I have two weeks off, so I am going to do my best to log a good amount of time into thinking, writing, posting, site structuring, baking, cooking and … well… smiling.

In the meantime, please enjoy this video. Every moment of it makes me want to scream community.

So I may or may not be sauced from this evening’s events. I just made my first lemon meringue pie, hung out with my two awesome room mates (codename epi (?) was hard at work but stopped in to say hi as often as she could), and decorated our Christmas tree. What a great night. I will post the pie recipe if it turned out.  Codename MsWinsAlot will probably still win tomorrow. :-)

I apologize for the delay in posting the throwdown results. This year’s champ deserves more time and text than I have right now. Check back soon for a full writeup of her triumphant return from last year’s miss-hap.

The winner was my aunt (codename TBD) with a creamy and delightfully textured coconut meringue pie. The custard was creamy, dense and flavorful which was a nice contrast to the expertly executed light meringue topping. I think I have a picture of her beautifully presented final pie. It is back at home one my camera, but I will update the post with pictures soon.

(also, a side note, I was overly harsh on presentation. The visual presentation was spot on, and the verbal presentation was full of character. I think you lost the people’s choice because of that, :-/ sorry.)

We are in the middle of the throwdown judging. Three pies have been judged so far, and we are all taking a break before the last two get put to the test. My pie is one of the last two. The title is completely up for grabs. 

So far we have had a savory Halibut pie, a non veggie friendly apple pie (I am quite intrigued), and a well presented humble pie.

Up next are another unconventional apple, and attempt two of last year’s coconut meringue.

I will see if I can post offical writeups from the judges soon.

Sorry, no pictures this time.  The results were delicious, but not the most visually appealing.  Mostly that is just an excuse because I am getting too tired to whip out the camera right now.

I ran into a few problems with this recipe, but it turned out alright I think.  I couldn’t find any portobello mushrooms at the store (season?), so I had to come up with a substitute.  I wandered around the store for a while until I spotted those beautiful purple eggplants.  Such sexy shiny skin, right? They worked great as a substitute, but I think it would have gone better if I had more sauce or at least pre-spiced them before layering them in.  I cut the eggplant into 1/4 thick whole round slices and cooked them for 10-15 minutes in the oven at 350°F (180°C).  This worked nicely to soften them up, but they were a bit on the bland side.

The sauce issue was my fault.  I was halfway between committing to making two batches and just sticking to one.  I had enough of everything for two, except for the sauce.  You really need a lot of sauce.  I bet if I had more sauce, the slices of eggplant would have tasted fine.

The only other issue I had was timing. I thought that this would be a fairly low maintenance recipe, but I was constantly behind while I tried to get all the prep work done on time. Maybe after a few rounds I will be faster, but for now it took my full attention for way too many hours.

What else?  Just getting to chop fresh herbs was a treat.  They smelled so good.  This recipe is a complete joy to make and despite my hiccups, it tasted pretty good too.

Original Recipe:

It seems like everything has been blowing my mind lately, so I hope it doesn’t seem half-hearted when I say that Rockwell’s recipe for Tomato Linguine is absolutely amazing.

I will be honest, when I first read the recipe I was a bit skeptical.  It’s simplicity threw me off.  I figured it was getting late on Sunday night, so I should just make something easy. As it turns out, simple ≠ boring. Baking the tomatoes in olive oil completely transforms their flavor.  Don’t get me wrong, I love raw tomatoes, but these were so delicately soft and sweet.  I actually smelled the pan *after* it was empty because they were that good.

This was a pretty straight forward recipe, but I made a few mistakes and accidental alterations.  I forgot to add the crushed red pepper, used a truckload of garlic and, as you can see in the pictures, I added basil.  Mmmm, tomato and basil… how can you not.  Also, mine was delicious right out of the oven, but adding a little salt made it pop a bit more.  I would suggest you try it both ways your first time.

Also, In my skeptical state, I decided to actually make a salad to go along with the tomato linguine.  While at the store I threw together a plan for mixed greens, heirloom tomatoes, shredded carrots and blue cheese.  It was delicious and salad always seems to be a nice addition to a pasta dish.

Here is the original recipe as posted by Rockwell???

linguini with broiled tomatoes

• sliced tomatoes sufficient to cover 2 9×13 baking pans
• drizzle with 1/4 cup olive oil mixed with two cloves crushed garlic.
• sprinkle with crushed red pepper.
• broil tomatoes or bake at 475 until wilted and beginning to char.
• Meanwhile, cook the linguini. If you start the pasta after the tomatoes are in the oven, the timing should be right.
• Toss linguini with tomatoes and serve with parmesan cheese.

“Uncle Brandon, why are the gingerbread people stuck together?”

“Well, you see, when two (or more) gingerbread people love (or respect) each other very much…”

I don’t have much else. I just wanted to share my roommate’s awesome impromptu gingerbread decorating party.  I am just sitting here working on the blog and thinking about how to restructure things while she makes some awesome cookies.  I must say, they are quite impressive.  They are all quite creative and fun.  All in all a very nice relaxing Friday night at home.  It is making me love community and living with roommates even more.

–Brandon