If you read a foodie’s blog and they claimed at one time that they couldn’t go a week without a cookie what would you do?  You would make one of their cookie recipes of course!  At least that is what I did when I got assigned the oh so cute Chelsy’s blog Mangia!

But it’s not what I thought I’d make.  I was positive as soon as I got my email from our Secret Recipe Club super leader Debbi of Debbi does dinner healthy that I would be making Italian.  My heart sang at the thought, just like it did when I was first assigned Manu of Manu’s Menu (love that gal).

As  I cruised through her blog and started pinning recipes on my “secret board” (thanks Veronica for that idea) I ran across her little comment about being a cookie fiend.  And that particular cookie caught my eye.  It called for a bunch of ingredients that I really, really, no kidding really needed to use.  Let’s just say my pretzels were labeled: best if used by May 2012.  Yeah, I probably have had these for the last 2 years.

Plus I had another good reason.  Ever do something you never ever in your whole entire life imagined doing?  It just so happens that I spoke these words “I’d like to start a community garden on the Air Force base”. And. I. did. it. With a lot of help from others, especially River City Harvest.

We now have 42 (300 square foot) plots, a children’s garden, planned berry garden and picnic area and composting.  19 trees and shrubs donated by http://www.gardensfromgarbage.org/(thanks Mike you are a gem).  The city is donating 18 yards of mulch for our pathways and our local master gardeners are volunteering their time.  This little seed of a thought bloomed in just a few short months!  My partner in crime Amber Gardener, the base housing community director has been a godsend!

All this is leading to these cookies; on Saturday we had our ribbon cutting ceremony/grand opening.  I made these cookies and some chocolate orange mini muffins (recipe coming as a guest post for The Heritage Cook  in June).  There’s nothing more satisfying than seeing families work together in a garden and chocolate smear on their faces.

I adapted Chelsy’s original double chocolate pretzel stuffed everything cookie to suit what I had on hand.  Because I used almonds and the recipe called for coconut oil, coconut and chocolate I renamed them with the Almond Joy candy bar in mind.  I didn’t have pretzel twists and obviously buying more pretzels was NOT going to happen, I just broke the sticks in half and laid them on top.

Since they weren’t this super cool stuffed cookie, I upped the attraction with a chocolate drizzle.  Chelsy, thank you for being a part of incredible day, the cookies were a big hit.

Mangia!

Be sure to check out the rest of Group C’s reveal on the blog hop.

Remember when I received all that dill in my Bountiful Basket?  I posted these deviled ham eggs and then I posted the Flounder Olympia (which you need to try if you haven’t yet).  But that’s not all baby!  I made this fantabulous quiche also.  Actually I made quite a bit more but didn’t photograph it all.

After dosing ourselves in dill I realized that I never really used it enough in my cooking.  Fresh dill was always paired with fish, or some creamy dressing/dip and used, of course, for pickling.  Honestly I use more dried dill than fresh.  But that wrong has been righted by the insane amount that I received and a new found appreciation and love for fresh dill.

I so enjoyed the flavor that I will be planting at least 4 dill plants, maybe more?  I’m also planting a bunch of Boston pickling cucumbers.  A good pair is a good pair.

Speaking of a good pair; asparagus and dill!  Why have I never done this before?  I know asparagus gets pickled (they’ve been known to show up in my Bloody Mary’s and Caesar’s); logically this thought should have occurred to me before!  I am mourning the missed opportunities I could have had with dill and asparagus…

Believe if or not I adapted this recipe from King Arthur Flour, it calls for a mere 1/4 cup flour, which can easily be substituted for 2 teaspoons of cornstarch to make a gluten free version.  Besides the dish being a quiche with a potato crust, the similarity ends there, and you know I had to sneak a little lemon in there also.

I can’t think of a more perfect brunch dish (or dinner), the potato crust can be cooked (through the first 25 minute baking step) the night before and finished the next morning.

Just a side note: I’ve been lax about sharing my articles that I write for a quarterly publication.  My summer article in The Best of Great Falls is on page 50.  It’s on lemonade(s) and a towheaded blonde girl who rode a green bike with a banana seat. 

Would you believe that I’m sitting outside, drinking coffee and typing this post?  To me this feels so luxurious.  This is how, in my little mind, I imagine a writer’s life.  The perfect writer’s life, where you could put pen to paper (or type) anywhere when inspiration hits.

I have always thought writers to have a glamorous job where they dictate their hours and only panic near deadlines.  Sipping coffee while the words flow or enjoying wine and thinking that you do your best writing then.  Staying up late, sleeping in or vice versa.

I think that probably Hollywood had some influence on this image that I have.  The outsider looking in only sees what they see.  The garbage men just drove down my alley, they looked over at me sitting al fresco, hacking away on my laptop and I know their thoughts “it must be nice…wish I could do that…but someone has to actually get up and go to work”.

I know that’s their thoughts; before I started freelancing if I saw someone doing something I wanted to do or perceived as “the life” I was a bit envious, I had those very same thoughts.  Usually our image, or if I may say, the cover of the book, isn’t necessarily what’s going on inside. 

Since I’ve become self-employed, I have had more sleepless nights and bouts of stress.  All the responsibility is upon me and I take it very seriously.  Lists upon lists are created in my head and on paper (can’t quite embrace the electronic list making).  And somehow I feel that I should not only get all my work done, but also my chores and all my volunteer things I do; done in the same amount of time as a work week.  The goal is to have time in the evenings with the family.

I work all hours, even weekends, if I’m not working I’m doing chores, if I’m not doing chores I’m doing something for the community gardens, the camera club, Boy Scouts or anything else that I can’t say no too.  This book does not look like it’s cover!  I have also discovered that writing, especially if technical is not so glamorous.  Research is work and usually means snooping on the internet, going to the library, consulting experts, etc.  All of which take time, although interesting, it’s really not glamorous at all.

No this book is not like it’s cover.

Nor is this pavlova.  Long on my bucket list, I finally tried my hand at making one.  At first glance it appears to be a crispy disc, curious looking and really not so enticing by it’s mere looks.  Most pavlova’s are topped with something, where in the attraction begins…that beautiful cover.  Lovely fruit or lemon curd atop a crispy meringue disc, or so it appears.

Of course you have to open this book up to get the real experience.  Once you break through the small shell of the crispy exterior, you are greeted with an almost gooey, slightly chewy marshmallow center.  A certain delight and surprise for everyone.  It reminded me of a campfire marshmallow that has been torched on the outside but held it own on the inside (sans charcoal flavor of course).

I understand, now that I’ve read this book why it is accompanied with lemon curd and fresh berries, they are the perfect foil for this very sweet base.  I got the recipe from Simply Recipe’s site, where Shuna Fish Lydon of Eggbeater, did a guest post on pavlovas.   I recommend that you reference Elise’s site for superb directions and tips, so I’ll not post the actually pavlova recipe here.  I’ll just share my delicious strawberry and mint topping, which is also excellent on shortbread, pancakes and waffles and warm over ice cream.

I’ve decided that Mother Nature is either a manic depressive or severely PMSing during the spring.  She’s definitely a moody one, especially in Montana.  Maybe it’s because she loves us so much that it incurs this severe differences in our days (you know the saying, you hurt the ones you love the most).  For example, Sunday before last it was a gorgeous beautiful spring day, by Tuesday there was 6 inches of snow on the ground. Moody, moody, moody!

If Mother Nature PMS’s all spring, then I must have become in sync with her living in Montana over the years.  Just as quickly as the weather changes so does my mood.  If I wake up and the sun is out, so am I.  I become an amazing production machine; whether it’s yard work, house work or ‘real’ work.  I feel like I have boundless energy and can conquer the world.

I had to cut these because the heavy snow broke their stems.

Then the grey clouds move in and I am grey, lethargic, a virtual waste.  I want to do nothing but watch old black and white movies and nap on the couch.  Snacking in between or getting back into to that winter comfort food.  Just like our winter clothes, the winter food never really gets put away in Montana.

Fact: it’s been documented to snow in every month of the year in Montana.

I may not wear a parka this summer but I can promise you that I’ll have to wear a coat at some point.  And so it was with my pasta, it was like putting on a coat in spring.  On a cold dreary Mother Nature ultimate PMS day  I wanted something hearty..yet kind of spring like, something to match my mood.

Pasta is the perfect base for any mood and a refrigerator stocked with colorful carrots and baby spinach spoke spring.  Canned tomatoes, dried herbs and some hot venison sausage from the freezer fit the comfort bill to a ‘T’.

I realize other parts of the country are already picking some early ripe tomatoes and have fresh herbs right out their doorstep. If you do, sync with Mother Nature in your area and replace the canned tomatoes and dried herbs with fresh and maybe swap out the hot Italian venison  (pork) sausage for turkey sausage or maybe shrimp.

No matter how you prepare it, it will definitely put you in a good mood. Now if someone could send Mother Nature some über strong prescription Midol so we can get on with spring, I’d appreciate it.

Have you ever heard the term “so ugly, it’s cute”?  Typically this refers to animals and babies, not to food.  And it shouldn’t.  Actually I’ve never seen anything so ugly that it became cute.  Cats with no hair…ugly! Smashed up face dogs with ubers of wrinkles…ugly.  Your newborn baby…sorry moms…ugly (but not forever of course).  Croc shoes…ugly! But oh so comfortable. Just because something is ugly doesn’t mean that it’s not likable, lovable or delicious for that matter.

I finally broke down and ordered a new pair of Crocs.

Consider food we grow ourselves, often not the ultimate specimen for the cover of a magazine, but nothing tastes better.  Think about the food at the farmer’s market or the organic produce section, maybe what you receive in a CSA? Is it all beautiful?  When shopping, we’ve been trained to look for the perfect specimen, to let the ones with a blemish sit in the bin until? Often staying there and never selling, wasted.

Well, you all know how I feel about waste!  I decided to stop being picky and looking for the ‘photo perfect’ and pick some fruit that looked ugly, but interesting.  Sometimes ugly is in this fruits genetic make-up.  Blotchy skin, giant pimple like top, wrinkles and crevices, it’s all there.  Every ugly detail, every ugly delicious detail.

The largest citrus pictured (far right) is the bastard of a love triangle, the child of the grapefruit (or pomelo), orange and tangerine.  It comes from Jamaica.  Someone was high on weed when they dreamed this up, and thank goodness! Mine had a beautiful yellow pulpy flesh with a tartness that reminded me of a lemon, but sweeter. It is quite large and had a strangely hollow center, not tight like other citrus, and it was sans seeds. Not surprisingly this Uniq fruit as it was labeled, is also well know as Ugli fruit.

My friend here, with the distinctive bump on top is also a hybrid.  It’s part tangerine and grapefruit (or pomelo*).  It lacks the 3rd fruit of a love triangle like the Uniq had and is distinctly more beautiful, other than the giant pimple like top.  Like it’s above cousin, it is also less sweet, taking on some of that grapefruit tartness (which is fine in my book) but retaining the beautiful orange of the tangerine.  This fruit with the bump is usually called a tangelo (probably from the pomelo name), it is also known as a  Minneloa and Honeybell, I don’t know why.

Although the next guy, the one with the leaves and a deformed knobby top, looks like a tough guy but it’s actually quite delicate.  This is the brain child of a Japanese citrus grower who wanted to combine the easy to peel Satsuma with the sweet California oranges. He ended up with what is touted as the “perfect” citrus fruit. It is known here in the states as a Sumo citrus. It’s easy to peel, seedless, super sweet, it also has very little albero (white netting), so it sections easily.  A low mess sweet citrus! I didn’t know much about this variety, so I got most of my information here.

The last citrus, the one with the pebbly texture and golden color is called the Gold Nugget for obvious reasons.  This variety is not a pure strain either, unlike the aforementioned crossbreeds, this hybrid is a marriage between two mandarins.  The hybrid was created by University of California, Riverside to produce a longer fruiting tree, which was done successfully.  It also produced a super sweet mandarin and the pebbly skin makes it easy to peel.  The Gold Nugget is like other hybrids and is seedless, making it a good ‘pack in your lunch’ citrus. (source)

*Pomelo, pummelo, pumelo, Chinese grapefruit, and shaddock are all the same fruit.

All this ugliness is completely transformed in this beautiful citrus salad, proving that ugliness is only skin deep. Wait, I mean “beauty is on the inside, not the outside”.  However that saying goes, these citrus could be the poster child for it.

You can use any combination of citrus to make this, I feel I got lucky with my choices, some super sweet and some on the tart side providing a good balance.  The salt and cayenne bring out the sweetness.  The cucumber, shallots and cilantro give it a nice crisp texture and herby flavor. A drizzle with olive oil adds another depth of flavor and makes it pleasantly slide around in your mouth.  I added some lime zest and juice because you just can’t have enough citrus.

What I ended up with is the perfect light salad for Cinco de Mayo! Just picture a margarita or mojito with it.  This salad was so good, this is almost embarrassing to say, but I ate the whole platter by myself!  Based on my hogginess, when I make this for friends this weekend I will have to double the recipe so I can eat half and they can have the other half.

Roosevelt 6th Grade Photo Club

When I retired from the Air Force I thought I was going to be a teacher.  I love to teach, mentor, and share knowledge and skills.  Naturally I thought I’d be teaching dental assisting, after 22 years of it, I probably had enough experience.  I was so sure of it that I got a BA in Education, specifically workforce education and development.

That didn’t happen.  Apparently someone has to die before you can get a teaching position at the technical school.  But sometimes things work out for the better anyways.

But that doesn’t mean that I don’t like teaching anymore.  I’ve been teaching cooking classes and a little photography, and sharing my new gardening knowledge.  I still love teaching, it’s almost a compulsion (some people get taught something whether they want to know or not). When my neighbor asked me if I’d like to teach her photo club of 6th graders some food photography, I was delighted!

The Roosevelt Elementary 6th Grade Photo Club students came over to my house (there were 8 of them) and we shot cookies.  I tethered my camera to the computer so they could see the photos.  They each got to pick out their props, style their food and push the button on my remote.  We only had an hour so they had very little time to scooch and tweak and move things but they got the idea. I also didn’t get to move my camera much, but you gotta work within your limitations.

We talked about composition, lighting, color correction, styling and anything else we had time for (like the emu egg I have…it was a very interesting object to them).  The kids were wonderful, they asked questions, paid attention and were respectful and encouraging of each other. Just reminded me why I love teaching.

The set-up

and shoot!

Here are their photos (as you can see they all loved the straws and thought that milk and cookies were a perfect pairing). I did very little editing, some color boosting because we shot in RAW format and some cropping because I didn’t have time to fiddle with the camera, or they with their set-up.

This was my set-up to get them started and to demo.

Photograph by Brian Gemberling

Photograph by Noah Bason

Photograph by Meghan Terry

Photograph by Kyla Manus

Photograph by Grace Walhus

Photograph by Cameron Saunders

Photograph by Samantha Byrne

Photograph by Marian Talcott

And what was left after they left…

I developed this recipe especially for them, hence the name Roosevelt Cookies. Of course, I let them take some home.

Have you ever really wanted to do something and then talked yourself out of it? There are always reasons why something can’t be done, time, money, trepidations, money…and so it was for this IACP conference.  Actually it started back in photography school, I met fellow student Heather Gill, chef and amazing photographer.  We obviously had a common link and chatted.

Heather asked if I belonged to the International Association of Culinary Professionals.  I said no, I’m culinary but not a professional, certainly not a chef like she it.  Heather said it wasn’t just for chefs, they had specialty sections for writers (and bloggers), test kitchen people, food stylists and photographers, editors and publishers, etc.  Well huh, how about that.  I checked out their site and liked what I saw, I hemmed and hawed and then I noticed they had a sweet student rate so I jumped on it.

Back to the conference, I really wanted to go, who wouldn’t want to go to San Francisco!  Love that city.  But there I was hemming and hawing when Heather sent me a message, “are you going?” I said I wanted to, then I whined about the cost, blah, blah, blah.  Heather then offered to let me stay with her at her time share.  It seemed a sign, then I found out I could fly from Spokane for a couple of hundred dollars cheaper than here and a friend agreed to keep my car and take me to the airport.  Well, it was getting to the point that I couldn’t say no.

And I went. And I had a good time. And I’m glad I went. The End!

I know a certain blogger that would kill me if I ended there!  There is so much to tell about the conference, and I took hundreds of photos.  I’ll try to be as succinct and non-gushing as I can.  My photos are a mix of what I shot and Instagram (I actually had some cool to share for once).

For the complete program, you can read it here. Our first day started with optional classes or tours.  I wanted to sign up for the Cook it, Shoot it class but it was full.  Fortunately I volunteered to be an event photographer, so I got to hang out, watch and take photographs.

This is Heather, she volunteered to help out with the class.  Yay, we got to do something together.

After some brief photography overview, the students assembled a salad in Susan Burdick’s amazing food photography studio.

Some of the beautiful props available, and look at this studio space, WOW!

Did I mention that the instructor was Erin Gleesen from the amazing blog The Forest Feast a finalist of the 2013 Saveur Best Blog Award?

During introductions, I was standing behind this lady (pictured below) and when I introduced myself she exclaimed “The Kitchen Witch! I love that blog”.  Turns out that she was none other than Jane Bonacci, blogger extraordinaire of The Heritage Cook!  I love that blog! Would you believe that I did a guest post last year for her (Doner Kebabs) and here she was, live and in the flesh.

Okay, I said I was not going to gush too much but I have to sing praises for Jane.  She adopted me, introduced me to scads of people! And then invited me out to dinner with her…more on thatlater.

(pssst, that’s Virgina Willis in the background cookbook author of “Bon Appetite y’all”, contributor to tons of magazines, she’s made TV appearances like Chopped and Martha Stewart, plus more).  When she walked in I said “who are you and why do I know your face”.  Sometimes I’m a little slow.

The class was fabulous, we had all sorts of people there from bloggers, chef’s, photographers and people from test kitchen’s like these two girls who work in Alton Brown’s test kitchen!

Later that day Heather and I went our separate ways, I went to the most amazing cookbook store ever, ever! I could have camped out there for days!  Omnivore was an eclectic place with something for everyone.  The best part?  The knowledge and personality of the owner, she was ahhhmazing! I bought a book on Lemons, surprise and an old lemon fruit crate sign, so she gave me a little lemon label she had and then packaged it all up and shipped it to my house.  Oh yeah, I also bought a book on bitters (you’ll see why soon).

Then I went took off to “Build your own Bitter’s” class.  A class taught by Mark Bitterman! He’s the co-owner of The Meadow, a selmelier and author of the cookbook Salted. I was late…public transport, walking, I’m fat and out of shape…no further explanation required.

In this class we learned that bitters are to cocktails as salt is to food.  We tasted through a couple of dozen herbs, aromatic roots, fruits, florals and spices.  Then we made our own, I created a chai flavored bitter, it was so incredibly cool, I felt like a mad scientist!

All of this was done in another amazing space, Noel Barnhurst’s Photography Studio.

That night was the Network mixer (sorry no photographs of the actual mixer).  Jane was one of the hostess with the mostest and introduced the photo competition.  The theme was “Real food in a virtual world”, my entry used a digitally produced (virtual) wood background with the earthy sprouted pesto, you can find that recipe here.  The photos were displayed throughout the conference and attendees got to vote for their own.  The winners were announced at the awards program, but I’ve marked them here for you (plus mine and Heather’s).

• Mark Boughton: People’s Choice
• Irvin Lin: Food Photography
• Kristine Ackerman: Food Stylist

Sunday Morning kicked off early with a food photographers and stylists interest section breakfast.  Followed by a paneled discussion comparing “Dirt to Digital”. The esteemed board consisted of:

• Maxime Bilet, chef, lecturer, co-author of Modernist Cuisine
• Peter Kaminsky, chef, food critic and author (read what Zagat quoted PK on)
• Thomas Keller, chef, The French Laundry

Here are some notable comments that I jotted down:

MB: honor the food (simple or complex)

TK: perfect what you have today

TK: cooking = ingredients (think about where you buy them) & execution (perfection)

PK: recipe development should be slow/precise

All: human interaction is the most important part of food

TK: food is about emotions

PK: (on the internet) there’s big data, if it’s bad data it doesn’t get you anywhere

TK: success = a great memory (food, atmosphere, experience)

MB: search for the pleasure (on the process of preparing food)

Then I had my “Pin with us! Food and the Power of Pinterest”,  On the panel was Enid Hwang, community manager, Pinterest. Irvin Lin, blogger, Eat the Love, Allison Long Lowerey, Editor, Cookinglight.com, Katie Parker, Senior Difital Food Editor, Meridith/Better Homes and Gardens and Colby Crab, communications manager, Interactive Advertising, Allrecipes.com.

This was one of classes that I felt that I could take the information and apply it immediately! The presentations were wonderful! There’s way too much to share but a few key points.  Label your images, Pinterest is a way of expressing yourself through curation, add Pinterest friendly descriptions i.e. “Lemon and thyme dressing, photo by XXXX http://xxxxxx”, put the photo you want pinned on top and add the plug in for “pin-it”.

And then the Culinary Expo, Book and Blog Festival!

Good Beer!

Two cutest girls ever, kept running into them so I had to take their photos.

I really wanted to win one of these.

Beautiful eco-friendly disposable table wear (I nabbed a couple for food props) by Verterra.

The beautiful Ferry Building and the end of my festival time.

Of special note, La Cocina

La Cocina is a ground-breaking business incubator designed to reduce the obstacles that often prevent entrepreneurs from creating successful and sustainable small businesses.

We focus primarily on women from communities of color and immigrant communities.

Remember the Cabernet salt from my Coffee, Juniper Berry and Anise Crusted Venison Loin? This is the lady behind the salt, she also won an IACP award!

Sal De Vida, Read Adriana’s story here.

I’m killing myself, I’m only on day two and this post is probably excruciating long, I don’t even know if anyone is still reading after this…

More succinct Rhonda!

I took Jane up on her dinner offer after a little network thingy at the Ferry building which had delicious cocktails and food.

Jane had made reservations at Boulevard restaurant, local, seasonal and fresh.  The menu is made daily.  It was wonderful (instagram photo). At our table was also Selena Darrow, Senior test kitchen specialist, Rose Olsen of the Saskatchewan Turkey Producers marketing board, and one other very charming lady who does cooking with kids but I can’t remember her name…can you help Jane?

Monday morning I kicked it off with “How to start a Conference” with speakers Jason Horn, co-founder FoodBlog South and John Craig, organizer, International Biscuit Festival.  Again lots of information here, I kind of was dreaming about a Montana (there would be about 10 of us) or a Rocky Mountain or Northwest Blogger Conference but, wow what a lot of work.

I squeezed in a lunch with Heather and another classmate of mine.  We had lunch at The Slanted Door.  There wasn’t anything not to like about this place!  I also discovered that I liked oysters, good oysters, expensive oysters and the only reason I didn’t like oysters before was I obviously have a highly refined palate and only like the very best (kidding).

Monday afternoon I found myself at the Round Robin: Pitch Perfect.  I had group sessions with: Chadwick Boyd, Owner-President L+D Enterprises, brand communications consulting AND Faith Durand, Executive Editor, TheKitchn.com (insert swoon). They gave us good tips on how to pitch a story and sell yourself.

After swooning over Faith and nearly groveling at her feet when I handed her my business card and then nearly dying when she said “The Kitchen Witch, I know that blog, you need to submit some stuff to us” I took my light headed self over to Wild Foods: The Stone Age Meets Sous Vide.  The talk was about foraging, hunting, and fishing.  In other words “eat your weeds” and go find your food.  The speakers were Connie Green, Wine Forest Wild Foods and Co-Author of The Wild Table, Hank Shaw (whom I’ve been a long time fan of) author of Hunt, Gather, Cook: Finding the Forgotten Feast, plus his new book Duck, Duck, Goose and blogger of Hunter, Angler, Gardener, Cook and Tama Matsuoka Wong, forager; Restaurant Daniel; co-author Foraged Flavor.

There was so much information and I wanted to get lots of pictures but there was a meeting scheduled in the same room right afterwards so no time…but I ate weeds, fondled and touched mushrooms, oh I even ate some fir tree pine needles.  Most notably we had part of an Ice Cream sandwich made from Candy Cap mushrooms, these mushrooms taste just like maple syrup, maple syrup on steroids that is. Instagram photo.

That evening I went to a little pizza get together at Williams and Sonoma hosted by Casey Benedict who’s LLC is called Kitchen Witch.  Ha another Kitchen Witch, but of course I’m THE Kitchen Witch.  You may be familiar with Taste Stopping “feasting on seconds” a site that posts other sites rejected photos. Or how about Eat, Write Retreat? Or maybe Kitchen Play? Another incredible person.

The final day Heather and I played hooky.  Although I’ve been to San Francisco before (for the FoodBuzz conference (god rest their soul) I posted about it here, here and here. I didn’t get down to Fisherman’s Wharf or to Ghirardelli square.

I bought this way cool one of a kind bowl and a birthday gift for my sister (shhh, don’t tell).

We had lunch at Boudin’s.  Yes that’s right, Heather bought one loaf of sourdough bread and we split it.  That’s it, carb over load.  With all the walking we had been doing all week, no worries about gaining weight!

You can watch the bakers through a window preparing the bread and making some of the animal shapes.

After our adventures Heather went off to catch a class and I headed back to the hotel, I needed to pack and get ready for the big awards ceremony.

The awards ceremony ended up being one of my favorite events and not because of the awards handed out (see the list here), it was meeting Joan.  Joan sat next to me at the ceremony and I immediately liked her.  I can’t explain why but we just connected.  Joan is an editor and California native.  She said something to me during the ceremony that put the fire to a spark of an idea I had (can’t share yet).  She also found out that I had a passion for lemons.

Would you believe that she sent me a box of citrus, mostly lemons?  And most of them she grew herself.  She sent me ones from an 80 year urban rescue lemon tree! She just touched my heart and my taste buds! Instagram photo.

In the end, that’s what this conference was really about, it’s not about going to a fabulous city, or bringing home swag, or all the education you get.  It’s about the people you meet, the connections you make and the friendships that develop through our common passion of food.

Speaking of people, I’m going to give a shout out to several people I met but didn’t have the space in this post to give all the great details:

• My one thing on my bucket list was to meet Denise Vivaldo, Heather knows her and I got to meet her, not only that but I got hugs and kisses.  She’s a fun personality!
• Sydne George, food writer Great Falls Tribune…yes, my home girl who I didn’t meet until we got to SF.
• Meghan Erwin, food stylist and recipe developer (and beautiful I might add)
• David West, owner of Nostrana (Italian food restaurant in Portland, Oregon) I asked him to open a restaurant here in Great Falls!
• Iris Richardson, food photographer who had the coolest ipad set up ever.
• Debbie Koenig, author and blogger Parents Need To Eat Too and fellow red head.
• Mary Jane Miller, culinary consulting
• Patricia Penzey Erd, owner of  The Spice House small chain…please come to Great Falls!
• Andrea Lynn, food writer, personal chef, recipe developer, cookbook author
• Sarene Wallace, freelance food writer and contibuting editor to 805 Living
• Anne Zimmerman, writer she’s done several books about M.F.K. Fisher an extraordinary and prolific food writer
• Annelies Zijderveld, Online Community Manager for Attune Foods which makes McGyver’s favorite breakfast cereal, 10oz-flaxseed-cereal-high-in-fiber" target="_blank">Uncle Sam.
• Michelle Stern of What’s Cooking with Kids, a certified green mobile cooking school for children
• Christy Rost (who’s a hoot!) TV Cheff, PBS Host, Cooking Teacher, Cookbook Author
• “Mac” McDonald who served up some of his mighty fine wine and gave me a big huge and made my aching feet feel better.  Winemaker/Owner of Vision Cellars.
• Sheila Thomas, Publishing consultant for Favorite Recipes Press
• Mary Margaret Andrews, Director of Marketing & Distribution Sales, Southwestern Publishing Group, Inc.
• Francois Villeneuve, Freelance Food Writer. Francois recently posted some writing tips picked up from IACP.
• John Schuller, Senior Account Executive, representing California Ripe Olives (they reposted one or two of my recipes…I adore olives.
• Jacqueline Pham, blogger/author of Pham Fatale
• Beth A Lee, food writer, communications consultant and blogger of OMG! Yummy
• Ryan Smith, Principal of The Spinning Cook and the app Spinning Meals an app that does your menu planning and makes your grocery list based on your recipe favorites (BTW I love his title)
• Darcy Kochis, Marketing for the Oregon Raspberry & Blackberry Commission.  I think she was in every class I took.
• Maureen Abood of Rose Water & Orange Blossoms, Modern musings of Lebanese cuisine and beautiful photography to boot.
• Antonia Allegra, coach, writer, lecturer, launch specialist, culinary professional (no website)
• Patty Catalano, culinary researcher & recipe developer of Be Square Productions (Alton Brown’s test kitchen)
• Monika Friis-Jespersen, Product and Marketing Consulting…she came from Sweden.
• June Jacobs, Culinary educator, chef, consultant, writer, hornist (yes, hornist) of Festivals.com
• Marie Simmons, teacher and author (Taste of Honey, The Good Egg and more cookbooks)
• Mara Jernigan, General Manager of Belcampo Belize (I want to go please!)
• Alice M. Hart, food stylist and Montana lover!  Also IACP Food Stylist of the Year!
• Kate McDermott, Pie cooker expert and I mean top of the line expert!  Who lives near my hometown and who is coming to Paws Up in Montana to do a pie class in October, yay!
• Linda Oliver, Manager, Culinary Services ConAgra Foods/Ready Set Eat.com
• Lara K. Nixon, Bitters Guru of Bad Dog Bar Craft.  Super cool, we hung out some and had a beer together
• Catie Baumer Schwilb, chef, actress, amateur farmer, blogger of Pitchfork Diaries.  Another enjoyable person who I had a beer with and hung out a bit with.  I think she liked me, unless she was just acting…
• And finally Casey Barber, Editor, food writer and recipe developer, and super nice human being!  She has the site Good.Food.Stories. and just published a fun cookbook Classic Snacks, Made from Scratch.
• I almost forgot, I met Felicia, displaced Floridian making a home in Colorado, Dietician/Nutritionist and expert photo bomber! She is in 18 of my Cook it, Shoot it! photos in some fashion or another.

I have also decided that I do not make a very good editorial photographer.  Guess I better stick to food!

I was so happy when I got my assignment this month for Secret Recipe Club!  I was assigned Tandy from Lavender and Lime.  First off I’m a fan of citrus, and she obviously is too, it’s right there in her title.  Tandy is from South Africa, two years ago McGyver and I went on a Safari there and stayed to visit friends, you can read about that here and here. Naturally anything to do with South Africa brings back a flood of good memories.

Tandy has some serious cooking chops!  Her recipes have been published in several venues, even before she started her blog.  She’s also won a cooking competition.  Tandy makes her magic in a small kitchen with the best of ingredients.  And I love this quote that she has in her about page.

Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly.

When it came to choosing a recipe I went straight for her venison recipes.  Lucky me, I have a freezer full of venison and I am always looking for exciting new ways to prepare it.  As soon as my eyes landed on her recipe for Venison Roast with Coffee and Star Anise Rub it was love.  Tandy mentioned in her intro to the recipe that she wanted to use a loin but didn’t have any so she used a leg roast instead, well Tandy, I had a loin just waiting to be used.

This would be a good time to mention that what Tandy refer’s to as venison are ‘bokkies’, as in springboks (which is also a rugby football team), blesboks, bushboks, etc.  Bokkies are actually an antelope, here in the states when we use the term venison it’s in reference strictly to deer.  Having ate spring and blesbok before I knew that the flavor was not dissimilar and it would be no problem using deer instead of blesbok.  Of course there was zero chance that I would actually be able to get my hands on one.

Speaking of not being able to get my hands on something, I went to four stores and not one of them had juniper berries.  Thank goodness I had a trip to San Francisco scheduled and I was able to pick some up.  Also while I was there I bought some cabernet salt which I used in place of the regular salt. There will be more on that and the rest of my trip on Friday (are you happy Debra? She’s been asking me when I was going to share).

Two other ingredient modifications that I made was using fresh rosemary versus dried and upping the coffee amount to suit our tastes.  Oh, I almost forgot, I only had 1 1/2 cups of wine left in my box, so I added a half cup of coffee to the marinade to make up for it.  I also altered the cooking method a bit, I seared the venison in a cast iron pan and then finished it off in the oven.  While the venison was resting I used the marinade to deglaze the pan and made the sauce from there.  My main motivation here was getting all those crusty bits up to flavor the sauce, ok not really.  My real motivation was to keep the dirty dish count down, but the other reason sounds more chef-y.

The verdict? Probably the best venison loin I have ever made.  The coffee and herb crust gave a nice texture and somewhat earthy flavor.  The sauce was rich and luxurious, so good that I almost wanted to drink it.  And now I don’t think I want my venison loin any other way!  For you unfortunate souls who don’t have any venison (bokkie or deer), beef tenderloin would work just as well.

Thanks Tandy for one of the best venison recipes ever! And thanks Debbi for hosting us every month!

Check out the reveals of our other SRC members:

I cannot count how many times my mom would make no-bake cookies while I was growing up.  I remember that she thought they were the most amazing ‘cookie’ ever.  Quick, easy, sweet, chocolately and of course no oven required.  Last minute bake sale no problem, last minute party no problem, last minute guests no problem.  These cookies could be whipped up in no time and made very little mess so an easy clean-up followed.  I guess that is pretty amazing.

I recently discovered that what we unimaginatively called no-bake cookies are in fact called Preacher’s cookies in the Appalachian.  The story goes that if you spotted the preacher at the bottom of the hill you could throw these cookies together and they would be ready by the time the preacher made it up the hill (source).

These cookies also go by “Cow Patty” (for obvious reasons) and “Poodgies” for, well, I have no explanation for the name Poodgie.  Since my mom always called them no-bake, no-bake they will always be to me.  I made these cookies for my ‘adopted’ grandkids one day when I realized that I didn’t have any snacks for them at the house.  I only had a short time before I needed to pick them up from school and these cookies were just the ticket.

No-Bake, Preacher, Cow Patty, Poodgie Cookies

Although I don’t do a lot of sweets I do have a thing for the sweet and salty combo so I adjusted my mom’s peanut butter and cocoa base to be replaced with Nutella and added some broken pretzels to the mix.  I served the boys the cookies and they absolutely loved them. Since McGyver and I don’t need cookies lying around the house, I sent the rest home with them.  Next time I picked them up I asked if they enjoyed the cookies. They pouted and said they didn’t get a chance to because their dad ate them all!

And who could blame him?

As I sit here and write this, it is snowing outside and my house is at a not so balmy 50°F.  I have a blanket wrapped around me like a burrito, my sweatshirt is zipped to the top and a kerchief dons my head to keep my ears warm.  A cup of coffee warms my fingers and core in between typing.

Spring in Montana!  Only last week the temperatures were up to the low 60’s and warm breezes were making their way through the lands.  My daffodils responded whole’heartedly  announcing to the world that indeed spring was here. I could feel the serious itch to start my veggie garden but I resisted…this is very typical of a Montana spring. It lures you into spring fever and then slam, it gives you a reminder that spring is hardly but a wink before we hit the summer.

Evidently McGyver had decided it was time to turn off the heat and not give me the memo. So I’ve been sitting here all morning freezing (in a home sense) before I thought to check the thermostat (my office is always a little cooler than the rest of the house).  Unfortunately it’s taking longer to warm up my little bungalow than I’d like. Despite the chill, I still have a case of culinary spring fever!  Which is perfect since Simone at Junglefrog Cooking has revealed the theme for this months photography and styling contest: Spring!

Nothing says spring more than a salad of fresh greens, tender and  juicy strawberries and crisp jicama dressed with a bright vinaigrette made with lemon and basil. The flavors, textures and colors make me feel like it’s spring even if I’m bundled up in everything short of gloves and a scarf (which I’ve been considering).

How is your spring?  Have you started a garden yet?