More at my food blog HERE

I guess this is a mean way to make my first post...seafood off my grill while half the country is buried in snow...



Lobster tail & white shrimp marinated in 100% Florida Orange Juice (but of course!), soy sauce, oyster sauce, and garlic and then grilled on a marble stone that's been seasoned with olive oil.

Snow peas and broccoli stir fried in a wok on the side burner.

And since we're experiencing frigid 54 degree weather tonight, a glass of Tower of London Mead with Scotch Whiskey.

And yeah...it was good.

After going to a couple of grocery stores in the area and not being able to buy a duck this year, we decided to give Turducken a go... I've always heard such nice things about it.

It was... alright. As with most processed and boxed foods, the seasoned skin was a little on the salty side to us, but not completely out of control. I think my husband summed it up thusly... "Well, I wouldn't not do it again, but your roasted ducks are better. Maybe if we got an unseasoned one and you had more to do with that." All in all, that's high praise from my husband for both me and the Turducken.

I'd give it 7 or 8 out of 10 forks.

But the Farnum Hills Cider was amazing.

Made these today for Christmas and used the book Hello, Cupcake! by Alan Richardson for the idea! I love this book, a lot of cute and easy ideas!



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My husband and I have four children and are on a somewhat tight budget, so "date night" doesn't happen very often. I was driving with him this evening and decided that on New Year's Eve, I'd like to try to get the kids to bed on time and ring in the new year with my husband. I've got one remaining bottle of bubbly mead that I brewed for my sister's wedding nearly five years ago. I'm trying to think of some relatively low effort, not too expensive vegetarian treats to go alongside. I had been thinking of making baked brie, but he asked me to make that to bring to his parents' house on Friday, so I'd rather not eat that twice in one week. The only reason I mention it is that this sort of thing -- gooey, rich and hot -- is the sort of thing I think he'd enjoy. Advance preparation would be a BIG bonus since I had back surgery this month and tend to be in more pain at night.

While I think of it, here's a photo of the baked brie that I will be making for his parents:




The original recipe, posted on Crockpot 365, calls for a 13 ounce piece of brie in a small ceramic dish to be placed at the bottom of a crock pot. I made some modifications in the photo, using dried cranberries instead of apricots, dropping the sugar altogether, and quadrupling the cheese without scaling the topping up. I used the crock pot without a ceramic dish, so the cheese cooked more quickly than the original recipe despite being a much larger amount.

This Friday, however, I'm considering working fresh cranberries into the topping also, since it was still sweeter than I prefer and unsweetened dried cranberries are impossible to find. I'm concerned that they might not be fully cooked before the cheese is done, though, so I might precook the dried and fresh berries together on the stove before assembling the dish. Has anybody done anything like that?

Two cookie recipes, one post! Mexican Wedding Cookies and Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies. For recipe and pictures visit FotoCuisine.com


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The very best holiday greetings to all of you.

Cheers.

Mikey Mo

I went on a bit of a cookie baking binge today for Christmas presents.  The thing I love about these cookies is that they all came from the same dough then I just divided it into 1/4 and went in different directions for each person's fave flavours.  These are Fakewell Cookies (sort of but not quite a Bakewell), Ginger and Chilli cookies and Chocolate and Peanut Butter Cookies.  I also made Choc Chip and Hazelnut cookies but they got eaten before I could get a picture!  So simple to make and such diverse results, I'm in love with this cookie recipe!

Find the recipes over at AnnaintheKitchen.   Merry Christmas!

One of my favorite snacks. In this one, I grew the tomatoes & basil, and used buffalo mozzarella. Yum!

Russian cusine but known in Europe and ex-USSR countries.



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More at my food blog HERE

Every now and then I get the urge to make something cute. These little snowpeople were the result of just such an urge :) They're golden oreo truffles, decorated up and served on a platter with coconut "snow."

Had some issues throughout the recipe, so it took forever to finish, but after I saw how adorable the first one was, I couldn't given up!! They were very tasty; my boyfriend's already clamoring for more.



( recipes and photo )


To read more about this recipe and see more sweet snowpeople (including a college graduate snowman and my favorite exuberant snowman), please head over to my baking blog, Willow Bird Baking!

x-posted to food_porn, cooking, picturing_food

More at my blog HERE

i_hope_that
For many of us, the holidays can be kind of rough. If you're searching for a network of understanding friends, this ultra-nurturing community encourages you to express your heartfelt wishes and offer other members encouragement and acceptance. Not for the terminally snarky or emotionally-challenged, this is a good-spirited place to lend comfort and support.

diygifts
Feeling crafty? If you've got a few last folks on your holiday gift list, this is a great place to seed your creativity and generosity. You'll also discover wonderful DIY tips to decorate your home and entertain guests. Offering a no-frills-no-skills attitude that welcomes the cash-challenged and arts-phobic, you're sure to get ideas and make friends in the process.

cooking_club
A fun and friendly community dedicated to those who love to cook, whether you're a meat-and-potatoes type, an aspiring gourmand, and/or a vegan. In search of a brilliant dish to use up those weekly leftovers? Post your ingredients and you'll be whipping up a feast by dinner. You can also share favorite recipes. For Type A chefs, you can spice up your culinary repertoire with exciting cooking challenges.

Character: Gabriel
Fandom: Heroes
Word count: 460
Rating: G
Notes: Gabriel's 12 in this ficlet. It is set in 1989. I was challenged to write something that wasn't depressed for a change. Woot!
Prompt for scifi_muses
Kirk: You know, traveling through time, changing history... that's cheating.
Spock: A trick I learned from an old friend.

It'll Be an Adventure

Comments to my LJ, please. Thanks for reading.