King Cake

Yesterday, @katieanthony42 tweeted about how badly she wished she was home in Mobile celebrating Mardi Gras. I love Katie for many reasons - not the least of which is that she is from my home state, as just about anyone I meet from Alabama these days is an instant friend, especially those that also work at GHC and also happen to be Auburn fans (ahem, Carla & Frank) - but I loved her even more yesterday for giving me the wonderful idea to make a king cake.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, 2010 is the Year of the Bread for LBDelicious. So far, my pizza crust turned out just okay and ended up better as a baked cinnamon/sugar pastry. The cinnamon rolls I made from scratch for Valentine's Day were tasty, but dry and not worthy of being shared with others. I'm not exactly on a roll with the yeast breads (I'm so punny), so you can understand my apprehension about making a king cake, which looked (and was) complicated. I have very little experience with the king cake in general - I've only eaten it once, when my friend Jennifer G. from New Orleans brought in a sample to the TA office one year. I've seen them in the bakery section of Kroger for a couple of weeks, but never given any thought to how it might be constructed or baked. So, on a whim yesterday, per Katie's tweet, I found Emeril's recipe for a king cake, and decided that I'd go home and attempt it.

I followed the directions exactly. When I removed the dough from the dough hook, I didn't expect it to be *that* sticky, but it was! A little vegetable oil on my hands would've made the "shape into a ball" part easier. After the dough rose for about 2 hours, I turned it out onto my prepared surface and tried my best to make a perfectly even 30x6 rectangle. Neither geometry nor numbers are my strong suit, so you can imagine the intense concentration this part required. I kept tearing holes in the dough and figured that, at that point, it was going to turn out disastrous. Getting the filling on the dough wasn't difficult, closing it up proved slightly challenging as the dough kept trying to break apart, but the most difficult part of the whole endeavor was forming it into a cylinder.

I had no clue how to go about morphing this flimsy, persnickety log filled with cream cheesy goodness into a cylinder. And it still had to rise again?! Sheesh. After fumbling around with the dough for a while, I finally figured out that it needed to be a *circle,* not really a cylinder. This still provided quite a challenge, as the dough was still being flimsy and filling was starting to ooze out from random patches.

To make things more nerve-wracking, I swear that the dough didn't rise AT ALL for the next 45 minutes, as Emeril said it should/would. It stayed pretty flat. Disheartened, I wedged in a pecan half (Emeril said it was an acceptable substitute for a plastic baby) somewhere in the middle, placed it in the oven at the appropriate time, and made my sugar-lemon glaze. The taste of it brought me right back to being a little girl, when my mom would make a Lemon Supreme cake in a bundt pan and top it with the exact same glaze. Being the hyperactive sugar-holic I was, I would wait until the icing ran off the sides (usually only took a few seconds) scrape off the excess with my little fingers and eat it by basically the handful. Mmmmm. Handfuls of icing. Classy. Not that I did that yesterday or anything...

I got the cake out of the oven just in time to grab sushi with Dave. With all that cake-baking going on, I was in no mood to cook dinner. Bad wife, I know. When we got back, the cake had cooled somewhat, so I topped it with the glaze and had a little too much fun decorating it with the colored sugar.

I took a quick picture:

and dug in. Surprisingly, it was really, really good!

I have a new Mardi Gras tradition. Maybe next year I'll make some in time to share with y'all.

Churropillas

(subtitle: yes, I just invented a word, and somewhere in the greater Chicago area, Rick Bayless is having a heart attack, since I would have the audacity to maul the words for two different yet delicious Mexican treats.)

Before I tell you the recipe, I must say that this half marathon I've signed up for is going to be LAUGHABLE. I know I get worried about upcoming races, but seriously y'all. I'm nowhere near where I think I need to be in order to run a half. I'm sure I'll run it just fine, and I'll probably even finish somewhere just over 2 hours (which is my goal), and when I finish and am inhaling my third bagel, I'll think, "wow, that was awesome, let's do another one!" But right now, training is really tough. I ran 8 miles today, which is the longest I have ever run in my life. I am sore. I actually required a *nap* this afternoon, and I don't like naps.

But the good thing about constantly training for a half marathon or triathlon? I use it as an excuse to eat whatever the hell I want.

Tonight's carbo-loading took the form of homemade pizza. I should first say that 2010 is the "year of the bread" in Casa Dawmilam, as I am committed to learning how to cook breads of all sorts - quick breads are easy, but those involving yeast? They give me trouble. I also don't know how to make biscuits. Admitting this publicly probably embarrasses my mother and might result in the loss of my "southerner" card if I don't hurry up and learn how. Pizza dough seems easier, so that's what I did tonight. Rosalie used to make it all the time while we lived together (and it was dang tasty). But for some reason, I just don't have the hang of it yet. I think I'm not rolling it out properly.

Anticipating a potential disaster, I chopped off a little bit of my ball of dough and reserved it to "play" with. I thought that if the pizza sucked, at least I'd have a couple of breadsticks or - light bulb! - dessert breadsticks. I call them "churropillas" because they are a cross between churros and sopapillas. Dave had the genius idea to dip them in honey. They are a low-fat version of the fried sopapillas we used to get at Rosie's as dessert, and they are also a lower-fat version of churros, which I think are the same thing as these little guys, just fried.

First: make some pizza dough. And get some melted butter ready.
Then: roll it out really thinly.
Next: Slice the dough into strips. Brush with butter, and top with cinnamon and sugar.
Last: Bake it at 350 for about 15 minutes, top with honey and enjoy.

A Good Salad

I really, really wanted to take a picture of dinner last night to share with y'all. But, I was just so tired, and so hungry, and it just didn't happen. I sat down and dug in. To compensate, here's a picture of a kitten.



Because this sounds like more fun than finishing my NCA submission, here is the recipe for what Dave called "one of the best salads [he'd] ever eaten." It's got a long title. Ready?

Apple, Walnut & Bacon Salad with Warm Bacon Dijon Honey Vinaigrette, served with a Whole Wheat Baguette and Homemade Honey Butter

For the salad:
First: make bacon! I prepared about 4 slices, and make sure to save the bacon grease.
In the meantime, prepare the other ingredients as follows:
Take some greens (darker the better - I used a bag of spring greens and some spinach), rinse them, place in bowls.
Top with the following:
diced apple
some toasted walnuts
craisins
gorgonzola cheese
bacon (whenever it's finished)

For the dressing:
Whisk together about a tablespoon of the reserved bacon drippings, and about a half tablespoon of each: red wine vinegar, dijon mustard, honey. Salt and pepper to season. Taste, and add more: honey (if you want it sweeter), vinegar (if you want it tangier) or dijon (if you want it spicier). If needed, add either more bacon drippings or olive oil if you run out of bacon grease.

For the homemade honey butter (which I plan on making ALL the time now)
Let about 2 tablespoons of butter come to room temperature. Mash together with about 1/2 tablespoon honey, and a dash of salt (if you're using unsalted butter). Try not to eat it all at once.

For the bread: HA! Did you really think I'd make a whole loaf of bread from scratch just for dinner? Well, ok, I would, but I didn't last night. Thank you, Kroger.

It's only Wednesday? Really?

Words with Friends

As I type, I am playing 8 different games of "Scrabble" with: my husband (in the next room), a favorite cousin (in Athens), 2 friends from UNA (a former communication major who now lives in Texas, I think? and a former fellow LaGrange Society member/Lafayette Hall resident who now lives in New York), 1 person from Arkansas who currently lives in Kentucky and 1 person from Kentucky who currently lives in Arkansas, a former student (who I advised in UPC and taught in Public Speaking, and who used to make me and the other students laugh so hard that it was difficult to get through class), and a pilot I met at Auburn who taught me how to hug.


Just sayin'. Not only do I have awesome friends all over the place and really funny stories for all of them, but I love playing Scrabble. So, if you don't have the "Words with Friends" app on your iPod/iPhone/iTouch yet, for the love of Scrabble please download it, and start a game with me, LBDelicious.

Perfect Carrots

On Monday, I treated myself to a trip to Harry's Whole Foods in Marietta. I don't know who Harry is but he surely does have a nice little market there on Powers Ferry! Even if you don't live in the greater Atlanta area, you are probably familiar with this store because one of the last remaining good people on Food Network, Alton Brown, frequents Harry's to film for Good Eats. I have this hope, every time I go to Harry's, that I'll run into Alton while I'm there. Well, ok, running into Curtis Stone would be better. Remember that time I met him?

From LBDelicious: Recipes and Rants

*sigh* I digress.

While in Harry's, where I usually go when I want some expensive cheese, really good bread, imported French chocolates, exotic fruits & vegetables, fresh herbs, seafood, or anniversary dinner steak, I happened upon some organic carrots. They looked something like this:


and they were just so dang cute I couldn't resist.

I passed them by twice, and both times, I heard them calling out to me, just begging to be taken home and eaten alongside my roasted chicken (which is another, lengthier post I'm working on). For this one, I didn't use a recipe at all. I just went with what I thought might work. And they were the most delicious and simple carrots I've ever eaten.

Sauteed Carrots
Wash and peel some carrots, and trim off the greens, leaving the tip of the stem. Melt about 4 tablespoons of butter in a large sautee pan (make sure to use a pan that has a lid). Add carrots to the pan, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover, cook for about 5 minutes over medium heat. Then, turn carrots so the other side cooks in the butter, cover, and cook for about 5 more minutes.

Tell me they aren't the most delicious, sweet, perfect carrots you've ever had.

OMG Brownies.

Oh. My. Goodness. I made these brownies to take to a friend's house for a low-key New Year's Eve gathering that involved lots of Scrabble, tv and catching up on life. They are sooooo gooooood. Leave it to Nigella to come up with an amazing brownie recipe. Now, I love a good brownie mix in the box (Ghirardelli is really superior to any others), but I'm going to be hard pressed to go back to the box now that I have this little gem in my arsenal. They took work - mise en place, or setting out all your ingredients ahead of time, will serve you well here - but I cannot emphasize enough just how worth the effort these brownies are. I copied and pasted this recipe from foodnetwork.com, but I have annotated it with a few additional tips/tidbits of information.

Triple Chocolate Brownies - Nigella Lawson (from foodnetwork.com)
3 sticks plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
12 ounces best-quality bittersweet chocolate (I used Ghirardelli 60% cocoa chips)
6 eggs
1 3/4 cups superfine sugar (LBDelicious note: don't go buying superfine sugar. Put 1 3/4 cups of regular sugar in the blender, and turn it into "superfine" in a few seconds.)
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white chocolate buttons, chips, or morsels
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate buttons, chips or morsels (I used Ghirardelli for both white and semi-sweet chocolate; brand loyal, I know, but I swear it makes a difference.)
Approximately 2 teaspoons confectioners' sugar, for garnish (totally missed that step and they were still tasty.)

Special equipment: Baking tin (approximately 11 1/4 inches by 9 inches by 2 inches), sides and base lined with baking parchment. (I used my regular old brownie pan, and actually did take the time to line the bottom and sides with parchment, then sprayed them with cooking spray.)

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare the baking tin.

Melt the butter and dark chocolate together in a large heavy based pan over a low heat.

In a bowl, beat the eggs together with the superfine sugar and vanilla extract. (LBDelicious note: I may have added a few tablespoons of leftover coffee at this point because I love coffee and chocolate together.)

Allow the chocolate mixture to cool a little, then add the egg and sugar mixture and beat well. (LBDelicious note: worried I'd end up with chocolatey scrambled eggs, I tempered the egg mixture first by whisking in, very slowly, about a cup of the warm chocolate/butter mixture to bring up the temperature of the egg/sugar mixture. Then I slowly whisked in the egg mixture into the chocolate mixture. Turned out great.) Fold in the flour and salt. (LBDelicious: used a big ol' whisk, added the flour all at once and nearly lost half of it. Add flour gradually!) Then stir in the white chocolate buttons or chips, and the semisweet chocolate buttons or chips. Beat to combine then scrape and pour the brownie mixture into the prepared tin. (LBDelicious note: no one will judge you if you purposely don't scrape all the mixture into the pan because you want to eat a good 1/3 cup of the brownie batter.)

Bake for about 25 (LBDelicious note: 30) minutes. You can see when the brownies are ready because the top dries to a slightly paler brown speckle, while the middle remains dark, dense and gooey.

Allow to cool, cut and enjoy.

And, for added fun, after they've cooled, pop one in the microwave for a few seconds, then top it with a scoop of ice cream (we happen to have Edy's Slow-Churned Low-Fat Caramel in the freezer).

Favorite Moments of 2009

It's that time of year again, when everyone makes lists and gets all kinda retrospective up in here. I'm no exception. I'm a freak for lists. I rarely go into Kroger without my grocery list, and I cross off each item as it goes in the basket. I have a list right here beside me - a spiral bound notebook full of them, actually - of things to do between now and January 10 (so far, so good on the accomplishments on that one). I am getting ready to write down a list of new goals for 2010. So it's only fitting that I take a few minutes and reflect on some of my favorite moments of 2009, which was quite possibly the biggest year yet of the 28 that I've spent here on earth.

In order of relative importance:

*The discovery of Merrick Inn, Almond Chicken. Yum.

*Having the most incredible hair artists in the world, the folks at Cha Cha's Salon in Lexington, do my hair whenever I needed it. They followed me from Florence to Lexington, and I pray that they eventually decide to follow me to Atlanta.


*DMB Concert Sneak-In, April 28.












*This moment right here - February 20.


No animals were harmed in the taking of this photograph.

*Tailgating at UNA's Homecoming, October 3. Allison, KiKi and I were "those girls" who came back and cheered everyone on in the parade. We actually got to enjoy tailgating on campus this year, and I got to spend time with some women who I love dearly. A happy day.




*UK Graduation, May 9. Getting hooded was pretty awesome.




*Events that took place after UK graduation, May 9.
I won't go into too many details, but any night that involves purses big enough to transport multiple wine bottles, a super smart husband who locks doors with shoelaces and hijacks your roommate's car to join the fun, an entire Michigan family thinking I don't know how to party but being proven wrong, and the random playing of cornhole with complete strangers for a few hours was, well, epic. Don't judge. If you'd just finished the toughest three years of your life, you'd party pretty hard, too.

*Panama City Beach, May 14-16. Annual beach trip with Casey.
It was the year of pineapple juice, discovering that there is a such thing as too many margaritas, and a visit from Santa Claus, searching for hidden treasure in the sand.

*Finding Dharmaville (aka Camp Erdmann), Oahu, sometime in June. We are nerds, and took our honeymoon in Hawaii partly (mostly?) because we wanted to see where LOST was filmed. Discovering Dharmaville was one of the highlights of both our lives. We were so excited, and we'd already spent the entire day exploring other LOST filming locations. I hearted Hawaii.

*Snorkeling with a manta ray. This was, by far, one of the coolest experiences of my life. While in Kona, Dave and I did snorkel/scuba excursion with the manta rays. They take you out on this boat at night, and give you wetsuits and flashlights. The flashlights attract plankton, which is what the mantas feed on. Dave got to scuba for the first time in years, and observe them from below. Check out the video that he took!

They really do get that close, even if you're snorkeling, like I was, from the surface. They had all of us snorkelers hanging onto foam noodles that had been joined together. Luckily, I know how to swim and knew that the mantas would not eat me. Some people didn't know how to swim, and clearly didn't get the memo about mantas having a sixth sense that makes it so they can get really, really close to you, but won't touch you. We were warned not to touch the mantas, too, because it could hurt them. Despite the fact that my fellow snorkelers were thoroughly freaking out about the closeness of the shark-like animals, kicking me in the head, and yelling for help thinking they were drowning, I had a blast. We both felt like this was the coolest thing we did (maybe even topping finding Dharmaville) in Hawaii. If you ever get the chance to swim with these beautiful sea creatures, do it. What a blessing it was to be part of their world for a few minutes!

*Becoming a triathlete - August 23. By far, the most empowering thing I've ever done. Triathlons are addictive. I hope to do one a year until I physically can't do them anymore. Many kudos to Anne for convincing me to sign up.

*My wedding, June 6.

I really was hesitant to even have a wedding in the first place, but I am so glad I did. It was one of the best nights of my life. Everyone cried, drank beer, and ate barbecue. I made everyone run a 5K the morning of the wedding. My friends mingled and meshed nicely. It was a great day.


*Defending my dissertation - September 11. It still doesn't seem real, yet I and multiple witnesses definitely heard my rockstar advisor say, "Congratulations, Dr. Daws." I was a little worried before the verdict....


...but luckily, I had people surrounding me who made me feel better!


Look what an awesome committee I had!



So there you have it. Some of the most stellar moments of my life, all that happened in 2009. I know it's been a rough year for a lot of people, and I certainly experienced my share of stress. All in all, though, I accomplished a lot, made new friends, kept my old ones, and feel like I'm ending this year on a good note. Thanks to all of you who've been part of the journey with me. I can't wait to see what 2010 has in store for us!