These past weeks and months have been filled with a lot of holiday prep, baking, and cooking. We usually spend Thanksgiving at my Grandparent’s house, but since they were out of the country we had to host ourselves. It has been such a long time since my family had to plan, cook, or execute a Thanksgiving meal that we didn’t really know where to start. My mom wanted to make a traditional turkey with traditional sides, but I wanted to take this opportunity to try something new. We decided on two smaller turkeys and we had a few sides.

This was my first time ever cooking a whole animal, let alone a turkey! I decided to use Bon-Apetit’s Cider-Brined Turkey with Star Anise recipe and purchased a locally raised, heritage breed turkey to go up against my mom’s Butterball to see if there really was any flavor difference.

To go along with the cider turkey, I opted for an alternative stuffing. Food & Wine’s Sticky Rice Dressing was complex, earthy, and delicious, and though a bit time-intesive, was pretty straight forward. I also made a side of curried quinoa with balsamic roasted brussel sprouts and my Grandmother’s pumpkin chiffon pie. I haven’t been able to perfectly re-create the pie using my Grandmother’s recipe, so I’ll hold off on posting it here until I can refine it further.

For Christmas, we went to our Grandparents’ and had a sort of second Thanksgiving/Christmas mash-up.

With my boyfriend, I made four different types of cookies to dish out to friends and family. Of course, we made the traditional milk chocolate espresso cookies (with Valrhona cocoa, one of my Christmas presents!) and linzer cookies filled with blackberry preserves and lingonberry preserves, plus two other types. It’s tradition for my boyfriend and I to look over the Washington Post’s Christmas Cookie Feature and this year we chose Cardamom-Brown Sugar Snickerdoodles and Salted Nutella Thumbprints. The Snickerdoodles (half recipe) were *awesome* and, to me, were a chai-inspired spin on the traditional. The thumbprints were very similar to the espresso cookies, so I wouldn’t make them again (just put nutella on the originals!).

This year I also made truffles with my friend Stephanie and also tried my hand at homemade vanilla extract. Last year we made many different types of truffles (base recipe to come in a separate post), so this year we simplified and made only two types of truffles and peppermint bark. Stephanie’s truffle was: Horchata – Milk chocolate ganache with egg nog, rice protein, dipped in white chocolate and drizzled with dark chocolate, sprinkled with nutmeg. Mine was: Christmas Cookie Truffle – Speculoos Cookie Butter Semi-Sweet ganache, dipped in dark chocolate, sprinkled with ginger crackers.

My family always celebrates Chinese New Year on New Years Day and this year was no different. We find it easier to have visiting relatives extend their Christmas stay by a few days and gather again for New Year, and members of the family in school always have the time off and are available. Chinese New Year changes every year, from January to February (this year was 1/23), so it’s easier for everyone this way. For the new years, we had two delicious roasted long island ducks, char siu chow fun noodles, potato stuffing with duck liver and many other delicious things. Unfortunately, I was so excited about the food that I neglected to take any pictures! My Grandmother’s cooking is so good, can you blame me? Since my family is from Hawai’i, we also ended the night with a delicious slice of Guava Chiffon Pie, using guava concentrate from the islands.

Lastly, on Martin Luther King Day I took the extra time off for the holiday to try out my mini-donut pan that I received as a gift for Christmas. I used a gingerbread cake recipe from Everyday Food January 2012 which subs pumpkin puree for most of the fat to make them healthier. Since I was baking them in a mini-pan, I followed the cooking directions on the back of the pan’s packaging and greased the pan, then baked them for 9 minutes, letting them cool a bit. These donuts were cute and tasted delicious, though they didn’t look as pretty after transport to the office. Also, the pan only holds 12 donuts, so I had to make *many* batches.

Do you make any special foods for the holidays?

Curried Quinoa with Balsamic Roasted Brussel Sprouts

• brussel sprouts, rinsed
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 tablespoons olive oil, or as needed
• 1/2 small onion, diced
• 1 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup quinoa
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1/2 tablespoon curry powder
• 1/2 tablespoon ancho chile powder

Combine all quinoa ingredients (last 7) in a rice cooker on quick setting, open, stir, allow steam to dissapate. If you don’t have a rice cooker, simmer all ingredients in a covered saucepan for 20 minutes.

For the brussel sprouts, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Cut off the ends of the brussels sprouts and then cut them into quarters. Place sprouts in a medium bowl and toss with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Season with salt and pepper. Pour sprouts on a baking sheet and roast 30-35 minutes or until sprouts are tender. Make sure you stir them a couple of times while they are roasting so that they don’t burn.

Mix together quinoa and brussel sprouts, serve warm.

Happy 2012! As you may have noticed, I’ve made a New Year’s resolution! Or maybe you haven’t noticed because I haven’t been posting as frequently as I should have.

Well, my resolution for this year was to be less lazy/more motivated, and that includes updating my blog more often! I hadn’t changed the layout for a few years, sometimes just changing the header. Not only was it hard to find the time to update my site, but I was also lacking inspiration! Web Design used to be a hobby, but now it’s my profession. As such, sometimes I feel that all my creative juices get sucked out 9-5 and when I get home the *last* thing I want to do is design something or type on the computer.

For Christmas my Grandma gave me a cookbook I have been lusting after since it was first published: Baked Explorations: Classic American Desserts Reinvented. Not only did I get inspired by the stunning photos and typography, but I was also aligned with the book’s philosophy. With a new color scheme (including Pantone’s Color of the Year for 2010) and a new outlook, I played with the design for a few days and then spent a day implementing it.

So, here’s to out with the old and in with the new!

              

More detailed specifics on the new layout will be found soon under the About section. Please feel free to share your thoughts, or let me know if something is broken or doesn’t look right!

IL CANALE ITALIAN http://ilcanaledc.com/

Food Decor Service Cost 19 21 20 $30

Disclaimer: I was invited back by the owner after my 2010 review

We visited on a Tuesday night (11/15) and had a great experience. Our waiter, Rohit, was very knowledgeable about every aspect of the food and structure of the restaurant. He knew how every dish was made and where all the ingredients were sourced, down to the ingredients in the olive oil! The service was excellent and he had great recommendations for pizza and appetizers. After our meal, he offered to give us a tour of the pizzaiolo’s working space, but no pizzas were in the queue at the moment.

We tried the calamari again; there was a better ratio of zucchini to calamari and the plate came out piping hot. Though the zucchini was a little watery, the texture of the breading and calamari more than made up for it. The sauce was also more flavorful and paired well with the fried morsels. We also ordered two pizzas, the Il Canale and the Diavola. The Il Canale had a perfectly crunchy crust and the toppings were flavorful. My favorite part of the pizza was actually the tomato slices that burst with a great flavor–and I don’t really like tomatoes! My only concern was that after I finished eating one slice of pizza, the rest of the pizza had basically turned to mush because of all the cheese and veggies. The softened crust mixed with the moist ingredients melded together and lacked textural contrast. Maybe a quick zap in the toaster oven at home will revive the slices? The Diavola didn’t skimp on the ingredients and while the crust wasn’t as crunchy, each bite was still flavored well with the salami and cheese. We didn’t have room to try dessert, though we were eyeing the tiramisu.

I’m glad I visited again–I can tell that the ingredients, processes, and service has all been changed. But, I just don’t like soupy pizzas, so I will probably not be back again.

A few things: there was a guy going around selling roses, which made us feel uncomfortable (especially since they were so expensive!). There were also several times that a server tried to bring us other people’s food, or give our food to the wrong table and we had to flag him down. Other than that, the rapport with Rohit and the host was great and the weather outside was refreshing.

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Long time no post, eh? I started a new job in September and have been crazy busy since then!

A few months ago, I received two bags of Godiva‘s Limited Edition fall coffee flavors — Pumpkin Spice and Caramel Pecan Bark– as part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program.

Unfortunately, I don’t have a coffee machine at my house and my new job doesn’t have a small coffee machine that I can use my own coffee in. So, I gave this coffee to my dad and went over to my parents’ house one weekend to try a cup of each.

The coffee has a strong aroma, especially the caramel pecan bark. The pumpkin spice flavor had a weaker smell that was less sweet, but still noticeable. The smell is still strong after being brewed, but the smell did not translate into flavor. Drank plain, there is no flavor in the liquid that is discernible from normal coffee. Adding cream and sugar helped to bring out some of the spice notes, but not any more than adding a flavored cream to regular coffee would. This coffee is good, but I don’t think I would buy it for myself at full price, especially since this coffee retails for $12-$14 per bag.

As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program, I received a bottle of KC Masterpiece® Buffalo Marinade recently. At first, I thought “Wow! Awesome, I can use this for some great things”, and then I thought, “Oh.. It’s a marinade… I need to marinade things…which will take time…and has to be meat”.

So I tried that. I marinated some chicken breasts in the sauce for 30 minutes as was suggested and grilled them on a gas grill. while they were grilling, we brushed more sauce on the chicken and also brushed some on some white onion rings. The chicken tasted alright, but I felt like the flavor wasn’t truly absorbed. The onions on the other hand, tasted great with the marinade. And that’s when I realized: I shouldn’t use this as a marinade, as intended, but rather a sauce or dressing!

The photo above is of some shirataki (yam) noodles that I marinated in the sauce, then added some vegetables and cooked in a pan. I also used some below-average produce (crisper bin potatoes and frozen brussel sprouts) and they got a second lease on life with this sauce! I tossed the cubed potatoes and sprout quarters in the sauce, added some pepper and cojita cheese, and roasted at 400 degrees for 40 minutes. The vegetables had the perfect done-ness and spiciness.

The only thing to mention is that with a marinade-method, most of the sauce is discarded, so the flavor isn’t as strong. When using this as a cooking sauce or “dressing”, the sauce stays put so the flavor is stronger. In the case of the buffalo sauce I received, the flavors are red pepper, garlic, paprika, vinegar, and…hot sauce. The heat tends to build up a bit if you don’t take a break with a beverage or side dish, but that might be my low heat tolerance talking.