A few quick foodie things

It has been a very long time since the last time I added anything to the blog. I am properly ashamed of my laziness. It has, however, been quite a productive, busy half-year or so since last summer, and quite an eventful one too. 2011 was the year of the wedding - four? five? six? - along with my first trip to Vegas, followed almost immediately, alas, by the death and funeral of a very dear friend.

So Sansev, this food-focused blog post is dedicated to you, to the memory of the countless delightful meals you so lovingly prepared for your friends and family, and to the joy you brought to all of us - and to all of the lucky diners at the restaurants at which you chefed over the years. I miss and love you, dearly - and always will.

First up, a not-so-meatless-Monday dinner of udon noodle soup with mushrooms, broccoli, leeks, wilted spinach, and tofu in a garlicky beef broth (With a tiny bit of ribeye - for flavor. I also served pan-fried beef-pork potstickers on the side. What can I say, I'm not so good at cooking meatless dishes, to say nothing of entire meals. As G commented drily: "Well, you did serve goulash to a vegetarian, so..." ;o)


And next, little pasta purses filled with English pea, sauteed shallot, grated Parmesan smash, which was served in a lemon-garlic broth. [Recipe from epicurious.]


Then, a little bit of dessert: dark chocolate-bacon cupcakes with an easy chocolate buttercream and crisp bacon garnish. [Cupcake recipe here. Buttercream recipe here.]


And finally (for now)... A properly vegetarian meatless-Monday supper: spiced black bean crispy tacos with savoy cabbage slaw, quick-pickled onions, avocado slice, fresh cilantro, and goat cheese crumble. The tacos were inspired by a smitten kitchen recipe, though I made a few modifications.
(1) I heated the black beans over gentle heat with the cumin and a half-teaspoon or so of chili powder before smashing the mixture.
(2) I added a quarter of a medium red onion, thinly sliced, along with a few teaspoons of the pickling vinegar (recipe-instructions to follow) to the slaw, along with the juice from one lime.
(3) I substituted creamy goat cheese for the salty feta; just personal preference.
(4) I added sliced avocado, because why not? Also added a handful of fresh cilantro to each taco, because again, why not?
(5) I smeared a little bit of the black bean smash and a bit of goat cheese on the tortilla, topped with a little tangle of pickled onions, and then heated in a dry (no oil added) non-stick pan. Then I added the slaw, avocado, cilantro, and more pickled onions and goat cheese to the tacos.
(6) I like pickled things, so I quick-pickled half a thinly sliced red onion, like so: Heat 1/2 C red wine vinegar, 1/6 C sugar, pinch salt, and ~ 1/2 to 1 tsp red pepper flakes to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Pour vinegar mixture over sliced red onions and let cool to room temperature. (Use a heat-resistant container.)

Vitamin D yay! Primo not so yay

I just finished knitting and blocking my Vitamin D cardi. It's lovely. The pattern is fun, and the yarn, the Plucky Knitter's Primo fingering-weight, is a good match for the project.

BUT - this has been yet another instance in which the Primo skeins have come up short. According to my (pretty accurate) scale, 288 grams went into my VitaminD cardi (including all the loose ends that were woven in and snipped off), and a single gram remained, which means a total of 289 grams of yarn in three skeins, NOT the 303 grams listed on Ravelry.

If we were talking a gram or few, I wouldn't gripe. Grumble, yes, but not gripe. But - we're talking a discrepancy of 14 grams over the three skeins, which is pretty significant. And if it weren't the third time I'd run across the light skein issue with the Primo, I wouldn't be so bothered. And yes, for those of you who have asked, I did contact the dyer after the second incident. She did acknowledge my reporting the issue and promise to investigate and get back to me, but I haven't heard back since. I'll do my due diligence and fill her in on the latest, but I'd rather set my expectations low than risk being disappointed by the response.

Sad. Because otherwise, I really love the yarn itself; it feels nice, knits up nicely, and gives a good fabric.

Edited to add: That the talented, wonderful lady behind the lovely Plucky Knitter yarns contacted me to let me know that she and her supplier cleared up any confusion about the yarn mass/yardage issue. Thank you so very much, Sarah - you clearly care a great deal about your craft and your "fans."

P.S. More lessons

Additional lesson #1: I don't like starting off the week feeling as if I'm already behind - and exhausted to boot.

Additional lesson #2: I love my husband, and I want to knit things for him, but man! Knitting a man-sized sweater takes a lot more time, effort, and yarn than does knitting a me-sized sweater! Therefore, methinks G will get a new handknitted sweater at best every two to three years :oP

A family-centric birthday + lessons learned

Reverse order; let's start with the lessons learned.

During the six months of the knit-down-along, which officially ended with the month of April, I have (re)learned...
...that I can't help myself - I am a compulsive stasher, and
...that if it isn't yarn, it's likely to be something else.
...that I am generally easily enabled, but
...that my ability to resist temptation might be stronger than I had realized.
...that I am a very competitive person, and
...that knitting as part of a competitive endeavor - no matter how friendly - is not exactly pleasurable knitting; "I have to do it" knitting is more chore than fun.
...that the self-congratulatory feeling of proud accomplishment at having knitted out so many yards is temporary and fleeting,
...that I only really enjoyed the first 2/3 to 3/4 of the knitting, and
...that ultimately, I am left with a sadly-depleted stash.

Overall, I just feel great relief that the knit-down is OVER! I am now free to put my disposable income where it belongs - in my yarn stash *wink* In all seriousness, I like knowing that I have the option of (mostly) guilt-free stash enhancement, now that the KDAL is over. But I also am aware that I don't have to have every skein of yarn that catches my eye, and that I am indeed capable of resisting temptation.

As for my birthday... What a great birthday weekend so far! I got to spend Friday evening with my beloved family, first going to a concert at the Kennedy Center with my parents, sister, and husband (National Symphony Orchestra + Sarah Chang, violinist), and then indulging in a late-night supper in the lounge at Eventide. In pictures...

Experiments with whole wheat flour

Ever since I discovered G's willingness to eat breakfast if breakfast comprises a banana, the B household has rarely been without very, very ripe bananas. Accordingly, I make banana-chocolate chip muffins every couple of weeks, mashing up the ugly, brown-spotted, sometimes completely-brown bananas.

Today, I decided to swap in whole-wheat flour for some of the all-purpose flour I've been using. Instead of the usual 1 3/4 cup of AP, I used 1 C of AP and 3/4 C of WW. In about 18 minutes, we'll see how my experiment has worked out.

In other food news, I've discovered the perfect low-sodium lunch meat (Boar's Head Deluxe Roast Beef, which according to the website contains a mere 80mg of sodium per serving, and still manages to taste good), and the perfect homemade tomato soup recipe (it's from Cooks Illustrated's, shocker - Ultimate Cream of Tomato Tomato Soup).

Earlier in the week, I used my mom's bulgogi marinade recipe to concoct bulgogi burgers. The resulting burgers were pretty good, but I think I'll cut back on the salty (soy sauce, fish sauce) and sweet (sugar, honey) a bit.

KNIT down along

As a compulsive yarn-purchaser and -stasher participating in a knit down along, or KDAL, I'm in withdrawal, close to getting the shakes *wink*

However, I am also ridiculously proud of myself, because thanks to this competition, I have experienced the most knitting-productive few months of my knitting life. I've managed to knit many, many thousands of yards in various types of projects - including a sweater (close to finishing a second and working on a third), several lace shawls (including two enormous ones), and various smaller projects. Though I have given away some yarn, as is allowed under the official rules, the vast majority, lion's share of my yardage-out comes from knitted objects. And I'm proud of myself for that accomplishment. Whether I win this competition or not - I'm proud of the way I've played the game.

If life hands you overripe bananas...

...make banana bread. Or in my case, chocolate chip banana muffins.

I'm not a huge fan of bananas. The odd starchy, powdery mouthfeel has always thrown me off a bit. However, I've started (somewhat reluctantly) buying bananas lately, ever since I fell for some especially pretty, smallish, just-barely-ripe ones at my local grocery store and brought them home, to my husband's great appreciation. G rarely eats breakfast, so if having bananas on hand makes him eat something in the morning, I'm all for keeping 'em in stock here at Chez B.

Well, last week, I was a little overzealous and bought a few too many bananas, which of course, became more and more yellow, then developed the odd spot here and there, and finally became... Disgustingly overripe. Now, I am my father's daughter, and I hate to see anything - especially food - go to waste, so I came up with the idea that I could mash them up, and use them to sweeten a quickbread of some sort. I'm not a big fan of bananas, but I am fond of chocolate, so - chocolate chip banana it was.

Yesterday, during a burst of housework productivity, I took those yucky, too-soft, too-sweet bananas and turned them into... Some truly yummy muffins. Here's the recipe:

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins Recipe

• 1¾ C unsifted flour
• ¾ C granulated sugar
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ¾ tsp salt
• 1 C semi-sweet chocolate chips (I like Ghirardelli’s 60% cacao bittersweet chocolate chips)
• 1 C mashed overripe bananas
• 2 large eggs
• 1/3 C buttermilk
• ½ C vegetable oil
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350. Prepare muffin pan with paper liners.

Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into large bowl. Stir in chocolate chips.

In a separate bowl, combine mashed bananas, eggs, buttermilk, oil and vanilla. Pour liquid ingredients into flour ingredients and stir until combined.

Divide batter among muffin cups and bake for 20-22 minutes or until deeply golden brown and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

A very good Monday

1. G was home at a normal time - 6pm, it's positively early!
2. We got to go to a wine tasting. AND it was free. AND we got to try a new, rather uncommon wine that's been on our radar for a few weeks, Txakoli from the Basque region of Spain. (Of course, we walked away with a bottle. Or two ;o)
3. I tried my hand at making French fries at home (using the America's Test Kitchen cold oil method), as part whatever of G's birthday gift (the man loves his fries), with great success, along with my favorite chickpea-sprouts-carrots-tomato-watercress vegan sandwich. I will be making another batch of fries tomorrow, before G's self-imposed no-fries-during-Lent period kicks in. Hey, we can't let all that peanut oil go to waste!

G's bath towel "aha" moment

Usually, I am the one that changes the bath towels when laundry day rolls around, so I like to fold clean, fresh-out-of-the-dryer towels in such a way that I can easily hang them on the towel rods. G has always teased me for this. Until... The day he switched out the towels and emerged from the bathroom saying, "Honey, I get it now. The towels are so much easier to hang when they're folded this way!" Thank you, husband dear, for recognizing that there is a method to my madness.

Washing FOs...

...really makes my wedding ring shiny and clean! :o)

Cornbread Muffins

On a rare Monday off, I've decided to make a chili-and-cornbread meal. Here's my recipe for cornbread muffins.

Cornbread Muffins
(makes 1 dozen muffins)

1 C cornmeal
1 C milk
1 C all-purpose flour
1/2 C white sugar
1 tsp salt
3 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 egg
1/3 C olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. Place cupcake liners in muffin pan.
2. Lightly whisk cornmeal and milk together; let stand 10 minutes.
3. Combine dry ingredients.
4. Mix in egg and olive oil.
5. Add cornmeal mixture and mix until thoroughly combined.
6. Evenly distribute batter in muffin tin.
7. Bake about 15 minutes at 400 F until light golden. Toothpick inserted in center should emerge with just a few fine crumbs clinging to it.

Last homecooked meal of the week...

... leek & goat cheese quiche, and silky butternut squash soup.

As for the rest of the weekend - we're eating all the leftovers in the fridge ;o)

Spicy-smoky slow-cooker turkey chili

We haven't been particularly healthy in our eating habits for the past week or so, but we started off the new year pretty well. The same week that I made turkey burgers, I used the rest of the ground turkey in the fridge to make a spicy-smoky turkey chili in the slow-cooker. I adapted a non-slow-cooker recipe to get the following:

Spicy-Smoky Slow-Cooker Turkey Chili

(Makes 4 really big servings)

·         2 Tbsp olive oil

·         1 onion, chopped

·         5 cloves garlic, minced

·         1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped

·         1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

·         1 habanero peper, seeded and chopped

·         2 lb ground turkey

·         2 Tbsp chili powder

·         2 tsp chipotle red pepper flakes

·         1 Tbsp smoked Spanish paprika

·         1 Tbsp ground cumin

·         2 tsp dried oregano

·         1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

·         1 (1oz) envelope instant hot chocolate mix

·         1 tsp kosher salt

·         1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

·         1 tsp liquid smoke

·         1 (14.5oz) can diced tomatoes with green chili peppers, drained

·         1 (14.5oz) can diced tomatoes with japaneo peppers, drained

·         1 (8oz) can low-sodium tomato sauce

·         1 (15oz) can black beans, drained

·         ½ C “normal” beer (like an amber)

·         ½ C frozen shoepeg corn

·         1 Tbsp hot pepper sauce

1.       Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, and peppers, and cook, stirring, until the onion becomes translucent. Remove to a bowl.

2.       Add ground turkey, then cover and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the meat is no longer pink. Add the cooked vegetables and combine.

3.       Add chili powder, red pepper flakes, smoked paprika, cumin, oregano, black pepper, hot cocoa mix, and salt; stir.

4.       Stir in the Worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and beans. Add the beer and frozen corn, and combine.

5.       Move mixture to slow cooker, cover, and set on low for 6-8 hours.

6.       Stir in hot pepper sauce, if desired, cover and let sit for a few minutes, then serve. Feel free to garnish with any or all of the following: diced fresh tomatoes, sour cream, shredded cheese, sliced jalapenos, etc.

A loaf of bread and a batch of cinnamon rolls... from scratch

We had our first major brush with winter weather this week - a typical DC mix of snow, ice, and rain, creating a big, ugly, slushy, frozen mess. The kiddos were, of course, very thrilled to have three full days off from school. In honor of snow day #1, I decided to make some bread from scratch, entirely by hand, foregoing the bread machine and even the Kitchenaid.


I adapted a couple of recipes from my files to make a big, beautiful loaf of white sandwich bread and a cake pan full of yummy cinnamon rolls. One batch of bread dough will yield either two loaves of bread, two 9" cake pans of cinnamon rolls, or one of each.

White Bread and/or Cinnamon Rolls

(Makes two loaves, 18 cinnamon rolls, or one loaf and 9 cinnamon rolls)

·         2 C warm water (110 degrees F)

·         1/3 C white sugar

·         1½ Tbsp active dry yeast

·         1½ tsp salt

·         ¼ C extra-virgin olive oil

·         5 C bread flour

Cinnamon Roll Filling

·         1/3 C dark brown sugar

·         1/3 C white sugar

·         2 tsp cinnamon

·         1/8 tsp salt

·         < 1/8 tsp ground cloves

·         2+ Tbsp melted butter

1.       In a large bowl, dissolve the sugar in the warm water, then stir in the yeast. Allow to proof until a creamy foam develops – about 30 minutes or so – the longer the yeast is allowed to proof, the lighter & foamier it gets, the lighter the texture of the bread will be.

2.       Mix salt and olive oil into the yeast, then mix in the flour, one cup at a time. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth.

3.       Place dough in a well-oiled bowl, and turn to coat evenly. Cover with a damp cloth and allow to rise until doubled in volume, about 1 hour. (I set the oven to “warm” and set the bowl on top of the stove to aid the rising process.)

4.       Punch dough down, knead for a few minutes, and divide in half.

5.       At this point, you may

a.        shape each half into a loaf and place into well-oiled 9”x5” loaf pans. OR

b.       roll out each half into an approximately 12”x9” rectangle, with the long side facing you. For each rectangle: Brush with melted butter, sprinkle evenly with half the cinnamon roll filling, then roll tightly, pinching the seam to seal it. Using a serrated knife, slice into approximately 1 ½” slices. Gently pat into shape, and place into 9” cake pan brushed generously with melted butter. OR

c.        make one loaf and one pan of cinnamon rolls, as described above.

6.       Allow to rise for 30 minutes or so, until dough has risen to 1” above loaf pan or to top of cake pan.

7.       If baking bread: Bake in preheated 350 F oven for approximately 30 minutes, until loaf sounds hollow when tapped. If baking cinnamon rolls: Cover cake pan with aluminum foil, bake in preheated 350 F oven for about 12 minutes, remove foil, and bake an additional 12-18 minutes, or until tops are golden brown.

Juicy turkey burgers

 In the "eat healthy, be healthy" spirit of the new year, I opted to make turkey burgers rather than beef burgers for my very first home-cooked meal of 2011. It turned out quite well; G pronounced it to be the best turkey burgers he's ever eaten. I'm not sure how often he's chosen turkey burgers over the regular kind, but I'll take that as the compliment it was meant to be.

I started with the Cook's Illustrated recipe for Quicker Turkey Burgers, which calls for store-bought lean ground turkey combined with a bit of ricotta for moisture, and modified it to add a little more flavor. Here's my version:

Jieun's smoky-spicy turkey burgers
Serves 2.

1/2 lb 93% lean ground turkey
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 C ricotta cheese
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp smoked Spanish paprika
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (I used smoky dried chipotle pepper flakes)

Combine all ingredients and divide into two portions. Lightly toss mixture from one hand to the other to form a ball, then lightly flatten into a 1-inch-thick patty.

Heat a large, heavy skillet over medium heat until very hot, 3-4 minutes. Swirl about 1 Tbsp vegetable oil to coat the bottom of the skillet.

Add turkey burger patties and cook, without moving, until bottom side is dark brown and crusted, 3-4 minutes. Flip over and cook the other side for an additional 3-4 minutes, until lightly browned but not yet crusted. Reduce heat to low, position cover over the pan, slightly ajar to allow steam to escape, and continue to cook an additional 8-10 minutes, flipping burger patties occasionally to promote even, deep browning. Cook until thermometer inserted into the center of the patty through the side registers 160 degrees.

Serve with toppings of choice. (I served with redleaf lettuce, tomato, red onion, cilantro, jalapenos, and avocado.)

Our albums have landed...

... and they're beautiful!
I'm thrilled that our photographer, Cassidy DuHon, and I clicked from our very first meeting, because his work is simply phenomenal. I'm pretty confident G will love the albums too - and I hope our parents think they're nice, too!

Chicken soup and pumpkin bread (take 2)

The past 72 hours have taught me that I am not meant to be a nurse. The possibility of nursing school had (briefly) crossed my mind at some point, but now I know - that's definitely not the profession (vocation?) for me. I'm neither patient nor nurturing enough - I opt for the "tough love" approach way too often.

G has been having trouble breathing, and thus sleeping and snoring, for, well, years. At least as long as I have known him. Last year, he finally went to consult an ENT about what was causing these difficulties, and the resulting inside-view images showed that he had a severely deviated septum that was severely impairing his ability to get sufficient air.

Our engagement and wedding put on hold any plans for correcting the deviated septum, and G finally got the septoplasty done this past Thursday. The hospital experience was grueling in and of itself - we got there early, as instructed, by around 6am and weren't released until past 3pm. And that's when things got challenging. No need to go into any of the less-pleasant details, but let's just say I kept busy changing the gauze pad under G's nose (to catch any umm drainage) frequently and feeding the ailing invalid (whose appetite clearly hadn't suffered one bit) frequently. After just day one, I was already tired and cranky... At least G's feeling better now, and his nose doesn't seem to be dripping quite as much stuff!

In other news, I'm waiting rather impatiently for the second experimental batch of my pumpkin bread to come out of the oven so that (a) we can devour our crockpot chicken soup, and (b) we can try the pumpkin bread to see what adjustments (if any) need to be made to the recipe. In the meantime, here's what I did this time around:


Pumpkin Bread  (makes two 8" loaves)

1 C (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 C white sugar
1 C dark brown sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 C all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp allspice
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp clove
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 (15oz) can solid pack pumpkin
1/8 C (approx) unsweetened applesauce

Sugar & Spice Blend
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 Tbsp white sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine sugar & spice blend ingredients. Butter two 8" loaf pans, then sprinkle sugar & spice blend evenly on bottom and sides, about 1 Tbsp each pan.
3. Cream butter and sugars together, then add eggs one at a time while mixing. Add vanilla extract and mix in.
4. Combine all dry ingredients together, then gently stir into butter mixture until just combined.
5. Stir in canned pumpkin and applesauce.
Optional: Feel free to add some chocolate chips and/or chopped nuts. I folded in about 1 to 1 1/2 cup(s) of Ghirardelli 60% cacao bittersweet chocolate baking chips, put about half the batter in one baking pan, then added about 1/2 cup of chopped toasted pecans to the rest of the batter before transferring it to the second pan.
6. Distribute batter evenly between prepared loaf pans. Sprinkle sugar & spice mixture on top.
7. Bake approximately 50 min to 1 hr, until cake tests done.

Another "Cook's Illustrated" success

One successful recipe after another causes me to agree with my husband - Cook's Illustrated IS pretty darn awesome! Tonight, I made a couple of roasted veggie dishes to go with some leftover Cook's Illustrated Hungarian beef stew. The roasted carrots in particular were superb - you know they're good when carrot-disliking G loves 'em - and easy to make!

I sized down the recipe for just the two of us, see below, but the base recipe is from Cook's.

Roasted Carrots for Two
Serves 2. Adapted from Cook's Illustrated. 

3/4 lb carrots, peeled, halved crosswise, and cut lengthwise if necessary to create even pieces *
1 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1. Move oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. In a large bowl, combine carrots with butter, salt, and pepper; toss to coat. Transfer to a foil-lined jelly roll pan and spread in a single layer.
2. Cover baking sheet tightly with foil and cook in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Remove foil and continue to cook for 30-35 minutes longer, stirring a couple of times. Transfer to a serving platter, season with salt and pepper if necessary, and serve.

* Note on cutting carrots:
1. If carrot diameter is < 1/2 inch, then cut crosswise only.
2. If carrot diameter is between 1/2 and 1 inch, then cut crosswise, and cut thicker piece lengthwise in half.
3. If carrot diameter is > 1 inch, then cut crosswise, and quarter thicker piece lengthwise (halve thinner piece if appropriate).

Tourtiere experiment #2

Having spent the morning feeling a bit down about the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, I decided to revive the holiday spirit by making tourtiere - in a nod to G's French-Canadian roots - and my special cranberry sauce - in a nod to all that is good about Thanksgiving (in my opinion).

Unfortunately, there was a small mishap while making the cranberry sauce. I had a good cry on G's shoulder, G went to work cleaning the oven, and... We had meat stuffing rather than a pie pastry-clad tourtiere. It was good though. I think I've nailed the recipe for the tourtiere filling! So without further ado...

Tourtiere (Jieun’s experimental recipe #2)

2 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1” pieces

¾+ cup beef broth, divided into ¼+ cup and ½ cup

1 lb ground beef

½ lb ground pork

½ onion, chopped

¼ tsp clove

< ¼ tsp cinnamon (I used about 3/4 of the ¼ tsp spoon)

1 tsp Bell’s seasoning (yellow box with turkey)

1 bay leaf

Salt & pepper to taste

Double pie crust

1. Cook potatoes in saucepan with enough water to just cover, until tender. Mash the cubed potato with ¼ + up to an additional 1/8 cup of the beef broth. Set aside.
2. Cook the beef, pork, onion, remaining ½ cup of beef broth, clove, cinnamon, Bell’s seasoning, bay leaf, and salt & pepper to taste over medium-low heat. Then reduce heat to low and simmer until liquid is reduced to about 2 tablespoons.
3. Add mashed potatoes and mix.
4. Place bottom crust in 9” ungreased clear glass pie plate and trim. Add meat filling, and top with second crust. Fold top crust over the edges of the bottom crust, and flute the edges. Cut steam vents into the top of the top crust.
5. Cook 15 minutes in preheated 400 F oven, then place foil around outer edges. Replace pie in oven and bake another 15-30 minutes, until crust is golden brown.

Surviving my first layer cake - and dinner party

Until last Friday, I had never baked a layer cake. I had made plenty of cupcakes, bundt cakes, sheet cakes, and pound cakes, but never a layer cake. So, two weekends ago, I decided my college friends' impending visit would provide me a convenient set of guinea pigs for my first layer cake attempt. Unfortunately, that weekend comprised a series of minor kitchen debacles, including a couple related to The Cake.

I was initially a little upset by the very minor issue of a single cracked layer - minor because it would have had a very simple fix. I could have just made that my bottom layer and shellacked it with plenty of cream cheese frosting. I say could have, because I didn't have a chance to give that solution a try. As I went to flip one layer of cake from the cooling rack to a plate, I dropped the plate, cake and all. *sigh* So instead of a red velvet layer cake, we had a red velvet non-layer cake. It was still a quite yummy single layer of cake.

This past weekend, G and I hosted our first non-family dinner party. In honor of the occasion, I decided it was time for red velvet layer cake, take 2. This time, the experiment - very carefully conducted - was a success. Unfortunately, the dinner party itself, while not a failure, could have been better. One of our guests is a vegetarian. Featured prominently on the carefully-crafted (but apparently not very well thought out) menu: beef stew. Oh dear... At least there was a trio of vegetarian side dishes (mashed sweet potatoes, caramelized pan-roasted brussels sprouts, apple-pear-fennel-arugula salad) that she could enjoy!

And now, it's time to face down Thanksgiving. Note that I say "face down" rather than a more positive word like "anticipate." Ordinarily, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, hands down. I just love the season, the food, the family time, the feast... Everything about it. Unfortunately, this year, some behind-the-scenes drama, misunderstanding, miscommunication, etc. have somewhat soured the Thankgiving experience for me. I'm just going to make a pie or two - at the risk of their being redundant, since I wasn't asked to bring them or anything else - and make the best of it, and enjoy the day as much as possible. Besides, there's always next year...