Christmas Presents

Look what my wife got me. I got a fantastic Le Creuset terrine mold. I cant wait to put that to good use. She also made me a mug for my tea and a bowl for my morning oatmeal that says "Wicked Good Oatmeal" Isn't she sweet!

Wine and Food pairing

This is the menu from a wine and cheese pairing I went to at Assabet sponsored by our local chapter of the American Culinary Federation. It was a great time. Chef Trudeau and everyone from Assabet were great hosts and Rick from the Vin Bin came up with some awesome pairings. My favorite was the first one on the menu...the reisling spatlese with the Stilton. Good times

Halloween

They say imitation is the best form of flattery. This made me laugh.

Happy Birthday to Me

For my birthday I got a bunch of bookstore gift cards. Check out what I got. This is Why you're Fat is just a bunch of rediculous fattening food...although a few could be pretty good. Basic Butchering of Livestock & Game is pretty cool and has some great info on breaking down the animals that we eat into their usable parts. Beekeeping for Dummies is great. Ive read about half of it and am totally excited to get a hive or two. I just have to figure out where to do it. Ill keep you posted.

Its been a while

Lots going on recently. Im gong to catch up in th next few days with some stuff I missed. Hope you enjoy.

Look what I did

We had some time to play a bit today, so that is just what we did. The inspiration for this comes from the "Bacon Explosion" which can be seen at http://www.bbqaddicts.com/blog/recipes/bacon-explosion/. We did it a bit differently from they did though and wow, was it good!

Step 1: Weave a mat of made of bacon

Step 2: Flatten out a couple of pounds of Italian Sausage

Step 3: Add some cooked diced bacon and some monster sized deep fried cheddar sticks

Step 4: Add balsamic caramelized onions with toasted fennel seeds (the acid was a nice contrast to the fat

Step 5: Roll the sausage so that all the stuff you just laid on top is sealed inside.

Step 6a: Make the Bacon mat larger with some skillful weaving (thanks basketry merit badge!)

Step 6b: Mold the woven bacon around the sausage log

Step 7: Cover with BBQ sauce and bake at 275 degrees for about 1hr. 45 minutes

Step 8: Enjoy (hopefully with lots of other people)

Book Release Party

OK, well the book was released like nine months ago, but I hadnt had a chance to celebrate with family and friends. Mark and Liz Tramontozzi were kind enough to lend their home for the event. Thanks to everyone who came and brought something they made out of the book. You all made it a Wicked Good Time.

Some of the items made were...salsa, butternut squash bisque, vegetable chili, Chicken pot pie with cornbread crust, two mac and cheeses, satay chicken skewers, cheeseburger pizza, two apple crisps, pineapple upside down cake, and gingerbread whoopie pies.