6th day of GP Christmas

This might be a bit of a cop-out tip because I've sung the praises of Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream for ages now, but a list such as this would simply not be complete without it and I have both sent and received this spectacular treat as a gift, so it fits the theme.  And, full disclosure, I had my big Christmas party with my girls last night and I'm sitting here by the fire with a glass of red wine (little hair of the dog...) in a food coma induced by a yummy pot roast I made for dinner (it was a comfort food kind of day)... I've been saving the "obvious post" for a day when my brain was not in full gear and this, my friends, is it.

Still, if I have said it once, I've said it a million times - don't let an opportunity to taste this little scoop of heaven pass you by should it ever present itself.  Something sweet would really round out what is otherwise a very lovely evening and I would just about give anything to have a bowl of salty caramel handy right now!

I do have Jeni's cookbook here (another great gift from foodie friend...) but I think looking at it right now would just make me sad.  Will have to wait until I splurge on a new shipment...

5th day of GP Christmas

I discovered the topic of my last post, Bourbon Barrel Foods, and many other fun finds in Imbibe Magazine.  So, a tip in which to find tips.  If you haven't had a chance to peruse an issue of Imbibe, you're missing out.  Great articles, recipes and photos.  It's exactly what the title implies - all things liquid ... wine, beer, booze, coffee, tea, etc.  It's a totally fun read for foodies who love to drink.  Drinkies? Hmmm, there's gotta be a better word.

Speaking of foodies who love to drink ... nap time before a rocking Christmas party! Happy Saturday everyone.

4th day of GP Christmas

I had a couple days of cheese, now a couple days of Southern-inspired treats...

When my friend's birthday rolled around this past March, she was pregnant.  I'd been down to visit in February and she did lament how she missed wine and her beloved bourbon.  Flipping through a magazine, I  discovered Bourbon Barrel Foods.  They do smoked salt and sugars using old bourbon barrels.  I thought "What a neat way to get great flavor."  I was able to give my friend something she missed, you know, without that pesky fetal alcohol syndrome issue.

In fairness, I have yet to sample these goodies myself, but my friend raved.  She also sent me a blog post (I want to say it was a cookie recipe) by Ruth Reichl herself that mentioned "If you are lucky enough to have a friend that sends you bourbon sugar, you are lucky indeed."  I'm that friend!!  Since the stuff has received glowing reviews from two women whose opinions I value, I felt it safe to pass along to you all.

3rd day of GP Christmas

My foodie friend, who hails from Kentucky and is now settled in North Carolina, often accused me of being afraid of the South while we spent time together living in the Mid-West.  Not true!  I'll admit I dug into my Northeastern persona when I suddenly found myself no longer surrounded by fellow Northeasterners.  And Deliverance scared the crap out of everyone.  (Kidding, of course, I don't think the film is representative of an entire region.  Still, it was scary...)

But in my defense, it's soda, not pop and the appropriate answer to my missive that "I miss the coast" is not "Just head up to Cleveland, the Lake is there."  Still, foodie friend took a lot of pride in teaching the Yankee to drink bourbon and worked hard to get me to appreciate grits.  She openly laughed at me when I saw biscuits and gravy on a breakfast buffet for the first time (And we were in Indy, NOT the South).  Again, I really don't think being surprised by GRAVY for BREAKFAST is all that crazy.

Anyway....

So, for one birthday, she sent me a North Carolina staple - Moravian Cookies and Cheese Straws from Salem Baking Company, a gift I openly bragged about here.  The nice thing about this tip, at least for you Capital District folks, is you can just march your butt over to the Fresh Market and pick up the cookies.  I'm not sure if they carry Salem Baking brand cheese straws, but they do have their own which aren't too bad.  The Gingerbread variety is fantastic, as is the Myer Lemon.  My favorite were a special edition wafer with caramel, dipped in chocolate and sprinkled with fluer de sal.  If anyone sees those, you know where to find me!!

2nd day of GP Christmas

Sticking with the cheese theme for a bit, I have to share this amazing discovery I happened upon while spending New Year's in Bodega Bay, CA last year.  I quite literally just grabbed Cowgirl Creamery's Mt. Tam on a whim while picking up groceries.  I liked that it was local.  I liked that it was triple creme.  Other than that, I had no special insight.  When a vacation housemate with more experience in the area showed up with groceries saying "You MUST try this cheese" and took Mt. Tam out of the bag, I knew there had been some divine intervention in my impulse buy.  I think we all know the frequency with which I pray to the cheese gods, so I'm not surprised they looked out for me.

So we had a lot of very rich cheese between 6 adults and I can honestly tell you not a bit went to waste.  The best was having it for breakfast spread over fresh sourdough toast instead of butter.  Heart attack waiting to happen, but so very worth it!

12 Days of Xmas, GP style

I know, I know.  The 12 days of Christmas are technically after Christmas, and twelve days starting now will just get us to Christmas Eve.  But I said this was GP style and I do things my own way.  Plus, I've taken a real hiatus and this is going to get me back into the swing of things.  You know you missed me!

I think I've mentioned my dear friend with whom I have a great foodie birthday tradition.  It started years ago and we always hunt down some fun, new treat to share with the other for her birthday.  I keep my eyes peeled all year and I've been turned on to some great treats from her.  So, for the next twelve days (I'm going to try really, really hard to stay on schedule!) I'm going to share some of my fantastic finds.  Granted, it may be a little late to have some of these shipped for Christmas gifts so instead you should think of the tips as my gift to you.   A big thanks for sticking with me through postings, prolific and sparse.

So, without further ado... The first day of Christmas, GP style:

Breakfast Cheese from Belle Chevre.

Holy good God.  This is GOAT CHEESE you spread on breakfast items.  Yummy, flavored, whipped goat cheese.  This was my birthday present this year and I'm still savoring it.  When it arrived, I didn't have bagels in the house (it's billed as a cream cheese substitute) but I did have wheat english muffins.  Perfect.  I've also tried it on multi-grain toast.  Also perfect.

I received the Fig, Honey and Coffee varieties.  Fig is gone.  Long gone.  I just opened Coffee this week.  It's good. I mean it's goat cheese.  But the coffee flavor is pretty subtle, which is a departure from the very figgy Fig variety.  Maybe that's ok though.  I'll be sure to let you know about Honey in the future.

Fantastic pizza

I used my oven dried tomatoes to make a pizza the other night.  I picked up Portland Pie Co dough - the beer variety (with Shipyard beer!).  This was the first time I've used this particular dough and I was really pleased with it.  Thanks to a comment from DelSo, I was thinking about caramelized onions so that's the route I went - white pizza with oven dried tomatoes and caramelized onions. Soooo yummy