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What I Ate in College

Have you ever experienced Late Night?  Years ago, this was a term for when college dining halls reopened in the late evening hours.  But for me, Late Night also meant that I could finally eat as late as I wanted for the first time ever.  And that made it an exciting, memorable event.

So yesterday I was excited to learn that my essay on Late Night Eating had been posted on Smithsonian magazine’s Food & Think blog as part of their Inviting Writing series.  (Inviting Writing was one of 5 Opportunities for Food Writers that I mentioned last week.)  If you remember Late Night, take a look and reminisce with me, then check out Food & Think’s links for more fun food essays on college food.

The Simplest Candy Bar

Three Chocolate Bark with Spiced Nuts and Dried Cherries

Three Chocolate Bark with Spiced Nuts and Dried Cherries

Candy was a big part of my youth, and a feature in two of my favorite books. The first was actually a series, The Baby-sitters Club.  I was a big fan of the character, Claudia, a sugar fiend who hid candy bars around her bedroom.  

The other was a book from the 1981 Time Life Series, The Good Cook, called Candy. Here’s a picture of the scrumptious cover:

Time Life "The Good Cook" series, Candy

I spent way too much time obsessively flipping through the first half of this book, which is filled with pictures of the candy-making process:  soft chocolate paste piped into a foil cup, white fondant balls dipped in shiny pink icing, long coils of red and white taffy stretched into long strands.  At the time, these lovely photos must have been enough for me because I never actually made any candy.  

Then last week, I found this book at my parents’ house, and immediately got excited about all the candies I could make. Peanut butter cups!  Nougat!  Triple Layer Chocolate Sandwiches!

But as I read through some of the recipes, I realized many require the ultimate in temperature precision, i.e. a thermometer.  I don’t have one, so making these complicated candies will have to wait.  (Stay tuned though.  I’m determined to make nougat soon.)

Instead, I made chocolate bark.

Continue Reading “The Simplest Candy Bar”

Will Write For Food

The latest edition of Dianne Jacob's Will Write For Food. Image from epicurious.com.

A few months before I started this blog, I was thinking about moving to Chicago for journalism school.  I researched the benefits of attending j-school first, and learned that many people recommend an alternative: learn the technical aspects of writing from an internship or on the job, and instead study a subject you’re interested in.

Because j-school is expensive, I went with the alternative route. (Well, sort of – I still went back to graduate school, but am studying nonfiction writing instead.)  I chose food as my subject, and started this blog to practice writing about it.

Now, more than a year later, I’ve realized there are lots of opportunities to practice food writing beyond blogging.

But first, if you’re interested in food writing, I recommend Dianne Jacob’s book Will Write For Food.  In addition to food blogging, she talks about writing cookbooks, restaurant reviews, and food memoirs and essays.  (Jacob also has a very informative blog, which currently has lots of great posts about the recent International Food Blogging Conference.)

Then, when you’re ready, here are five contest and submission opportunities for food writers:

Continue Reading “5 Opportunities for Food Writers”

Savory Muffins with Goat Cheese and Tomato Jam

Looking for a new way to use your beefsteak tomatoes?

Last week, I was. I didn’t want to have tomato sauce again, and I’m not one to eat tomato slices or wedges on sandwiches or in salads.

So my eyes perked up when I read a recipe for Savory Muffins with Goat Cheese and Tomato Jam in Beard Bites, the email newsletter of The James Beard FoundationSomething different to do with my tomatoes! I thought.  I was nearly sold on making these muffins because of the jam.

Then I looked more closely and realized the recipe was submitted by Clinton St. Baking Company & Restaurant. That did it.  Making these muffins suddenly became a nostalgic activity. (I wish I hadn’t chosen to make it for a baby shower though – I learned later that women can’t eat goat cheese when they’re pregnant.)

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Oatmeal cookies with candied ginger, chocolate, five spice powder, and sesame oil

My latest food experiment

So many times I’ve heard or read a statement that goes something like this:  baking is a science, so you should follow the recipe.  And when I’m making a more complicated dessert like pain au chocolat or a cookie that needs to be rolled out like sugar cookies, I do follow the recipe.  (Note:  sometimes this doesn’t work either.  See chocolate pie with bananas.)

But when I’m making just regular ole’ drop cookies?  That’s when I like to experiment.

Continue Reading “What’s Your Best (or Worst) Food Experiment?”

Yellow Tomato, Summer Squash, and Squash Blossom Risotto

Sometimes I stumble onto a dish that is so amazingly good that I wake up thinking about it the next day.  This risotto is one of those dishes, and the only reason I found the recipe is because I wanted to cook with squash blossoms.

I was at my uncle’s farm a few days ago, walking to my car with a green basket full of eggplant, squash, tomatoes, and corn.  Then, just before I left the field, I noticed the orange and green blossoms on the zucchini plants.

When I was a teenager working on the farm, I hated these blossoms.   After cleaning the zucchini in a big blue tub filled with water, the leftover blossoms always seemed to get these brown, slimy edges.  When I would reach in the water for more zucchini, they would cling to my hand like seaweed.

But now that I know the blossoms are edible, I decided to pick a few just for fun.  “How do I eat these?” I asked as I plucked a blossom from the vine.

“You’re the one that wants to eat the blossoms,” my uncle said.  “I eat the squash.”

Humph.  Well, I knew I could cook something with them.  So I gently laid the blossoms in the green basket.

Continue Reading “Yellow Tomato, Summer Squash, and Squash Blossom Risotto”

Cooking for Geeks and more

I had another busy weekend in Ocean City – I know, I spend a lot of time there in August – and I have some errands and assignments to catch up on today.  So I’m leaving you with some of my favorite articles and recipes from the past week:

Recipes of the Nerds from The Atlantic

The New RX: Apples, Carrots, Conversation from Slashfood

12 Vegetarian Recipes to Celebrate Summer from The Atlantic

Playing with Fire: Hot Sauce Recipes from The New York Times

Peaches-n-Herb (Grilled Peaches, Lemon-Thyme Semifreddo, Blueberry Sauce) from Food52

Toasted Oatmeal Topping for Ice Cream from Serious Eats

Vosges Haut Chocolate's Black Pearl Bar

Vosges Haut Chocolate's Black Pearl Bar with wasabi, ginger, black sesame seeds, and dark chocolate

It’s been a couple of weeks since I made a chocolate dessert – Mexican chocolate ice cream was the last one - and I feel that I’m not living up to the My Morning Chocolate name.  So today, I want to talk about chocolate.  But first, some housekeeping.

You may notice that the home page has a slightly different look.  ”We” (as in me and Kenny – I need to start giving him credit for the all the work he does with MMC’s pictures!) have a new tagline, a new Facebook page, and pretty, shiny icons for both Facebook and Twitter pages.  Please do “Like” or “Follow Us” to get links to our newest blog posts and our favorite food articles, and to join the discussion about everything edible and delicious.  Thanks so much!

And in the coming weeks, look for a new ”About” page and possibly a newsletter with new content not available on the blog.

Now let’s talk about chocolate! 

Continue Reading “What Chocolate Treats Do You Crave?”

Peach Chutney Pizza with Cheddar and Cilantro

I couldn’t wait to make peach chutney pizza this week, thanks to my three inspirations: a person, a restaurant, and a peach orchard.

First, there was Aarti Sequeira, the most recent winner of the The Next Food Network Star and the contestant I was rooting for all season.  Here’s a promo for her new show, Aarti Paarti:

Continue Reading “Peach Chutney Pizza with Cheddar and Cilantro”

A Beer Bread Faceoff

Beer Bread Faceoff, Flying Dog Brewery beers

Ever since my family has discovered the food company Tastefully Simple, I’ve eaten a lot of beer bread made with their mix.  But even though this bread has a nice texture – a cross between cake and bread – and is buttery and salty, I’ve never tasted the beer.  

That could be because my family makes their loaves with a light beer that may not have enough flavor to withstand baking.  Still, I wondered, when used in bread, would any of the beer’s flavor cook off after 45 minutes in the oven?  

So I decided to do an experiment:  I would bake two loaves of beer bread with two different types of beer to see how different they taste.  

Continue Reading “A Beer Bread Faceoff”

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