Genkinaonna

A friend's husband posted a picture of a cake shaped like a can of Budweiser on Facebook and tagged me in it...some people are SO subtle...lol... Since I had less than 48 hours from Facebook post to birthday party, I went simple and cut the shape of the bottle out of a sheet cake rather than doing a three dimensional cake. But I was REALLY happy with how the lettering turned out, I did it freehand with a paintbrush. I generally get ALMOST to the end of a lettering project and then mess up the last letter! Perfectionists will notice that some of the lettering on the label was omitted...I plead lack of time and the fact that my piping skills leave much to be desired...

I've already made Santa's whiskers, which are a pecan, coconut and candied cherry shortbread slice and bake cookie. They won't last until Christmas, but they're a family tradition. I'm planning on making rum balls, mint chip brownies, and World Peace cookies this weekend. Most of them will go to the preschool my daughter attends, I don't want them hanging around the house where I'll eat them all myself!

David, that's absolutely LOVELY. I had foie gras with huckleberries at a restaurant a couple years ago and was very taken with the combination. And I have a whole bush of huckleberries in the back yard right now...the wheels are turning!

The timing is really perfect for me, I have to talk to DH and see if he can swing a "work trip" out east and I might actually be able to make this. Hooray!

I just started pulling the big tomatoes out of my garden, although I've been getting little ones for more than a month. It was a relatively cool and long spring, so it took the plants some time to really start producing. I made some sauce with about half of the Romas and Amish Pastes that I had, the rest will be done tomorrow afternoon. We had an odd rainy day (it doesn't usually rain all summer) about 2 weeks ago and quite a few of my tomatoes split . I'm not quite sure what to do with all the slicing tomatoes I'm going to be getting, I think I'm going to give quite a few to friends and find some good looking mozzarella for the rest.

Soba-I'll be stealing that recipe! We have so many potatoes from our CSA right now I'm afraid their going to go bad before we use them all. And I know it sounds unbelievable, but there really are only so many bowls of mashed potatoes you can eat!

I should be getting my copy on the 4th...the day before I leave on a trip to Vegas... I'm thinking bringing a book instead of clothing for the trip wouldn't be the best idea, but I'm sure tempted!

I always use papers, I don't do the dishes and have unhappy dishwashers if muffin tin scrubbing is required. I generally just try to not overfill the papers, so no batter is in contact with the tin once it rises, and pop them out onto a cooling rack as soon as the tin's cool enough to pick up.

Trader Joe's does a frozen pie crust, you get two in a package, so enough for one double crust pie. They are rolled really thick in the packages, you'd have to do some additional rolling, which might be a nice middle ground between making their own from scratch and just flopping a premade crust into a pan. Plus the trader joe's crusts taste quite a bit better than the pillsbury ones, at least to me. I agree with Janeer though, it's definitely going to work better if you divide and conquer, break down the tasks into groups and have everyone do one part. Good luck! I'm definitely a solitary baker, although I will let my kiddos help in the kitchen if they promise not to be under my feet!

Dan-I'll go with cooler, it's certainly a cooling drink! And I really like the lime soda, it's less tart, and I like my drinks on the sweet side. But I have made it with lime juice and San Pellegrino with excellent results, I just have to add a little more simple syrup.

My drink of choice at night is a cucumber basil gimlet. I'm not a mixologist, so I don't know how true to the name it is, but I muddle an inch long piece of cucumber, several basil leaves, and about 1/2 oz of simple syrup in a shaker. Add to that 1 1/2 oz gin (Tanqueray, because that's what I have in the house) and ice, and shake it up. Strain over crushed ice, add 4 oz lime DRY Soda. Garnish with a lime slice and a basil leaf. Best summer drink ever!

Jiff crunchy peanut butter, grape jelly, and squishy white bread. With a big glass of milk. As someone else mentioned, some things from childhood shouldn't be messed with!

Part of the reason I haven't been on for quite a while is that I've been playing in the dirt! I had 4 3x3 garden beds built for my bitty tiny yard, and between that and a 20x20 space I'm renting from a farmer about 5 min from my house I should have a ton of produce this summer. Right now I've got two kinds of oregano, regular thyme, lemon thyme, summer savory, three BIG parsley plants, tarragon, rosemary, stevia, sugar peas, three kinds of strawberries (two june bearing and one overbearing), Paris Market carrots, blueberry bushes, huckleberry bushes, garlic chives, regular chives, society garlic, peas, kentucky wonder beans (damn slugs are eating the hell out of them though, really need to put up the copper tape I bought) and four kinds of lettuce. I have starts that I've grown from seed for 7 varieties of tomatoes, and I bought starts for 13 more varieties. I also have a bunch of basil starts almost ready to put out in the garden, and some swiss chard that was hanging out from last fall. I can't wait til things really get going!

Wow reading this before breakfast was a big mistake! Now I'm starving . I LOVE Lebanese food, and I'd love to visit someday, although I might not fit through the door on the plane on the way back... Great blog, thanks for braving the horrible traffic for us eGulleteers...

Maybe mustard? That'd be my guess if there's no pepper-y note to it but there's heat. Good luck!

My son is quite excited about version 3.0! I am too...lol...

Dejah-What a lovely holiday meal! And what a beautiful little girl helping you eat it! Ravioli for dinner last night: Chicken, feta, and spinach with alfredo sauce, 5 cheese with marinara, and (my favorite) potato, mascarpone, and proscuitto with white wine butter sauce, roasted tomatoes, and arugula. I only got pics of the last ones, the others got devoured too quickly. And for dessert, chocolate chestnut buche de noel...which was so good for something I put together on the spur of the moment when I realized I was out of butter and couldn't make the cake I was planning on making...

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your world with us! Every time I take a peek in, I get HUNGRY! Kudos for all your hard work!

I got money, which I'll be using to pick out my OWN kitchen gifts...lol...I also got a meat slicer, which I actually opened early, since my dad (the one who bought it for me) wanted corned beef on the 20th for his birthday. Merry Christmas to all my friends on eGullet!

Those chocolates are gorgeous! I love making mendiants...they're so beautiful and you can use whatever the best dried fruit and nuts you have on the top. And I seriously could eat potato pancakes until I pop... Have you always been a vegetarian?

I resolve to try out one new grain every week...when I run out, I'll go back and do some experimenting with recipes involving grains other than wheat.

I always stock up on the frozen puff pastry while they have it in stock...as a matter of fact, I have some palmiers in the oven right now for a cookie swap!

I'll second Trader Joes...best quality choc for the price!

Wow what a great start to the blog! Can't get any fresher than milk right from the camel!

Someone's making hot chocolate! Darienne?