1. Lasagne. I feel like I can always rely on my lasagne to turn out, taste good, and be overall satisfying.
2. Chocolate cake. This was Cooper's cake for his first birthday. I love how massive it looks, and I decorated it with the precious gold buttons. There's nothing better than chocolate cake.
3. Italian hummus & pita wedges. One of my favorite appetizers. It's Giada's recipe from Everyday Italian, and the dip is made from cannellini beans instead of the traditional garbanzos. The pita wedges are sprinkled with dried oregano. Altogether delicious, and pretty healthy.
4. Ice cream bombe! Mmm. My mom used to make Baked Alaska on special occasions, and this ice cream bombe is similar, but without the golden sponge cake base. I used strawberry ice cream and mango sorbet, topped with meringue (this step pictured) and then bronzed the meringue in the oven. It's fantastic.
5. A perfect meal. This was not made by me, but it qualifies as one of my best meals for a few reasons, and therefore deserves mention. I love staying in nice hotels, I love room service, and I love it when I eat a meal -- wherever -- that is perfect, no matter how simple it may be. This is a club sandwich & French fries, served up on a tray with an icy diet cola alongside. And little ketchup bottles. Bliss. From the Ambassador East in Chicago.
6. My Christmas morning cappuccino. Here is a picture that is worth a thousand words. Troy and I just celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary, and for nearly every morning of our years together, we've started each day with a cappuccino. Sometimes I make them, sometimes he makes them. He's much better at frothing the milk. This is what he delivered to me on Christmas morning, and it speaks volumes about his sense of humor, which is one of the things I adore about him. I love my cappuccino, and I love my husband more, and definitely consider myself very lucky to wake up to both every day.
7. B'stilla. I can't remember if I blogged about this creation or not, but it's worth waxing over. It's a Moroccan savory pie made with ground beef, fresh chopped herbs, spices, beaten eggs, and slivered almonds all baked up in a flaky phyllo dough. A real jewel. I followed Diana Henry's recipe from Crazy Water Pickled Lemons.
8. A perfect apple. Crisp, crunchy, sweet, tart. One of my favorite things to eat. I grew up near an apple orchard, and I feel a strong connection to the apple in any form. I will always go for the apple dessert on a menu over any chocolate concoction or creme brulee or other temptation.
9. Stinky, gooey cheese. I like to stop at my local cheese counter and chat with the women who work there, who are as enthusiastic about ripe cheeses as I am. Usually I select one like this, as well as a Roquefort. The ladies turned me on to these crackers, which are almost like communion wafers, very thin and delicate.
10. Frittata with potatoes & fresh herbs, and cucumber salad. This was a meal I made when I a.) couldn't think of what to make for dinner; and b.) didn't have much in the house. Rachel gave me the idea of the potato frittata, and I happened to have fresh dill & feta in the fridge, so it wound up tasting very Greek. The cucumber salad is something I grew up eating, having a German mother. But, again, the dill tweaks it a bit for a nod towards Greece (or Scandinavia, another of my obsessions). So here we have a plateful of food that reflects the people and tastes I love, and that is a large part of what cooking is all about for me.
4 comments:
Everything looks so good! What kind of gooey cheese is that there?
And that filo pie thing looks amazing. Too bad treenuts are not friendly in our house.
Thanks! You could make the filo pie without the nuts and it would still taste great!
The gooey cheese -- I forgot the name of it. I'll get some more and let you know! It came in that little crock, too. Cute.
Everything looks so wonderful. Great photos.
Dear Lisa!
Thankyou so, so much for joining in with the tag!
I loved reading the stories behind the photographs! :-)
xxx
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