Sugar Plum: January 2009

Double Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Bread

Is this peanut butter-salmonella business over? I'm sick of this nonsense.

I've been waiting for days to post this Double Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Bread recipe, because no one's in the mood for eating something with peanut butter in it. Well I can't wait any longer. This bread was delicious, and I have to share it with you.

Actually, I think eating peanut butter is fine, it's just certain products made with it. This hasn't stopped me from eating several peanut butter-tainted products.
Oh noooo. A little salmonella never hurt anyone. We've all probably been ingesting salmonella in peanut butter for years. You know what goes on at peanut butter plants, right?

You gotta get that bacteria in your system anyway... makes you stronger.
I also think the added bacteria makes the peanut butter more flavorful.

Now that I've got you all hungry and craving peanut butter, let's talk about this bread.

It's a yeast bread made with cocoa powder, peanut butter and chocolate chips, baked in a loaf pan. It's great for toast or peanut butter sandwiches. It's fairly light; it doesn't contain very much sugar, and only 1/4 cup peanut butter for the fat, and of course the fat and sugar from the chocolate chips.

I know a chocolate bread sounds weird, but it's really delicious. My mom used to bake chocolate bread in the bread machine when I was younger. And then one day she stopped, and things haven't been the same. What's the deal, Mom? Huh?

I think my last couple of recipes have contained chocolate in them. I guess I realllly like chocolate.
Ahaha - look at the labels to your left! 49 posts have chocolate in them. I only have one pineapple post, but I have 49 chocolate posts. Someone needs to get more fruit into their diet.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have about a hundred blogs I need to read.

Double Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Bread (Recipe by Me)
Printable Recipe
1 1/2 teaspoons dry active yeast
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar, plus an additional 1/3 cup firmly packed, divided use
1/4 cup warm water
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt (scant)
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2-3/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Combine yeast, 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar and water in the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a dough hook, and mix until combined; allow mixture to sit for 5 minutes, or until foamy.
Add additional 1/3 cup brown sugar, peanut butter, vanilla, salt, egg and milk and mix on medium speed until combined. Add flour and cocoa powder ane mix until combined. Add the chocolate chips and continue to mix for 5 minutes, or until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl; place in a greased bowl, cover with a towel and palce in a warm area for 1 hour or until doubled in bulk.

Shape dough into a greased loaf pan, cover with a towel, and allow to rise in a warm area for 1 1/2-2 hours, or until doubled in bulk.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 1 loaf

Coconut-Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding

We've had snow and ice for the past two days, shutting everything down in the area. No one can leave their house because it's so gosh-darn slick. I, especially, have no plans on leaving my house. Uh uh. No waaay. I can't drive in snow and ice, and my car doesn't do well on it either. I'm staying right here in my element; blogging, drinking coffee, and wearing sweat pants.

I knew this storm was coming, so I planned ahead. Yep, I went to Wal-Mart before the storm hit, and went grocery shopping for supplies I knew I would need:
Chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, white chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, toffee chips, Oreos, grasshopper cookies, graham crackers, butter and heavy cream.
And hell, I even threw in some Frank's Red Hot for good measure.

I knew that was enough to get me through any snow storm. People were buying boring stuff. Milk, eggs, bread.... phhht. Ridiculous.

What surprised me was, and I don't know if you know this or not, but, the product that sells out the fastest when there is a storm coming.

Any guesses? Soup? Bottled water?

Nope. Bagged lettuce.

People love bagged lettuce when there's a blizzard. I have no idea why. I guess nothing hits the spot when you've lost electricity... like a garden salad.

So anyway, I've been stuck at home, and I have lots of stuff to do, like catching up on reading blogs (I promise I'm going to do it today. Promise), reading books, watching movies... but I don't know. I'm having trouble sitting down and staying still. I've been constantly in the kitchen, creating new treats. Which is good for you, because you'll be getting a lot of new, fascinating posts, but bad for me because I have about ten different baked goods on my counter, begging to be eaten.

I made this bread pudding using leftover sweet egg bread, and combined it with white and dark chocolate chips, coconut, coconut milk and heavy cream. As good as this pudding was in flavor, it doesn't come across in the picture. Bread pudding is hard to present and photograph, so give me a break. I tried drizzling melted chocolate on top, but I made it look worse.

PS- Happy Birthday Dad! You're the best dad I've ever had.
(No, I didn't make this for your birthday because I know you and everyone else in our family doesn't like bread pudding. Bastards)

Coconut-Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding (Recipe by Me)

Ingredients:
4 large eggs
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup coconut milk
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
8 cups cubed challah, babka, brioche, etc.
1/2 cup semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Generously butter an 8x8-inch square baking dish with butter

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, cream, coconut milk, sugar and vanilla until well combined. Stir in cubed bread, chocolate chips and white chocolate chips until combined. Allow mixture to set for 10 minutes. Pour bread mixture into baking dish and evenly sprinkle with flaked coconut.

Bake at 350 degrees F, for 25-30 minutes, or until coconut is golden brown and pudding is set.

Makes 9 servings

Cannoli Biscotti

I've always wanted to be Italian... I've always thought I was sort of Italian.

I love all kinds of pasta, robust olive oil, hunks of Parmigiano Reggiano, tiramisu, limoncello and many more Italian things. The Sopranos was my favorite show for a long time... I drink espresso quite often... I shout "grazie!" randomly throughout the day.

That still doesn't make me Italian, though.

Much to my dismay, I didn't grow up eating panettone, spoonfuls of ricotta cheese, amaretti cookies and Nutella... I did have my fair share of Flamin' Hot Cheetos, Ramen Noodles, Peanut Butter, and Pizza Rolls.

How I envy to be Giada De Laurentiis, but I'm not; she's Prosecco and I'm Cook's Champagne.

I hadn't even tasted cannoli until I visited New York City last fall, and I'm pretty sure that all Italians taste cannoli right out of the womb.

My mom and I were lucky enough to attend San Gennaro, which is a festival in Little Italy. There was a ton of food around, and we didn't get to try as much as we wanted to, (mainly because this was right before I went in for my first Food Network interview) but we did try cannoli. It was EVERYWHERE and I knew that we had to try some.

Cannoli consist of tube-shaped shells of fried pastry dough, filled with sweet, creamy ricotta cheese, blended with some combination of vanilla, chocolate, and pistachio. Sometimes candied fruit and liqueur is added in.

I have yet to make cannoli, because I don't own a cannoli tube, and I'd hate to buy the pre-made shells. I did make some biscotti, which are Italian and my favorite type of cookie, using the flavors from cannoli.

These were very good and I'd definitely make them again, because I love all those flavors together. What's kind of interesting is that I used cake flour to try and produce a more tender biscotti, and I think it worked.

Here are a few pictures from my trip to Little Italy. I didn't show these or talk about the trip, because I thought everyone was getting sick of me talking about New York, but I had a great time when I was there. It's probably the closest to Italy I'll ever get.

Sausage anyone? Heh, heh. Sorry. That question was kind of risqué.

Look. It's Vinny's Nut house! Look at all those hot nuts.
I never said this blog was clean, people.

Torrone. I'm going to have to try and make this Italian candy.

Look at all the different kinds of food the festival had... if I lived in New York, I would spend the entire week there and eat and eat. That is until I threw up zeppole and torrone everywhere. But then I'd pick myself up and go at it again.

My life won't be complete until I make zeppole. There's nothing better in the world than fried dough.

Okay, so here's the recipe. These are perfect served with a big Food Network mug full of coffee.

Cannoli Biscotti (Recipe by Me)
Printable Recipe

2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter, plus an additional tablespoon, melted, divided use
1/4 cup ricotta cheese
1 large egg
1 tablespoon amaretto liqueur
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup finely chopped pistachios, toasted
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spray a large sheet pan with cooking spray.

In a medium sized mixing bowl, sift together cake flour, baking powder and salt.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together 1/4 cup melted butter, ricotta cheese, egg, amaretto and vanilla until well combined; whisk in granulated sugar until combined. Stir flour mixture into wet ingredients until combined; stir in chocolate chips and pistachios until combined. Lightly knead dough together on a floured surface, form into a 10X4-inch log, and place on prepared sheet pan.

Bake for 25 minutes or until set and slightly golden. Cool 10 minutes before transferring to a cutting board; slice very ends off, and diagonally slice log into 12 equal pieces (about 1/2-3/4-inch thick). Place slices onto sheet pan, cut side down, and bake an additional 20-25 minutes, or until slightly crisp; transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Melt the additional 1 tablespoon butter, and brush onto outer edge of biscotti; dip biscotti into confectioners' sugar to coat completely.

Makes 12 big delicious biscotti

Arborio Rice Pudding With Amaretto-Apricot & Toasted Almond Topping

Let me tell you about a little something that's going to change your life.

The rice pillow.

You heard me right - it's a pillow stuffed with uncooked jasmine rice, and it's amazing. You heat it up in the microwave for 2 1/2-3 minutes, and it stays hot for a long time.

Maybe you've heard about them before, but I hadn't. Eric (blush) showed me one his dad's wife made him that was adorned in moose fabric. I knew I had to have one, so luckily she made one for me as well, which is good because I can't sew or knit or anything like that.
Now Eric and I can sit together, with our rice pillows, and watch old episodes of Matlock after dining at the early bird special at Golden Corral.

So anyway, lately I've been carrying this rice pillow around the house, hugging it to my chest, draping it around my neck, etc. It keeps me nice and toasty. I even tried stuffing it into the front pocket of my hoodie, but then I ripped the pocket completely off so don't try that.

Do you know what my favorite part is about the rice pillow? It smells like hot, toasty rice when you heat it up. Who doesn't like the smell of rice cooking? This is a problem though, because it's been making me crave lots of rice lately.

Fried rice sounds good to me. Risotto sounds good also. Sushi. Rice cereal. Rice cakes. Chicken and wild rice soup. Rice pudding...

Yeah, I've been jonesing for some rice pudding lately. My favorite kind of rice to use for rice pudding is arborio, because it makes it incredibly creamy. Keeping with the Italian theme, I made a topping with chopped dried apricots, amaretto, toasted almonds, brown sugar and cinnamon. The topping provided a sweet, salty and crunchy finish to the creamy rice pudding.

I know it doesn't look like much, but this was a delicious dessert that was easy to prepare, and believe it or not, light.

Arborio Rice Pudding With Amaretto-Apricot & Toasted Almond Topping (Recipe by Me)

4 1/4 cups reduced fat or skim milk
3/4 cup arborio rice, uncooked
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup finely chopped almonds (I used salted)
3 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons amaretto liqueur
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup finely chopped apricots

Combine milk, rice and sugar, in a large saucepan, over medium-medium high heat, and bring to a boil, whisking frequently. Reduce heat to medium low, and cook for 30-35 minutes, stirring occasionally, until rice is soft, and most of the liquid has absorbed; stir in vanilla extract. Cool rice to room temperature, then chill in the refrigerator until cold.

To make the Amaretto-Apricot & Toasted Almond Topping: place almonds in a small saucepan over medium heat, and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently until fragrant and golden; remove from pan. Into saucepan combined water, amaretto, brown sugar and cinnamon, and bring mixture to a boil, stirring frequently; stir in apricots and cook for 4 minutes or until liquid is absorbed and apricots are soft. Stir toasted almonds into apricot mixture.

Top rice pudding with a spoonful of apricot-almond mixture.

Makes 6 servings

Angel Food Cupcakes with Lovely Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

I had this great plan in the beginning of January: complete a series of posts on healthy desserts. It seemed like a good idea since this time of year is when everyone is dieting.

I started racking my brain for healthy dessert ideas. Now this is what I do best (I think); creating, testing, and writing dessert recipes, but I really struggled with coming up with some healthy dessert ideas.

I don't know why this was so difficult for me; I consider myself a fairly healthy person.
I don't smoke, I don't drink... err...

-I mean, I drink wine. And wine is good for you, right? All that fruit that's packed in there. Whenever I drink it, I feel like I'm doing something good for my body. I can feel all the vitamins and nutrients rushing in.

-I like reading Cooking Light and Nutrition Action magazine.

When I say I read Cooking Light, I mean, I skip the exercise portion in the front and start oodling the food pictures in the back, which are recipes I never make. My favorite portion in Cooking Light is the part where they makeover a reader's recipe. I always end up wishing I had the reader's original recipe instead of the revised version.

-I like eating salad, soup, fruit, vegetables and other healthy food.

I think about how much nutrition I'm getting from Taco Bell, and it amazes me. The iceberg lettuce on their chalupas is so crispy and refreshing and packed with vitamins. The cheddar bacon gordita crunch packs plenty of protein. The cheesy fiesta potatoes provide tons of calcium, and the caramel apple empanadas provide a day's worth of fruit.

SEE! I'm a very healthy person, so why can't I think of any healthy desserts? The only dessert that came to my mind was angel food cake. Angel food cake contains no fat, and is made with whipped egg whites, sugar, vanilla and cake flour.

I'm not a huge fan of angel food cake, but at times it can be nice, so I thought I would make some cupcakes. Angel food cake is very light and airy and delicious served with a light glaze or fruit. I frosted my angel food cupcakes with a lemon cream cheese icing, which I thought was nice because the tanginess complemented the sweet cake. I actually piped the frosting on the cake instead of just schmearing it on like I usually do.

So this is it: your one healthy dessert of the year. I can't think of anything else. When I make dessert, I HAVE to use butter or cream. I think when you eat dessert you should go big or go home.

Angel Food Cupcakes with Lovely Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting (Recipe by Me)
Printable Recipe

1/2 cup cake flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar, plus an additional 1/4 cup, divided use
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 large egg whites
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 ounces (1/2 a package) reduced fat cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line 12 muffin cups with liners.

In a small mixing bowl, sift together cake flour, 1/3 cup sugar and salt.
In a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium-high speed, beat egg whites, cream of tartar and vanilla extract until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in the additional 1/4 cup sugar until stiff peaks form; fold in flour mixture in three additions until just combined. Divide batter into muffin cups.

Bake at 375 degrees F, for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

To make the lovely lemon cream cheese frosting, in a medium sized mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat cream cheese, confectioners' sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest until well combined, about 1 minute.
Spread or pipe frosting onto cupcakes.

Makes 12 cupcakes

Chai Snickerdoodles

I have a hard time ordering chai tea lattes at coffeehouses, only because I love coffee and espresso so much and can't stand to order anything else. You can't pussyfoot around when you're in a coffeehouse and order something besides coffee, because then I will lose all respect for you. That means no tea, no smoothies, no hot chocolate, or vanilla bean frappuccinos. But I do love chai tea lattes, so maybe that's the one exception.

I think my mom first introduced the chai latte to me when I was junior high? I'm not sure exactly when it was, but I thought it was really exotic. I know she bought chai tea one day and started making them at home. But then she would hide the expensive chai tea bags deep in the cabinets where the kids couldn't find them and use them up.

She thought chai lattes were delicious, and so did I.

I find the combination of steamed milk and spicy tea flavored with cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and honey, absolutely delicious.
And chai lattes are even better if you top them with aerosol whipped cream! I love aerosol whipped cream. It's one of my favorite things in the whole world.

I know there are recipes already out there for chai snickerdoodles, but I thought I'd create my own. I took the flavors of a chai latte, and put them into a snickerdoodle cookie. I wasn't expecting much, but these were really good! I got some feedback from people that they enjoyed them.

And guess what? I created this recipe while I was filming a segment for the news. I'm surprised I didn't screw up anything with a camera in my face and a reporter asking me questions.

Anyway, these are nice light little cookies perfect for snackin' or tea time. Or coffee time, which is my favorite time, in which I inhale four shots of espresso.

Chai Snickerdoodles (Recipe by Me)
Printable Recipe

2 tablespoons granulated sugar plus an additional 2/3 cup, divided use
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup cream cheese, softened (1/2 package)
2 teaspoons honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste (substitute 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)
1 large egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a large cookie sheet.

In a small bowl, stir together 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cardamom until well combined.

In a medium sized mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and salt.
In a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat butter, cream cheese,
additional 2/3 cup granulated sugar, honey and vanilla paste until creamy, about 2 minutes. Beat in egg until combined. Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in flour mixture until combined. Chill dough in the refrigerator for 20 minutes, or until you can roll it into balls.

Roll the cookie dough into balls and roll the balls into spice mixture to coat completely. Place on sheet pan and flatten with hands to about 1/4-inch thickness. Bake at 350 degrees F for 9-12 minutes or until golden and puffed. Cool for 2 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool.

Makes 2 dozen cookies

Chocolate Turtle Cake

So, yeah, I'm kind of like a celebrity around here.

Before the show aired, I was on the local news (three times), in three papers, two magazines and on three radio stations. Two of which were country.
Shudder.
There's nothing I detest more than Randy Travis at nine AM.

I totaaally got recognized at Steak 'n Shake the other night by two teenage girls. It made my night, along with trying my first STEAKBURGER™. (Yes, you have to write it in all caps; that's how it is on their menu.)

Random people in the grocery store have been coming up to me, either giving me encouragement or advice. One woman said she was proud that she lived in the same town I was from. That's nice and all, but I don't know how proud she should be. I'm kind of a selfish smartass. But she doesn't have to know that. Shhhh.

Then, yesterday at Wal-Mart, I was practically stampeded by adoring fans. People wanting to touch my hand, get my autograph, and have me kiss their babies.
The crowd swarmed around me, making it nearly impossible to buy fruit-flavored Cheerios, wine and aerosol whipped cream.
I was like, whoooaa, come on now, haven't you ever seen a contestant from Ultimate Recipe Showdown before?

It's a big deal around these parts.

When I went to work at the cafe the other night I was surprised that I was recognized so much. I had some tables leave me good sympathy tips.

Okay, okay, here's what I'm going to do. Ready? Here's my plan: I put on an Academy Award-winning performance for every table that recognizes me from the show. I plan on telling them about the show, and how much I wanted to win the money for culinary school. Then I break down and start sobbing. At this point they'll take out a crisp twenty from their pocket and place it in my hand, giving me a pat on the back and some encouraging words.

The show aired several times last week, but I think it's finished now. I guess my fifteen minutes of fame are over. No longer living life in the fast lane. Heh.
Now that makes me sad. I like feeling like a celeb. I was just about to get addicted to Vicodin, become bulimic, and drive my car down the wrong side of the highway.

I can't think of anything more to cure my sadness than a slice of chocolate turtle cake. Yeah! That'll do the job... I'll pretend I'm eating it at Spago with Lilo and Brangelina. Seriously, chocolate cake always makes someone feel better. Unless you don't like chocolate. And that means you're un-uhmaricuhn and need to git out of this country.

This cake is incredibly chocolate-y, moist and rich. It's a dark chocolate cake with toasted pecans, mini chocolate chips, chocolate ganache and caramel.

Chocolate Turtle Cake (Recipe by Me)
Printable Recipe

Cake
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup dark or regular cocoa powder
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs
1 cup dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted (I used Hershey's Dark)
1 1/3 cups whole milk

Ganache
1/4 cup unsalted butter
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 cups dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 1/2 cups finely chopped pecans, toasted, plus additional whole pecans for decorating
1 tablespoon mini chocolate chips (optional)
Caramel sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour 2 (9-inch) cake pans.

In a medium sized mixing bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt.

In a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat 3/4 cup butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar and vanilla, until creamy, about 2 minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until well combined. Beat in 1 cup melted chocolate chips until combined. Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in flour mixture, alternating with milk, until well combined, about 2-3 minutes.

Evenly scrape batter into prepared cake pans and smooth the surface with a spatula. Bake at 350 degrees F, for 35-40 minutes, or until cake edges pull away from the pan, and a toothpick inserted into cake comes out with moist crumbs attached. Cool for 12 minutes before running a knife around edges and inverting onto wire racks to cool completely.

To make the ganache, melt 1/4 cup butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in heavy cream and bring to a boil; turn heat off and stir in 2 cups chocolate chips until melted and smooth.

Spread ganache evenly onto first layer of cake and top with about 1/3 of the pecans. Place second cake layer on top. Spread the rest of the ganache over cake top and sides. Sprinkle and top with remaining pecans. Decorate the top with whole pecans. Sprinkle mini chocolate chips over the top, and drizzle caramel everywhere.

Makes 8-10 servings

How I Lost $25,000

By now I guess you know that I lost Ultimate Recipe Showdown Comfort Foods. I lost by one point. Winner takes all in this competition, and Rick Massa's Cheese Lovers 5 Cheese Mac and Cheese won the prize of $25,000 and a spot on the Friday's menu. My Pumpernickel Pastrami Panini with Rosemary-Ale Jus wasn't good enough, and I think I know my mistake:
I didn't use bacon on my sandwich. Haha. Bacon IS the ultimate comfort food, is it not? Rick had the right idea because he used it in his mac and cheese and his sandwich and his soup. More people will order macaroni and cheese with bacon at T.G.I. Fridays than a Pumpernickel Pastrami Panini with Rosemary-Ale Jus, right? That was probably a smart decision by the judges.

Congrats to him! I truly am happy for him because he was such a nice guy. He's a retired S.W.A.T team officer and he has a really interesting story that you can hear about here. He had the best dish in the competition, so I congratulate him. His recipe sounds delicious; I'm going to have to try making it soon. He's going to have fun with that $25,000! He's going to have a good retirement.

My sandwich won the speed round, but my Baked Butternut Four Cheese Farfalle with Sage came in fourth place in the signature round. It's actually a really good recipe, I promise! I like it even better than the panini. I had problems when I was making it in the competition. My squash was small and not very ripe, and my gorgonzola was stronger than the kind I use at home. The judges said something about adding the sage into the sauce instead of topping the pasta with it, but I kind of like it on top. I drizzle butter on top and it gets nice and crispy.

I have been extremely disappointed (depressed) over the last couple of months since we filmed the show, of course, because I didn't win the money to go to culinary school in New York City. Hopefully I'll get to go someday. Everyone keeps saying good things will come from being on the show, and keep my head up, so I will try. I'm incredibly grateful for this experience. It's been a blast and I want to go back and compete on the show again. In the meantime, I will be creating more recipes for contests, and of course working on my blog. I've gotten better with being on camera, so I'm considering buying a camera and filming cooking segments and posting them on here.

The last couple of months have been the craziest in my life, and the last couple of days have been insane. I've gotten SO MANY emails, comments, messages about the show, and they've all been really nice. I responded to all of them, but they were a little rushed and I'm sorry for that. Thank you for all your support! Also, thank you to everyone who showed up for the watch party.

But I know why you really came here today:
you wanted to know more about my budding romance with Chef Michael Psilakis. I've gotten so many remarks about that comment I made.

I'm going on record here. I DID NOT know we were filming when I made that comment about him being hot.
But I still think he's kinda hot. Also Chef Michael Symon.

I like men with bald heads and goatees, I suppose.

Now for today's official business:
The tasting of the winning recipe at T.G.I. Friday's.

My dining companion (tee hee) and I arrived at the restaurant on Monday evening, the night after the show aired. I was recognized fairly quickly by some of the servers and customers, which was pretty cool. I even got a free margarita glass that says "Riday's" on it. Don't you just love Riday's?

Seeing the menu made me sad because I wished my picture and winning dish were on it.

But they weren't. #&*^$#!@#&#($^#$&*#!

This is me with the Gourmet Mac n' Five Cheese. I was trying to look sad in the picture, but I kept laughing, so it looks like I'm really disgusted with the dish. Which I wasn't at all.

So it's penne pasta with a creamy fontina, bleu, gruyere, white cheddar and parmesan cheese sauce, that's been tossed with bacon. It's topped with bleu cheese crumbles, parmesan, bread crumbs, parsley and a grilled chicken breast.

Who eats pasta with a spoon? I don't. Maybe when I was a toddler.

At first I was surprised that Friday's changed his recipe and added chicken to it, and I thought I wouldn't like it, but how can you go wrong with adding chicken to something? Chicken's delicious in everything. So the chicken was fine. And I thought there was just enough bacon and bleu cheese in the dish to not overpower it, which I was worried about. I wished they had kept the macaroni though, because without it, it seemed too much like any other pasta dish. Overall I have to say it was pretty good. I loved the crunchy topping.

That's all I've got, although I'm sure I'm forgetting something...
If you want to watch the show again, it airs tonight at 10pm/9c.