Secret Recipe Club: Ewwy Cashewy Chocolate Bark

Ewwy, cashewy, bacon bark

Secret Recipe Club is back, baby!

Don't worry, I'm not posting late for Secret Recipe Club, I just switch groups from B to D. Group B posted the same week as Daring Cooks and I found myself unable to complete both. When the opportunity presented itself, I opted to leave group B and try out D. And I'm very pleased with that decision. Want to join in the Secret Recipe Club fun where we cook, bake, blog and share? Head on over to the Secret Recipe Club!

Announcement!

Special Cooking Challenge for my Thirtieth Year!

I've had a post brewing in the back of my mind for over six months now, but I haven't actually sat down to write it. And it should have gone up January 27th. Oops. I stumbled across a fun idea on some other blogs (and it's been long enough that I have no idea which blogs). A challenge if you will. Pick 30 items to make during your 30th year. Not just any old recipe, but things that I've never made before because they've always slightly intimidated me. I'm now three weeks into my thirtieth year and it's time to make my intentions public if I have any hopes of completing the challenge. Incidentally, I picked a item off my list that meshed with my ingredient of the month for February. Below is my tentative list. It is definitely subject to change :) Six months ago, this list was at around 33, but I've made several of them items on the list since then. 

Thirty Intimidating Recipes in my Thirtieth Year

1. French Onion Soup 
2. Jam 
3. Sticky Toffee Pudding 
4. Barbecue Pulled Pork (including the Barbecue Sauce) 
5. Pretzels 
6. Crackers 
7. Gelato 
8. Challah 
9. Savory Souffle 
10. Layered Cake 
11. Pita Bread 
12. Salsa 
13. Poblano Rellenos 
14. Ricotta 
15. Authentic Enchiladas (with flour tortillas) 
16. Creamy Salad Dressing 
17. Fried Okra 
18. Mole 
19. Mayonnaise or Aioli 
20. Vanilla Extract 
21. Pickles (Cucumber and Okra) 
22. Kimchi 
23. Rhubarb 
24. Fudge 
25. Pork Fried Rice 
26. Pots de Creme 
27. Pho 
28. Beer Tasting Dinner 
29. Cheese 
30. Brisket 

Is there a item you think I'm missing? What's on your bucket list to make?  

I'll be creating a special page on the blog to link to my 30 in 30 recipes so you can see them all in one place throughout the year! 

Double Take: Meyer Lemon Aioli

Pan con Aioli/ Brot mit Aioli/ Bread with Aioli

When Tabitha suggested Meyer lemons as the Ingredient of the Month for February, I was excited. I've never worked with Meyer Lemons before and was thrilled to get the excuse. I had no idea what I wanted to do with them, so I set about looking up recipes. I looked and looked and even found a great article in the LA Times with 100 different Meyer Lemon recipes. I took note of several completely ignored my list. Today was the day to post our blogs. I'd acquired the Meyer lemons two weeks ago from Trader Joe's (I haven't seen them at Publix), so they were on hand. I just needed to find a quick recipe. And when I was shopping for beverages today at Publix I got a brilliant idea. Pizza dough was BOGO, and I went from there.

Double Take: Crispy, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Crispy, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies served on a cake plate

Welcome to week two of the month: Featured Blogger week! For today's post, Tabitha and I not only picked a blogger, but a theme: COOKIES. (Make sure you read that word with a Cookie Monster accent) I adore cookies, but I tend to stick pretty faithfully to two recipes.

1. Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies
2. Reese's Peanut Butter Chip Chocolate Cookies

They are both good cookies, though as we learned earlier, they don't always translate well with non-American ingredients. I have definitely become a fan of chilling my cookie dough and did so for this recipe as well.

Double Take: Black Bread

Black Bread

Welcome to the first week of the month! From here on out (at least for the foreseeable future) it will be known as Bread and Cheese Week for our Double Takes! For our first installment of Bread and Cheese Week, we are bringing you Black Bread! Aka Pumpernickel! Wow. That's a lot of exclamation points. Please forgive my excitement.