Okay, go.

For whatever reason, I am just not getting onto the computer as much lately. Well, not whatever reason - because all I do is work away from my desk all the time and when I get home there are 23 new emails that I have to answer right away and it's a little bit stressful. So sometimes when things are stressful, you need to eat cheese.

I made this for a party the other day. It's a big hit down in Texas (or so I've read), but this is the second time I've tried to serve it in New York and no one seems to like it except for me (and Meredith). I mean, some people ate it. But it wasn't a huge sell for some reason. I think it's because it looks kind of icky, but believe me, eat it with some Ritz crackers and you'll be happy as a Texan clam (are there clams in Texas? I'm not sure).

First, get some pimentos.


Yay Goya! I love Goya products. Drain and chop your pimentos. Grate a pound of cheddar cheese (seriously) and add it to a bowl (or in this case, the tupperware you're taking it with) along with 1/2 cup of mayonnaise, two chopped garlic cloves and 1/2 - 1 tsp of cayenne pepper (depending on how much heat you can take). Do not try to make this low fat. That's just ridiculous.


Chill for a few hours and serve with Ritz.


See, it doesn't look pretty. But I love how it tastes. It's cold spicy cheese dip. I think it's great. Make it for a party if you're not with snobby New York people.

People really like these

Last night, I stumbled across a great idea. Want to see a picture of it?


That, my friends, is an individually sized candied bacon cheesecake with a gingersnap crust and chocolate drizzled on top. Madness, you say? Maybe.

My friends Anna and Alan come over for a Post-Thanksgiving/Pre-Christmas dinner every year where I get to make all the holiday dishes that I don't make for my family. It's really awesome. I was going over my menu ideas with Alan this weekend and I mentioned that I'd make some candied bacon last week but that it was too sticky to sell or give out. "Why don't you put it in a cheesecake?" Alan suggested. Brilliant. So I did.

First, I made a crust out of Trader Joe's Triple Ginger Snaps, by putting them in a ziploc bag and whacking them with a hammer. Then I melted butter and added it to the crumbs. I pushed it into four individual springform pans (Thanks, Chris!!!!!) and baked them for about ten minutes. Then I let them cool.

Then I mixed a package of cream cheese, an egg, 1/4 cup sugar, and a teaspoon of vanilla in my stand mixer. I chopped up my candied bacon (which had been drizzled with chocolate) and threw it in. I baked it until it was firm and chilled it. Then I put melted some chocolate and used a spoon to make pretty lines of chocolate.

The responses I got to this dish (which I admit, I was a little nervous about) were fantastic. Everybody loved it! I only wish I'd taken more pictures. If I'd known it would turn out so well, I would have taken more. Next time!

Aw man, and I was doing so well

So it's been pointed out to me that I've been neglecting you a little bit. I'm sorry!

So, believe or not, I've still got London posts to do (which is a little absurd. Meredith lives in New York again now. Whoops). So off we go to Borough Market.


Borough Market is totally awesome. You can get fresh produce -


- meat -


- pig heads -


- or just walk around and graze.


You can drink mulled wine.


Meredith loves mulled wine.


If you get lost, there are helpful humorous signs.


There are also giant meringues -


- piles and piles of truffles of every flavor - including tobacco and various booze.


Best of all? There's cheese.


Wheels and wheels of cheese.


Cheese that takes showers (I'm not sure why).


Beautiful amazing cheese.


I took this cheese home with me. It's from Ireland.


I took some Montgomery Cheddar home as well. My dad, an ardent Anglophobe, really liked this cheese. I knew if I stayed in Britain long enough, I'd find something he'd like.

I'll blog more! I promise.

Oh Paris, I am not doing you justice

So, I realize that I did not take enough pictures while I was in Paris - which is weird because I took a few hundred of them! But where are the pictures of crusty fresh baked bread? Of handmade chocolates or stores filled with cheese? These were some of my favorite things in Paris, but I did not take pictures of them.

Sometimes I got embarrassed taking pictures of my food in fancier restaurants. It's hard enough to be the young American girl who doesn't speak French (at ALL) and feels intimidated. But the thought of being the young American taking pictures of everything she eats like some sort of crazy person kind of pushed me over the edge.

Plus, I was on my honeymoon! I was enjoying myself! Reveling in the excitement of my brand new marriage and all that jazz. So I don't have as many pictures as I would like. Bear with me. Use your imagination.

One of my favorite meals in Paris was the picnic that Zack and I had in the gardens at Versailles. They are just beautiful.


We sat in a little enclave with a fountain and benches and feasted on a freshly baked baguette, two kinds of cheese (I would tell you what they were if I knew - the guy at the fromagerie picked them for us. All I know is that one was goat and one was cow) and a half bottle of wine (that we got in a grocery store for a few Euros. It had a screw top, but it was delicious). Look how happy Zack looks.


I'm pretty content as well.


On to the palace at Versailles!


Now that it's really fall in New York, I want to be back in Paris even more. It's cold here! And I can't just eat cheese with gay abandon in my regular life. Oh well.

Honeymoon in Paris!

Thanks to Paul, I have finally got my honeymoon pictures off of my camera and on to my computer! Hooray! And so, we start with a classic French dish - Croque Monsieur and a classic French location - the Moulin Rouge.


It may be a schmaltzy place to go, but that's what honeymoons are for. We wandered up the street (okay, to be fair, my Lonely Planet: Paris directed us there) and found a little cafe that happened to be the place where Amelie was filmed.


We sat outside, in a cloud of cigarette smoke, drinking espressos and fumbling over French words (I pronounce French atrociously - although it's not just French - I totally never learned how to sound out words correctly, which is ironic, because now I get paid to teach 1st graders how to do that - but I digress). We ordered Croque Monsieurs, which are basically fancy ham and cheese sandwiches.


They were so good. The French really pay attention to ingredients, so the "ham" is thin sliced with lots of flavor and the cheese - do I really have to even say it? The cheese in France is AMAZING pretty much wherever you go. I will never understand how "Swiss cheese" in France is delicious aged Gruyere or Emmenthal and in the US it is white mold with holes in it.

The salad that came with it was surprisingly good as well. The tomatoes were ripe and fresh and the greens were light and crisp. Writing about this is making my mouth water....more Paris food and pictures to come soon, I promise!

If you ask me, I might just do it

This post is for Ellen and Patty. Both of them read my blog and requested specific things from me. Ellen asked for a baked mac and cheese recipe and Patty asked if I would have her over for dinner. Two birds, one stone.

This recipe also comes from the Gourmet Cookbook (which is just so good. I made pancakes from it this morning and they were the first successful pancakes I've ever made. More on that later).

Baked Four-Cheese Farfalle (there is a LOT of cheese in this dish. This is not a dish for the faint-hearted)

1/2 stick butter (4 Tbs) unsalted butter
2 Tbs flour
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 28 oz can whole tomatoes in juice, drained (reserve the juice for the sauce) and finely chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 pound farfalle (bow tie pasta - you could use any wide short cut pasta)
1 1/2 cups coarsely grated mozzerella
1/2 cup crumbled gorgonzola (I used blue cheese - I figured it was close enough and it was in my fridge already)
1/2 cup diced Italian Fontina
1 1/3 cups finely grated Romano (like Parmesan but saltier)
1/2 cup finely chopped flat leaf parsley

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter a large shallow baking dish.

Melt butter in a large saucepan over moderately low heat. Add flour and cook, whisking until it turns light brown (about 3 minutes). If you don't cook it long enough it will taste like flour. That's not good. Add the milk and tomato juice in a slow stream, whisking all the way. Then bring it to a boil and add the tomatoes, salt and peeper. Simmer until thickened (I know it sounds a little complicated, but honestly, it's easy).

Cook pasta in salted water until al dente (or with a bite). Drain.

Stir together pasta, sauce, all the cheese (except 1/3 cup Romano) and parsley. I use the pot I made the sauce in - less dishes. Transfer to the baking dish and sprinkle with the remaining 1/3 cup Romano.

Bake until golden and bubbling, 25 to 30 minutes. Let sit ten minutes.

I did not let it sit. Whoops. It made it not set as well. That's how it goes though. It still tasted good. See, Patty and Mark like it!


I think I should have cooked it longer though. I really need an oven thermometer. I say that every time.