(Click on any of the pictures to enlarge and read captions.)
I based it on a recipe by Gale Gand I found on the Food Network website. The inside of Gale’s cake sounded just like the cake at the Dunbar, but Gale’s has a marzipan dome over the top. At the Dunbar, it looks more like a traditional cake with white almond frosting and sliced almonds decorating the sides. So, I used Gale’s recipe for the inside and an almond frosting recipe I found in one of my cookbooks for the outside.

It is layers of white sponge cake sandwiching layers of raspberry jam and cream filling. The cream in Gale’s recipe is similar to the type of cream in a Boston cream pie or a cream puff. I am not sure if the Dunbar cake has the same sort of layer or not. Theirs may be more almond frosting instead. But I actually made a smaller two layer cake a few weeks ago to test it out and the flavors seemed just right and I loved how moist the cream kept the whole cake.

There were definitely a lot of steps for making this cake and it may look daunting, but I had a lot of fun with it. The hardest part for me is decorating – something for which I have neither the proper tools nor any training whatsoever.

And it shows! My cake was a little lopsided, and yes, I desecrated the whole thing with pink frosting in a spray can for the festive touches. But, my heart was in the right place and the cake tasted great and my mother loved it. And that is all that counts!
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go get some actual training not in cake decorating but in mastering of business management. Wish me luck! I’ll miss you all and hope to see you here again someday. In the meantime, you can find me on Facebook. Au revoir & bon appetit!

I mean, what a brilliant yet simple concept – stuffing meatballs with a little cube of cheese! I wish I thought of that. And the sauce sounded intriguing too. I had never cooked with pancetta before and how could that be? It’s a cured pork product, similar to bacon! What’s not to like?

The sauce starts with chopped pancetta sauteed in olive oil until golden brown.

Giada says to stir frequently. (Doesn’t that remote on my refrigerator look like it is floating above my spoon?) It smelled porky and a little bit spicy. Nice!

As it cooked, it started to look more like ham than bacon. But then came a turning point.

And there it is – golden brown and bacony. You scoop out the pancetta with a slotted spoon, and then cook the onions and garlic in the fat.

After adding the tomatoes and crushed red pepper flakes, it simmers and reduces for awhile. It actually doesn’t take all that long to reduce. I really should have read the recipe through better for timing. Although it is written with the sauce preparation first, I really should have started the meatballs first, and that’s actually what Giada did on the show too. Oops. Live and learn.

Here, my giant man hands demonstrate an interesting instruction – grated onions. It was kind of hard to do, as the onion fell apart as I grated, and I had to keep turning it around and hoping not to scrape my fingers in the process. But, it does yield a nice pile of very juicy onion bits, which I imagine is the point. The rest of the meatball mixture is typical, with egg, breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese, plus fresh parsley, garlic and ketchup. I didn’t have any ground veal, so I stuck with all ground beef.

Next, it was time to cube the smoked mozzarella – another first for me, I think. I don’t recall using smoked mozzarella in any other recipe before.

I’m all about the extreme close ups of my giant hands today! Here they are, tucking a cube of cheese into a meatball.

In the end, I had 16 big, beautiful meatballs, just as I was supposed to. They baked for 15 minutes and came out looking like this.

A few leakers, but that was okay. I didn’t have any bucatini pasta like Giada calls for, so I used spaghetti, which I also should have started sooner!

It all gets tossed together with more parmesan, more fresh parsley and the sauce. I did have a slightly difficult time tossing everything without breaking up the meatballs, but eventually I got all of the pasta coated with sauce and everything fairly evenly dispersed.
I absolutely loved everything about this dish and I am usually not overly excited about meatballs. The ones that stayed intact were a joy to bite into with the soft ooze of cheese inside. My husband and I both loved the little bits of pancetta in the sauce, and both the meatballs and the sauce had just enough to kick to make it interesting. My husband thought he would have liked a greater sauce to pasta ratio, but I was fine with the light coating.
The really cool thing about this is that you could adapt it to however you like to serve meatballs. You could stuff cubes of mozzarella in your own secret meatball recipe, or you could try a different cheese. You could serve these same meatballs with your favorite pasta sauce. They would be particularly awesome on a meatball sandwich. So, go forth and stuff a meatball! You’ll be glad you did.

I joined friends at La Casita Azteca for dinner last night and we were charmed. It’s a tiny building, with about as much space as El Guanaco but with better decor – bright yellow and cheery with Mexico tourism posters on the wall. We started simple with chips and salsa.

It was served with two kinds of salsa – green and red, and both were excellent. The taste was just spicy enough and balanced – not too sweet, not too acidic.

For my entree, I went with a combination platter. It was too hard to choose just one thing. It was the Carne Enchilada, with deliciously seasoned and tender pork in the lower center of the plate, surrounded by a beef empanada, a chicken taco, guacamole, rice, and refried beans. The empanada was probably my favorite – I loved the tender shell and the savory filling. The chicken taco was a little dry, but I should have amended it with some of the fixings on my plate.

JenniferB had the Tacos de Cazuela, and while she enjoyed the unusual flavor combination of tomato, garlic, green onion, serrano pepper, pineapple, and melted cheese with the meat, the consistency was a little loose and soupy.

Pat had the Tinga Poblana – shredded pork with rice and beans, and she cleaned her plate.

Here’s Jennifer Myszkowski with her vegetarian burrito, which would later also become a clean plate.
I also have a fuzzy picture of Margaret’s dish, but I don’t recall what it was. I do know she enjoyed her meal, as well as the soft tortillas that were brought to the table for dipping in the leftover salsa.
So, overall we really enjoyed almost everything with just a few minor issues. The service was very friendly and the quality of the ingredients was apparent with everything we tried. And, as if all of that was enough, La Casita is just a few doors down from Mt. Tom’s Homemade Ice Cream! So, make a night of it in Easthampton and stop wringing those hands and rending those garments. Fab Mexican food is back!

I haven’t had tapioca pudding since I was kid, and I really couldn’t even remember exactly what it tasted like, but I knew I liked it.

And just look at the little pearls. They look like packing material, not something tasty for dessert. So, I followed the recipe on the package and waited to find out if I still liked it.

There’s a lot of waiting, and a lot of stirring, and I wasn’t quite sure if my egg whites and sugar really ever got to the soft peak stage or not. The recipe says to serve warm or chilled, and I also couldn’t remember how I might have had it in the past. Cold sounded right though, like other puddings. So, I chilled while it chilled and waited some more.

When it was finally time to serve, I skipped the serving suggestion of nutmeg or coconut on top, and went with a sprinkle of cinnamon and some whipped cream. And the verdict? Yeah, I do like that stuff. I especially like the funky texture of the little pearls. Although, I somehow made the consistency too loose – perhaps those egg whites did it. But, there is still a lot more tapioca in the package, and Bob has two more recipes on his site to try. I can’t wait to find out how much I like it when it isn’t soupy!

No, my husband was not in the dog house. In fact, we don’t really celebrate Valentine’s Day. Instead, we were happy to attend a party at JenniferB’s house – The Relentless Negativity Film Festival. So, of course, I had to make theme appropriate cookies to bring with me. And, it wasn’t just negative conversation hearts – as you can see, there are also frowny emoticons. Also note – no pink or red. The icing is green and blue. I particularly like the blue – blue is not a very appetizing color.

I also found a creative way to include my gingerbread man cookie cutters. The dude on the left is just a chalk outline. Oh, and the heart on the bottom right says, “MEH” not “METH” as some thought, although I suppose METH is way more negative than just the ennui expressed by MEH.

I liked my artwork on the skeleton guy, but the puking guy has a little more shock value. My husband said that guy also looked like he could be eating a cat, which would probably make you puke eventually anyway. For an extra added negative touch, some of the cookies were filled with lemon curd instead of the traditional raspberry jam, just because lemons are sour. But actually, they were quite delicious.
Would you believe I am not the only one with such a sick mind? As it turns out, Jennifer Myszkowski was invited to the same party and she also made heart cut outs with negative sayings! Some of hers also had sad, crying faces or even faces smoking cigarettes. Great minds think alike! Or they have too much time and food color on their hands.

This mix does have dehydrated apple pieces in it, so it’s not even technically mock apple. But of course, there is another meaning of mock, isn’t there? Remember the failed apple bread? Well, Karen and Renae do, and whenever they make a nice successful loaf of the stuff they take the opportunity to tease me and tell me how great their loaves are. So, for Christmas, Renae was very thoughtful and gave me this:

A mix – you know, so it could be foolproof for me. Well, tonight I was in the mood for some fresh baked goods but it was getting late and I did’t want to haul out the mixer and make a big mess. I remembered the mix in the cupboard and followed the simple instructions – dump the mix in a bowl, add two eggs, 3/4 cup of water and 1/2 cup melted butter and stir. Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake at 350 for 40 – 45 minutes or until done. I checked it with a toothpick at 45 minutes and it was still gooey in the middle. So, I put it back in for 5 more minutes. Still gooey. Five more minutes, just slightly gooey. Five more, perfect.

And there it is! Just fine apple bread. No gooey lumps. And the taste? It was okay. I thought a little too much clove. My husband particularly liked the crusty pieces at the end. So, I swallowed a little pride along with some rehydrated apple pieces.

And who could forget my blatant rip off of Scarborough Fair? I actually still have some of the frozen thyme and sage and it still has plenty of flavor.

In addition to pizza making and song re-writing, I also have mad art skillz. That lovely image is from my open letter to Alton Brown, describing the more vicious properties of his salt cellar product.

And sometimes, a post just writes itself. My efficient nature just has to love that, and those muffins.
So, thanks for being here for the last four years. And next time, I promise an actual original post! Stay tuned.

We stayed at an all-inclusive resort, the Tamarijn. So, all of our drinks, meals and non-motorized water sports were included in the price. We chose to go ahead and eat from the buffet rather than fish for something ourselves like these guys.

As I mentioned, tropical drinks were readily available, and this open air bar right on the beach was one of our favorite places to procure them. I believe my husband is ordering us some strawberry daiquiries here.

We were not, alas, in Tijuana so we did not have any barbecued iguana. Just iguana visitors by my lounge chair.

Here’s the view from the pizza bar where we had most of our lunches. We’ve always enjoyed the breakfasts and lunches at this resort. Lots to choose from, including an omelet bar at breakfast and good sandwiches, salads, and of course, pizza for lunch.

This picture was taken on our way to dinner one night. We never were all that impressed with dinners, but they seem to have stepped it up. Every night there were great choices – a pasta and stir-fry bar, a carving station with everything from prime rib to suckling pig, and a grilling station with sirloin steak and fresh fish.

We didn’t find gold at the end of the rainbow, but we did find a new restaurant at the resort serving Asian food. I loved the won-ton soup.

And now I am back and I have to cook for myself and there are no tropical drinks handy and I am too cold to want to drink one anyway. Sigh. I am thankful that I did get to be warm for a week though. And now spring can’t be that far away, can it? What groundhog could be afraid of those pretty shadows?

We selected The Elephant Walk – a French/Cambodian restaurant in Porter Square.

The decor was pretty awesome. This relief elephant on the wall was enormous. But the rest of the space was just warm and lovely. There were interesting lighting fixtures and one of the nicest restaurant bathrooms I have experienced as of late.
Nice crisp French bread was brought to our table right away with hummus instead of butter. We enjoyed it while studying the menu, which is divided into classic French, traditional Cambodian and modern Cambodian/French fusion. There is also a whole page of vegetarian and vegan appetizers and entrees, as well as a tasting menu.
Several of us started with the Rouleaux – Cambodian spring rolls with crushed peanut, beanthread noodles, carrot and onion; served with fresh greens and herbs for wrapping and tuk trey on the side for dipping. JenniferB and I had the rolls with ground pork and Jennifer Myszkowski and Margaret shared the vegetarian version.

JenniferB says:

A common thread in my meal was that the food was kind of bland. And I don’t mean “not spicy”, although none of it was particularly spicy either. It just wasn’t very complex. This was a perfect example of that. I don’t know how something that has both pork and peanuts in it can be dull, but this kind of was. The tuk trey was decent. One puzzling thing about this dish was “greens and herbs for wrapping.” The roll was deep fried. What is supposed to be rolled here? Sprouts and mint or basil is a common accoutrement with southeast Asian food, but I was clueless as to how I was supposed to apply them to this dish.

I actually followed Myszkowski’s lead here and tried wrapping one of my rolls in the greens with the herbs inside. I’m not sure if that was the intention or not, but it was pleasant.

Pat let me try her appetizer too. She says, “first I had the Nataing: spicy pork with sticky rice. This was the best thing all night — and I enjoyed the whole meal. Spicy and the rice just soaked it all up.”
As part of their tasting menus, Pat and JenniferB also both had this:

JenniferB said:

Croustillants aux Poires et Crevettes Flambees aux Vin Blanc – Crispy wontons layered with warm Bartlett pear and scallion, topped with natural shrimp flambeed with white wine, leeks and garlic. I always forget not to get shrimp in a restaurant because it is usually overcooked or poor quality. I couldn’t resist the pear/scallion/leek/garlic combo though. Unfortunately, it didn’t really make much of an impression on me.

Pat said, “tasty but not very interesting. The best part was the leeks, not the shrimp or the
pears.”

Instead of the pear and shrimp thing, I had a salad. The menu describes it as “Salade de Bleu au Poire William – A medley of greens tossed with Gorgonzola cheese, toasted walnut and balsamic vinaigrette;with pan-roasted pear and Poire William coulis.” I particularly liked the combination of roasted pears with the Gorgonzola.

Jennifer & Margaret enjoying their appetizers.

Pat and I chose the same entree – Porc Diplomat – Grilled pork tenderloin with a caramelized sauce of coconut milk, black pepper, and garlic; with grilled eggplant and wild lime rice. Pat said it was delicious and I enjoyed it too. The wild lime rice was one of my favorites. The flavor was extremely bold, and I especially liked mixing it with the scallions that garnished the dish. The pork was tender, and the sauce was delicate.

Of her entree, above, JenniferB said:

Khar Saiko Kroeung with Shanghai Noodles – Braised boneless short ribs with Shanghai noodles sauteed with baby bok choy, beansprouts and scallion – This was the high point of the meal. Nothing spectacular, but well balanced and tasty. The meat was very tender and flavorful. The noodles and bok choy were cooked to a nice tenderness. I might have even enjoyed this more if I hadn’t already been kind of full. I got this series of foods as a tasting menu, but each plate came out like a full on course. It was a ridiculous amount of food for the price.

Unfortunately, I didn’t catch what it was Margaret had or how much she liked it. JM discussed the overall meal with her though and has this to say:

My dish was the tofu citronelle. I thought it was good. I was expecting it to be a little bit tastier than it was, in truth, but when I was talking to Margaret about it, she said something along the lines of our group becoming accustomed to really delicious food and being hard to please. Honestly, I think it could have used salt and none was on the table.

Pat and I were on the same wavelength that night. In addition to the identical entree, we also chose the same dessert.

It was the Crepe au Calvados aux Pommes, which Pat described as “sweet and warm and satisfying” and I couldn’t agree more.

JM had this to say about her dessert, “My dessert was the chocolate mousse something or other with raspberry something else. It was really delicious, but it wasn’t quite $8 worth of delicious.”

JenniferB on her dessert:

Marjolaine – A Parisian classic; almond d’acquoise layered with coffee praline buttercream, chocolate chiffon cake and chantilly cream topped with ganache; served with coffee creme Anglaise. This was pretty good. It was subtle. The d’acquoise was less crispy than I have had elsewhere. It was like a little slice of dessert lasagne. The coffee was disgusting. Really weak and sour tasting.

As for the service, JenniferB remarks, “The service was a mixed bag. Our server was not friendly, I don’t think she smiled the whole time. And she did that thing where you did the best you could to pronounce things and she looked at you like you were a jerk and forced you to point to it on the menu.”
JM mostly concurs, “Overall, I thought everything was really good. The ambiance and all that were obviously really fantastic. Our wait person, as you may recall, seemed ambivalent and was not susceptible to our charms, but anything beats the chatterbox from that pizza joint in West Side, so I can’t complain. I’m sure they train the people not to engage. That might be the French part of the Cambodian/French fusion thing.”
My comment was that our waitress did not seemed to be amused by us. I know, right? Not amused by us? If she only knew she was serving the Comedy Studio’s comic-in-residence!

After dinner, we were off to the show on the third floor of the Hong Kong restaurant. Jennifer had them LOL-ing and quite nearly ROTFLTAO with her great set. The show included eight other comics too, but our own JM was indeed the highlight!
Now that I am done with this epic post, I am done with blogging for a week or so. I am on vacation all next week, so watch this space in February for a vacation food review!