Channelling Chef Lorenzo

So.  You guys.  I'M GOING TO BE ON TV.  Yes.  For real.  I was contacted to see if I wanted to be on the recipe segment of Fox 8 Cleveland's morning show. UM HOW ABOUT YES.  So I will be cooking a delicious and Sassy Chicken Salad and chatting with them about ... well... Life in Cleveland.

Conversation topics I'm sure I will cover - my kids, Cleveland, and Destination Yarn.  Because there's only so long I can go without talking about yarn and the segment's 5 minutes so....

And!  As exciting as this is let me just take it up a notch with some backstory.  This is Chef Lorenzo, my great-grandfather:

He was a celebrity chef in the 50's.  Before celebrity chefs were a thing.  He hosted a cooking show that had quite a following in the greater Cleveland area.

His recipes have tv show air dates on them.  AWESOME.

 A poster from one of his events hangs in my kitchen:

I hope I do him proud tomorrow! 

(and also that i don't make a fool out of myself because SERIOUSLY)

The live (gulp) segment will be on Fox 8 tomorrow morning at around 8:30.  Set your dvr's!  And if you're not local I will post the clip after it airs.

Rosby's Berry Farm.

So it's full on FALL.  And a couple of weekends ago we took the kids on my favorite fall tradition:  Rosby's Berry Farm for pick your own raspberries:

 This was Tiny's first year there as someone eating solids.  He LOVED it.

We went with some of our friends so there was lots of running between the aisles and pretend play about berry monsters and I don't even know.  OUTSIDE FALL FUN:

I tried to get a group picture of the kids but well...

The two wonderful children who are not my own are smiling at the camera.  AND YET NOT A SINGLE ONE OF MINE IS AT ALL WHYYYYYYY.

Everyone had a great time:

Tiny and my grandpa. 4 generations of berry pickers.

When we got home the Dude - my sweets loving kid - helped me make a raspberry crisp.  I used some random recipes for the filling and the Burghbaby Blueberry Crisp recipe for the topping.  It was quite delicious served warm over vanilla ice cream.

I froze the rest.  There will be quite a few smoothies made with Rosby's berries over the winter!  And with our trip to Pattersons yesterday this is happening tomorrow.

SO MUCH YES.

YAY FALL!

Cleveland Garlic Festival.

So I have an awesome giveaway for you guys.  Tickets to the Cleveland Garlic Festival:

September 7 and 8 in Shaker Square this festival celebrates All Things Garlic.

Um... YUM.  SERIOUSLY YUM.

There is going to be all sorts of awesome things happening at this festival including:
Live grilling competitions (the audience gets to sample stuff.  YES.)
Tons of music (seriously look at this schedule)
Parades (who doesn't love one of those)
And a bunch more including something called a Tomato Throwdown and Miss Garlic which.  Yeah.  That's happening.

Sounds like a blast.  And also GARLIC.

The Mighty Locavores kids section sounds extra fun with a pedal tractor maze, rock climbing wall, story telling, ChalkArt classes, a "Taste the Season" game, and more.  Definitely a fun thing to check out with the kids.

See also:  GARLIC.

(in case you can't tell I'm a fan.  I doubt anything I've cooked in the last decade is garlic free.  Vampires would love me.)

This is also the annual fundraiser for the North Union Farmers Market - a nonprofit organization committed to championing the local foods of Northeast Ohio.  What a great mission statement!  And you know how I feel about local food.

Anyways I'm happy to be giving away two weekend passes to this super fun, Cleveland, family, and yummy event!  You can enter through rafflecopter below.  The giveaway ends on Monday at 12AM:

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Or if you don't win you can purchase tickets online here.    You can keep also up with all of the Cleveland Garlic Festival Happenings through their twitter, facebook, or instagram.

Yay GARLIC!

Disclosure:  I was offered two weekend passes to this event in exchange for this blog post.  Unfortunately I will be unable to attend as I'm out of town that weekend.  Much sadness ensues because GARLIC.

3 Easy Holiday Bark Recipes.

So continuing on this Holiday Bark path how about 3 more that are stupid easy - Cookies 'n Cream Bark, Roasted Almond Bark, and Rocky Road Bark.

Cookies 'n Cream Bark.

Roasted Almond Bark.

Rocky Road Bark.

Considering we're a week and a half out from Christmas (HOLYSHIT HOW DID THAT EVEN HAPPEN?!) we're officially in Last Minute Gift territory.  Any of these would be fantastic for some quick gifting.

Each of these three barks follows the same basic steps:

Melt, Mix, Dump.

That's it!  Stupid easy.  Nothing tricky, nothing fancy, no measuring at all.  The kind of baking you can do while also enjoying some Holiday Drinks (for example - Make yourself a White Russian substituting the cream for eggnog.  Seriously.  Go.  DO IT NOW.  Have one for the pregnant lady who is unable to participate in the holiday drinking season and is making up for it by making ridiculous amounts of candy.  AHEM.)

But!  I know it's easier to play along if I actually write out the recipes so... First start with my Tips for Making Bark & Working with Chocolate - all of those apply here.  Then:

Cookies 'n Cream Bark.

Ingredients:
1lb White Chocolate
Approx. 18-20 Oreos (somewhere in the neighborhood of a cup and a half)
Parchment paper

To Make:
Melt the white chocolate in a double boiler.
Smash up the Oreos. They can be as fine or as coarse as you want.  I used a ziplock bag and a kid:

HULKSMASH.

Yeah my Oreo's weren't all that evenly crushed.  Whatever.  It's bark.  Perfection is not the point here.

My Oreos are perfectly smashed, thank you very much.

Once the chocolate is completely melted and smooth take it off of the heat for a few minutes.  So it isn't scalding hot anymore.  Mix in all but about 1/4 cup of the smashed Oreos.  Dump mixture on a parchment lined baking sheet and spread it out so it's pretty even and thin.  Sprinkle the remaining Oreos on top.  Press the Oreos into the chocolate a little bit so that they stick.

Throw the whole mess in the 'fridge until it sets.  Take it out, let it come up to room tempature, and cut/break into pieces.

YUM.

Roasted Almond Bark.

Ingredients:
1lb White Chocolate
Approx. 1-1/4 cup whole Almonds
Parchment paper

To Make:
First roast the Almonds: Spread the Almonds evenly on a baking sheet.  Salt them if you want.  Put them in a 350 degree oven for approx. 10-15 minutes.  Keep an eye on them - you want them to be a nice, golden brown:

Melt the white chocolate in a double boiler.

Once the chocolate is completely melted and smooth take it off of the heat for a few minutes.  So it isn't scalding hot anymore.  Mix in the Almonds.  Dump mixture on a parchment lined baking sheet and spread it out so it's pretty even and thin.  Throw the whole mess in the 'fridge until it sets.  Take it out, let it come up to room temperature, and cut/break into pieces.

Mmmm Nutty and Delicious.

Rocky Road Bark:

Ingredients:
1lb Dark Chocolate
Approx. 1 cup Walnuts
Approx. 1 cup mini-marshmallows
Parchment paper

To Make:
Chop up the Walnuts (or you can buy them pre-chopped and save yourself a step.)
Melt the dark chocolate in a double boiler.





Once the chocolate is completely melted and smooth take it off of the heat for a few minutes.  So it isn't scalding hot anymore.  Mix in all but about 1/4 cup of the Walnuts.  Mix in all of the mini-marshmallows.

Dump mixture on a parchment lined baking sheet and spread it out so it's pretty even and thin. Sprinkle the remaining Walnuts on top.  Press the Walnuts into the chocolate a little bit so that they stick. 

Throw the whole mess in the 'fridge until it set.  Take it out, let it come up to room temperature, and cut/break into pieces.

It's so, SO good.

I plan on packaging these in small bags and giving them in sets.  Yay for simple, delicious, and homemade gifts!!!

Peppermint Bark and Other Bark Tips.

So.  If you guys follow me on twitter or instagram you probably know I've been on a bit of a candy bark jag lately.  Candy bark is just that - chocolate with candy or other nonsense poured out into a bark.  It's just so easy!  And fun!  And delicious!  And will be the best teacher's gift ever.

Peppermint Bark.  Aka the bark that started this whole thing.

Let me start at the beginning...

So my mom is a music teacher.  And was during the '80's.  Which means that she has approximately 1.1 million horrific, musical themed Christmas ornaments.  And other eye-searing "decorations."  But occasionally she would get something delicious.  The food presents were always the best ones.  So when I was a kid I vowed to never to ever give any teacher any gift that wasn't tasty and disposable.

Pictured:  the opposite of a hideous ornament.

Fast forward to this year - the first year that I have to give teacher's gifts for my kids.  I asked my mom what's hot right now and her answer unequivocally was Peppermint Bark.  It's all the rage with the high-end chocolate set.  So that's how it started... and things kindof snowballed from there:

Peppermint Bark, Roasted Almond Bark, Cookies 'n Cream Bark

So. Many. Delicious. Barks!

Samoa Bark, Rocky Road Bark, Salted Caramel Cashew Bark.

Can't stop... it's too dangerous to stop... I have to slow down first.

I plan on packaging them in small bags and giving sets of them as gifts.  Flawless.  Also Delicious.

How about some recipes!

Starting with the basics...  If you've never worked with chocolate before I have some tips about that at the end of this post.  Let's start by focusing on bark, though.

Tips for Making Barks:

- You can make a bark out of just about any combo of nonsense and chocolate.  Nuts! Dried Fruit!  Candy! Cereal! Pretzels!  All fair game.

- Use the best chocolate you can get your hands on.  This is not a time for melting chocolate chips.  The wafers are the best.  I got mine at Mare's Cake & Candy Supplies on Lorain.  They were super helpful and yay for shopping local!

- You want the bark to be pretty thin.  When in doubt spread it thinner.  If it gets too thick it's bulky and difficult to break apart.

- You're looking for a ratio of about 1.5 cups of nonsense to 1lb of chocolate.

Mmmmm.  Nonsense.

- The steps for bark are pretty much the same no matter what your ingredients.  Just melt the chocolate, mix in the nonsense, pour it out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and put it in the fridge to set.  That's it!

- To cut the bark I've been using a sharp butcher's knife combined with just breaking it.  You want it to be a bit rough looking.  The rustic look is very in.  Let the bark come up to room temp before you attempt cutting it, though or the the whole thing will chip apart.

- Store the bark in a cool place (like a fruit cellar) in a sealed container.  It's chocolate so as long as you don't use anything perishable it will keep for awhile.

On to a recipe!  This is the bark that started it all.  It's also one of the more complicated ones.  Stay tuned, though.  Easier recipes are coming!

Peppermint Bark:

Ingredients:
3/4 lb Dark Chocolate (approx 12 oz)
1lb White Chocolate
1 1/2 cup + crushed candy canes.  I actually found precrushed peppermint candies at JoAnn Fabric of all places.  If you can find it get that.  Much easier.
1/2 teaspoon or more or Peppermint Extract.
Parchment Paper.

To make:
- Melt Dark Chocolate in double boiler.  Add 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract. Taste it and see if it's pepperminty enough.  If not add more extract.  I ended up adding about 3/4 teaspoon but go slowly.  The extract is STRONG.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Pour melted chocolate onto the parchment paper and spread to get a thin, even layer.  Lightly tap the baking sheet on the counter a few times to even it all out.

-Put the chocolate in the fridge for 5min or so until it just starts to set.
-Melt the white chocolate in a double boiler.
-Mix about 1 1/4 cup of the crushed peppermint candies into the white chocolate.  You can add more if necessary - you want a pretty thick mixture.
- Pour the white chocolate/peppermint mix on top of the dark chocolate.  Spread it out in an even layer.

- Sprinkle any remaining peppermint candies on top.  Press into the chocolate lightly so it sticks.

 - Put the whole thing in the fridge to set.

Delicious! And super fancy! 

Yes. Yes. and then some more YES.

Tips for Working with Chocolate:

- Use a double boiler.  Yes, you can do it in the microwave.  But chocolate burns in a second so even if you watch it like a hawk there's a solid chance you will burn a batch.  Also maintaining a consistent temperature is next to impossible. The double boiler is a set it and forget it situation.  If you don't have a double boiler you can ghetto one out of a metal bowl and a pot like I did:

- Use low heat.  You don't want your water to be boiling, just steamy.

- Never, ever, ever get any water in your chocolate.  Bad News Bears.

- Once you put something other than chocolate in your pot, wash it before you use it again.  Certain flavors like mint or peanut butter will flavor EVERYTHING around it so be careful when mixing.  Also store anything strongly flavored separate from your other chocolate.

- I have heard of something called a leveling spatula.  I do not own one of these and yet have had no issues getting my barks even enough.  Just pour slowly and spread out from the center.  Once you've poured all of the chocolate out and have it pretty level give the whole pan a couple of solid taps on the counter.  This will really even things out.

- You don't want to handle chocolate too much.  Once it's made leave it alone.  The heat from your hands can melt and smudge it and it won't be nearly as pretty with fingerprints on it.

- Again, and I can't say this enough, use the best chocolate you can get your hands on.  It makes SUCH a difference!

Yay for delicious homemade gifts!!!!

Rosby's Berry Farm - a Fall Tradition.

So yesterday we did something that has become one of my favorite Cleveland fall traditions.  We went berry picking at Rosby's Berry Farm:

I love this place.  So do my kids:

Probably because it combines two of a toddler's favorite things.  Berries, and baskets:

The kids got to hang out with their grandma:

And nonni:

And Papa nonni:

And when I cut the dude off of berries out of the basket for fear he would explode he figured out pretty quickly how to get them from the source:

Although I think he liked watching the big trucks as much as he enjoyed eating the berries.  Dude is truck obsessed these days:

I think everyone had a really nice time:

Plus we ended up with something like 7 quarts:

Which meant that I was able to do this:


(the pic on the left is before adding sugar.  the one on the right after.  I had no idea what a difference in color it would make!)

I've never made jam on my own before.  I did it once with my mom but then it was pretty much just following her instructions.  I was a little nervous since I generally suck at things you have to measure precisely (aka anything involving following directions).  But it turned out holyshit good.

And my cans all popped:

Such a satisfying sound!  It will be nice to have homemade raspberry jam to eat all winter.  And just for some bonus fun how about a couple of pictures from last year's raspberry picking that are so awesome I can't stand it:

And last year's group shot:

My kids are growing up fast...  One more for the road.... a berry hat comparison:



First pic is my girl two years ago.  Second pic is the dude now.  Crazy how time flies!