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Crazy in Life, Not Just Casseroles

18 Dec

I’ve been terrible about updating this blog lately. And I apologize. I was just interviewing Rachel Kramer Bussel for SXSW World and though she has a full-time job and edits books, she manages to update Cupcakes Take the Cake at least six times a day. She is obviously doing something right that I am not.

Anyway, part of my craziness involves the fact that I’m planning a move to Kansas City in, oh, two days. I ran out of boxes and still have to pack my entire vintage Pyrex collection (save the green mixing bowl my friend broke when she was trying to be helpful by doing the dishes).

Part of the reason for the move is I need more mental and physical space to write, and well, I want a bigger kitchen.  I promise to update the blog more in the new year and I can’t wait to tell you all about the new book I’m working on, but I will—wait that is.

Until then, check out all the great press I’ve gotten for the book. Or listen to my call-in to WNYC’s Brian Lehrer Show today.

Day After Thanksgiving Thanksgiving Dinner

5 Dec

Better late than never, right?

I hadn’t cooked Thanksgiving dinner since 2001 and decided that this year, my last year in New York, Thanksgiving was going to be perfect. I had two guests coming into town, my friend Lacey was coming over for dinner and my roommate would be around. That Monday, I went to Whole Foods and bought the smallest organic, free-range turkey I could find (11 pounds), Brussels sprouts, red potatoes and ridiculous amounts of butter.

Tuesday, my roommate and I got into a fight. Wednesday, my friends called to say they had to cancel their trip due to a family illness. Lacey is a vegetarian.

I asked around to see if anyone needed a place to go, but everyone already had plans. Lacey and I, being Thanksgiving orphans, were able to attend another friend’s dinner. But I still had an 11-pound turkey in the fridge.

This gave me an idea: The Day After Thanksgiving Thanksgiving Dinner. I had a turkey to get rid of, people would want an excuse to leave their families early and, damnit, I still wanted to host the perfect Thanksgiving. I sent out an email to a few friends I figured would be around and… forgot to brine the turkey.

In the mean time, I asked the friend who was taking Lacey and me in what she would like us to bring. But she didn’t need a turkey or Brussels sprouts or even mashed potatoes. No, she needed stuffing.

In my family, stuffing came from a box, Stove Top to be exact. I would fill my plate with it as a kid, with a little turkey and cranberry sauce on the side. But, being the casserole queen and all, showing up with a fake casserole would be a little, um, bad? So, I came up with this recipe, headed over to Lacey’s with the ingredients on Thursday morning and crossed my fingers it would turn out okay. What follows is the recipe for The Best Vegetarian Stuffing Ever:

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All Day I Dream About Le Creuset

6 Nov

le creuset

This is the grand prize for the Fourth Annual Casserole Party. Mind you, I don’t actually own one. I just cooed over this one at the Brooklyn Kitchen tonight. Yet again, you’ll have one and I won’t. Why, oh why, does the cookie crumble so?

Where the Magic Happens II

11 Oct

I am obsessed with kitchens, especially other people’s. I like to know where people are cooking. Assuming others are as obsessive as I am, about a year and a half ago I posted pictures of my kitchen at the time. After more than a few unfortunate incidents, I had to emergency move out of that apartment—let’s just say that not having oven knobs was the least of my problems there. Since then I’ve moved into a new place (and we finally painted!) and so I want to show you where the magic happens… again.

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Video: Sweet Potato Not Pie

24 Jul

Thanks to Brian Fairbanks for the production and editing, to Holly Harper for the amazing apron and my stepmom, Pat, for the beautiful casserole dish. Oh, and to the Brooklyn Kitchen for the handy, dandy oven puller thingymajig.

The Baker’s Edge: Why Didn’t I Think of That?

30 Jun

Oh wait, I did. Someone just beat me to actually making it.

I was recently bragging to my friends that if I ever had some crazy partnership with Pyrex, the first thing I would design would be a labyrinth-like dish so that every piece of casserole would be a crusty edge piece — because everyone knows that the crusty edge pieces are the best part of any casserole.

Then I went to the website for my favorite, local (favorite and local, not just favorite of the locals) kitchen store, The Brooklyn Kitchen, and what do they have featured on their front page? The Baker’s Edge. Supposedly it’s for brownies, and casseroles are better in glass dishes (or so I’d like to think), so maybe there’s still hope for The Crusty Casserole.

So, Pyrex, if you’re looking for the next big thing, call me.

[The Brooklyn Kitchen: The Baker's Edge]

R. Kelly’s “Sex in the Kitchen”

5 May

Please, please watch until the end. Unless, of course, you’re easily offended, then you shouldn’t watch this at all.

My Book! My Book!

4 Jan

You haven’t heard from me. That’s because I’ve been holed up in my (new, clean, mushroom-free) apartment (with oven knobs and all!) finishing my book. 

Legend in the Living Room

16 Nov

Due to some unfortunate incidents in my former apartment, I’m spending November couch surfing and cooking when I can. Obviously, I’m not doing much blogging. I am, however, perusing my usual reads and this morning found what was probably the most clever, and probably quite expensive piece of marketing material I’ve ever seen: a food company’s annual report that must be baked before all of the content shows up on the pages.

I’m ba-ack!

11 Jun

And in full-on work mode. For the next seven months, I will do nothing but eat, sleep and probably drink casseroles. Fun, right? Right!

Before leaving for my European Adventure (which was amazing, by the way, thanks), I had a few friends over to celebrate my book deal. I learned a few things from this experience:

1. My kitchen is not equipped for making five casseroles at once.

Remember when I said I have everything I need in there? Ha. Believing this, I attempted, in two hours, to create five casseroles. Originally, they were all going to be unique, but about half an hour in, I had to give up and mass produce.

My friends were to arrive at 8, and I burst through the door at 6 , arms full of Fairway bags. At 6:20, after realizing that I only had one pot big enough to boil pasta, while said pasta was boiling, I did the dishes I’d let pile up the day before. Because the sink was not empty, I could not strain the pasta in time. And by the time the dishes were done, the pasta had overcooked just sitting in the pot of hot water. I had to shut down the whole operation and run to C-town for more Cavatelli.

2. Fairway does not carry French fried onions.

This does not please me.

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