Brothers Can Be Cool, Too

*apologies to C, who decided to be lame and not come to a family gathering. He had to have his head superimposed onto JP's body, and my heart just wasn't in it.

I love my brothers. They're sweet some of the time and can usually be persuaded to take the trash out. What more could a sister ask for?

Along with those virtues, all of my brothers can cook. And I don't mean 'boil water and put the macaroni into it' cook (in fact, S sometimes has trouble with that); they can really cook. The swankiest and most exotic things that I've ever eaten have been served to me by my brothers. From fried artichokes with clarified lemon butter to seasoned eggplant stuffed with garbanzo cream (I know, right?!), their skill and ingenuity in the kitchen never ceases to amaze me. Well, Z realized this. He realized this and decided that he wanted to share his skills with the world. He decided to start a blog.

DUN DUN DUNNNNNNN. . . DUN.

Today I am writing to declare a turf war. If my kid brother Z things that he's got what it takes to make it in the blogosphere, he better think again. WAAAATCH YOUR BACK ZEEEEEEEEE!!!

Just kidding (I got you good, didn't I?)! I think it's an awesome idea, and I'm excited that our readers are going have the opportunity to sample some of my brothers' delightful delicacies.

Here's a video to whet your appetite (PUN!)

So go and check out CookingwithZTD.blogspot.com, because it's tight. 

We would make a really attractive boy band

Last summer, the fam spent a week in Duck, NC. As some of you may know, relaxing isn't really our family's thing (I seem to recall a group of us becoming senseless with lethargy when we were shipped off to Hawaii for a month...as an antidote to our boredom we drove the winding Road to Hana at break neck speeds almost everyday). Well, to combat the leisure that enveloped the house on Duck, I decided to turn Five into an awesome boy band. The transformation must have been successful because my grandmother, Mimo, told me on several occasions after the makeover that I "vuld mayke a vereee handsum Hungarian peasant boye." Furthermore, Brother Z said we looked like ZZ Top, so I think we have it made!

I feared proof of Five's tenure as rockin' dreamboats was lost forever, so when I found these treasures, I had to share. 

Aren't we cool? Wouldn't you want to date us? Don't you want to hang a poster of our mustache trimmed mugs over your bed?

I do.

Don't cry for me...

This morning I wept while reading the New York Times. My tears were brought on by eulogy of sorts, though it did not appear in the Obituaries section. This story ran in the Dining portion of the paper, and it memorializes the life and death of the Minimalist column written by Mark Bittman.

Don't tell Dr. P, but I have often felt that Bittman is my culinary soul mate. I love the spirit he brings to the kitchen. He's dynamic, funny, confident, yet totally not cocky. I get his humor, I dig the way he writes recipes, and I deeply appreciate that he is not a respecter of ingredients. I'm completely devoted to his weekly videos, and perhaps too enamored with his amazing 101 Recipes series that comes out 1 or 2 times a year. Add to all of this the fact that the first EVER Minimalist column ran on my 10th birthday, and I think it's safe to say that WE WERE MEANT FOR EACH OTHER. *sob, sniffle, sob...*

And now, it's over. Just like that. Last week we were happily making innovative pancakes together, and today... POOF!

The truth is that Mark won't be gone, but things are going to change. He's moved on to a new column in the opinions section, and I just don't know what that's going to mean for us. I guess all I can do now, is remember the good times we had, and try not to be bitter about the way things ended. Love can be so confusing...

Be Inspired

I just wanted to give everyone the opportunity to see that we all can get along.  Even if "wee" happen to be a baby monkey and a pig (the "weee" is for the pig, who is actually a javelina).  Enjoy.

A Cupcake for All Seasons

I helped throw a baby shower this weekend. It was a delightful gathering of happy people and delicious food. Of course, the Bun in The Oven was the star of the show, but I'd put in a Best Supporting Baked Good nomination to the awesome cupcakes. The chocolate buttercream was so heavenly, it inspired a most-welcome flashback, momentarily transporting me to a sunny island in the Chesapeake Bay...

July 31st, 2010, NarBan, (a.k.a. our brother and his new bride), tied the knot, and I had the great pleasure of making 104 mind-blowing cupcakes for the occasion. And since I love you all so much, I am going to share the recipe I used for 52 of those fluted-foil bombs of happiness. I might need to blog about the other 52, and some of the other amzing foodstuffs, once warmer weather arrives. But for now, it's SO not seasonal, it would be cruel. But these puppies are timeless, seasonless, and divine. I hope it brings a little sunshine to you during this cold, cold winter.

NarBan's Nuptial Chocolate-Merlot Cupcakes

1 box devil's food cake mix
1 small box chocolate pudding
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup warm merlot reduction (see below)
4 eggs
1 1/2 cup good semi-sweet chocolate chips, gently melted

one cupcake, two people

First, reduce 1/3 bottle of fruity merlot with 1/2 bag of tart red cherries (I got mine at Trader Joe's -- probably about 1/2-3/4 cup. It's not an exact science...). Reduce it WAY down, so that you have a half cup of liquid, plus a couple extra tablespoons. Strain the liquid through a cheesecloth. Chop the cherries finely and set them aside.

Combine 1/2 cup of the wine reduction with all the other ingredients, except for the chocolate chips. Beat with a stand mixer for 3 minutes. Then, fold in the melted chocolate and reserved cherries. Put into lined cupcake pans and bake at 350 for about 18 minutes, or until a straw comes out clean.

one person, two cupcakes

For the frosting, beat together 1/2 pound neufchatel cheese, 1/2 pound cream cheese and 1/2 pound butter until it is fluffy. Add 2-3 Tbs. of the reserved merlot reduction, and 1/2 tsp vanilla. I also added a bit of food coloring, so that it would look rosey for the wedding, but I wouldn't do that unless you really need a certain shade of pink. Then, slowly beat in 1 pound sifted powdered sugar.

Cheers to love, chocolate, new babies, new sisters, and all the deliciousness of life!!

Thanks to Nancy Ricks Photography for the bee-you-tee-ful pictures! I took the last one. You can tell. Because it is not bee-you-tee-ful....

Rocky Mountain High Five!

There are few things I adore more than my Rocky Mountain home and its rich livestock-rustlin' history. My dad wore cowboy boots with three-piece suits and I've had massive voice-crush on John Denver since before I can remember. A tangible token of my love for the Centennial State is pictured above. It may not look like much, but that jumble of chain and beads is a true, if incomplete, labor of love. I've had some of the scariest and most disturbing experiences of my life acquiring the materials for it (think dead fish. Lots of dead fish), but it has been well worth it. . . as long as I actually finish the dreaded thing (I'd like to take this time apologize to the half-soldered grasshopper stained glass and the novel I started when I was 8). Aaaaanyway, I've included some extra Colorado tidbits after the jump, so head on over!

A few endearing facts about Colorado (I got them from the internet, so I assume they're true):

• The World's First Rodeo was held on July 4th, 1869 in Deer Trail.
• In Fruita, the town folk celebrate 'Mike the Headless Chicken Day'. Seems that a farmer named L.A. Olsen cut off Mike's head on September 10, 1945 in anticipation of a chicken dinner - and Mike lived for another 4 years without a head.
• In 1859, John Gregory discovered "The Gregory Lode" in a gulch near Central City. Within two weeks, the gold rush was on and within two months the population grew to 10,000 people in search of their fortune. It came to be known as "The Richest Square Mile on Earth".  
• The Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad has been in continuous operation since 1881 and has appeared in more than a dozen movies including How the West Was Won (1963) and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969). 
• Colorado is the only state in history, to turn down the Olympics. In 1976 the Winter Olympics were planned to be held in Denver. 62% of all state Voters choose at almost the last minute not to host the Olympics, because of the cost, pollution and population boom it would have on the State Of Colorado, and the City of Denver. 

'Alexander has more passion in his little finger than most people have in their whole lives!'

 To be honest, I've never understood how people can completely obsess over celebrities. You know the video with the three year old crying about Justin Beiber? Yeah, that just creeps me out.
Unlike that little girl, I work to maintain a limited relationship with pop culture. I try to cultivate enough knowledge about music, etc. that my peers don't write me off as completely culturally illiterate, but no more.

Well, I hate to admit it, but if European pop counts, I'm afraid I must relinquish my title as 'Pop Prude Extaordinaire'. It's true. After watching THIS video of Norwegian pop sensation Alexander Rybak, I think I can safely say I've fallen. Hard. Now I'm one of those girls. You know, the ones who are hopelessly in love with that random Belorussian singer.

Yeah.
I love his manic enthusiasm.
I love how he looks like he adores performing.
I love how he's a dorky dancer--and doesn't try to look cool.
His lyrics are asinine, at points he looks completely insane, and he wears those horrid little vests--which I usually detest. But not on him. On him I don't care. I may even find them a teensy bit endearing!

And isn't that what love is really about?
P.S. the embedding on this video isn't working right now. You'll have to click on the link in order to enjoy the delightsome "OAH".