Artichokes and cream: what's not to love

If life were perfect I would have created this dish but nope, it wasn't me. It was another food blogger, Ree Drummond at Pioneer Woman. She's just come out with a cookbook but I've been reading her blog all along. She takes a million photos of the process for each recipe and has fun doing it. She has a handful of home schooled kids and a working cattle ranch. She is way too organized but has an honest blog that is fun to read and is a damn fine cook.

Spaghetti with artichokes and tomatoes

She touts this as almost entirely made from the pantry and I did use canned artichoke hearts but I had enough fresh Roma tomatoes so I blanched and pealed them. I had thought frozen artichokes but they might be to watery and Trader Joe's has a very nice canned product. It is easy, quick and very filling. I like to have a meatless dinner ever so often and this fits the bill.

Ree added the cheese a bit differently. Hot pasta into a bowl, drizzle with olive oil and then sprinkle a fair amount of grated Parmesan. Then top with the hot sauce. I think that helped to incorporate the cheese better. And like her, I use tongs to help mix this all together. Where ever would I be without tongs. They are on my family crest.

Editor's note: I got so wound up about this dish I missed one thing. It was delicious! My beloved enjoyed it and didn't even miss the meat. I could have eaten the whole bowl but held myself in check. Red sauce is on for me but I really have trouble with the acid. This had a yummy tomato flavor without the acid-reflux I usually experience. Do make this. Go to the store right now.

Free is our favorite flavor*, **

For curiosity, we track how many people come to PBE. We use a nifty little free app called Site Meter. What I've noticed lately are where our visits come from.

Food Porn Watch
Blogs of Note Archive (we are eternally grateful for that mention)
Some other blog who have listed our link on their site; cool

Play with food
Refining Life
The Big Fat Indian Dream
Femme in the Green Sneakers
Carbs and Diet Coke
Joanna's Food
Kaylyn's Kitchen
C is for cooking
Mixed Salad Annie
Laura Rebecca's Kitchen
Soul Fusion Kitchen


Sorry if I missed mentioning anyone, these are the referrals that came up recently. We do appreciate the advertising and will reciprocate by adding addition blogs to our list, just e-mail us.

Editor's note:*"Free is my favorite flavor" is a quote attributed to lil bird and I've used it quite freely.

** note from lil bird: actually, i usually say "free is my favorite four letter word that starts with f." and if you know me, you know how liberal i am with the f-bombs! ;)

Something for the Candyman--challenge

I saw this Challenge advertised on Laura Rebecca's Kitchen and decided I'd try a recipe I've had around for a while. The host for this challenge is Chronicles in Culinary Curiosity. The big ingredient should be sugar so what a fine time to test my Grandmother, Lavonne's Sugar Pie.

This is a pie she'd make to use up the leftover pie dough. I'm not sure of the origin but she made it when her kids were little and I suppose her mother made it for her. My uncle called it Vaseline pie because of the texture and color, it is a bit pale. This made me reluctant to eat it as a kid but once I did I was a fan for life. To me it tastes a bit like the base for pecan pie, without the pecans. I've seen variations that use brown sugar but never this exact recipe. It's sweet and make sure you don't overcook it.

Lavonne's Sugar Pie
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon oleo
2 cups boiling water

Mix together then add one tablespoon of oleo (margarine or butter). Add 2 cups of boiling water, slowly while stirring. Stir until everything is dissolved. Pour into 8-9 inch unbaked pie crust. (I used a tart pan) Sprinkle with cinnamon and nutmeg.

Bake 350 degrees until filling is just set in center--it should jiggle a bit--about 45-50 minutes. Cool completely before slicing.

I remember she kept the leftovers in the ice box but with only sugar and a bit of margarine I can't understand why. If you do, let come to room temp before serving.

Something of interest

Summer has hit the PBE women head on. With Doodles out of country and the lil bird tied to her desk at work and me, I admit it, not been cooking anything new for a while--we have not been posting much. So I'm not ashamed with just giving our readers a link to another site. I think it's nice to find new cooking sites and since this one has always been on my Bloglines for a while I thought I'd share.

Nicole at Baking Bites has quite a site, very complete with recipes and baking tips. I still make the marshmallows that I found on her site when it was called Baking Sheet. Today she has a great little quick post for rolling out pie crust. I use my grandmother's rolling pin and an old rolling sheet from Tupperware. I've tried other things but this is the combo for me.

So find yourself some summer fruits to wrap around or check out her post for Lemon Meringue Pie.

June Wing-ding

Our Family Bash was quite fun. We had friends and family and lots of food. Italian was the theme with a sub-theme of being lazy. We cooked some and also saved time with a mixture of store-bought items. All in all, it was a tasty afternoon.

This was the menu:
Artichoke and Red Pepper Bruchetta
Sausage and Bread Spiedini
Meat Ball Sandwiches with Balsamic Onion Relish
Orzo Salad
Antipasta Tray
Cheese Cake with Apricot Glaze

The photo at the left was not food on the table cloth but a clear glass plate that looked like we ate on the table cloth. Honest, we didn't.

The meat ball sandwiches were great with Balsamic Onion Relish, a recipe I found on Acme Instand Food. Thanks, Kevin it was a hit.

I know there has been discussion about using store bought but I have to voice an opinion. Sometimes I just don't have the time to fix everything from scratch. I pick the products I serve my family and friends carefully being aware of food additives; Doodles is mucho allergic to MSG so that is a no no here. Bottled dressing? Yes, when I'm feeding a crowd and there are wonderful products to choose from. I agree most things are better from scratch but only when it makes sense.

Doodles here: I must agree on the store bought versus from scratch. Here is my take on the whole thing. Why have a large gathering of friends and family and spend time in the kitchen preparing? Doesn't make sense to me. Oh yes I am wildly allergic to MSG and one just has to be a label reader cause manufacturers are beginning to use MSG more than in the past few years.

The above mentioned Wing-ding was a blast, but then when we are all together it's always fun. We combined a few birthdays to complete the celebration.

Editors Note: You might wonder, where is our lil bird? Well, she and her darling husband and two doggies did join us, she was one of the birthday celebrators, but she was whisked away on a business trip so has not had time to add to the postings.

Run, it's lava

Once in a fine restaurant, I ordered Lava Cake. It took an additional twenty minutes but was well worth the wait. I've seen recipes before but always thought they had to be fussy, they always add twenty minutes at a restaurant. Boy, was I wrong. This is one of the easiest desserts around. Well, maybe not the easiest but has to rank right at the top of the list.

Chez Mégane has a wonderful recipe so I'm not going to reproduce it here, click over. What I will say is instead of mixing in the cinnamon, I sprinkled just a bit on the tops before baking.
When it says beat for 7 minutes on high, they aren't kidding. I just set the timer and my darling mixer beat the bejesus out of the batter. What I can't figure out is how does it make a cake with only two tablespoons of flour?

As you see, I was quite unimaginative and only topped the cakes with chocolate ice cream but I'd run out of time. There were no complaints. A tad more planning would have given a better presentation.

The photo does not do them justice. I should have showed them split open and the oozy chocolate; Megan's has a much better pix. We were all too eager to dive into the lava.

There is an unrelated P.S for this post but none the less important. Happy Birthday to our own Maltese Parakeet! We are postponing her special party until the Gypsy Caravan makes its way to Southern California in June. Which is appropriate since she was born two weeks early. Always in a hurry, that girl.

Thinking Blogger Award

Here we are, late again. Freya and Paul at Writing at the Kitchen Table were kind enough to include us in their Thinking Bloggers award with four other interesting food blogs. The three of us, sister Doodles, daughter Maltese Parakeet, who we fondly call lil bird, and myself have enjoyed the year plus of blogging and hope to add a new dimension with Doodles being on the road for a while and the "gypsy" of our gang of three.

This honor is not taken lightly so we will get on with the our nominations. The meme ask nothing other that to nominate five food blogs that make you think. Us three settled on one each and, with a flourish, here they are.

Doodles: Lucullian Delights-An Italian Experience If you only go to see Ilva's photos you'd be pleased enough but do stay for the recipes, she comes up with some great flavor idea. Check out the Minty Pea and Avocado salad.

Maltese Parakeet: Kate at Accidental hedonist writes about the politics of food and her food history posts are so much fun. Don't miss The etymology of Pumpernickel for a grand chuckle.

Mooncrazy: Megan at Chez Mégane does the ordinary extraordinary. Her pre-prep and prep photos are great for the new cook and Molten Chocolate Cinnamon Cakes are easier than I'd thought.

This list is not finite by any stretch of the imagination but we are pleased to be in the company of any of these three food bloggers.

If we named your blog, here is what you are supposed to do:

1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think,
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme,
3. Optional: Proudly display the 'Thinking Blogger Award' with a link to the post that you wrote.
4. don't forget to notify they blogs you've nominated.

The gauntlet has been tossed

Food events are shameless attempts to enhance a blogs following and Freya and Paul at Writing at the Kitchen Table are, pardon the pun, cooking up a fine one. This Big Burger Ballyhoo 2007 comes just it time to limber up the BBQ muscle and cook up a mess o'burgers.

This is a challenge to all you burger-loving mommas and papas and especially the other women here at PBE, to get your boyga on. Plenty of time, May 15, is the deadline for entries. Check out their post for more info.