‘Food Network’ Articles at Sweetnicks, Page 2

Eat. Live. Be. REBOOT

December 8, 2011 · Eat. Live. Be., Narrative

Regular readers may remember an Eat. Live. Be. movement that me and Sarah came up with and ran last year. At the time, it was perfect because it partnered nicely with my whole Cate Version 2.0 movement. You know, the one wherein I got addicted to Zumba, clean eating, and a weight loss of over sixty pounds. But then, I sprained my ankle in May, and that put the brakes on a lot of what I was doing. I haven’t been back to Zumba since, and you have know idea how much that pains me. The good news is that while I haven’t been going as full force as I was before, I have managed to maintain my weight loss.

But that isn’t enough.

Or wasn’t for me.

I missed the mental zone that all that dedication afforded me. When people prattle on about the endorphin rush you get from exercising, it’s not just meaningless drivel. It’s the truth. And when I say that your body responds differently to how and what you feed it, again, it’s the truth.

And when you’re treating your body right, everything else just magically falls into place.

You’re able to handle stress better.

Relationships.

Work.

Kids.

You have more energy.

And you want to do better.

It’s not just lip service.

So the fact that I wasn’t in the exact same spot as I was in the spring? Killed me. Like, seriously. Thought about it day in and out.

And in the grand scheme of things, there wasn’t much I could do about it.

Which, of course, frustrated me even more.

Zumba and clean eating is what started me back on the straight and narrow.

…

Review: CakeLove

September 20, 2011 · Narrative

I am always in awe and inspired by people who follow their dream, especially when it’s along such an unpredictable path or is a complete about-face from their current career choice. I have a long-standing dream in the back of my mind. Something I would love to bring to fruition. Something that has been seemingly planned down to the tiniest detail. Something that I know is completely in my wheelhouse and energizes me when I think about it. But something that, for now, is very back-burnered. Hearing stories of others jumping the train tracks for an alternate path and succeeding really fuel me, and keeps that dream on the stove.

The story of Warren Brown is one such tale. I first discovered Warren when his show, Sugar Rush, appeared on the Food Network. Warren used to be a practicing lawyer. And he left it all, following his heart, to pursue a career in baking in 2000. Now some seven retail locations and a cookbook later, his decision to follow his dream certainly paid off.

I actually had a very unplanned visit to one of his bakeries while we were in DC last month. I had a punch list of a few must-visits while we were in the area, and Georgetown Cupcake was part of the original plan. Until we circled the neighborhood and saw the length of the line. Several blocks long. And then some. Surveying the tired kids in the backseat and the 90 degree temps, it was a quick unanimous decision to skip that stop. Then Chris mentioned CakeLove. But of course!

When I visit a cupcake shop, I steer clear from the usual suspects of vanilla and chocolate. I think that for a good bakery, vanilla and chocolate is a no-brainer. And I definitely don’t want anything with a standard buttercream. Now that I have my own go-to recipe, buying a standard buttercream frosted cupcake just isn’t the best use of my money. So then what? I look for the unusual flavors. Something a little off the beaten path. The unexpected. Or different. Or even just different for me.

The day we visited CakeLove, the “special” happened to be their Coconut Cream Pie cupcake. I have only been drawn to cream pies but once. I went through a period when I was pregnant with Nick and regularly made the rounds of the local diners to order their cream pies. Luckily for my waistline that was a very short-lived phase.

The kids each chose their own cupcake, and I took a chance and ordered a few of the Coconut Cream Pie cupcakes. Oh.my.word. To.die.for. We had them back at my friend Chris’ apartment, and that night I was already petitioning to make one more visit to CakeLove for more before we left town the next day. We didn’t make it back that night, but we did stop the next morning on our way home.

Creamy, slightly sweet, seriously decadent, and the perfect bite to leave you wanting more.

There is a small seating area in the bakery, if you’d like to savor your sweet treats there, and the staff is very friendly. The associate that helped me the first day actually remembered me the next day when I returned. Hopefully that’s a good thing….

Review: Tom Douglas’ Lola in Seattle, WA

July 11, 2011 · Narrative, Restaurant Review

When Sarah and I arrived in Seattle for our May trip, we finally got to the hotel around 9 pm. We hadn’t had dinner. We checked in quickly, dumped our luggage in our rooms and headed out in search of a bite to eat. The first thing we learned about Seattle? It’s hard to find a restaurant open at 9 pm on a Sunday night. The city all but rolls up the sidewalks after dark. Something we East Coasters weren’t used to.

Our driver had suggested a few restaurants within walking distance of our hotel, and after we found the third one closed, we ended up back at our hotel, taking our last choice, Lola. A Tom Douglas restaurant, Lola is inside Hotel Andra and let me tell you now … it should never be your last choice.

We took a seat at the bar, ordered our obligatory Diet Cokes and looked over the Greek-inspired menu. Everything looked amazing. One of my favorite things about eating with a fellow foodie is that we order a variety of things and share. Simply the best way to sample the most amount of food for the least amount of money. And hanging out with a fellow foodie (and I know how much Sarah hates that word, so forgive me) who also totes a camera everywhere? I feel way less obvious once the Nikon comes out.

We ended up ordering two different kabobs off the dinner menu. One with Haloumi cheese, figs and a balsamic glaze, and the other had assorted mushrooms and roasted garlic. I have tried figs on two occasions and haven’t grown to like them. All that stopped that night. Something about the combination of the Haloumi cheese (the first time both of us had had it) with the reduced balsamic vinegar, and the sweetness of the fig spelled nirvana.

We also ordered the anchovy cauliflower spread. I will be the first to say that I hate anchovies. The Ex Husband and my dad both love them. No thank you. But I don’t mind them one bit once they’re cooked (or in a caesar salad). Once the anchovies are heated, they melt into nothingness and just leave a wonderful salty flavor behind. Hello Salt, my name is Cate. That anchovy cauliflower spread? To die for. I don’t think we licked the bowl, but we came awfully close (and we also left that night with two recipes). The spread came with the most fabulous warm pillowy soft pitas you’ve ever tasted. Divine.

…

Recipe: Giada De Laurentiis’ Nutella Fudge

July 2, 2011 · Narrative, Sweets

One of my co-workers mentioned that she stopped reading my web site months ago when I “started cooking healthy.” Jill, this one’s for you.

Fudgy. Sinfully sweet. Nutella. Giada De Laurentiis. How can you go wrong?

This recipe is super simple to make and will take care of your sweet craving very nicely. Especially if you happen to have a jar of Nutella taking up real estate in your pantry. I was first introduced to Nutella when I was a kid and we lived in England for a few years. To this day, my favorite way to eat it is from the jar with a swipe of my finger a spoon. Which is precisely why I hide the jar in the back of the baking cabinet. So I don’t get tempted by it. If you’re not a purist, after making this fudge, these self-frosting cupcakes are another good way to indulge in your Nutella fantasies.

Surprise Saturday post – happy weekend!

…

Eat. Live. Be. Week #2: Finding Your Support Group

January 10, 2011 · Narrative

For our second week of Eat. Live. Be. we are all tackling the topic of finding a support network. Remember when you were in high school and your parents cautioned you against hanging out with certain crowds? Oh. That was just me? Ok then, let’s pretend it wasn’t. Having a support group to help you meet your goals is kind of like that. Hang out with negative influences and they might entice you to behave negatively. Positive peeps bring out the positive. Yes, it really can be that simple.

One of the parts of our lives that I have worked on over the past few years is paying closer attention to the people that we interact with on a regular basis. Not like any of our besties are like Danny Zuko pushing us to smoke cigarettes and drag race until the wee hours, but I’m sure you get my drift. I want to be around people that are good. That make us feel good. That want more. That strive for more. That treat their bodies well. Because good begets good. And that makes me a) want to be even better and b) want to stay on the straight and narrow and stay away from detractors. You know, like Diet Coke and potato chips. Hello, salt, thy name is Cate.

Having a support network is absolutely 100% paramount to meeting a goal successfully. And it’s not just about losing weight. It can be about anything really. It’s about surrounding yourself with people who get you. Who get what you’re working to achieve. Who will cheer you on as you work towards it. Who will pick you back up and bolster you if need be. Who are like-minded folks with like-minded goals.

So now that you know you need a support network, how do you go about getting one? For me, it happens rather organically.

This little grassroots Eat. Live. Be. challenge (and accompanying facebook page) has become a great source of support. We are all working towards some sort of goal … together. Becoming each other’s cheerleaders. Getting new ideas. Sharing tips and tricks. Hey, there’s even a giveaway going on today, if you need a new exercise dvd to kick-start your own routine.
The gym. I take classes at a variety of places, and the people that assemble have slowly become a little bit like an adjunct family. One of my Zumba classes I’ve been going to for a year, and there are maybe 7 or 8 of us that chat before and after class. They notice if I’m not there. And I ask where they’ve been when they miss a class or two. Last week, I spent the whole hour of Thursday’s class beating myself up about a specific body part. Just one of those days. Afterwards, one of the women came up to me. “I bet you’ve lost 15 pounds since the holidays,” she said. I smiled. “A few pounds, not quite 15.” “Well you look great!” She didn’t know the mind battles I was going through during the hour-long sweatfest, and her unsolicited pat on the back reminded me how far I’d come.
Exercise buddies. Seek out those in your posse that like to work out. And it doesn’t have to be a regimented class. Maybe you have a group that likes to go hiking. Or bicycle riding. Or chase your kids at the playground with other moms. Seek out people that like to move. And schedule time to move with them.
Friends that hold you accountable. I have a few friends that are total hardcore when it comes to working out. Two especially come to mind. One will text me … “I’m going by your house to pick you up in 30. Be ready. No excuses.” On a day that I wasn’t going. I do work out 5-6 days a week! She said Saturday that I’ve come too far and she will drag me out of the house if need be. This is also coming from someone who takes three back-to-back hour-long classes on the weekend. The word “hardcore” might not even be strong enough to describe her. Another friend works out Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and if I’m feeling ambivalent about a specific day (weather, work, homework, fill in the blank), I know if I just shoot him an IM he will guilt me into the fact that HE is going and if I don’t, he will be one up on me. And I can’t have that. So I engage. This type of guilt works in my favor every time.
Make Standing Appointments. In a roundabout way, this is part of creating your support network. Because it’s about making your support network work in the best way possible. When I was getting in shape for my wedding, I bartered services with a local personal trainer. After we made our arrangements, he said he’d meet me the next day at 12 noon for a one-hour work-out. And he did. Every weekday for three months. Because we had a standing appointment, and this goes back a bit to last week’s Putting YOU on the List, there was no putting it off for a better time. Everything gets worked around it. I have set classes with a few of the people I work out with too, just like the standing appointment with my old personal trainer. They are counting on me to show up, and I them. There is no “it’s a crazy day, I can’t make it” or “Thursday’s not good, what about Friday?” It just is. Period. End of story.

…

Beef and Black Bean Burgers

September 22, 2010 · Narrative

Today is only Wednesday, yet surprisingly I have already repeated two brand new recipes in the space of three days. Just goes to show you how good they are. The first was the Warm Butternut Squash and Chickpea Salad with Tahini Dressing from Sunday night. Couldn’t wait to have it again and made it for the second time last night to feast on for lunch for the rest of the week. And lest I forget, thanks for all your tips on dealing with hard-to-cut squash, nuking it worked like a charm – you guys are the best!

Faye: Hint: If you microwave the WHOLE squash for several minutes (depending on the size) let it cool slightly…it will peel SO much easier.

Stephanie: if you have a trader joe’s near by, they have already cut & peeled butternut squash & it’s delicious!

Angie: …try poking some holes in that squash and nuking it for 5 minutes or so. It’ll soften it just enough to make peeling and dicing a breeze!

The second new recipe I’ve repeated this week is the one for Beef and Black Bean Burgers. I made those also for dinner Sunday night, aiming to keep the menu summer-friendly, as the season is quickly slipping away from us, and they were so good, they made a quick and easy dinner tonight as we headed out for Nick’s Back to School night.

The recipe comes from Melissa d’Arabian, she of Ten Dollar Dinner fame, and so far, she’s produced nothing but delicious results. I would never have thought of including mashed up black beans into ground beef for burgers, but darn it if it doesn’t work. It gives you an extra dose of protein and stretches your ground beef buck. Between the extra moistness the beans and olive oil give the burger, and the slight tang of the Dijon mustard the recipe calls for, it adds up to one great batch of burgers.

On Sunday, I topped them with farmers market tomatoes and buttery avocados. Tonight’s version was topped with avocado, warm goat cheese and sliced red onion. Full of flavor and just minutes to pull together, if you’re itching to stretch out summer just a little bit longer like us, give these a try.

Oh, and because my grill was deemed habitable by some four legged creatures (it makes me itchy just thinking about it), my grill is no longer with us. But because of its misfortune, I can tell you that these taste simply smashing on your indoor grill pan, because that’s how I cooked ’em. Now it’s your turn.

Want more recipe hits from Melissa? This is the Succulent Braised Pork we tried out last week. Last year, it was the OMG 5-Minute Individual Potato Gratins. And Perfect Crispy Potatoes.
A year ago today: Was it really a year ago already that Sarah and her crew came to visit? Oh Cambozola, how I love thee.
Two years ago today: Apple picking with my littles. Those chubby cheeks!

Project 365
September 22, 2010, Photo #168

Even though we’re saying so long to summer, I’m already two holidays ahead, working on an article for a Thanksgiving centerpiece for the folks at Disney. I’ve got to say, this really is my favorite time of year. Halloween … Thanksgiving … Christmas … family traditions … homemade applesauce … apple picking … crisp Fall air. Just love it.…

Succulent Braised Pork

September 15, 2010 · Narrative

There are some recipes that you just know are going to be good from the start, and others that you are completely unsure about. And then there are those ones that fall somewhere in the middle. This recipe for Braised Pork would fall into the latter category.

A date with a spin bike meant that dinner needed to be ready by the time we walked in the door from the gym. Otherwise it’s just too late being a school night. When I saw Melissa d’Arabian make this recipe the other day, I knew it fit my criteria. Ten minutes of chopping a few simple ingredients. Browning the meat. Braising in the oven for 3 hours. Folks, I don’t know that it gets simpler than this. And the taste is anything but simple.

Around the second hour of braising, I peeked into the oven to see how it was coming along, and, quite frankly, it didn’t look like much. I took a taste of the sauce and managed to burn my tongue. But it was so good, I went back for another taste, sacrificing the feeling on my tongue in one fell swoop. As far as the meat? Something magical happens in the third hour.

When it was nearly done, I sent a text message to one of our neighbors. Under the Borrow Someone’s Husband Act, they were very helpful the night before and I owed them. “Do you have dinner figured out for tonight yet?” No, came the answer. “Perfect. I’ll send Nick over with dinner when we head out to the gym.” Earlier that day, one of our cats (who has, over the past few months, become sort of an outside cat) very nicely left me a present. On our front steps. Like, right in the middle of them. Care to guess? This time, the present was a dead chipmunk. Ick. The last two presents were mice. Now I’m wondering if this is even an ok topic when discussing dinner and braised pork, but it might be too late. So, the mice I can barely handle getting rid of myself. Chipmunks are another story entirely. A plea to said neighbors and the husband took care of the present for me. Hence, dinner the next night. It seems a fair trade-off, no?

This pork is total comfort food. Like, it doesn’t get better than this. Our summer season seems to have (temporarily?) ended rather abruptly and with it, some chill has settled in. This is the food that the weather calls for, make no bones about it. Put a dollop (or three) of yesterday’s mashers on a plate, and then this braised pork and a little of the sauce … oh my word.

As far as the kids? Madeline wasn’t a fan, and happily ate a Summer Vegetable Pasta recipe I made Sunday night. Nick, however, barely came up for air, and only did to ask for another helping. This from the kid that doesn’t like potatoes of any kind. Ate the potatoes. The meat. The sauce. Twice over.

And better still? This meal is yours for under ten bucks. I kid you not. Maybe even less, depending on if you have some ingredients already in your pantry. Make it. I am imploring you. When you want to be warmed up from the inside out. When you want someone to think you slaved all day over a hot stove. But really didn’t. Make this.

A year ago today… I had very nearly forgotten about these to-die-for peanut butter cookies.
Two years ago today … The Barefoot Contessa and Banana Pancakes.
Four years ago today … one of our favorite Italian cookbooks.
Five years ago today … still going strong with The Neighbors, but oy those picture-taking skills!

Project 365
September 15, 2010, Photo #165

This is what my dining room table currently looks like. Awash in multi-colored, sparkly glittered butterflies for my latest project for Disney … a No Sew Butterfly Catcher Costume….

The Ugly Duckling Salad

September 1, 2010 · Narrative

When it comes to salad dressing, I’m not a big fan of most of the bottled ones you can buy at the grocery store. Too much junk in them that we don’t need. And besides, when you can whip up a delicious one with common ingredients found in your pantry, who needs them? Case in point: the dressing on this Ugly Ducking Salad. But first, the back story.

There is a new show on the Food Network called Aarti Party. The host was the winner of The Next Food Network Star, winning her very own show (natch). Although she battled her confidence a bit midway through the competition, she was a front-runner from the get-go. She is poised, warm, accessible, likable and easily brings something new to the Food Network family, a show on American dishes with an Indian twist. Since I love Indian food (and don’t get it nearly enough), I was glad to see her win, and was especially looking forward to trying her recipes.

When I got home from the gym tonight, the kids were already in bed, having happily eaten their dinner hours ago, and it was late. I debated about skipping dinner, but I’m trying to heed the advice of my old trainer (love him!) that it’s better to eat late than to eat nothing at all. Since time was ticking away, I wanted to keep it simple and healthy, and salad is a perfect fit.

A few (mostly) common ingredients and you have this amazingly good salad dressing. I do realize that pistachios might not be a ready-to-grab pantry ingredient, and that’s usually the case in my kitchen too, but I happened to have some on hand, and they’re worth keeping in your kitchen just so you can whip up this dressing. As an aside, pecans or walnuts would work equally well. The dressing is tangy, a little creamy and packed with full-on flavor. The only detail is, I’ve got to say, that the dressing doesn’t necessarily *look* especially appetizing because of the blenderized pistachio nuts in it, but I can definitely overlook it in terms of getting to the taste. I swear I did everything but lick the plate. And I just might have done that too.

The salad is so named because of the “ugliness” of the celery root. Saving a trip to the store, I did skip that part of it. Since the salad would end up being my whole meal, I also added in some pieces of grilled chicken, to get an added boost of protein with every bite. It would also be great with grilled shrimp. Dig in, folks, bottled salad dressing has nothing on this one!

Project 365
September 1, 2010, Photo #156

Madeline has this semi-new obsession with money, specifically “dollars.” She has been caught fishing around in my wallet more than once, absconding with fistfuls of money and hiding them in her little purse. When I’m paying for something, she puts her little hand out, and asks for money. I usually give her a quarter and she puts her hand right out again. “More, please.” I sometimes attempt to ~~distract~~ please her with play money, but the girl is smarter than smart and totally knows the difference. That’s my kid!…

Recipe: Booze Battered Shrimp

January 4, 2010 · Narrative

Is it fair to tell you about some amazing, OMG recipe that’s fried … in the first week of the New Year when diet resolutions abound? I hope so, because I just can’t not tell you about this one. First of all, it’s called Battered Shrimp. Ho-hum name, right? With both beer and vodka in the recipe, it is henceforth called Booze Battered Shrimp. There we go. Much better.

This recipe comes to us courtesy of Alex Guarnaschelli. She of Butter Restaurant fame, and her two Food Network shows, Alex’s Day Off and The Cooking Loft. I have a friend whose personality reminds me of Alex. Something about her just causes you to slow down, take a deep breath, and chill. Watching Alex on TV is like that. She’s calming, slow, deliberate and appreciative of every bite she makes. I’m all for someone whose personality forces us to slow down a bit. Slow down and savor.

When I saw her make this shrimp recipe the other day, I knew it would be perfect for our New Years’ Eve Seafood Feast. The batter is one that she uses at her own restaurant, and it could not be simpler to make. In 15 minutes, I was taste-testing the first piece. Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, and still a nice bite to the shrimp itself. OMG, so good.

She didn’t mention any dipping sauce, but I love having a dipping sauce with some things, and this one screamed out for one, in my humble opinion, of course. I ended making one with honey mustard and a little bit of light sour cream, and it was perfect. A nice cooling bite against the crispness of the shrimp. My mouth is watering again just thinking of these babies.

Diets be darned. Make a batch of this and share if you must. Invite some friends over for an appetizer party on your cheat day and dig in to a plate of these. You won’t be sorry.

Now, on a completely separate tangent, one of my New Years’ goals is one that you’ll have to indulge me in. I decided to take a stab at the 365 Project. It’s simple really. Take one picture every day. Someone described it as a “rich visual history” of your life. Love that. There are some special albums being offered as a nice way to print out and display your photos, but for now, I’m going to be brave and restrain myself. I’m behind enough on getting photos into albums! I’ll just be putting them at the end of my daily posts here. I think it’s a great way to document a year (obviously some photos will be more mundane than others – our life is not always that exciting!), and an easy way to practice my photography skills and relive 2010 when it’s all done. I’m a big proponent in documenting memories. Some little ones. Some big ones. And all the in-between-you’ll-forget-ones, and this is just another way for me to do that. Some days I’ll include a description with the photo. Some days I won’t. Since today is the 4th, I’ll need to put four here to catch-up, but here goes.

Friday, January 1, 2010
Photo by Nick

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Sunday, January 3, 2010
Nick is into skateboarding, and got a new skateboard and helmet recently. I need to preface this photo by saying Madeline has never seen Nick wear a helmet while skateboarding, but before anyone could blink an eye, she grabbed the helmet and fastened it onto her head, stood on the skateboard and looked at me and said “push.” Such a smarty pants! She cracked me up.

Monday, January 4, 2010
Madeline loves this tractor that my parents gave her for Christmas. If you push a button in the front, it goes by itself. Madeline, however, had other uses for it.

…

English Muffin Breakfast Pizza

September 17, 2009 · Narrative

My son is trying to turn me into a liar. Just this past weekend, my sister and I were talking about breakfast ideas for kids, because getting Nick to eat breakfast in the morning on school days is a challenge. Either he is moving as slow as molasses and despite gentle and not-so-gentle prodding, he has no time and grabs something on the run, or he maintains he’s not hungry. Thank goodness second graders still get a morning snack!

But all that came to a head this week when I made these English Muffin Breakfast Pizzas for Nick. I found the recipe in the recent issue of Food Network’s magazine (love that mag!) and it is from dietician Ellie Krieger of Healthy Appetite. I made them while cleaning up from dinner, and then wrapped the pizzas individually and stuck them in the fridge. In the morning, while Nick was getting ready, I popped one in the toaster to heat it up. I put it on a plate and gave it to Nick and then ran upstairs to get something. When I got downstairs, it was gone. He ate the whole thing so fast that I checked the garbage cans because I was sure he had thrown it away. He hadn’t. He just loved it.

With 17 grams of protein and 6 grams of fiber, these little pizzas are on whole wheat English Muffins, topped with diced tomatoes, Canadian bacon and mozzarella. Protein, calcium, and fiber, disguised as a tasty little breakfast pizza that is perfect for those mornings when time is short, but appetite still high. Even better that, it got Nick to slow to a halt and chow down before dashing out the door — hear, hear!

Of course, two days later when I tried to give Nick another one of the pizzas, he wanted no part of it. I’ll just have to take the small victories where I can.

…

OMG 5-Minute Individual Potato Gratin

September 10, 2009 · Narrative

As soon as I took the first bite of this 5-Minute Individual Potato Gratin, I immediately thought of my Mom. She’s a big fan of gratins, as am I, and I know she will love these. The recipe comes from Melissa D’Arabian, the newest addition to Food Network‘s line-up (you can read more about her here), and when she was making this, she mentioned that her little girls love helping her make it. After you get the chopping out of the way, it’s a great recipe to get help from the little hands in your house, since the rest of it is layer, layer, layer.

With just a bit of chopping and layering, the recipe is very easy prep-wise, and once all the ingredients are layered in the muffin tin, it peacefully does its thing in the oven for 35-40 minutes. Once you have it in the oven, it’s the perfect time to begin working on your main course … I made a Chicken Fried Steak recipe for dinner, and by the time the steak was done, so were the potatoes, perfect timing.

The individual nature of the dish makes it a great little side for your next grown-up soiree, but the ease of the recipe makes it perfect for a hectic weeknight as well. And, of course, if your kids will eat this sort of thing, all the better. Nick said he would “force” himself to try it and managed to make it through one whole individual gratin, so I’ll take that as a personal victory. I took one gratin apart and gave Madeline the potato pieces, so it worked well for the toddler set too.

As for me?

…

Cappuccino Panna Cotta

August 25, 2009 · Narrative

“Can we make something for dessert?” Nick asked me as I was getting dinner ready last night.

“Sure, what do you want to make?”

“Remember that weird guy?”

“No, what weird guy?”

[Insert deep sigh of exasperation and a big roll of the eyes from Nick since I didn’t immediately know what he was talking about. My apologies for not being a mind reader.]

“You know, that show that we were watching the other day and you said the guy was weird?!”

“Ohhhh, yes, now I remember. Sure, we can make that.”

Now, for the record, I didn’t say the guy was weird. I said the show was weird. We were watching the premiere of “What Would Brian Boitano Make?” Yes, that Brian Boitano. Growing up, I loved watching ice skating on tv, so was very familiar with who he was and all his accomplishments. Save for the fact that he apparently loves to cook. No, I don’t think he’s weird, but the show…? Well, if you happened to catch it, you probably know exactly what I mean. It has to be one of the oddest type of cooking shows I’ve seen on Food Network, with all these little comedic offshoots and random things, but, well, it was like The Bearded Lady at the circus, and we just couldn’t look away.

I’ve never made Panna Cotta before, let alone tasted it (I know! the horror!), and this was actually my first foray into buying gelatin as well. Nick was in charge of the gelatin stage, and all the mixing, but it nearly did him in having to wait for the panna cotta to set up until today. After he was so intent on making this recipe, and his subsequent hard work, I was hoping he would like it and held my breath as he took the first bite. A few minutes later, I heard the familiar clink of the spoon hitting the bottom of the empty glass dish. He liked it, he really liked it. Phew!

It’s hard to describe panna cotta if you haven’t had it before. I’d put it in the pudding/custard/brulee category in terms of texture, although it’s different enough to be its own animal. It’s more firmer than those texture-wise, but has all the creaminess that they do as well. If you know me, you know how much I despise all things coffee, tea and otherwise hot and caffeinated. That being said, I don’t mind coffee-flavored things at all, especially when they’re cold (Hello? Starbucks? Yes, it’s me, Cate). This has just the tiniest hint of coffee flavoring – not so much that it’s overwhelming, but just enough that you know it’s there.

A perfect ending to a summer meal, and apparently kid-approved too. Direct from the kitchen of Olympic ice skating champ Brian Boitano. Wonders never cease.

Oh, and the second picture below? Taken and styled by Nick himself. Once he sees I’m done with the camera, he quietly takes it, grabs some props and scurries off to do his thing. It’s quite fun to watch him as he plays with the zoom and different angles until he gets a shot that he’s happy with. My budding partner in crime.

…