March 2009 – no counterspace

Foodbloggers pot luck

So I have some leftovers from the Catladies event that really need to leave my house. I have an incredibly tasty loaf of vegan challah I have been devastating (and have sliced and frozen more than half of it, like a responsible person.

And I have two ramekins of flavored butter: honey butter (a little too weak) and chipotle butter (a little too strong).

And I have a pint of heavy cream. From the farmers’ market. From happy cows. *clings*

I really must not eat all of these on my own.

However, for the foodbloggers potluck, I think I shall be making more cabbage/beet shred that was so tasty and healthy.

Can you think of anything else I could make that would use up a lot of dairy products? Without also making bread to go with it because baking is not my forte, and while I’ll go it in front of friends, I am not going to do it for food bloggers.

And I just don’t think a spicy, buttery bread pudding would work too well. …huh.

Okay, so if you got a tough multi-grain bread… like the spelt from Metropolitan Bakery, perhaps… and then cream, eggs, honey, dried cherries, and vanilla from a bean. Brown the butter? Ooo… kind of like with the toasting?

That’s an insanely complex recipe for bread pudding. And it’s something that I’d have to be able to take to work and still have tasty at the end of the day.

Right, so no experimental bread pudding for the pot luck. Does anyone else want to experiment and try a spicy heart attack of joy sometime? The butter can keep, but the heavy cream won’t last more than a month I don’t think.

cooking for charity

So west philly people… If you wanted to host a dinner party, let me know. I actually have two additional 5-course-type vegetarian dinners sketched out.

And I would love to find a host for one in April to benefit the Mazzoni Center for their Night of a Thousand Friends.

If you know of anyone interested, please let me know.

Cooking with Catladies – the aftermath

So I cooked lots.

I was scarily organized.

I made a time line, and almost everything happened to or ahead of schedule – scary, I tell you.

And everything was labeled.

Also, I hear it was pretty tasty.

The carrot soup had a little bit more peanut butter than I wanted, but no one else knew that – and the rice turned out a bit overcooked, but that’s because it was a gas stove and it’s brutal trying to cook rice on a gas range (plus I forgot to time it and kept having to take it off the heat and put it back on again because the stove was working best for me with only one live burner).

The desserts I persuaded my co-worker and Sara Strickland to make were amazing!

Thank you to Laura for the loan of a hand blender with which to make whipped cream.

And I was even able to suavely pretend there was no such thing as a last minute vegetable stock crisis because Jude was online and able to supply all of my last minute stock needs with only an hour’s notice. Seriously, we were arranging pick up just as I was finishing loading my car to relocate my entire kitchen to lxbean‘s. MY HERO!

Oh, and the lovely two people who staying until midnight to make sure all of the dishes were washed that night! I didn’t wash a single dish, and it was pure luxury.

I got the general impression that everyone thought the food was awesome.

And we raised a bunch of money to help kitties.

And there were fun conversations

Because some of the guests were kind enough to do the dishes, I was able to go over this morning for ~~coffee~~ tea and pick up everything that needed to be schlepped over to my house.

Even the aftermath was surprisingly painless. By the time I left for work, everything was put away and tidy. Well, in the kitchen, at least. Now I have to put my laundry into drawers and vacuum the carpet, but that doesn’t count for this gloating post.

So I am calling it 100% successful.

And I want to do another one.

Apple Salsa

They said it could couldn’t be done! (Okay, so it was just my friend Meghan who said it couldn’t be done – these other people seemed fairly confident. But I rely on her advice on food matters. Constantly. I trust this woman… but I don’t always take her advice… because I am a bad friend. Yes, Meghan, I did go out and buy more tortillas anyway, too.)

But, anyway. I have made what I am calling apple salsa! Actually, add some nuts, and it would make a kick ass charoset.

Apple Salsa
Squeeze 1 lime into a bowl. Also, add zest from about half of the lime, but not more.

Pour 1/6 cup white balsamic vinegar into the bowl, too.

Quarter, Core, Peel, and dice finely – 2 apples. Ad you dice each quarter, immediately transfer it into the bowl and stir to coat. Every 2 or 3 quarters, remove the pieces into a separate container, leaving as much of the acidic liquid behind as possible.

Add 2 dashes of cinnamon and an equal quantity of crushed chipotle pepper to the apples. Mix in.

When all of the apples have been move to a separate container, pout the remaining liquid into a small saucepan. Add 1/4 cup water, 2 Tablespoons apricot jelly, 1 Tablespoon sweet red wine (Manischewitz) , 2 tsp brown sugar, and the crumbles head of 1 clove. Bring to a boil and stir until the jelly is completely dissolved and the liquid has reduced.

Turn off the heat, and wait until there are no more bubbles. Toss apples quickly in the saucepan, just until thoroughly coated and mixed, and then pour back into a container and refrigerate immediately to stop further cooking.

Cute CH Kitty (cf Cooking with Catladies)

The people attending Cooking for Catladies will get to meet this adorable cat (ETA: I lied. You’d only get to meet his sister, Lucy, also CH. Cav was adopted to a forever home – still cute, though):

Awww! The head bob with the hat at 1:14… *flail*

Note from original poster, lxbean:

It’s Cav and his new buddy, Ollie.

(Cav, for those of you who are new to the story, was born with cerebellar hypoplasia, which means he’s missing the part of his brain that smooths motor coordination. It doesn’t affect anything else, and as you can see, he’s wringing every last bit of fun out of life. And don’t worry: he doesn’t care if you laugh at him. In fact, there’s a good chance he’s laughing at you.)

ETA: More Caverly videos from when he was just a wee CHitten being fostered:
Cav’s sister twirl walks
CHittens playing with tinfoil
Cav and the leaf
Breakfast of the CHittens
Cav demonstrated progress