Culinary Boot Camp Week #1

Although I have no regrets about the path my career has taken me, if I could start over I would go to culinary school. My dreams are to own a small restaurant where I would serve breakfast and lunch or to own my own bed and breakfast. Who knows maybe someday these dreams will come true? In the meantime, I am aspiring to become a more knowledgeable and proficient cook.

This week I began a series of 5 cooking classes entitiled Culinary Boot Camp. The classes are based on the book of the same name by Martha Rose Shulman. The classes are held at The Classy Gourmet. Colleen Cleek, the owner, was a contestant on Season 5 of Hells Kitchen.

Our class is small, six total students. Last night's class focused on knife skills, stocks and pan sauteing. I just want to be like a giant sponge and soak up all of the knowledge and cooking hints passed on by our instructor. Next week, I am going to remember to bring my camera.

How Many Pieces of Luggage Were Lost????

I was listening to Martha Stewart Living Radio and was amazed at the statistics the guest was citing about how many pieces of luggage were lost in 2008, 32 million. And to think that is down from 2007 when a staggering 47 million pieces were lost.

If you travel, it's one of your worst fears, will my luggage make it? Standing there watching the luggage go around and hoping you will see your bag rounding that corner soon.

A few reminders for your luggage when traveling:

* Make sure to look at the tag placed on your luggage. Is it coded with your destination? Does it have a legible barcode?

* At home, before zipping up that suitcase, take a picture of the contents. If you need to file a claim, you won't have to try and remember what all was inside.

* Put your name, address, phone number and itinerary inside your bag.

Also, read the airlines baggage policy and make sure you aren't packing something inside your luggage that isn't covered by their policy.

Happy Travels!!!

Crock - It Cookbook

Have you noticed how cooking with slow cookers or crock pots seems to come and go? Just the other day, one of the food shows on Martha Stewart radio, had a segment on Slow Cookers. I have always loved my slow cooker regardless of whether they were in or out of cooking fashion. It's so nice to come home from work and have dinner almost finished.

This week's cookbook recipe, Refrigerator Stew, comes from the Crock-It Cookbook by Barbara M. Murray. I've had this cookbook for years and it contains several of my go to recipes for the crock pot. The winds are blowing and the weather is cooling off in the midwest. One of my favorite cold weather meals is stew. Refrigerator Stew is filled with flavor and all you need is fruit or a salad and you have a quick healthy meal.


Refrigerator Stew

2 pounds beef stew meat
1 package onion soup mix
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 1/2 cups water
1 onion
4 - 6 carrots
3 -4 potatoes
1 can green beans
1 can corn

Cut meat, onion, carrots and potatoes into bite size pieces. Combine all ingredients in the slow cooker. Stir well. Cook on low 8 - 10 hours.

My notes on this recipe: I like to brown the stew meat before I put in the slow cooker. Tonight the only potatoes in the pantry were fingerlings. I didn't cut them up and they worked great.

I was out of carrots and I do miss the color they add to the dish!

Apple Orchard Pecan Crumble - SMS

A quick note before we get to this weeks Sweet Melissa Sundays. I love chocolate and want to start a baking group around Chocolate Epiphany. I'd like to keep the group small and bake once a month. If you're interested, please leave me a comment.

When I saw this week's Sweet Melissa Sunday's recipe was Apple Orchard Pecan Crumble, the timing couldn't have been better. I have two buckets of apples from our tree and I needed a dessert to serve Saturday night. Recently I was listening to Martha Stewart Radio and the host was talking about how we tend to not use our dining rooms and our good china. As I was setting the table for last night's dinner, our friend Larry said I've never eaten in your dining room. Karen and Larry have been my best friends for more than 30 years, they're more like family. I tend to use my dining room for holiday dinners and large dinner parties but I've never used it when Karen and Larry come to visit. I immediately set the table with the good china and the candles. It was a lovely dinner and reminded me we should use the dining room more often.

Melissa Murphy suggested serving the Apple Orchard Pecan Crumble with Brown Sugar Vanilla Ice Cream or whipping cream. I decided to make the homemade ice cream and I am so glad I did. The ice cream was a wonderful compliment to the crumble.

Thanks to Christine of Cooking With Christine for choosing a recipe that was a delicious ending to our lovely evening. You can find all of the other Sweet Melissa Sunday's bakers here.

Sweet and Simple Bakes - St. Clements Cake

My father has an expression he often used when as a child I tried something and failed. He would say you get an E for effort. I guess in his eyes that was like an A. Well this months Sweet and Simple Bakes is one of those E for effort times.

First off the recipe is in grams and I don't have a scale. Yes, I am going to invest in one. I am actually waiting for this measuring cup to be available. I converted the recipe as best I could. Second, my butter was too soft. I was determined to make this cake, so I went ahead and made the batter. It looked and smelled great. I made the cakes in two small loaf pans. When I peeked in the oven, I noticed one was overflowing like a lava flow in the oven. Next we have the burning smell, on goes the fan and we open the doors. The good news, the smoke alarm didn't go off.

Once I had the smoke cleared from the kitchen, I needed to determine if my cake was done. The recipe said smaller pans 30 minutes and golden brown. It's been 30 minutes and it's golden brown. I used a tester and it APPEARED to come out clean. I pulled them out of the oven. I glazed them and then watched the middle sink and sink and continue to sink.

As I said it's a day where I get E for effort. The two pieces in my photograph are the two best pieces out of both cakes. This cake has a great texture and the wonderful flavor of citrus. I will make it again...after I get a scale.





The recipe can be found here. You will find the links to all of the talented and creative Sweet and Simple Bakers here.

On another note, I love all things chocolate and want to start a baking group around Chocolate Epiphany by Francois Payard. If you'd like to join me in this yummy baking adventure, please leave me a comment.

Banana Pecan Cupcakes - MS Cupcake Club

When I saw the Banana Pecan Cupcakes were this months bonus bake in the MS Cupcake Club, I was thrilled. My husband has a banana almost every morning with his cereal and I always have bananas in the freezer. My go to recipe for bananas is Mrs. Flint's Bread but I am always looking for new and different banana recipes.

Sometimes a cupcake can be more like a muffin. For me, this is one of those cupcakes. You can find the other MS Cupcake Club members who participated in this bonus bake here.



On another note, I love chocolate and I would love to start a baking group based on Chocolate Epiphany by Francois Payard. If you like to join me in this yummy baking adventure, please leave a comment.

TWD - Chocolate Caramel Tart

My weekend baking turned into quite an adventure. One thing about getting older, I have mellowed and took it all in stride. Unlike 20 years or so ago when I couldn't get the Christmas tree in the stand and tossed it out the sliding glass door. My neighbor next door felt sorry for me and came over and helped us with the tree. Now that's a Christmas memory!

TWD didn't come without challenges. I don't own pie weights (they're on my Christmas list now), so I decided to use rice. Not such a great idea, some of the rice stuck to the dough. I was getting ready to start my caramel and realized I didn't have enough sugar. Was this a sign? I decided not to take a chance and waited to finish the tart until tonight.

I made a half recipe and used two mini tart pans. I used macadamia nuts instead of peanuts. My caramel came together nicely. However, I wasn't fast enough spreading it into the tart pans. It hardened and was very difficult to spread. I had a lot of ganache leftover. What should I do with the ganache? I am glad I made this recipe because it was a challenge for me and I tend to bake comfortable, easy recipes.

This week's Tuesday's With Dorie hostess was Carla of Chocolate Moosey . You can read about Carla and find links to the other TWD bakers here.