Ezra Pound CakeMiscellaneous | Ezra Pound Cake

Creminelli Artisan Salami Giveaway! (Updated)

Rebecca — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 20:56:18 +0000

Note: We have a winner! Congratulations to Margy Ford.

Are you sick of food blog giveaways yet?

No?

Good! Because one of you is about to feast on one of Oprah’s Favorite Things, a “ridiculously excellent” gift set of Creminelli Gourmet Artisan Salami!

These aren’t the salty little meat sticks that come with a thimble of mustard and a pack of stale crackers. This is salami with a pedigree. The Creminelli family has been making artisan meat products in Italy since the 1600s. BEFORE THE DISCOVERY OF THE INTERNET! And now Cristiano Creminelli has set up shop in the U.S., making salami from organic heritage meat that’s been cured and slow-cooked, one tasty batch at a time

Continue reading: Creminelli Artisan Salami Giveaway! (Updated)

Cornucopia of Awesome

Rebecca — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 22:55:56 +0000

Here are some links to check out during the long holiday weekend:

– “Home for the Holidays” Thanksgiving prayer (NOT for the easily offended!): Every time I see this movie, I text my sister that she’s a “product of baboon lovin.” And she knows how much I care.

– Weren’t you looking for a Christmas tree headband? Or this sexy reindeer hat? Or an Elf Sweater? My eyes!

– Turkey Causes Reporter to Lose Her Head: “Oh my God, there he is! He’s waiting for me to get out of this car!” Maybe we should rethink this whole turkey-pardoning thing.

– Serious Eats attempts an All-Pie Thanksgiving Fantasy, complete with Green Bean Casserole Pie.

– Want to Eat Like the Pilgrims? (Hint: Hell no.)

– From Real Simple, “What’s Your Most Memorable Holiday Mishap?” These are epic.

– Rick Bragg’s “The Impossible Turkey”: “I told my mama her turkey was beautiful, because it was, and always will be. I told her not to give those tarted-up show turkeys another thought.”

– 14 Thanksgiving Holiday Road Trip Reads. Kindle powers, activate!

– From Slate, “20 Guests, 19 Pies”:

“My mother, a retired English professor, is a doting grandmother, a brilliant scholar, and a great wit. She is thrifty in her tastes—I can’t remember the last thing she bought for herself—and small of appetite. But in this one way she is extravagance itself. Her Thanksgiving pie spectacle—enough pie to feed 80 or 100 guests—is excessive, bizarre, and sometimes even grotesque … Yet it has also become the only holiday tradition that anyone in our family cares about.”

– Now, THIS is a grocery Thanksgiving display.

– Will the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade ever top getting Rick-Rolled by Rick Astley? I don’t think so.

– Sandra Lee Makes Kwanzaa Cake. Sometimes I forget this happened. And then I remember. And I have to watch AGAIN.

– Baby Dancing to Mom’s Banjo-Playing. Commence the jiggin’!

– PBS Food posted a Q&A with me! If you want to read me rambling about myself, follow this link!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Meatless Monday: Top 20 Vegetarian Holiday Meals

Rebecca — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 19:47:14 +0000

For weeks, we’ve been talking about meatless dishes that would rock any Thanksgiving, so I wanted to end with a list of my Top 20 Vegetarian Holiday Meals, which includes one new recipe: Parmesan Grits with Roasted Butternut Squash and Blue Cheese (no. 14). Dig in!

1. Apple, Leek and Butternut Squash Gratin. A simple, perfectly balanced dish made with layers of sliced butternut squash, leeks sautéed with sherry and sage, sliced apples and blistered Parmesan. It’s as homey, satisfying and delicious as anything smothered, covered or creamed. Pure magic.

2. Butternut Squash Casserole. This casserole is filling but not heavy, with warm butternut squash and fresh spinach baked with buttery onions, buttermilk, eggs, bread crumbs, cheddar, thyme and toasted pumpkin seeds

Continue reading: Meatless Monday: Top 20 Vegetarian Holiday Meals

Whip-It Good Giveaway! (Updated)

Rebecca — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 16:27:57 +0000

Note: We have a winner! Congratulations to Maureen Hsia.

A few months ago, I messaged Steve “Fried Gnocchi” Ziegler to ask him for holiday giveaway ideas. Steve works with The WEBstaurant Store, the largest restaurant supply company on the web, so he’s always got the pulse of kitchen awesomeness.

What did he suggest? A restaurant-quality whipped cream dispenser.

I thought it sounded mega-fun, but who (besides a professional stripper or the cook who squirts a smiley face on your kids’ pancakes) is going to use a cream whipper year-round?

Turns out, a few nitrous oxide chargers can make all kinds of magic happen.

Continue reading: Whip-It Good Giveaway! (Updated)

And the Winnah of “Taste of Home Baking” Is…

Rebecca — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 05:01:17 +0000

***Breaking News!: The winner of “Taste of Home Baking” is Jessica Warfield! Congratulations, Jessica!***

The Cherry-Cream Cheese Coffee Cake I posted this morning came from the new edition of “Taste of Home Baking,”a huge binder filled with more than 725 recipes, plus plenty of tips and handy references on ingredient substitutions and food equivalents you’ve probably Googled a dozen times. (Like, how many cups are in a pint of strawberries? Answer: two cups, hulled and sliced.)

It’s a great resource, and Tas te of Home would like to send a free copy to one of you!

So, if Dutch Apple Bread, Maple Bacon Muffins, White Chocolate Cranberry Blondies, Lemon Curd Cupcakes, Cannoli Cheesecake or Peanut Butter Praline Pie sound good, you’ll want to jump on this. (And, yes, the book also includes egg-free, gluten-free and lactose-free recipes. AND a free subscription to Taste of Home magazine.

Continue reading: And the Winnah of “Taste of Home Baking” Is…

My Life Matters™ Planner Winners!

Rebecca — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 04:24:19 +0000

Have you seen the list of end-of-the-year goals in the last giveaway post?

Planning a cheese festival.
Recovering from chemo.
Starting an internship as an equine veterinarian.
Co-hosting a nationally broadcast radio show.
Starting a business. Moving. Paying off debt.
Teaching yoga. Decluttering. Painting. Rock-climbing.
Getting married. Having babies.
Potty-training. Marathon-training.

You have no idea how much restraint it’s taking not to put an exclamation point by every! single! one! of those goals

Continue reading: My Life Matters™ Planner Winners!

15 Unstoppable Father’s Day Recipes (Plus Melt-In-Your-Mouth Brownies)

Rebecca — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 19:54:51 +0000

Sometimes, even with the best intentions, you wind up giving your dad a gift that goes over like a golden turd.

Maybe it was a tool he already had. Or a gadget he never uses. Or a DVD box set of the first season of “Mad Men” that’s still shrink-wrapped next to the TV.

It happens.

But not this year.

Because the recipe for a great Father’s Day is really simple. Give him a bear hug, a gift card to his favorite hardware store and something homemade.

Last year, I made my dad a batch of the NYT Chocolate Chip Cookies you see at the top of this post. Totally made up for the first two years of my dating career.

Here are some more ideas that might work for your dad. Or your baby-daddy. Or yourself, if you’re a dad, because it’s your day, and you deserve pork, sugar, butter and chocolate

Continue reading: 15 Unstoppable Father’s Day Recipes (Plus Melt-In-Your-Mouth Brownies)

The vote was thisclose.

Rebecca — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 04:40:39 +0000

Thirty-eight.

That’s how many different movies and TV shows you suggested as the theme for this summer’s party menu.

But in the end, it came down to two choices, separated by one vote.

Well, why choose pie or ice cream when you can have pie and ice cream?

Continue reading: The vote was thisclose.

Name Our Next Movie or TV Party Menu! (Plus a Pepperidge Farm Giveaway)

Rebecca — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 18:57:21 +0000

This post is brought to you in part by Pepperidge Farm, makers of the Stone Baked Artisan Rolls you see above. They encourage you to look for ways to elevate your meal experiences and take them from ordinary to extraordinary.

OK, this is serious.

Every summer, we have a great time putting together a premiere party menu for “Mad Men.” But it’s not coming back in July. It’s coming back in 2012.

HELP!!!

What other movie or TV premiere this summer deserves its own menu?

Continue reading: Name Our Next Movie or TV Party Menu! (Plus a Pepperidge Farm Giveaway)

Cuban Sliders (And 10 Summer Entertaining Tips I Learned the Hard Way)

Rebecca — Sat, 28 May 2011 21:42:40 +0000

1. No new recipes.

It’s tempting to try new recipes when friends are coming over.

Just. Don’t.

Cook something you’ve made a thousand times. Something you can make while carrying on conversations, supervising kids and making sure the dog gets his nightly walk at his nightly appointed time before he does his nightly business on the living room rug.

Your guests will only be as comfortable as you are, so take it easy.

Continue reading: Cuban Sliders (And 10 Summer Entertaining Tips I Learned the Hard Way)