Spice Dreams: Flavored Ice Creams and Other Frozen Treats.  Sara Engram and Katie Luber with Nancy Meadows and Kimberly Toqe.  Andrews McMeel Publishing.  $16.99  (86p)  ISBN: 978-0-7407-8016-5

Spices and herbs as flavor agents came to me late in life.  Growing up in a typical American household where the occasional Taco Night, or a meal out at the local Chinese restaurant was about as close as I got to anything resembling an exotic spice or herb.  Even then the word ’spice’ often referred to the La Victoria hot sauce we put on our tacos.  The idea that there was a whole world of flavors out there, and even other cultures that cooked with them was a surprise to my palette.

Like cardamom for example.  I first tasted the flowery, layered loveliness of this spice in Indian food on a trip to London at age 17.  I have loved Indian food — and cardamom — ever since.  Years later I ate a whole lot of Indian food when I was a film student at New York University.  On East 6th Street in New York’s East Village there is a block of cheap Indian restaurants where I could get multi-course meals for a few dollars.  It was splendid.  Living in New York, and traveling occasionally, I ate more and more non-European and non-American cuisines.  I loved them all.  The incredible flavors that emerged from these exotic dishes.

Authors Sara Engram and Katie Luber own an organic spice company, The Seasoned Palate.  They know their spices and herbs.  They recently wrote a book, ‘The Spice Kitchen,’ which I love and also reviewed.  Now they have published a companion book of sorts: ‘Spice Dreams: Flavored Ice Creams and Other Frozen Desserts’ — all about herb and spice-infused ice creams and frozen desserts.  Their methods combine all-natural ingredients with herbs and spices both fresh and dried to great success.  Now back to that cardamom.  The first ice cream I made from the book was Cardamom-Mint Ice Cream and, wow, was it amazing.  That flowery, layered loveliness I referred to earlier in combination with the peppermint extract called for in the recipe: did I say ‘wow’ yet?  Add to the experience the creamy coldness of the ice cream — full-on bliss.  We had friends over and we devoured the entire 1 1/2 quarts.

The book is divided into four sections: Ice Creams; Sorbets and Frozen Yogurts; Sandwiches, Sundaes, and Such; Syrups, Sauces, Toppings, and Other Goodies.  I tried several recipes and all worked extremely well.  The book is easy to follow and well structured.  Household favorites are Dark Chocolate-Anise Ice Cream, Mango Sorbet with Cumin and Cinnamon, and the highly unusual Basil Ice Cream (eat this one with fresh berries!).  We also liked the Pink Grapefruit-Tarragon Sorbet.  Of the syrups and sauces I made a favorite was the Ancho-Lime Syrup that we poured over the Mango Sorbet with Cumin and Cinnamon.  These frozen desserts couldn’t be more fun to make and eat.  What makes them so unusual is the savory-sweet flavor combinations: mango and cumin; grapefruit and tarragon; ancho chile and mango (a popular Latin American flavor combination  — sweet fruit and hot chile).

Friendly and playful (they refer to their ice cream as ’spice cream’) Engram and Luber not only add to the trend of combining herbs and spices with sweets, they take it to another level.  They also encourage the reader to experiment and come up with their own combinations; to use the recipes in the book as templates.  I am fairly new to making ice cream at home and I wish I hadn’t waited so long.  The experience of making and eating homemade ice cream is far superior to buying it commercially.  Go get an ice cream maker if you don’t have one.  Buy this book and let the magic unfold.  You won’t be sorry.

KCET Top 10 List: I wrote this piece for LA-based PBS station, KCET ~ ‘Walking and Eating in Atwater Village: A Top 10′

Coming Up: International Food Bloggers Conference (IFBC), August 27 – 29, 2010, Seattle Washington.  So much fun last year that I’ll be attending again this year.  Are you?

Upcoming Posts: Cookbook Reviews: Steak and Friends: At Home with Rick Tramonto by Rick Tramonto; Cider Beans, Wild Greens, and Dandelion Jelly by Joan E. Aller.

Me, age 1, at Avila Beach, California

I have always loved the ocean.  It has always been a part of my life.  Growing up along the Central Coast of California it was a big part of my childhood.  I spent most of my childhood in San Luis Obispo, a medium-sized California city half way between Los Angeles and San Francisco.  From a very young age I swam in the ocean.  My parents tell me they couldn’t keep me out of the water.  San Luis Obispo lies inland from the coast by a half hour driving.  The closest beach is Avila Beach — a place where I spent many a summer day swimming in the waves, body surfing, and playing in the sand.  For my single mother it was an inexpensive way to spend a weekend day; she got to relax in the sun while my sister and I wore ourselves out.  We usually went home sunburned and covered in sand.

Pan Roasted Arctic Char, Cannellini Beans, Baby Artichokes & Preserved Lemons

I have also enjoyed eating the food that comes from the sea.  Being that we lived so close to the coast seafood was a big part of our diet growing up.  Both my great-grandfather and great-uncle fished the Central Coast waters.  My mother often took us to Morro Bay, a coastal town north of San Luis, for fish and chips dinner.  The lingcod used in the meal was caught a few miles out to sea.  In those days no one gave a second thought to overfishing, pollution, and questions of sustainability.  Now we must.  We have no choice.  We are quickly depleting our seafood sources.  I find it horribly sad.

I recently met Martin Reed who started a sustainable fish company called i love blue sea.  It’s a genius idea.  I know for myself that when I’m in a store at the fish counter my eyes cross, I hyperventilate, I can’t remember which fish is the ‘right’ fish, wild, or farmed; all that confusion overwhelms me and I often don’t buy anything.  Martin’s company takes the guess work out of the process.  He sells nothing but sustainable fish, and he ships it anywhere in the U.S, overnight.  Here’s a quick rundown from i love blue sea’s website:  “Wondering where to buy seafood online?  No more guesswork!  Only the highest quality sustainable seafood.  Every dollar spent supports fisheries driving our ocean’s recovery.  It’s a simple, nutritious and delicious way for you to make a positive change!”  Martin recently sent me some Arctic char and asked me to come up with a recipe which I did.  Here’s to the health of our oceans and all the creatures that live in them.

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Recommendation: Savor Los Angeles, Friday, July 30th, 7pm to 10pm ~ a sweets tasting event of one-of-a-kind bites from an exclusive set of L.A.’s best purveyors of sweet treats.

Coming Up: International Food Bloggers Conference (IFBC), August 27 – 29, 2010, Seattle Washington.  So much fun last year that I’ll be attending again this year.  Are you?

Upcoming Posts: Cochon 555 Napa, a write up of the amazing pork festival that I attended this spring. Cookbook Reviews: Steak and Friends: At Home with Rick Tramonto by Rick Tramonto, Spice Dreams by Sara Engram and Katie Luber, Cider Beans, Wild Greens, and Dandelion Jelly by Joan E. Aller.

There are several components to this dish but the end result is well worth the time it takes to prepare it.  The beans can easily be made ahead of time.  The sequence should be:  prepare the beans first, then prepare and cook the artichokes about 30 – 40 minutes before cooking the fish.  The preserved lemons may be purchased from a specialty food store, or you may make your own but it takes 3 – 4 weeks before they are ‘preserved’ and ready to eat.

Serves

6

Preparation Time

2 – 2 ½ hours, all components except for the preserved lemons

Cannellini Beans

Preparation Time

45 – 60 minutes

Ingredients

4 – 14 oz. cans of cannellini beans, drained OR 4 cups cooked beans

6 – 8 garlic cloves, chopped

4 – 5 medium sized tomatoes, cut in 1/4ths, or 1/8ths wedges

8 – 10 Tbs olive oil, enough to cover the bottom of the pan

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 tsp herbes de Provence

Method

Sauté garlic in olive oil in medium sized skillet, or sauté pan over medium heat for 1 minute.  Do not brown.

Add tomatoes, salt and pepper, and herbes de provence.  Stir together and cook until tomatoes soften and lose their shape about 4 – 6 minutes.  Stir occasionally to keep from burning.

Add beans and stir together with tomato-garlic mixture.  Cook until beans are heated through about 5 minutes or so.  Check seasonings, and add salt if needed.

Baby Artichokes

Preparation Time

45 minutes

Ingredients

1 lb. baby artichokes, about 10 artichokes

1 lemon

3 – 4 Tbs olive oil

2 large cloves garlic, minced

¾ tsp salt

Pepper, freshly ground to taste

Method

Cut  the lemon in half, squeeze into a bowl of water with several ice cubes.  Save the lemon halves.

Remove tough outer leaves of artichoke, cut 1 inch off top, and rub with the lemon halves.  Add the artichokes to the ice water.  They can be stored in the refrigerator for several hours until ready to cook.

Cut the artichokes in half, return to ice water if not cooking immediately.  If ready to cook, cut them in half, drain off excess water but don’t dry, and place in a 10 – 12 inch skillet, cut side down.  Drizzle them with water, sprinkle garlic over.  Add 2 – 3 tablespoons of water to the pan, just enough to keep them moist while cooking.

Cover the pan and place over low heat.  After about 5 minutes check to be sure they are cooking and that the water has not cooked away.  After 10 minutes turn them over and recover.  As they cook check to be sure water doesn’t completely cook away.  Keep them barely moist.  If you hear a sizzle, add more water.  Let cook for 20 – 30 minutes.  When they are cooked they will be tender, and there will be almost no liquid left.  Season with ground pepper.

Arctic Char

Preparation Time

10 – 15 minutes

Ingredients

2 ½ lbs., Arctic char fillets, skin removed

4 -5 Tbs. olive oil, enough to coat the bottom of the pan

Method

Season the fish with salt and pepper.  Add the olive oil to a skillet over medium heat.  Once the oil is hot, add the fish.  Allow to cook until golden brown, about 2 to 3 minutes each side.

To Serve

Reheat the beans over low heat while the fish is cooking.  When beans are hot spoon a thick layer of beans on to a platter, or serving dish, or directly onto dinner plates.  Lay the cooked fish fillets atop the beans, add the baby artichokes around the fish, garnish top of fish with roughly sliced, or cut pieces of preserved lemon.

Preserved Lemons, (Optional)

Preparation Time

45 minutes

Ingredients

10 ripe Meyer, or organic lemons

1/2 cup coarse salt, Kosher salt may be used

Extra virgin olive oil

Method

Scrub 6 of the lemons and dry well.  Quarter the 6 lemons cutting from the top to 1/2 inch from the bottom leaving them intact at the base.  Open the lemons gently and sprinkle salt on the exposed inner flesh, then reshape the fruit.  Toss with the remaining salt and pack into a 3-4 cup dry, sterile Mason jar with a glass or plastic-coated lid.

With a wooden spoon, gently push down the lemons.  Squeeze the juice from the remaining 4 lemons and pour into the jar.  Close the jar tightly and let the lemons ripen at room temperature for 30 days, shaking the jar each day to redistribute the salt and juice.  (Within a few days the salt will draw out enough juice to completely cover the lemons.)

For longer storage, add olive oil and refrigerate for up to 1 year.  Rinse the lemons before using.

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Adapted from ‘Petit Recueil de la Gastronomie Alsacienne: 75 Recettes Simples’

250 g. de pâte brisée/ 500 g. d’oignons /100 g. de lardon fumés/ 2 dl. de crème/ 2 dl. de lait/ 2 jaunes d’œufs/  50 g. de farine/ sel, poivre, noix de muscade.

Foncer de pâte brisée, un moule à tarte; préchauffer le four; garnir la pâte d’une fondue d’oignons émincés revenus doucement dan le beurre; ajouter le lardons blanchis chauds.  Recouvrir les oignons de la crème, du lait et des œufs battus avec farine, sel, poivre et noix de muscade.  Faire cuire à four chaud 25 mn. environ.

On peut remplacer le mélange d’œufs, de lait et de crème par une sauce Béchamel.

Serves

6

Ingredients

500 g., or 1 lbs. onions, (2 medium-sized onions)

100 g., or 3 ½ oz. smoked bacon, or *lardons

2 dl, (200 ml), or ¾ cups cream

2 dl, (200 ml), or ¾ cups milk

2 eggs, yolks only

50 g., or 1/3 cups flour

4 Tbs butter

1 tsp nutmeg

Pinch salt

Pinch pepper

Method

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Prepare a pie crust and set aside.

Slice the onions.  Cut the bacon into cubes (lardons).  Blanch the bacon.  Sauté the onions in the butter over a low fire.  Do not brown but cook until limp.  Add the blanched bacon and stir together.

Beat the egg yolks, flour, salt, pepper and nutmeg together.

Put the onions and bacon into the unbaked pie crust.  Pour the egg and flour mixture over.

Bake 25 – 30 minutes, top should brown slightly.

*This recipe calls for lardons fumés which are cubes of smoked bacon.  You should be able to find slabs of smoked bacon (not already sliced) at a butcher or specialty food store.  Ask for a 3 ½ oz. piece and then cube it at home.  You want ¼ inch cubes.

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Une tarte à l’oignon, or onion tart, quickly became a favorite dish to eat when I lived in the Alsace region of France.  In the late ’70s I spent a year there working for a French family as an au pair, or mother’s helper.  The region is fairly wet and cold for a good portion of the year.  The resulting cuisine is hearty and heavily influenced by neighboring Germany.  During the winter months making this tart and eating it hot from the oven with a green salad made for a most satisfying evening meal.  I made this tart often for my French family.  It is also available at many of the region’s butchers, charcuteries, pastry shops, and bakeries.  As a kind of grab and go item a slice or two was the perfect foil against oncoming hunger, or a great picnic item for long country hikes or bicycle rides — both of which I did on numerous occasions.  It can be eaten hot out of the oven, or at room temperature.  The French are less fussy than we Americans when it comes to packaging; whenever I bought it at a pastry shop, bakery or butcher they simply wrapped up the slices in waxed paper and tied the package with string.  The paper then became a de facto plate when it came to time eat it.

When I returned from France I wanted to recreate this dish at home.  I followed a recipe, in French, from a little tiny paperback book I picked up in Alsace: ‘Petit Recueil de la Gastronomie Alsacienne: 75 Recettes Simples’ which translates to ‘Small Collection of Alsatian Gastronomy: 75 Simple Recipes.”  I had the metric scale and measures to use; all I needed was to find a pie crust  recipe.  The recipe in the Petit Recueil calls for a pâte brisée which is a basic white flour pie crust.  I had just purchased ‘Laurel’s Kitchen’ and in it she has a recipe for a whole wheat crust which I tried, and loved.  Ever since then I have made this dish using her whole wheat crust.  You may, however, use your own favorite pie crust recipe.  For my French readers, and I know of at least one, Pierre of Pierre Cuisine, I have included the recipe en franςais.  I also left the metric measures in my translation in case you want to try it using the metric system…

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Recommended Pie Crust:  here is my pie crust recommendation ~ ‘Piecrust’ from Laurel’s Kitchen.  It also appears, and can be printed out, in the ‘Recipes’ page at the top of this blog.

Recommendation:  Let Me Cook For You ~ for my Marin County, and Bay Area readers.  My sister, Traci Thompson, has started a personal cooking service.  She’ll devise menus, do the shopping, come to your house, and cook for you and your family.  She’s an amazing cook and prepares ‘healthy homemade meals for everyone’.

Coming Up: International Food Bloggers Conference (IFBC), August 27 – 29, 2010, Seattle Washington.  So much fun last year that I’ll be attending again this year.  Are you?

Upcoming Posts: Cochon 555 Napa, a write up of the amazing pork festival that I attended this spring. Cookbook Reviews: Steak and Friends: At Home with Rick Tramonto by Rick Tramonto, Spice Dreams by Sara Engram and Katie Luber, Cider Beans, Wild Greens, and Dandelion Jelly by Joan E. Aller.

Adapted from ‘The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen’ by Paul Wolfert

Preparation Time

45 minutes

Ingredients

10 ripe Meyer, or organic lemons

1/2 cup coarse salt, Kosher salt may be used

Extra virgin olive oil

Method

Scrub 6 of the lemons and dry well.  Quarter the 6 lemons cutting from the top to 1/2 inch from the bottom leaving them intact at the base.  Open the lemons gently and sprinkle salt on the exposed inner flesh, then reshape the fruit.  Toss with the remaining salt and pack into a 3-4 cup dry, sterile Mason jar with a glass or plastic-coated lid.

With a wooden spoon, gently push down the lemons.  Squeeze the juice from the remaining 4 lemons and pour into the jar.  Close the jar tightly and let the lemons ripen at room temperature for 30 days, shaking the jar each day to redistribute the salt and juice.  (Within a few days the salt will draw out enough juice to completely cover the lemons.)

For longer storage, add olive oil and refrigerate for up to 1 year.  Rinse the lemons before using.

Note: you may add spices like cloves, coriander seeds, peppercorns, cinnamon stick, bay leaf or chiles to the lemons for an added layer of flavor.  I would do so sparingly the first time.  You may adjust the quantity in the next go around.

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Preserved lemons remind me of places I’ve yet to visit: Tunisia, Morocco, North Africa, Turkey, and some I’ve already visited: Greece, and France.  Primarily known as a condiment used in North African cooking, preserved lemons, or variations of them, are used in many other cuisines.  They appear in Greek, Turkish, Cambodian and even East African cooking, and pickled limes are part of the Indian larder.  I find them wholly exotic in flavor.  The salty, mouth-puckering lemony flavor is a taste experience so unusual to my American taste buds.  It was when I first ate them, and it still is.  I have always loved lemons and lemony things, and when I first ate the rind of a preserved lemon I was most pleased.  I honestly don’t know where or when I first tasted them — it could have been in France in some North African dish, it might have been when I worked at Oakville Grocery, a fancy food emporium in San Francisco.  Or maybe it was in both instances.  Where ever it was I was hooked.  There are many ways to eat them, and to cook with them.  I like to eat them as a type of pickle with chicken, fish or even meat dishes.  Cutting off a bit with each mouthful they add a depth of  lemony deliciousness to any meal.

I have wanted to make them at home for sometime now and recently had a few organic lemons leftover from another recipe.  Those lemons are now becoming preserved lemons.  It takes about three to four weeks for the curing process to be complete.  I also hope to use them in a recipe I am working on using Arctic Char sent to me by i love blue sea - a mail order sustainable fish operation.  If all goes well, I’ll soon have a recipe for Arctic Char with Roasted Artichokes, Cannellini Beans and Preserved Lemons.  If the recipe works I’ll share it here.

In the meantime, here’s a recipe for preserved lemons.

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Bon appétit!

Recommendation:  Let Me Cook For You ~ for my Marin County, and Bay Area readers.  My sister, Traci Thompson, has started a personal cooking service.  She’ll devise menus, do the shopping, come to your house, and cook for you and your family.  She’s an amazing cook and prepares ‘healthy homemade meals for everyone’.

Coming Up: International Food Bloggers Conference (IFBC), August 27 – 29, 2010, Seattle Washington.  So much fun last year that I’ll be attending again this year.  Are you?

Upcoming Posts: Cochon 555 Napa, a write up of the amazing pork festival that I attended this spring. Cookbook Reviews: Steak and Friends: At Home with Rick Tramonto by Rick Tramonto, Spice Dreams by Sara Engram and Katie Luber, Cider Beans, Wild Greens, and Dandelion Jelly by Joan E. Aller.

Serves

4 – 6

Preparation Time

45 – 60 minutes

Ingredients

4 – 14 oz. cans of cannellini beans, drained OR 4 cups cooked beans

6 – 8 garlic cloves, chopped

4 – 5 medium sized tomatoes, cut in 1/4ths, or 1/8ths

8 – 10 Tbs olive oil, enough to cover the bottom of the pan

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 tsp herbes de Provence

Method

Sauté garlic in olive oil in medium sized skillet, or sauté pan over medium heat for 1 minute.  Do not brown.

Add tomatoes, salt and pepper, and herbes de Provence.  Stir together and cook until tomatoes soften and lose their shape about 4 – 6 minutes.  Stir occasionally to keep from burning.

Add beans and stir together with tomato-garlic mixture.  Cook until beans are heated through about 5 minutes or so.

Check seasonings.  Add salt if needed.

Read Original Post

Ristorante Carleni, Amelia, Italy, 2004

Open and become a part owner in a restaurant in Italy?  Sure, why not?  That’s exactly what happened several years ago when chef Jeremiah Tower and I decided to try our hand at operating a ristorante in a small hill town in Umbria, Italy.  What no one tells you before you arrive to attempt such an endeavor are the hoops you must jump through, and the circus-type feats you must attempt to get the necessary licenses and permits to start a business in Italy as a foreigner.  Madonna! It was like trying to squeeze olive oil out of Cararra marble.  Endless meetings with lawyers, police chiefs, and building inspectors and we still didn’t have the necessary permits and documentation to operate a business.  It all started in 2003 while on a three week trip to southern France and Italy.  Italian friends told us about a small restaurant where the owner of the property (a small hotel along with the restaurant) was looking for a chef to become a part owner in the restaurant.  Ristorante Carleni was located in Amelia, a small hill town in Umbria not too far from the well-known town of Todi, and relatively close to the A1 auto route.  The A1 connects Rome to Florence and is heavily traveled.  We looked at the restaurant and were intrigued.  We initially thought that we might operate it on a seasonal basis opening in the spring and closing in the fall.  We went back to try it out in the spring of 2004.  After much effort and hand wringing we both decided that there were far too many roadblocks and difficulties, and opted not to proceed with the project.  But this post isn’t really about the restaurant, it’s about beans.  I’ll write more about the restaurant in future posts.

Chef Jeremiah Tower taking in one of three dining rooms.

A trial dinner. Jeremiah is at the head of table in front of the fireplace.

Now let’s get to the beans…

We arrived in Italy in May and spent several months trying to make the restaurant work.  The month of May was wet and cold but as soon as June hit summer began — glorious Italian summer.  We rented a house in the Umbrian countryside outside Amelia.  The house had three apartments; Jeremiah took one, I took one, the third was for visitors.  The house had exquisite views of the rolling green Umbrian hills.  I quickly discovered that the local Coop had all we needed in the way of food.  Coops are a national chain of grocery stores in Italy but unlike American chain grocery stores they have an abundance of products of exceedingly high quality.  The produce was like it came from a neighbor’s garden.  The salumeria had endless types of cured meats; the cheese counter had hundreds of choices.  The luscious, ruby red, full-flavored tomatoes they sold became one of my staples.  They reminded me of tomatoes that came out of my great-grandparents’ garden.  They smelled like a tomato; they were ripe and ready to eat.  I was in love.  A huge bowl always sat on my kitchen counter.

The rental house in the Umbrian countryside.

Since Jeremiah and I had separate kitchens dining at home became a communal experience.  We’d agree on a time to eat and bring to the outdoor table whatever we pulled together from our respective kitchens.  One of my creations became a favored lunchtime staple: Cannellini Beans with Tomatoes and Garlic.  For some reason I grabbed a couple of cans of cannellini beans at the Coop one day (I don’t normally buy canned products).  When I got home I sautéed garlic in amazing olive oil, threw in some cut up tomatoes and let them cook down, then added the beans, salt, pepper, and herbs, stirred it all together, and wow!  Everyone loved this dish.  We ate it often and served it to guests.  It was wonderful on its own with crusty bread, or with grilled fish that Jeremiah might have made, or grilled sausages even.  I make this dish often now as it is so easy, so versatile and so delicious.  Here’s the recipe…

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Buon appetito!

Post Recommendatons: Most canned cannellini beans sold in grocery stores should be fine but I’ve been buying Carmelina Brands.  The bright yellow label says ‘No Preservatives,’ and ‘Packed in Italy - Prodotto in Italia,‘ the ingredients listed are beans, water, salt.  If you want to cook your own beans I recommend Rancho Gordo beans and the book ‘Heirloom Beans’ written by Rancho Gordo owner, Steve Sando.  It’s a great resource full of wonderful recipes.  An olive oil I recently started using and recommend is California Olive Ranch.

Recommendation:  Let Me Cook For You ~ for my Marin County, and Bay Area readers.  My sister, Traci Thompson, has started a personal cooking service.  She’ll devise menus, do the shopping, come to your house, and cook for you and your family.  She’s an amazing cook and prepares ‘healthy homemade meals for everyone’.

Coming Up: International Food Bloggers Conference (IFBC), August 27 – 29, 2010, Seattle Washington.  So much fun last year that I’ll be attending again this year.  Are you?

Upcoming Posts: Cochon 555 Napa, a write up of the amazing pork festival that I attended this spring. Cookbook Reviews: Steak and Friends: At Home with Rick Tramonto by Rick Tramonto, Spice Dreams by Sara Engram and Katie Luber, Cider Beans, Wild Greens, and Dandelion Jelly by Joan E. Aller.

My father, Edward W. Thompson

My father, on the far right, age 9, and his four siblings in 1943.

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A few notes:  I made this cake twice as I burned the first one while trying to brown the topping in my broiler.  I had barely put it under the broiler before it burned.  I don’t know if stoves have evolved and my broiler is more efficient than they were when the recipe first appeared on Bisquick boxes but with the second cake I had to watch it very closely during the browning stage.  Be careful.  On the second cake I also doubled the ingredient amounts for the topping as there was barely enough to cover the first cake.

Recommendation:  Let Me Cook For You ~ for my Marin County, and Bay Area readers.  My sister, Traci Thompson, has started a personal cooking service.  She’ll devise menus, do the shopping, come to your house, and cook for you and your family.  She’s an amazing cook and prepares ‘healthy homemade meals for everyone’.

Coming Up: International Food Bloggers Conference (IFBC), August 27 – 29, 2010, Seattle Washington.  So much fun last year that I’ll be attending again this year.  Are you? Upcoming Posts: Cochon 555 Napa, a write up of the amazing pork festival that I attended this spring. Cookbook Reviews: Steak and Friends: At Home with Rick Tramonto by Rick Tramonto, Spice Dreams by Sara Engram and Katie Luber, Cider Beans, Wild Greens, and Dandelion Jelly by Joan E. Aller.