Daring Bakers’ Challenge: Cranberry White Chocolate Crostata

Are you aware of the delight that is cranberries?

As someone whose main exposure to these seasonal beauties consisted of a yearly devouring of the canned, jellied cranberry sauce, I was not. Now, while I’ve got nothing against the canned sauce—it’s practically my favorite part of Thanksgiving—cranberries have so much more potential.

Delicious potential.

The 2010 November Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Simona of briciole. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ to make pasta frolla for a crostata. She used her own experience as a source, as well as information from Pellegrino Artusi’s Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well. Since the main types of crostata filling seem to be either fruit preserves or pastry cream, I was intrigued by the idea of combining the two.

Easy Peasy Penne

Have you ever been too busy to cook?

Have you ever come home and dreaded the idea of having to make dinner?

Have you ever looked like this at the thought of grocery shopping?

From Hyperbole and a Half

Well, if you have, I’ve got a great solution. When you’re tired, in a rush, and the idea of grocery shopping makes you despair for humanity, my Easy Peasy Penne is the dish for you. Consisting entirely of ingredients that are already hanging out in your pantry and refrigerator, this quick little pasta dish is covered with an simple, savory tomato sauce that adds a nice punch of flavor without weighing things down or making them complicated.

Daring Cooks’ Challenge: Julia Child’s Soufflé au Fromage

Or for us mere mortals—cheese soufflé.
This month, Dave and Linda from Monkeyshines in the Kitchen chose Soufflés as our November 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge! Dave and Linda provided two of their own delicious recipes plus a sinfully decadent chocolate soufflé recipe adapted from Gordon Ramsay’s recipe found at the BBC Good Food website. Upon hearing the word “soufflé,” my mind instantly became filled with visions of 1960’s housewives making complicated, elaborate recipes to impress their guests and in-laws, which led me to—who else—Julia Child, the queen of cuisine, whose “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” was released in 1961.

Cookie Dough Pops

What have I done?

24 Hours

That’s all I ask—twenty-four hours. In twenty-four hours, I’ll have a great post ready to go.

Have you ever had one of those weeks where it just seems like you have more than your usual amount of things to do? Where there’s a few more responsibilities that come between you and your free time? I’ve been having one of those weeks. Wanna see what it looks like?

That’s the Econ paper that I was working on today. It’s a riveting, informative piece on the policies of America’s first Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton. Covering such fascinating topics as federal assumption of post-Revolutionary War debts, the establishment of a national bank, and governmental support of domestic industry, it’s been hard to tear myself away.

You know I’m being sarcastic, right?

Anyway, that’s what I’ve been up to. Between this Econ paper and another presentation/paper combo coming up for my computer class, I haven’t been able to cook as much as I’d like to. However, I do have something yummy in the works that I’ll be posting tomorrow, provided that I don’t get assigned a surprise dissertation on the history of poisonous tree frogs or something.

Stay tuned!

Asparagus Quiche

Remember how I promised you something extra delicious as a reward for you shoe advice?

Voila! Quiche!

This little beauty is something that popped into my head when I suddenly had a major craving for all things asparagus the other day. Weird, I know. Most people seem to obsess over things like chocolate or ice cream, and here I am day-dreaming of asparagus.

Eh, let’s just go with it. Asparagus is yummy. Asparagus paired with spinach, garlic, and shallots is even yummier. Toss in some cream and Swiss cheese, all piled into a flaky pastry crust, and you’ve got a fantastic savory dish for the chilly months ahead.

Wanna see how to make it?

I thought so.

Shoes, Glorious Shoes

If you’ve stumbled upon this post looking for some sort of recipe, tutorial, or anything else of intellectual merit, you’ve come to the wrong place.

Today, it’s about shoes.

Not cookies, not cakes, not turkey-jerky pot pies. Shoes.

A Quick Note

Hello all! This isn’t any sort of post—just a quick note to let you know that I’m messing around with some formatting of the posts around here, so don’t be alarmed if anything looks a little wonky for the next few days. It’s not any sort of big changes. All I’m doing is inserting some “Read More” options into my posts rather than have each one take up a huge area on the homepage.

If that statement made no sense to you (because it sure didn’t make any sense to me), just click on the La Kocinera logo at the top to see the new way some of the posts are arranged.

That is all.

I’m off to gobble some leftover Halloween candy.