Blissdom, George Duran and Eggplant Parm Rolls
February 7, 2010 > 1 Comment
I am home from Blissdom and getting my bearings back. It was a fantastic weekend, filled with wonderful (WONDERFUL!!) friends and fun. I’m taking tonight to recover and process all the things I learned and the great discussions I had. Some of those conversations included some ideas for collaborations on this blog with some of my other favorite bloggers. I can’t wait to share all those details with you all when I have them.
In the meantime, I have a great recipe to share with you.
Friday afternoon at the conference, we were treated to a live cooking demonstration by George Duran. You might recognize that name. He’s the former host of Food Network’s Ham On The Street. Currently he hosts TLC’s Ultimate Cake Off and he is the Hunt’s spokeperson.
Photo by mooshinindy from the Blissdom 10 Flickr pool.
George put on a fun and lively demonstration for us while he prepared Eggplant Parm Rolls, a recipe from Hunt’s. As he was making the dish, I took notes because all of the ingredients sounded like something my family would love. And I loved the idea of using eggplant slices in place of lasagna noodles. I don’t do much with eggplant, mainly because I’m never sure what to do with it, so this recipe is perfect for me!
But even better than having this great new recipe idea was the fact that we then got to eat it for lunch.
Photo by DawnMHSH from the Blissdom 10 Flickr pool.
I really enjoyed it. The flavors were mellow but not bland, perfect for picky eaters in my opinion. And the combination of the cheeses and fresh veggies gave the whole dish a great summer-in-the-middle-of-winter taste.
I did hear some people say that they didn’t enjoy the eggplant rolls though, so clearly this isn’t a dish for everyone. However, I do recommend it, especially if you have a family of adventurous eaters.
Visit the Hunt’s website for the Eggplant Parm Rolls recipe.
Tomorrow, it’s back to reality. We’ll do our monthly shopping trip to Sam’s Club in the morning and I’m looking forward to spending the afternoon in the kitchen. So…new recipes are coming your way soon!
Blissdom Bound
February 3, 2010 > No Comments
Bright and early tomorrow morning, I’ll be getting on a plane heading to Nashville for the Blissdom conference. I’m excited to spend a weekend with many wonderful friends – some I’ve already met in person, some I’ve chatted with on the phone and via email for what feels like forever, and some I’ve just developed a friendship with through our blogs.
It’s always hard to leave home though. Usually I like to have the freezer and fridge stocked with plenty of food for my husband and kids. But this time, my husband told me to not worry about it. He’s got plans, many of which revolve around some awesome coupons for free food from ConAgra, courtesy of the pre-Bliss package all the attendees got a few weeks ago.
He’s promised to take pictures and document their weekend. For my part, I’ve promised to relax and realize that my family will not suffer for 4 days without my home-cooked food.
It should be interesting. I’ll let you know how it goes after I get home.
The Importance of a Good Kitchen Knife
February 2, 2010 > 7 Comments
Until this past Christmas, I would have argued that a knife was a knife was a knife. I would have said a $10 set works just as well as a $100 set. I would have said that I was perfectly happy with my 10 year old $15 set because they got the job done.
Until this past Christmas when my husband and kids gave me a beautiful set of Chicago Cutlery knives
At first, it seemed kind of indulgent to me. But then I used one of the knives for the first time. I diced an onion in half the time I usually did! I was sold.
Since then, I have truly fallen in love with these knives. My favorite is the Santoku knife
I use it for almost everything. It really has cut down on my prep time, so much so that I would never have believed the difference if I didn’t experience it first hand. (If you buy just one good quality knife, I definitely recommend the Santoku knife
The blades are smooth and sharp and they cut cleanly. For once, I can cut things the way they do on Food Network and it actually works.
A few weeks ago, my friend Lynn shared her feelings on Quality Kitchen Knives and I am in full agreement with her views. Our set was a bit less than hers (I think my husband paid about $75), but these knives are definitely still high quality.
And honestly, I am all for anything that speeds up prep work in my kitchen. It leaves more time for experimenting!
Do you have a favorite higher quality kitchen item that you couldn’t live with out? My Kitchen-Aid is definitely right in line with knives, but I’d love to hear what tops your list.
