This Spring I will be teaching cooking classes to kids through a community food organization here in Hartford.  In preparation, I am testing some “kid friendly” recipes, trying to amass a curriculum.  (Needless to say, anticipate plenty of “cooking with kids” recipes in the future.)  Here is my first try…

What child (or adult for that matter) doesn’t love the classic campfire combination of chocolate, marshmallow and graham crackers?  These s’more cupcakes are very simple and a great recipe for young chefs.  With very few ingredients and just two simple “mixing” steps, kids can help from start to finish.  Before the cupcakes are baked, each is adored with one kiss and four marshmallows – the perfect place to enlist tiny fingers!  (And get in some counting while you’re at it).  I also like these cupcakes for kids because they are baked in mini muffin tins, so the cupcakes are the perfect size – no extreme sugar rushes here.

Enjoy these little nostalgic treats!

A quick note about the recipe: Don’t be worried when you don’t see flour in the ingredient list.  These “cupcakes” use graham cracker crumbs in place of flour.  I admit that I was skeptical myself, but the added baking soda helps to leaven and lighten the “cake” and you don’t notice a difference.

Recipe: S’more Cupcakes

As some of you know, my husband and I have found a new activity for our Monday evenings (well one Monday a month, that is).  Our local wine store offers monthly wine tastings at a nearby restaurant.  February’s tasting focused on inexpensive wines from Bordeaux.  Read about January’s tasting of Ports.  Knowing very little of the region before the lecture, I was excited to not only learn more about a different type of wine, but hopefully find some new bargains.

Let’s start from the top, shall we?  The Bordeaux region of France is located in the southwest corner of the country.  It is a coastal growing region, and is marked by three rivers that define the region.   The rivers converge in a fork shape, creating the left bank, right bank, and the remaining land in between, the Entre-Deux Mers (the large yellow region on the map).  Translated, the region is literally “Between Two Rivers.”  Both the left and right bank have always been considered the premiere land, and therefore are home to the oldest and most prestigious Bordeaux wineries.  In recent years, however, wineries have begun to reinvent in the Entre-Deux Mers and are producing some decent wines.  Because this  “newer” wine growing region (Bordeaux has been producing wine since Roman times) is less known, you can get some spectacular deals on wine – this is where the inexpensive part comes in.  Most of the wines we tasted were from the Entre-Deux-Mers region. (more…)

This cake was inspired by my “little sister” Johanna who is a talented artist.   I thought the cake would be perfect for her 11th birthday.  I started with an 8″ round cake, then carved away a small section to create the curve of the palette.  The “thumb hole” was carved out as well.  To finish, the entire cake was iced with a traditional Italian Buttercream.  The “finishing touch,” the paint brush, was a simple butter cookie, frosted with colored icing.  The cake itself was a yellow cake layered with orange curd and fresh blackberries.

Read Part 1: Mission Impossible: Jami’s Dinner

The age old question of how to roast a chicken…  After I decided that roasted chicken would be the perfect solution to Jami’s Mission Impossible Dinner, I thought I would look into how everyone else thinks a chicken should be roasted.  A classic dish, almost every chef and home cook has his or her own method for the “perfect” chicken.  From differences in flavorings, temperature, basting, racks…it can be a very confusing field to navigate.  With the way everyone talks about roasting chickens, you really do come to believe it is rocket science. (more…)

My good friend Jami has been very supportive of my new blog endeavor.  A frequent visitor, Jami was quick to offer suggestions for future posts – the most challenging of which was this:  Plan a dinner I can make and eat on Sunday that will provide lunches for the rest of the week (and it can’t take too long, and it can’t be too difficult, and it can’t require many ingredients, and oh right, I have very few pots and pans).

Only because I love you Jami….

So this was my task for the last couple of weeks, lying in bed at night, on my drive to work, I have been running over recipes in my head trying to be as creative as I could with the little I had to work with (no offense James).  And what crazily creative concoctions did I come up with?  Roasted Chicken!  Sometimes the simplest things are the answers to difficult problems.  Roasting a chicken is not difficult, you just have to be patient with the longer cooking time.  However, if you put in the time on a Sunday afternoon, not only can you create a wonderful, warm, healthy dinner for that night, but the left-over chicken can be used in a variety of quick and easy recipes for later in the week.  Hence, dinner for Sunday, lunches for the rest of the week. (more…)

I am a lover of all things banana, (except for bananas themselves, strange huh?) and therefore have amassed quite a collection of banana recipes.  Having tried several versions of banana bread over the years, I finally settled on this particular recipe.  With a true fresh banana flavor, a wonderfully moist texture, and a subtle nutty crunch, this is a winner in my book.  I made a batch today (I had to do something with those browning bananas) and thought I would share the recipe with everyone.

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My husband and I found a great little treat in our neighborhood.  Our local wine store, Manchester Wine & Liquors, offers monthly wine tastings at a nearby restaurant.  We noticed January’s topic was Port and knew we had to check it out.  Having traveled to Portugal a few years ago, both Scott and I have taken a particular liking to this fortified wine.  So we called, made our reservations for the tasting, and went in anticipation of some great port.

For those of you who aren’t already port fans, let me tell you a little about this dessert wine.  Port is a fortified wine, which means that along with the natural alcohol produced during the fermentation, it also has added liquor (usually brandy).  This mixture produces a sweet wine with a stronger kick….think red wine meets dessert meets cocktails.  Because of its powerful sweetness and extra alcohol, port is usually served in smaller wine glasses (dessert wine glasses or cordial glasses) and meant to be sipped – not unlike a cognac or brandy.  I like port because it tastes like an enhanced version of red wine.  With a lot of the same characteristics, I enjoy the fruit forwardness of a ruby port and the oaky, nuttiness of a tawny.  Paired with simple desserts, port makes a decadent addition to the end of any meal. (more…)