Foster's Pimento Cheese Spread

I had this delicious treat over Christmas when Traci brought it for lunch one afternoon when the girls got together to bake. I loved it and have been looking for an occasion to make it again. Saturday was just the day, I co-hosted a baby shower for our good friends Becky & Nate. She is as big of a cheese fan as I am so this was perfect......I wish there had been leftovers!

From The Foster's Market Cookbook pg. 102

1 cup (4 oz.) grated sharp Cheddar cheese *

1 1/2 cup (4 oz.) grated Parmesan cheese

1 cup (4 oz.) grated smoked Gouda cheese**

1 roasted red & 1 green bell pepper, peeled, cored, seeded & chopped***

1 cup good quality mayonnaise

1 jalapeno, seeded & minced

1 tbls. cider vinegar

1 tbls. honey

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Mix together the Cheddar, Parmesan, Gouda, and roasted peppers in a large bowl.

In a separate bowl, combine the mayonnaise, jalapeno, vinegar, honey, salt & pepper and stir to blend well.

Stir the mayonnaise mixture into the cheese mixture and mix well. Season with additional salt & pepper if desired. Refrigerate in an airtight container until ready to use or up to one week.

Notes

* If you have a food processor use it to shred the cheese, the time saving is unbelievable.

** I used regular Gouda, not smoked

*** I used an oven roasting method for the peppers. Rub peppers with Olive Oil, place on a baking sheet, and roast in a preheated 450 degree oven, turing until the skin is charred. Remove the peppers and cool, then remove the charred skin, stem, core & seeds.

Cheesecake Redemption

I will not be defeated!!!


I had to give cheesecake a try again, but I decided not to use the same recipe. Instead I used the recipe for New York Cheesecake from my trusty Baking Illustrated Cookbook. I really like this book because it gives several suggestions based on mistakes that the bakers made while trying different methods for each recipe. They do this to find what they feel gives the best final product.





I followed the directions to a T, I took my time and prayed that this go round would be better than the last. I am happy to report that my hard work payed off, the cake turned out beautifully.









I brought it to my father in laws house on Sunday to celebrate his birthday and it was a big hit! I can not wait to make it again and will try some different variations that were suggested as well.

Blueberry Pancakes

I picked up the most recent issue of Cooks Illustrated last week and I am excited to try almost every recipe in the issue. Most will require some time, which I don't have a lot of at the moment, but one stood out right away as quick and I had all the ingredients on hand.

Blueberry Pancakes on page 43 was what caught my eye. I believe I have mentioned before that I am not usually one for pancakes, however this recipe reminded me of sleep overs at my friend Megan's house when we were little girls. Her mom would make us blueberry pancakes on Sunday mornings and it always made me so happy. Since I had blueberries left from the bag my mother in law gave me last week I decided that this past Sunday would be the day for pancakes.

Delicious! I just loved them and Peter did to, he said "these are better than Pancake House" which is one of his favorite breakfast restaurants, so I knew I had done a good job!

Blueberry Crumb Cake

My mother in law lives just north of us on several acres and grows all sorts of fresh foods. This year she had copious amounts of blueberries which she picked at the peek of the season and froze. When she came for a visit last weekend she brought me a large bag and I was excited to use them right away.

As you will see from previous blogs this spring/early summer I tried my hand at blueberry pie a time or two. The first time the pie turned out beautifully, the second time....not so good. I think it is do to the hot & humid Atlanta weather in the summer so I decided to hold off on pies until the fall and winter months.

This go round I tried a blueberry crumb cake from Great Food Fast. This is a very easy recipe, the only thing that I was disappointed in was the crumb topping. It didn't come out with the thick crumbs that I was expecting, this may be due to the large amount of topping the recipe made. The next time I will cut that portion of the recipe in half but keep the amount of butter the same to see if that makes a difference in texture.

The cake was delicious. Not too sweet and very moist, it was excellent in the morning with a cup of coffee. This is a keeper, I will make it again for sure!

Hyperlinks

Whoo Hoo!!!

I finally figured out how to make a hyperlink, no more long complicated looking links on Fabulous Culinary Experiences!!!!

Easy Shrimp & Cabbage Lo Mein

This recipe from Everyday Food Magazine is a deliciously quick weekday meal.

Asian food is one of our favorites and can at times be labor intensive. This dish gives us the great Asian flavors that we love in under 30 minutes!

the leftovers are also excellant for lunch!

Bing Cherry Sauce

Even though the cheesecake was a total disaster the Bing Cherry Sauce that I made to accompany it was fantastic! We enjoyed it over ice cream later in the week.

The recipe is very simple and could be made with a variety of fruits. I have used raspberries in the past but blueberries or strawberries would be delicious as well.

1/2 lb. fruit cut into bite sized pieces

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

12 oz. jar of fruit jam (preferably the same flavor as the fruit you have chosen)

Heat first 3 ingredients in a sauce pan over medium heat until the sugar is fully dissolved. Then add jam and heat until the mixture is reduced by half.

Cool to room temperate and chill in refrigerator for at least 2 hours before serving.

Lucy and the Bee

Our poor dog was stung by a bee yesterday, I feel really bad that her poor little face puffed up, but she sure did look cute!

Cheesecake Disaster

Cheesecake is one of our favorite desserts and I have made cheesecakes before but never one that needed to be baked, so I tried a baked version over the weekend.

I choose this one from Epicurious, http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/CHEESECAKE-107432 because of its promise of being light and fluffy rather than dense and creamy.

The recipe seemed easy enough. I had no luck finding orange- flower water so I diluted orange extract with some water. The meringue took much longer to come together (20 minutes) than the recipe said that it would but other than that I had no troubles.

Into the oven it went. I was rather proud at my parchment job and sealing the bottom of the spring form pan like Fort Knox with the foil.

The recipe says to bake for 55-65 minutes or until the top is golden and the cake trembles slightly. I baked it for about an hour, the top was very golden and the cake did tremble a bit so I thought everything was perfect.

Last night my in-laws came for dinner and I was so proud to present my cake. It looked so beautiful, I felt like I was really going to impress everyone. Then I cut into it......

Apparently I did not bake it long enough! We had cheesecake pudding rather than the decedent cake I had hoped for!

What a bummer! All I could do was laugh and try to find the good in it after all that work. Luckily the top of the cake was cooked enough so that we were able to get an idea of how the true cake would have tasted. The flavor was excellent and the texture was what I was looking for which are both positives, so I will just have to try this one again.

Schwartz's Deli- Montreal Canada

We have just returned from our yearly trip to visit Peter's family in Montreal. We had such a great time and ate A LOT!

Schwartz's is a Montreal staple and our favorite place to have lunch. They are known for their smoked meat sandwich which is so delicious that people literally line up outside the door to get one (no matter the type of weather).

Although the Smoked Meat Sandwich is the main attraction you also need to accompany it with a few of Schwartz's other delicious treats.

The cherry soda is fantastic and one of the only sodas that I will drink with full sugar.

Also, the big dill pickles are a must. Our nephew Riley was not so interested in his smoked meat however, the pickle was a hit has you can see.

And of course who can have a sandwich with out french fries? These are some of the best around.

If you get the opportunity to go to Montreal do not pass this one up!