A Little Food Challenge

The long, dark January nights have left me thinking about food challenges, and I think I've come up with a pretty good food riddle.

Guess the food or beverage whose name consists of two words where neither word is actually in the food or beverage. So, it's a thing that has two food/drink words in its name, but neither word is in the thing itself. Give up? If people haven't guessed it in a week, I'll update with a hint.

Frutti Tutti

In an unprecedented show of pizzaz, I am offering back-to-back posts on your favorite subject...food! Enjoy.

Just Another Pizza Pie

Apple green-chili pie

I'm not sure how we got a post on this blog about hypothetical cupcakes, but I'd like to bring us back to the world of actual food with a post about an apple pie that I made for Thanksgiving. It's a twist on the traditional apple pie—this one has shredded cheddar cheese in the crust and roasted green chilies mixed in with the filling. I found the recipe here, and I was mostly happy with the way it turned out.

Strangely, I couldn't really taste the cheddar cheese in the crust (even though I used a really sharp cheddar), and the green chilies were pretty mild too. Also, the crust turned out pretty tough, which makes me think I overworked it or didn't cut the butter small enough. I could use a pastry blender, I guess. Still, I'll give this one another shot some day.








And here's a traditional apple pie, for people who dislike either cheddar or chili peppers in their pie.

Hazel's first cupcake?

Ok, it's been four days already. Has Hazel completed her very first baking project yet? If not, what's the holdup? Doesn't she have an Easy-Bake Oven? Or doesn't she like to bake? Maybe she prefers grilling. Questioning culinary minds want to know.

Sometimes when I'm supposed to be working....

I just decide to bake instead. At 9:30 pm. When it would probably be better to finish writing my thank you notes. Or go to bed.

But....

They are pumpkin, and I couldn't resist. And surprisingly, only took 25 minutes to put together, including clean up. So while they baked, I did what I was supposed to be doing before, with the promise of a pumpkin muffin as a reward. :)

One More Hurrah for Summer!

Let's have one more hurrah for summer...ok, two. Two cheers for summer and grilling!

Though I profess to grill year round in sun, rain, hail, or snow, the reality is that the grilling season is now diving into a deep double dip recession. The initial chill of autumn has already shocked us into scurrying around looking for nuts but we will rebound and grill again before snow. Then, it's nearly over. Not that I don't enjoy grilling in the snow, it's just hard when you have to shovel the grill off between burger flips.

But let's remember the good times and let the snow come as it may. Here are two recently grilled entrees for your viewing (and dreaming) pleasure. Please make sure Nikki, Twila, Ozzie, and Fletcher are nowhere near before you scroll down - unless you'd care to have your keyboard salivated on.

Grilled burgers topped with fresh garden tomatoes, cheeses, and grilled jalapeños (Mmmmm). Charcoal grilled and smoked with fresh jalapeño (I dropped one in the coals).

Make room for cow! When you need to clear space for this year's cow, it's time to grill up the T-bone and Porterhouse. The kids didn't complain. This was grilled over hardwood charcoal with hickory chunks for a hefty flavor.

Add your own photos if you have some late season grilling to show.