A Culinary Book of Revelations

Sometimes you just have to stop moving to appreciate how far you’ve come.

So, my friends, I speak to you at the end of a painful journey.  A journey that lasted 8 days.  A journey involving a stomach ulcer.  OUCH.  I’ll spare you the details–suffice it to say, for half of that time, I wasn’t eating.  At all.  Now, while that sounds terrible (and it was), taking a break from eating and cooking wasn’t all bad.  There’s just nothing like a fast, like a period of repose, of calm, to put us in reflection-mode.  Those revelations, those precious moments of self-discovery, often just can’t make it through the din of our daily lives to bubble to the surface.  Which makes it all the more amazing when we make time for them in our lives.  As soon as food was removed from my life altogether, I became more aware of how I’ve evolved as a chef and–well–an eater.

What’s in your culinary book of revelations?

Making Ricotta Cheese, or, Why I Don’t Jog, or, I Swear This Isn’t a Sex Toy, or, Gen the Cheesemonger IS My Stage Name, Thanks For Asking

The ricotta–done, and lookin’ pretty stylish.

An oh-so-easy dinner inspired by the ricotta–
It’s whole wheat rotini tossed with a little olive oil,
some black olive tapenade (yum!), and topped with
fresh crumbled ricotta.

Okay, now, I know what you’re thinking.  MAKING CHEESE?!  Has she lost it completely?!

And the answer is, of course, yes.  But that’s beside the point.  Because making ricotta cheese is incredibly easy.  And besides giving you lots of delicious, creamy cheese that’s just begging to be showcased in a homemade lasagna or some fancy-pants cannoli, providing a nice way to use up milk that’s about to turn on you, and making the kitchen smell so warm and earthy and, well, cheesy, this process gives you BRAGGING RIGHTS.  Which, as we all know, is the best reason to make anything at all from scratch–it makes people think you’re special.  Which you were to begin with.  Mostly.  But if you make this cheese, you will be even more special-er.  Hey, I made this cheese and I’m special.

You know what I mean.

Cookie Exchange, and Giveaway Results!

These were one of my contributions to the cookie exchange I hosted yesterday.  Oh.  Yeah.

I mean, really.  OH, YEAH!

Sorry–just had a Kool-Aid Man moment there.  But seriously, these delicious goodies are my Peanut Butter Milk Chocolate Mallowmars (or, as we’ve taken to calling them around here, the Gay Pride Tophats.  

Chicago Crawl Series: Wings: Episode 1

Exciting news, friends!  The Alchemist blog is proud to bring you the Chicago Crawl Series, a little place for me to tell you about the best of the best food that this fine city has to offer.  It all began with a fateful cupcake crawl I attended, being hosted by an online community of Chicago foodies.  I went and met up with a few amazing friends, and we had a blast that day, lamenting as it came to an end that we wish there were more events like this one.  Yes, we wanted another crawl, but different–a crawl of our own design, a bit more laidback, a little less heavily scheduled, and with more time for lounging and imbibing.   Well, my friends and I don’t just sit around.

No we don’t.

That was when we began our own little club surrounding Chicago food crawls, and we haven’t looked back since.  But it seemed selfish not to share what we’ve learned with the rest of you fine people.  Hence, the new Chicago Crawls Series.

Cookie Exchange, and Holiday Expectations

Photo by Artgeek3K at stock.xchng.

You should’ve known I’d be a freak for Christmas.  Really, now.

Have you ever noticed that you go into the holiday season with all these expectations?  That you just assume you’ll be able to knit Mom a bolero with ruffled edges?  That you’ll–of course–make an authentic figgy pudding?  That you’ll, oh definitely, watch every movie in your 30+ Christmas movie collection. hot cocoa and a romantic interest by your side, matching Cosby-esque holiday sweaters gleaming in the light of your glowing fireplace, your Colgate-white teeth glinting ever so brightly as you toss your head back to share a hearty laugh over something that incorrigible Donald Duck has done?  Oh, Donald, you and your hilarious hijinx!  Whenever will you learn?