bravo! bravo!

for a little taste of paris and for good dessert ideas, and really so much more, i often seek inspiration from the blog of david lebovitz...

this week i was so happy to find the an entry he wrote about something that is near and dear to me and my wandering mind. conservation.

i was relieved and yet i was also thinking "great - one more thing to add to my ever-growing no-no list!"

ok people, read for yourselves...
http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2008/02/saying_non_to_d.html#more

bravo, david lebovitz, bravo!

le..le..lemon meringue - pie oh my!

remember when your grandma used to make meringue pie? mine did - usually chocolate pudding by request, but sometimes lemon...and oh my! what a treat!

this month's daring baker's challenge was a classic - lemon meringue pie, hosted by jen at the canadian baker.

many of us 20-somethings have never made meringue...i have only a few times and what a relief mine turned out swell! this sweet, marshmallowy concoction is something of a lost art. its not often you turn up a friend's house to hear that your friend is making a meringue pie!

lucky for my friend who popped over last night just as i was about to put the pie in the oven. with only my husband and i in the house, the meringue would go south before we would be able to finish it, so i was welcoming anyone that wanted to come by and try this month's challenge. my friend was elated, it turns out this nostalgic pie is her all-time favorite! (don't you love having people excited about your treats!?!)

as you can see from my pictures, i was short on a pie dish. i had just finished making the filling when my husband took over my counter space to make a sandwich. by the time i returned to the kitchen he had a very sour look on his face and insisted that i 'was going to kill him' ....turns out while mid-sandwich-artistry something fell on my pie plate and cracked it! aggghhh! my new pie plate -and i was so excited to use it!

fittingly, when life hands you lemons - you make lemon meringue pie! so, i used my limited resources and made one with a casserole lid and the other, a mini-version, in a ramekin.

despite the dish debacle, i think they were still pretty sweet.

thank you jen for bringing us back to meringue! cha cha cha!

ta-ta!
the queen bee

eat.shop austin

hi ladies and gents,

this is a great resource for our fair city. the authors of the eat.shop books wrote about 18 cities nationwide and we were lucky enough to have them choose austin as a city to spotlight! this includes the best eating and shopping in town... great for out-of-towners.

i'm going to put a copy in our guest room for visitors. gone are the days of trying to think of the best places to suggest while we're at work! the job has already been done!

enjoy!

tastebook

as i mentioned in my last post, i was really running low on time right before the holidays. i wanted to post about one of the best gifts i was getting ready to give to my mom for christmas.

i got my inspiration from heidi of 101 Cookbooks when she wrote about creating your own personal cookbook.

Tastebook.com allows you to do just that! so i have been collecting all of my mom's recipes that my siblings and i all remember from when we were growing up and the recipes that we now all love and use at home when we cook for our families. over the past couple years we have all called my mom looking for that special recipe that is always a hit at a party or when we are having a bad day and we want something warm and familiar. my mom's recipes hold such great memories and remind me of when things seemed so simple.



my favorite part of this experience is going through mom's old recipe box. most modern day moms and cooks alike have cookbooks, maybe a few reprints of some classics like 'the new basics' or 'joy of cooking'. it's rare to find a recipe box now that everything is done on the computers. recipe boxes are history, they bring us back to a time when lard, canned meats and pure processed sugar where standard. jell-o was a staple in every pantry. we didn't know that eating a meal made entirely out of canned goods probably wasn't as healthy as we thought.

the only thing that trumped my mom's recipe box was my grandmother's! dishes like 'little logs' where you wrap cocktail franks in bread and mustard butter, or another favorite i ran across called 'cock' (that should be enough to deter anyone!) which is made with ground beef, vermouth, redwine, salt, butter, brown sugar and rum. woweee! yuk! i can't believe people actually served such things at parties, much less in the privacy of their own homes.

if anyone out there has hilarious recipes that time has forgot...please, oh please...send them my way!

Big Ol' Log O' Yule

merry holidays ya'll!

ok, i have just completed the daring baker's holiday challenge - the yule log! This month's hostesses were Ivonne @ Cream Puffs In Venice and Lis at La Mia Cucina.
this was my first daring baker's challenge and everything went according to plan, i just wish i would have allowed more time to experiment with the presentation. unfortunately, i left it to the last minute and we're getting read to head out of town on holiday, so i was a bit rushed. all in all i think it went pretty well, considering!

i've made a buche de noele once before- however, i was in culinary school under strict guidance and an unlimited budget...oh and did i mention all of our materials were provided (no trip (s) to the grocery store/restaurant supply store necessary)...never mind that i forgot to pick up some butter when i was out (in my holiday shopping trance!) and was one stick short, hence the runny buttercream...oops! i am only human and tried to compensate with overly stiff egg whites- not bad, i think!

anywhoo...thanks to the hostesses this month and to all the bloggers of the 'daring bakers' society...my neighbors greatly appreciated my involvement in this exercise as the yule log was their door prize for stopping over this evening! (it was in fact yummy - i tried a bit before they left!)....i look forward to next months challenge!

merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

amy
the bee hive

Yay! Beaujolais Day!

every year the 3rd thursday of november is the day that the Beaujolais Noveau is released...and that time is upon us again!



what a great idea for a party! especially for those of us out there that maybe only realize all too late that the open bottle on the bar has already turned to vinegar. you don't have to be a serious wine expert to host this tasting and appreciate what the Beaujolais has to offer, although - even a sommelier looks forward to november to try these baby wines!



if you don't feel comfortable hosting a wine party...have a fun night out at a local wine bar, i'm sure they will be boasting this week's new import!



for those of you that haven't had the pleasure of trying these light, fun wines, go down to your local wine shop and pick up a few bottles. they are very reasonably priced and meant to drink right away. the grapes were just hand picked in september! there are several interesting facts about the Beaujolais, if you would like to read more...click here.

what's in your fridge?

http://www.fridgewatcher.com/

i stumbled upon this site this morning and thought i'd share. for a foodie, i think the fridge is more snoop-worthy than a medicine cabinet any day! i am always surprised what people eat .... and somewhat relieved to see that the weird stuff that lands in my own fridge isn't all that weird!