Hello Harvest

So, today, we received the most awesome gift from the most awesome family. Our friends, are so thoughtful and we were so happy to find this box waiting on our front door step! We got a basket from Hello Harvest which is a company that sends baskets of fresh, locally farmed food depending on the season. We got a basket for winter harvest that includes: satsuma oranges, leeks, squash, fuji apples, swiss chard, celery, artisanal bread, and organic eggs. Their website is www.helloharvest.com We are so happy to have the gift of fresh food and as I write this, I sit next to the basket smelling the fabulous fruits and vegetables. Compliments to them on this fabulous idea! I am very excited to use some these foods in maybe a stew or a salad. Comment if you have any other ideas on what we could use these foods for! Happy Holidays!!!!!

xoxo,

stella

Thanksgiving Cranberry Sauce

I LOVE Thanksgiving! Why? Because of all of the seasonal flavors and smells. Being in the kitchen when herb roasted turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie are cooking, oh! The best smells ever... But, my favorite dish is cranberry sauce. The tangy cranberries drizzled on top of the turkey is my personal favorite dish. I have always been making cranberry sauce and so this is my favorite recipe!

Everyday Food's Cranberry Sauce Yum...

Makes 3 1/2 cups

2 bags (12 ounces each) fresh or frozen cranberries

1 1/2 cups sugar

4 wide strips orange zest, plus 1 cup fresh orange juice

1/2 cup water

Coarse salt and ground pepper

In a medium saucepan, combine cranberries, sugar, orange zest, and water; season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil over medium-high. Reduce to a simmer and cook until thickened, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in orange juice. (To store, refrigerate, up to 1 week. Bring to room temperature before serving) Enjoy!!!

Paper Breakfast

I know that the title does not sound appealing, but paper breakfasts are really neat! One person created a huge breakfast entirely out of paper. I know that it would take me a long time to create just one glass of milk out of paper. (I have a tough time with arts and crafts!)

Quick Photo!

I just wanted to let you guys know how much I love this photo! Every time I look at it, it makes me feel happy (and I love cupcakes which is an added bonus!).

Foodscapes!

I recently found out about this artist named Carl Warner who makes landscapes out of food. He is very talented in delicately placing the food so that it looks like a landscape painting, but if you look closely, it is food!

Hot Fudge Sundaes

My brother and I always love a nice hot fudge sundae! In these photos we are making hot fudge (and tasting it as you can see!). Here is a recipe for chocolate ganache frosting that is super simple and delicious. We use it for hot fudge because you can whip it up in, literally 5 minutes.

Yummy Hot Fudge!

1/2 cup heavy cream

6 ounces semisweet or dark chocolate, broken into 1/2- ounce pieces

Heat 1/2 cup heavy cream in a 1 1/2- quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil. Put 6 ounces semisweet or dark chocolate in a stainless steel bowl. Pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Mix with a whisk until smooth.

Scoop some ice cream into a bowl and drizzle some warm hot fudge on top! If you like, add a dollop of whipped cream!

Check It Out!

This woman makes pendants, rings, earrings and other jewelry out of faux food! How cool is that?!

Here is her website!

http://www.petitplat.fr/galleries.html

Pie in the Face!

My favorite treat all year long is a nice slice of banana cream pie! I love sinking my fork into a dreamy rich heaven of whipped cream, chocolate, and bananas! Here is a great recipe for banana cream pie. There are two types of ways you can do the crust. You can make a graham cracker crust or a chocolate wafer crust. My personal favorite is the chocolate wafer crust but whatever suits your taste works. If you would like the chocolate wafer crust see the bottom and skip the graham cracker crust part.

Ingredients

• Cooking spray
• 12 graham cracker squares (6 full sheets)
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 1/2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
• 3 tablespoons boiling water
• 1/3 cup, plus 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 1/2 cups 1 percent lowfat milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups sliced banana (3 medium bananas)
• 1/4 cup whipping cream
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray a 9-inch pie plate with cooking spray. In a food processor, process graham crackers until finely ground. Add butter and 1 tablespoon of water, and process until the crumb clumps together. Press crumb mixture into bottom of pie plate and about 1/2-inch up the sides. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes, then let cool.

In the meantime, make the filling. Put the gelatin in a small bowl; add 3 tablespoons of boiling water and stir until gelatin is dissolved. In a medium saucepan, whisk together 1/3 cup of sugar and the flour. In a medium bowl lightly beat the milk and eggs together. Add the egg and milk mixture to the saucepan and whisk so the flour and sugar dissolve. Cook over a medium heat, stirring constantly, for 10 minutes, until mixture comes to a boil and has thickened. Stir in the vanilla extract and gelatin. Set aside to cool slightly.

Arrange the sliced bananas on the graham cracker crust and pour the pudding on top. Place in the refrigerator until the pudding has set, about 3 hours.

Whip the cream with an electric beater. When it is about halfway done, add 1/2 teaspoon of sugar, then continue whipping until fully whipped. Slop the whipped cream onto the pie! Enjoy!

Courtesy Ellie Krieger

Chocolate Wafer Crust

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted

30 chocolate wafers (enough to make 1 1/2 cups crumbs)

Coat a 9-inch pie pan with 2 tablespoons of the butter. In a food processor, chop the chocolate wafers into fine crumbs. Transfer to a small bowl and mix in the rest of the melted butter. Pat the mixture over the bottom and sides of the pan. Freeze for at least 30 minutes.

A Brownie Baking Memory

Here is a really funny picture that I found when I was rummaging through old photos today! I was four years old and was busy baking some delicious brownies with my new apron and Jack, my big brother (who is not in this photo). I am sure he got to lick the spoon covered in ooey gooey batter and was delighted to share in that joy. You see, my job is to actually bake the treats and Jack's job, well it's not really a job but, he gets to feed his passion for eating sweets!

A Once In A Lifetime Experience

At a gorgeous house in Malibu, on July 20, I was eating a burger poolside next to Giada de Laurentiis surrounded by bright lights and big cameras. You might wonder, why would that be? Well, I was invited to make a guest appearance on Giada at Home for a pool party episode. I was tickled pink to find out that I was going to be on a tv show with one of the most famous chefs in the food industry. I brought my brother along with me and since it was a pool party episode, our job was to splash around in the pool while Giada grilled burgers. When it was time, we ate the food.

The menu was genius for a pool party and all of the kids seemed to enjoy it!

It was simple and yummy...

-Burgers a la Pizzaiola
-Penne in Brown Butter with Arugula and Pine Nuts

-Tropical Watermelon Sorbet

I imagine you might ask what are Burgers a la Pizzaiola. Let me tell you, they are no ordinary cooked round patties of beef. They are burgers stuffed with everything you would find on a pizza; sun dried tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes. They were so tasty. Then there was penne with a brown butter sauce, cherry tomatoes, arugula, and pine nuts. The penne was al dente and the brown butter sauce had a nice flavor to it. As for dessert, there was a really refreshing watermelon sorbet - pretty straight forward.

I couldn't believe how welcoming and gracious Giada was. She was unbelievably kind and sweet to me and made me feel so comfortable. I look up to her and I realized how confident and poised she is. She knows exactly what she is going to say with no script on hand. She was a natural at leading our group. Her 2 year old daughter Jade, was on the show and she is adorable. Hearing her pronounce the word wahtamemon (watermelon) was just the cutest thing.

Giada's pool party was a great experience for me and I really enjoyed meeting everyone on team Giada~ producer, Ann, assistant, Jocelyn, makeup artists, Cynde and Julie, and of course, Giada herself. As soon as I get the recipe for the burgers I will post it! In the meantime, here's another recipe from Giada that I love...

Mushroom Parmesan

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for greasing the grill pan
• 4 to 6 portobello mushrooms
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup marinara sauce (store bought or homemade)
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
• 2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces

Directions

Place a grill pan over medium-high heat or preheat a gas or charcoal grill.

Drizzle 3 tablespoons of olive oil over both sides of the mushrooms. Sprinkle the mushrooms with salt and pepper. Drizzle olive oil on the grill to prevent the mushrooms from sticking. Grill until the mushrooms are heated through and tender, about 5 minutes per side.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Spread 1/2 cup of the marinara sauce on the bottom of a 9 by 13-inch baking dish. Place the grilled mushrooms on top of the marinara sauce and top with the remaining marinara sauce. Sprinkle with the cheeses and top with the butter pieces. Bake until the cheese melts and the top is golden, about 15 minutes. Serve. And Enjoy!!!

Thirst Quenching Summer Treat

Who doesn't love a nice, cold, and refreshing drink in the middle of a hot, summer day? I know I do. My mom made an amazing two glass' of watermelon juice for my brother and me. With a spritz of lime it makes the perfect after camp snack (especially with some fresh cut up watermelon on the side). It is really simple and you can also make popsicles out of it. Here is the recipe-

Watermelon Juice


1/2 of a watermelon cut into cubes

A handful of ice cubes

2 teaspoons of lime juice


Mix everything in the blender. If you prefer it smooth, then strain it and pour into glasses.



Watermelon Popsicles


1 recipe watermelon juice


Pour the watermelon juice into popsicle makers and then freeze for about 6 hours.

The Greatest Cooking School in the World!!!

I am currently going to camp at the New School of Cooking in Culver City and I absolutely love it. Each day we "go" to a different country and we make 4-5 dishes from that country. Then, at the end of the day we get to eat it all! The head chef is Carol Cotner and she is an amazing chef with a great personality. Then there are three other teachers in my class. There is Pace, Sue, and Hillary. Pace is really good at cooking chicken, Sue is a master chopper and Hillary is really good at teaching and making desserts! My favorite day was on Thursday. We cooked the foods from France and made this really good chicken paillard in a shallot-butter sauce. We also made magnificent chocolate eclairs drizzled with a homemade chocolate glaze. The New school of Cooking also teaches professional classes which focus on one type of food. I think that this is an amazing school and if you ever find yourself in Culver City, then you should definitely check it out!

My Fun-Filled, Food-Packed, Shopping-Crazy Trip to New York

I have come back from my trip to New York, and I have to say it was fantastic. We saw 2 broadway shows and they both went over the top (in a good way that is). If you are ever in New York, you have got to see Billy Elliott. The dancing is phenomenal and we had a great Billy. Fela! was a very lively show and yet again the dancing was great. It also has a very interesting story. We had second row seats so my mom was joking that the actors sweat was going to fly onto us. It turned out that our seats were marvelous. So, the theatre district restaurants that we went to, Becco and Osteria la Doge, were just average. Becco is a restaurant that I was looking forward to because it is owned by Lidia Bastianich and her son. I have watched Lidia's cooking shows and I have made pasta with my mom from one of her cook books. Unfortunately, our experience was underwhelming. We hardly noticed the food because the restaurant was swarming with people and was super crazy with waiters running from end to end. It just so happened that the night we were dining there, a gang of toddlers was eating next to us and we suffered from their relentless impersonations of owls. It was completely bananas! Osteria la Doge was nothing special, but the spinach salad did have some good fried onions on top as a garnish. The restaurant was quite toasty, but then again I am not blaming this on the restaurant because it was like 100 degrees out! Balthazar, on the other hand, was spectacular! My mom and I shared an ooey-gooey cheese plate which included a camembert, goat cheese, blue cheese, and a hard cow's milk cheese. We then had the chicken for two which was really tasty and was accompanied by two large containers bulging at the seams with salty french fries. I know that I am already overwhelming you with too much food, but wait there is more! For dessert we had a small scoop of lip-smacking ice cream and the waitress, who, by the way, was fantastic, brought over a large saucer overflowing with rich, chocolate pot du creme.

It feels good to be home with my main squeeze Daisy (my 7 year old Labradoodle) but NYC was fantabulous. Now, I am going to start my favorite camp in the whole, wide world-cooking camp. To find out about my adventures there, stick around for more! See ya!

New York Restaurants

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to let you know that I am going to New York, one of my favorite places in the world, with my mom in a couple of days. We have a few dinner reservations planned so far, but are looking for some new suggestions. If you have any recommendations, please post a comment.

p.s. the theater district would be good.

Mouthwatering Chicken Parmesan

SO, on a beautiful night, my dad decided to make us a special Italian dinner. He made us chicken parmesan and a delicious caesar salad. My brother and I love our caesar salads and we always love to critique the salad. Let me tell you, this salad had all of the elements that you look for! The chicken parmesan just melted in your mouth and it had this bubbling layer of scrumptious cheese on top of the smooth tomato sauce. Just writing about it makes my mouth water! Anyway, I am probably making your mouth water too, so here is the amazing recipe which is now a family favorite.

Homemade Chicken Parmesan

Ingredients

2 28-oz cans of Crushed and Ground Tomatoes

4 cloves garlic, chopped

½ bunch of basil

1/2 cup of olive oil

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast

½ lb mozzarella cheese

2 eggs

bread crumbs

pepper

salt

In a saucepan, pour half the oil and bring to medium heat.

Carefully add garlic

When garlic is golden, carefully pour in tomatoes and then basil leaves.

Add a pinch of salt and stir. Bring it down to a low heat and stir occasionally for 20 minutes.

If you are a mutli-tasker you can make the chicken at the same time. If you want to take it easy, wait until sauce is cooked and then follow the next steps.

Put the chicken breasts in between two pieces of wax paper and pound them down. Use a meat tenderizer, or a rolling pin, or anything that will get out your frustrations.

Take bowls. In one, mix the two eggs. In the other, spread the bread crumbs.

Start a frying pan on medium heat and pour in other ¼ cup of oil. Enough to cover the bottom of the pan.

Take each chicken breast and, one at a time, dip in the eggs and then in the bread crumbs. Then, with care, easily place in the hot pan. When you have all four fit in snugly, let it cook to a nice, golden brown. First, about 7 minutes on one side and then about 5 minutes on the other. Be aware that the time in the pan is dependent on how much pounding you did. The less thick the breast, the less time in the pan. Make certain the chicken breast is cooked all the way through.

While you are cooking the chicken, pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees.

When the chicken is cooked through, prepare a baking dish by spooning some sauce around the bottom of the dish. Then place the four cooked breasts in the dish. Again, spoon the sauce, generously on each chicken breast. Be generous!

Then, take your mozzarella and, if its shredded, pour it on each breast. If it’s not shredded you can take think slices of the mozzarella and place them on the sauce, on the chicken.

Cook the chicken in the hot oven for 15 minutes and it will look as if you are in Little Italy in any major city in the U.S. Maybe it will look like it would in Italy, but I’ve never been there, so I don’t know.

For heartier eaters, you can serve with some linguine, using the rest of the sauce, but, for sure, this would be delicious with a Caeser Salad. Use your own recipe for now. I’ll publish my recipe in a future posting.

Buon Giorno.

Vibrant Vanilla

My Uncle Andrew was recently visiting us from Norman, Oklahoma. He is a purist and is super passionate about everything he does, so as a gift, he gave me some fresh vanilla beans . He purchased these long, sleek, brown, beans from a local spice store. They came in pretty glass bottles with brown labels. One bottle was from Madagascar and the other was from Mexico. We decided to bake some of our favorite cookies, and instead of using the regular, bottled vanilla extract, we used the vanilla from inside the beans. We carefully sliced opened the long bean and there were multiple, black spots (seeds) inside, waiting to be scraped out. We had to look up the correct equivalent amount to use since our recipe called for vanilla extract. We found different information, but the one we decided to go with, said to use a half a vanilla bean for every teaspoon of vanilla extract. We made the cookies and they turned out wonderful. You could really smell and taste the delicious vanilla. If you do use fresh vanilla, be sure not to throw the skins out because they are very useful! You can use them to flavor your coffee or french toast. I highly encourage you to stop by your local spice store and try some fresh vanilla bean!

Grandpa Bakes Muffins

When my Grandpa Perry was visiting from Florida, I decided there was one thing I had to do with him, and that was BAKE!!! We decided to bake muffins. So, we made Sunny Morning Muffins. They are packed with fruit and are really yummy. Below is the recipe! Hope you enjoy.

Sunny Morning Muffins

Ingredients

• 1 cup strawberries, chopped
• 1 cup sugar, plus 2 tablespoons
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• Pinch ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 ripe banana, mashed
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 lemon, zested
• 1/2 pint blueberries
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

Special equipment: muffin tin and muffin liners

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small bowl, mix together strawberries and 2 tablespoons sugar. Let sit 15 minutes until strawberries give off juices.

In a small bowl, mix together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg and salt.

In a large bowl, whisk together the mashed banana, eggs, oil, 1 cup sugar, strawberries, and lemon zest.

Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until combined. Do not over mix. Fold in blueberries and walnuts.

Scoop batter evenly into muffin cups. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of muffin comes out with a few crumbs but not wet, about 30 minutes. Cool on a rack to room temperature.

Credit: Chef: Sunny Anderson, Website: www.foodnetwork.com