East African Hot Sauce And Whoopie Pies

I made chicken wings with the hot sauce my sister-in-law sent. They were yummy and unlike any others we've had. The dates in the sauce give a bit of sweetness and thickness while the jalapenos and tamarind provide zing and pep. We'll use the bottle up soon, I'm sure.

We baked up white chocolate fudge with nuts and dried fruit as well as gingerbread whoopie pies to give to family over Thanksgiving.  The whoopie pies rocked my world. It seems like others had the same reaction ;).

 

What If Virginia Woolf Had Been A Food Writer?

Well, this is what she would have written.

There Are No Words...

 ...which is why I have pictures:

Lisbon

Cervejaria Ramiro

frango assado

Ginjinha shots (cherry liqueur)

Salema fishing boats

neon orange caiphirinas

When in Portugal, drink Sagres lager.

Perhaps he caught some of the ingredients in my fish stew...

afternoon snack

And now for what we did during our STUPENDOUS culinary extravaganza weekend up in New York (Hyde Park and Manhattan). Friday: Everready Diner, CIA tour, drinks at American Bounty (one of the student restaurants), dinner at Medici (another student restaurant); Saturday: "CIA Favorites" class (I'm planning to return asap to take another course; it was quite an experience), drive to NYC through fall foliage, Palace Hotel, Burp Castle, Lakeside Lounge, St. Regis King Cole Bar, Chef's Tasting Menu at La Bernardin; Sunday: Jane for brunch. Plus we got two cookbooks at the CIA: "The Professional Chef," which is the students' primary textbook, and "The CIA Cookbook." AND we received a copy of the menu at La Bernardin. The courses were so intricate, I couldn't remember everything we ate even right after we left. Now I can stare longingly at the menu and salivate, remembering how AWESOME it was. (BTW my favorite dish was "Crispy Black Bass with Pickled Cucumbers and Black Garlic-Persian Lime Sauce.")

main building

"Wearing" a toque

cafeteria

1/2 of what our class made

the other 1/2

buffet!

King Cole Bar mural by Maxfield Parrish

La Bernardin

Next up: a report on Sadia's Gourmet sauce, sent to us by my sister-in-law, direct from Minnesota. (She works for Sadia.) Think I'll try it with chicken wings.

I've had no time over the past couple months to seriously blog. There was Miami, Portugal, family and friend visits, my brother's spectacular wedding... But now I'm back in effect with several things to report and also news of exciting this to come.

First, I roasted yams in the oven a while back, scooped out the flesh, and stirred it with butter, turmeric, and fenugreek.  I call them India-Inspired Yummy Yams.

Yes, we went to Portugal again. We missed it tremendously since 2008 so we decided to return for a spontaneous long weekend. We ate amazing seafood every day but one when we had the traditional frango assado (Portuguese roast chicken with fiery piri piri sauce). Photos will come eventually. If anyone wants trip tips, let me know. I can talk endlessly about Lisbon and the southwest coast.

I had the best raw oysters - hands down - this past weekend in Rehoboth Beach, DE: Bagaduce oysters from Maine.

Tonight is Whitlow's all-you-can-eat snow crab legs as soon as the hubby gets home. I'm going to eat my weight in crab.

Coming up this weekend: road trip to NYC with my best friend and her beautiful baby to bid adieu to our college friend who's moving to Singapore. Sadness! But I see a big trip in our future...

Finally, next weekend is going to be a culinary extravaganza. We're driving up to Hyde Park on Friday for a campus tour and dinner in one of the CIA's student restaurants. Saturday's my class followed by dinner down in NYC at - wait for it, wait for it - Le Bernardin. Oh, Eric Ripert, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways: caviar, tuna, lobster, turbot, hiramasa, black bass, etc.

Tonight, Tonight

I haven't posted since mid-August. Sad. Shame on me. I'll redeem myself tonight. But, for now, check this out. I could go for one - how about you?