she craves

No Meme Immunity: Common Cold Remedies

Mae at rice and noodles tagged me a while back for this rather useful meme. It seems everyone has come down with some sort of infection, flu, cold, coodies, to shoot Kleenex stock through the roof. When it comes to comfort of the edible sort (Robitussin doesn't count), I wish I could say that I am a chicken-soup-from-scratch maker. But the sad reality is that the only times in my life that I have made chicken soup, I was perfectly healthy—the recipients usually being sick instead. And the effort, let alone time, involved to bung out one pot is preferably spent on laying down under the covers and not thinking about anything.

And I hesitate to call these remedies. I'm woefully lacking in the echinacea-popping preventative measures. And what I eat tends to console me in my pitiful snotty state rather then speed any sort of recovery. So, I'll call these my "comfort-ies." And at the top of the list...

Chocolate-Dipped Candied Ginger (Sassy & Easy, Just Like Me)

Crystallized ginger dipped into melted dark chocolate

One "simple" truth in the kitchen: simple is always good. Easy is not a cop-out. It's just reality. I pump my fist like Tiger Woods everytime I see a food writer put "Shopping is 50% of cooking," into print. Because it's so true. Buy a few good things and something, intuitively, can come together. Even when there are just two ingredients involved. In this case, crystallized (candied) ginger I bought for the holiday's gingersnaps and dark chocolate (because, well, do I really need an explanation for this one?)...

When You Don't Want to Even Look At Another Piece of Turkey

Thanksgiving comes and goes. And I eat well. Too well. With each passing of this third Thursday of November, I always manage to forget an oath of moderation. I've developed a two-parter to the celebration. Lunch with the family followed by a walk in the park with a loveable, albeit retarded (pure-bred, that's why) golden retriever. Then off to dinner/cocktails with friends who've managed to wriggle out of more family commitments.

Chocolate Crostini

So simple, even I can do this...

Bread and chocolate. Quite possibly one of the best combinations in existence. Jacques Pepin once said that his favorite childhood snack was a piece of baguette and some dark chocolate. I'd have to concur.

I love dessert. Too bad I can't really cook it. Woe to any recipe developer, writer, tester, who has spent countless hours on a pastry, confection, etc. only to have its written contents pass into my hands. But these crostini are fool-proof. With a little help from some good salt and the best extra-virgin olive oil (you know, the kind you were crazy enough to spend THAT MUCH on), bread and chocolate become ethereal.

Therapy, Kouing Aman Be Thy Name

Up close and personal with a good friend

Behold, the best mood elevator known to mankind. Well, to Vanessa-kind anyway. Kouing aman (koo-ing ah-mon) doesn't look like anything special sitting in the case. But this unassuming dense pastry puck is a lesson in glorious simplicity. Fellow kouing aman lovers and I call it "crack." Endearingly.