Tamale train came to town

For months, Caeser's Mom and I had been eagerly anticipating the Tampa stop of So You Think You Can Dance. Even without Mary's psychotic outbursts, I'm pleased to report the show delivered.

The top eleven finalists from Season 4 were there, although Twitch didn't perform, due to an injury. My girl Katee is awesome - which I already knew, but watching her up close confirmed it. Everyone did a great job, naturally. My only grievance was the corny space fillers by Courtney and Gev - painful, drawn-out improvisations that all of the 14-year-olds surrounding us found hysterical.

But. Regardless of the sentimental "reach for the stars" mantra and tears from the dancers (it was their last tour stop), it was an amazing show. Most of my pics came out blurry since it was so dark in the arena, but I'll get a few up here.

Ch-ch-ch-changes

Whew! If I thought I was behind in other areas of my life, keeping up with this blog takes the cake. Anyway, onward and upward.

I really can't believe it's October - the END of October actually. I don't know if it's the election, all of the depressing news about the economy or the phenomenon described to me by those wiser who say time starts to fly as you get older - but the past few months really passed quickly.

A couple of weeks ago, hubs and I went to our alma mater homecoming game, where we sweated profusely but had a great time cheering on the Bulls.

Last weekend, Zachy and friends dressed up in their Halloween finest and went to the annual pet costume contest in the Park. (Pics to come.) It was a great time, as usual. Dogs amuse me to no end.







Luckily, this week brought the first cold front, so I broke out my new boot(ies) and put my flatiron away. Yahoo! And Halloween is this weekend. I know Halloween is a love-or-loathe holiday for many, but I happen to love it. This year, I'm breaking out the full gore and going as a vampire. For once, Hubs can take part in the revelry, so he's going as a pirate. No lame-o couple costume for us!

I've also been cooking up a storm lately, probably because I get jazzed every year by the proliferation of pumpkin-flavored things. I came home with 10 cans of packed pumpkin the other day (yes, Hubs thinks I'm insane). So on that note, I'll leave you with a little somethin-somethin I whipped up for dinner the other night. Hubs gave it an A+.

Butternut Squash Risotto Recipe
(from Simply Recipes)
Ingredients
6-8 cups chicken broth (use vegetable broth for vegetarian option)
5 Tbsp unsalted butter, divided into 4 Tbsp and 1 Tbsp
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cups butternut squash, peeled, and finely diced
2 cups arborio rice (can substitute medium grained white rice, but arborio is preferred)
1 cup dry white wine (such as Sauvignon Blanc)
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp chopped chives or garlic chives
Salt

Method
1 Heat broth in medium sized saucepan and keep warm over low heat. Melt 4 Tbsp of butter in a large saucepan; add onion and butternut squash. Cook over medium heat until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes.

2 Add rice to onion and squash. Cook 1 to 2 minutes. Add wine. Cook, stirring constantly until wine has been absorbed by the rice or evaporated. Add a few ladles of broth, just enough to barely cover rice. Cook over medium heat until broth has been absorbed. Continue cooking and stirring rice, adding a little bit of broth at a time, cooking and stirring until it is absorbed, until the rice is tender, but still firm to the bite, about 15 to 20 minutes.

3 During the last minutes of cooking, add remaining tablespoon of butter, 1/3 cup Parmesan, and chives. At this point the rice should have a creamy consistency. Add salt to taste. Serve with remaining grated Parmesan.

Serves 4 to 6.

The curse is broken

It's been a while since my last post but who's counting? I suspect not many. (That's my own fault - why broadcast my slackerdom to the world?) Anyway, I've been on auto-pilot for the past couple of weeks, but something happened yesterday to light a little fire under my....rear. I swear it turned Indian summer in the span of a couple of days. Anyone else living in the same vicinity as me would say I'm nuts, since it's still hotter than, well, Florida in August. But it's something about the light that's different - it's a little more orange-y- that's got me excited for fall.

I got home today to a lovely birthday surprise from LP - an Ina Garten cookbook. As I'm sure I've mentioned, I'm no domestic diva, but LP and I were talking a few weeks ago about Ina and her badass brioche and whatnot, and how she manages to make everything look so effortless. (Bitch.) LP told me that every now and then on the weekends, she gets the urge to cook up a storm and pretend she's Ina. I'm sure her hubs, who is no doubt the recipient LP's kitchen whirlwinds, doesn't mind. So while that is definitely on my to-do, I decided to tackle another recipe today.

Now, baking and me are like oil and water. And not in the way that produces a fluffy coconut cake. I'm the type of baker who forgets to put sugar in her Christmas cookies. Ok, I'm not "the type" - I actually did that a couple of years ago.

So it was with a bit of trepidation that I attempted the recipe in this month's Food and Wine's "Last Bite" feature. The olive oil thyme cake with fresh figs looked gorgeous, and the recipe seemed simple enough. I was sure it was a trap, but I decided to give it the old college try. And......maybe I should be knocking on wood, but I think the cursed baking days are over! I modified the recipe a little, since I didn't have fresh thyme. (And I'm not even sure I like thyme.) But I did have fresh rosemary, so I made Olive Oil and Rosemary cake with fresh figs instead.

(I know you're thinking this sounds like a Carraba's side dish, but trust me. It's good.)

Olive Oil Rosemary cake with Fresh Figs
(adapted from Food and Wine, Sept. 2008)

Cake
1 c plus 1.5 tbl cake flour
1 tsp. baking powder
3 large egg yolks
1/4 c plus 1 tbl. extra virgin olive oil (I don't care how long it is to spell out, you can shoot me before I start saying EVOO.)
1/2 c water
1.5 tsp rosemary, chopped fine
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla etract
1 c plus 2 tbl. sugar
5 large egg whites

Figs
1 lb. fresh figs, quartered (wash them gently)
1/4 c sugar
1 tbl. olive oil
1/4 tsp. fresh ground black pepper (I used slightly less)
pinch of salt
1/2 c creme fraiche

Heat oven to 375. Line a 9x9 pan with parchment paper, spray lightly with cooking spray.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour and baking soda.
In a large bowl, mix the egg yolks with the olive oil, water, rosemary, salt and vanilla, and 3/4 c plus 1 tbl of the sugar. With a handheld mixer, beath the egg yolk mixture until frothy (about 3 mins). Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until incorporated.

In a clean bowl, using clean beaters, beat the egg whites at medium-high speed until foamy. Gradually add remaining 1/4 c plus 1 tbl of sugar and beat until egg whites are stiff and glossy, about 4 mins. Scoop a cup of the egg white miture into the batter and mix completely. Fold the remaining egg white mixture gently, until there are no more streaks.

Scrape batter into prepared pan and bake for approx. 35 mins. The sides will pull away from the pan and the top should be golden. Set on rack and let cool completely, about an hour.

While the cake is baking, prepare the figs:
In a medium bowl, toss the figs, olive oil, sugar, pepper and salt. Let stand at room temp for about an hour, so the figs can release their juices.

Cut the cake into 12 rectangles and transfer to plates. Spoon the figs/juice mixture over each slice, and top with a dollop of creme fraiche.