tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32411470762765243552024-03-14T03:20:24.799-07:00Queen City YamA fun loving blog with a focus on healthy home cooked food and the city of CincinnatiQueen City Yamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11452155761145745866noreply@blogger.comBlogger112125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241147076276524355.post-73663559033110989642014-10-10T07:41:00.001-07:002014-10-10T07:41:27.764-07:00Great Ohio River Swim"It was terrifying." That's my typical response after I finish the Great Ohio River Swim. I've participated (almost) every year since I discovered the race in 2009. You're supposed to do things that terrify you, right? This post is the story about why I decided to participate in the Great Ohio River Swim, what fears I had to conquer to be successful, and how I did in the race over several different years.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisfaENCI83FKzbeEY8_XKzvHkQOyCauoCiildtZOsggzKHWr9ZJ64Wewq0u8_RmXCNbMstpHV64olms2Tz3P-1_3UkoFjAxqwBSjz_1KnZ5eD95blfQ4ogXvhLiSKSRWrS0ItU03CDgo-Y/s1600/Awesome+River+View.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisfaENCI83FKzbeEY8_XKzvHkQOyCauoCiildtZOsggzKHWr9ZJ64Wewq0u8_RmXCNbMstpHV64olms2Tz3P-1_3UkoFjAxqwBSjz_1KnZ5eD95blfQ4ogXvhLiSKSRWrS0ItU03CDgo-Y/s1600/Awesome+River+View.JPG" height="86" width="320" /></a></div>
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I've always been fascinated by the Ohio River. I think its beautiful and I'd love to live somewhere with a view of it (not an option with my current salary and living standards!). My Dad always told me about how dangerous the river is, how the current is really strong and can sweep you away. So the next obvious step is to find a way to get myself into that river, right?<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3va7qcIeevMRth07Y_Ptn_vP48MpiUpHOlcgjRqyfwKZP4W4JH1GbMgCNQ0WBRr7s1-IVDz7Yb-rM9J69E-qNsTCAVcPHOmgbwQoi_LLfFk_Qmj9bIEACvLWaO9_a-h6nbR3ao4oAKjK8/s1600/IMG_5111.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3va7qcIeevMRth07Y_Ptn_vP48MpiUpHOlcgjRqyfwKZP4W4JH1GbMgCNQ0WBRr7s1-IVDz7Yb-rM9J69E-qNsTCAVcPHOmgbwQoi_LLfFk_Qmj9bIEACvLWaO9_a-h6nbR3ao4oAKjK8/s1600/IMG_5111.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunrise, 2014</td></tr>
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Many years after this conversation with my father, I found myself standing on Serpentine Wall with official lifeguard sanctioned approval to hurl myself into the river. They even had a lifeguard on a jet ski with a floating backboard!<br />
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Here is a picture of me sitting on the side of the river contemplating what I'm about to do. I can tell I was feeling nervous when this picture was taken because of what I'm doing with my feet :)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">photo credit to flickr user: OhioRiverWay</td></tr>
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That first year, that I did the swim, 2009, I won the first place medal for my age group! It was so awesome! I'm the kind of athlete that participates in races as a motivator to exercise, not because I'm particularly fast, or particularly strong! I certainly didn't have any expectations of getting a ribbon or a medal! <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9IcjsSorc-ZbNR92dOYbtFWisnD6KXrHIN8fw53NX_irx_phqS9k-i1oZaIilbj3aRIcQBk5iXxYMSMAwBBM18GTxMFtFX3thHXJ_6bixM-WHf0Jtl2OSU2qRPFh0FhNdfrjG6zb-Jz-3/s1600/2009+river+award.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9IcjsSorc-ZbNR92dOYbtFWisnD6KXrHIN8fw53NX_irx_phqS9k-i1oZaIilbj3aRIcQBk5iXxYMSMAwBBM18GTxMFtFX3thHXJ_6bixM-WHf0Jtl2OSU2qRPFh0FhNdfrjG6zb-Jz-3/s1600/2009+river+award.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> photo credit to flickr user: OhioRiverWay</td></tr>
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I met a girl that was around my age and we hung out before the race and after. She cut her foot on the wall, where there are apparently some really mean mussels that will cut you if you push off the wall to start the swim (disclaimer: they warn you about the mussels in the pre-race meeting!). This was my fastest ever time, in the 14 minute range! <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_gANkOIVTKH-ISSJSfUGXPFZuTTqPJ14fokPVXuOoyz3wGblpT4segt9gcvqac0SY1VaQrVhdAPmJLlaRXJKeeWi2W-URQynuqezCPIAcyGk8U5iElZHWY8kQgK7FuWTlVp-vSHFLfSHc/s1600/2009+with+that+girl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_gANkOIVTKH-ISSJSfUGXPFZuTTqPJ14fokPVXuOoyz3wGblpT4segt9gcvqac0SY1VaQrVhdAPmJLlaRXJKeeWi2W-URQynuqezCPIAcyGk8U5iElZHWY8kQgK7FuWTlVp-vSHFLfSHc/s1600/2009+with+that+girl.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">photo credit to flickr user: OhioRiverWay</td></tr>
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I always find the race itself terrifying. I usually get a quarter of the way across the river before I remember that I don't really like to swim in bodies of water where you can't see straight through the water. I start thinking about giant fish swimming around under me...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm sure this is just a joke...</td></tr>
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Anyway, if you let yourself get terrified while you're in the middle of the river you needlessly waste energy and get tired quicker. My saving grace is when I get to the turn around buoy and look back to see one of the most magnificent views of downtown Cincinnati you ever will see.<br />
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So, I had a really good time that first year. I immediately decided to do the race again the following year.<br />
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The second year that I did the swim, my (now) boyfriend came out to see me. We had met a dinner party and it was our first time going out just the two of us without our friends (nothing breaks the ice like wearing your swim suit on a first date!!) That year, 2010, I was in denial about a leg injury from running the Flying Pig Marathon that spring. I got caught up in the swift current and had to swim upstream to make it to the turn-around buoy. It was awful. It took me over 26 minutes. He took me to Pompilios for lunch after the race, and I consoled myself in a bowl of spaghetti (side note: we've been connected at the hip ever since!)<br />
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The third year, 2011, I skipped the swim! I chickened out and decided to watch from the shore instead. My leg was still being a bother and was sore. I'm still disappointed that I decided not to swim that year!<br />
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In 2012, I was back with a vengeance. No way was I going to chicken out again! I made it across and back in just under 20 minutes.<br />
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<br />In 2013, I'd been focusing on doing things I loved (training to run/walk a 10 mile race, taking a cake decorating class, doing yoga), and competing in the River Swim was right up there! I finished the race in 19:54.<br />
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This year, 2014, I thought about chickening out up until the point I jumped in the water. Well, perhaps slightly past that point because the water was so cold (mid-70's) that it took my breath away. But once you start swimming, you are already so far away from the wall...<br />
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I came in 4th out of 5 people in my age group this year. I finished the race in 18:48, my fastest time since the first year that I competed in the race. I credit my success to some long summer days swimming laps after work at the O'Connor Sports Center on Xavier University's campus (did you know that part time students get full access to the fitness center, even if they're only taking one class at a time?!).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After the race with my biggest fan</td></tr>
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Will I be doing the race again? Yeah, I'll be there. <br />
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For me, the Great Ohio River Swim is about conquering my fears, about challenging my body to fight it's way against the current, about something that other people think is a little crazy. If you are thinking about doing the swim and have questions about it, feel free to drop me a line through the comments, or hit me up on twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/amytashcraft">@amytashcraft</a>!<br />
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related reading: <br />
One year, I swam the Louisville based Ohio River Swim. You can read about that experience by <a href="http://queencityyam.blogspot.com/2011/08/louisville-river-swim.html">clicking here</a>. <br />
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I also have some great pictures of the Ohio River at flood stage (it was a 'pond stage' in my 2014 pictures). If you'd like to see the flood pictures, <a href="http://queencityyam.blogspot.com/2011/03/ohio-river-floods-to-51-ish-feet.html">click here</a>.Queen City Yamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11452155761145745866noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241147076276524355.post-28246259777542800122014-10-01T16:52:00.002-07:002014-10-01T16:52:40.074-07:00World's Best Vegetable BrothRemember what I said the other day, about sometimes googling the 'world's best' and the name of whatever food item I want a recipe for? Well, I did it again. And it worked, again. Marvelously.<br />
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We are heading fast into fall weather (ok, so maybe it'll start getting cold this weekend, after it hits 80 degrees tomorrow) and I have been on the hunt for a nice vegetable broth to mix in to my rotation of chicken soup and beef stew. Sometimes you just need to feed a vegan friend some good home cookin, you know? Or maybe you're a hardcore carnivore (raises hand) and have a healthy appreciation for the way your body feels and your jeans fit when you eat more veggies. That's where I'm at right now, the tight jeans stage. Back to the broth...<br />
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My favorite soups or broths are the ones that have a decent bit of oomph to them, something that gives them some staying power, or makes it feel like you've consumed more then hot water. Turns out there is a name for this! It's called umami. <br />
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Umami is a Japanese word that means 'pleasant savory taste,' and it is imparted by something called glutamate, which is a type of amino acid, and ribonucleotides, which is a word I never thought I'd need to spell again after high school/college. Long story short, umami is something that is very important in making yummy food yummy, and you can base a recipe off things that are high in glutamates and ribonucleotides and make yourself some very yummy food. You can even pick out specific vegan/vegetarian items that are high in glutamates/ribonucleotides like tomatoes, dried shiitake mushrooms, marmite, and kombu/dashi seaweed. <br />
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There's a lot of in depth information on the web about glutamates, so google it if you want to learn more, as I am moving on to the in depth portion of broth making. <a href="http://herbivoracious.com/2011/09/umami-packed-vegetarian-broth-recipe-also-vegan.html">I based my recipe on the one found here</a>, which also contains a much better explanation, but I also tweaked that recipe to match what I had in the house or was willing to purchase. The original recipe calls for <a href="https://www.blogger.com/%3Ciframe%20style=%22width:120px;height:240px;%22%20marginwidth=%220%22%20marginheight=%220%22%20scrolling=%22no%22%20frameborder=%220%22%20src=%22//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=ss_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=quciya-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B000P0ZC7G&asins=B000P0ZC7G&linkId=LK77DWPG2SPMA3OZ&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true%22%3E%20%3C/iframe%3E">marmite</a> (Amazon affiliate link!), which I didn't have, but would definitely try sometime if I came across it at the store. Or on Amazon, duh.<br />
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<u>Amy's Delicious Vegetable Broth</u><br />
vegetable oil or butter<br />
2c roughly chopped onion<br />
1c roughly chopped carrot<br />
1/3c chopped celery leaves (or celery itself)<br />
2 cloves minced garlic (don't you dare use the stuff from a jar)<br />
1 regular sized container button/white mushrooms, washed, roughly chopped <br />
1 star anise (buy it once, own it forever!)<br />
1 teaspoon salt<br />
10 whole peppercorns<br />
4-5 bay leaves<br />
1/2 can tomato paste<br />
3-4 fresh parsley leaves and stems, roughly chopped<br />
1 embarrassingly small piece of fresh rosemary (mine was maybe 3", maybe)<br />
2"x3" piece of kombu (dried seaweed)<br />
7 cups water<br />
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Directions:<br />
-Use the oil or butter to carmelize the onion, carrot, and celery (only if using actually celery, don't try to carmelize the leaves, that'd be silly) in your soup pot<br />
-Deglaze the pan with the liquor of your choice (original recipe calls for dry vermouth, I used water because I'm lame and don't have vermouth).<br />
-Add in the remaining ingredients, bring to a boil, then take down to a simmer.<br />
-Simmer until broth is reduced to the desired intensity (I reduced mine by half, but be forewarned that you won't get a giant vat of broth if you do that). <br />
-Strain the broth, then consume, or use to make other delicious stuff like vegetable soup. <br />
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Other notes:<br />
-The <a href="http://herbivoracious.com/2011/09/umami-packed-vegetarian-broth-recipe-also-vegan.html">original recipe</a> recommends making this in a pressure cooker, see link. I don't have one, so I did it in a stock pot to no ill effect.<br />
-If you quadruple this recipe, it's entirely possible that you might be able to take over the world<br />
-This doesn't taste like anise/black licorice. I promise. Pinky swear. Seriously, just try it.<br />
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Let me know if you try this broth recipe! It's one of the most adventurous broth recipes I've ever made, but the results were well worth the off the beaten path ingredients!<br />
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<br />Queen City Yamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11452155761145745866noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241147076276524355.post-80101648641653645102014-09-23T07:48:00.002-07:002014-09-23T07:48:40.700-07:00World's Best Chocolate Chip CookiesSometimes I like to google "World's Best" and then insert the name of whatever recipe I happen to be on the hunt for. I've been fairly successful with it. One of the best successes was when I googled "World's Best Chocolate Chip Cookies." O.M.G. did I ever find the quintessential recipe!! I made these for my boyfriend's birthday, which is why an average chocolate chip cookie just would not do. It had to be special for my special guy.<br />
<br />
The recipe I found was published in the New York Times, and was adapted from a Jacques Torres recipe. I also googled Jacques Torres, of course. He is a master pastry chef known as Mr. Chocolate. Well, that certainly explains a lot about why this recipe is so delicious!<br />
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The recipe itself is fairly straightforward. You cream together butter and sugar (lots of sugar!), then mix in flour and chocolate chips. 10 oz. of light brown sugar! Plus white sugar after this!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI_OiGeI618OWueFkcQAQus-t-SNoCsuJgblXIZy9ChT-Thvq7TXWb5HUGjJkcsIWGX_TVtW-zWsDD04OlT_3VWJ7Ppdb1de8EtOLIbB_DPZwtS9pgGqcWFmRN3lYoEbQrriUTpfT7OHiw/s1600/IMG_0252.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI_OiGeI618OWueFkcQAQus-t-SNoCsuJgblXIZy9ChT-Thvq7TXWb5HUGjJkcsIWGX_TVtW-zWsDD04OlT_3VWJ7Ppdb1de8EtOLIbB_DPZwtS9pgGqcWFmRN3lYoEbQrriUTpfT7OHiw/s1600/IMG_0252.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
Here is a picture of the ingredients I assembled for this project:<br />
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And here is the recipe.<br />
<br />
<u>World's Best Chocolate Chip Cookies</u><br />
<br />
2 cups minus 2 tablespoons <br />
(8 1/2 ounces) cake flour<br />
1 2/3 cups (8 1/2 ounces) bread flour<br />
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda<br />
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder<br />
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt<br />
2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter<br />
1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar<br />
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar<br />
2 large eggs<br />
2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract<br />
1 1/4 pounds bittersweet <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/c/chocolate/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="More articles about chocolate.">chocolate</a> disks or fèves, at least 60 percent cacao content (see note)<br />
Sea salt.<br />
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<span class="bold">Directions: </span><br />
<span class="bold">1. </span> Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.<br />
<span class="bold">2. </span>
Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars
together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time,
mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to
low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds.
Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them.
Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours.
Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72
hours. <br />
<span class="bold">3. </span> When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside. <br />
<span class="bold">4. </span>
Scoop 6 3 1/2-ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls)
onto baking sheet, making sure to turn horizontally any chocolate pieces
that are poking up; it will make for a more attractive cookie. Sprinkle
lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to
20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip
cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining
dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the
next day. Eat warm, with a big napkin.<br />
<span class="bold">Yield</span>: 1 1/2 dozen 5-inch cookies.<br />
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Take a look at that delicious yummy goodness!!! I upped the ante on my batch by adding some walnuts to the cookies because that's the way my boyfriend likes them, but you could leave out the nuts or add whatever kind you wanted. <br />
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Here's a look at my other batch, without nuts, after it's been all mixed up. I ran out of the one kind of chocolate chips and had to add another kind, so you might notice that there is more then one shape of chocolate in my dough!<br />
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The chocolate chips I used were Ghirardelli Chocolate Premium Baking Chips 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate. <a href="https://www.blogger.com/%3Ciframe%20style=%22width:120px;height:240px;%22%20marginwidth=%220%22%20marginheight=%220%22%20scrolling=%22no%22%20frameborder=%220%22%20src=%22//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ac&ref=qf_sp_asin_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=quciya-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B005FC6RYQ&asins=B005FC6RYQ&linkId=NQWFC6PNTTZILSWT&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true%22%3E%20%3C/iframe%3E">Click here to buy through my Amazon affiliate link</a>, or you can get them at Krogers.<br />
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My advice? You should really listen to the recipe when it says to refrigerate the dough for at least 24 hours. For some reason it makes a huge difference.<br />
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If you're interested in science and the reason these cookies are the world's best, then you should read the study put together by Serious Eats Food Lab. They did a lengthy inquest to determine what aspects of cookies lend themselves to what qualities. <a href="http://sweets.seriouseats.com/2013/12/the-food-lab-the-best-chocolate-chip-cookies.html">You can find that article here.</a><br />
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The end result of this recipe is a large, delicious cookie with the right balance of delicious chocolate and salt. They are fabulous hot out of the oven, or at room temperature. And they are even better if you dip them in milk. yum yum! Let me know if you give this recipe a try!<br />
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Queen City Yamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11452155761145745866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241147076276524355.post-30648388796132262012014-09-20T13:33:00.002-07:002014-09-20T13:38:29.192-07:00Cooking Classes at The Learning KitchenWhat should I do with my life? I've been working on answering this question for a while, although I don't know that I'll ever fully answer it. One of the first things I decided to do was to explore cooking a little more. I do have a food blog, after all. What if culinary school is where my path should lead? How do I know if I enjoy receiving formal instruction in cooking?<br />
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I haven't had formal instruction in cooking since my days in the after school program at North Avondale Montessori. I still remember how to wipe the cupcake pan after you fill it with batter, but before baking, so you have an easier time cleaning the pan when you are done!<br />
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There are a lot of local options for cooking classes, but the place that appealed to my taste buds the most was The Learning Kitchen in West Chester. I chose them because of the following criteria:<br />
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-Each student gets their own cook top (hands on!)<br />
-They offered a knife skills class (my area of most interest)<br />
-Wide variety of options for other classes<br />
-Fit my schedule<br />
-Reasonable price (~$65+ typically, but they were running a Facebook special when I found them, so I think I paid something around $55 or so)<br />
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I took 3 classes:<br />
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Hone Your Knife Skills<br />
Beef: Season, Sear, Saute<br />
Stuffed and Filled<br />
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Here is a picture of me cheese-ing it up before class. They provide you with an apron to wear, which is excellent as I was coming straight from work. <br />
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Of the 3 classes I took, Hone Your Knife Skills was by and far my favorite. It was taught by one of the owners, Jennifer Vogel, who shared a story about how she found herself in culinary school after realizing that she was quite skilled at chopping vegetables. In this class, they allowed us to try a number of different knife brands and sizes (20% discount if you buy on the day of your class!), and showed us how to properly hold and care for nice knives. We then learned how to chop, dice, julienne, etc as we each prepared our own panzanilla bread salad.<br />
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I had a really good time at the first class and have really been enjoying showing my boyfriend how well I can chop onions ever since! So I signed up for another class. Beef! I really love beef (and pork, let's be real here)! We made New York Strip with Maple Mustard Glaze and Bourbon Sauce, Pan-Roasted Flat Iron Steak with Chevre Chive Sauce, and Creole Sliders with Pineapple Pepper Sauce. This one was taught by one of the chef's that also teaches in the culinary program at Cincinnati State! She also does some private chef work on the side, and I'd seen an instructional video that she made for how to spatchcock and roast a whole chicken.<br />
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At the Beef class I was delighted to discover that The Learning Kitchen sells wine by the glass/bottle. Apparently they offer wine at all of the classes where the focus isn't on knife skills (for obvious reasons!!). I had some nice red wine while we were cooking, and then with my meal as well.<br />
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This was a pretty big meal, and the license The Learning Kitchen has doesn't allow for you to take home your leftovers, so come hungry (or stash a super secret sandwich bag in your purse)! <br />
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The third class I took was called Stuffed and Filled. We made Cheese and Sweet Pepper Stuffed Poblano Peppers, Pork Tenderloin with Prosciutto and Gouda, and Lemon Thyme Goat Cheese in Puff Pastry. The instructor also made us a little dessert with the leftover Puff Pastry, by filling it with some Sweetened Mascarpone!<br />
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*I had a little trouble with my Poblano, so it wasn't quite stuffed and filled, but more like a platform for conveying a delicious blend of cheese and sweet pepper. Hey, nobody's perfect!<br />
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What a delicious meal! I thoroughly enjoyed learning to cook using the techniques taught in each of these classes.<br />
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Are these classes right for you?<br />
The classes are very novice friendly, and they teach a lot of techniques that you can use for all kinds of kitchen tasks. As a more advanced cook, the class moved somewhat slowly at times, but I was happy to fill the gaps with a sip or two of wine as less experienced classmates got caught up. There was a good mix of people like me who wanted to learn more cooking skills in general, people that had been gifted a class by a friend/relative, and people that were doing it as a fun activity to enjoy together.<br />
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The Learning Kitchen offers several date night classes where couples can prepare a meal together, which I think would make for an excellent date (sushi! Indian, shrimp and filet! homemade ravioli!), especially since they have wine. <br />
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If you want to join me, the next class I want to take is The Five Master Skills, which are: using salt, heat management, simple sauces, tools, and proper ingredients. Who's coming with?<br />
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So, what should I do with my life? Cooking classes are fun. I might even be interested in teaching them, and I'd certainly be willing to take a couple more. What I learned from this experience is that I don't necessarily want to go to culinary school. <br />
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*The opinions contained within this blog post are my own, I was not paid for this post. I think The Learning Kitchen has offered some sort of discount if you share about them on your blog or rate them of Facebook etc, but I can't recall the details.Queen City Yamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11452155761145745866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241147076276524355.post-91904910947366261062014-03-28T06:05:00.000-07:002014-03-28T06:05:12.695-07:00Chocolate Covered Strawberry Chocolate CakeI'm very active on social media. As I post more and more cake photos, friends and family have started sharing some viral cake photos and things from Pinterest with me. One friend jokingly shared the cake pictured below and asked if I'd make it for her birthday. <br />
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That cake is big enough to serve several hundred people, at least. But it sure is a beauty, isn't it! And those strawberries are really quite tempting.</div>
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I decided to make a smaller version of the cake (i.e. an 8" three layer cake) to help her celebrate her birthday. I chose a classic chocolate cake recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks, and whipped up a batch of fudgey frosting, plus some vanilla buttercream to do some writing.</div>
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But, you see, I really suck at writing with frosting on cakes. Seriously, I'm really bad at it. But I need to get better, and practice makes perfect.</div>
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In the meantime, I bought the Cake Boss Letter and Alphabet Fondant Stamp Kit. It looks fairly intuitive. You figure out why you want to say, and then you slide the letters into the holder and press it against the cake.<br />
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At least it would seem intuitive. </div>
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No, that's not a mirrored picture. I'm just that discombobulated. Eventually I figured out how to fix it up though. Glad it was just on frosting and not fondant or I would have had to pull off the fondant and start again!</div>
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Once I figured out the right direction for the stamps, I just filled in the indentation with some frosting in a different color. I chose a vanilla buttercream to contrast with the brown of the fudgey chocolate icing.<br />
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As I circled around the cake, I discovered that I had imprinted backwards the very last letter of her name. So, that side isn't pictured. I just iced over it and pretended it didn't happen. Nobody really seemed to notice :) </div>
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Since the design was based upon the cake in the first picture, the next step was to make chocolate covered strawberries and stack them up on top and around the sides. I didn't do a cascade down the side because it would probably look silly with just one layer, and the cake needed to be transported in a tupperware box that wouldn't find side decorations like that. </div>
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These were so delicious that I made a few extra in case some of them 'went missing.'</div>
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I didn't have any space left in the fridge to give these guys a quick chill and harden the chocolate shell, so I left them on the counter overnight. They ended up being really juicy as a result, which wasn't a major problem. But if I did it again, I would definitely fit them in the fridge.</div>
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The cake was very well received, and I even got a second thank you message a full week later! <br />
Happy Birthday to my friend!</div>
Queen City Yamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11452155761145745866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241147076276524355.post-58974847087008516392014-03-06T13:48:00.001-08:002014-03-14T03:51:23.943-07:00Pretty pink cake!I've got a request to make a wedding cake for some very good friends. To make sure that it goes smoothly, I wanted to practice making a tiered cake ahead of time.<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5EKpbIgGmBunaBYM4c24L0PpM1RMjpztREIGayDAN0Z5eoJYF4jUr-ZIeu7RAa9Ba4FpCn_Vbl5BJuFYc4Yau-e_z1UtZkJtMpJ_UiZ96vEFidZww_2ZDD69hC64uT0oFuoXQ0YOQQ1qN/s640/blogger-image--22994149.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5EKpbIgGmBunaBYM4c24L0PpM1RMjpztREIGayDAN0Z5eoJYF4jUr-ZIeu7RAa9Ba4FpCn_Vbl5BJuFYc4Yau-e_z1UtZkJtMpJ_UiZ96vEFidZww_2ZDD69hC64uT0oFuoXQ0YOQQ1qN/s640/blogger-image--22994149.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div>Luckily, my niece was turning 16 at the beginning of March, an occasion that warrants a beautiful tiered cake!</div><div><br></div><div>The party was Asian themed and I cooked a whole Chinese buffet worth of food (as a side note, I need more dishes!).</div><div><br></div><div>To match the theme with the cake, I decided to make cherry blossoms to decorate the cake. My niece asked for pink frosting and white cake with strawberry filling. I did this for the bigger, bottom cake.</div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoMk0DwggzyaHe5ddmasAsavOTtWyi49AVXYwMQmnZm_QSAASaZSX6laov_6JNom8BoJZHOOcSPNUwJSIPMWBgMI5cRU2-2yRAl5sKfgrQDSLAsII41feQDMU1SGXm5nfXBEvDRgICNU6s/s640/blogger-image-326050493.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoMk0DwggzyaHe5ddmasAsavOTtWyi49AVXYwMQmnZm_QSAASaZSX6laov_6JNom8BoJZHOOcSPNUwJSIPMWBgMI5cRU2-2yRAl5sKfgrQDSLAsII41feQDMU1SGXm5nfXBEvDRgICNU6s/s640/blogger-image-326050493.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div>I used a trick I found online to make the icing pink. Instead of adding water to the frosting, I added strawberry juice. This also puts flavor in the icing and makes it extra yummy!</div><div><br></div><div>For the top layer of the cake, I bought Matcha Green Tea powder and used it to make a green tea cake. I added some lemon curd to the frosting and then tinted it pink with coloring...you ready for this? Pink lemonade frosting!</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHRGOOW6u_kr5COhdnDV6Zbq2Hm52zQTWcqdKxp5wTl5thu6Iy1mPsw0T9kIHEQiLSmhOqGr_srDRUzeCobdFcEC4S99_sNpvh9iHPS-OT8ywlS0Wcdn3jiLz5SU2X_91PNQQHHmVF6SBf/s640/blogger-image-1364765189.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHRGOOW6u_kr5COhdnDV6Zbq2Hm52zQTWcqdKxp5wTl5thu6Iy1mPsw0T9kIHEQiLSmhOqGr_srDRUzeCobdFcEC4S99_sNpvh9iHPS-OT8ywlS0Wcdn3jiLz5SU2X_91PNQQHHmVF6SBf/s640/blogger-image-1364765189.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpdcWQsH99nSprCEeyTTpnBSxBNhfS44MGojApKNOX2bQor8Sr_6BxUzgzS7A7agZUV_hUE_vZD4LZjmmHqvejSRqU0onVjNm1L4CTWbFyixk2YXNTsd20vtP4NS-F2jtc81_zM7UIibbL/s640/blogger-image-2047123985.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpdcWQsH99nSprCEeyTTpnBSxBNhfS44MGojApKNOX2bQor8Sr_6BxUzgzS7A7agZUV_hUE_vZD4LZjmmHqvejSRqU0onVjNm1L4CTWbFyixk2YXNTsd20vtP4NS-F2jtc81_zM7UIibbL/s640/blogger-image-2047123985.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div>Somehow I managed to get both of the frostings in a similar shade, plus the cherry blossoms. To bring in some variety, I used chocolate fudge icing for the tree branch and accent coloring.</div><div><br></div><div>I squeezed 16 roses onto the top of the cake.</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEUXqsh5jYReP52E_Rym4lJkJ1KpunS7aKbohSZajvaKinULAJ_1DVOBdjAPa3p4_aV_pp1MDuEDaGPICwILbEqqo5OZyuuxAllm_rDAhGstHW6T56TK4GMKd1GWn_AMNnnn-gsZKJlSkj/s640/blogger-image--1957062921.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEUXqsh5jYReP52E_Rym4lJkJ1KpunS7aKbohSZajvaKinULAJ_1DVOBdjAPa3p4_aV_pp1MDuEDaGPICwILbEqqo5OZyuuxAllm_rDAhGstHW6T56TK4GMKd1GWn_AMNnnn-gsZKJlSkj/s640/blogger-image--1957062921.jpg"></a></div>My boyfriend says it was my prettiest cake so far! I am quite happy with the final product, and so was she!</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIYYd3A5fPiRgUgPKqFFEVEir4qgzesPtL1GpKc7SPPh8Qz6vL8-p8_byvDSfypyLJU0ySz39cw-AEZAKRRvaYAzU40KPNycveosMxIjFvTPmOTeOzS1a0Figp_QVlNrhwaxazCDDaAHKV/s640/blogger-image--805683176.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIYYd3A5fPiRgUgPKqFFEVEir4qgzesPtL1GpKc7SPPh8Qz6vL8-p8_byvDSfypyLJU0ySz39cw-AEZAKRRvaYAzU40KPNycveosMxIjFvTPmOTeOzS1a0Figp_QVlNrhwaxazCDDaAHKV/s640/blogger-image--805683176.jpg"></a></div>Happy sweet 16 honey!</div>Queen City Yamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11452155761145745866noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241147076276524355.post-29075511949910197382014-02-12T13:08:00.001-08:002014-02-12T13:08:14.110-08:00Basket of Flowers Cake!Look at this beautiful basket of flowers cake I made for one of my Wilton/Michael's class assignments!<div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOV0MTQdYytBvoOuNt7Ih8dH2RH2rj_OcmYe8tN5A8umZc914EJo9hWsUavkKKpYXIWwjVOCdYWZYy-kGQSg116o2MEe7ly1wKyB67OmsbyfL2vr_5iB7K9Bu3whGOxjhAx2Ze9huZ-fw5/s640/blogger-image--182619300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOV0MTQdYytBvoOuNt7Ih8dH2RH2rj_OcmYe8tN5A8umZc914EJo9hWsUavkKKpYXIWwjVOCdYWZYy-kGQSg116o2MEe7ly1wKyB67OmsbyfL2vr_5iB7K9Bu3whGOxjhAx2Ze9huZ-fw5/s640/blogger-image--182619300.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">It was banana cake and covered in a coffee buttercream. Yum!</div><br></div>Queen City Yamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11452155761145745866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241147076276524355.post-78295348804439985542013-09-21T08:54:00.004-07:002013-09-21T08:54:58.722-07:00Fourth of Jul...CUPCAKES!I *always* have to work on the 4th of July. I've been gone on the 4th of July pretty much every year for my entire life. When I was young, we went to summer camp on the week surrounding the 4th. As an adult, I got a job that ensured I would always be gone.<br />
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Except this year. Every once in a while, I score that day off. It happens so infrequently (seriously, I've been in Cincinnati on the 4th of July like 2x my entire life), that I have no idea what normal people even do on that day.<br />
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We got invited to a picnic, so we went! And I made cupcakes. From the only book I ever seem to cook out of. :)<br />
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Cupcakes are great picnic food because you can grab them and run back off to a frisbee game, and the wrapper makes it so you don't have to get your hands dirty. Or it keeps your dirty hands off your cupcake. However you want to look at it.<br />
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I made Mississippi Mud Cupcakes with Marshmallow Frosting from Julie Richardson's Vintage Cakes book. It's a fudgy cupcake with pecans in it, topped with marshmallow frosting. I had to learn a new technique, which means that I made the frosting twice :)<br />
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See those pecans there? This is me taking a picture and forgetting to toast them. Whoops! I think its a critical step for the tastiness of this recipe so I will make sure I do it next time. <br />
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Since I mostly make cakes and I didn't actually read the recipe all the way through before I started (see above re: not toasting pecans), I didn't realize I needed 2 muffin tins to bake these bad boys. Luckily my roommate has one. That'd be the one in the picture that looks like its only been used once.<br />
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This batter made 2 dozen cupcakes, plus enough for nearly a dozen mini muffins. Those didn't last long. I gobbled them right up. These babies are delicious straight out of the oven, nice and warm. After they baked, I realized that I probably should have filled the muffin tins up higher. C'est La Vie.<br />
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There are no pictures of me making the frosting. It was getting late and I was tired. It involved a candy thermometer and egg whites, and making the frosting a second time after I failed to successfully whip the egg whites. You live, you learn. At the very least, you have unfrosted delicious cupcakes. <br />
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Here is me with the finished product. At home first, then at the picnic. <br />
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Noms. I bring noms.Queen City Yamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11452155761145745866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241147076276524355.post-32282240304924009182013-09-20T14:19:00.000-07:002013-09-20T14:19:15.030-07:00The Pink CakeAs I mentioned in my last post, I've been taking a cake decorating class through Michael's. It's the Wilton method. I've been making a WHOLE LOT of cakes over the past few months. Its been a couple busy baking months for my oven! <br />
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I wanted a super delicious cake to take to a Labor Day Fireworks party, so I turned to my trusty cookbook, Vintage Cakes by Julie Richardson. There is a definite chance that I will cook every recipe from this book within a years time...everything from the book is just so delicious! For a girl that finds most of her recipes on the internet, this is really saying something. I've even made one of the recipes twice! Honey Bee Cake, I'm looking at you!<br />
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The Pink Cake is a classic party cake. It's chocolate layer cake with raspberry buttercream. It is absolutely heavenly. <br />
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This picture cracks me up because I'm wearing the same outfit I had on for Pilates earlier that day. Something just not right about making desserts while wearing your gym clothes! <br />
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Doesn't this look like I'm squeezing blood out of a heart? eewww!<br />
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I had a bit of trouble with the raspberries. I used the frozen kind, as recommended, and I knew I didn't want the seeds in the frosting, so I layered some cheesecloth over a metal strainer. This unfortunately kept all of the berry bits out with the seeds, so all I had was the liquid. I wasn't willing to pick through the remnants to get the seeds out, so only the juice made it into the frosting instead of actual raspberry puree. When I combined it with the buttercream, it looked like brains!<br />
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Cutting out the puree part of the raspberries made the consistency much too liquidy. I added a bunch of powdered sugar to fix it up. Quite delicious. I can think of quite a few things I would slather this frosting on and gobble up!<br />
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You like my cake frosting tip and featherweight bag? Remarkably quicker and easier than the way I used to frost my cakes. And I think my frosting sits a lot more evenly now too. I need to get one of those fancy cake turntables.<br />
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Speaking of wish lists, I own exactly one apron. I got in on clearance after Halloween one year and figured I would wear it once a year while prepping for our annual Halloween bash. Except its my only apron, so I wear it all the time. I'm comfortable with this level of dorkiness.<br />
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After I got the cake iced, it was time to whip out some ribbon roses from my cake decorating class!<br />
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I made the yellow decorating icing a tad too thick, so I'm squeezing the bag really hard in this picture!<br />
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Silly pose with the completed cake..I swear, one of these days I'm going to drop one of these and be horrified. I'll probably sit down and eat it off my floor while I cry.<br />
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Here's the inside.<br />
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mmmmmmmmmm<br />
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Need a good party cake? I definitely recommend this one. <a href="http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/The-Pink-Cake-51112010">The recipe is available on Epicurious</a>, though I really do think you should buy this lady's book. <br />
<br />Queen City Yamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11452155761145745866noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241147076276524355.post-42531336852763536272013-08-22T16:05:00.000-07:002013-08-22T16:05:20.442-07:00Cherry Chip CakeGuess who dropped out of grad school and signed up for a cake decorating class instead? This girl. No joke.<br />
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The cake I'm sharing today is the Cherry Chip Cake, another delight from <a href="http://www.bakerandspicebakery.com/books">Vintage Cakes by Julie Richardson</a>. This was actually the first cake I made from the book, and was right before the busiest time period I've ever had in my entire life. I'm glad I got to bake a cake first :)<br />
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So, cherry chip cake. I've always wondered why people choose eclectic flavors for things. It would just never dawn on me that I should make a non-standard cake flavor. I mean, cherry is totally a non-standard cake flavor, right?<br />
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This is probably the first time I've ever purchased cake flour, if you can believe that.<br />
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This cake was also the first time I ever used my food scale to weigh cake ingredients. I'm hooked on that now, because it seems so smart! I even weighed the batter in each pan to get even layers! I had a little panic when I realized I didn't have 3 8" cake pans. Luckily my springform was the right size. Accounted for in the weighing process, of course!!<br />
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The frosting for the cake was Cherry Buttercream, with a little bit of Kirschwasser, a colorless cherry brandy, mixed in. The recipe also calls for dried cherries to be reconsituted and mixed in to a basic buttercream recipe. I was happy that my boyfriend was able to find a tiny bottle so we don't have it sitting on the shelf for years and years.<br />
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I thought that the icing was a really gross brown tint from adding in the dried and reconstituted cherries. So I added some red food coloring to make the cake pink. Here are the before and after colors. Pink was a good call, right?<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Not that it needed any more awesomeness, but to add some extra awesome in there anyway, each cake layer is topped with chocolate ganache. I didn't let it cool enough, which was a bit of a problem when I tried to put frosting between the layers. Luckily it didn't seem to matter too much. I worked it out.<br />
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Since this was prior to my cake decorating class, I wasn't schooled in the lessons of cake leveling, nor did I own a cake leveler. As evidenced here!<br />
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Actually, the leveling doesn't look too bad with the icing on there!<br />
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One of my baking traditions is to take a picture of myself making a 'bite face' with my cake. This cake led to the most epic, most amazing bite face ever. <br />
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No comment...Queen City Yamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11452155761145745866noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241147076276524355.post-70759836969656404622013-05-21T19:46:00.000-07:002013-05-21T19:46:50.350-07:00Sneak Preview: Christian Moerlein Brewery Tours @ Taste of CincinnatiChristian Moerlein Brewing Co. is opening its doors to visitors during Taste of Cincinnati. They are currently putting the finishing touches on their Tap Room and will be opening up their cavernous beer cellars to curious visitors.<br />
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They advertised for volunteer "Beer Meisters" to lead the tours, and I jumped at the chance. I'm all about Cincinnati, and I happen to really enjoy their beer as well. One perk of attending Beer Meister Orientation? Beer samples!!! Here is a picture of me with a sample of their Hefeweizen ale, which is called 7. It's a south German style wheat beer with a hint of banana. Quite delicious and definitely my favorite. <br />
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I don't have much in the way of pictures because I was focused on listening and learning the content and the expectations of the tour guides. But, I couldn't help but take a couple pics.<br />
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Want to see more pictures? There are plenty of images on the web. Here are a few links that show images of some of the things you will see on the tour.<br />
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<a href="http://www.archinati.org/12028/">Tap Room</a><br />
<a href="http://envisioningthecity.wordpress.com/2013/03/30/cincinnati-beer-tunnels/">Beer Cellars</a><br />
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You can't truly experience this unless you come out in person. <a href="http://www.tasteofcincinnati.com/new/">Want the details?</a><br />
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Christian Moerlein Brewery is located at 1621 Moore St in Over the Rhine. They are offering tours during Taste of Cincinnati 2013, and will have their new Tap Room open with beer for sale.<br />
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During Taste, busses will provide transportation between Fountain Square and the brewery. You can register for the tour at the Christian Moerlein Beer Garden on Fountain Square.<br />
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Tours are free of charge and are estimated to take about half an hour (allow an hour for travel time if taking the free bus shuttle). They are running tours from noon to 8pm on both Saturday and Sunday, and from noon-6pm on Monday/Memorial Day. Bring money for beer. I promise you'll want some.<br />
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Hope to see you there!Queen City Yamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11452155761145745866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241147076276524355.post-55361192775872266682013-05-12T19:47:00.001-07:002013-05-12T19:48:37.426-07:00Black and White CakeYeah, I'm still around. Grad school has been eating my soul. And I've been eating cake. <br />
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This is the Black and White Cake from <a href="http://www.bakerandspicebakery.com/books">Vintage Cakes by Julie Richardson</a>, with a vanilla bean buttercream.<br />
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Since I last updated, I've lost 35 lbs (ok, maybe I haven't been eating all that much cake) and dyed my hair blonde. I still prefer to go barefoot though.<br />
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Back to the food...I like to host Mother's Day brunch for my family. My sister and boyfriend were coerced into helping me cook. Many a joke about sweatshop kitchens ensued. In the picture below, He is cutting challah for bread pudding, she is slicing strawberries for fruit cocktail, and I am working on the cake batter.<br />
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This cake was for my mom, specifically chosen because it is dark chocolate. I thought it was very similar to oreo cookies.<br />
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This cookbook tells you the weight the batter should be in each part of the cake. Never thought about weighing the cake pans. It was a pretty good strategy, because the two layers ended up being pretty much the same size. And that's the point, right?<br />
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I had to make the icing twice, and I still wasn't terribly happy with it. The icing was tasty, but hard to work with. Not sure if I did something wrong or if it was the recipe. The basic buttercream recipe from the book worked fine on another cake that I made from the book. I'm sure I'll make this recipe again (it was VERY good), so time will tell.<br />
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A big benefit of kitchen visitors is that you get more pictures of yourself cooking! Here is the finished icing.</div>
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One of the cakes had a pretty big dome that I cut off, so I used a cup as a biscuit cutter to make some little samples for us to nibble on. I made a mini batch of cake balls too! No pictures of those...they were gone super quickly!<br />
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After our mini snack cakes, it was assembly time!<br />
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I tried to make chocolate ganache 'kisses' on top of the finished cake, but through a tragic combination of too warm ganache and too big of a hole in my ziploc, I had to use a 'modern' decorating style. :) My sister was a big help on this part.<br />
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Luckily, my mom loved the cake, and she didn't think anything was off about the decorating style. I didn't mention that we took 100 photos of the cake.<br />
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And here I am with no shoes...<br />
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The cake was terrific. It really did taste like oreos, but with a higher quality cream in the center. Yum.</div>
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Queen City Yamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11452155761145745866noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241147076276524355.post-17734410288593394342012-09-17T18:16:00.002-07:002012-09-17T18:16:27.051-07:00Chocolate Zucchini CakeSometimes, during the summer, I go out of town on a trip or two and leave my sad garden home all alone and neglected. Rather than rue my absence, it puts all its energy into growth.<br />
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While I was processing this giant zucchini, I watched Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition.<br />
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And then I decided that this zucchini needed to be baked into a cake. Too tough and stringy for anything else. Weight loss shows and cake. hmm.<br />
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I got the recipe from my favorite recipe standby, <a href="http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Chocolate-and-Zucchini-Cake-355911">Epicurious.com.</a> The cake came together quite easily. Since I wanted to do something a little fancy with it, I made two batches (I mean, I wasn't exactly working with a shortage of zucchini here).<br />
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<span id="goog_27097377"></span><span id="goog_27097378">So, nothing says fancy like canned cherry pie filling in the food processor, right?</span><br />
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Shut up. It was totally delicious. <br />
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The only thing left to do is make some frosting. I used cherry flavored jelly to stabilize a whipped cream icing recipe. I also froze the cake just to make sure it travelled well. By the time dinner was over, the cake was thawed but still delightfully cool.<br />
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Here is my taste test sample using the bits I cut off the cake when I leveled it.<br />
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And here, is the finished product! Voila! You like what I did with that parchment paper? Pretty terrific trick if you ask me.<br />
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The recipe I linked above is just for the single layer of the cake itself. You can find a whipped cream icing recipe online with a google search. And canned pie filling, well, that part is self explanatory!<br />
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I sure am going to miss the yummy fruits of my garden after the season is over! Maybe it'll miss me and grow something fun for me to discover in the spring.Queen City Yamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11452155761145745866noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241147076276524355.post-41741435729624126552012-07-13T21:06:00.005-07:002012-07-13T21:06:46.071-07:00Summer GardenOne of my great joys is eating the fruits of my labor from the backyard garden. I've always had garden help from a roommate, but the woman with the garden knowledge moved out this year, and I was on my own.<br />
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In the fall, I decided to try planting a "Second Season." Except I waited way too long, so nothing really grew until spring. In the spring, I had some unruly romaine lettuce, one head of spinach, and onions. Look at the size of that lettuce leaf!!<br />
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While it was nice to have some produce early on in the gardening season, practically everything bolted, and I wasn't able to use very much of it. I think this was due to my school schedule prohibiting work in the garden, but I don't entirely recall.<br />
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All excuses aside, I did manage to get a lot of plants in the ground over spring break. <br />
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This year, the strawberry patch really took off. It's huge, and I imagine I'll have to take action to prevent it from spreading out any further. I think I'll be thinning it out later in the summer, and trying to put something under the berries so they don't rot.<br />
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The berries I got were a mixed lot. They didn't have as much flavor as I was hoping for, and randomly you would bite into a normal looking strawberry and it would taste terrible. I did some research on how to grow them, and am planning some changes for next year. I love strawberries, and this patch saved me some serious dough.<br />
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Remarkably, the raspberry and blueberry bushes I planted in the fall put out a couple berries. I intended to eat them, but some scoundrel of an animal got a full belly before I did.<br />
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That animal got a lot of full bellies before I took defensive action:<br />
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I got that owl statue at Home Depot..He was the very last one, and he only has one eye. The store employee gave me a discount on the spot. I think I made out ahead, since now not only do I have an owl, it's a pirate owl as well. I named him Blackbeard, after his pirate heritage. Sometimes I rotate him to different fence posts just to mix it up.<br />
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Anywho, in the picture above, you can see my mistake...I planted about 5 zucchini plants. They are so cute when they are seedlings! You just don't realize how many zucchini they are going to produce. At first it was fun looking at all the shapes and sizes.<br />
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But then I went out of town for two weeks and look what I came back to!!<br />
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Ok, I am smiling in the picture, so I have to admit that it wasn't all that bad. I just peeled back the shell (the skin had turned super tough) and dug out the seeds, and shredded them. No problemo!<br />
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My next challenge hasn't really been photographed yet. I let the tomatoes rot into the garden last year thinking it would help refresh the soil. Unfortunately, they re-seeded themselves and made new baby tomato plants!<br />
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I did a seed and seedling swap with a friend, so I already had three tomato plants going into the spring. Unfortunately, I ended up with about 20 or so plants. Obviously they don't all fit in my small garden plot, but I just couldn't bear to kill them.<br />
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I was only able to find homes for 3-4 plants, so I put a few in pots and left the rest in the ground. The garden is insane right now.<br />
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I'm guessing I'll have between 200-500 cherry tomatoes all at once. My mother has promised to teach me the art of home canning. My first canning recipe is a zucchini tomato salsa. Surprise, surprise!Queen City Yamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11452155761145745866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241147076276524355.post-2869661600602895072012-04-24T10:48:00.001-07:002012-04-24T10:48:53.617-07:00Ria's Bluebird: The Best Pancakes in the WorldWhenever I travel, I do my best to look up tasty food opportunities before I leave. In 2009, I visited Atlanta for work. On the menu? Ria's Bluebird, billed as having The Best Pancakes in the World.<br />
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This year, we took a trip to Atlanta over Easter, and Ria's was the first place we headed for food.<br />
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While waiting for our breakfast, I had David take my picture for the blog!<br />
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For the sake of posterity, here is a picture of me from the last time I was at Ria's. Yep, used to be blond!!<br />
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Back to the modern day and my brunette ways: it didn't take long for our food to arrive. We split the 'Fat Stack' with toasted Georgia pecans and sausage links.<br />
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This might be a bit dorkier than I wish to admit, but I made sure both of us were wearing blue shirts for our visit to Ria's BLUEbird. heehee.<br />
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Just one picture left for this post, an action shot!<br />
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<br />If you find yourself in Atlanta, definitely make time for Ria's Bluebird. I've heard it gets really crowded on the weekend, which is an awesome sign. Get the pancakes. Yum!Queen City Yamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11452155761145745866noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241147076276524355.post-83675381740869805162012-03-06T06:21:00.002-08:002012-03-06T06:21:35.180-08:00Provencal Rack of LambMy boyfriend really enjoys lamb. We recently spent an evening cooking up some for dinner and I thought I'd share the recipe with you since it looked so pretty.<br />
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Here is a picture of me, holding up the rack of lamb.<br />
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The first order of business was to get the lamb nicely browned on all sides. I started with it this way first because I liked the way it looked when it was stood up like that:<br />
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<br />After it was browned, David got busy smearing it with a spice mixture while I sauteed some onions and took some pictures for the blog.<br />
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Then we put everything together in the pan and baked it for a little while.<br />
Doesn't this look pretty?<br />
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And voila! Delicious dinner for two!<br />
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<a href="http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Proven-al-Rack-of-Lamb-350228">Here is a link to the recipe</a>. I didn't use tomatoes because I didn't have any.<br />
<br />Queen City Yamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11452155761145745866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241147076276524355.post-14431784490598788512012-02-12T16:40:00.000-08:002012-02-12T16:40:50.031-08:00La Poste EateryFor Valentine's Day this year, we decided to go out for a nice dinner. If you've been reading my blog for a while, you'll remember that last year we went to a cabin in the woods near Walland, Tennessee (you can read that blog entry <a href="http://queencityyam.blogspot.com/2011/02/enchanted-cottage.html">here</a>). We went for a smaller scale celebration this year because we are saving for a fun in the sun type vacation later in the year.<br /><br />
We happened to have a Restaurant.com gift certificate for La Poste Eatery and I'd been wanting to visit there for a while. However, you had to spend $100 to get $50 off, which is more than we spend on a typical evening out. That made it the perfect destination for our special meal.<br /><br />
Now, La Poste is a nice restaurant, but you could quite easily get out of there without spending $100. We reviewed the menu (You can see their menu on <a href="http://laposteeatery.com/">their website</a>) ahead of our visit and strategized, but didn't quite settle on a solid selection. We probably should have, as we ended up overspending the discount by quite a bit, but it didn't matter-we had a wonderful time and all the little extras truly played into that.<br />
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Instead of my typical glass of red wine, we tried a couple of their cocktails. I got a margarita like concoction called Taylor Made, and David got a mixture of fruit juices with rum called a Winter Storm. They were tasty and strong, but not overly so. <br />
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We started with three appetizers, Baked Brie en Croute (Cheese is a puff shell like crust), Seared Scallops, and Pommes Frites. Here is a blurry cell phone pic:<br />
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David and I both agreed that the Seared Scallops and Brie en Croute far outshine the french fries. I wouldn't bother with the fries again.<br />
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For the main course, David got Fried Chicken. He said it was ok, but that if we went back he would try something different.<br />
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I got the Butcher's Cut (daily special), which was a massive 12 oz. NY Strip Steak. I would definitely get this again, though we would most likely split it. Who needs to eat that much beef?<br />
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Under the meat pile was a delightful hash of sorts. I have no idea what was in it, but it was yummy. Probably a mix of potato, bacon, onion, and bell pepper. <br />
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The only thing I didn't like: The chef also made some sort of rectangle shaped crab meatloaf, which is hiding under the steak and the hash. I'm not sure what was in that either, but it was dry and had the texture of an omelet. I took a couple nibbles of it but didn't end up eating it. <br />
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I requested a glass of wine with dessert and the waiter sent over their sommelier to help me pick something. He asked if I had any preferences, and I didn't, so he picked out a sweet cherry tasting red wine to go along with the bread pudding I'd picked for dessert.<br />
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Truthfully, I didn't end up caring for the wine that much, but since that sommelier had never picked out wine for me before, and I didn't give him anything to go on, you can't blame him for me not liking the wine he picked. <br />
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I got the bread pudding for dessert. I didn't remember to take a picture before I dug into it, so here it is with about a third of it eaten:<br />
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David had the apple crisp:<br />
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When I asked David what his favorite part of the meal was, he said, "apart from being with you?" and gave me a smooch :). Such a love bird. <br />
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We plan on going back to La Poste. There are a few other dishes I would like to try (Crimson Pear Salad, Flatbread, Mushroom Ravioli), and I would like to sample more of their wine selection. <br />
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When we go back, I'll ask that we be seated in the smaller of the two dining rooms. As we were leaving, I peaked into the smaller dining room, which seemed much more intimate and romantic, which is what I am usually looking for when enjoying finer establishments. They also had church pew like seats by the entry door where two diners could sit side by side-that's always our preference instead of leaning over a table trying to talk.<br />
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La Poste Eatery is yummy. We will definitely return there in the future. Have you been there? What was your favorite dish?<br />
<br /><br />Queen City Yamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11452155761145745866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241147076276524355.post-40774716658131548402012-01-08T17:12:00.000-08:002012-01-08T17:12:34.788-08:00Eli's BBQEli's BBQ will change your life.<br />
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News about this delicious bbq has been all over the web for months...first I heard about him serving food at Findlay Market. Then I heard rumor that he was opening a shop in the East End. <br />
I decided we had to make the journey. I even had the perfect day in mind, Friday, January 6th. This was the day of my LASIK surgery, and as I would be sleeping all day, I would have plenty of calories to 'spend' on my dinner.<br />
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As soon as David was home from work, I convinced him to take me down to the East End for some dinner. Naturally, I was wearing my sexy LASIK goggles. I was hoping someone would ask if I was Ray Charles but nobody did.<br />
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When we pulled up, I was greatly amused to see a man in a pig costume waving at cars while eating a pork rib. Cannibal!!! I snapped his photo while we waited for our meals.<br />
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David tried the smoked dogs, while my dinner was the pulled pork sandwich, which was tasty, but doesn't hold a candle to the dogs. I had terrible food envy. Luckily David let me share a bit of his. <br />
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When Eli came by the table to check in on us, I told him how much I liked the hot dogs. To which he replied, 'those dogs are stupid!' Which I can only imagine is short for stupid good! He's right. They are stupid good. It's stupid how good they are. Seriously.<br />
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We went back for lunch on Saturday as well. What can I say? It's tasty :)<br />
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Eli remembered us (probably because I was the only person wearing my sunglasses at night and I look like Ray Charles) and told me if we visited three days in a row we might need to join a program :)<br />
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David got rib tips and I got the dogs. Again, I succumbed to food envy. The rib tips were amazing. The dogs were amazing. I left happy with a full belly. I may need to buy a treadmill.<br />
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This will definitely enter our lineup of awesome dinner options. Yum!!!<br />
<br />Queen City Yamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11452155761145745866noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241147076276524355.post-88882186072866299042011-12-05T16:26:00.001-08:002011-12-05T17:02:26.921-08:00Lime Mousse CakeEvery once in a while, I make a recipe that is so delightfully tasty, I don't want to eat anything else. I hosted a few friends for dinner on Black Friday and I made a <a href="http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Lime-Mousse-Cake-103648">Lime Mousse Cake</a>. The cake was more cheesecake than mousse, but it was absolutely to die for. I definitely recommend making this. My friends were nice enough to wait while I posed for a photo, and even to take the picture for me!<br />
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Here is a photo of the ingredients, prior to assembly:<br />
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For the crust, use a food processor to crumble some ginger snap cookies. Not a traditional graham cracker crust, but a delicious variation. The recipe calls for butter to hold together the crumbs, You could probably use something else with less fat/calories if you wanted to lighten up the recipe.<br />
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Mix together lots of delicious ingredients like cream cheese, white chocolate, and lime zest. You'll eventually add some weird stuff too, like unflavored gelatin and granulated sugar.<br />
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In another bowl, make some whipped cream. Then mix the two together to complete the filling. This cake will hold itself together after an overnight in the fridge. No baking required.<br />
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Smooth the top with a spatula, then use a knife to make a sweet note to your honey. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcY2wU3WC1fo6npMxWt_Kap8dN0J9A6kJQsYAmtv7XgIlip9zsqV7zcuWWIha2vaf9ymYwnMbHMCUhT4cCrJUUkP8d-DZy0FVW4ZR7MXakUNkQ3hjCtrIouWJPw59fr9ThsZP6fGagf03Y/s1600/December+2011+045.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcY2wU3WC1fo6npMxWt_Kap8dN0J9A6kJQsYAmtv7XgIlip9zsqV7zcuWWIha2vaf9ymYwnMbHMCUhT4cCrJUUkP8d-DZy0FVW4ZR7MXakUNkQ3hjCtrIouWJPw59fr9ThsZP6fGagf03Y/s640/December+2011+045.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The rough edges are how you can tell it's home made. I love my 'non-uniform' lime cheesecake with funny edges.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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I served it with a few blackberries for garnish. There are a bunch of different ways to jazz up this dessert, but it really doesn't need it. It stands quite well on its own.<br />
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Do yourself a favor and don't count the calories in the recipe for this cheesecake. Make it up for a party where there will be lots of people to prevent leftovers. And for goodness sake, make sure you taste the batter. ;)Queen City Yamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11452155761145745866noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241147076276524355.post-26934327007939463302011-11-23T17:56:00.001-08:002011-11-23T18:25:54.783-08:00Autumn Chicken RouladeHave you ever made a roulade? It sounds fancy, but it's really just a French word for a "Roll-Up." You've probably had a pumpkin roll, which is a form of roulade.<br />
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I made a Chicken Roulade recipe from Clean Eating Magazine. It was delicious.<br />
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I made two versions. One with butternut squash for me; the other with sweet potato for my honey, who doesn't like squash.<br />
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I'd like to tell you that mine (with squash) was infinitely better than his (with sweet potato), but I didn't taste the sweet potato version and I have no idea if it was better or not.</div>
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So, first you chop up the squash or sweet potato and some shallots into small pieces. Then you saute them into they are close to soft, but not quite soft. You are going to bake them a little bit, so you don't want them too mushy.</div>
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While they saute, pound out some chicken breasts until they are thin. I used 4 pieces of chicken so that we would have some left for lunch the following day.</div>
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Then you mix the mostly cooked vegetables with a little goat cheese, some bread crumbs, and some spices. The recipe called for sage, but I didn't have any. I used a rosemary chicken rub instead, and it was a good match. Throw in a little salt and pepper.</div>
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You are supposed to use a piece of lean ham to wrap up the roulade, but I misread the label on the product I picked up at Whole Foods and ended up with some form of bacon instead. Luckily, it only had 50 calories a slice, so I was still able to make do.</div>
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Now you are ready to roll up the roulades. Start by laying down the bacon/ham, then topping it with a piece of pounded chicken.<br />
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Then you add on the squash/potato filling, and roll it up. Firmly secure with toothpicks. Don't forget where you put them!<br />
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Bake the roulades in the oven until the chicken is cooked. Don't leave them in there too long...the chicken will easily overcook because it is so thin. You could probably use a meat thermometer, but I just cut one open to see if the meat was still pink.<br />
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Make sure you pull out the toothpicks before serving. The meat will hold itself together after cooking, so they won't be needed. <br />
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I served it with some Asian style stir fry veggies and a little quinoa. That was mostly due to lack of planning for a side dish. I was so focused on making the entree that I didn't put any thought into what to go with it. Something seasonal would probably go well with this, like some Brussels Sprouts.<br />
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Sounds like I did it wrong, what with the vegetable side dish mis-match and all. Guess I'll have to make it again!<br />Queen City Yamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11452155761145745866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241147076276524355.post-86518660215434931652011-11-10T18:24:00.001-08:002011-11-10T19:02:37.918-08:00Nanny's Apple CiderMy grandmother is a great cook. Several of my favorite recipes are also family favorites from her kitchen. Now that the cold weather is upon us, it's time for one of her classic recipes: Apple Cider. This is a really simple recipe. It smells delicious, tastes delicious, and is downright...delicious.<br />
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My grandmother says that she believes this cider recipe
was posted in the Cleveland Plain Dealer years ago. She moved here from Cleveland over 30 years ago, so trust me when I tell you that this recipe has stood the test of time.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPizytvNzjtE0t-tadvD3RKITJzcSP5WsPsIQ1mTKmGJZznZq4Cn9cMcX234f4d94M-GyGm4FaGIvYDwI13I2XOI5AYX6vUFjoY16BEhd3Ft8oZmVRI0bJ0QXnx2x2T1VlEFqtzREmM2m2/s1600/October+2011+360.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPizytvNzjtE0t-tadvD3RKITJzcSP5WsPsIQ1mTKmGJZznZq4Cn9cMcX234f4d94M-GyGm4FaGIvYDwI13I2XOI5AYX6vUFjoY16BEhd3Ft8oZmVRI0bJ0QXnx2x2T1VlEFqtzREmM2m2/s640/October+2011+360.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
Did you notice the remnants of my cool Halloween manicure in that picture? The apple cider was made for our Halloween party, and like the pumpkin bread, is unfortunately long gone.<br />
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In case you can't read the image from the picture above, here are the ingredients:<br />
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<b>Nanny's Apple Cider</b><br />
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1 gallon Apple Cider<br />
1 stick of Cinnamon<br />
2 teaspoons Whole Allspice<br />
1 teaspoon Cardamom Seeds<br />
1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg<br />
3 Orange Slices, each studded with 5 Whole Cloves<br />
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You can go two ways with the other spices. One way is to dump them all in the cider and then strain it before serving. I think that's a little too time and labor intensive, so I usually make a 'homemade tea bag' with a paper towel and float it in the cider. One day I will get really fancy and buy a tea ball...<br />
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After the spices have been added, the cider should simmer for 30 minutes with the orange slices floating on the top. I'm rather fond of spearing the orange slice with the sticks of whole
cinnamon. I think it looks pretty when you float them in the apple
cider.<br />
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My mom recommends preparing the cider a day in advance because she thinks its better after its been reheated. So, if you've got the time, you should definitely do it that way. If not? Still delicious.Queen City Yamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11452155761145745866noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241147076276524355.post-81257842453014625412011-11-09T14:37:00.000-08:002011-11-09T14:37:05.733-08:00Pumpkin BreadDo you like fall? What about all the tasty foods that come along with the changing of the seasons?<br />
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I set out to make some pumpkin bread recently and am amazed at the delicious <a href="http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Pumpkin-Bread-367512">recipe</a> I found. Even more remarkable is that this recipe is designed to be used for a <a href="http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/photo/Pumpkin-Bread-Pudding-with-Spicy-Caramel-Apple-Sauce-367511">Pumpkin Bread Pudding (with Spicy Caramel Apple Sauce</a>, no less). I suppose if you are going to make a bread pudding, you should make sure that the bread is extra delicious!<br />
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Disclaimer: My pumpkin bread didn't last long enough to become bread pudding, so you'll have to try that one yourself, if you've got enough willpower. Or, enough pumpkin to make a few loaves.<br />
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The ingredients in the <a href="http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Pumpkin-Bread-367512">recipe</a> are simple enough:<br />
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Fairly standard, yes? Notice that the pumpkin is just standard pumpkin, not the kind that's ready to be poured into a pie. I have an astonishing number of spices on my spice rack, so I'm always thankful to use them in a recipe.<br />
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First you mix up the wet ingredients with a stand mixer:<br />
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And the dry ones in a separate bowl. I know this is simple, but I totally got it wrong the other day ;)<br />
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Then you mix the dry ingredients into the wet ones until you have delicious pumpkin bread batter ready to pop into the oven.<br />
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I enjoyed this recipe so much that after I sampled it, I immediately made a second loaf. We shared this at our halloween party, and I am thinking it will make another appearance at Thanksgiving. Yum yum!!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp9hrEDF_rEaY2djx3Q00sdliVLJaAco2bJUpQfictPnkLqbyQsgtAhI0PLm1M7GfHIVJz9YWhR1ZtOCXLg0fUliTGQNFkYsNenD5-zcsPUmMxZj2hB38YKvr2gOAXrv1pNW0XIAeWad5u/s1600/October+2011+366.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="444" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp9hrEDF_rEaY2djx3Q00sdliVLJaAco2bJUpQfictPnkLqbyQsgtAhI0PLm1M7GfHIVJz9YWhR1ZtOCXLg0fUliTGQNFkYsNenD5-zcsPUmMxZj2hB38YKvr2gOAXrv1pNW0XIAeWad5u/s640/October+2011+366.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>Queen City Yamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11452155761145745866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241147076276524355.post-55454977565057436072011-10-31T18:21:00.000-07:002011-10-31T18:21:45.814-07:00Halloween at Queen City YamI didn't have time to get all my fun Halloween posts published before the holiday was over. David and I went to several haunted activities and I had too much interesting stuff to write about and not enough time!<br />
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Here is my Halloween wrap up post on pumpkin carving, seed toasting, and our costumes.<br />
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This is my pumpkin. And, a view of my awesome IKEA spice rack :) It's actually three spice racks combined and I have absolutely no more room on there, so I hope I don't need any new spices anytime soon!<br />
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I was too busy carving to take any action photos, so here is the finished product:<br />
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I love that his mouth is asymmetrical. I think it makes it extra spooky. The bat hanging in the background doesn't hurt. ;)<br />
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After I was done with the carving, I wanted to toast up the seeds for a late night snack. <br />
First, I separated the seeds from the goo.<br />
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Then I spread them out on a cookie sheet (in a single layer, not like the pile in my photo)<br />
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Then I added seasoning. I wanted a sweet but salty and spicy pumpkin seed, so I mixed in a few different ingredients. Brown sugar, kosher salt, Dee Felice Jazzed Hot Sauce, and Worcestershire Sauce. Plus a little butter and garlic.<br />
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When the seeds were roasting, my kitchen smelled like a summer time bbq. Until the seasoning started to burn off on the foil.<br />
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I think I was lucky that the seeds themselves didn't burn, because I definitely had the oven on the wrong temperature.<br />
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Still, the seeds were quite yummy.<br />
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For Halloween itself, we dressed up as Batman and Poison Ivy. <br />
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I hope you had a Happy Halloween!</div>Queen City Yamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11452155761145745866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241147076276524355.post-55952168627148663962011-10-19T18:45:00.000-07:002011-10-19T18:45:19.662-07:00Currant and Spice Oatmeal CookiesI don't know what it's like where you live, but it is starting to get downright cold here in Cincinnati. I walked home from class tonight in a very cold rain. Nothing brings out the baker and soup maker in me more then a cold spell.<br />
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Last weekend, I wanted to make some cookies to take to a family gathering. I looked around on Epicurious until I found something I could make with the ingredients I had on hand.<br />
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Then I found it. <a href="http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Currant-and-Spice-Oatmeal-Cookies-106983">Currant and Spice Oatmeal Cookies</a>.<br />
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Currants are one of those things I buy from time to time for a recipe that never gets made a second time. And then I have the extra box on hand for lord knows how long. Don't worry, I checked the expiration date on it before I used them :) See, you can almost see the date in this picture.<br />
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The recipe wanted you to rehydrate the currants using beaten eggs mixed with vanilla extract. I gave it a shot, but I'm pretty sure it just turned them into fatter currants...I'm not sure it was a crucial step to cookie success.<br />
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A few dry currants managed to sneak into the mix without being rehydrated, but it still turned out just fine.<br />
While the currants were soaking, I beat together the brown sugar and butter. This would have been much easier if I'd used the stand that came with the mixer. I was really fighting with it.<br />
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Here is where I almost ruined the cookies. It looks finished, right?<br />
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I was so convinced that it was finished that I started to put away ingredients while the oven finished pre-heating. Then I realized something was missing!<br />
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You can't have Currant and Spice OATMEAL Cookies without the oatmeal! I was so glad that I caught my mistake before it was too late. Here is the mix with the oatmeal stirred in.<br />
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We had to depart for the Newport is Haunted Tour (more on that later!) right after the cookies were done, so I didn't get a picture until later. I quickly realized my camera was still on the 'sepia' toned setting from the tour, and decided to have a little fun with it. Here is a weird picture of me with a spooky Halloween owl!<br />
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And, in the spirit of weird pictures, here is a picture that shows off my Halloween manicure, with the cookie.<br />
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These cookies were delicious. They got rave reviews from everyone that ate them. I will definitely be saving this recipe to make again. This recipe would very easily lend itself to modification with different fruits or nuts or chocolate chips. Let me know if you try it out!Queen City Yamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11452155761145745866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241147076276524355.post-51557667437280723212011-10-17T15:21:00.000-07:002011-10-17T15:21:31.763-07:00King's Island Halloween Haunt<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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I love going to King's Island……when there aren't long lines or big
crowds. I love to ride the roller coasters and eat funnel cake and just
plain enjoy myself. However, I tend to avoid it during summer due to the
heat and what I assume are massive crowds. Waiting in line for 2 hours
just doesn't sound fun to me.<br />
<br />
Long lines can mostly be avoided if you visit during King’s Island Halloween
Haunt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They have most of the roller
coasters and rides open, plus, they feature multiple haunted houses and ghouls
circulating all over the park.<br />
<br />
As we walked through the metal detectors and waited to get our admission
tickets scanned, ghouls of all shapes and sizes surrounded us and began scaring
the daylights out of the crowd.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We went
on opening night and these scary folks were ready to go!<br />
<br />
While there were a lot of people waiting to get in when the park opened,
there were not long lines for most of the rides.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were able to walk right on to several of
the rides and many others only ran through a time or two before it was our
turn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of the newer rides had lines,
but we only waited about 30 minutes for them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Towards the beginning and end of the evening we experienced the shortest
wait times.<br />
<br />
I’ll divide the rest of my review into four sections: Haunts, Rides, Attractions,
and Food.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Haunts:</u></b></span><br />
<br />
Mysteria is described on King’s Islands web site as the following:<br />
“Get ready to enter a new dimension where nothing is as it appears.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the world of Mysteria, your senses will
never be the same!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Enter at your own peril!”<br />
<br />
Mysteria was by far the strangest haunted house I’ve ever gone through.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The actors were dressed in full body spandex suits,
face and all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was indoors with a
chain link maze from one end to the other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The actors made weird movements and peered at you through their costumes
but made little to no sounds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As it
would be difficult to see all the features at King’s Island during their open
hours, I would recommend that you not add Mysteria to your ‘Must See’ list.<br />
<br />
My favorite haunt by far was the “Tombstone Terror-tory.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This incorporates the train that takes you
between the water park area and the roller coasters during the normal park
season.<br />
<br />
<i>“Covered bridges and foggy terrain disguise the evil that lurks in every
direction as you travel aboard a midnight train.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But don’t be alarmed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We guarantee you’ll make it to your final
destination!”</i><br />
<br />
According to a few King’s Island enthusiast friends of mine, “The train gets
hijacked every year!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, I’d never
gone on it and it was a complete surprise to me when the train stopped in the
dark scary woods.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then, hijacking ghosts
boarded the train and ordered everybody off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>My boyfriend wasn’t moving fast enough, so I literally jumped over him
in his seat to get off the train.<br />
<br />
After they scared us off the train, we followed a wooden bridge trail back
to the main park.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course there were
monsters around every bend, which was to be expected.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, a couple of them still managed to
scare me quite well.<br />
<br />
We didn’t get to go through many of the haunted houses because I was more
interested in the rides.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we have a
chance to go back this year, I’d really like to check out Urgent Scare and
Holiday Horror.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Rides:</u></b></span><br />
<br />
My boyfriend says that I am brave until I am on a roller coaster.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tend to do a decent bit of screaming. We rode a lot of the rides and it was very
much fun.<br />
<br />
Windseeker is one of the newer rides at King’s Island.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a classic swing in a circle ride, but
it goes very high up in the air and twirls you around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It offered a wonderful view of the park and
was quite romantic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t expect to get
a smooch on this ride, however, because you are very securely belted in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just hold hands instead.<br />
<br />
The Beast is my favorite if I find myself at King’s Island after night
falls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It goes into a dark corner of the
park and is absolutely terrifying.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
screamed so loud on The Beast that the people behind us were laughing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Behind us?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Yes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The line for the ride was so
short, we waited a few extra minutes to sit in the very front seat on The
Beast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well worth it!<br />
<br />
Firehawk makes you feel like superman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You end up going through this ride on your belly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was quite fun, but was the first coaster
I’ve ever ridden while wearing glasses (I was preparing to get tested for LASIK),
and I was terrified they would fall off!<br />
<br />
<u><b><span style="font-size: large;">Attractions:</span></b></u><br />
<br />
My boyfriend loves wrestling and was excited to hear that King’s Island was
hosting the Half Pint Brawlers, a wrestling troupe made up of little people.<br />
<br />
This was by far one of the worst shows I’ve ever seen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The fellow they picked to MC the pre-show
droned on and on like an automatic tape player and was completely unable to
engage the audience.<br />
I was horrified when the brawlers walked into the ring with staple guns and
proceeded to request dollar bills from the audience to staple to each other.<br />
<br />
The MC kept saying, “Are you ready to see a midget bleed?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was not prepared for that, especially if
the bleeding was going to be initiated with a staple gun instead of a wrestling
match.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Call me old fashioned…<br />
We didn’t stay at Half Pint Brawlers show for very long and I would be
surprised if King’s Island invites these fellows back for another year.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Food:</u></b></span><br />
<br />
We got a couple Five Guys Burgers and ate in the car on our way to King’s
Island.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was a cost effective idea
and served us well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had a funnel cake
as a late night snack, and then got some apple cider and hot chocolate at their
Starbucks to drink on our way home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
needed a hot drink to soothe my throat after all the screaming I did.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Summary:</u></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>
</u></b></span><br />
We had an amazing time at King’s Island and I can’t wait to go back next
Halloween.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We got there before it opened
and stayed until the park closed and they played a recording that said, “Get
out!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You should do your best to make it
there for Halloween Haunt.<br />
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<br /></div>Queen City Yamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11452155761145745866noreply@blogger.com0