Posted by the Misanthropic Hostess.
Jun
11
Posted by the Misanthropic Hostess.
When I travel I like to bring back a recipe or food idea native to the culture. From Venice came risotto. From France: Camembert. From Taiwan: mochi. So, when I was in Chile for work, I was on the look-out. Chile has great food and I had more than my share of beef, salmon (pronounced saLLmon) and wine of the Carmenere variety (somehow a case of it even followed me …
Jun
2
Posted by the Misanthropic Hostess.
Where did May go? Oh yeah, there was some traveling for work. And then there was some vacationing. And now, here we are in June. Okay, moving on.
The dude I am married to loves key lime pie. He also loves the Flight of the Concords. So, in the spirit of the official kick-off weekend of summer, I came up with a lime bar recipe fit to take to the Flight of the Concords’ performance at …
Mar
31
Posted by the Misanthropic Hostess.
Yeah, yeah, I know, you watch “Best Thing I Ever Ate” on the Food Network too. This blog does not claim to be particularly original. Tasty yes. Ground breaking? Eh. So, when I saw the episode about Sprinkles’ founder Candace Nelson’s favorite baked good I knew I had to find the recipe and bring it here. I mean come on—this is what the sister grand pubha of cupcakes puts …
Mar
24
Posted by the Misanthropic Hostess.
Whaaaaat? Kaaallllleeee? Yes, that cruciferous king of anti-oxidents, kale. In chip form. You know, like potato chips. Or banana chips.
So here is the scoop. Last summer my husband and I spent a week camping up in the Northern California Redwoods. On the way up, we stayed in a little town along the 101 called Ukiah (it’s Haiku backwards…pretty Zen huh?). Ukiah is located in the Southern part of Mendocino County and …
Mar
4
Posted by the Misanthropic Hostess.
Does anyone not love soft pretzels? For me, if nostalgia had a flavor, it would be soft pretzel. Soft pretzels remind me of baseball games and roller rinks and college road trips and summer jobs (the McDonalds up in Lake Arrowhead where I spent three of my summers during college sold the things).
Lately it seems, the soft pretzel has appeared in all sorts of incarnations from hotdog and hamburger buns to dinner rolls. My favorite …
Feb
11
Posted by the Misanthropic Hostess.
Ah Valentine’s Day.
When I was in the second or maybe third grade I happened to have the chicken pox on Valentine’s Day. In order to sooth her feverish and itchy child, my mother painted a calamine lotion heart over each pock. Knowing my mother’s sense of humor, this gesture was probably one part love to one part ‘hey, wouldn’t it be hilarious if I painted hearts all over my kid.’ A little sweet and a …
Jan
21
Posted by the Misanthropic Hostess.
I had no idea. Really, I didn’t.
What began as a (self-deemed) creative attempt at gift giving has turned into a burgeoning obsession. The French macaron. How I hate thee. And love thee. And hate thee. To make matters worse, the little buggers have begun to show up everywhere. Haunting me. Whereas months ago I’d never even seen one outside of the recipe books, they’re now stalking me from magazine covers, bake shops and Starbucks. …
Jan
11
Posted by the Misanthropic Hostess.
I have learned that there are two types of people in the world: ones who like cakey brownies and ones who like fudgy brownies. Note: I have not provided an option for people who do not like brownies. This is because those people do not exist. While I do have a great cakey brownie recipe that I’ll share this summer (it calls for fresh zucchini and so in my head is a summer recipe), it’s …
Jan
2
Posted by the Misanthropic Hostess.
I lost a bet. It had to do with a football game between the college I went to and the college where I work. And, unlike a certain coach who not only allowed—but celebrated a very un-sportsman-like play in the last 44 seconds of said game, I am always a good sport.
Of course, the wager was for baked goods. With the veritable deluge of work-related holiday parties, potlucks and general food-related merriment, it was decided that I would not pay …
Dec
23
Posted by the Misanthropic Hostess.
If I could afford it, I’d ask Morgan Freeman to narrate this post. But, I can’t. So watch this first to get you in the mood.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MB_GisVFboU
I have a very cute penguin cookie cutter and when Deb from Smitten Kitchen posted her mother’s recipe for Brownie Roll Out cookies, I knew I had a match made in heaven. I’m linking to the recipe instead of listing it below because, well, I have a baking crush on …