We've moved ... and we want you to come too!

We've moved our blog to our new website and we want you to come along.  Big things are happening over there.  More recipes, more blog posts with more ways to comment and a radio show on top of that.

So go to www.nochefsallowed.com and connect with us there.  It's easy, just hit the subscribe link under Connect.  And then look around and let us know what you think, what you want to cook, or what foods you want to know more about.  And we'll get them worked into the show.

Hope to see you at our new place.

I wish this move came with a brand new kitchen as well.  Baby steps.

Better Late Than Christmas

So we started a tradition three years ago of making fresh cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning.  Now anyone who has made cinnamon rolls without having to hit a can against the counter top knows that you need to put some time into it.  It's not hard ... but you have to think ahead.

So I use the recipe I found in Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois.  I use it because they are telling the truth.  You CAN have fresh bread baking in your home by giving it five minutes a day.  But this Christmas Eve I was so tired I didn't even have five more minutes of energy to get the dough together.  I went to bed believing that it was alright if I broke this tradition.  That I could pick it up next year and we would all be none the wiser.  But the guilt set in.

Fortunately, or unfortunately if you are Chris telling this story, Atticus woke up at 5 am ready to dive into the presents.  Instead of shooing him back to bed, I got up with him and to pass the time we made Cinnamon Roll dough.  That killed 12 minutes (It takes more than five when you have your child "help" you).  So we cuddled up on the couch under the Snuggie and waited out the time until the rest of the family got up. 

At 7 am they were all up and running.  Opening gifts.  Putting batteries in things.  Sopping up an entire cup of coffee that spilled on the carpet.  It all moved so fast that I forgot to finish the rolls.  By the time I thought about it I was hit with a harsh reality.  At 5 am I should have taken butter out to bring it to room temperature so I could make the cinnamony gooey-ness that goes inside the rolls.  Ugh ... so close.  By the time I would get that butter the right temperature it would be time to leave for my mom's house for more Christmas fun.  So the dough sat in the fridge and the tradition was officially broken.

Until New Year's Eve.  It just struck me that now was the time.  I rolled them out.  Doused them with butter, cinnamon, brown sugar and pecans and baked them up.  With the stars aligned, AKA butter at room temperature thanks to a fire we had going in the fireplace, it took just five minutes (no one was helping me because we got an Xbox kinnect.)

We shared them around 2:30 pm.  Now the tradition is ... Homemade Cinnamon Rolls sometime over winter break.  I should be able to find 5 minutes over two weeks.  This is a much more doable tradition.  Yum.

A Jewel of a Trip

I had a rough meeting at work the other day.  I needed out of the office so I decided to take a trip to the local whole foods to look for cranberry beans.  Well, when I got there they only had canned cranberry beans.  That didn't sound fun at all so I decided to take a stroll and see what I would come up with.  My bag included ...

Pita chips for lunch
Two cans of San Marzano tomatoes - which are destined for a puttenesca sauce and homemade pasta
One quart kumquats
One pomegrante

Satisfied with my trip I went back to work.  But the real satisfaction came when I got home.  I showed the kids what I got and you would have thought it was an early Christmas.  The cheers over a fresh pomegrante filled the kitchen.

Pomegrantes are an activity in our house.  Peeling them open, getting the seeds and then refereeing all the kids grabbing the jewels as if they were real jewels and the one with the most had their college fund all secure.  It is a messy and time consumming affair, but it is the longest they sit at the table and they are devouring one of the most nutritious fruits known to man.  No more satification than that. 

Now, off to make cookies.

Two days until Christmas - fingers crossed I get that camera!

This little piggy went to market

I'll take some italian sausage...hold the beans

I found those sneaky cranberry beans. They were right under my nose. The only problem is that they are not called cranberry beans. At least not in Italian. In Italian circles they are called Borlotti beans. I found them at the Baci Market in Little Italy. And what a treat, because Baci is a really fun, tiny grocery with an amazing meatball sub, and home made Italian sausage.

Here is Baci and Michelle, the cashier, holding the beans. In my grocery bag...sausage, caper berries, fresh mozzarella, frozen home made ravioli, a big jar of Nutella and a little noodle called corallini (which I suspect will find its way into Borlotti Bean Soup in the next week). The other ingredients have no bean association, but make me happy!

Beautiful Music

Megan Moore Murphy (co-inventor of the poop bar) is as ingrained in my childhood as popsicles and delivering papers.  And that's why I can forgive her for teaching my boys this wonderful jingle,

Beans, beans the magical fruit
The more you eat the more you ....

You know the rest.  Let's just say the Keels boys are looking forward to this battle and all the singing opportunities that come with it.  Not to mention the other thing.   They might consider that singing too.

Do you see a pattern here with me and Megan Murphy?

Come out, come out wherever you are....

Tricia and I decided this month to battle with Cranberry Beans. Sounds festive, right? Not sure they are really holiday food, but they are pretty. And they do have cranberry in the name and I love that. But, there seems to be a sourcing problem.

I have seen these bean fresh in my local market many times, but didn't know what they were. But they aren't there now which means that dried will have to do...except I can't find those either. Tricia says her Whole Foods in Columbus has them but Chicago...No. No cranberry beans to be found. Is it a regional thing. Do people in Columbus like cranberry beans more than people in Chicago? Is it just a supply and demand issue? I don't know.

So stay tuned on this battle. I've got the Beano, just can't find the beans.