Allora…

well this week was a roller coaster of professional highs and lows, but I’m doing my best to keep my chin up and keep myself busy doing projects that are fun/interesting/challenging to me. Current job situation is decidedly not fun/completely boring/and not challenging.

A colleague referred me to a couple getting married this summer. They want a simple postcard save the date. Here is first round. They had pretty specific ideas on what they wanted – which simultaneously makes things easier and more difficult. Please note the copy on the back of the post card is not decided yet. Hehe those wild and crazy kids.

Another cookbook has been added to the collection! Could anything be MORE up my alley than a cookbook? Photos, words, and food? i don’t think so! Lidia Matticchio Bastianich’s Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy: A Feast of 175 Regional Recipes is an awesome, almost history/anthropology cookbook. It is separated into regions of Italy – and then gives you a brief overview of the area; exports/imports/geography/climate etc., to help you understand WHY a recipe might have become a staple in that area. I’ve bookmarked many pages in the book, as you can see:

The first recipe I made from this book comes from the island of Sardinia and it’s Cauliflower with Olives & Cherry Tomatoes. ALTHOUGH, i didn’t have tomatoes! whoops, so just disregard that. haha Basically the recipe involves sauteing the cauliflower for a long time to really get some dark brown color on it – the olives are there to add a salty bite to cauliflower, along with the addition of ‘pepperoncino flakes’ aka crushed red pepper. It was delicious! Really gave a somewhat bland vegetable for a side dish, some depth!

I’m playing catchup here. I went home to PA for the weekend – superbowl weekend. It was great. I got to hang out with mom and dad – without the hecticness of a holiday. Dad and i ran “errands” and then mom and i went shopping and got great deals on socks and sheets! you know – the stuff you do when you’re home. I got to see Carly too. v. cool.

For your enjoyment:
1) we had an amazing meal of grilled steak and lobster! not too shabby!!!!!! Here’s the meal (and the game!):

2) And here is a comical photo of mom and dad during the game. Mom’s wondering “WTF is happening?” and dad has just given up…

Here’s the one she went with.

With Lauren’s biz cards happily in the mail to her – I got to work on the banner for the top of her website. Also – check out her recent cakes for a few baby showers. She is doing great work. Hire her!

To help you get in the mood for the Vancouver Olympics, here is the last few minutes of USA’s 4-3 upset win over the Soviet Union in 1980. USA! USA! USA!

This soup is savory, sweet, and delicious, and almost ridiculously cheap to make. Most of the ingredients I had on hand – except I went and bought the biggest onions ever. Any of the ingredients that you might not have (beer – comeon people, and vermouth) you can certainly omit. The important thing about this soup is that you must allow the onions to get super brown. You can’t rush that part, or the soup won’t have a developed flavor. Start to finish, this takes about an hour and a half

Music to cook with by Yann Tiersen, “Les Jours Tristes [Instrumental]” from the movie “Amelie.” Hey you need something French, if you’re making French Onion Soup – even if I made it with Yuengling 02 Les Jours Tristes [Instrumental]

1 huge vidalia onion (or two smaller)
1 huge spanish onion
1 huge red onion
3 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tbsp flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp brown sugar
lots of pepper
half a bottle of beer
3 tbsp dry vermouth (the white kind)
3 dashes of hot sauce
1 quart low sodium beef stock
5 cups water

In a large dutch oven, allow butter and olive oil to melt together on medium low heat. Meanwhile, slice your onions into thin half circle slices. Begin weeping. Add onions to dutch oven and stir to coat with fats. Saute with lid on, over medium low heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. This will help shrink the onions down because the onions will steam a bit.

After 20 minutes take the lid off and saute for 15 minutes without the lid. The liquid from the onions will start to evaporate and they will begin to brown. Stir occasionally. Add salt, sugar, pepper. Saute for 15 more minutes. Serious browning happening. They should be caramel colored. Add flour to onions, and stir well to cook off flour taste.

Turn heat to medium. Add beer, vermouth, and hot sauce. At this point, if i had had Worcestershire sauce, I would have added some now. Scrape bottom of pan with wooden spoon to get brown bits off the bottom of the pan. The onions and liquid should be bubbling. Turn heat to medium high and add your broth and water. Bring to a rolling simmer, cover partially and simmer for 45 minutes.

At this point, what you do with it is up to you. It really should be put into a crock, topped with good bread and swiss or provolone cheese and put under the broiler. But that would be too fun for me, wouldn’t it? So i have some whole grain bread and some goat cheese for the top. *recognize this cup from my pottery class taken in the summer of 06? it was the closest thing i had to a crock!*

my good friend, and fellow foodie, Lauren has started to get some business doing cakes, and cake decorations, and the like. The girl is a whiz with sugar. Here’s her biz card look…