The Pittsburgh Cookover

Hey everyone! I'm back from Pittsburgh, actually I've been back since Sunday and I've really been avoiding this blog post. Why you ask? Well I just have sooo much to say that I don't even know where to begin. This trip was such a wonderful experience I can't even explain it but I'm going to try. This may take a few posts so hope you enjoy hearing about it!



As I explained in my last post I belong to Bakespace, a social networking site for people who like to cook and/or bake. I have been part of this community for about a year and a half now and during that time I have met some great people who I am so proud to call friends. We gather in a "room" in the forums which we have named "Happy Hour" and talk to each other every day. We talk about food, cooking and baking, dinner, restaurants and even talk about other things such as life and family. The people that belong to this group have become a part of my extended family and I talk to them every single day.

So on to the meetup. When Karen from Pittsburgh mentioned that she would like to host a weekend meetup I just knew that I had to be a part of it. I got in touch with my friend Carolyn and fellow bakespacer and asked her if she wanted to do the drive together, she immediately agreed. We decided that we were going to rent a car for the 6 1/2 hour drive and document it on film. We were psyched! Early Friday afternoon we got into our rented Dodge Charger and were off to start our road trip adventure. We had so much fun talking, video taping, chatting with strangers while in traffic and anticipating what the weekend and our friends would be like in person.

When we arrived at Karen's house Jen and Spryte (from Spryte's Place) were waiting for us outside. I'm a horrible parallel parker and having an audience was pretty funny. When we got into Karen's gorgeous house I was totally overwhelmed with excitement. I didn't know what to do first, who to say hello to, what to look at, etc. It was a great feeling though! There were 10 bakespacers and some of them even brought their husbands. DD of DDPie's Slice was there and she made a fabulous cake that was decorated with all of our avatars on it! Look at me in the purple shirt! It was spectacular and you can read all about it on her blog right here.



Isn't that amazing? I'm telling you there are so many talented people on bakespace!


Since we got there late on Friday night Karen the hostess with the mostess was filling our glasses with wine, pouring us limoncello, cutting me pieces of cake and pointing out things that I had to try. She wasn't kidding! Those dishes were incredible and I'll talk about them in another post. It was just so cool that she (with Spryte's help) made dishes from bakespace members that couldn't be there with us. What a great way to represent the absentees! Well we stayed there talking, laughing and eating until about 2 am! We all just instantly clicked the way we knew we would. There was no awkwardness or silences at all. I felt like I was at a family reunion and was getting reaquainted with family that I haven't seen in years! I hope I'm getting across how awesome this really was! Now let me tell you this, we are a diverse group, all ages, backgrounds and walks of life. We have those that are single, married with little kids, married with big kids, etc. It was just so nice that despite all of that we all connected anyway. This is what friendship is all about!

So day two Carolyn and I did a little shopping at the Tanger Outlets and then headed over to Karen's house. Oops! I forgot to mention that our hotel was nasty and I was totally obsessing about it and Karen and her husband Dan were so sweet to let us stay there the second night. It reminded me of my own parents and what they would do in that situation. You see, it's like family! It was so kind of them to let us stay over so we could get some sleep before the drive back. I could not sleep at all in that stinky smoky hotel room and my body was running on empty. So, we headed over to Karen's after the outlets and helped her finish up the cooking. It was so much fun cooking in her fabulous kitchen and so much fun cooking with the bakespacers when they all arrived and dove in to help. After eating and drinking and talking (okay well, we never actually stopped doing any of those things) we had a web cam and chat room set up by Babette, the founder and owner of bakespace. Our beeps, aka bakespace peeps (word coined by Shane of Culinary Alchemy)who couldn't be with us were able to participate and chat with us. I thought that was sooo cool! I bet they all had fun watching and laughing at our silliness. They even got to watch our basket exchange...I'll have to talk about that in another post. Oh wow! I also forgot to mention that Karen who is also an awesome seamstress made us each a cupcake apron and gave us all a cookbook! Is she not a fabulous hostess or what?!?! She hosts a get together like this and she's giving US gifts!!! It was just too nice of her but very much appreciated!

The weekend was the best I've had in a long time and I can't wait until next year so we can do it again. If you haven't joined bakespace or signed up for the forums you should do so and join in the fun. Maybe we'll meet at the next cookover!

Here are some more pics if you want to see!


Me and Karen our lovely hostess!


Me chopping


Me and DD


Jen


Kathy


Spryte cooking!


AnnMarie


Martha


Sheryle


Me and My Roommate Carolyn (aka Cara)


Kathy, Jen, Carolyn, AnnMarie and Me


Sheryle, DD and Martha




A toast to friends, to bakespace and to cookovers! Salute!

Pittsburgh, Here I come!

Good Morning everyone!

I'm off to Pittsburgh for the weekend so I can meet some of my bakespace friends! I'm very excited to meet them and also a little nervous of the long drive. Wish me luck! I'll be taking lots of pictures to share with you next week!

Have a great weekend!

Pittsburgh, Here I come!

Good Morning everyone!

I'm off to Pittsburgh for the weekend so I can meet some of my bakespace friends! I'm very excited to meet them and also a little nervous of the long drive. Wish me luck! I'll be taking lots of pictures to share with you next week!

Have a great weekend!

Pasta with Pesto

I used to be afraid of pesto. I'm not sure why but I didn't grow up eating it. I had it once at a friend's house for the first time. It was over pasta and there were pieces of potato in it. I really liked it. Then as usual I wouldn't order it out because what if it didn't taste the same. What if I only liked it that way because the particular person who made it did something so unique and special? Not really. The older I get the more I have gotten over my fear of eating new things. I wouldn't be much of a foodie if I didn't try new food, would I? The next time I had Pesto was when Steve's mom made it. I was definitely nervous but I was in the stage of my relationship where if Steve liked it I would just eat it because I didn't want to seem difficult or picky. Turned out that again I loved it! I made sure I got my hands on the recipe and this is what I've been using ever since. It comes from an out of print James Beard Cookbook that I can't get my hands on. (It has since been reprinted AND CHANGED in the new cookbook and the measurements don't work for us.) This is a great dish to make when it's too hot to turn on the oven or when you simply want to use some of that beautiful summer basil.

Here's the James Beard Recipe - Thank You Lyn for sharing this with me!

1 cup fresh basil leaves, tightly packed
½ cup olive oil
¼ cup parsley
2 cloves garlic
1/3 cup pinoli nuts
½ cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese (I always use Locatelli Romano)
½ tsp. salt

Place all ingredients in a blender and whirl until a thick uniform paste is formed, add more oil if paste is too thick. This amount is enough for 1 lb pasta. Pesto may be stored in refrigerator for several weeks or in the freezer for several months. Place in a jar or container and coat with a thin layer of olive oil, cover tightly.

Note: You can use chicken broth to thin out the paste if you don’t want to add more oil.

Pasta with Pesto

I used to be afraid of pesto. I'm not sure why but I didn't grow up eating it. I had it once at a friend's house for the first time. It was over pasta and there were pieces of potato in it. I really liked it. Then as usual I wouldn't order it out because what if it didn't taste the same. What if I only liked it that way because the particular person who made it did something so unique and special? Not really. The older I get the more I have gotten over my fear of eating new things. I wouldn't be much of a foodie if I didn't try new food, would I? The next time I had Pesto was when Steve's mom made it. I was definitely nervous but I was in the stage of my relationship where if Steve liked it I would just eat it because I didn't want to seem difficult or picky. Turned out that again I loved it! I made sure I got my hands on the recipe and this is what I've been using ever since. It comes from an out of print James Beard Cookbook that I can't get my hands on. (It has since been reprinted AND CHANGED in the new cookbook and the measurements don't work for us.) This is a great dish to make when it's too hot to turn on the oven or when you simply want to use some of that beautiful summer basil.

Here's the James Beard Recipe - Thank You Lyn for sharing this with me!

1 cup fresh basil leaves, tightly packed
½ cup olive oil
¼ cup parsley
2 cloves garlic
1/3 cup pinoli nuts
½ cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese (I always use Locatelli Romano)
½ tsp. salt

Place all ingredients in a blender and whirl until a thick uniform paste is formed, add more oil if paste is too thick. This amount is enough for 1 lb pasta. Pesto may be stored in refrigerator for several weeks or in the freezer for several months. Place in a jar or container and coat with a thin layer of olive oil, cover tightly.

Note: You can use chicken broth to thin out the paste if you don’t want to add more oil.

Can you pass the RIBS, please?

Happy Belated Father's Day everyone! I am so not good at posting those holiday recipes before the holiday. I really don't get how so many bloggers do it. I don't make the dishes until the day of so the photos aren't available until after. Do you have the recipe saved and then all you have to do is add the photo? Someone fill me in on the secret please!

If you're a regular reader (thank you, thank you, thank you!) then you know that I am part of a wonderful group of foodies over at bakespace.com. If you haven't heard of it I suggest you stop what you're doing (please come back later!) and go check it out. Bakespace is a place for foodies like you and me to swap recipes, store them in an online kitchen, get answers to your food related questions and most importantly for me, meet some awesome people! In fact, this weekend I am taking a drive to Pittsburgh along with my friend and fellow bakespacer, Carolyn. One of our lovely members Karen is kind enough to host a large group of us so we can all finally meet face to face. I have already been lucky enough to meet some of those that are close to me and have made some great frienships that will last a lifetime. I'm really excited to meet my online family who I speak to every day in the forums.

Thanks to some of my bakespace friends I learned how to make the perfect ribs. This is a no fail method and Steve and I have made it together two weekends in a row now. I'm sure some of you make your own sauce for the ribs but we have found this premade sauce which is so delicious that I'm not even going to bother with anything else. Steve's dad introduced me to it and I'm hooked. It's called "Bone Suckin' Sauce" You can't get it at your average supermarket but more higher end ones do carry it. Click here to find it at a store near you. The sauce is gluten free and contains tomato paste, apple cider vinegar, honey, molasses, mustard, horseradish, lemon juice, onions, garlic, peppers, natural hickory smoke, natural spices and salt. Nope, no one is paying me for this plug, we just really like the sauce.

So this is a method not a recipe. There are no amounts so just use your judgement. We used baby back ribs the first time and regular ribs the second time. The baby backs are much leaner and take less time to cook, we like those the best. I also suggest buying the ribs already seperated. You may pay a few bucks more but it's worth it.

Boil your ribs in a mixture of beer, water, garlic powder, brown sugar, soy sauce, salt and pepper. If using baby backs boil for 1 hour, if using bigger fattier ribs boil for 1 1/2 hours. I used a large covered pot and had my flame on high until they came to a boil then lowered them to medium. When the ribs are cooked take them out of the water and put them in a single layer in a large pan. Cover with sauce and let marinate for about 30 minutes or longer. (I had them sitting in the sauce for a couple of hours.) Cook on grill for 2-3 minutes per side until they are lightly charred, basting each side with sauce as they cook. Since the ribs were already cooked when you put them in the marinade you can put them right back into the same pan that has the remaining sauce. Toss them in the sauce and serve. How easy is that?!?! I know some people cook them on low for 5-6 hours but I don't think that's necessary, seems like a huge waste of time for me.

The ribs were so tender that as soon as we bit into them they fell right off the bone. The flavor was delicious and they were a big hit at both of our Father's Day Celebrations. Give this method a shot and you won't be disappointed.




When we're busy I forget to take pictures but my brother came to the rescue!














HAPPY FATHER'S DAY DAD!

Can you pass the RIBS, please?

Happy Belated Father's Day everyone! I am so not good at posting those holiday recipes before the holiday. I really don't get how so many bloggers do it. I don't make the dishes until the day of so the photos aren't available until after. Do you have the recipe saved and then all you have to do is add the photo? Someone fill me in on the secret please!

If you're a regular reader (thank you, thank you, thank you!) then you know that I am part of a wonderful group of foodies over at bakespace.com. If you haven't heard of it I suggest you stop what you're doing (please come back later!) and go check it out. Bakespace is a place for foodies like you and me to swap recipes, store them in an online kitchen, get answers to your food related questions and most importantly for me, meet some awesome people! In fact, this weekend I am taking a drive to Pittsburgh along with my friend and fellow bakespacer, Carolyn. One of our lovely members Karen is kind enough to host a large group of us so we can all finally meet face to face. I have already been lucky enough to meet some of those that are close to me and have made some great frienships that will last a lifetime. I'm really excited to meet my online family who I speak to every day in the forums.

Thanks to some of my bakespace friends I learned how to make the perfect ribs. This is a no fail method and Steve and I have made it together two weekends in a row now. I'm sure some of you make your own sauce for the ribs but we have found this premade sauce which is so delicious that I'm not even going to bother with anything else. Steve's dad introduced me to it and I'm hooked. It's called "Bone Suckin' Sauce" You can't get it at your average supermarket but more higher end ones do carry it. Click here to find it at a store near you. The sauce is gluten free and contains tomato paste, apple cider vinegar, honey, molasses, mustard, horseradish, lemon juice, onions, garlic, peppers, natural hickory smoke, natural spices and salt. Nope, no one is paying me for this plug, we just really like the sauce.

So this is a method not a recipe. There are no amounts so just use your judgement. We used baby back ribs the first time and regular ribs the second time. The baby backs are much leaner and take less time to cook, we like those the best. I also suggest buying the ribs already seperated. You may pay a few bucks more but it's worth it.

Boil your ribs in a mixture of beer, water, garlic powder, brown sugar, soy sauce, salt and pepper. If using baby backs boil for 1 hour, if using bigger fattier ribs boil for 1 1/2 hours. I used a large covered pot and had my flame on high until they came to a boil then lowered them to medium. When the ribs are cooked take them out of the water and put them in a single layer in a large pan. Cover with sauce and let marinate for about 30 minutes or longer. (I had them sitting in the sauce for a couple of hours.) Cook on grill for 2-3 minutes per side until they are lightly charred, basting each side with sauce as they cook. Since the ribs were already cooked when you put them in the marinade you can put them right back into the same pan that has the remaining sauce. Toss them in the sauce and serve. How easy is that?!?! I know some people cook them on low for 5-6 hours but I don't think that's necessary, seems like a huge waste of time for me.

The ribs were so tender that as soon as we bit into them they fell right off the bone. The flavor was delicious and they were a big hit at both of our Father's Day Celebrations. Give this method a shot and you won't be disappointed.




When we're busy I forget to take pictures but my brother came to the rescue!














HAPPY FATHER'S DAY DAD!