The hot and cold of it ...

Hey there! I'm quiet over here because there's not much going on, so not much to post. I took some time off for the holidays, but wanted to share some body-warming inspiration if anyone just finished shoveling out of the snow like me. We had a blizzard a day late and a dollar short of Christmas! I can't even see my furniture in the back yard and we covered the plants just in time.
This is what's keeping me hot ...Irish Coffee always does the trick! Just sweeten some strong coffee with sugar, pour on some whiskey and top with whipped cream. Sounds crazy, but I stir and sip my hot Irish Coffee with a straw.

Take a look at what's keeping me cold ...

Plowing snow and orange juice in my outdoor fridge (a snow bank). That's our front sidewalk. This snowfall I didn't do the traditional straight line with rock salt. I decided make curves and zig-zags in the snow, very childish, but I like the final product. Very artsy. Lol. I think I'm one of the few people that actually LIKE to shovel snow. Same thing with vacuuming and cutting the grass, I think it's the lines and patterns. Either that or some crazy childhood re-programming. :-) Ok, take care and stick around for details on the next Season of Cooking for Real. I have stuff to share from recipe testing and I hear there's a change on my set??? I'll let you know, when I know :-) ...

Sweet Obsessions ...

Hey there! Well, I confess ... I was away for a few days on vacation. That's why it's been dormant here and in the comments. I'm dealing with a bit of jet lag too, but give me a coupla days over the weekend and I'll be back in bloggin' shape!

In the meantime, I have some sweet obsessions I'd like to share, today and tomorrow on Today :-). Yep, I'm hangin' with The Today show crew tomorrow (Saturday) morning for some holiday sweet talk! I have a few desserts to share along with the recipes and some tips on making them super simple. Catch me in the 8AM hour on the east coast. Until then, my current sweet obsessions ...OOOOOHHHH ... Bean paste neva tasted so yummy!
AHHHHHHH ... Flavors galore!!

OHHHHHHHH! Nutella! I'm headed to the city for the required rehearsal for The Today show, then the treadmill! See ya on The Today show tomorrow! Happy Holidays and eating!!

Huevos Huevos Huevos - Rancheros @ Yolk

Well, well, well ... I am one for the typical, the regular, the standards, the real :-). I don't usually like frills in my food. I mean don't get me wrong, I love something fancy every once in awhile, but I often find myself out of town in search of just plain old good food. You know? Word of mouth stuff, hole in the wall places, off the beaten path spots. Maybe there's a website, maybe not. I always ask for these places when I get somewhere, and to my amazement, people always give up the goods. I was in Chicago last week Baking for the Troops at the Kenmore Live Studios on Wells Street and only had about 40 minutes to catch a bite between baking shifts, so it had to be close. I asked a few people in the building and the consensus was either Jimmy John's for an early lunch or Yolk for a late breakfast. Jimmy John's came up because I asked about it being in the area, I love them and in a pinch I know what I'm getting. Both were a couple of blocks down, but I decided on Yolk because most everyone said they heard it was great, but had never gone. Let me tell you, if this is you ... someone that has heard of something good, but haven't gone yet ... just go. Why not? I took forever to go to Tanoreen here in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, but now it's one of my favorite places to eat! I bet you'd feel the same about Yolk if you lived in or visited Chicago. It turned out to be a great decision! They totally broke a diner rule and I'm ok with it ... I ordered the huevos rancheros and as my plate was lowered to the table I noticed 3 not 2, but that's right THREEEEE EGGS on my huevos rancheros!!! Simple things make me happy. What a plate, eh? I love either a huevos rancheros or an eggs benedict when I hit a diner-like place. This was up there at the top of the list among my past orders. The salsa was crazy with a nice smoky flavor, yolks runny, tortillas tender and crisp all at once, but really, I just loved to 3 yolks. I'd even do just an all-yolk huevos rancheros if I could .. heck I may do that in a few days for breakfast at home. Save the whites for some extra fluffy waffles or something. BTW, that coffee was soooooo good. I should've asked what brew. Bet it was something simple, sometimes the simple things done right are superb. Here's the inside of Yolk ...Pretty bright in there and every one was smiling! My kind of place! We devoured our breakfast and headed back to work, but not before I took a picture outside, it was cold!!That's it. Not an advertisement, just a tip to a friend. If you are looking for a solid breakfast and some smiles head on over to Yolk on Wells Street in Chicago. I'd go back and probably will the next time I'm in Chicago. Lucky you if you live there, a 3-egg huevos rancheros. I guess I'm silly for not getting it, it is called Yolk. Rule breakers.

Help the troops for FREE!

Hey there! I'm leading with the FREE part! :-) You should too! Just last week I kicked off a holiday "thank you" to our troops with Kenmore and it's a success so far! Thanks for all the clicks :-). Together we're Baking for the troops and it doesn't cost a thing! If you are just now hearing about this, it's super easy to send a dozen cookies to a deserving military member overseas at no cost to you. The smart people over at Kenmore are handling all the logistics, the baking, the packaging and the shipping. All you have to do is order them and pick one of the pre-written messages to accompany your dozen of cookies overseas. Next thing you know a deserving military member overseas is getting a dozen cookies for the holidays! Here's what to do:

1. Log on to Facebook.com/Kenmore and "Like" them

2. Click on the button that says SEND A DOZEN COOKIES FOR ME

3. Pick a message to go with your dozen.

4. Feel good that you are saying thanks in a unique way.

5. Tell as many people as you can that giving back is as simple as a few clicks! And it's FREE!

Here are some pics from last week's kick-off event at the Kenmore Live Studios in Chicago, IL. ...

That's the box the cookies will arrive in from you when you donate. I wrote a quick message on the box and started rolling out my Candy Bar Thumbprints. I'll share my recipe at the end of this post. I talked to television and radio stations all morning while baking, then took a break for breakfast. When I returned a class of students arrived to assist ...

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We weren't the only ones baking, Kathleen from Katy's came by to make some of her My OH Mega Cookies ...

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Here I am on oven duty at the Kenmore Elite ...

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It can fit 100 cookies at a time! Double fan convection is no joke! We whizzed through many batches that afternoon and before I knew it, the day was over. Each student got a chance to write a personal message to afix to their box of cookies and some of them were just too cute ...

jean lachat photography

It says, "Thank you troops, hope you have an AWESOME holiday". Pretty cute. If you've already done this, thanks soooo much. If not, please head on over and join me, the students and countless others in some holiday spirit! "AWESOME" is exactly how I felt when I received and "Any Soldier" holiday card back in 1993. Baking cookies that day brought back such memories. I couldn't stop smiling!

jean lachat photography

Those boxes were really clever, they were labeled C.R.E's instead of M.R.E's. So, "Cookies Ready to Eat" instead of "Meals Ready to Eat", which are the infamous packaged meals for military members in the field. We used to call them Meals Rarely Edible lol. Me, being someone trying to always find happiness, favored the chicken and rice, at least it tasted good unheated with the little hot sauce packet that came with it. I had them a couple of times when I was field reporting on troops doing various missions out in the middle of no where. One of the perks of being a broadcaster was being able to leave that life then report on it, but imagine that being your only meal for weeks at a time. Suffice it to say, I'd easily take these cookies any day!!

Please spread the word. It's free, it's for a good cause and it only takes a second. Tell your Facebook friends and even strangers for small talk! I say for the person that always sends you mass Fwd emails, even if you never read theirs, they are obviously the kind of person that would read yours ... so send one to them too! And don't forget to tell them it's FREE to give and it only takes a couple of clicks to do. Maybe the passive aggressive approach, put it in your signature for your email ... something like;

"Join me in Baking for the Troops - It's FREE, takes a few seconds and you don't have to bake! visit www.Facebook.com/Kenmore"

Ok, here's my cookie recipe I baked for the troops last week ...

Sunny's Candy Bar Thumbprints

Recipe courtesy Sunny Anderson, 2010

1 stick unsalted butter (1/2 cup), room temperature
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

For the coating
1 cup turbinado or raw cane sugar (recommended: Sugar in the Raw)
1 cup chopped nuts (peanuts, hazelnuts, pecans)

For the topping
various candy bars, broken into 1-inch pieces (Skor, Twix, Snickers, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Kit Kat, etc)

In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment blend butter and brown sugar on medium high until creamy. Turn off the mixer and use a rubber spatula to scrape the sides of the bowl, pushing everything back towards the center. Blend again, then add the vanilla, egg, salt and blend until combined. Lower the speed of the mixer and add flour in 1/2 cup intervals.
Between each addition be sure to completely blend in all the flour and scrape the sides again as before. Once completely combined scrape the dough out of the mixer and add to a container with a lid and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Meanwhile make gather the coating ingredients. In separate bowls add turbinado sugar and various chopped nuts.

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Remove cookie dough from the refrigerator and using a tablespoon measure scoop out dough and roll into a ball between your hands. Continue to finish them all. Then divide the balls evenly and roll each group in one of the coatings, leaving a few un-coated for variety. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet, separating them on the sheet by about 1 inch. Bake each batch for 12 minutes. Remove and immediately press one chunk of candy bar in the center of each ball. Remove to a wire rack. Let cool before serving.

Yield: 36 thumbprints


Ok, spread the word and have fun baking at home! I had a great breakfast down the street from the Kenmore Live Studios last week, I'll share photos in the next post just in case you have plans up there any time soon. They totally broke a rule, in a good way. Plus, stick around for some behind the scenes pics and details from the Food Network kitchens. I'm going through the menus for Season 9 and there's plenty of fun in the kitchen, you'll never guess who is baking up a storm in the kitchen station next to me!

I'm Baking for the Troops with Kenmore and Sears!! Join me!!

Hey there! Ok, I need your help. It's really really easy, trust me! I'll explain, especially if you have a Facebook account ...

I'm in Chicago to kick-off an event tomorrow with Kenmore and Sears called Baking for the Troops. If you don't know, the military is a very big part of my upbringing and family tree. My grand-dad was an Army veteran of WWII, my dad followed his dad's steps and entered the Army then deployed to Vietnam and my Uncle just finished commanding 2 waves of the 82nd Airborne in Afghanistan. I never went to war, but instead was a radio broadcaster and journalist in the Air Force, but I say that to tell you how important this is to me. Even though I'm a veteran, I still feel a part of the fold and my military experiences will be with me for a lifetime. I still use some of the skills I learned back in 1993 right here in 2010. So I say all that to tell you a quick story ... as a young Airman serving in Korea, far from home and fresh from high school, I received one of those holiday cards addressed to "Any Soldier". It was right on time because I was going through a rough time, very rough and there I was alone on the holidays. The card meant so much and I still have it along with letters I began exchanging with the family. Really it just started as a thanks from me back to them and the next thing you know I gained a new family through a simple act of kindness. It meant so much then and still now I think of how nice it was for someone to take time out of their schedule to send a card to someone they didn't know, me, Any Soldier.

So, how can you help today's "Any soldier"? Well, don't worry about stamps and don't even worry about baking!!! I've teamed up with Kenmore and Sears for their Baking for the Troops event and guess what?? We're doing the baking!!! Here's what you do;

1. Visit Facebook.com/KENMORE

2. "Like" us :-) (c'mon give us the thumbs up! have you seen the Kenmore Elite? You can bake 100 cookies at once, huuuuuge capacity inside and it's the regulation-size range!!)

3. Then click on the tab that says "SEND A DOZEN COOKIES FOR ME"

4. You'll redirect to a page that allows you to choose from several pre-written messages to accompany your dozen. Choose the words that fit you (it's like walking the card aisle at the drug store), then ...

5. That's it!!!!! We do all the baking, packaging and mailing!! We even attach your personal note to the box!! FOR FREEEEE!!!! :-)

6. Tell a friend!!

Here's where it gets really cool, once we reach 250,000 cookies (about 20,800 clicks), Kenmore and Sears will donate $50,000 to the Heroes at Home Wish Registry!

Ok, so if you are here often you know I'm Facebook and Tweet illiterate, so you really gotta get the word out. Tweet and text and poke, all that lol. #baking4troops is Twitter ready! The boxes we are sending the cookies in are really cute too. The boxes are labeled as C.R.E's or "Cookies Ready to Eat, just like the lesser tasty at-war M.R.E, a freeze dried block of stuff called a "Meal Ready to Eat. I used to fight over the chicken and rice one, in a pinch it'll do with some hot sauce. I'll take pics and post it tomorrow so you can see what you're sending. you may also catch me on your local news because I'm broadcasting from the Kenmore Live Studio here in Chicago. If you are here, please come by, say hi and order some free cookies to be sent to the troops!!!

Ok, click those links and get started! It takes less than 2 minutes to make a deserving soldier feel like someone cares. I can't tell you how many of our children are at war. I'm talking fresh-faced from high school, some can't even tell their parents exactly where they are. That's how it was with my uncle, so it's just major detachment and a feeling of separation I wouldn't wish on anyone. These are the people that protect us from dangers we don't even know about and whether you support war or not, you have to find some pride in a young man or woman dedicating their life to the service of the country. Freedom isn't free, but these cookies are and can really make someone feel special. I'm gonna dig out that card "Any Soldier" card I got in Seoul when I get home and post it here for you to see how much it really meant ... I've kept it since 1993, from S. Korea, through Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Michigan, New Jersey, California and New York. That card made the cut every time, sadly my cassette singles didn't :-).

Ok, please tell a friend!!! www.Facebook.com/KENMORE

P.S. There's also a neat game to play once you finish the process, somthing for the cubicle doldrums. :-) Ok, get clickin, pleeeease. I neva ask much and I'm not out doing things that don't make sense, THIS makes sense and it's so easy to give back. Please help me pay that "Any Soldier" holiday card forward. AHEM ... and "comment" fam, I'm counting on you don't make me name-names :-)