Come to the kitchen!

It's a new year and the end of an era.  Or not.  Really, less of an ending and more of a beginning.

This little blog has been fun, but as you probably noticed, it's turned into more of my kitchen chronicles than anything else.  (That and, given what I know about intellectual property, I imagine Coldplay would rather not be associated with my ramblings.)

Over the last few years, I've really grown to love spending time in the kitchen, be it with messes or successes.   So here's what I've been working on with the help of the lovely Sharon at Redbud Designs...

I'll go on the record saying that I have no pretensions of being a real food blogger.  I'm just a girl who likes food... and happens to have a blog.  : )  I will still burn dinner, accidentally slice my thumb instead of an onion and all that jazz.  Just documenting it all in a new place.

So set your browser to www.cometothekitchen.com and, well, come to the kitchen!

AWOL

Not that anyone has noticed, but I've been rather AWOL.  Mostly because this has been my life.

Not so much sustainable.  But I think I'm over the hump, and I'm learning to say no to things to make room for what I love.  Which includes this little blog hobby I've got going.

Want to know a secret?  I've got something really fun coming down the pike!  Here's a hint...

It's not quite ready to roll, but look for more details around the first of the year.  I can't wait to share it with you!

Save $290 On A KitchenAid Stand Mixer!

Believe it, people.  This is the BEST deal I have ever seen on a KitchenAid in my LIFE.  And we're not talking about the Artisan Series, here.  We're talking about the Professional one.  The one that I have and love and adore and forever pledge to be faithful to.  The one that holds double and triple batches, but still works beautifully on a single box of cake mix.

If anyone in your life wants a KitchenAid Stand Mixer for Christmas, this is your chance!  But move fast, because I bet these are definitely going to sell out quickly.

It's Amazon.com's Deal Of The Day, and it comes in two colors - silver or a beautiful cinnamon red.  Regularly $499.99, on sale for $259.99.  Throw in an additional $50 mail-in rebate { which brings it down to $209.99! }, a free two year subscription to Food & Wine or Travel + Leisure and you've got a Christmas gift fit for any foodie on your list!

Hurry!

Biscoff Bake-Off Recap

I've still got so much to share about our trip to Napa for the Biscoff Bake-Off, but I know I can't really blog about the fun excursions of the weekend without first giving you the scoop on the main event.

We were set up at the Williams Center for Flavor Discovery at the Culinary Institute of America.

I had my own { not so } little station....

... and an entire case of Biscoff cookies.  YUM.

Delta recorded the whole thing like Top Chef or Chopped.  Two flight attendants were there to host, and they were fabulous. Having a camera in my face didn't bother me the least bit { after all, one of the competitors greeted me with "Hey, you're the girl from that dress show!" },  but the time constraint was pretty stressful. Competitive baking is not for the faint of heart.

There were two other competitors... Atif, who brought Biscoff Baked Salmon, and Laurie, who brought Crispy Shrimp with Coco-Mango Sauce.  Both were delicious.

As you might expect, there had to be some drama.  Poor Atif was supposed to go on at 2:00, but at two 'till, when he went to take his dish out of the oven, the fish was still raw.  It appeared as if the pilot light in the oven had just gone out.

So we played musical time slots and I went first. { Life is uncertain, anyway. } I ended up kind of liking that I got to go first. It let me set the bar and not feel like I was already being compared to someone.

All three judges were very, very kind.  From left to right above:

• Herb Karlitz - Founder and President of Karlitz & Company, Producer of Flavor! Napa Valley
• Andrea Robison - Delta's Master Sommelier and host of Pairings with Andrea on Food Network { she's one of only 14 female Master Sommeliers in the world! }
• Chef Stephen Isaac - of the Culinary Institute of America, American Culinary Federation and Retail Bakers Association

Herb said, "I'm from New York and I know cheesecake. This is good cheesecake." { What a compliment! } Andrea praised that the cookie flavor remained intact throughout the dish.  And Chef Stephen noted that the cheesecake wasn't overly sweet, which was a good balance with the decadent salted caramel topping. He literally picked his slice apart, tasting the crust alone, then just the cheesecake, then the filling, the topping and finally every layer together. His palate was the one I thought would be most apt to find an error.

But the reaction was good. More than good, even. Because they unanimously chose my Salted Caramel Apple Cheesecake as the winning dish!

My face hurt from smiling so much. And I won trips to Food & Wine Festival in NYC and LA in 2012. { Hello, culinary dream vacation. }

Delta will use the footage on their Facebook page, and maybe even for in-flight entertainment.  Either way, I'll definitely link to the video when it's up.

All in all, not bad for a first attempt, if I do say so myself. Now, to finish another one of these cheesecakes for Thanksgiving tomorrow. After 27 years, I've finally been asked to bring something. Guess a little external validation never hurts. : )

At least they sent me home with half a case of cookies!

The Appellation Trail

Hello from Napa Valley, California!

Mom and I are having a blast. This place is beautiful. Who knew that vineyards changed color in the fall? More on that later. First things first - food!

Last night, we were fortunate enough to attend the grand tasting of Flavor! Napa Valley... "The Appellation Trail." At first I was pretty sure we had a typo on our hands.  But after a little research { thanks, Google } I discovered that, in fact, "appellation" is word. And not surprisingly, it has to do with wine production.

Appellation - noun -\ˌa-pə-ˈlā-shən\ 

A geographical name (as of a region, village, or vineyard) under which a winegrower is authorized to identify and market wine; also : the area designated by such a name

So we "toured" the various sub-appellations of Napa, along with the food and wines they produce, all  from the comfort of the Culinary Institute.

Mom and I tasted... and tasted... and tasted.  Everything was unbelievably delicious, but these were our favorites.

Grilled Rack of Lamb over caviar potato salad by Richard Blais.  Holy wow.

Oh.  And we met him.  Such a nice guy! I so badly wanted to ask how on earth you make a milkshake with liquid nitrogen.

You know if there are sweets, I will find them.  Check out this tower of goodies from Anette's Chocolates! I loved the Himalayan Salted Caramel at bottom left. See the Chardonnay Wine Brittle, too?

Chef Michael Collins from Siena at the Meritage Resort & Spa brought a trio of delicacies - Curry Crusted Scallops, Cinnamon and Star Anise Braised Short Ribs and Seared Ahi Tuna with Dungeness Crab Salad.  Like whoa.

Then, from Gott's Roadside, there were incredible Smoked Chicken Sliders. The bread and butter pickle was "crucial", if you will. : )

Chef Dave Cruz from Ad Hoc brought Pulled Pork over Sweet & Yukon Gold Potato Cakes with Bleu Cheese Celery Salad.  I could have eaten a whole plate of the potatoes.

There was Beff Bourguignon with Creamy Polenta from Chef Philippe Jeanty and Bistro Jeanty.  Sorry the picture is bad, but it was too delicious not to show you.  I've got to figure out how to make this polenta. Stat.

There were well-known chefs everywhere we turned.  Like Masaharu Morimoto.

We tried his Congee Clam Chowder from Morimoto Napa.  It was definitely different.  Good, but different from what one would usually expect from Clam Chowder.

Last but not least, we tasted two different crostini from Michael Chiarello's Bottega.  In the foreground is Braised Rabbit { my first taste of rabbit - delish! }.  The background is NapaStyle Marinated Parmesan.  Kind of like a pesto.

Oh you know, just a usual, quiet Friday night. : )

{ Stay tuned... the actual Bake-Off is Sunday! }