Persistence Pizza

The pizza I made at the Kitchen Conservatory.
It was indeed as delicious as it looks!

#letslunch

In my family, dad's stubbornness is legend.

Grandma often told us the story of how the willful toddler hadn't gotten his way and held his breath until he passed out!

Yes, my dad is that stubborn.

And I have inherited this persistence.

Which I refuse to call stubborn, actually. That word has a negative connotation, and I believe this is a powerful gift. No, we don't give up when others would. Is that truly bad? Society needs a few people like that don't they?

I have actually been trying to bake bread since my 20s. Back then, I baked a lot of bricks instead. So many that the ex purchased a bread machine for me, presented with the words, "You'll never be able to bake a decent loaf of bread on your own. So I got you this for Christmas. Just use it instead."

But of course I don't give up that easily ...

Asian-spiced Quick Pickles

Been rethinking this blog a little bit. Seems like it got away from what I intended it to be.

Soo ... after some time thinking ...

I have deleted a few posts that I intended for another purpose, left some posts that still don't really fit but have no other purpose, and moving forward ...

Here's a little recipe I wrote last week, a bit of fusion courtesy of my lovely Grandma Bibb's quick pickle recipe. This was kind of a brainstorm whilst making a little bowl of tuna chirazashi. Most of the recipes I've seen just have plain cucumber, and, after trying that a few times, I realized I just really don't like plain cucumbers in my sushi bowl. I thought about how my grandma used to make quick pickles, and wondered how it would taste with rice vinegar and sesame oil instead.

It was QUITE delicious, even if I do say so myself, in a bowl of chirazashi. It's also a delicious snack on its own. I hope you enjoy this dish. Try it, I know you'll like it! :)

For more great fusion recipes, check out the #letslunch bunch on twitter or follow the links below the recipe.

A detailed guide to the ultimate Red Velvet Cake

Solving dry red cake with a little cake science 


The Red Velvet Cake of my memory was soft and fluffy. Perfection on a plate topped with buttery, creamy vanilla icing. The ultimate Christmas Cake.

The cake on this plate, however, was not my Grandmother's Red Velvet Cake. Oh, it was pretty enough. It was sweet enough. And it tasted OK. But it was dry. Very. Dry. Compared to my Grandma's cake, this cake was a piece of the Sahara desert on my tongue.

My first attempt at Grandma's Red Velvet cake.

I had followed grandma's recipe to the letter, of course. I measured the ingredients exactly. And I followed all the typical cake advice. My ingredients were at room temperature. I didn't over-mix the cake or over-bake it. I waited a full 30 minutes before taking it out of the pan. I'd done none of the things experienced bakers advise against. Yet the cake had still gone wrong. Why was my Red Velvet Cake so dry?

Enough food to feed Cox's army

Grandma Bibb's Coffee Can bread

Like many families this Thanksgiving, we had more food than we could possibly eat at one sitting. As my Grandma Nina used to say ... enough food to feed Cox's army!

Daughter's kicked up cheese, spinach dip
baked in a biscuit pastry shell. Yum!

Now if I just knew who General Cox was ...

Turkey in front. In back, ham
and my sis' kicked up sweet potatoes. ; )

Sister's cucumber onion salad w
sour cream dressing in front, daughter's
salad with walnuts, sweet yellow
peppers and cranberry in back

Turkey gravy, assorted beloved
potatoes: One cheesy, One mashed,
and almost Nina green beans

Pinot Noir cranberry sauce w/
mandarin oranges

Pecan pie, stuffed strawberries,
Grandpa Red's pumpkin pie

Everything was terribly tasty! But bad for the waistline I'm sure!

The flavor standouts to me were the sweet potatoes my sister made with black walnuts, the cranberry mandarin orange sauce with pinot noir, and the stuffed strawberries my daughter made and of course mom's creamy mashed potatoes.

Mom is growing a lemon inside her house!
How cool is that?

So thankful to have wonderful family to share new dishes with! I now have lots of leftovers for the week and that makes me smile. It's one of my favorite things about Thanksgiving ... lots of leftovers to play with in the kitchen! 

On which ... more to come!

*heads out to the grocery store with ideas in her head and a rather long shopping list in her hand*

Nina's favorite turkey

I do remember the first time I tried to bake a turkey. Probably one of the most disastrous episodes I've had in a kitchen. I'll spare you the gory details and simply say that learning to bake a good turkey is an adventure!

I can't say I've necessarily mastered the art yet, but this particular turkey recipe is loved by my dear niece, who seems to think it's the best turkey ever. I'm not going to argue with her, she's a very picky eater, and she takes seconds of this!

Our turkey taste tester.

If your turkey hasn't been treated with any salt solution prior to purchasing it, I personally would recommend a dry brine the night before, unless someone in your group is on a salt-restricted diet. Brining does make turkey a little more forgiving to bake and a dry brine is easier to manage than wet. It also results in a less spongy texture, a more meaty goodness texture, which is what you want for turkey.

On the other hand, if you just keep one simple principle in mind, your turkey will come out fine with or without brining ...

Grandpa Red's pumpkin pie

Grandpa Red is on the right.

The writing on the back of the photo

 A tall, red-headed, handsome young man ran into a beautiful brown-eyed girl crying on an Ozark street one day not long after World War II, and a lifelong romance was begun.

 Grandpa Red had just gotten out of the service when he met Grandma Dot. He was on his way to Rolla for engineering school, but changed his mind when he met her. He opened a barber shop instead, and started a family. From such chance encounters are our destinies made. And new children born.

Grandpa Red served during World War II with the United States Coast Guard and happened to be with the crew that sank the last German sub off the coast of America. The treasured picture above depicts this moment in world history.

In addition to being a veteran, Grandpa was also a great woodsman and huntsman, always bringing home deer and turkey —even during bow season. And he liked to use every part of the deer. It wasn't just a trophy! My grandfather was not only a good soldier, a good hunter and a good husband, but he was also a pretty darn good baker, too.

One of his favorite pies was pumpkin ...