Dear Ina Garten

Dear Ina Garten, We know, you like to take a classic recipe and put a new twist on it. We know! You've been doing this forever and you are not the first person to do this. Also, please stop making us feel bad about the kind of salt we use, or Olive Oil, or Chocolate. We will use "the best" we can afford. It makes us feel bad about ourselves when you tell us to use "the best" of something when we can't afford it when we should feel good about tackling a new recipe. Just saying, Ina, think about the little people that can't afford to live in the Hamptons.
Love and Kisses-
Julie

Hazelnut Fig Oatmeal Bars.

I totally made this up. Out of thin air. My husband is worshipping me, he had them in the morning with coffee. The recipe calls for Bourbon, I love Makers Mark but during the trial I may or may not of use an Islay Bowmore Single Malt scotch because that was all we had at the moment. Perhaps that's why Jim loves them?

Hazelnut Fig Oatmeal Bars

Fig filling
• 1 cup dried chopped figs
• ½ cup water
• ½ cup dark brown sugar
• 1 shot of Bourbon (I like Maker’s Mark)

Bring first 3 ingredients to a boil in a saucepan. Boil for 5 minutes, then pour into a non-metallic bowl. Stir in Bourbon and let cool completely.

Crust
• Soft Butter
• 3/4 c. flour
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 1/2 c. very soft butter
• 1/2 c. chopped Hazelnuts (or whatever nut you like)
• 1 c. rolled oats

Grease 8x8 pan and set aside. Sift together the flour, soda, and salt. Mix in sugar, oatmeal, butter, and nuts. Press mixture into greased 8x8 pan.


Topping
• 1 small package of yellow cake mix (like Jiffy Brand or ½ a package of your favorite regular size yellow cake mix)
• ½ cup flour
• 1/3 cup melted butter

In a medium bowl, combine cake mix, flour, and melted butter. Spread cooled filling over oatmeal mixture in pan. Sprinkle topping evenly over the top. Bake at 350 for 50 minutes. Cool completely before serving. Makes about 12.

Why I'll Never be a Cool Foodie in Kansas City.

In high school there were the cool kids and I really ached to be one of them but it was never meant to be. I accepted it and then, I made some of the best friends I will ever have. I am finding that the world of food and foodies in Kansas City also has it's cool kids clique too and I know in my heart I will never ever be one of them, as much as I want to, and I'm trying to accept it. When I lived in Seattle I loved my Pikes Place Market. The moment you touch your toe on that street you belonged, you are one of us the stalls seemed to whisper. Not so much in Kansas, it's just a gut feeling.

As my family approaches our 5 year anniversary in Kansas City I realize there is something I'm missing. A circle of foodie friends. The kind of friends you'd throw a Caribbean themed party in the deepest, darkest part of winter for. The kind of friends who would understand and share your joy when you have been given a 30 year old Single Malt Scotch. I had that in Seattle. Lots of foodie friends. They are hard to meet and become friends with, they are busy (being foodies). I think I had an epiphany as to why our paths don't cross. Keeping in mind I am cool, I met and chatted with Julia Child. I worked with Martha Stewart, and I can make puff pastry from scratch (although I choose not to do that ever again).

Here is a list that I think I need to conquer first.

• I thought the Slow Food movement was a burgeoning interest in Crock Pot cookery.
• I can't afford Organic Farmer's Markets.
• Farm to Market?
• Soil to Plate?
• Dirt to Fork?
• Eating Local means something from my garden or walking to the Blue Moose so I can drink and walk.
• I'll never join the Kansas City Food Circle or go to Bliss Fest.
• I'll never grow heirloom tomatoes, just Bob's Big Boy Beefsteak tomatoes, because the word Bob makes me think of my Dad.
• My daughter will never have an herb stand in lieu of a lemonade stand. That ship has sailed, no matter how much I dream about it.
• I don't twitter about what I eat, yes, I'll eat fresh figs and goat cheese, but I also enjoy Lucky Charms cereal. My dog twitters, what she is doing is fascinating and riveting (@StellaDuCharme ). Twitters are for people who say things like "Using SPARQL and SPIN for Data Quality Mgmt on the Semantic Web" ( @bobdc for the geeks that understood that).
• I'll never be able to afford a dinner at Justice Drugstore.
• I've never been off this continent so I can't start a conversation "Last time I was in Madrid.."
  
• I'll never leave a corporate life to celebrate food and “Beyond Organic” practices and I'll couldn't pull off Overalls in a cute free spirit manner.
• I already know how to make scones (see scone blog) so I can't hang out with my cool foodie friends at scone class.
• I shop at the Price Chopper in Roeland park for prices and selection of food for my Mexican Husband, and not on an ethereal quest for “queso fresco crema blanca de Oaxaca”,
  

and

• I'll never create or even join an Underground Supper Club, as much as I dream about discussing the ethical connotations of Froi Gras with Anthony Bourdain.

When and if I manage to join the circle, I'm sure I'll need a new wardrobe and that's a whole other can of worms.

“52 weeks of Gourmet Low Cholesterol Food” or “My Grand New’s Year Plan that lasted One Week”

My husband has a rare unnaturally high cholesterol. He doesn’t get rid of it on his own and a machine does it for him once every two weeks at the KU Med center. Kind of like Dialysis but for cholesterol. Our diet is very “clean”. There is not much left to eliminate, we skip the fatty stuff include the good stuff.
Being the control freak that I am, I wanted to do more. I got the idea that maybe I could revamp recipes, something delicious into delicious and healthy. Then my mind drifts, as it always does to “Julie and Julia”. This could be a year long blog project that will turn into a best selling book and movie. Actually, realistically, I’m happy with one recipe in one week. Little victories, I’ll take them.
I attacked homemade tomato soup. Not known for for it’s evil cholesterol but good homemade versions have butter and cream. I substituted olive oil and whole milk (don’t freak out, just a little). 3/4 cup of whole milk has 6 grams of fat, none of which are “trans fats”. This soup serves 4 to 6 people. You can do the math. Heavy Cream, Whipping Cream, and even 1/2 and 1/2 are bad for you BUT if you used 2% or fat free milk would you eat the soup? Then you miss the goodness that the tomatoes, vegies and olive oil give you. Choose your battles, it’s just like raising toddlers.
I roast the tomatoes to condense and sweeten their flavor and I stay away from classic Italian flavors like garlic, basil, and oregano. I’ve had homemade yummy soup like this in restaurants but it flirts with a thin pasta sauce sometimes. I use thyme because I think it is an under appreciated herb and makes me think dreamily of my fresh thyme that marches across my herb garden each summer.
The biggest problem with this recipe from a nutrition point of view is that your soul will crave grilled cheese sandwiches and this is the time to be strong. Know that the soup stands alone and a hunk of sourdough bread dipped into the mug or bowl will do the trick.

The Healthier Side of Homemade Tomato Soup
2 (14-ounce) can chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 celery, diced
1/4 carrot, diced
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1 teaspoon of dried thyme
1 cup chicken broth
3/4 cup whole milk
Directions
Preheat oven to 450 degrees .
Strain the chopped canned tomatoes, reserving the juices, and spread tomatoes in a single layer on a baking sheet (that you have lined with foil for easy cleanup), season with salt and pepper, to taste, drizzle with 1/4 cup of the olive oil and roast for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a saucepan, heat remaining olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the celery, carrot, onion, cook until soft, about 10 minutes. Add the roasted chopped canned tomatoes, reserved tomato juices, chicken broth, and thyme. Simmer until vegetables are very tender, about 15 to 20 minutes. Puree with a hand held immersion blender until smooth. or in batches in a regular blender. It does not have to be perfectly smooth, check seasoning (may need a little more salt) Return to saucepan, add milk, heat and serve.

What d'ja eat?

If you’re a DuCharme, any event is proceded or followed with the all important “What d’ja gonna eat”, “What d’ja eat”-

(Jim would call this a "tone poem"

Christmas 2009

Steamed Spiced Shrimp

Champagne

Roast Pork Tenderloin with Shallot Peppercorn Crust

Sam Adams Winter Lager

Crisp Baby New Potatoes

Roasted Butternut Squash with Olive Oil and Fleur de Sel

Corn and Cheddar Souffle

Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage with Granny Smith Apples

Buche de Noel with Nutella Ganache

Mimosas

Bagels with lox

tomatoes, cream cheese, red onion and capers

Roast Beef Sandwhiches

Vermont Bob’s Sweet Pickles

Cuban Sandwhiches

Vermont Bob’s Dill Pickles

Ghiradelli chocolates with Armangnac

The Great Ginger Bread House Tragedy

From the title, this sounds like a sad story of a Gingerbread house that maybe fell apart or just failed but no, it is even sadder than that. I’ll say that I was maybe 6 years old. That would make Ann, 8, Bobby (sorry, Bob) 9 and Peter 2 years old. That was the year of the Great Ginger Bread House Tragedy.
My parents are very generous people, always volunteering, stepping up to the plate, and helping out where they can. One year they made 5 Gingerbread houses, a Gingerbread Castle (a freakin’ Castle) for other people. The houses were for sale at a hospital Bazaar (charity) and the castles was for another family! (O.K., I guess they were very poor and there were 6 kids). In my mind they made 12 houses but a phone call to Vermont confirmed there were only 5. It also confirmed that there were Necco wafers on the roofs, striped gum along side the castle doors, and tootsie rolls piled up outside each to represent logs. The castle even had a drawbridge. The kitchen was covered with sweet tasty goodness off limits to each DuCharme child. Perhaps a cracked candy cane tossed our way while Royal Icing was piped into icicles and snow balls on each and everyone.
I’ll admit, my Mom baked goodies for the holidays and included the kids in every step but not for this event. But my little 6 year old mind remembers the kitchen transformed Into a sweet Santa’s workshop forbidden to us. Sort of a “Hansel and Gretel kind” of feeling.
I try to make a gingerbread house every year, I always buy to much candy so there’s plenty to eat while creating and my favorite moment is giving the “thumbs up” to my kids, now 19 and 21 to attack it and consume without mercy. It’s like a little Christmas miracle, with each whack of the hammer on the roof until it caves in.
Every child should have a gingerbread house at some point in their life.

I Take Pictures of Food

I take pictures of food. Food doesn't ever blink or get red eye when you use a flash. It doesn't complain when it's posed in a awkward position and can hold it for hours without complaining. Food doesn't worry if it looks fat or stand over your shoulder while you look at proofs nor does it ever ask you to photoshop away wrinkles and lines. A picture of food can make you a little happier with out adding calories. A picture of food can make you dream of a chic little dinner party that you may or may not have in the future. A picture of food reminds you of something your Mom may of cooked and you hope to recreate someday. It might make you smile if it's a good picture. I take pictures of food.