I’ve never been one to embrace Mardi Gras with complete abandon. First of all, I’m not Catholic. Second, I live far from the land of King Cake. And third, I just don’t get it. I mean, what’s all the fuss about tromping around with painted bodies, tossing beads from floats and making insane revelry until all hours of the night when a girl should be getting her beauty rest and dreaming of her next dinner party? Puh-leeeeeeeeeze.

But here we are smack dab in the middle of February and I will admit that this year, I feel a small affection for what Mardi Gras seems to be all about: the coming Spring tide. I can just feel the ground beginning to pulse underfoot as it slowly wakes up from a season of dormancy. Strict observers of the season of Lent use Mardi Gras as the tipping point for absolution. Get it while you can ‘cuz, baby, you got 40 days of longing for what you gave up! Then Easter rolls around and we’re thick in bud and blossom and sowing seed. I love the seasons. I love this intertwining of religious symbolism and celestial passage. I love pancakes.

Yes, you heard me. Pancakes. The English (my father’s mother’s people – I was reminded of this each year when she visited) celebrate Mardi Gras with pancakes. Except they don’t call it Mardi Gras. Throughout the Anglican tradition the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday is known as Shrove Tuesday, or Pancake Day. Consult Wiki for an etymological bath on the origin of ‘shrove’. What you need to know, and what your kids need to know, is that Shrove Tuesday is all about eating pancakes (and even racing them). Doesn’t the Puritan in you just love this G-rated version of Mardi Gras?

Right about now you might be asking yourself, why pancakes, Carol? Why would an entire nation, nay – an entire religious tradition – embrace pancakes as the way to mark the final day before Lent? Let’s review some of the main the ingredients in pancake batter: eggs, butter and milk. These are also the main ingredients in many a sinfully sweet baked good. Pancakes became a preferred means to using up these ingredients in advance of Lent and the tradition stuck.

This year, what better way to celebrate Mardi Gras with your herd, I mean family, than to make pancakes? For best results, you might cook some up the weekend before (consuming most and then keeping some in the fridge for February 16) so you can enjoy both pancake making and eating. I also encourage you to branch out and not use the same-old pancake recipe (or heaven forbid – store bought mix) you’ve made for the last century. Just last week I experimented with these sour cream pancakes (I used flax seed instead of eggs and increased the amount of vanilla), and this week I’m going to try out these yogurt pancakes, or maybe these vegan sesame pancakes. Later this month when my friend Laurie comes to visit, I’ll even make her these gluten-free cakes.

Although cooking pancakes is pretty straight forward, I did find these Pancake Day helpful cooking hints, well, helpful. The fondue pot I bought off Craigslist last month came with a small cast iron skillet and much to my surprise, it cooks up a perfect pancake if I keep the heat low and re-stock the pan with a small hint of butter between each cake. Now, for me, toppings are what take the whole pancake experience to a new level. Plum cherry and peach jam, lemon curd and real maple syrup will turn even the blandest pancake into a culinary delight. What are your favorite toppings?

So, grease up the griddle, get out the eggs, milk, flour and vanilla and call in the kids – it’s time to celebrate the coming season with pancakes. Oh – and go top shelf this Shrove Tuesday by pairing your pancakes with homemade roasted vanilla orange juice. This delectable treat is a fantastic way to introduce your family to where vanilla beans actually come from (answer: not a bottle).

Many thanks to phillipe leroyer, and martin deutsch for their perfect pics.

Carol

When we decided to throw a Super Bowl party this year, I was a little uneasy.  Not because I was worried that my team wouldn’t win (who’s playing, again?), butbecause several of my guests have specific dietary needs.  Now, I’m no stranger to working around dietary restrictions since I’ve been a vegetarian for all of my adult life and I’m also lactose intolerant.  Working within these bounds has become second nature to me and I don’t have to sit down and consider my menu for a long period of time. But on a big snacking/food day, I need to consider that two of my guests are gluten-intolerant and one guest is allergic to dairy (which is different from merely lactose-intolerant). It’s not uncommon for those restrictions to come together and when they do –yikes!

First thing’s first. I did some more research on gluten intolerance.  I was very pleased to discover that while gluten is in many things, a smart consumer can pin down easy to find gluten-free products that are in most grocery stores. This website lists some commonly used brands that are normally gluten-free, although I’ll make sure to save all packaging and ingredients lists for my gluten intolerant guests to double-check for me.

Second, I did a little math.  After I added up “vegetarian” and “no dairy,” I figured I could kill two (figurative) birds with one stone by making some vegan options.  This way, I could be sure that there were clear options available, and only have to pay special attention to the dead animal carcass meat dishes to make sure no dairy snuck in there.  There are also some fabulous Super Bowl party specific recipes put out by the Vegetarian Times website.

I also found some great standard recipes that I think will help me to ensure all my guests are full and satisfied.  Deviled eggs, for example,  are a fan favorite and friendly for everyone at my party, as long as I stick to a basic recipe like this one. Here is the best guacamole recipe ever, as long as you cut back on the lime just a little bit (and this is coming from someone who is a little bit of a guacamole snob). You can bet I’ll make plenty of it, since it can be eaten by vegetarians and gluten or dairy intolerant people. Hummus has to also be one of the best inventions in the world and it can be eaten by any of my guests as well.

Then there are the next couple of recipes which are great for everyone, EXCEPT those who are gluten-intolerant.  Substituting tofu for the cheese in this jalapeno popper recipe will make an appetizer that I know my friends will love and is palatable by those who have to be careful around dairy. Tofu and pesto vegan crackers, while they sound crazy, are actually quite delicious.  I’ve made them before and even my husband, the carnivore, loves them.

Making sure there are plenty of fruit trays, vegetable trays and gluten-friendly chips (like Mission corn tortilla chips) will ensure that everyone at my party has plenty to eat (and it’s all really pretty healthy!).  For those with a sweet tooth, I figure that I’ll make some of this delicious-looking vegan cake (vegetarian and dairy-free friendly, although I think a little vanilla extract will make it even better) and I’ll have some cartons of ice cream (Breyer’s All-Natural and most of the Dreyer’s brand are gluten friendly) at hand, as well.

Finally,we all know that the Super Bowl isn’t complete without alcohol, so there will be plenty of beer around.  While I don’t like beer and those with a gluten-intolerance can’t drink it either, we’ll mix up some killer margaritas as well, since tequila has no gluten!  Now THAT sounds like a party!

What is your twist on a traditional Super Bowl or football dish?

Thanks to jdanvers, sean dreilinger, mooshee85, xmascarol, nickwheeleroz and Lilia for the great photos!

~Laura

Confession: I’ve been on a baking/cooking ban for the last several weeks.  Normally, this would never happen because baking is my fun time, my creative time, my me time…..but desperate times call for desperate measures.

1) After the holidays, I was beginning to feel like one of those couches that sits in the “guest living room” of a fancy house: overstuffed, finicky and uncomfortable. Yes, you know the one.  Luckily, my smoothie regimen has helped me to feel human again.

2) My husband is required to stay at peak fitness for his job as a soldier in the Army and he was dangerously close to  (read: over) the limit and I figured if baked goods weren’t around, he couldn’t eat them.

3) I was overwhelmed with all the baking possibilities and out of my depth.  Inundated by all these incredibly complicated-but-delicious sounding and looking dishes (making me wish my computer screen was scratch-n-sniff) being posted out in the blogosphere, I didn’t know what to make of them.  I don’t know how to make an “emulsion” (which sounds vaguely gross) and I don’t want to use a recipe that has 38 different ingredients.  I’m slow to adapt and it all got too complicated too quickly.

I just wanted/needed to make a simple recipe that wasn’t going to clog my arteries.  Oh, and if that recipe could taste delicious too, that would just be fantastic.  I know, I ask for a lot sometimes.

So, it was as though my kitchen dreams were answered when I saw this recipe on SmittenKitchen’s blog. This marinara sauce was everything I was looking for and more.  With only three ingredients (okay, four ingredients if you’re a stickler and you count the salt), it was unbelievably simple to make and the result was way better than my meager preparation warranted.  It was light and flavorful, reminding me how much I’ve always loved spaghetti and making me wonder why I haven’t eaten it in recent memory.

As it turns out, this recipe is also in line with some of the current trends in cooking.  The Fancy Food Show announced five big trends in the food world right now; specifically, “good-for-you foods,” “coconut,” “gluten-free,” “exotic citrus” and “nostalgic foods.”  Well, one of the very few ingredients of this recipe was a whole lot of butter, so “good-for-you” went right out of the pot.  While there is definitely no coconut in the recipe and I’m not sure I could justify a tomato as an “exotic citrus,” the marinara itself is actually gluten-free.  Putting it over a bed of rice or rice/quinoa pasta instead of regular wheat based pasta makes a great gluten-free meal.  Plus, marinara sauce is homey and, like macaroni-and-cheese, jello or popsicles,  a childhood staple.

Re-energized and perhaps, reassured, I can’t wait to get back into the kitchen (not a misogynistic joke) and start experimenting again.  One of the baking trends emerging out of this year’s show was using whole vanilla beans in recipes. Maybe I’ll try one of these great recipes: vanilla bean panna cotta or vanilla bean bread pudding on my next baking adventure!

Which culinary trend are you itching to try these days?

Thanks to @chris, wader and Ben McLeod for the pictures!

~Laura

Patience Crackstone and her husband Nathan toiled four days and nights to prepare their Thanksgiving offering, an earthy, roasted arrangement of carrots, squash and leeks that marinated hours in a ginger bath of water and stock before browning in a heavy skillet to bring out the sugars. They sat at the table in their Sunday best, exhausted, yet hopeful. There was much to celebrate.

The Crackstones joined in the First Thanksgiving to share the balance of their harvest and make friends with outsiders. Patience was smart enough to bring along a bottle of Tuaca, to smooth over the exhaustion and bring merriment to others. She blended it with cider and ginger ale, added whole cranberries and kumquats for colorful effect, and heated the brew over a bunsen burner. She enjoyed the hard cider with heavy whipping cream.

As did I, a small, dried blueberry who arrived late with appetizers in tow. It was my first, First Thanksgiving and I wanted to do it right. A blueberry with divergent tastes and a penchant for the nontraditional – hence the blueberry wig and not the pilgrim get-up – I knew my offering would have to satisfy palettes and tummies in a down home comfy way, yet also surprise and delight same palettes and tummies. I found this stuffed mushroom inspiration from one of my favorite blogs and tried out my fantasy sweet potato appetizer recommendation from last week. The Fantasy lives!!

Welcome to the joy of Rogue Rice, a supper club by way of quirky irreverence. My friends Katie and Lera spawned the idea last year – theme-based dinners that feature random concepts (for instance, All Things Pirate), yummy and reasonable food (you can’t spend more than $20 to prepare your offering), and of course, costumes. First Thanksgiving was a must and our team of foodies took to it with great gusto.

Sitting around the table, our collection of Crackstones, Native American goddesses (Skwantina Crackstone – she married Solomon Crackstone), Wishbones and Blueberries shared a meal of fantastic flavor.

Here’s what was on the Rogue Rice First Thanksgiving Menu (a little different to Patience’s all those years ago!):

Roasted Pork Loin
Scalloped Potatoes with Leeks and Nutmeg
Fall Salad with Persimmons, Toasted Hazelnuts, and Tangerine Vinaigrette
Ginger Infused Roasted Carrots, Squash and Leeks
Roasted Asparagus
Buttermilk biscuits
Pumpkin Cheesecake

I think we impressed ourselves. I know I was impressed, especially since our gluten-free Pilgrim Patience fared fantastically well – without us even trying. The only things she said ‘no’ to were the biscuits and the crust from the pumpkin cheesecake. Well done!

Over the evening, our Pilgrim talk – you know, how to survive another winter and where to source down for blankets and slippers – evolved into planning the next Rogue Rice event, which I’m thrilled to say will occur at my humble abode in late January (yes, I’ll have my furniture at last!). I’m keeping that theme under wraps for now. Unless, of course, you guess it, or better yet, share some ideas for future events. The more outlandish the better!!

Looking forward to hearing and sharing your Thanksgiving tales!

Carol