My First Roast Chicken!

I have this issue with poultry. I think it stems from seeing the Birds at far too young an age. But birds of any kind freak me out. But I love, loooooove roast chicken. So I had to at least give it a try. I did super simple stuffing the inside with lemons and brushing the outside with butter, lemon zest, and parsley. 

Mast Brothers Chocolates

I attended the holiday prep meeting this year and got to taste several new products the specialty department can carry. These are probably my favorite. I've looked at these every time I've walked through the chocolate section at Formaggio Kitchen. The wrappers are gorgeous. I snagged the Maple Pecan bar and the Serrano Peppers bar.

Both of the bars are 74% cocoa, but still manage to be silky smooth chocolate. The giant chunks of pecan in the Maple Pecan bar are salty and delicious. There isn't a super strong maple flavor. But it wasn't really missed. I'm a sucker for some salty chocolate. When I first tasted the serrano peppers I couldn't taste much heat at all. It's a very VERY slow heat. But then it hits you and it's pretty strong.

They have a Stumpton Coffee bar that I can't wait to try. And now I need to figure out a reason to keep the pretty wrappers...

Jasper Hill Harbison

Went to visit the newly opened Wellesley Whole Foods and couldn't pass up Jasper Hill's new beauty Harbison. It's like Vacherin and completely not Vacherin all at once. It was mushroomy and buttery and flavors I haven't even figured out yet. I brought this to my new team and Andy and I pretty much polished off the whole thing by ourselves. I REALLY want some place to bring cheese to so I have an excuse to buy another one.

Ricotta, Tomato, Mozzarella Pizza

Celebrating with cookies!

We've been planning this trip to the Vermont Cheesemaker's Festival for months now. In fact I bought my ticket mere days after they were available. Pre-move to be exact. And that's where the trouble started. I remember very clearly thinking "I should put this somewhere I won't lose it." Cut to last week when we start hammering out details and I realize I have no idea where it is. After several days of taring my apartment apart I finally found it at the bottom of a laundry basket today. So to celebrate I made this fun play on a classic. Half blondie, half chocolate chip cookie. All delicious!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars (stolen from Fake Ginger)


1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk chocolate chips (I used semi-sweet because it's what I keep on hand)


Melt butter; stir in granulated sugar and brown sugar. Beat in egg and vanilla. Add flour, baking powder, and salt; stir just until combined. Fold in chocolate chips. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.(I needed the full 30, maybe a few more if you'd like them really crunchy on the outside)

Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8 x 8 pan with parchment or aluminum foil. Spray lightly with oil.

Blueberry Madness

Friday was a one day Madness sale at the store on fresh blueberries. I love blueberries but almost never buy them since they're so expensive. But at $1.99 I picked up three pints. One pint I proceeded to demolish while stuck in cape traffic on my way home. And a second one went to today's breakfast. I haven't quite decided what to do with the third so if anyone has some suggestions...

Blueberry Pancakes with Lemon Blueberry Syrup

For the pancakes

Adapted from What to Cook and How to Cook It

2 1/4 cup self rising flour

3 tablespoons sugar

2 tsp baking powder 

1/2 tsp salt

1 tablespoon butter

1 1/4 buttermilk (I never keep buttermilk around so I soured whole milk using lemon)

1/2 milk

1 tablespoon vanilla

The rind of one lemon

2 eggs

1 cup blueberries

Mix dry ingredients together (including sugar) and create a well.

Melt butter over low heat, once melted remove pot and stir in wet ingredients.

Pour the mixture into the well and whisk until smooth. 

Heat a nonstick frying pan over medium heat adding a tablespoon of oil if necessary.

Pour small amounts of batter onto heated pan. 

Add desired amount of blueberries to each pancake as the batter starts to bubble.

Flip.

For the syrup:
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 cup blueberries
Zest of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon of lemon juice

Dissolve the sugar into the water over medium heat.
Add blueberries, zest, and lemon juice and bring to boil.
Turn the heat down and let simmer until it cooks down and thickens.

Chocolate peanut butter cheesecake

My reward for surviving cheesefest (pics to come)!