strike that, reverse it

So over this past week, I transitioned from thinking about this whole blog idea into creating it... with help along the way, of course. Most recently, friends of mine have dove into the food industry arena, not thinking twice. I love it! and am most envious of their fearless spirits. I too have thought many a times into making something I enjoy doing ALL THE TIME into career reality. And maybe, I suppose, this is my first baby step.

I do have to give a little warning that I am in no way a writer or poet... me likey food talkey.

Moving on...

I feel I want to do some catching up on the dishes I had made recently that put me over the blogphobia edge. First, was the kicking-into-the-season Ladies Night Potluck dish I prepared. I love my ladies night - for the company, of course, and the almost-fact that most of our nights revolve around food. I brought Beer Stew featuring the amazing Deep Purple Rauchbier from Marshall Wharf Brewery (Belfast, ME, USA; http://marshallwharf.com/). A very simple dish but simply delicious. I chose this recipe for the mere fact that I had some tasty beer gone flat and could not part with it any other way than to cook with it. The stew was accompanied by homemade Pumpkin Biscuits. Both dishes were a hit - I'm not sure if the stew was loved for the tasty goodness or the beer. The biscuits did not rise as much as I was anticipating, so maybe I rolled them out a bit too much, but they were tasty nonetheless.

Birthday Surprise...

I was busy towards the end of the week, even though I had been looking forward to my friend's birthday potluck gathering for a month now. When it came to it, I was scrambling to put together something decent. I had made another soup earlier in the week - Tuscan White Bean Soup. Thinking back, most everything in the soup was local... which I am most passionate about. The soup was excellent - slow cooked with fennel and carrots, but after enjoying it a couple times, needed a little revamping. I concocted the idea of converting the soup into a vegetable pot pie, which I had never attempted before. Primarily, I knew that the stock would need to be thicken... I made a whole wheat crust for bottom and top, ladled the soup into the casserole dish, added some chopped Swiss chard (for some greens I thought would be missing), poured the stock on top, and finished with the crust. The pot pie turned out very well and loved by all.

I had this bright idea to bring the main dish, dessert, and appetizer (once I get going, I can't stop!). I found a simple pumpkin peanut butter ball recipe which called for dipping these molded forms into chocolate. Rushing around like I was, I only found carob chips quickly, and so some odd reason, the chips were not melting in the double boiler. In the meantime, I worked on the apps... I had leftover pumpkin seeds I wanted to use up, so I found a recipe that had a maple syrup-based seasoning. In a frantic raid of the kitchen, I did not bother to check the amount of seeds/nuts the recipe called for... they turned out way to sticky to present to a birthday girl. Most frustrated I thought I might call it quits for the night. But just then, I had the notion to marry the two flop dishes into one. I do say that I was a bit apprehensive about this since the pumpkin seeds were a little spicy (cayenne pepper) but I thought I'd give it a shot. And boy, were those balls loved most appreciated!! (and on a side note, I think they might have turned out better than the original recipe... as far as I am concerned. I'm not that big of a fan of chocolate... I know it's a sin.)

Tonight, I'm thinking some vegan cheesy veggie casserole....