http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/butternut-squash-brunch-braid/06955b57-4dba-4eb0-9040-95be19384c05/?bof_return=1. 

Natalie will compete for the $1,000,000 grand prize on March 25-27, 2012 in Orlando, Florida.   I am wishing her the very best of luck to come home with the $1,000,000 prize.   She’s already ahead in my book because her recipe was one of only 12 that appeared in the Pillsbury press release about the event.   You can find out more about the contest at

 http://www.pillsbury.com/BakeOff/About. 

 Perhaps you will be the next $1,000,000 winner.  GO NATALIE!!!!!!

The signature product of The Happy Chocolatier is the” Fudge Cubze,” a chocolate confection somewhere between fudge and a chocolate truffle.  Paul describes them as “creamy rich fudge covered with smooth dark or milk chocolate.’  The “Cubze” come in multiple flavors including cappuccino, cranberry walnut(my personal favorite) and cookies and cream, and they are wrapped by hand with each piece containing an inspirational message; the candy man’s own version of a fortune cookie.  The store also offers gourmet chocolates which Paul has chosen carefully from the best New England chocolatiers.

Upon entering the store, you’ll be greeted with the opportunity to sample a bite of one of the “ Fudge Cubze.”  Once you’ve made your choice, you can treat yourself to a single treat or if you can’t choose, the Red Keepsake Grand Gift Box, a red multi-tiered box containing all of the flavors is available and makes a great gift.   Don’t miss out on the “Fudge Cubze” Parfaits either, ice cream, topped with the signature candy, of course.

It’s always a great pleasure for me to meet people who love what they’re doing and want to share their passion with others.  Stop by the shop at 509 Nagog Park, Acton and sample the “Fudge Cubze” for yourself!  Maybe if you’re lucky,  you’ll see “the candy man”  himself!

Learn with me about sustainability and who’s walking the walk.

http://www.theatlantic.com/food/archive/2010/10/sustainable-food-catchphrase-or-lifestyle/64961/

My visit to the hand clinic at my favorite local hospital this week turned out to have a culinary lining and gave me a reason to keep my mind off of the inevitable which is the repair of my broken right wrist.  I was quite fortunate that George sat down near me.  I had forgotten the reason for my sunglasses and having removed them, I had begun to notice the awkward stares.  After all, it was the day after Halloween. I had fallen hard from my stairs into the wall at my landing, and in addition to my broken wrist and multiple bruises, I had sustained a broken nose, facial lacerations and two black eyes.  George was clearly a sympathetic man.

What one notices upon arrival at an orthopedic unit is that the obvious nature of everyone’s injuries leads to much conversation.  I really was not interested in listening to the loudest of them which was the broken arm of a fiftyish year old man sustained in an 80 mile per hour motorcycle crash. Really?  Only a broken arm? I immediately questioned his veracity.  Having broken my leg about ten years ago in a ladder fall, I remembered the desire to tell people that I had been extreme skiing or fallen off a mechanical bull instead of the boring truth.

George inquired about my injuries, and my husband, Mark, remarked how unfortunate it was that I had broken my dominant wrist because I am a cooking instructor.  That opened the door to George’s story about Nisu.  One of my favorite parts of teaching about food and cooking is that each of my students has their own unique culinary history, and I almost always learn as much from them as they do from me.  George was about to introduce me to a traditional Finnish recipe and the story of its place in his own family history. For a few moments, I forgot why I was at the clinic.

The most memorable part of my five minute interchange with George was that he was able to convey how much he loved his wife and how much she must have loved him to have recreated the recipe that  had been such an important part of his childhood.  It reminded me how much cooking is and should be about love.   The specifics of the story were filled in by George’s wife, Liz.

George’s mother, Lempi, made this coffee bread also known as pulla bread by hand from an old Finnish recipe.  When George was growing up, all the neighbors gathered at his house at 4:00 in the afternoon for coffee and coffee bread.     Liz watched Lempi make it by hand and created this recipe for a family cookbook(a must for all families) some years ago by her memory of her mother-in-law’s labor and by downscaling old bulk Finnish recipes.

Below is Liz’s recipe for use in a bread machine.  Today she uses a stand mixer with a dough hook.  Liz noted in her email to me that traditional recipes also contain an egg which she frequently includes.
 
When I get my hand back, I look forward to baking Nisu from Liz’s recipe.  I will most likely substitute fresh cardamom, which Liz did for years before ground cardamom was available..  The 1954 Lane’s Cove Cookbook says, “When the Finnish people first came here to Lanesville, no one could guess what that early morning hammering in the kitchen was for. Now they know it was just Mother or ‘Aiti’ pounding up the cardamom for a new batch of nisu.”

Discovering the history of our food is sometimes as interesting and fulfilling as the food itself.

Nisu

¾ cup milk
2 tsp. butter
2 cups flour
3 Tbs. sugar
1 tsp. ground cardamom
½ tsp. salt
2 tsp. bread machine yeast
½ cup raisins (optional)

Combine all ingredients except raisins in bread machine and set to DOUGH ONLY cycle. Add raisins after initial mixing is done, according to the manufacturer’s instructions. When the dough cycle is complete, divide the dough into 3 parts and braid into a loaf. Allow to rise in 150 degree oven for 20 minutes. If desired, brush loaf with a little egg white and sprinkle lightly with sugar. Bake 24 minutes at 325 degrees.

Can you freeze eggs in the shell?

It seemed logical to me that you cannot freeze eggs in the shell as the eggs will expand and the shell will crack.  I was correct.  

To freeze whole eggs, crack the egg and beat until blended, then freeze individually or together.  Muffin tins and ice cube trays work well to freeze them individually, then pop them out and store in a ziploc bag once frozen.  To use, thaw in the refrigerator.  If they were frozen together, about 2 tablespoons of the slightly blended egg mixture will equal about one large egg.

What is the easiest way to peel a hard boiled egg? 

Well I’ve known for some time that older eggs are easier to peel, and the way that I do it is to crack the shell by tapping it gently against the countertop.  Then roll the egg over the countertop, again very gently.  Once it is thoroughly cracked,  peel the shell away under running water.  However there may be a better way.  You won’t want to miss Tim Ferriss on YouTube demonstrating the blow method.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN2gYHJNT3Y

Farmer’s Jim and John gave us a walking tour of their farm during which we learned about their growing practices and the need for crop diversity.   We sampled grocery store varieties of carrots, beets, cucumbers and micro greens alongside their Allandale Farm counterparts.  Wow!  What a difference!  The beets were my personal favorites.  Since I became concious about the taste of food, it’s become such a joy to take that first bite that reveals something special about a thing that up until that point has seemed so ordinary.

Chefs Collaborative, a Boston based network of chefs, is working to get more of these endangered varietals into its members’ kitchens.  They created a program enticing local farms to grow these special items with the promise that everything they grow will be purchaed by local restaurants.  “If farms start growing thses amazing beautiful and yummy heirloom varieties, they’ll start selling them at local farmers markets-which means you get a chance to taste and experiment!  You support crop diversity AND get better tasting food.” according to Slow Food Boston.  Heirloom varietal dinners are being sponsored by the two organizations this fall at local restaurants including Tomasso Trattoria, Tasting Wine Bar & Bistro, Lumiere, Craigie on Main and Henrietta’s Table.   Reservations can be made through Slow Food Boston.

If you haven’t visited Allandale Farm, it’s worth a trip.  Right now you can see  the work of 16 guest artists sponsored by Agriculture Encounters Sculpture as well as pick up some farm grown produce at the farmstand.

Adapted from Paula Deen

3 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon baking soda

3 eggs

2 cups white sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups grated zucchini

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 Tablespoon orange zest

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease (2) 9 by 5 inch loaf pans.  Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, spices and baking soda.  In a separate bowl, beat eggs until light and fluffy.  Add sugar and blend well.  Stir in oil, vanilla, zucchini, chocolate chips, and orange zest.  Stir in flour mixture and pour into prepared pans.  Bake for 50 minutes or until skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Remove loaves from pans and cool on rack. Cool thoroughly before slicing.