Win a Pizza Cookbook

Want to win a cookbook? Jayne at the Barefoot Kitchen Witch is giving away a copy of the California Pizza Kitchen Family cookbook. Go over and leave a comment, saying what you absolutely love or hate on your pizza. Be sure to browse her foodie blog while you're there. It's a good read.

Free Foodie Stuff

Want to win free foodie stuff? Check out this offer from Chronicle Books. All you have to do is leave a comment, telling them what your favorite fall dish is. They're offering a nice package of:

Pretty Pantry Gifts

A Recipe & Wrapping Kit for Delicious Jams, Sauces, and Pickles

Grill Every Day

125 Fast-Track Recipes for Weeknights at the Grill


Puff -- 50 Flaky, Crunchy, Delicious Appetizers, Entrees, and Desserts Made with Puff Pastry along with some Dufour frozen puff pastry


A Chronicle Books tote bag to carry your cookbooks and groceries.

This offer ends October 1st, so go on over and let them know what your favorite fall dish is.

Fish 'n Chips Friday

Adopt a Blogger

I would so love to adopt a "baby" blogger -- another foodie who is new to blogging. It would be so much fun. I discovered this at Megan's Cooking when she adopted a blogger. I clicked over to Dine and Dish, the "adoption agency" to sign up and be put on the waiting list to adopt a foodie. This is such a cool thing and another way to promote the wonderful foodie family that we are all a part of on the web.

Featured Foodie: Mexican Chocolate Lore and More

I'm so happy that my featured foodie this week is Teresa, from Mexican Chocolate Lore and More. I know it seems like "Teresa" week over here, but she gave me two awards this past week and I had to blog about them, plus it was her turn to be featured. In addition to being a fabulous cook, she's also written two cookbooks. Aprovecho: A Mexican-American Border Cookbook, is filled with wonderful Mexican recipes and her self-published ebook, Mi Chita's Mexican Chocolate Recipes, is filled with delectable desserts as well as some chocolate coffee drinks.

Here's what she has to say about being a foodie: My joy of cooking stems from watching and learning all my Mom and Grandmother
(Mi Chita) had to offer. They were phenomenal. All Corderos, my brothers, my children, my nephews and nieces are exceptional cooks. It's quite funny to see everyone trying to outdo the other.

Her favorite recipe is her Chocolate Tres Leches Cake. I'll let her explain it to you. Tres Leches Cake, or 3 Milk Cake, is a popular dessert offered in Mexico. With the growing population of Hispanics in North America, this delicious cake is now offered in ever growing numbers of restaurants across the United States as well. The three types of milk that are poured over the warm cake are: evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, and whole milk or cream. Of course no one said I couldn’t make it in chocolate, did they? So, here is my version of a Chocolate Tres Leches Cake, just for you. Enjoy.

For the Cake:

6 eggs, separated
2 cups light brown sugar
2 cups flour
½ cup cocoa
3 teaspoons baking powder
2/3 cups milk
2-teaspoons vanilla

For the Tres Leches Sauce:

1 (12 ounce) can evaporated milk
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup whipping cream
1 ½ disks Mexican Chocolate, melted (these can be melted in microwave oven for about 1 ½ minutes or over a double boiler)

Combine sauce ingredients and blend well.

Preheat oven to 350°.
Lightly grease and dust with cocoa powder, 2 (9 inch) cake pans.
Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine milk and vanilla.
Beat 6 egg whites until stiff. Reduce speed and gradually add brown sugar to beaten egg whites. After sugar dissolves, add yolks. Beat for 3 minutes.
On medium low speed, alternate flour and milk mixture to eggs until blended. Pour equally into 2 prepared cake pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes.
While still warm, poke holes into cake layers with a wooden skewer. Pour sauce over both layers and allow to cool in refrigerator.

Ganache:

¾ cups whipping cream
1 1/3 cups chopped Mexican Chocolate
2 teaspoons vanilla

Heat cream in small heavy saucepan over medium heat. Place chopped chocolate in medium size bowl. Pour hot cream over chocolate and stir with wooden spoon until melted. Add vanilla. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate in refrigerator for 1 hour. Also place beaters in refrigerator to chill. Remove from fridge and whip on high for 2 to 3 minutes until it reaches spreading consistency.
Carefully remove first cake layer from pan and place on cake plate or board. Spread ½ cup ganache on top. Place second layer over the first and completely frost cake with remaining ganache. Garnish if you like with edible flowers or chocolate covered strawberries or, as in my case, Amaretto Cherries. These are cherries that have soaked in Amaretto in the fridge for a couple of hours, drained and allow to dry naturally. Use your imagination to decorate this cake in any way you and your family would like. Enjoy.

Be sure to visit Teresa's chocolate blog and say hi.

I'm a Chocoholic

Okay, I admit it. I'm a chocoholic. Now you know. I totally, totally love chocolate. I mean, who doesn't love chocolate? My foodie friend, Teresa, at Mexican Chocolate Lore and More awarded me this super cute little chocolate guy. Teresa really knows her chocolate and her blog is delicious. Go on over for a bite, but try not to drool all over your computer screen at the pictures. Don't worry; she's posted the recipes so you can make them at home.

In the tradition that she started by awarding this to all the people who have left comments on her blog, I'm following in her footsteps and leaving little chocolate footprints all over the blogosphere by passing this award to all the really sweet people who have visited
my blog and left comments.

Of course, it goes back to Teresa at Mexican Chocolate Lore and More because she always comes over here and says hi and leaves really nice comments.

Meg at Megan's Munchies because she's really sweet and she lives in Texas and she weathered Ike and she's always cooking something.

Joan at Foodalogue because she was the first foodie to follow me and besides that, she can make cauliflower taste good.

Patsy at Family, Friends and Food because she is into family, friends, and food--what else is there?

Camille at Croque Camille because she likes eggplant pizza.

Meryl at Inspired Bites because her bites are so inspiring.

Kat at A Good Appetite because she posts something new and delicious almost every day.

Melissa at Alosha's Kitchen because all she wanted to do was make potato salad and all hell broke loose.

Foodycat at Foodycat because she likes food and she likes cats.

Arlene at The Food of Love because she's already a chocoholic and makes uncommonly good brownies.

Reeni at Cinnamon, Spice, and Everything Nice because that's what little girls are made of and she's writing a cookbook.

Joan at Squidoo because she writes family cookbooks and shows other people how to capture their family and food memories.

And last, because you always have room for more sweetness, Terri
at Merrily Musing Mom because she is adopting a little girl, Sophia, from China and is writing a fundraising cookbook to help bring her daughter home. Let's all contribute some recipes!

Thanks to all of you who have read my blog and left comments. Spread some chocolate love around and be sure to visit Teresa's chocolate blog.

Somebody Loves Me!

I feel so special. My favorite foodie friend, Teresa, at Mexican American Border Cooking has presented me with the 'I love you this much' award. I love the love that is spread through the foodie community--everyone cooking up wonderful dishes, sharing their recipes, taking beautiful pictures of their food, and being supportive of other foodie bloggers.

I love Teresa's blog because she cooks Mexican food (my favorite) and she always prepares a beautiful, delicious feast. Her food arrangements and photography is very colorful, filled with the vibrancy of her culture and heritage. She welcomes you into the warmth of her home through her blog; you can feel it in her words and through her pictures. The Mexican Word of the Day she adds
at the end of most of her posts are hilarious!

So, in keeping with the tradition, I'm sharing the love and giving it right back to Teresa at Mexican Chocolate Lore and More, her second blog which features--you guessed it!--chocolate. But mostly I'm giving it to Teresa because she is one of the sweetest and nicest people I've ever met. Even though I haven't actually *met* her, when I'm reading her blog or trading emails, I always feel as if we're sitting in the kitchen together talking like old friends, sharing a cup of coffee.
I love you right back, Teresa!

I'm Being Followed

I knew nothing about this until I went to my blogger dashboard
to write a new post and discovered that Joan at Foodalogue was following my blog. I had to read the help section to find out what following was all about. This is totally cool. You add a widget to
your sidebar and everyone can see who is following your blog.

I added it, so please click on it and follow me. Where this will lead you, I haven't a clue, but I kind of like being followed even if I'm not sure sometimes where I'm going. And I'm a pretty good trail-blazer, so who knows what culinary adventures I'll trip into. But if I get lost along the way, don't blame me if you choose to follow. :)

A Matter of Taste

We all have such a wonderful array of food to choose from. We never have to eat the same thing twice but I'm wondering: What if you were stranded on a deserted island, with a magic food machine that could make only one food? What food would you choose?

I must confess to a love of hamburgers. Not too glamorous or gourmet, I know, but I totally love hamburgers. Char-broiled, medium well, served on a sesame-seed bun with shredded lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise. I could say that I like cheeseburgers with mushrooms and onions sauteed in garlic, then I could have some variety, but that would be cheating.

Imagine that you're stranded on a beautiful island with your magic food machine. What food would you choose and why would that be your choice? Between meals, would you dream about all the delicious food you couldn't have--imagining it so vividly in your mind that you can almost taste it?

BTW, there's a really good reason for this silly question and it has to do with cookbooks and writing recipes, as well as sharing food on your blog. So please humor me in my little research and answer the question.