Macaron Fever

I have not written in awhile, seeing as how it is Christmastime, and I have finally become ill with the plague that eventually threatens all food-blog-people: macarons. The classic French sammich cookie consists of a delicate almond meringue shell and a gooey-creamy frosting filling. Eventually you have to try and make them. And you can't just make them once. First you must perfect the shells, then you become obsessed with different flavor combinations.
So, currently I am baking baking baking various combinations of delicious crunchy chewy French goodness (Though not fig/chocolate/foie gras (!!!), like the above red cookie). I will report back.

UPDATE: Red Velvet EVERYTHING

I've been getting a lot of response to my red velvet post, so I thought I'd post an update about them. Last night I made them, but I didn't use Paula Deen's recipe, opting instead for this Rachael Ray recipe (ugh Rachael Ray) that I modified slightly. I switched recipes because the latter contains an entire half-cup of buttermilk versus the former's two tablespoons, which I feel is absolutely critical in red velvet. I also made the following modifications: I used an entire stick of butter in the batter, an extra half-teaspoon of baking soda, and I added an extra cup of flour. The batter should be thick enough to keep peaks when whipped. I also piped nickel-sized swirls of batter onto the cookie sheet to make bite-size sammiches. I baked them just till they were firm to the touch on top, about 5 minutes, but it depends on size.For the filling, I used an entirely different recipe, opting for Tartlette's Cream Cheese Italian Buttercream:
1 1/2 sticks (170 gr) butter at room temperature
4 oz (120gr) cream cheese, softened
3 egg whites
1/2 cup (100gr) sugar
2 Tb water
1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla paste or 1/2 vanilla bean split open
and seeded.

In the bowl of stand mixer, whip the egg whites until they have soft peaks. In the meantime, combine 2 Tb water with the sugar to a boil in a heavy saucepan and bring the syrup to 250F. Slowly add the sugar syrup to the egg whites. If you use hand beaters, this is even easier and there is less hot syrup splatter on the side of your bowl and in the whisk attachment of the stand mixer. Continue to whip until the meringue is completely cooled. Slowly add the butter, one tablespoon at a time. The mass might curdle but no panic, continue to whip until it all comes together. Add the cream cheese, the same way, a little at a time until everything is smooth. Whisk in the vanilla extract, or paste or bean.

They came out perfectly, and taste just like little concentrated bites of red velvet cake.

White Winter Honey

Know what's better than just plain old boring regular honey? White winter honey. It comes from bees near the north pole and is gathered by, I must believe, the most festive little happy bees.

Get it from the Savannah Bee Company, and put it on your waffles and in your tea and make honey cakes and challah!

Red velvet EVERYTHING!

Yesterday while finishing up Christmas shopping, I saw Philosophy's Red Velvet Cake Shampoo. Most of their products are ho-hum scents you can get at the dollar store, but I'd never seen red velvet cake scent. It was perfect- slight chocolate and buttermilk and sweet, sweet, delectable cake.Now, I've got red velvet cake on my mind, and I have to whip up some Christmas cookies for this weekends festivities. So, cookies + red velvet= red velvet cake cookies. They weren't on my list, (clothespin cookies, TKOs, vanilla macarons) but I think I will whip up a batch. I found various recipes, but I'm going to go with Paul Deen on this one (cookies are sammiched with cream cheese icing and rolled in crushed pecans).

Candy, Bacon, Candied Bacon.

Your holiday guide to candied bacon:

Emeril's recipe for this treat recommends a lot of cayenne pepper, but suggests you serve it at brunch. I say serve it all the time, even as a snack. Food Network
This New York restaurant serves candied bacon with whipped cream for dipping, which sounds like the best drunk food of all time, and may surpass the current frontrunner, the sausage egg and cheese croissant. NYT

The do's and don'ts of at home bacon candy-ing, or "sticky pig candy stripes." Delicious Days

Brown-sugar glazed bacon from PBS, but be careful, it also includes serving sizes and nutritional information (both of which should not be allowed anywhere near bacon). PBS

Realsgiving!

Realsgivings is only days away. While you might be making Turbaconducken (courtesy M.S.) I will not, because they do it totally wrong To make a proper turducken, you need to completely debone the chicken and the duck, while keeping them in one piece. This is hard. Therefore, I present to you the following best resources on how to debone bird animals:1.) Deboning a chicken- Includes nice drawings to help guide you.

2.) Deboning a chicken- Includes nice pictures to help guide you.

Happy Realssgivings!

Holiday Gift Guide, Pt. III

10 under $200

10.) Whatnot Muppet, $90 from FAO Schwartz. Finally, you can design your own muppet! This new program lets you choose all the features and costumes for your very own muppet, which you will never do anything with.

9.) Edible Gold Flakes, $90 from L'Epicerie. Gold flakes can be thrown into martinis. They can be scattered on appetizers or entrees or cupcakes. Top some handmade truffles. They make everything not just look expensive, but actually be expensive.

8.) Kobe Beef Steaks, $100 from Allen Brothers. Your boyfriend likes steak. He also likes grilling. Kobe beef is delicious. Extra bonus: you might get a night off from cooking dinner.

7.) Photographer's Task Table Lamp, $100 from Pottery Barn. Old-school movie light inspired lamps looks totally modern as an end table or on a desk.

6.) Jelly Gummy Lights, $125 from Sprout Home. These are meant for children, but who's room wouldn't brighten up with a giant glowing lamp in the shape (and feel) of a gummy bear candy?

5.) Tea and Toast Robe, $130 from Anthropologie. This darling terrycloth robe is covered in ruffles, and includes a cosy hood to snuggle up in. Plus, it comes in grey.

4.) Marc by Marc Jacobs Dr. Q. Clutch, $140 from Shopbop. Adorable buttery leather clutch bag from the Dr. Q. collection is seriously on sale from Shopbop. Plus, with Shopbop there's no sales tax and free shipping- unless you live in Wisconsin.

3.) Whistlejacket Painting, $150 from Global Wholesale Art. An oil painting of everyone's favorite horse, since you can't get a life-sized reproduction for less than $200 (believe me, I have tried.)

2.) Le Creuset Round French Oven, $175 from Amazon. You need this for cooking things. Fancy things. Brasing things. You want this in Dune. Dune is the best color.
1.) Puppybear, Market Price from Various Locations. The best gift you can give is that of a puppy. Personally, I'm partial to aussiedoodles. They are loving, do not shed, like to eat bumblebees (and TV closed captions) and look like little black bears with funny ears. Everyone loves a puppybear!

Holiday Gift Guide, Pt. II

10 Under $70

10.) Nina Ottosson Dog Toys, $21 and up from Paw Lickers. These dog toys are more complicated than the usual "shake a treat out of a kong." Think of them as a brain teaser for you pup.

9.) Cheese Dome, $25 from Crate and Barrel. This adorable cheese board/dome combo is perfect for holiday entertaining. Plus, it makes late night clean up a snap.

8.) Salad Wrenches, $23 from Atypyk. These wooden salad tongs are shaped like tools! How quirky and imaginative!

7.) The Alinea Cookbook, $32 from Amazon. Tons of gorgeous pictures of people making science/food. Sure to entertain both foodies and scientists alike. Just don't try to cook anything, unless you want to invest in an anti-griddle.

6.) Leather Mahogany Candle, $35 from Burke Decor. This candle smells like the library of your British grandfather at his country estate; dark stained wood, worn leather club chairs, a vase of wildflowers, and a lingering of men's cologne.5.) Cow Anatomical Model, $35 from Kikkerland. A cute accessory for the meat-eater's kitchen- you can see where all your favorite cuts of beef are while you cook. Very Alton Brown.

4.) Bow Appliqué T-Shirt, $50 from J Crew. Super soft knit tee with bow appliqués, though the snowflake one is a personal favorite, and you can wear it all winter.

3.) Digital Camera Gift Card, $50 and up from Target. Boys are hard to shop for, so sometimes it is easier to let them shop for themselves. This gift card from Target is also a tiny, flat digital camera, which is cool and gadgety.

2.) Batman Legos, $50 from Lego. Your boyfriend wants legos. He also likes Batman. Note: Since I picked this item, it has sold out or doubled in price from other retailers. Fortunately, your boyfriend probably also like Star Wars or Indiana Jones (the classic collection is best), or Ferrari, which are all available and come in various price ranges.

1.) Landmark Bookends, $65 from Restoration Hardware. Cute bookends fashioned in the likeness of your favorite city landmarks and surprisingly less ugly than bookends usually are. I like the Brooklyn Bridge ones best, but they appear to have sold out, boo.

Coming Friday, 10 under $200...

Holiday Gift Guide, Pt. I

10 Under $20

10.) Elf Cosmetics, $1 and up from Eyes, Lips, Face. Cosmetics can be stupidly expensive. Everything at ELF is only a dollar, so you can easily afford to make the makeup mistakes you know you will.

9.) Fuzzy Snowballs, $2-$4 from CB2. These fluffy fake snowballs in various sizes are perfect for piling into a bowl or vase for instant holidayness.

8.) Marc Jacobs Headquarters Banadana, $8 from Marc by Marc Jacobs One of the many low-priced treats sold at Marc by Marc stores. Who says you can't have nice things?

7.) Mechanical Paper Crafts, $7 from Kikkerland. This elaborate moving paper craft kit finally gives you something to do on Christmas Day! Personally, we like the sheep one.

6.) Letterpress Mats, $15 from YeeHaw Industries. Gorgeous letterpress swirls and loops dress up the plainest postcard or the most elaborate photograph. Plus, you get three for $15.

5.) Science Notebook, $10 from Three Potato Four. Get this for all your science friends so they can write down all their sciency notes and get their advanced degrees (in science).

4.) Subscription to Domino Magazine, $10 from Conde Nast. Recipes and nesting tips and decor items and clothes and generally 12 months of leisurly entertainment.

3.) Titanium Kitchen Shears, $14 from Williams Sonoma. You need good kitchen scissors, and how can they get any better than a pair COATED IN TITANIUM?

2.) Martha Stewart Recipe Box, $15 from Macy's. Old school recipe box is an adorable gift, extra points for filling it up with your favorite family recipes.

1.) Earl Grey Tea Macarons, $19 from Paulette. Buttercream filled chewy sandwich cookies make the perfect gift. And let's be honest, you aren't going to try and bake these yourself.

Coming Wednesday... 10 under $75

Dulce de nomnomnomnomsalt

Last night we got some dulce de leche gelato. The recipe, if you are feeling overacheiving, can be found here. It is also sold by Ciao Bella. And although I've done the whole "make caramel out of condensed sweetened milk in the can" thing before, it is not recommended, since it might blow up.
To make it extra delicious, we sprinkled it with sea salt. (I used Sel Gris de l'Ile de Noirmoutier, which can be found here.) Caramel gelato+ sea salt= best most delicious thing ever.

Just a note...

Next week, OMG Sammiches will be revealing it's HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE 2008. Everything that you didn't even know you wanted! It will be released in three parts. Yayayyaya!

Stuffings

Even though Thanksgiving is only weeks away, and you can't think of anything but stuffing, it doesn't mean you should be eating it. But if you can't wait, I give to you my best stuffing ever recipe. No bells and whistles, no cornbread or cranberries. Just stuffing.

1 loaf bread (wheat or white).
1 can (16 oz) chicken broth
1/2 stick butter (more... IF YOU DARE!)
3 stalks celery
1 medium onion
sage
salt and pepper
1 egg

Puree celery and onion, Saute in pan with butter till soft. Add chicken broth, sage, salt and pepper to taste. Cook for 5 minutes. Tear bread to pieces in a bowl, beat egg and coat bread. Pour broth mixture over bread. Mix into stuffing. Stuff into things (birds, bowls). Bake in the oven till top is crunchy brown, about 20 minutes at 350.

Nogagnognognog.

Every year the stores decide Christmas should begin earlier. I admit that in most cases, I am against the sneaking up of the holiday season. In one case I am not against it. This case is eggnog, which I believe should be sold year-round.
Here are my top ten suggestions of what you should start doing with eggnog (in no particular order).

1.) If you can't handle brandy: Eggnog + amaretto. Hot or cold.
2.) Less butter than you would think in a Paula Dean recipe: Substitute eggnog for the milk in this bread pudding.
3.) CUPACAKES: Replace water in vanilla box cake mix with eggnog. Add extra cinnamon and nutmeg. Frost with cinnamon cream cheese icing.
4.) I would cut out the raisins: Eggnog Scones.
5.) If you luft breakfast: Replace milk in your french toast recipe with eggnog.
6.) Fraunce dessert: Eggnog creme brulee.
7.) If you luft breakfast pt. 2: Replace milk or water in your pancake recipe with eggnog. Serve with eggnog.
8.) The idea of which causes actual physical tastebud pain: Eggnog. Fudge.
9.) The South isn't all that bad: Eggnog pound cake with rum.
10.) Also works with coffee: Eggnog + chai tea mix. Hot or cold.

FRRAAAAUUUUNCE!

Yay! You voted! Let us eat the cheeses of France. Today? Abbaye de Belloc. This is a super exciting cheese that is semi-hard and tastes slightly of burnt caramel. Sometimes, it is called Basque Shepard's Cheese. All the time, it is delicious.

Let's have cheese and pate and champagne. I think you've earned it.

Election Day!

Vote, please.

Fat Ghost

Fat ghost. Fat ghost. Fat ghost. Fat ghost. Fat ghost. Fat ghost. Fat ghost. Fat ghost. Fat ghost.

Fat ghost. Fat ghost. Fat ghost. Fat ghost. Fat ghost. Fat ghost.

OMG2 WGSFCB

Double post day! So, Trader Joe's is around the corner from my office, and currently has come up with the best idea in cereal since Cinnamon Toast Crunch (CTC). It is called Whole Grain Strawberry Filled Cereal Bites (WGSFCB). WGSFCB consists mainly of a crunch puffy square surrounding a dollop of strawberry jam. That's right. Jam filled cereal. I've yet to have it in milk, since it is super good for just snacking on.You know who would like WGSFCB? Bears.

OMG AHOY!!!!

You might think that Jonathan Adler these days is just a constant sponsor/commercial/host on Bravo's "Top Design." Which would be true, except that he has brilliantly created this WHALE BUTTER DISH. (See also: Matching Whale Pitcher).

You need this if: You are having a Moby Dick themed party, you are having dinner at any time in New England, you have a blowhole. The pitcher would look adorable filled with pretty blue flowers. Plus they are both somewhat reasonably priced under $100.

XOXO

I have no shame in admitting that I find "Gossip Girl" totally addicting, it is my cinnamon toast crunch of TV- full of empty calories and completely devoid of nutritional value, but sweet, crunchy and satisfying.
Bluefly.com isn't helping any, as they've gathered pages and pages of each character's wardrobe to scan through. My only complaint is that there's no female-inspired Chuck Bass options.

Potirons vrais!

Not to double post on pumpkins- but before I head off for a weekend of gluttonous indulgence in Portland, OR ( Beast, Le Pigeon, etc.) I wanted to expand a bit on pumpkins. While they are a usual fall staple, this year it seems to be taken further as a TREND in some respects. Specifically, heirloom pumpkin varieties and pumpkin seeds.
Lately I've seen pumpkin seeds toasted in guacamole, and candied into brittle. Pumpkin seed pesto, popular in Austria, is also showing up quite frequently.

Fake pumpkins.

Until yesterday, I was unaware of the existence of Funkins. They are fake foam carvable pumpkins that won't rot like real pumpkins. This is cheating. If you don't carve real pumpkins, how are you going to make homemade candied pumpkin seeds? What about getting your hands covered in cold, damp, borderline gelatinous pumpkin guts and spongy pumpkin flesh under your fingernails?Plus, they're a little pricey. I wouldn't want to screw up carving one of these.

Food Statistics

Nate Silver is dreamy. He's brilliant, adorably geeky-skinny, a hero among baseball fans, and currently is getting a ton of press for fivethirtyeight.com, his political analysis site. But the election will be over in a month, and baseball season is drawing to a close. Can we only hope that there might be a smidgen of time left over for him to resurrect his food blog, The Burrito Bracket, which seems to have been deserted almost a year ago? Or maybe come over for dinner?
I doubt it, but a girl can dream.

Fakesgivings!

Fakesgiving is this weekend, and everyone is getting pretty excited. What is Fakesgiving?

Fakes·giv·ing (fakes′giv′iŋ): noun

1. the celebration of Thanksgiving, usually between friends instead of family, held on a date preceding the fourth Thursday in November. Like Thanksgiving, it is celebrated as a day of giving thanks and feasting, commemorating the Pilgrims' celebration of the good harvest of 1621.
"Fakesgiving" appears as a common term among bloggers but still does not have a Wikipedia article. It also appears in this Food and Wine article, which includes a delicious looking recipe for pumpkin bars, as well as alluding to "bourbon/apple/maple" jello shots.

OMG OMG WORLD EGG DAY OMG

It has finally come, WORLD EGG DAY! But the best thing you can do with an egg? Hard boil it and then mold it into adorable shapes. Thanks Japan!

Egg molds can be purchased on ebay. I want the bear one. Bear eggs!

LEEKS

I'm currently in the middle of a leek love affair. The leek is a member of the onion family, but is much sweeter than most of its counterparts, tasting like a mix between a shallot and a scallion.

Last night I had leeks with spicy Italian sausage and fresh pasta, and tonight I'm whipping up a classic Vichyssoise. But, since it is World Egg Day Eve, I give to you: Marinated Leeks with Poached Egg, Sheep’s Milk Cheese & Mustard Vinaigrette.

"Spooky" Eggs

What's better than bacon and eggs for breakfast? Poaching the eggs in a bottle of red wine. France gains another point with the brunch classic Oeufs en Meurette. Toasty country bread, rich red wine and butter sauce (add some onions and foie gras) and thick lardons (lardons!) of bacon.
Bonus points is that this dish generally looks unappealing and kind of like bloody body parts. Perfect October Halloween brunch idea.

Egg Week!

Friday Oct. 10 is World Egg Day (!). So, to get prepared for the big day, this week will feature slightly more egg recipes than usual. To start off, we have more poached egg goodness from Italy, Zuppa alla Pavese.
To begin, fry a thick slice of bread in a little bit of butter till it is golden brown on both sides. Place the bread in a bowl and carefully crack and egg on top of it. Sprinkle salt, pepper, and a tablespoon of Parmesan cheese over the egg. Bring one cup of chicken broth to a boil, and immediately but carefully pour over the egg/bread. Ta-da! The egg gets cooked, the cheese melts, and the bread slowly dissolves into your soup.

Cheering Up Things, Pt. 3

Things to be happy about:

1.) Old Navy now sells dresses on their website in TALL sizes, so your skirt isn't too short and you don't look like a hussy.

2.) Fall-flavored cupcakes. What about Pumpkin Cupcakes with Pistachio Cream Cheese Italian Buttercream? Topped with candied pistachios and pumpkin seeds? This is just an idea I had.

3.) My dog is my dog.


What makes you happy?

Bouchon Bakery, Pt. I

When I finally made it up to the counter at Thomas Keller's Bouchon bakery at the Venetian in Las Vegas, all I could do was clap my hands and try not to squeal in glee. I was limited to things that would make it back on the plane ride home (farewell, red velvet cupcakes and other custardly delights).
I attempted to make it home with my goodies, toting my box home last night. But I broke down on the plane and indulged in a vanilla macaron. I wish I had gotten more, they were light and flakey and chewy and filled with the creamiest, fluffiest buttercream.

Quesadilla de Flor de Calabaza

This weekend I had Quesadilla de Flor de Calabaza, which is a quesadilla made with squash blossoms and cheese. It was unbelievably good, full of light squashy taste and gooey cheese and was served with a smokey chipotle sauce. Now I want squash blossom everything, so it is a good thing that winter squash blossoms are still available.
Time to go farmer's market hopping, and then let's deep-fry ricotta and basil stuffed squash blossoms! No, seriously. Saturday morning, who's with me?

Skulls, Bones, Glitter

It is rare that Martha Stewart crafts are ever really awesome. (Paper banners? Fake flowers on flip flops? No-sew terrycloth beach bags? Ugh.) But every once and awhile, you get a gem- glittered skulls and bones for Halloween.Supposedly you can buy the bones and skulls from MarthaStewart.com, but I haven't been able to find them. You can get a plastic skull here, and make sure to get German glitter glass, not the plastic glitter that you used as a kid. Granted, at that point it would probably be cheaper to pick up a finished one. I want a whole creepy bowlfull of these for my dining room table.

Truffle Season!

Truffle season just ended (early September) and although this year's season was shorter than most, there are are still plenty of truffles around. You can easily get summer truffles online, and they aren't terribly expensive. Or just get some truffle oil, (but be careful with it).
What should you do with it? Maybe some truffled eggs and toast. Or truffled risotto. Or shaved truffles over butternut squash gnocci with browned butter.

Bows!

Maybe I like bows. Sometimes it is hard to tie them perfectly, since bows can be tricky. What you need is Martha's Bow How-To which shows how to tie flawless little bows and loops.
You should get some fancy ribbons and make some bows.

Cupcakes, Cupcakes, 2500ºF

Being the happy new owner of a Blazer Micro Torch that I got for silversmithing, I'm finally giving in to some torch-in-the-kitchen recipes I've been ignoring or sticking under the broiler. Plus, with Gail Gand's MORE cupcake shop opening shortly in Chicago, I've been kind of cupcake-crazed. What does this mean? Chocolate cupcakes with a fluffy mound of homemade marshmallow frosting, browned to a crisp.
All you need is a good marshmallow icing recipe, some chocolate cupcakes, (maybe chocolate and pink peppercorn?) and a torch.

Think of it as an investment.

You might not think you'd ever really need a cupcake carrier, and tell yourself, "I hardly ever make cupcakes, anyway." But the next time that you do make them, you'll find that you have no way of getting them to the party you made them for, other than an old box or a cookie sheet that is awkward to carry and makes no promise to leave you with anything other than a crumby, sticky-sweet mess.

Not to mention that you'll have to cover them with plastic wrap, and the frosting will be sqooshed, and all of the cupcakes will touch at the edges and ruin the perfect swirl of frosting on top- god forbid you were foolish enough to think you could use two different colors of icing- and there could be serious sprinkle cross-contamination.

Loafer!

Interbike is coming up soon, and will probably lead to my making a very irresponsible bicycle purchasing decision. Namely, Electra's "Navy" Cruiser.How adorable is this bike? It looks like a sailor suit. It has sailor tattoo prints on it. There are tassles on the handlebars. Sigh.

The Answer Might Probably Be Yes

Last week, Metromix featured Chef Wylie Dufresne's Bagel ice cream (!) process. If you aren't familiar with Dufresne, there's a rather amusing Esquire article about him here- "Is it possible to fry mayonnaise?"
If that didn't sell you, maybe this Thanksgiving recipe in New York Magazine will win you over- Goat-Cheese Panna Cotta with Bacon Syrup and Cashews.

Meats.

Mario Batali's father owns a meat curing company, called Salumi Artisan Cured Meats.
You can order some of the items online from their store based in Seattle, Washington.

Everything they make looks super delicious. Lamb "Proscuitto"? Salumi Salumi? Sigh.

Dinner, Dessert, SCIENCE

Last night at Madrona Manor, we had Cart "à Glace"- Ice Cream Sundae, instantly hand "churned" tableside using -324º nitrogen. Served with chocolate sauce, almonds, whipped cream, cherries on top.

Ice cream. Mixed tableside. With liquid nitrogen. Yep.

Nice Things from France You Can't Have, Pt. II

While sometimes Parisian jeweler Van Cleef and Arpels can be a little over the top, most of the time their pieces are whimsical and tasteful. Especially their Alhambra collection, which features their classic clover design cut out of mother of pearl. Especially the singular pendant piece. Especially when it's done in grey mother of pearl, and set in white gold. Too bad you cannot afford it.

Pine Nutz

A few weeks ago I tried my very first Bouchon recipe, Lemon Sabayon-Pine Nut Tart with Honeyed Mascarpone Cream which came out pretty okay. The crust was made out of a kind of pine-nut shortbread, which I thought would make a good shortbread cookie.
Which led me to this recipe for Honey, cinnamon & pine nut shortbread fingers which I have modified a little:

• 2 sticks plus 2 Tbsp. soft butter
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 tbs honey
• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla
  
• Plain flour, to dust
• 1/3 cup pine nuts

Grind pine nuts into pine nut dust using food processor. Mix dough as you would any other cookie dough. Pat dough into pan and cut into fingers before baking. Bake at 320 degrees for 40 minutes.

Nice Things from France You Can't Have, Pt. I

I've been in love with the La Cornue CornuFe Stove for years now, and using the suck oven in my new apartment last night made me want it even more. It has two convection ovens, beautiful handcrafted metal finishes, five burners, and is hands down the most beautiful stove in the world. It is available from Williams-Sonoma, but I highly recommend visiting the La Cornue website, which is chock full of hilarious Frenchness, "How can one not relate to this aphorism by George Bernard Shaw?"
Plus the company's web page pictures (above) the stove floating over France.

Zucchini Squashes

It is still summer, and there are zucchini everywhere. A few weeks ago it was "Battle Zucchini" on Iron Chef America (Zucchini Blini?)

Then, last week Everyday Food featured this Zucchini Lasagna recipe.


Not to mention the amount of times I've heard "Zucchini Fritters" lately...

Lobsters! Electricity!

Speaking of lobsters, there's been an ongoing debate about whether or not they feel pain when you boil them alive. In 2005, Norway claimed that no, they didn't. In 2007, Ireland claimed that yes, they do.

Either way I don't really care because they are delicious. But if you feel uncomfortable boiling something alive, you can always kill it beforehand. With the.... CrustaStun- the at-home electric chair for lobsters.

Outdoor Dining

I can't tell if this is the worst idea ever, or just unbelievably bad. Alright. It is the worst. Dinner on an amusement park ride, strapped into an unattractive seat? Attached to a piece of construction equipment? And forget wearing a dress.

The only things that would make this a good idea: The table is suspended smack-dab in the center of Rome. It is free despite almost every dish containing lobster, and dinner is prepared and served by a very flirtatious, half-dressed Rocco DiSpirito.

Zebra Cakes

I've always had a soft spot for Zebra cakes, those chemical-riddled bits of sugar and vegetable shortening made by Little Debbie. But there is a much more grown-up cake that resembles everyone's favorite jungle horse creature, zebra cake.First you mix up the vanilla batter, turn half into chocolate with the addition of some cocoa, then painstakingly pour the batter 3 Tablespoons at a time, alternating colors into a cake pan to create the stripes.

Vegetable Deceit!

Did you know that the Jerusalem artichoke is neither an artichoke, nor does it have anything at all to do with Jerusalem? It is a tuber that grows from a sunflower, and tastes somewhere between a potato and a (SURPRISE!) artichoke.Let's get some at Whole Foods and make them into soup! Shallots, fresh sage, garlic, celery, cream, potato. Served cold and topped with fried leeks and bacon.

Coffee Table Books!

New apartment calls for, at the very least, a new coffee table book. So it's time to replace the old, 'People You Know, Horses They Love" with something else. My current top options:

1.) TARTAN: Romancing the Plaid- Fashion, history, delicious plaids.
2.) Bernd Munsteiner: Reflections in Stone- No one else can facet gemstones like this. From creating new, unique cuts for small stones to carving entire pieces of rock, everything in here is breathtaking.
3.) The Complete Keller: The French Laundry Cookbook and Bouchon- My latest chef obsession with both cookbooks chock-full of shiny obscene drool-worthy photographs.

Tuna Tartare

Let me tell you one of my fantasies- to eat an entire tuna, much like a bear eats salmon. Only the fish has no scales or bones or guts and is pretty much 100% sushi-grade tuna. So really, just a big plate of tuna.

Sushi is too much work. Cooking rice might warm up the house. But how about some Spicy Tuna Tartare? 1 tablespoon mayo, 1 teaspoon soy sauce, 1/2 teaspoon hot chili sauce mixed together. Add chopped chives and about a cup of finely diced tuna.