Cooking Floyd: Dark Days Challenge: Jan. Week 9

Mid-Winter Soup Fest

This is the first themed challenge of the DDC - The Soup and One-Pot Meal Challenge.  Coincidentally this weekend was when Michael and I chose to throw our annual Mid-Winter Party and had already decided to do soups! Behind Russ and Mike P. are the 4 soups we served: Tuscan White Bean and Kale, Cassoulet, Curried Butternut Squash, and Chicken Noodle.  During the course of the party we were so busy photographing our guests that we forgot to get shots of the food!  It's in there but incidental.

Russ and Mike P. in front of the soups and behind Lori's foccacia.

Cooking Floyd: Dark Days Challenge: Jan. Week 8

Oh! Julia!

I've had a copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking in my cookbook library since I moved out of my parents' house in 1975 but I never made Julia Child's classic Boeuf Bourguignon until yesterday.  Why did I wait so long?

Cooking Floyd: Two Cookbooks to Get Us Through the Winter and a Website

Being involved in the Dark Days Challenge has me scrambling to come up with inventive ways to use local winter produce, some of which I've never seen or heard of before.  Thanks to the greater interest in our area of eating local in season foods, our farmers are learning to extend their growing seasons and exploring more types of cold-hardy produce.  I've been doing a lot of "what is that and how is it used?".  A few weeks ago while surfing around Amazon.com I came across the Winter Harvest Cookbook by Lane Morgan.

Cooking Floyd: Dark Days Challenge: Jan. Week 7

I noticed that while everybody was on Week 7 of the DDC, I was on Week 6.  That's because I started the challenge the first week of December.  So for the sake of continuity and less confusion I've updated to Week 7.  I didn't miss a week, just a number.

Asparagus Soup
Yesterday I was off all day at a Master Food Volunteer meeting so I came home to a cold stove and little time to kick up a hot meal.  The answer was sitting on my pantry shelf.

Cooking Floyd: Dark Days Challenge: Jan. Week 5

Cabbage Rolls and No-Knead Rolls

Most people do their deep housecleaning in the spring when they can open the windows and air out the house or in the fall before they have to close the house up.  In the spring we're busy with tilling, seeds, transplants, and chicks and everything that goes along with that.  In the fall I'm still in the midst of preservation frenzy, and then the holidays happen.  Now that the xmas decorations have been packed away I'm getting a start on that deep house cleaning.  Today's project is scrubbing down the kitchen cabinets and appliances inside and out and degreasing the range hood.  Who doesn't love doing that?  So there will be no cooking going on today.  At least not by me.  I've got the crock pot loaded!

Cooking Floyd: ...mmmMustard!

Now that the preserving season has slowed down (although it never really stops) there's time for projects on the "I want to try this" list.  Mustard is one of these.  Armed with lots of flavored vinegars, fruits, herbs and spices, I figure I can turn out all kinds of specialty mustards once I get the technique down.  While mustard can be canned for long term preservation, it keeps a mighty long time under refrigeration.  Quite frankly, I'm glad to have a break from the water bath!