A few months back, I received an email from a friend of mine asking if I would be willing to chat about my blogging experiences with a friend of hers.  This friend already had a food blog and was thinking about making some changes.  Of course, I said I would be happy to do it.  Imagine my surprise when that friend of a friend turned out to be Lael Hazan, wife of celebrated cookbook author Giuliano Hazan and daughter-in-law of the legendary Marcella Hazan!   We made a date to meet for coffee and became fast friends.  Lael is a lovely  person and I’ve really enjoyed getting to know her. She not only works beside her husband in their cooking school near Verona Italy, but she also teaches her own cooking classes, writes for several publications, blogs, hosts her own radio show and somehow manages to raise two adorable daughters as well.  Whew!  I get exhausted just thinking about it!

After Lael and I met, I went out and picked up a copy of Giuliano’s new book, Thirty Minute Pasta.  It’s a carbohydrate lovers dream, filled with one hundred quick and easy pasta recipes, ranging from soups and vegetarian dishes to classic meat and seafood preparations.  The recipes are straightforward and concise, leaving little room for error, which means anyone can be successful with them.  And, the photos are totally droolworthy!

One of my favorite recipes so far is for this Rigatoni with a Roasted Veal Sauce.  It’s a very simple dish that is designed to emulate the flavors of a classic pan-roasted veal rolled with pancetta and sage.  Instead of a veal roast that requires a long cooking time, this recipe calls for ground veal which can be cooked in minutes.  Brilliant!

The first thing you do is sauté some garlic, diced pancetta and fresh sage in butter. (Oh yes, I said butter!  You can put that EVOO away!)   Even though they’re not in the original recipe, I added some diced onions as well.  I just really like onions in my pasta sauce.

Next, add the ground veal and cook it until there’s no more pink left.

I also added some sliced mushrooms to the sauce because I had some in the fridge that were about to pass their prime.  I didn’t want to be responsible for a mushroomicide!

Then, add some juicy, ripe, diced tomatoes and simmer.  I used canned San Marzano tomatoes this time because the fresh tomatoes around here kind of suck right now.

Look at that gorgeous sauce! Don’t you want to just dive right into it?  If you don’t, you should.  It was amazing!  (By the way, have I mentioned how much I love that Scanpan skillet?  It’s the only pan I’ve ever found that gives me an actual crust on fish or meat on my crappy electric stove!)

Ah!  Pasta perfection!

And, in case you were wondering, I am not channeling Pioneer Woman with all of these process pictures.   I have the darkest kitchen in the world, and could never get bright, well-focused shots with my old point and shoot (kitchen) camera.   I rarely ever bring my DSLR into the kitchen because I’m always worried about splattering food on it and ruining it.  So, I recently bought a new point and shoot camera that has an awesome low light setting and I’m kind of going a little crazy with it.  Don’t worry.  I’m sure the novelty will wear off soon.

In the meantime, get yourself a copy of Thirty Minute Pasta so that you too can make fabulous meals like this!   Buy copies for your family and friends too.   The Holidays are coming and this book would make a great gift!

Rigatoni with a Roast Veal Sauce
adapted from Thirty Minute Pasta

I’ve given you the original recipe for this dish without my modifications.  If you’d like to also add diced onions and sliced mushrooms, do so in Step 3.  I added the onions first and sautéed them for about 4 minutes before I added the pancetta, sage and mushrooms.  As I noted above, I also used 1 pound of canned San Marzano tomatoes in this dish.  I was able to find the cans that are already diced.  If you can’t, use an equivalent amount of peeled whole tomatoes and chop them up yourself.  Just make sure to strain out the seeds before you add them to the sauce.

Ingredients:

2 medium whole garlic cloves, peeled
1 ounce pancetta, diced in a 1/8-inch dice
1 pound fresh tomatoes, peeled and coarsely chopped
4 tablespoons butter
10-12 fresh sage leaves, coarsely chopped
3/4 pound ground veal
Salt to taste
1 pound rigatoni pasta

Directions:

1.  Fill a pot for the pasta with about 6 quarts of water.  Bring to a boil.

2.  Melt butter in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat.  When butter begins to melt, add garlic cloves.  Sauté until lightly browned and remove.

3.  Add the pancetta and sage to the skillet and sauté briefly until pancetta loses its raw color, about 2 minutes.  Add the ground veal and salt and cook, stirring often, until veal begins to brown, about 3-4 minutes.

4.  Add the tomatoes and season with more salt, if needed.  Continue cooking over medium heat until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 10-12 minutes.

5.  While the sauce is simmering, cook the rigatoni according to the package directions.  Drain well and toss with the sauce.

Serve immediately.

Serves 4.

Enjoy!

*UPDATE* (11/05/09)  My recipe is now up on the Bon Appetit site and the link below DOES work. Thank you all so much for your support AND your votes!!!  I wish I could send each one of you a slice of this pie!

I received an email the other day from the editor of Bon Appetit’s web site, Emily Fleischaker, inviting me to submit a for  the magazine’s Holiday Dessert Bake-Off.  It’s part of an annual feature they do called “Bon Appetit’s Blog Envy”. The Bake-Off is only open to food bloggers, and the grand prize is a trip for two to NY and dinner at Le Bernardin restaurant with Editor-in-Chief Barbara Fairchild and Restaurant Editor Andrew Knowlton.  (Did I mention how cool I think Andrew Knowlton is?)  So, of course I decided to enter. 

I began thinking about which of the desserts in my holiday repertoire was the most amazingly decadent and delicious of all and this pie immediately came to mind.  It has an impossibly rich and creamy cream cheese and pumpkin filling with gorgeous, luscious, thick caramel ribbons running through it.  It also has lots of crunchy little toffee bits mixed in and is covered with a layer of even more dulce de leche.  This gingery pumpkin cheese pie with  toffee bits and caramel swirl is by far the most popular dessert in my holiday arsenal.  It is sheer heaven on a plate!

I’ve altered my original recipe a bit since then. Instead of sugar cookies, I now make the pie with a spicy, crunchy gingersnap crust.  I also swapped out the cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger in the recipe for pumpkin pie spice.  But, in my opinion, these changes make this pie even better, if that is possible.

So, here’s the deal.  I’ve entered my pie in the Bon Appétit Holiday Dessert Bake-Off, and I really need your help to win.   Please go over to the Bon Appétit Blog Envy Bake-Off site and vote for my Gingery Pumpkin-Caramel Cheese Pie! Once you’re at the site, you’ll have to click on the”vote on the next batch” button until you get to the Pies category.

Please please please, vote for my pie!!!  I’ll love you forever!  I’ll be your best friend!  I’ll bring you a doggie bag from Le Bernardin!

PLEEEEEEASE VOTE FOR MEEEEEEEEE!!!

Gingery Pumpkin-Caramel Cheese Pie

Ingredients:

For the crust:

3 cups gingersnaps, crushed into coarse crumbs
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For the filling:

2 8-ounce packages of cream cheese, softened
2/3 cup sugar ( Use more or less according to your taste)
1 cup pumpkin puree
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup toffee bits
2 cups dulce de leche or caramel sauce of your choice, divided. (You may have to soften the dulce de leche to make it “swirlable”. I microwaved mine on 50% power for about 20 seconds.)

Directions:

In a medium bowl, whisk together cookie crumbs, cinnamon and salt.  Add melted butter and mix until well blended. Press mixture into an 8 or 9 inch pie plate.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 12 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Beat cream cheese and sugar together on medium speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice and vanilla, and beat until completely combined.

Mix in the toffee bits and swirl in 1 cup of the dulce de leche or caramel sauce using a knife or offset spatula.

Pour the filling into the pie plate and smooth it out. Refrigerate until firm, about 4 hours or overnight.

When thoroughly chilled, spread the second cup of dulce de leche or caramel sauce evenly over the top of the pie.

If desired, use another 1/2 cup of dulce de leche to pipe rosettes or other design on top of the pie.

Chill until the topping is firm.

In an attempt to make November a little less frazzled for us, our fearless leaders at TWD are allowing us to present our weekly recipes out of order.  This works for me as this week’s recipe is Dorie’s Chocolate Caramel Chestnut Cake.  Not only is this cake rather labor-intensive to make, but it calls for chestnuts, which I detest.  I suppose I could have used a different kind of nut, but frankly, I just didn’t have the energy this week.  My shoulder is still frozen from making all those macarons and fillings for the DB challenge last week, and I couldn’t bear the thought of any more mixing and stirring, for a while at least!  Instead, I decided to make Dorie’s more shoulder-friendly Cran-Apple Crisps. 

These crisps were a snap to put together and are absolutely delicious!  The recipe is also quite forgiving.  I made them last night at around 10:00 pm, which because of the time change here, was 11:00 on my body clock.  In my fatigue-induced stupor, I made several errors.  First of all, instead of adding cinnamon to the crisp topping, I accidentally added ground cardamom.  To my foggy eyes, both spice jars looked the same.   I also forgot to butter the ramekins before filling them.   Then, I baked them at 350 degrees F. instead of 375, as the recipe directed.  After about thirty minutes, I realized what I had done and turned up the heat in my oven.  I was certain that I was going to end up with a sticky, burnt mess, but I didn’t.  Despite all my goofs, the crisps turned out just fine.  The topping was crunchy and golden and the filling was the perfect balance of sweet-tart  fruitiness with a thick, syrupy texture.

For my crisps, I used Honeycrisp and Fuji apples, fresh cranberries and plump, sweet, dried Bing cherries.  I had never baked with fresh cranberries before and I was a bit skeptical.  I needn’t have worried.  While the cranberries were quite tart, the tartness was nicely offset by the sweetness of the apples and cherries.  For not a whole lot of work, the payoff was great.  This really is a lovely dessert that would certainly be worthy of a place at any holiday table!

My thanks go out to Em of The Repressed Pastry Chef for choosing this recipe. She will eventually have the recipe posted on her site.  But, if you can’t wait to try these Cran-Apple Crisps, you can also find the recipe in Baking: From My Home to Yours on page 422.

I’m a bad blogger buddy!  Jaden Hair’s lovely new cookbook, The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook, has been on the shelves for three weeks and I’ve yet to post about it.  Jaden was the first food blogger I ever met way back before SGCC was even a thought in my head.  She lives about 15 miles away from me, so when I stumbled upon her blog a few years ago, I immediately emailed her to introduce myself.  Jaden was kind enough to invite me to attend one of her cooking classes that just happened to also be a taping for a television feature on her.  I didn’t think twice before accepting!  I had a blast!  Plus, I got to be on TV!  That was when the blogging bug really bit me.  A few months later, with Jaden as a major inspiration, I decided to try blogging for myself – and SGCC was born.

I’ve always been a huge fan of Jaden’s recipes – and I’ve tried a whole lot of them.  When she announced that she was writing a cookbook, I was thrilled for her!  I was even more thrilled to be among her many recipe testers for the book.  During that time, I tried out some awesome recipes and it drove me crazy that I couldn’t share any of them with you, because…well, you know…because they were top secret, hush-hush recipes for the cookbook!  I wish now that I had taken photographs of some of those wonderful dishes I made.  

A few weeks ago, Mini SGCC was feeling under the weather, so I whipped out the cookbook and made some Quick Vietnamese Chicken Pho for her.  The next day, I tried Jaden’s recipe for Banh Mi.  Both were excellent.  I’d planned to post about them both in depth, but then my United Airlines fiasco happened and I was too preoccupied with that to take pictures.  By the time I got around to it, all I found were the empty Tupperware containers in the garage fridge!

One of my favorite “Steamy Kitchen” recipes is Jaden’s slow-cooked salmon. In the book it’s been transformed into Tea Smoked Salmon, but the original method is explained there as well.  I’ve made this dish about a dozen times so far, and it is one of my favorite ways to prepare salmon.  The fish is baked on a bed of onions and sliced oranges in a very low oven for about 30 minutes. I also like to add sliced fennel and fresh tarragon sprigs too.   The result is a soft, lush, melt-in-your-mouth salmon that retains its gorgeous color and texture.

I decided to try the recipe again the other night and played around with the presentation a little.  Since our temperatures around here are still hovering up in the high 80’s, I dressed some of my salmon up for a day at the beach.  The rest got dolled up for a swanky cocktail party coiffed with some crème fraiche and fresh dill.  Either way, they were both delicious!  I always try to find fresh, wild salmon, which is healthier and tastier than the farm-raised kind. But, this recipe works well with that too.

I’ve got lots more of my Steamy Kitchen faves still to share, but all in good time!

And, if you haven’t already bought your copy of The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook, what the heck are you waiting for?  It’s a beautiful book for the pictures alone!  And it’s chock full of terrific recipes too.  You can find it at all of the major retailers, including Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Borders. And, please don’t forget your local independent book stores.  Remember, they are often your friends and neighbors who are struggling to compete with the big guys.  To find indie booksellers in your area, you can go to Indie Bound.

Slow Cooked Salmon
adapted from The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook

4 (8 ounce) salmon fillets
1-2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 navel oranges, cut into 1/4 inch slices
2 large onions, thinly sliced
1 large or 2 small fresh fennel bulbs, thinly sliced
3-4 sprigs fresh tarragon
Salt and pepper to taste
Assorted garnishes such as crème fraiche, sliced oranges or fresh herbs

Directions:

Preheat to 250F.  Lightly brush salmon with oil and season with salt and pepper.  Let sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes.

Grab a baking pan big enough to hold all fillets in single layer. Make a bed on the pan by layering the onions, fennel and two of the sliced oranges. Place the salmon fillets on the bed and tuck in the tarragon sprigs.

Bake for 30 minutes. (If you’re cooking more than 4 fillets, just add another 2 minutes per additional filet.) To test for doneness, stick a sharp paring knife in, if it goes in and out, its done.

Top with whatever finishing herbs, spices or ingredients you’ve chosen. After cooking, the salmon is going to look almost exactly the same as when you first put it in. Don’t worry, after 30 minutes in the oven it is cooked.

Dress up your salmon however you like.

Serves 4.

Yesterday, the temperature topped out around here at 86 degrees, F.  The humidity was so high that when I stepped outside from my air conditioned digs, my sunglasses promptly fogged right up, forcing me to stumble my way to my car.  That’s muggy, people! Now I ask you – is that any way for Autumn to behave?  It’s almost November, for crying out loud!

One of the few clues that that it is indeed Fall exists in the produce aisle of my local supermarket.  The presence of orange-fleshed squash, crisp, juicy apples and those cheesy, fake “Autumn” leaves are my telltale signs that the season has changed.  Even then, it’s hard to shift seasonal gears when the store is flooded with tourists in swimsuits, Bermuda shorts and guayabera shirts.

I compensate by turning my a/c down really low and padding around the house in sweaters and big, wooly socks.  Pathetic, isn’t it?   Another way I console myself about this situation is to cook and bake warm, spicy things, using many of the aforementioned Fall fruits and vegetables.  This lovely apple cake is one of them. 

I first saw this cake on the Smitten Kitchen web site last year.  I was immediately drawn to Deb’s photo of her chunky, cinnamony, appley creation and I knew I had to make it.  Afterward, as my cake sat on the counter cooling, I marveled at its burnished, rustic beauty and reveled in its heady aroma which reminded me of hot spiced apple cider.  Being the impatient person that I am, I couldn’t wait to take a bite and tried to separate the cake from its pan before its time.   I ended up with this:

Yes, people, there really is a reason why they tell you to wait until a cake is completely cooled before attempting to remove it from the pan.

Even though it fell apart, it was still a damn delicious cake, so yesterday I decided it deserved another try.

I used a combination of Honeycrisp, Golden Delicious and Fuji apples…..

…..and lots of cinnamon!

After the cake was baked, I forced myself to wait until it was completely cooled before unmolding it.  That was the hardest part!

My patience was rewarded.  This time, I had a gorgeous cake – all in one piece.

Look at all those lovely, gooey, caramelized apple chunks and specks of cinnamon!

Aren’t you jealous?  Don’t you want to run into your kitchen right now and make this cake?  It is sooooo good!

So, what are you waiting for?  Here’s the recipe.  Go forth and bake!

Deb’s Mom’s Apple Cake
from Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients:

6 apples (Deb’s mom uses McIntosh apples. I used a combination of Honeycrisp, Golden Delicious and Fuji)
1 tablespoon cinnamon
5 tablespoons sugar

2 3/4 cups flour, sifted
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
1/4 cup orange juice
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
4 eggs
1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a tube pan. Peel, core and chop apples into chunks. Toss with cinnamon and sugar and set aside.

Stir together flour, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together oil, orange juice, sugar and vanilla. Mix wet ingredients into the dry ones, then add eggs, one at a time. Scrape down the bowl to ensure all ingredients are incorporated.

Pour half of batter into prepared pan. Spread half of the apples over it. Pour the remaining batter over the apples and arrange the remaining apples on top.

Bake for about 1 1/2 hours, or until a tester comes out clean.

Enjoy!

(Matcha Macarons with White Chocolate-Passion Fruit Ganache and Blackberry Swiss Buttercream)

For years, I’ve been absolutely mad about French macarons.  Something about biting into one of those delicate little round disks with their frilly “feet” and crispy outer shells yielding to soft, almost chewy, centers beneath and filled with luscious, creamy fillings, could literally make me swoon with delight. When I was in Paris, I ate them by the dozen!  However, after baking eleven batches ( yes, eleven) of them using three different recipes over the past 5 days, I think I must be just plain mad!

Oh, the trials and tribulations I endured trying to make these macarons!  I used curse words that I didn’t even know I knew – some even in French!  The whole ordeal started out simply enough.  The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe. When I first learned of the challenge, I was both excited and terrified at the same time.  I had often wanted to try my hand at making macarons, but had always held back.  From reading many of my favorite blogs like Helen’s and Jen’s, I knew that macarons are among the divas of French pastries – temperamental and exacting.  Successful macarons require undivided attention and a certain finesse. They are finicky and unforgiving.  One careless slip of the wrist and it’s all over!  But yet, I couldn’t help but be intrigued.  Prepared properly, macarons are sweet little packages of perfection.  If I could pull it off, the rewards would be great! 

(Raspberry Macarons with Bittersweet Chocolate Ganache)

I carefully planned my foray into the world of macarons.  For days, I researched and compared recipes, studied technique, and looked at lots and lots of pictures.  I made a list of all the various flavors I wanted to try.  The list got longer and longer, until I finally had to be brutal and limit myself to just five.  I gathered together all of my ingredients and set aside an afternoon for my macaron-making marathon.

Pursuant to the rules of the challenge, I had to make at least one batch of macarons using the recipe provided as well as make at least one filling from scratch.  I decided to start with raspberry macarons filled with a dark chocolate ganache.  To flavor them, I used freeze-dried raspberries that I pulverized into a fine powder.  I scrupulously followed the recipe and was rewarded with a gorgeous rosy pink batter that indeed appeared to “flow like magma”.   When I popped them in the oven to bake, I was psyched!   When I removed them from the oven, my spirits were as deflated as those flat, footless, gummy macaroon pancakes they had turned into! In plain English, dear readers, they sucked!

(Big flops using the challenge recipe.  UGH!)

I threw them in the trash and tried again…and again…and again, all with the same result. Four batches – all disasters!   By this time my trash bin was getting full and so I had to alter my strategy.  I went online to the DB forum and was a tiny bit relieved to find that many others had had the same experience with this recipe.  Yay!  It wasn’t just me!  I then decided to try a different recipe.

For my next attempt, I used the basic macaron recipe from Syrup and Tang. Several others had been having luck with it and I hoped that I would too.  This recipe was a bit different than Claudia Fleming’s, in both the ratio of ingredients and method.  I made more raspberry macarons as well as some lemon and chocolate-hazelnut ones.  These turned out much better.  I got crispy shells and tiny ballerina slipper feet, and I was thrilled.  But they were an absolute bitch to peel off the baking sheets!  I lost probably half of my macarons that way.

(Cute, little ballerina slipper feet using Syrup and Tang’s recipe.)

Okay.  Moderate success.  Now I was ready to try yet a third recipe, this time from the Macaron Goddess, herself – the lovely Helen of Tartelette.   Helen’s macaron recipe was also different.  She uses a higher ratio of powdered sugar to ground almonds than the other two.  I made more chocolate-hazelnut macarons using Helen’s recipe, plus some lemon, matcha and lavender macaroons too.  Honestly, of the three recipes, these were the ones that turned out the best.  I’m not just saying that because Helen is my friend and I love her.  It’s the truth!  My macarons using Helen’s recipe weren’t perfect, but that was mostly because of me. Even with her recipe, I still had a few batches that flopped.  I think I’ll need a lot more practice before I can start boasting about my macaron-making skills.  But, they were the ones that had the frilliest feet and the nicest texture of all.

(Much better “feet” with Helen’s recipe.  Though still not as smooth as they should be.)

With my five flavors of macarons safely tucked away in my freezer, it was time to begin working on the fillings.  This was another hair-pulling exercise in futility!  I had to consider flavor, texture and color.  Should I make ganache?  Curd?  Buttercream?  The stress was killing me!   I finally decided to do a little of each.

Here’s the 411 on my macaron menu:

Raspberry Macarons with Bittersweet Chocolate Ganache (adapted from one of Dorie’s recipes)

Lemon Macarons with Raspberry Cream (based on Dorie’s recipe for Extraordinary Lemon Cream)

Chocolate-Hazelnut Macarons with Fleur de Sel Caramel and Nutella

Matcha Macarons with White-Chocolate-Passion Fruit Ganache

Lavender Macarons with Blackberry and Vanilla Bean Buttercream

(Oooh!  I really like this shot! Since I rarely drink tea, I’m glad I could use that teapot for something!)

Out of all of the fillings I used, the ones that worked the best were the ganaches and the buttercreams.  The caramel and the raspberry cream didn’t hold their shape once piped into the macarons and dribbled down the sides a little.  It was a shame because that raspberry cream was hands down the best tasting filling of the lot, although the passion fruit ganache was a very close second.

(dribbly Raspberry Cream filling oozing out of a lemon macaron)

Even though my macarons won’t win any beauty contests, I am very pleased with the way both the flavors and the colors turned out.  They really tasted delicious!  I’m also pretty proud of myself for completing this challenge with not one, but five different kinds of macarons.

I can’t say that I’ll be making macarons again anytime soon.  I was so frazzled and aggravated and MAD during the whole several day process, that I barely had the energy to photograph them and write this post!  As a matter of fact, out of the eleven batches I made, I was really only happy with four.   I think that for the time being I should just restrict myself to eating them!

(These were my two very favorite macarons.  Get a load of those feet!!!)

I am not going to waste my time typing out the challenge recipe.  It didn’t work at all for me and I can’t, in good conscience, recommend it.  Maybe a more seasoned baker could have pulled it off.   If you really want to try it, you can certainly find it on any one of the hundreds of sites of other DBers.  Visit The Daring Kitchen for the blogroll of members.

As for the fillings, I made both of the ganaches and buttercreams myself.  I also made the raspberry cream (on a wing and a prayer).   I’ve provided the recipes for each below.  The caramel and the Nutella were store bought.

If you’d like to try Syrup and Tang’s macaron recipe, you can find it here.  He has very detailed step-by-step instructions along with lots and lots of pictures.  Helen has numerous macaron recipes in all kinds of interesting flavors on her site as well.  She has also written a comprehensive tutorial on making macarons for Desserts Magazine.  I downloaded a copy of it when it first came out.  Unfortunately, I think now you have to pay for it. Here is a link to the recipe that should still work.  I do think it’s worth a look if you are serious about learning the correct way to make macarons.

(Lavender Macarons with Vanilla Bean and Blackberry Swiss Buttercream)

Bittersweet Chocolate Ganache

Ingredients:

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
3/4 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

Directions:

Place the chocolate in a medium-sized bowl and set aside. Bring the cream to a full boil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. While the cream is coming to the boil, work the butter with a rubber spatula until it is very soft and creamy. Set the butter aside.

When the cream begins to boil, remove the pan from the heat and, working with the rubber spatula, gently stir the cream into the chocolate. Start stirring in the center of the mixture and work your way out in widening concentric circles. Continue to stir—without creating bubbles—until the chocolate is completely melted and the mixture is smooth. Leave the bowl on the counter for a few minutes to cool.

Add the butter to the mixture in two additions, mixing with the spatula from the center of the mixture out in widening concentric circles. When the butter is fully incorporated, the ganache should be smooth and glossy.

You can use the ganache now, leave it on the counter to set to a spreadable or pipeable consistency or chill it in the refrigerator. If the ganache chills too much and becomes too firm, you can give it a very quick zap in the microwave to bring it back to the desired consistency, or just let it stand at room temperature.

White Chocolate-Passion Fruit Ganache

Ingredients:

8 ounces white chocolate, finely chopped (Do not use white chocolate chips.)
1/2 cup passion fruit puree
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

Directions:

Place the passion fruit puree and white chocolate in a medium-sized bowl and set aside. Bring the cream to a full boil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. While the cream is coming to the boil, work the butter with a rubber spatula until it is very soft and creamy. Set the butter aside.

When the mixture begins to boil, remove the pan from the heat and, working with the rubber spatula, gently stir the passion fruit/cream into the chocolate. Start stirring in the center of the mixture and work your way out in widening concentric circles. Continue to stir—without creating bubbles—until the chocolate is completely melted and the mixture is smooth. Leave the bowl on the counter for a few minutes to cool.

Add the butter to the mixture in two additions, mixing with the spatula from the center of the mixture out in widening concentric circles. When the butter is fully incorporated, the ganache should be smooth and glossy.

Chill the ganache until it is the desired consistency for piping.

Blackberry Swiss Buttercream

Ingredients:

4 ounces egg whites
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened and cut into 1-inch pieces
1/3 to 1/2 cup blackberry puree depending on your taste

Directions:

Place a medium sized pan with about 3 inches of water over high heat and bring to a boil.  When boiling, adjust the heat down so that the water keeps at a simmer.

Combine egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar in a medium-sized heat proof bowl and place it over the simmering water, whisking vigorously until white and foamy or until mixture reaches 160 degrees F. This should take about 5-7 minutes.

Pour the contents of the bowl into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a wire whisk attachment.  Whip the egg white mixture on high speed until it reaches stiff peaks, about 6-8 minutes.

Switch to the paddle attachment and turn the mixer to medium. Beat in the butter a piece at a time. As you are adding the last chunks of butter, the buttercream may start to look curdled.  Don’t worry, just keep beating and add the remaining butter, it will all come together.

Once all of the butter has been incorporated, add the blackberry puree and continue to beat until thoroughly combined.  You should have a lovely, silky, purply buttercream.  If your mixture curdles again, turn the mixer up to high and beat the hell out of it!

Use immediately or chill.

Vanilla Bean Swiss Buttercream

Ingredients:

4 ounces egg whites
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste

Directions:

Place a medium sized pan with about 3 inches of water over high heat and bring to a boil.  When boiling, adjust the heat down so that the water keeps at a simmer.

Combine egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar in a medium-sized heat proof bowl and place it over the simmering water, whisking vigorously until white and foamy or until mixture reaches 160 degrees F. This should take about 5-7 minutes.

Pour the contents of the bowl into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a wire whisk attachment.  Whip the egg white mixture on high speed until it reaches stiff peaks, about 6-8 minutes.

Switch to the paddle attachment and turn the mixer to medium. Beat in the butter a piece at a time. As you are adding the last chunks of butter, the buttercream may start to look curdled.  Don’t worry, just keep beating and add the remaining butter, it will all come together.

Once all of the butter has been incorporated, add the vanilla paste and continue to beat until thoroughly combined.  You should have a lovely, silky, vanilla-specked buttercream.  If your mixture curdles again, turn the mixer up to high and beat the hell out of it!

Use immediately or chill.

Raspberry Cream

I used this recipe for Raspberry Curd from Recipezaar.  When the curd was still warm, I whizzed it in the blender while adding 14 tablespoons of softened butter to it, 1 tablespoon at a time.  Then, I kept whizzing it in the blender for another 3 minutes.  After that, I put the mixture in a jar and chilled it until it was thickened.

Enjoy!

Do you remember the old United Airlines slogan “Fly the Friendly Skies”?  It was the tagline on most of the company’s advertising from 1966 to about 1996. They promised an idyllic in-flight experience comparable to what you might encounter at a 4-star resort.  Take a look:

Doesn’t that look like fun?  I don’t know about you, but I sure want Nancy as my flight attendant the next time I fly anywhere!

Well, let me tell you something, people.  United’s skies may be friendly, but here on the ground the airline is anything but!  In fact, this next video is a much more accurate representation of the treatment I received a few days ago when I attempted to fly to California from the Tampa International Airport. 

Yes, I said “attempted”.  That’s because I never made it on the plane.  In fact, I never made it to California at all, although not for lack of trying.  Right now, I’m sitting at home in front of my computer, absolutely seething with anger over what happened.  You see, dear readers, this Lonesome Traveler has been grounded!

It all started a few months ago when the kind folks at POM Wonderful invited me to come out to California as their guest for the first ever POM Wonderful Harvest Blogger Tour held on October 19-21.  The trip was to include a tour of POMS 18,000 acres of pomegranate orchards, a tour of their fruit processing and juicing plant, and a lot of great food, networking and fun.  There were around fifteen bloggers invited to participate and I was so flattered and excited to be one of them!

On Monday Mr. SGCC and I got up before dawn (which was a herculean effort for me), and made the 70 mile trip up to the Tampa airport, for what was to be the beginning of another Lonesome Traveler adventure.   My flight was scheduled to depart at 8:00 am, with a brief layover in Denver, and land in Fresno around noon.

We arrived at the airport at 7:00.  We didn’t want to waste time parking, so Mr. SGCC dropped me off right in front of the United Airlines entrance at the terminal.  I stood in line for for a while at the Skycap station to get checked in.  When it was my turn, I was told that they couldn’t check me in outside and that I would have to go inside to do so.  So, I went inside and waited for a while on another line.  By the time I got up to the front of the queue, it was 7:21.  I found myself in front of a scrawny, pinchy-faced, little blonde woman with an attitude.  I handed over my suitcase and told her that I was checking in for the flight to Denver.  Without ever even looking up at me, she informed me that check-in for my flight had just closed and that I wouldn’t be able to get on the flight.

WTF!!!

I started to get a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach, and told myself that she must have misheard me.  After all, she didn’t seem to be paying much attention.  So, I tried again.

Me:  “No, I’m on the Denver flight.  It’s not set to take off for another forty minutes.”

Pinchy-Faced Snotty United Airlines Employee: “I heard you.  That flight is closed.”

Me: (incredulously) “Closed?  What do you mean closed?”

P-FSUAE:  “I mean closed.  We have a 45 minute cut off time.”

Me:  “But…I was here well before that!  I’ve been waiting in line outside and then on this one since 7:00!”

P-FSUAE: (randomly punching keys on her computer) “Well, you weren’t here.  It’s 45 minutes from the time you get here.”

Me:  “Are you serious!  I have plenty of time to make that flight!  I didn’t even know that you had a 45 minute cut-off! Every other airline I’ve flown on has a 30 minute cut-off”

P-FSUAE: (still not looking at me) “Well, it’s on our web site.  You should have checked.”

Me:  “Look.  I didn’t make these travel arrangements.  Someone else made them for me.  If I had, I probably would have checked your web site.  But, it never occurred to me to do so.  In the time we’ve wasted debating this, I could have already gotten through security and been on the plane!  I NEED to get on that plane!!!”

P-FSUAE: (as she turns and walks away) “Sorry, there’s nothing I can do.”

Me: (really pissed off and a little hysterical) “Listen lady, don’t you walk away from me!  I want to talk to your supervisor.”

P-FSUAE:  “She’ll tell you the same thing.  We can’t check you in.”

Me: (begging) “Please!  Isn’t there anything I can do to get on that flight (like buying you a condo in the Bahamas)  This is a really special trip?  I’ve driven all the way up here from Sarasota!”

P-FSUAE:  “No.”

Me: (thinking shitshitshitshit) “Sigh…Okay, can you get me on another flight that will eventually get me to Fresno?”

P-FSUAE: (back at the computer, clicking away) “You can go standby to Chicago, then standby to Los Angelis and then standby to Fresno.  If you make it on all of the flights, you’ll get to Fresno at 10:30 pm Pacific time.”

Me:  “That’s it?  So, what are my chances of making it on all three flights?”

P-FSUAE: (looking down again) “Not good.”

Me:  “So, there’s a good chance that I’ll be stranded in either Chicago or L.A.?”

P-FSUAE:  “Yes.”

Me:  “That’s it?”

P-FSUAE:  “Yes.”

Me:  “Whatever happened to ‘The Friendly Skies of United’?”

P-FSUAE: (blank stare and no response)

Then, P-FSUAE turned and walked away again, leaving me standing there with my suitcase, my unused ticket and an angry mob forming behind me.  I had no choice but to call Mr. SGCC and tell him to come back and get me.

I was crestfallen! I was bereft!  But most of all, I was f%@$*&g FURIOUS!!

(Photo from istockphoto.com)

When Mr. SGCC got back to the airport, we spent the next two hours running from one airline counter to the next trying to get me on a plane that somehow would end up in Fresno that day.  We got bupkis.   I do want to note, however, that every single employee we spoke to from every other airline was helpful, courteous and sympathetic – unlike those at United.  One lady at Continental told us that the United flight was probably overbooked and that they had most likely given away my seat before I’d ever even had my unpleasant exchange with P-FSUAE.  Based on P-FSUAE’s rapt attention to her computer screen, she probably already knew that while she was arguing with me!

Before leaving the airport, we eventually did speak to a rather apathetic United Airlines supervisor who told us that the reason that they didn’t check me in was because I had a suitcase to check.  She said that if I had only had only a carry-on bag, I could have still gotten on my flight.

HUH?!?!

I had plenty of room in my carry-on bag for some fresh underwear and a change of clothes.  I could have easily left my suitcase behind with Mr. SGCC and just picked up a few things in Fresno. But, I didn’t have that option, because P-FSUAE, never told me that I was being denied because of my suitcase!  Remember, I asked her if there was anything I could do to get on that plane?  Why didn’t she tell me then?

I posed that same question to the apathetic supervisor and do you know what she said to me?  You’re gonna love this one!  She looked me right in the eye and told me “Well, you should have known that.”

I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN THAT???

How the f*&# should I have known that?  It’s not like I work for United Airlines and have anything to do with setting their policies!  I’m not a seasoned traveler who globetrots around the world and flies all the time!  I’m just a poor schlub food blogger who was given a once in a lifetime opportunity and got screwed because of a lazy and callous airline employee who never got the memo that the customer is always right!

By the way, when I finally got home and after I called Jeff at POM Wonderful to tell him what had happened, I did go and take a look on the United Airlines web site.  With a little digging, I did find the section about check-in times and yes, there is a 45 minute cut-off for baggage – not passengers. It was not listed under the Itineraries and Check-in section, which is where I would think is the logical place for such information.  Instead, it was listed in the Baggage section at the bottom of the page under the heading “Additional Information”.  If United Airlines is such a stickler on this issue, shouldn’t this information be more prominently displayed and easier to find?   In fact, why isn’t this rule printed on the travel documents themselves?

I’ve also spoken to several travel agents about what happened and every one told me that United Airlines was notorious for puling this sort of thing on passengers and that they were difficult to work with.  Each agreed with the theory that the flight was probably oversold and that they gave away my seat.

Now, I’m not saying that I am completely blameless in all of this.  In retrospect, I probably should have checked out the web site and I might have learned about the check-in rule.  Though, I wouldn’t have been looking for it, so maybe not. Since I’d never, ever had this situation come up before, it never occurred to me that this could happen.

What do you all think about it?  Was United Airlines right or wrong in refusing to allow me to board my flight when there was still time to do so?  Since I had obviously been waiting on line prior to the cut-off time, should they have tried to accommodate me?  Should  P-FSUAE have explained to me that it was my baggage that was the problem and let me have the option of leaving it behind?  Should the airline be more aggressive in letting passengers know that there even is a cut-off time?  Or, do you all think that I am a big crybaby who got what she deserved?

Jeff from POM and the other lucky bloggers who actually got to attend were kind enough to keep me posted on all that I was missing was happening.  I alternated between being happy and sad about that.  From all of the pictures and posts I’ve seen, I think they all had a wonderful time.   Below is a list of links of all the bloggers who were there. I wish I could have met them.  I hope you check out their blogs and see for yourself that POM Wonderful really is wonderful!

http://GreenLiteBites.com

http://balancejoyanddelicias.wordpress.com/

http://carrotsncake.com

http://www.fitnessista.com

http://www.thewickednoodle.com

http://livinghealthyintherealworld.wordpress.com

http://www.flanboyanteats.com

http://tasteofpace.blogspot.com

http://healthytippingpoint.blogspot.com

http://dinedishdelish.blogspot.com

http://glutenfreeeasily.com

http://www.visionsofsugarplum.com

http://ericriveracooks.com

http://heathereatsalmondbutter.com

After I attended BlogHer Food, I had an extra day in San Francisco to hang around and do some more sightseeing before my flight home.   The first place I hit was The Ferry Building Marketplace.  It isn’t a very large market, but what it lacks in quantity, it more than makes up for in quality.

The San Francisco Ferry Building is a terminal for ferries that travel across the San Francisco Bay.   The present structure opened in 1898, replacing its wooden predecessor, and survived both the 1906 and the 1989 earthquakes.

On the grounds outside the building there was what appeared to be a farmer’s market/craft fair going on.  I wandered around a little, picked up a couple of t-shirts and moved on.  Inside the building was where the real action was!  There was a host of specialty and artisan food shops and restaurants.  I was in heaven!  It was a good thing I packed one of my big old Envirosax bags in my purse that morning!

I spent some time at Recchiuti Confectioners and stocked up on lots of fleur de sel caramels and pâtes de fruits. Then, I moved on to some macarons at Miette, and over to some “pig” at Boccalone Salumeria.  My bag was getting pretty full and I was winding up my excursion when I caught a glimpse of something that stopped me in my tracks.  It was bushels full of these…..

FRESH ORGANIC CHANTERELLE MUSHROOMS!!!

I was beside myself with glee!  I had heard much about them, and read much about them, but had never, ever seen them up close and personal before.  I immediately knew what I had to do – buy a bunch and take them home with me.  Hey, it was only 3000 miles to get home. I could do it.  And, I wasn’t about to let airport security get in my way!

Chanterelles are one of the most distinctively flavored kind of mushrooms in the world. They are described as having the fragrance of apricots and and a slightly peppery, almost floral flavor.  They are found in mixed woods, hiding under conifers and oaks.  Chanterelle mushrooms are prized by professional chefs, home cooks, and anyone who knows what they are.

As the clerk at Far West Fungi tallied up my purchases (which also included a bag of dried morels and some truffle salt), I saw something else that made me absolutely swoon!

It’s been absolute ages since I’ve been able to participate in Tuesdays with Dorie!  Between work responsibilities, my new gigs, family obligations and my travel adventures, I’ve been playing a perpetual game of catch-up.  Last weekend, I found myself with a little time to breathe and snuck in some baking time to make this week’s TWD recipe, Allspice Muffins.  Boy, am I glad I did! 

The recipe, selected by Kayte of Grandma’s Kitchen Table, was ridiculously easy to make and the resulting muffins were fluffy, light and permeated with the heady fragrance of allspice.  The muffins themselves were were very simply flavored with the allspice, lemon zest and a touch of vanilla.  What really made them special was the buttery streusel crumb topping that finished them off.  Prepared with butter, brown sugar and yet more allspice, it was oh, so delicious!

I have to say that I wasn’t expecting these muffins to be a good as they were.  I’ve said many times that I’m more of a cupcake girl than a muffin maven.  But, when I bit into one of these sassy little beauties, I was smitten!

If you’d like to try making these Allspice Muffins for yourself, the recipe can be found in Dorie’s book, Baking: From My Home To Yours, or on Kayte’s site.  Also, if you have a few minutes, make sure to check out the TWD blogroll to see lots and lots more Allspice Muffins!

Sheesh!  It’s unbelievable how long it took me to prepare this post!  It’s also unbelievable to find that after shooting almost 500 pictures, how few were actually usable!   Such is the cross of a food blogger, I guess.  But, I couldn’t not tell you about the rest of my San Francisco adventure, so here goes….

Saturday was conference day and I hit the ground running.  I’m not normally a morning person, but my body clock was still on East Coast time, so 7:00 am felt like 10:00 am, which was fine with me!  As I made the short hike from my hotel to the St. Regis for BlogHer Food, my anticipation was great and my expectations were high.  Sure, I was looking forward to the conference itself, but I was looking even more forward to meeting so many of the talented and creative bloggers that I’d previously only known through my Google reader. 

When I arrived, breakfast in the Gallery Ballroom was in full swing.  I scanned the sea of animated faces hoping to zero in on someone I knew, but no such luck.  So, I found myself an empty chair next to a few friendly faces, grabbed some steaming hot coffee and settled in.

Perhaps now would be a good time to mention that I have the memory of a sieve. I met so many lovely bloggers during the course of the day, and for the life of me, I just can’t remember all of their names.  This is what happens when you start to get old.  They say “You’re not getting older, you’re getting better”, but that is a lot of crap.  Trust me, we’re just getting older, and in my case, “stupider”!   So, I’m going to apologize right now to anyone and everyone that I met whose name escapes me.  You know who you are.

What I do remember, however, are the various breakout sessions I attended and the excellent speakers who led them. Many of these presenters are the very bloggers that I often turn to for inspiration and guidance for my own site.  I tried to hit as many as I could for at least part of the time. There was something for everyone, whether you were looking to improve your photography skills, home your writing style, save the World or get a book deal.   The folks at BlogHer provided for official livebloggers to cover all of the conference sessions and have graciously made all of the posts available on the BlogHer web site.  There is also a BlogHer Food Flickr group where you can check out hundreds of photos of all the action.

During the morning break I decided to run back to my hotel and unload my laptop and my swag bag.  As I waited for the elevator, I glanced around and saw a very familiar face.  My heart started to race and my palms started to sweat as it dawned on me who that face belonged to.

Are you ready for this?

Really, really ready?

Okay. Here goes.

It was…………

TIM GUNN!!!

I kid you not. Tim Gunn from Project Runway was standing right next to me, waiting for the elevator!  I almost died! Project Runway is one of my all time favorite TV shows, and I absolutely adore Tim Gunn.  What else could I do but introduce myself and gush all over him?  We rode in the elevator together and chatted the whole way up to the 19th floor, where I got off.  Let me tell you, dear readers, that he is just as friendly and charming in real life as he comes across on television.  A true class act!   He was in town to emcee a swanky Kate Spade fashion show at Bloomingdales, and he actually invited me to come. Oh, if only I could have!  But, BlogHer Food was my priority that day and so I had to decline. But I will admit, I was tempted!

It was only after I reached my hotel room that I cringed.  “OMG!” I thought.  “What do I look like?”  “Is my hair okay?” “Do I have lipstick on?” “Was my outfit cute enough?  ”Did Tim Gunn think I looked like a fashion disaster!?!?” ACK!!! I imagined him tsk-tsking and calling down to the front desk to ask for the room number of that poor, unfortunate blogger so that he could send Nina Garcia to come and work me over.

I rushed to the mirror, held my breath and took a look.  Hmmm.  Not too bad.  It was a good thing that I wanted to impress my blogger friends and took some extra time that morning to gussy up a little.  Still, I couldn’t be too careful.  I swiped on another coat of mascara and flat-ironed my hair.  You know, just in case I ran into Tim Gunn again on my way out.

Luckily, I arrived back at the St. Regis just in time for lunch.  Or was it?  I pulled up a chair at a table with Jen, Helen, Chuck, Anita, Tami, Caitlin, and Ruth Ann,  and we all admired how prettily set up it was. Oh boy!  I was really looking forward to that lunch!  There was a lovely Salade Nicoise in the center of the table.  So far, so good.  Then, I took a gander at the menu.  The lunch was being sponsored by Bertolli Frozen Meals.  Then, I realized that the lunch actually WAS Bertolli Frozen Meals!  HUH?  Frozen pasta meals served at a luncheon for 300 food bloggers?

Don’t get me wrong.  I have nothing against Bertolli.  In fact, I happily use several of their products.  I’ve even tried some of their pasta meals, and they’re not bad in a pinch, especially if you add other stuff to them.  And, I’m certainly grateful for their sponsorship.  But, I’m sorry.  You. do. not. serve. frozen. food. at. a. food. blogger. luncheon. period.  I suppose we should all have been thankful that the official lunch sponsor wasn’t Healthy Choice, another conference sponsor.  Imagine the uproar if we had been served micro-meals for lunch instead!  Yikes!

To add insult to injury, we then were subjected to an hour long infomercial hosted by Bertolli’s pitch man, Rocco DiSpirito.  Rocco bounced around the room babbling something about we food bloggers “having the power” and being “heroes”.  Whatever. He also tried to convince us that he serves these meals to company and everybody loves them.  Yeah, right! It’s a good thing that Rocco is so devilishly handsome or else things might have gotten ugly!  Oh wait….things did get a little ugly.

As I was in denial, I didn’t actually take any pictures of the Bertolli food, but I did get a nice shot of Jen taking pictures of it (with Amy in the background).

I also took a picture of Tami taking a picture of me.  Hee hee!

I tried to get a decent shot of Rocco, but he moved around too damn much.

BTW, I heard that several of my blogger friends got wind of the lunch menu ahead of time and slipped out to a nearby restaurant for lunch.  All I have to say to them is…..

Why in the hell didn’t you invite me!!! 

After lunch there was a fun chocolate demonstration sponsored by Scharffen Berger featuring Chef Elizabeth Faulkner, chef/owner of the popular San Francisco restaurant, bar, and patisserie, Citizen Cake.   You may remember Chef Faulkner from Top Chef Masters and Iron Chef America, but she has also been featured in numerous publications such as Fine Cooking, Food & Wine, Pastry Art & Design, Gourmet and W.   In honor of Sharffen Berger’s Chocolate Adventure Contest, Chef Faulkner created some truly sticky, gooey, creamy, chewy chocolate creations using a myriad of wild and wacky ingredients.  When she was finished, we were all given latex surgical gloves and encouraged to dig in with our hands!  It was interesting to say the least, but maybe a little too sticky, gooey, creamy, chewy – even for me!

Here’s Joy from Gourmeted enjoying a little mid-afternoon chocolate overload.  Isn’t she a total cutie pie?  I love her!

After a fun and inspiring keynote Q & A session with Elise from Simply Recipes, Ree from The Pioneer Woman Cooks and my favorite ice cream guru, David Lebovitz, we all hightailed it out to the terrace for cocktails, canapés and conversation.

From there, I met up with some more terrific bloggers for dinner at one of the newest SF hotspots, Contigo. Andrea, Lydia, Kalyn, T.W., Val, Rebecca and I snagged a few taxis and headed over to one of the most memorable meals I’ve ever eaten.  Contigo is a new Spanish and Catalan restaurant featuring small (”pica-pica”) and large dishes (”platillos”) inspired by the vivid flavors of that area. They also offer artisanal hams and Catalan flatbreads from their wood burning oven. Chef  Brett cooks everything from scratch using the products of  local, organic, and humane farmers, ranchers, fishermen, and artisans.

Here we are:  T.W., Moi, Rebecca, Lydia, Andrea, Kalyn and Val.  What a handsome group!

Of course, being food bloggers, we couldn’t come to a consensus on what to order, so we pretty much ordered some of everything on the menu.  With all of the interesting and delicious sounding offerings to choose from, how could we ever have limited ourselves to just a few?  After sampling at least a dozen different dishes, you would think that they’d all begin to run together, but each one was as unique and distinctly flavored as the one before it.  I’m still dreaming of the Tripe with Chorizo and Chickpeas, the Patatas Bravas and the Calamares Stuffed with Lobster Mushrooms.  And the Piquillo Peppers Stuffed with Oxtail, Pine Nuts and Raisins?  Sublime!

This is the Jamón Ibérico de Bellota, which is the crown jewel of Spanish hams.  Aged for 36 months, his ham is from free-range pigs that roam oak forests along the border between Spain and Portugal, eating only acorns.

If you ever have the good fortune to find yourself in San Francisco, you MUST visit Contigo.  It really is an experience not to be missed.  Besides, you’ll be supporting a fellow food blogger.  Brett Emerson, the chef/owner of the place, is the voice behind In Praise of Sardines.

After literally rolling ourselves out the door of Contigo, we had one more stop to make. Jaden, Ree and Elise were graciously hosting a big post-conference bash at Tropisueno, and we were late, late, late!  Let me just say that these ladies really know how to throw a party!  There was lots of dancing, eating, drinking and all around celebrating.  I wish we had been able to get there a little sooner as the festivities were winding down when we arrived.  But, it was still great fun to do some more mingling with everyone.  Our hostesses generously presented each of us with a fab swag bag filled with all sorts of useful kitchen goodies from Chef’s Catalog.  My sincerest thanks go out to all three of them, not just for the party and the swag, but for also being a constant source of inspiration to me, and for showing by example what a great food blog can be!

As I’ve said before, all good things must come to an end, and BlogHer Food was no exception.  I laughed a lot, ate a lot, shopped a lot and most importantly, I learned a lot.  I’m so thankful that I had the opportunity to reconnect with some great bloggers that I already knew and to meet so many awesome new bloggers for the first time, like Ashley, Caitlin, Laura, Dana, Susan, Kristen, Zoe, Amy, Stephanie, Wendy, Alice, Denise, Ruth Ann, Cora and so many more!

Here’s a shot I took of the amazing night time view from my hotel room window.  Isn’t it pretty?  I love how all of the city lights look like they have little tails.  They kind of look like neon tadpoles, don’t they?   I miss San Francisco!

Kalyn has posted a list of lots of other BlogHer Food recaps on her site, so check it out if you’d like some different perspectives.

In the meantime, I’ve been having some fun cooking with the fresh chanterelles and black truffle that I bought at The Ferry Building Marketplace and hand carried home three thousand miles in my purse! But, more on that later.