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Small bites for late nights

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Make it a holiday gift to yourself.

Good Gumbo

My latest posting is at  https://wordpress.com/read/blog/id/60305480/

I hope all of you are warm on this snowy Saturday.

Merry Christmas!

Colleen

P.S. Please scroll down the new blog and use the orange FOLLOW button to ensure you get all my posts!

I have moved to http://foodfarmsandfarmmarkets.com/  and back in the groove for posting. Check out the recipe in time for the holidays!Don't forget to subscribe to the new blog site.

Did you hear the news?

I dropped the ball and I apologize for not picking it up before today. A recent bought of illness caused an upheaval in my schedule. Added to this is the fact I am developing the new site for the blog and trying to finish the painting of a bathroom, life has been hectic.

The new blog site will debut after Thanksgiving, just in time for baking season. Until then, the blog is on hold. The new site will have previously the new posts, published posts, recipes, and a comments section which will (hopefully) work! Afterwards, I hope you will visit the new site and tell all your friends. One of my goals for next year (I hesitate to call it a New Years Resolution) is to to expand the readership and will need your help.

Until then, enjoy the holiday and shop small!

Olio Nuovo is here! Get it while it lasts!

Taste the olive oil before purchasing. I had heard this, but it is not possible when you shop at a grocery store. Grocery stores want you to purchase their olive oil, take it home, decide if you like it, and keep the oil regardless of your opinion. Honestly, for a long time I wondered if there was any reason to taste olive oils as they had to taste the same. Right? My skepticism was heightened by the results of a study I had heard about. Turns out, when you may not be getting what the label states is in the bottle. A study by the University of California Davis Olive Oil Chemistry Laboratory and the Australian Oils Research Laboratory uncovered a greater than 50% chance the imported olive oil was not what the labels stated. The figure for California olive oil was just 10% (which I find to be 10% too high). (Full disclosure: There are some voluntary labeling standards from the USDA.)

What’s a girl to do? This girl was lucky enough to discover Olive Oil Etcetera in Doylestown, PA. Here you can taste the olive oil and balsamic vinegar offerings prior to making a purchase. I don’t compare much anymore. Upon my first tasting, I became a convert to Olio Nuovo, which is a first press California olive oil available only in the fall. Last year I missed my opportunity and had to make due with a small sample bottle. The balsamic choices have me turned up-side down. First, I was all about the Black Walnut balsamic, now it might be the Fig Balsamic vinegar. 

I don’t know the source of origin for all the oils which are sold by Olive Oil Etcetera but they do carry California Olive oils which, for me, are the right purchase. California Olive oils are as ‘local’ a source for as I can get, have high rates of label integrity, and are sold by a local business owned by two of the nicest people I have met. Make a point to stop by their store and sample their offerings, pick up a gift or two, and meet wonderful people who care about the community. 

Those bottles of olive oil at the grocery store? They are still waiting for me to purchase them and bring them home. 

Lastly, and most importantly:

Currently, when you purchase a bottle of the fig balsamic vinegar a dollar is donated to help Judy the wife of the owner of Vine & Fig Bistro. She is facing the post-surgery battle that cancer brings to people. I don’t know how long this will last, but

Green and Gouda

Last week my coworker was discussing her weekend during which she taught people the techniques of 18^th century cooking. She described a green onion bread that made my mouth water and left me intent on making a pot of soup to go with this onion bread. She was kind enough to send it to me, but I was missing two ingredients. Instead of giving up, I decided to create my own recipe by adapting a quick bread recipe.  I was surprised how small changes  lent themselves to making a delicious loaf of onion bread.

The first step was to select a basic quick bread recipe so I pulled a fruited quick bread from my files to use as the basis for ingredient proportions. My first change was to swap out the fruit for leeks which were in my freezer from a previous share box. Although I had previously sliced the leeks, I decided to chop them so the onion was finer and could be fully distributed throughout the bread.  Next I decided to use the remaining smoked gouda in the bread. Dicing this cheese required patience to achieve a dice no larger than one-eight inch. I had only a half coup of the cheese and I added a bit of the flour to the cheese in order to make certain the cheese spread throughout the bread. My final change was to cut the sugar in half, but how exciting of a change is that?

It is not a perfect recipe (too moist), there are some minor changes still to be made, but it is the first time I have successfully changed an existing recipe. So, for one wonderful weekend there was excitement, great flavors, and great aromas in my kitchen. The only task for me to accomplish is to identify the cheese I want  to use in the next loaf.