Sunday, December 9, 2012

Another Round of Wedge...and Other December Shorts

Another variation of the Wedge and the homemade dressing literally made this salad.

Bon Appetit and where’s my steak to go with it?

For the Bleu Cheese Dressing:
1/3 cups mayonnaise
3 tablespoons cup vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
1/3 cup dairy sour cream
1/4 cup milk
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/4 cup smoked blue cheese, crumbled


In a medium bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, vinegar, honey, sour cream, milk and garlic until smooth. For a thicker dressing, omit the milk. Stir in the blue cheese crumbles. Serve immediately, or store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

For the Salad:
1 head Iceberg lettuce, well cleaned
Diced tomatoes
Chopped scallions
Candied Pecan Pieces
Bacon, crumbled
Cubed Avocado


Make sure your lettuce is very cold. Pull it from the fridge just before serving and work quickly to get it on the table still cold.

Remove the root end from the bottom of the head of lettuce. Slice the lettuce half, then into 4-6 wedges (depending on your preferred size).

Top with your favorite toppings and drizzle with homemade Smoky Bleu Cheese Dressing.

Boston Cream Pie Cupcake

You can make your cupcakes unique just by using a few signature extras.

This recipe originated in 1855 and was popular back in the 60’s.

It is still one of my all time favorites even though I never had a taste for it growing up.


Chocolate Covered Wafers

Here is a link to the highest ranked page of this blog with over 100,000 hits.

We love these cookies and remember you can do them with chocolate wafers too.

Chocolate Covered Oreos


A Petite Carafe

Petite carafes are great for serving individual portions of wine and look beautiful on the dinner table.

I’ve looked for the perfect one for well over a year. Ended up that my local restaurant had one all along and sold it to me last week. Just goes to prove that the neighborhood you live in offers the simplest of solutions. Just ask your local chef.

Now…back to the hunt for my next kitchen got-to-have!

Looking A Lot Like Christmas


Frozen Pizza

Wisma worked for over a year to perfect this pizza recipe. It’s a lot like a flatbread and in this case with a little tomato sauce and mozzarella. All ingredients are locally sourced.

Love it? You be the judge. I'm a huge fan of the white pizza/

Emile Henry

Speaking of pizza, I bought a new pizza stone. Did I need one? No. This was definitely a splurge…but worth it I might add.

I was convinced that I needed one after I had two pizza’s cooked on the stone at my neighbors and then went home and cooked one on my old pizza stone. The difference in taste was astonishing.

French brand Emile Henry is made of Burgundy clay which evenly and slowly distributes cooking heat to the center of the stone. The pizza is cooked evenly and not even the edges were overdone.

Best $49 I’ve spent lately …less my 10% cooking class discount and $25 gift certificate, I was out of pocket $19.

Makes a great gift for anyone that is a pizza lover like me.


Creative Photos

Photo Sculptures are a fun way to display your best-loved photos - especially in the kitchen.

I look at this one every day of my son when he was young. It never fails to make me laugh and feel like he is ready to jump out and give me a mega-hug when my recipes turn out less than perfect the first time around.

He’s been doing a lot of hugging lately.


Pillivuyt
When I write about products, it’s on my own dime. I either like them or I don’t and no one can pay me to think otherwise.

Centuries of trend-setting designs has put Pillivuyt porcelains in my kitchen.

Try it just once and you’ll be convinced that with great results in baking, this is the only dish to use in the oven.


Goose Island Vanilla Cream

          Getting the best out of the vanilla bean? I LOVED this soda….and I NEVER drink soda!


Pumpkin Cheesecake

I’ve tried at least a half a dozen recipes and not one was even close to Gerhard's version.
 
I know...lot's of whipped cream and light on the pumpkin.

Bon Appetit!