybe my husband will make it.

Gizmos and Gadgets...

I love me some Crate and Barrel.  I spent a large portion of Sunday afternoon at the C & B at Galleria in Edina.  They have gizmos and gadgets aplenty.  They've got whozits and whatsits galore.  You want thingamabobs, they have twenty....  Sorry about that.  I get carried away.   I literally cannot leave that store without buying something.  Sunday was no exception.  You can go here to see what I got.  Where is your favorite place to find kitchen gizmos?  What is your favorite kitchen gizmo?   Tell me all about it.