New York City!

On Friday, I am going on a plane to New York City! I am very excited to go even though I have been there before. I love the food in the city because of its many flavors, varieties and colors. I can't wait! I will keep posting about where I have eaten and will post pictures of the food I am eating.

Popping Popping Everywhere!

So, the other day, my dad went to a movie-themed party and he got me the coolest cookbook ever. The big question is, "what is it." Have you ever heard of a book which specializes in popcorn?! This book, Popcorn by Patrick Evans-Hylton has everything popcorn. Did you know that in ancient times, popcorn was popped by placing corn kernels in a bowl with sand, and then putting that over a fire and heating it up? This book is filled with compelling facts and recipes which, if I say so myself, look astonishing. On the other hand, pomegranate popcorn is not that appetizing to me. There are 60 recipes that will satisfy everybody! I think that popcorn is an amazing food and can be transformed into a winter food, a summer food, or an everyday food. Certainly, I never heard of putting lavender in popcorn (although that could be good!). I really advise you to check out this book!

Cookie Swap

This year, I decided that I wanted to have a cookie swap. I have never done it before, but I am going to go at it and observe the results. I think that it is going to be really fun because, I am going to have some girlfriends over and they are each going to bring a batch of cookies. I will probably have each guest bring a different cookie because we don't want a lot of repeats. I guarantee you at least half of the guests will offer to bring chocolate chip cookies. Oh well! They are going to come over and we will have a tea sort of lunch. You know, the typical cream cheese and cucumber sandwiches. Not that typical here, but in England that is really popular. After this of course the main idea comes along which is swapping! I will provide containers for everybody and they can pick and choose whatever is to their liking. There will still be time left, so we will play a lot of games and just have girl fun. I really love this idea and I think that if you are bored, then you should plan a cookie swap. These are my guidelines, but feel free to mess around with them for your party!

Guidelines-
1) All cookies are homemade.
2) No cookie mixes, no-bakes, or bars. (Brownies are acceptable)
3) Please bring approximately 2 dozen cookies.
4) Email a copy of your recipe to me.
5) RSVP to me as soon as you can along with what type of cookie you are bringing. (We don't want to have a lot of repeats, or any!)

I want to make a recipe book for everybody so that is why I asked everyone to email me their recipe! Hope this turns out good. Wish me luck! I will post again to keep you updated.

Nutballs

When you see the name Nut Balls, it may not sound that appetizing to you, but trust me they are! Nut Balls actually have many different names. Some people call them Mexican Wedding Cookies. Others, call them Russian Teacakes. You can call them whatever you want, but basically, they are soft and powdery cookies with pecans that melt in your mouth. They are a really simple dessert to make and I am sure you will love them! Here's the recipe...

Nut Balls

Ingredients

1/2 pound butter

10 tablespoons confectioner's sugar

2 cups flour

2 cups chopped pecans

4 teaspoons vanilla

2 teaspoons water

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Cream the butter and sugar well - remember the butter must be soft ( take out of the fridge several hours before making). Mix in the flour and then mix in the rest of the ingredients. Roll the dough into balls that are slightly smaller than golf balls. Put them on a cookie sheet (that is either greased with butter or lined with parchment paper). Bake for 20-25 minutes. When they come out of the oven - and you must be careful about this because the cookies are very hot - roll them in a bowl of additional confectioner's sugar. I usually pick them up off the tray with a large spoon and then throw them gently in the bowl of confectioner's sugar. I toss them around with the spoon and all of the sugar sticks to the cookie. Yum!!!

If you make these for friends that come over, I can almost guarantee that they will go "nuts" over them!!!

Necessary Napkins

The other day, when our family friends, Jim and Jamie, came over, they brought us a gift of 6 hand picked, cotton napkins. You may wonder, what is so special about a gift of cotton napkins? Well I'll tell you. These incredibly colorful napkins came from a store in San Luis Obispo, called Picking Daisies which specializes in selling napkins. The store is small, but they have a large selection of napkins. In fact, there over 50 different designs to choose from. Some are plain and some are mind-blowing! They have everything from stripes to paisleys. Some are seasonal and some are everyday, all are 100% cotton (which my mother tells me is a real good thing because they don't have to be ironed). My personal favorite is a very colorful one which has paisleys of all sizes. This store is owned by three sisters, Ann, Kay, and Dede, who sew these napkins. It is very sweet and their merchandise makes you feel at home. They also sell some place mats and cards. I know most of you reading this don't live in San Luis Obispo but go ahead and check out their website called www.pickingdaisiesinslo.com These make a great gift and they are reasonably priced. On top of everything, these napkins are green because you can use them over and over again which is better than using paper napkins which you have to throw away! I love these and I think you will too.

Joanne Weir, Someone I Admire

I am very fortunate to say that I am developing a relationship with an

amazing chef, Joanne Weir, who is not only a best-selling author, but has

had her own cooking show on PBS. Based in San Francisco, Joanne has

followers from everywhere, and I am one of them. For a school project, I

chose Joanne as someone who I admire and am inspired by. Here is my school

report...

Joanne Weir has a very compelling story to tell. She has led a very interesting life because she is a famous chef. She was inspired as a chef in many different ways. First off, she is a fourth generation chef. Her mom always loved to cook. She planned the menus at a private school. Her grandpa owned a beautiful big dairy farm called the Bryant Farm in the Berkshires. Her great grandma was the bread winner for the family since her husband had died at sea in a sailing accident. She had to feed the family so she went to work at restaurant at the turn of the century called Pilgrim’s Pantry.

Joanne’s fondest memory in the kitchen was when she was baking oatmeal raisin cookies with her mother. Instead of adding a teaspoon of baking soda, she put in a cup. Wow! As you can imagine, those cookies did not turn out as they were supposed to.

Over the years, Joanne has had cooking shows and has authored many cookbooks. She teaches a lot of cooking classes and has food tours. May I mention, she also has a fantastic blog -http://joanneweir.blogspot.com/.

In Joanne’s free time she likes to do a lot of things. She likes to hang out and cook for friends. She also likes to work on her blog, take photos, and watch movies. Along with that, she enjoys spending time in San Francisco. Most of all, she loves to travel! She has visited so many places it is hard to keep track of them all.

Now, Joanne Weir is a newlywed to Joe Ehrlich. They went on their honeymoon to Greece and it was beautiful. She lives in San Francisco with no pets.

If Joanne could have anything she wanted for dinner, it would be pretty tough to choose, but if she had to, she could do it. As an appetizer, she would have a delectable ravioli with ricotta, tomato, and basil as the filling. For the main course she would have spit roasted lamb with salsa verde. The side dishes would be potatoes with olive oil and rosemary along with string beans. For dessert there would be almond cake with roasted peaches inside and swiss buttercream.That’s the same cake she had when she got married!

Brownie Mania!

I love some good brownies every once in a while. So, when my Uncle Andrew called and asked me for a delicious brownie recipe, I thought of one of my mom's simple, yummy recipe's with chocolate chunks and pecans. Yesterday, my mom and I made them in the middle of the day and boy was there a lot of whisking. My arm was happy when we had finished. Have you ever felt like that? This recipe makes a chocolatey, dense square of wonder. I think my mom found it a long time ago on the back of a Nestle chocolate chip bag. It has since evolved and we now use, my favorite, Trader Joe's dark chocolate and fresh pecans. It is a straightfoward recipe that you can make all by hand. The only thing you may need is an adult's help with melting the butter.

Ingredients

3/4 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/3 cup butter

3/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons water

12 ounces dark chocolate (broken into pieces), divided in half

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

1/2 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

First, mix the flour and baking soda together. Set that aside. Next, in a pot, combine the butter, sugar, and water. Mix that until all of the chunks of butter are melted and it just starts to boil. Turn the stove off and add half of the chocolate (6 ounces) to the mixture. Stir until all of the chocolate pieces have melted. Then, add the vanilla. That should turn into a thick chocolate mixture. Pour this mixture into a bowl and whisk the eggs in, one at a time, beating well after each egg. Then mix the dry ingredients in slowly; stir in remaining chocolate and nuts. Mix well! Pour that into a 9-inch buttered baking pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Be especially careful not to overbake as brownies will become dried out. Enjoy!!!!!