I want to hug my Crock-Pot.

I've been trying hard to get into the habit of posting more frequently, but have been distracted with my TV show obsessions as of late. Luckily, they've all finished up their seasons, so I can finally get back to my LIFE. And this blog.

This slow-cooker stroganoff was something I made a while back, when it was probably a bit cooler. But with June gloom in full swing, a warm, meaty plate of slow-cooked beef and pasta is totally appropriate for dinner, I say.

Beef Stroganoff (recipe adapted from Everyday Food)

2-3 pounds beef chuck (with decent marbling), trimmed of excess fat and cut into 1/2 inch slices
1 sweet brown onion, chopped
2/3 pounds white button mushrooms, trimmed and halved
1/3 pounds cremini mushrooms, trimmed and halved
Coarse salt and ground pepper
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup sour cream, plus more for serving
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
Cooked egg noodles, rotini, or other short pasta
Chopped fresh dill, for garnish

In a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker, toss beef, onion and mushrooms with 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours. Turn off or keep on warm.

In a 2-cup heatproof measuring cup, stir cornstarch with 2 tablespoons water. Ladle about a cup of cooking liquid into measuring cup, whisk to combine. Pour mixture into a small saucepan over medium-low heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 1 minute, until smooth and thickened. Pour cornstarch mixture into slow cooker and stir well. Stir in sour cream and Dijon mustard.

Serve beef over noodles and garnish generously with dill and a dollop of sour cream, if desired (and you will desire it).

WWYD (FAKB)?

Things I would do(oo-oo) for a Neapolitan Klondike bar:

1. Tweet about craving it after hearing about Neapolitan Klondikes from the helpful mustached fellow employed at my local Paper Source.

2. Visit KlondikeBar.com and use its store locator in an attempt to find the Neapolitan bars, only to discover the closest store that carries them is located 50 miles away; tweet about my disappointment.

3. Say YES PLEASE after the kind folks at Klondike offered to me, on Twitter, a "free one-time shipment" of Neapolitan Klondikes in response to aforementioned tweet.

4. Stumble out of bed the next morning to accept a big cold package packed with dry ice while addressing my mother's quizzical stares.

5. Completely disregard my dentist's recommendations to eat only soft, lukewarm foods after getting my wisdom tooth pulled that same day.

6. Substitute my breakfast for one the following day.

7. Begin working on a strategy to somehow obtain future boxes of Neapolitan Klondikes.

(Unique) LA day.

Being primarily an OC gal, I don't get to explore LA all that often. But my cousin lives and goes to school there, and she is the perfect excuse to visit. Also, she knows her way about town, and I get to be her chauffeur for a day. It's a win for all.

I had scheduled an "LA day" on my calendar not really sure what was in store. But I did know that we were going to start the day with grilled cheese. I had been looking forward to this for weeks. Clementine was having "Grilled Cheese Month" specials the whole month of April, and I was lucky to make it for the final weekend.

Behold the baked potato melt:

Potato, bacon, broccoli and cheesy goodness between two slices of potato dill bread. I was able to eat about a third of the sandwich before my appetite succumbed to its richness and I could not take one more bite. Eating a tuna-cheddar salad and part of my cousin's ham and Gruyère on pretzel bread probably had something to do with that, too. 

Also, the sweet homemade pickles. Delicious. Take it from someone who hates pickles. Or don't. It's up to you. (But seriously, eat the pickles.)

Our bellies quite content, we boxed our leftovers and were headed to our next stop: the Unique LA expo. This show features clothes, art, jewelry, awesome things, etc. from hundreds of independent local designers and artists. And, of course, it's fun for foodies, too.

Yummy things we saw:

Friggen' cute plush fruit by Janie XY.

Graze reusable sandwich/snack bags.

Sugars and herb packets by Backyard in a Jar.

Yummy things we ate:

An avocado vanilla popsicle from the Popshop. My cousin had lime mint mojito.

A CoolHaus snickerdoodle and candied bacon ice cream sandwich. (Yes, we had ice cream and ice cream.)

Flying Pig's smoked chicken and short rib "tacos." I had only a bite of the chicken, and all I can say is: This truck better be coming to OC soon.

P.O.P. Candy's rich, buttery toffee. The thyme, walnut and cherries one was my favorite.

Yummy things I brought home with me:

An adorable steppie art print for my kitchen.

Strawberry chipotle jam by Backyard in a Jar. It's sweet with just the right amount of heat. It's been a little over a week and the jar's almost finished.

A Subeco shirt. For every shirt they sell, they plant a tree in the rain forest!

Yay LA!

Identity crisis now averted.

Question: What do you think Val is short for? Valerie? Valkyrie? Val Kilmer?

If you guessed any of these, I'm afraid you are incorrect. (I bet a few of you out there were kinda maybe hoping for Val Kilmer. Don't lie.)

The truth is, Val is a pseudonym. Well actually, it's kind of a pseudonym. It's a pseudo-pseudonym. Because it isn't completely fictitious.

Val is short for Valentina, my middle name. My first name is Inez.

There. It's out. You know my real first name.

I know it may not seem like that big of a deal (and many of you have already known), but it has been kind of a big deal for me. When I created this blog, I wanted to keep it completely separate from other aspects of my life (namely, my job). I wanted to be almost anonymous. That's why I went with Val: a shortened, ambiguous version of my middle name. Val was an alter ego, an online identity I hid behind to allow me to indulge in, without holding back even one tiny bit, what has been a serious passion of mine for years: food. Cooking food, eating food, rambling about food, food and more food.

But I'm outing myself now for these reasons:

1. (Most importantly,) I realized Val, this blog, and @myabsentmind do not make up an alter ego. This is me. And I don't want to be anonymous anymore. This is who I am, and I'm proud of it. YAY.
2. People in my personal life who later found my blog kept asking me why I posted as Val. I'm over explaining it, and the reason is no longer valid (as previously stated).
3. Many of the people I interact with at work already know about this blog anyway.
4. I was getting seriously annoyed with myself and my Val/Inez inconsistency in posting comments on other food blogs (Food Frenzy, Monster Munching, Furey and the Feast -- my favorite OC blogs). Sidenote: My photo of smoky beef stew with blue cheese and chives was totally on Food Frenzy a couple months back.
5. I love my first name. Kudos to my mama on that one.

So, that's pretty much it. Thanks for putting up with that, and sorry I kind of rambled. But that's how I do. That's why this is called food 'blah'g. (blah blah blah blah..)

This is my last blog entry posting as Val.

Wait for it...

This blog is coming back on or before May 1.

Get ready.

Happy New Year.

Here's to the start of a new decade!

And yes, this blog is still alive. But with a faint pulse for now.

All I want for Christmas...

I have decided that I want need the following items for Christmas:

A paella pan. Crate & Barrel, $30. With it, I will make Christmas paella. And/or New Year's paella.

And (of course), this paella cookbook. Amazon.com, $12.89 ($18.95 list price).

Ad Hoc at Home, by Thomas Keller. Amazon.com, $29.25 ($50 list price). Visit one of my favorite blogs, Furey and the Feast, for a recipe for brownies from this cookbook.

This deep-dish red lasagna baker. Cost Plus World Market, $20.

This ridiculously expensive Emile Henry pie dish (although this can wait as my mom recently discovered and gave to me a lovely blue Chantal pie dish among her seemingly endless supply of dishware/bakeware). Williams-Sonoma, $44.

Lunchbox Project prints by Lisa Orgler (in love with these right now). Etsy.com, $15.50.

Also, I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving!

Pumpkin chocolate fleck sugar cookies.

I meant to make these for Halloween.


Actually.. I've been meaning to make sugar cookies for Halloween for at least the past three years, ever since I bought Halloween cookie-cutters at a post-Halloween sale at Crate and Barrel. Those post-holiday sales are so very dangerous. My cookie cutter and cupcake liner collections are proof.

Anywho, as I had written in my last post, I have been doing a whole lot of pumpkin-hankerin' lately. And I wanted to make jack-o-lantern pumpkin sugar cookies that actually tasted like pumpkin. So here's a tried and true sugar cookie recipe from one of my favorite cookbook authors, Carole Walter, altered a bit with a little pumpkin-chocolate pizazz.

These cookies are sugar cookies with a hint of pumpkin -- not anything like pumpkin drop cookies that have more of a cakey texture. Also, I'm pretty particular about my sugar roll-out cookies. They've got to be firm (though not dry), and they've got to hold their shape -- 'cause cookies that spread out into indistinguishable blobs bug me.


But these.. these make me grin.


Pumpkin Chocolate Fleck Sugar Cookies
Adapted from "Classic Sugar Cookies," Great Cookies, Carole Walter

3 1/4 cups sifted cake flour (plus more if needed)
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly firm
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 cup finely shaved semisweet chocolate
1 large egg white, lightly beaten with 2 teaspoons water

To decorate:
Sparkling white sugar OR
Icing of various colors (made with confectioner's sugar and a bit of milk)

1. Strain together flour, baking powder, salt and pumpkin pie spice in a medium bowl. Set aside.
2. Using an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the butter and sugar on medium-low.
3. Beat the egg and vanilla together and mix into the butter-sugar mixture. Add the canned pumpkin. Mix in the dry ingredients in two additions, mixing just until combined.
4. Measure out about 1/4 the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Lightly knead the chocolate into the dough, being careful to not overwork.
5. Empty out the rest of the dough onto the floured surface and lightly knead the all the dough together three or four times to create a marbled effect. Divide into quarters and shape into four disks. Wrap each disk with plastic and chill for at least 30 minutes.


6. Using one disk at a time, roll the dough to a 1/4 inch thickness. Cut using various cookie cutters and transfer the cookies to a cookie sheet lined with parchment. Brush tops lightly with egg wash and sprinkle with sparkling sugar if desired.
7. Bake the cookies in a 350 degree oven for 12-14 minutes or until the edges begin to brown. Remove from oven and wait a few minutes before moving the cookies to a cooling rack. Wait until cookies are completely cool before decorating with icing, if desired.


These were yummy, but I think I'd prefer them just a tad sweeter. I might try adding 1/4 cup brown sugar next time, see what that does.

Summer and fall obsessions.

Hello! I'm slowly resurfacing and it's taken longer than expected. But, here we go. Up and at 'em.

Let's see. I think I still had a few posts left on Japan, but it's friggen' November for Pete's sake. I might do a wrap-up later.

For now: A few summer obsessions that have trickled into fall.

YummyEarth Organic Hot Chili Pops


Particularly, the Chili Mango Mambo pop -- a sweet, fruity sucker with a hot chili kick. And it's organic and natural and made with real, good stuff. Win! I get them at my local Sprouts.

Breyers Rocky Road Ice Cream


I practically lived off this during the hot summer months. I originally thought I liked Breyers ice cream in only strawberry and mint chocolate chip, and that the more traditional, richer ice creams just weren't.. rich enough. But their good ol' rocky road proved me wrong. Maybe it's just 'cause Breyers makes rocky road just the way I like it -- marshmallow swirl instead of whole marshmallows (a pet peeve of mine), chocolate-covered toasted almonds instead of just plain nuts, all in creamy chocolate ice cream. Mmm mm.

Pumpkin and chocolate

Oh, man. I have been craving this combo like mad recently. My boyfriend even offered to stack a brownie on top of a slice of pumpkin pie to help satisfy my craving, and I probably would have eaten it if it weren't for the root canal I had earlier that day.

Terrible experience, by the way, that root canal. I do not recommend it.

Rutabegorz has pretty much saved my life on more than one occasion with its gargantuan iced pumpkin cookie. It is thick and soft, almost cake-like, and my attempts to savor it slowly are always met with utter failure. I only wish chocolate milk was at the ready to wash it down.

The other weekend, I trekked out to Claremont for Some Crust Bakery's pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.


These are perfection -- the texture emulates a chocolate chip cookie over pumpkin cake, and the chips are always warm and gooey. I wanted to buy a hundred of them, but I walked away with only two. Whyyy did I buy only two?

It's ok though, because the following week I made these:

Pumpkin whoopie pies. Here's the recipe on MarthaStewart.com. When making the cookies, drop the batter in little spoonfuls unless you are planning to undertake whoopie pies the size of burgers.

I have been going pumpkin crazy -- expect future pumpkin posts.

Hi!

..atus. As in: hiatus. As in: this blog is taking a break (if you couldn't already tell), until October! See you then!