me: i like to cook. i like to cuss. i do both with great gusto every thursday night, as i take on a new recipe from my ever-expanding cookbook collection and attempt to bend it to my iron will. in between, look out for original recipes, restaurant reviews, food related musings and more. fucking A!
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July 2008 First Thursday: The Roundup 07 Jul 08
Here it is: the first ever round-up, for the first-ever First Thursday event! Nine brave souls took the challenge, followed the recipes, and produced some (mostly) delicious albeit beige food. Thanks to everyone who participated! Pat yourselves on your collective back. To everyone else: FOR SHAME! You know who you are.
Next month, we kick off themes. For August 2008, we combat the scourge of beige with colorful produce. Our theme: A seasonal fruit or vegetable with which you’ve never worked before.
On to the recipes!
Sometimes, we must fail so that others may learn. Although frankly, I’m not sure how any dessert featuring chocolate and hazelnuts could be a failure unless it was also laced with cyanide (and there would have to be a LOT of cyanide).
Despite the COMPLETE ABSENCE of cynanide, Fig & Cherry is less than thrilled with the Self-Saucing Chocolate Puddings from seemingly omnipresent Aussie foodie Donna Hay’s
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Rebecca at Foodie with Family raids her cupboards and bookshelf to come up with some homemade tortillas from the King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion
Kudos for working bacon into a recipe that has nothing to do with bacon!
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The dynamic duo behind Fotocuisine pulled a little Trading Places to create this 40 clove garlic chicken with pasta carbonara.
They earn bonus points for (1) using a full half-pound of bacon, (2) spitting in the face of Rachael Ray and using the Better Homes and Gardens’ Big Book of 30-Minute Dinners
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Ann of Redacted Recipes claims to be scared of me although I’m not sure why; I told her I was TOTALLY FRAMED on that arson thing. Maybe it’s because she brazenly flouted the rules, using a recipe from Martha Stewart’s
Still, I would think twice about committing aggravated assault against her if she’d make me some of these ravioli with egg yolk and truffle butter.
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[eatingclub] vancouver braves a tart dough ordeal to bring us this pine nut and ricotta tart from Mario Batali’s Molto Italiano
No animals were harmed in the making of this tart, although a rolling pin was severely mangled and some ires were raised.
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Maybelle is a very lucky little girl who gets to eat things like curried chicken stew with potatoes, courtesy of Curried Favors: Family Recipes from South India
I can say now that she’s lucky; as a child, this would have horrified me and I would have pitied her. In fact, this child is probably already a more adventurous eater than I will ever be. Rock on with your curry-eating little self, Maybelle.
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The prodigious Joelen joins this culinary adventure with a recipe from the no-fail Here In America’s Test Kitchen
She’s going meatless with some stovetop mac and cheese. As we all know, if you’re going to cut out the bacon, you need to make up for it with lots and lots of cheese. And she uses the First Thursdays badge in her post, which makes me feel important. Thanks!
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Pannifer’s Food and Such injects a much-needed shot of color into the roundup with some asparagus pesto with penne rigate spaghetti.
Her cookbook of choice, Truly, Madly Pasta: The Ultimate Book for Pasta Lovers
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Greedy Gourmet highly recommends BBC Good Food Magazine
Is it creepy that I think I have a crush on her flatware? It’s REALLY nice flatware.
Claudia - cookeatFRET.com
July 7th, 2008 at 10:40 ambut but… i have no kitchen. i’m on the road. or i certainly would have.
raviolo’s with egg yolk and truffles? sign me the hell up.
allow me to say that i am on my way to ‘le cirque’ for lunch. and i’m NOT paying, thank god…
good job to all who entered. we can all say that we knew michelle when she was just a fledgeling blogger before she starts getting 50,000 hits a day and has no time for any of us. hey, it could happen. she IS that good…
sheasy
July 7th, 2008 at 11:02 amI am dying to try a stove-top mac and cheese that doesn’t involve orange powder.
Great job, guys!
Ann
July 7th, 2008 at 11:38 amAll I can say about being scared of you is that I am not alone. In addition to several comments agreeing (in so many words) that you’re a little intimidating, I also received a LOT of email from others too frightened to go public (okay, I made that last part up).
I’m off to support my fellow smackdowners.
Claudia - cookeatFRET.com
July 7th, 2008 at 11:46 amscared of michelle?
what the hell is wrong with you people?
i have met the woman and i could totally take her.
all kidding aside, this is one highly terrific lady. very warm. very smart. very cool…
Rebecca (Foodie With Family)
July 7th, 2008 at 11:48 amSo maybe the no-theme theme was beige? Perhaps we all conspired… I’m just sayin’
Joelen
July 7th, 2008 at 12:17 pmLoved the round up commentary… and glad to be a part! I’m looking forward to some color next month and hopefully I won’t disappoint
maybelles mom (feeding maybelle)
July 7th, 2008 at 12:27 pmgreat round up. I love that we all got together to make this so beige–look your readership has a strong solidarity thing going.
Erin
July 7th, 2008 at 12:29 pmSome of us had left our cameras at work….
michelle
July 7th, 2008 at 12:46 pmann, yeah, i saw them. how has my self-made myth become so overwhelming in so short a time?
claudia, thanks for the backup. also? it’s no joke, you could totally take me. so could ethel.
Barb
July 7th, 2008 at 1:39 pmWait! There was a conspiracy? Why was I not told?
Great round up Michelle! I’m looking forward to next month!
Adam
July 7th, 2008 at 1:46 pmGood job on everyone who participated. We now have mac n cheese and chocolate, so how can we go wrong? Hold on to your hats, I’m going to bring it in August. Michelle scary? Maybe… but so is Slimer from Ghostbusters.
carolyn
July 7th, 2008 at 1:56 pmMultiple choice time. I actually cooked up my first-ever risotto on Thursday, but I didn’t send it in for the Smackdown because:
a) My husband dove head-first into the serving bowl before I could take a photo
b) I was too busy Celebrating Our Freedom (i.e., gorging on beer and grilled animal products)
c) I’m a fucking lazy cow
d) all of the above
Laura @ Hungry and Frozen
July 7th, 2008 at 4:18 pmI don’t know how thursday passed me by entirely but…*facepalm* will have to hold out till August. Everything looks awesome
Christie @ fig&cherry
July 7th, 2008 at 9:36 pmI hope someone else tries that chocolate recipe for me and stands strong by my side that it doesn’t work!
That ravioli with truffle butter looks gorgeous!
_ts of [eatingclub] vancouver
July 8th, 2008 at 1:48 amThis is the most entertaining roundup E.V.E.R!
=D
canarygirl
July 8th, 2008 at 2:47 amAwesome! I totally wanted to participate, you *know* I did. But my freaking computer was broken by my son, and then that vacation thing…but you KNOW I am going to be in on this next month.
Rachel
July 8th, 2008 at 11:57 amI hang my head in shame. I really have little excuse for not participating.
Can I at least say that I don’t know if I could make anything better than what I see here?
You’re so right about that chocolate and hazelnut thing. Even if it had the cyanide, you know you would die happy.
Elle
July 8th, 2008 at 1:47 pmNice entries! I’m so pissed I missed it, but holiday four day weekends take planning when you’ve got a herd of kids. I don’t think we really stopped doing stuff until Sunday night, right before bedtime!
I’m in for next month! (but planning ahead this time.)
michelle
July 8th, 2008 at 2:31 pmadam, wait, did you just compare me to a ball of ectoplasm?
carolyn, is it (b)? you and your frigging patriotism.
excuses-making people, there is no try. there is only do or do not.
michelle
July 8th, 2008 at 7:28 pmHa ha! You did it!! I’m so glad! But I missed it, DAMN. Next time, I’ll be there, ready to roll!
Erin
July 9th, 2008 at 12:43 pmOh, I did do. Sweated half to death, too. I’m not sure how it would have photographed but two dishes were okay and one is a big disappointment. You’d think something with 3 heads of garlic would have a bit more flavor. Oh well. Bainbridge Island chicken can bite me.
melissa
July 9th, 2008 at 5:50 pmYou’re a gracious host, Michelle, and I love seeing all these new links! Can’t wait to take part next time. Even if I hadn’t been working for weeks on end… something was “off” with me, physically, and I *gasp* didn’t feel like eating. Or cooking. Or thinking about food at all. I found out what it was, thank god. But :(. It’s taking me a bit to get my senses back. Anyway. Next time.
FeriOwentee
August 3rd, 2008 at 12:09 amThanks for the post