Crab Cakes

Posted by marisa rosemellia in Ingredients and tagged with , , , ,

Today I came home from work to quite a surprise…

Dan had planned dinner!

And not just some easy-to-make-half-store-bought dinner… He decided to try making crab cakes. He went to market and was inspired by the seafood counter I think. I am much appreciative and I have to say it was down right delicious!

Here he is, working hard:

He started with picked crab claw meat and started to follow a recipe but then added a little of this and that as he went. I do know the secret ingredient was Ritz crackers but I wasn’t totally paying attention after that. The crab cakes went in the refrigerator for a little while so they could set.

I made the tartar sauce using my homemade pickles, a little bit of raw onion, lemon zest, fresh dill and parsley, and mayonnaise. I mixed it right in the mayo jar and it worked out great.

Dan cooked the crab cakes under the broiler and they came out nice and golden brown.

He placed them on top of mustard greens, baby pea shoots and avocado slices. He also mixed up a vinaigrette using the olive oil and mango balsamic vinegar that I got from Global Gardens.

What a great dinner! Thank you Dan!

Bake Sale!

Posted by marisa rosemellia in dessert, Events and tagged with , , ,

One of the joys of working at a school is that bake sales pop up quite frequently…

I am kind of kidding, I don’t know if bake sales are really a joy… but they are a great way to raise some money! We are currently having a bake sale at the school where I work. We are raising money to send exchange students to Japan. I was lucky enough to have been a chaperone for exchange students 2 years ago. I got to travel to Sano, Japan – a city about the size of Lancaster, PA. It was a great trip filled with many culinary firsts for me. I loved trying everything! I’ll save that story for another post.

I have had to raise a lot of money and I have planned a lot of bake sales through out the years I have been teaching. I have learned that a bake sale is not always as easy as it seems. You think you just ask for donations, set up a table, and make sure you have a money-box… right?

So I learned to ask for donations, and ask again… and again. I learned to make sure you have lots of change in your money-box to start out with (lots of items at 50 cents means making lots of change). One of the biggest things I learned was about packaging your goodies. I thought that we would just set up the baked goods and people would take what they want and eat it. What I found was that people wanted to take their cupcakes, brownies, and cookies with them. If I wanted to sell more items, I would have to find a way to package them.

At the first bake sale I planned I got a lot of donated baked goods but I didn’t bring plastic wrap or baggies. I didn’t have anything to wrap items in. The next time, I came prepared with packaging items and I asked people to bring their yummy donations individually wrapped. Bake sale success!

I am not running the bake sale going on at school right now, but of course I donated some sweet treats. I volunteered to bring two dozen cupcakes. I was really pressed for time last night so I couldn’t make my favorite devil’s food cupcakes. I came up with a fast alternative that uses store-bought cake mix and icing, and I put a little twist into them to make them my own… I feel like Sandra Lee.

Thin Mint Cupcakes

1 package Thin Mint Cookies (It is Girl Scout cookie time!)

1 box dark chocolate cake mix (read that back and make sure it says that it will make 24 cupcakes)

1 large container of whipped icing

Follow the directions on the cake mix box to make your batter.

Save twelve thin mints to use for garnishes on your cupcakes. Crush up the rest of the thin mints into a bowl and mix them with 1/4 cup of flour to coat them. The flour will help them stay suspended in the cupcake batter instead of sinking to the bottom.

Fold the flour coated crushed thin mints into the batter and scoop it into two muffin pans (making 24 cupcakes). Bake according to box directions.

Let the cupcakes cool and pipe the icing onto the tops in a swirl pattern making it come up to a peak. Place 1/2 of a thin mint cookie into the icing to decorate.

Quick, easy, cheap, yummy!

Here’s a great packaging idea for cupcakes that are traveling to a bake sale: put them in cups! I used the clear disposable wine cups that you can find at any grocery store. Place the cooled cupcake into the cup before you pipe the icing onto it and decorate it right in the cup. It’s a lot easier to get into the cup before the icing and decorations are on top.

I wrapped mine with plastic wrap. It was a great way to be able to stack them on top of each other for transport.  You could also use clear cellophane bags and tie them with ribbons to make them look really pretty!

Here are mine, ready for transport – I used a reuseable insulated grocery store bag to transport them, not really fashionable but it kept them safe and a little cushioned.

For An Eggs-tra Special Valentine

Posted by marisa rosemellia in Recipes and tagged with , , ,

Happy Valentine’s day to all of you lovers out there!

I just wanted to share what I made for my valentine…

2 dozen Pickled Beet Eggs… They are red and he loves them!

I learned how to cook perfect hard-boiled eggs by making them with Dan. Now, if I could only get better at peeling them…

I made a few small jars of pickled red beets about a month ago to use for this project.  To make the pickled beets I used thinly sliced beets, dill, and garlic in small 8oz. size jars. I use the brine that I use to pickle everything for both the beets and the eggs. They came out pretty good but they didn’t really get soft like the pickled beets you buy in the store. I haven’t been canning my pickled veggies so nothing I have been making has been getting soft. I like them to stay crunchy, so I have been sticking with “refrigerator pickles” so far. I think I am going to try canning the beets next time to see how they come out. 

I hard boil the eggs by placing them in a large pot, covering them with water, and bringing the water up to a boil. When the water boils, cover the pot with a lid and turn off the heat. Let the eggs sit in the pot  for 15 minutes (for large eggs). Remove the pot from the stove and drain the water. I peel the eggs under running water to cool them as I peel. The running water also helps the shell peel off… though I still am not very good at peeling them well, so I’m not sure if this is the best method. Next time I am going to try this.

The eggs go into two Ball quart size jars with 10-15 whole black peppercorns, 1 bay leaf, 10-15 whole coriander seeds, a sprig of dill, and a smashed clove of garlic. I split the small jar of pickled beets (with their brine)  between the two jars of eggs. Cover the eggs with warm brine (3 cups water, 1 cup aged white wine vinegar, 2 tbsp salt) and close the lid.

I think they taste the best after they have pickled in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. They turn a very pretty purple-red color that looks amazing next to the yellow yolk when you cut it in half. I plan to try to make special deviled eggs with pickled onions and dill one of these days out of the pickled beet eggs.

I’ll have to hide the batch if I ever want to make anything with them because Dan devours these every time they are in the refrigerator. I hope you enjoy them as much as he does!

Winter Citrus

Posted by marisa rosemellia in Ingredients and tagged with , , , , , , ,

Check out this orange guide from Kitchen Daily. It shows photos and descriptions of orange varieties and when they are in season. Winter is such a great time for a lot of citrus fruits.

My favorite is the clementine. I can eat clementines morning, noon, and night. Easy to peel, sweet, juicy… they are the perfect snack. I buy them by the crate when they are in season.

I recently tried an orange that I have never eaten before: satsuma. I got a box of satsuma oranges at Wegmans right after new years. These are the oranges that are used in Abita’s Satsuma Harvest Wit beer. An excellent summer beer! I got to have a few when I went to New Orleans this summer. I would recommend trying it with a summery salad.

Satsuma oranges are pretty interesting. They are surprisingly heavy for their size. They are so juicy! The small oranges are easy to peel, great to eat just as they are, but they are nice for juicing because they have so much packed inside. They looked interesting to me in the store because the growers leave a piece of stem and leaves attached to the fruit when they pick it. I would get these again if I could find them at the market or in a grocery store but I haven’t seen them available anywhere else.

Here’s a few photos of awesome oranges:

 

For a Pretty Spring Kitchen

Posted by marisa rosemellia in Products and tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

I love the newest kitchen accessories from Anthropologie! This winter has been unusually mild and I’m starting to feel like if it’s not going to snow (though I do love snow) then spring should just be on its way already!

These spring colored kitchen gadgets are perfect for baking some Easter time treats. If I had unlimited funds I would stock my kitchen with these pretty and functional items. Some of them are really affordable (like the whisks, $8 each) while others are a little out of my reach right now (colorblocked cutting board, $248)… All of them are gorgeous.

Funky Whisks – Safe for non-stick pans!

Milk bottle measuring cups

Minty butter dish

Farmer’s egg crate (I got this one, love it!)

Muffin pan

Owl cookie jar

And for the cheese in your life…

Fancy pants cheese knives (I am kind of drooling over these, I will get them soon!)

and a beautiful cheese board to match…

Colorblocked cutting board

Happy warm winter… Here’s to an early spring!

Sandwich Wednesday: Banh Mi

Posted by marisa rosemellia in sandwiches and tagged with , , ,

Last Friday, we ordered take out. I really wanted Vietnamese so we ordered from Rice and Noodles.

I always get a vermicelli salad bowl but Dan suggested trying something different this time. We decided to get one of the Banh Mi sandwiches.

The first time I had one of these sandwiches was in NYC in the East Village. I visited Nicky’s Vietnamese sandwich shop because I saw it featured on a Food Network show. That place had bangin’ sandwiches! I tried a classic one with the chicken liver pate and one with a grilled pork chop. I really liked Nick’y version that included cilantro, carrot, and cucumbers on a crispy toasted bun.

Back to our take-out adventure…

We decided on the Banh Mi Pate Thit:

It’s made with their own homemade rolled ham with chicken liver pate. It’s built on a short loaf of French bread. They also make their own mayonnaise. The other additions include Chinese radishes, carrots, sliced onions, a thick slice of English cucumber and a sliver of jalapeno.

I would recommend it! I thought it was really good and I am happy I tried something new.

Chicken Soup

Posted by marisa rosemellia in quick and easy, Recipes, soup and tagged with , , , ,

I have been so busy lately… I just got a new job!

I am still teaching middle school science but I switched the school where I am teaching. It’s only two blocks away from my house, so I really like the short walk in the morning. Moving in the middle of the year was pretty challenging and it kept me working late for a while. I had a lot of packing up, moving boxes, and setting up a new classroom.

Right in the middle of this busy time, I started to not feel so well. Not sure if I was trying to do too much or if it is the crazy warm and cold January weather, but I was wiped out! When I don’t feel good, no matter how tired I am, I usually end up making a big healthy dose of chicken soup.

Here’s my chicken soup recipe that always makes me feel better:

1 tbsp. olive oil

3-4 ribs of celery, from the heart with the leaves attached

2 carrots, peeled

1/2 of a medium onion

2 cloves garlic

8 oz. cremini mushrooms

1 cup shredded chicken from a rotisserie chicken

8 cups chicken stock

1/2 cup ditalini pasta or cut spaghetti pasta

handful of Italian flat leaf parsley

Cut the celery into small pieces and slice the carrots into rounds and chop the onion and mince the garlic. Add the olive oil and vegetables to a pot heated over medium heat. Saute the vegetables until they begin to become soft and add the sliced mushrooms. Saute for about 5 minutes more until all the veggies are soft.

Add the chicken stock and shredded chicken and bring to a boil. Add in the pasta and stir occasionally until the pasta has cooked (about 7 minutes). Chop the flat leaf parsley and add it to the soup.

Sometimes, if I have it in the refrigerator, I like to add some fennel fronds to give the soup some extra flavor.

This soup is pretty quick and easy. You can make it in no time if you have everything on hand. Using the rotisserie chicken is a big time saver and it adds great flavor. I buy rotisserie chickens quite frequently because there are so many things you can make with them. I usually use part of the meat for a recipe that night and freeze the rest in 1 cup portions in zip-top bags. It thaws fast and it is really convenient if you are in a hurry. I’ll be adding more of my rotisserie chicken ideas this year!

Cardigan Christmas

Posted by marisa rosemellia in Events, Recipes and tagged with , , , , ,

I feel lucky to have such a special group of friends. Made up holidays and events have become somewhat of a specialty among us. Many of our smaller parties have grown and become pretty large annual traditions.

To kick off 2012, we celebrated Cardigan Christmas!

Cardigan Christmas began in the small apartment of Matthew P. Johnson six years ago around holiday time. It was an opportunity for Chef Mark Lakin to fulfill his dream of cooking a Christmas turkey, along with all the fixin’s for a fabulous dinner. It was also an opportunity for all of us to sport our most snazziest of cardigans and celebrate the season with friends.

That first Cardigan Christmas was a nice little gathering of close friends enjoying a comforting meal and listening to Matt roast us all in his Christmas prayer. Six years later, Cardigan Christmas has grown into a dinner so large that it is now held in the banquet room of the Dirty Ol’Tavern (remember that place from Guber Ball Day!).

We celebrated and ate with 50 people! My hats off to Chef Lakin for preparing so much food. It’s not an easy task to cook that much turkey and then transport it to another venue.

So this is not the best shot in the world… but here’s a look at our Christmas dinner:

Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, and sweet potatoes all made by Chef Lakin. Creamed corn made by Miss Kara. Ham baked by Miss Carrie. I made the cranberry sauce (recipe below).

Tangerine Cranberry Sauce

12 oz. fresh cranberries

1 tangerine

1/2 cup demerara sugar

Peel 4 thick strips of zest from the tangerine with a vegetable peeler, being careful not to include the white pith. Slice the zest into small thin strips. Squeeze the juice from the tangerine and strain out any pits. Put the cranberries, zest, juice, and sugar into a small sauce pot. Heat over medium heat until the cranberries burst and the sauce thickens (about 20 minutes). Simple! I tripled it for the large crowd but this recipe makes a good amount for a smaller gathering.

I also did a little baking for this event. I made two different types of cardamom cookies. I have never made cardamom cookies before but I always love getting them from one of the stands at central market with a cup of tea or coffee. The two recipes I tried were pretty simple but a little time-consuming. I really enjoyed the little sugar dusted cookie that this recipe made from Taste of Home. The other cookie was a cardamom shortbread that I found on the Food Network site (pictured below).

We had an awesome time after our dinner. We worked off our turkey comas and danced to the tunes of Frankie Buttons and the Nitpickers. We even had post-cardigan snacks at our friend Evan’s house. What a fun evening!

Here’s our group photo from this year:

A very merry Cardigan Christmas to you!

Guber Ball Day

Posted by marisa rosemellia in Places, Restaurants and tagged with , , , ,

Guber Ball day is long-standing tradition at the Dirty Ol’ Tavern (The Distelfink Inn) in Lancaster, Pa.

It comes but once a year, around Christmas time, and there is not really any information about it anywhere. Go ahead, try to Google it, you won’t find much. The Dirty Ol’ Tavern doesn’t even have an official website (or at least I couldn’t find one). You’ll just have to go down South Prince Street to the fringes of Lancaster city next holiday season and see for yourself. I don’t really know how the tradition began but it has been celebrated for 65 years and counting!

I have been attending the Guber Ball Christmas Party for 3 years now. My first one was quite epic. There was a wicked snowstorm one day in mid-December that kept most people cooped up in their homes. Luckily we live right in town and we like to walk everywhere. So we bundled up, put our snow boots on, and marched from one end of the city to the other. We arrived at the Dirty Ol’ Tavern kind of late in the evening, long after the usual Guber Ball serving time…

But this day we were lucky! There were plenty of Guber balls to pass around! The snow storm kept many of the party-goers home and the Distelfink Inn had an enormous amount left to fry up for us. And so began the Guber Ball Day tradition for my group of friends.

This year my very good friend Matt (that’s him in the picture!) and I decided to make some special sauces for the Guber Ball Day Christmas party. This year the party was held on December 17th. I’ll be sure to put up a reminder post next year to let you all know when the special day is because I know you all want to attend next holiday season.

Here are our special sauce creations:

From right to left…

Top row: homemade pickle and onion creamy relish, horseradish mustard mix, and hot sesame soy dipping sauce.

Bottom row: Garlic and winter herb aoli, regular sesame soy dipping sauce, and curried sweet chili ketchup.

I think that everyone pretty much voted the regular and hot sesame soy dipping sauces went the best with the Guber balls. The sesame soy dipping sauce is a mixture of soy sauce, sesame oil, sesame seeds, scallions, garlic, and ginger. The hot version includes a squirt of sriracha sauce. I originally made this sauce for cabbage and shrimp pot stickers but it’s really good for a variety of dippable foods.

So… What exactly is a Guber Ball? I can tell you are wondering…

We don’t actually know what a Guber ball is made of, but we do know that the recipe is a heavily guarded secret among the Dirty”Ol Tavern family. We have also been debating on spelling – Goober ball or Guber ball? I think it is spelled Guber due to the German heritage of many Lancaster folk. If anyone thinks otherwise, let me know.

Here’s what the outside looks like:

I think Dan said it best when he described them as a “meat hush puppy.” They look a lot like round hush puppies. I can only speculate that they are made with some kind of ground meat and maybe some vegetables and spices… possibly pork and celery? I have no guesses on the spices. They are rolled in breadcrumbs and fried, making a crispy outer shell and a mushy center.

Here’s what the inside of a Guber ball looks like:

I’ll probably get the evil eye for posting that picture… like I said, the Guber ball recipe is a heavily guarded secret. If you try to take one out with you, you’ll get in big trouble. Guber balls are to be enjoyed only at the Dirty Ol’ Tavern and only on Guber Ball Day.

Guber balls come out of the kitchen in baskets. You don’t order them and you don’t even pay for them. Guber balls are just there to pass around and enjoy. I actually can’t say that I love them but they only come but once a year so you have to eat at least one. Who wouldn’t want to participate in the tradition and novelty of it all? You never know… they might bring you luck in the new year!

Sandwich Wednesday – Rosemary Ham

Posted by marisa rosemellia in sandwiches and tagged with , ,

I took a walk over to  Mandros Imported Foods a few times this week to gather up some snacks for Christmas gatherings. Mandros is my favorite place to find different cheeses to try. It is a great little corner store that has a lot of gourmet food items. I love that it’s only a block away from my house because I can run over there when ever I need something special. They have everything you need to make a great cheese plate or antipasti appetizer.

The selection of Italian deli meats is excellent. I love the Genoa salami that they carry… and I am pretty picky about my salami. I decided to try the rosemary ham to make a sandwich to eat with my mushroom soup. It is super flavorful, fresh, high quality ham in wrapped in a rosemary crust and thinly sliced, perfect for sandwiches.

My sandwich is made with salted basque bread from Ric’s Bread. I spread a thin layer of Dijon mustard on one slice and piled up the rosemary ham, creamy Havarti cheese, alfalfa sprouts, and my homemade chopped pickled fennel. It’s a good sandwich of wintery soups.