Daring Cooks Challenge: Vegetarian Cassoulet

This month's Daring Kitchen challenge was a dish perfect for the chilly winter temperatures.  Our January 2011 Challenge comes from Jenni of The Gingered Whisk and Lisa from Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives. They have challenged the Daring Cooks to learn how to make a confit and use it within the traditional French dish of Cassoulet. They have chosen a traditional recipe from Anthony Bourdain and Michael Ruhlman.

I have heard about cassoulet, but have never made it at home. After checking out the recipe provided I know why! It is full of pork, duck, and sausage.  All three things that don't get cooked at our house.  Thankfully our Daring Cooks hostesses provided recipes and tips for the vegetarian and non-pork eaters.  However choosing a vegetarian version eliminates duck confit from the dish a technique that our hostesses wanted us to learn.  They also included recipes for leek and garlic confit to incorporate into the dish.

The vegetarian cassoulet recipe came from Gourmet Magazine, March 2008.  Glancing at the recipe it seemed pretty straightforward.  The meat version preparation can stretch over four days and I didn't want to feel left out.  I added extra steps to my vegetarian version to complete over three days of cooking.

First, I baked baguettes to be turned into the garlic breadcrumb topping.  I made this King Arthur Flour baguette recipe for the June Daring Cooks Challenge (pate and freshly baked bread).  The recipe is easy to follow and the results are great!

I also decided to buy dried beans in place of the canned beans the recipe called for.  The recipe lists 3 19-ounce cans of white beans.  In my head, I thought, "Okay, 3x19= 57 ounces".  I loaded up on dried navy beans in the bulk aisle and brought my beans home to soak.  About 3 hours into soaking, the beans were starting to expand out of their bowl.  I split them up into a few containers and let them to continue to soak.  About 12 hours in, I realized that I was soaking 3 times as many beans as I really needed.  Oops!  That's why last week's healthy snack ingredient was white beans. I parboiled the beans before using them in the cassoulet according to advice on the Rancho Gordo beans site.

The other component I made in advance was the garlic confit. The hostesses provided a recipe from Saveur. The most difficult part was peeling the garlic. I could have done the whack and peel, but I felt like the cloves should be whole for this dish.  The picture didn't come out very good, but the garlic and remaining garlic oil were amazing.  The recipe made enough garlic to spread on toast and oil to use in my white bean dip.

The last premade ingredient for the cassoulet was homemade turkey stock. I simmered leftover turkey bones with vegetables and herbs for a rich and flavorful stock.  The stock was a great swap for the water that was called for in the cassoulet recipe.

On cassoulet cooking day I assembled my prepared ingredients and chopped carrots and leeks. The first step was cooking down the vegetables and fresh parsley.

While the cassoulet cooked I toasted thin slices of the baguette for the breadcrumbs.  The slices dried out in a 200 degree oven for about a half an hour.  They were so crunchy that the food processor blades couldn't chop them.  I crumbled them by hand and added a few cloves and some oil from the garlic confit. They went back into the oven to toast for an additional 15 minutes before getting tossed with fresh parsley.  These were unbelievably good. I can't wait to make them again for salad, soups, or just a snack.

With everything cooked and prepared it was time to eat.  This cassoulet was amazing.  It was rich, hearty and tasted better each day.  We had enough for lunches and dinners for an entire week.  Thanks to the Daring Cooks for a fun and delicious challenge!

Did you enter to win prizes from Pretzel Crisps and Tribe Hummus yet? You have until Tuesday!

Healthy Snack Wednesdays: Heart Healthy Oatmeal

We made it through week one of our biggest loser style challenge! Renee and I didn't have a 'big number' on the scale at our second weigh-in, but we did have a successful first week. We stopped taking the elevator and walked up four flights of stairs instead. Lunch hour included healthy dishes and a 20 minute walk each day.  It's an 8-week challenge so what really counts is the long-term result.

Being at Boston University, there are a lot of resources available to faculty and staff. One great resource is access to the BU Nutrition and Fitness Center. They work hard to make healthy choices available on campus and to educate the University about healthier living.  One of their nutritionists came to give us a brief talk about healthy eating last week.  Inspired by their talk and some recipes they sent over, Renee and I decided to choose oats as our ingredient for this week's healthy snack.

Oats are a versatile, and healthy, ingredient! Part of the grains group on the food pyramid, they are heart healthy and rich in fiber. You can use them in every meal: oatmeal for breakfast, granola for snack, mixed into meatloaf for lunch and dinner, and as a topping for fruit crisps for dessert. There are many different choices for oats at the store. Be careful when selecting oatmeal - many of the flavored instant oatmeal packets have a lot of sugar.  Instead of getting the flavored packets you can pick up the original instant and make your own flavors. This allows you to control the amount of ingredients you add in.  A few of my favorite oatmeal mix-ins include:

-Brown sugar
-Maple syrup
-1 teaspoon of peanut butter
-Dried fruits like cranberries, cherries, or raisins
-Fruit preserves or jam
-Bananas and a few chocolate chips

For Healthy Snack Wednesday, I decided to try one of the oatmeal cookie recipes sent over from the women at Sargent Choice (at BU Nutrition and Fitness).  They are not no-calorie and no-fat cookies, but they are more nutritious and less-bad for you.  Unless of course you eat all 3-dozen at once!  The key to healthy eating is really moderation.  I find that I don't have to give up my favorite foods, I just need to eat the appropriate portion size.

These cookies have heart-healthy oats and flax seed. Flax seed adds a good dose of nutritional value to the cookies with omega-3 (good fat) and additional fiber.  I did add a little extra antioxidants to the original recipe with a few mini-dark chocolate chips. Using mini-chips gives you a little chocolate flavor in each cookie without adding too much additional sugar.  If you make 1 tablespoon sized cookies this recipe will yield 3-dozen heart healthy cookies to share with your family, friends, or co-workers.  Thanks again to Sargent Choice for the recipe and nutrition information. Please note, the nutrition information does not account for the mini-chocolate chips. I also swapped dried cherries for the raisins which might change the sugar content as well.

Heart Healthy Oatmeal Cookies
Yields 3 dozen cookies


1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 cups Quick oats (NOT instant or regular)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 stick salted butter (equal to 1/2 cup or 8 tablespoons)
1/3 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup ground flax seeds
1 cup dried cherries (or raisins)
1/4 cup mini-chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper
Add butter, oil, vanilla, granulated sugar and brown sugar to your mixer bowl (or large bowl)
Cream butter and sugars with a mixer until butter is smooth
Add eggs and mix until smooth
Add flour and baking soda and mix until incorporated
Add ground flax seed and mix until incorporated
Stir in oats, adding 1 cup at a time until combined
Stir in dried cherries and mini-chocolate chips

Using a greased tablespoon, drop cookie dough 2" apart onto parchment-lined baking sheet
Using your hand or the back of the spoon, press the balls of dough down, flattening them slightly
Bake for 8-11 minutes, until golden brown and the look slightly under-done
Remove from the oven and cool on a wire cooling rack, the cookies will harden after cooling

Notes:
The dough will be dry and somewhat crumbly
Do not overcook the cookies. It is important to take them out of the oven when the center still seems slightly undercooked
You can also use unsalted butter and add in salt separately (I have not tried this yet for results)
The addition of orange zest would give the cookies a nice zing (Planning to try this for the next batch)
The cookies tasted better after they had cooled (and even better the second day)

Flax seeds might be something you have never bought before.  At Whole Foods you can find whole flax seeds in the bulk foods aisle.  You can also find them in the baking aisle near the flours.  Bob's Red Mill brand offers flax seed meal.  At the regular grocery store, you can look for them in the organic/natural foods aisle.  If you can only find whole flax seeds, you can grind them using your coffee grinder. The whole and ground seeds look like the photo below:

Cookie Nutrition:

How is your healthy snacking and eating going? Any tips or tricks that you use to be successful?

Now for some healthy snacking fun! Tribe Hummus and Pretzel Crisps have generously offered to giveaway healthy snacks to some lucky readers. Winners will be chosen at random using random.org. One winner will win a case (12 packs) of Pretzel Crisps in the flavor(s) of their choice. Three additional winners will win 2 vouchers for their choice of Tribe Origins Hummus. Entries due by midnight on Tuesday, January 18. Winners will be announced on Wednesday, January 19, 2011. 

You can enter up to three times (you can do any combination of the entries below):

Entry 1: Visit both of these snacks’ websites, and comment below on which flavor Pretzel Crisps and which flavor Tribe Origins Hummus you would like to try.

Entry 2: Become a fan of Pretzel Crisps and Tribe Hummus on Facebook, and leave me a comment below.

Entry 3: Tweet about the contest or mention on Facebook and leave a comment below (be sure to include @goodcookdoris, @pretzelcrisps and @tribehummus in your tweet)

Bonus entry: Leave a comment letting me know if you subscribe to the blog. If you would like to add the blog to your reader or subscribe, leave a note letting me know you did!

Full disclosure: Tribe Hummus and Pretzel Crisps are responsible for fulfillment of the contest prizes. I was not compensated for promoting this contest, except for a sample of crisps and hummus delivered by Pretzel Crisps (see last Wednesday's post for details).

December in DC: Delicious Eats Part 2

Our third day in DC was our total overindulgence day.  With so many places to try in just four days it was inevitable.  When looking for close breakfast places, we were thrilled to see that Cowgirl Creamery DC was just around the corner.  We started our day at the only East Coast location of the famed California creamery.  They shop is small, but packed with treats.  They brew each cup of coffee individually for a fresh flavor.  To start my day, I chose the French roast to accompany a fresh chevre and cranberry sauce sandwich on a ciabatta roll.  The combination of tangy, sweet, and creamy was the perfect breakfast.  The guys picked caramel sticky buns but they were inhaled so quickly that I didn’t get a photo.  When in a cheese shop, you can’t leave without cheese.  Mara and I wandered back to the cheese counter to explore the selection.  The cheesemonger encouraged us to try as many cheeses as we’d like. I think we would have been sick if we tried to do that!  After sampling I picked up a beautiful orange mimolette that looked like a cantaloupe, a soft cheese with sweet and spicy peppers called Devil’s Gulch, and a nutty Californian cheese called Serena.

Our morning sightseeing was a tour of Ford’s Theater.  The tour guide was “the police chief on duty when Lincoln was shot.”  He gave an interesting perspective on the events that transpired in the theater that night.  We recently listened to Sarah Vowell’s “Assassination Vacation” on CD and many of the artifacts she mentioned were in the museum.  If you haven’t read, or listened, to her books I would highly recommend them.  They are entertaining, educating, and full of intricate historical details.

After leaving Ford’s Theater and nixing a visit to the Lincoln Waffle House across the street we headed up to the Capitol for the afternoon.  Our first stop was Good Stuff Eatery, the burger joint of Spike from Top Chef.  This was recommended by a few people.  Luckily we were late enough to miss the huge lunch rush and settled in for a greasy burger-fest. There was a fun dipping bar with assorted mayonnaise choices and sauces.  Along with ketchup we picked three flavored mayos: sriracha, chipotle, and mango.  We all ordered the basic cheeseburger, loaded with special sauce on a misshapen potato bun.  The ‘lunch bag’ came with a generous side of Sunny’s hand cut fries with sea salt. 

To wash it down the hubby ordered a toasted marshmallow milkshake (that’s a frappe to you Bostonians!).  Besides the toasty marshmallows on top there were also bits of marshmallows mixed into the vanilla shake.  If you are keeping track, this is ice cream #4.

We walked off our lunch with a tour of the Capitol.  We took the last tour of the day and couldn’t spend too much time exploring the exhibition hall.  Once we got outside the sun was starting to set, bathing the Capital in a buttery yellow light.  I love the way the building almost glows in the picture we took.

Our dinner reservation was still two hours away so we headed up to Dupont Circle to visit Kramer Books.  The independent books shop was recommended to Mara and Mark as an interesting place to browse.  I picked up a book that I’ve been looking at for a while, Mark Kurlansky’s Food of a Younger Land.  When you think about the documenting food bloggers do now about eating, it is interesting to think about what subjects food writers were covering in the 1930’s.

To cap off our day of eating we headed to the IMF building in the Foggy Bottom area for dinner at Founding Farmers.  FF had been recommended by both DC locals and visitors.  It is owned by the North Dakota Farming Union and they source their food from family farms.  FF also has an extensive cocktail menu with something for every taste, including non-alcoholic coolers.  We had a great meal, but perhaps one of the strangest service experiences any of us had every experienced!  Our server started with an enthusiastic welcome and a very easy to hear & understand rant about his disappointment that Santa had not delivered a Lexus to his living room on Christmas.  After he finished that story, he asked us if we’d like to hear about the menu.  He launched into his spiel, but he mumbled quietly through it and we had to lean in and ask to repeat every few words.  We ordered some creative cocktails and appetizers and spent a few more minutes studying the diverse choices on the menu. 

When the server came back, we had a few questions about the menu.  This is where things got really entertaining.  When asking which of two raviolis to order, he answered "neither - go with the short ribs".  When we asked about the rotisserie vs. the fried chicken, he said "don't bother with the rotisserie, it’s too salty."  And a question about a salad entrée?  “It’s good, if you like salad”.  He pretty much ruled out 50% of the items on the menu by the time he was done.  Regardless of the strange advice, we all really enjoyed our dinners.  Mark had a huge salad with roasted beets, fresh turkey, ham, beef, and assorted vegetables.  Josh rebelliously ordered a pasta dish.  Mara and I ordered the fried chicken and waffles served with rich macaroni and cheese and over-garlicky green beans.  The food was fresh, inventive, and flavorful. We would definitely go back when we are in DC again.

With the day of eating behind us we skipped dessert and headed for bed.  I will leave you with our favorite quote from our server:

Us: “What’s the popcorn of the day?”

Server: “Rosemary parmesan”

Us: Pause for contemplation

Server: “It’s only $2, so if it sucks what’s the big deal?”

Next up is another installment of Healthy Snack Wednesdays.  On Friday I’ll have Part 3 of the DC dining series.

Have you ever had a great laugh from a bizarre server comment?  The rest of the trip we kept saying, “It’s only [fill-in-the-blank], so if it sucks what’s the big deal?”

December in DC: Delicious Eats Part 1

Why am I eating healthier this month? It could be a result of all of the delicious food we ate during our recent trip down to Washington, DC.  I had a few restaurants in mind before the trip, but wanted to see what recommendations my twitter friends had for me.  I put out the call and before I knew it, the lovely Shulie (@foodwanderings) had relayed my message to her DC area friends.  A few hours later I had a great list of possibilities thanks to Olga (@MangoTomato), @I_Flip_For_Food, @WalkerMarkLA, and some Bostonians like @DietitianJanel and @DovesandFigs.

I researched the suggestions and sent an edited list to our fellow vacationers, Mara and Mark.  They sent back their list of places, which were mainly spots to try their favorite food - ice cream!  With lists in hand we boarded our plane in Boston and they boarded their plane in Kansas City and we headed for DC.

Our first meal was a special delivery from South Boston.  Mark is an Aussie and I know that they don't have authentic Aussie food in KC.  A few days before the trip I called Sam at KO Catering and Pies and placed an order for some frozen pies and sausage rolls.  With a little bubble wrap and a few ice packs, the food survived the trip in our checked luggage and made for an exciting surprise.  We had two types of pies - Irish beef stew and curry vegetable.  The report from the Aussie, "That's a damn good pie mate!"

After fueling up with pie we bundled up and headed out to walk the National Mall and see the monuments.  It was the perfect day for it as most people were home celebrating Christmas.  We started at the Archives, walked to the Washington Monument and then went to see the White House Christmas tree.  Next we trekked across the mall to the FDR memorial, Jefferson Memorial, Korean War memorial and finished up at the Lincoln Memorial. A little chilled and hungry, we proceeded to the Kennedy Center for their free Christmas All Star Jazz Jam.  It turns out that the Kennedy Center hosts a free concert every night at 6 p.m. on their Millennium Stage.

We called around to a few places on our list but they were all closed for the holiday. We decided to get on the Metro back toward where we were staying and figure it out once we got there.  When we came up from the Metro at Chinatown we saw lights, people, and an open restaurant! Without checking the menu, we headed in to Rosa Mexicano. We ordered a few drinks, table side guacamole and what turned about to be a lot of food.  It was also ice cream #1 of the trip.

The guys both ordered a tuna dish that came with what the server described as "kind of a fruit salad."  That statement prompted this photo:

I don't always drink beer and eat fruit salad.
But when I do, it's Dos Equis.

On our next day, we started our touring at the Smithsonian Museum of American History. The museum is filled with a lot of interesting exhibits, but there was probably one thing each of us was really excited to have seen.  There's no picture of Josh's pick - the Star Spangled Banner - none allowed.  I was able to get a shot of everyone else's favorites.  They include the Muppets, the Fonz's jacket, the "Went with the Wind" dress from The Carol Burnett show, and Julia Child's kitchen!

Our second dinner in DC was one of Mark's picks. Before moving to Australia when he was 8, he grew up in Dublin. Doing research for the trip, he had read about The Dubliner, an authentic Irish Pub near Union Station.  It was mentioned in the travel book for its excellent pints of Guinness and live Irish music every night.  The man playing during our visit played all of Mark's favorites and told us that he'd been playing at the Dubliner for 25 years.  The Guinness was indeed good and the music was great. And Mark had ice cream #2 of the trip.

Following the Dubliner, we wandered by Pitango a new-ish gelato place in Penn Quarter. We were drawn in by the warm lighting and huge list of flavors. The shop was sparkling clean and inviting. We were pleasantly surprised to learn that they used grass-fed milk for their gelato (although shouldn't it be milk from grass-fed cows?).  The flavors were inventive and included non-dairy sorbets and many fair trade ingredients.  The woman working that night (close to closing time) encouraged us to try as many flavors as we wanted. She pointed out popular flavors and suggested some combinations that worked well together.  The hubby opted for a combination of pear sorbet & quince sorbet (he always goes for pear!). I chose Chocolate Noir and Sicilian Almond.  The chocolate noir was rich and decadent. According to the website it is a combination of Venezuelan cocoa and Costa Rican couverture chocolate. Bonus? Also dairy-free and lower fat!  As we dug into our treats, the woman working offered us a sample of their Italian hot chocolate. Think thick, rich, smooth, and indulgent. It reminded us of the chocolate that you get with churros con chocolate. It was a great find and if you get to DC - make a special trip to find one of their shops. If you are keeping track, this is ice cream #3 of the trip (yes, still day 2).

I'm full just writing about our first two days. There will be two more posts to cover all that we ate in our four day trip!

Healthy Snack Wednesdays: White Bean Dip and Mac & Cheese+

Happy New Year! 'Tis the season for resolutions, diet overhauls, and lofty fitness goals.  After indulging over the holiday season, it's time to get back to healthy, nutritious, and of course delicious eating.  For my new healthy lifestyle plan I'm participating in a biggest loser style competition at work.  Our first weigh-in was this week and we'll keep tabs on our total percentage of body weight lost until February 28.  The biggest loser can take home a pretty good payout (and second place isn't bad either). The idea is to motivate each other to eat healthier and be more active during the work day.  We're planning lunchtime walks, afternoon stair climbs, and maybe even some pilates and a visit from a nutritionist.

Starting with this post, I'll be featuring healthy snack recipes every Wednesday.  Renee (Eat.Live.Blog) and I volunteered to help in the healthy recipes department.  One of the challenges of sitting at your desk all day is coming up with snacks for the 3:00 p.m. sugar low. We'll both be posting every Wednesday with a new idea.

A challenge for snack time is to have something nutritious, filling, and satisfying. It can't just be a few crackers or a piece of chocolate, you need something that will keep you going.  My first recipe is an old standby that is perfect for snack time, cocktail parties, game nights, or really anything.  White bean dip lends itself to endless variations.  You can change the herbs & spices, add different citrus juice, and make your own creation.  And you can dip veggies, crackers, pretzels, baked potato chips or spread it on a piece of toast.

In honor of the first healthy snack Wednesday, I also wanted to give you a quick and easy dinner recipe.  My husband loves Annie's shells & white cheddar.  By itself, a bowl isn't bad for you but there's not much to it.  To add some nutritional kick I mixed in winter squash puree and a handful of chopped spinach. The squash makes turns it the traditional orange mac n' cheese color and the spinach looks like confetti!  Now you probably couldn't trick any kids into eating this but it was pretty tasty.

One of my favorite things to do is to cook a few things on Sunday to have on hand for the week. This week I roasted a red kuri squash (winter squash) while we were hanging out and watching football. I pureed the squash and put it into the fridge for the week. By itself it is a perfect side dish, but it can also be mixed into sauce for pasta (like I did tonight) or even pancake batter for breakfast.

What do you bring to work for snack time? Do you have a favorite healthy dinner trick? I'd love to hear them!!

White Bean Dip
Enough for a few days of snacks
Serving size 1/4 cup

Dip Base
2 cans beans (cannellini beans, chickpeas/garbanzo beans, or great northern beans), drained, rinsed, and patted dry
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix-ins and options - I usually pick one in each category
Herbs: Fresh parsley, basil, cilantro, chives, dill
Spices: Hot sauce, red pepper flakes, seasoned salt
Flavorings: Roasted garlic, chopped garlic, ginger, flavored mustard (dijon, horseradish, etc.), horseradish, wasabi
Citrus: Lemon juice, lime juice

Some of my favorite combinations:

• 2 cloves roasted garlic, 1-2 tablespoons fresh basil,and  lemon juice
• 1-2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, a sprinkle each of chili powder and cumin, and lime juice
• 2 tablespoons dijon mustard, 1 tablespoon fresh dill, 1-2 cloves of garlic

The easiest way to make this dip is in a food processor.

Add beans and any herbs and spices to the food processor
Pulse a few times to mix together
Add juice from 1/4 of a lemon and olive oil
Pulse until smooth and well-mixed
Taste and add extra citrus or oil if desired
Season with salt and pepper
Serve with crackers, pretzels, or chopped vegetables
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for a few days

Summary:
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook/Mixing time: 5 minutes
Food processor, measuring cups, bowl, spoon


Not Your Usual Annie's Shells & Cheddar
Box serving size is equal to 2.5 servings. Pair with a salad for three total servings


1 purple box of Annie's Shells and white cheddar macaroni and cheese
1/2 cup squash puree (you could also use canned pumpkin or squash)
1/2 cup low-fat milk
Handful of chopped spinach leaves

Prepare pasta according to the box directions
In a small bowl whisk together the powdered cheese and milk
Add in squash puree and whisk until somewhat smooth
When pasta is done cooking, drain and return to the hot pot
Add spinach and toss
Add cheese sauce and mix well
Enjoy!

Summary: 
Prep time: 5 minutes (while pasta cooks)
Cook time: 8-10 minutes
Pasta pot, colander, slotted spoon, cutting board & knife, whisk, bowl, serving bowls


As an added bonus to our healthy snack series kickoff, today Renee and I got a visit from Jacqueline and the Pretzel Crisp Car (@pretzelcrisps). She had seen Renee's tweet about healthy snacks and offered to drop by with some crisps for us to sample. Jacqueline even threw in a few tubs of Tribe Origins hummus. Did you know Tribe is a local company? They are just south in Taunton!  Pretzel Crisps are low fat and come in a variety of flavors from buffalo to cinnamon toast. The buffalo had a good kick, but wasn't too spicy. I don't love blue cheese, but they did have a fun recipe on the bag for a buffalo crisp topped with crumbled blue cheese and a celery slice. Sounds much healthier than a basket of wings.  We haven't tried all of the flavors yet, but are looking forward to sampling them during our 3:00 p.m. snack breaks.

Full disclosure: We were not asked to write about the snacks and we were not compensated in any way other than each receiving a goody bag full of pretzel crisps to share with our coworkers. Any opinions about the crisps belong to me.

Happy snacking!

2010: Full of Family, Friends, Food, and Fun

Looking back, 2010 was kind of a blur! The hubby and I were busy all year, in a good way. And we both turned the big 3-0!  Every month was filled with visits and adventures with friends (new and old) and family.  We attended a total of 5 weddings (and celebrated one engagement).  Between the hubby and I we traveled to 10 states and to Spain.  Of course every adventure was accompanied by delicious meals - both home-cooked and restaurant cuisine.  We sampled local specialties and visited farmers markets in every place we could.

As Good Cook Doris celebrates 2 years of tasty posts, here's to a 2011 filled with even more delicious adventures!

Before the recap, here is the overdue announcement of our first Good Cook Doris giveaway winner! Congratulations to Joanna from The Hungry Crafter who said...

"I think what every man should know can be summed up in two words: "Yes, dear." One of the first things I taught my fiance. Now if I win this book, I can teach him something else ;)"

I hope your fiance enjoys this book and cooks you some delicious meals!

Good Cook Doris' 2010 Recap

January
The year started by celebrating Tim and MaryBeth's engagement and bundling up for the BU v. BC hockey game at Fenway Park.  Shortly after, our newest nephew came to visit from sunny LA (with parents of course).  Just look at how happy he was to be in the freezing Boston winter!  We celebrated the one year anniversary of Good Cook Doris and continued to create new dishes in the kitchen.  Winter Market season kicked off in the suburbs and we were able to buy local foods year round.

February and March

Always the longest short month of the year in New England, typically full of snow and gray days. My February was brightened with a 30th birthday surprise! While I was in on the party planning for my big birthday, I was not in on the special surprise. The hubby surprised me by arranging for my mom to come in for the party!  I thought that was all, but when he picked me up at work the next day my brother was in the car too.  We had a wonderful weekend together and they cooked a fantastic Spanish feast as a preview of our trip to Spain.

Our Spanish adventure was a combination celebration of our 30th birthdays and our 5th wedding anniversary. We started in Madrid with a day trip to Toledo. After eating our way through Madrid, we jumped on the train and headed south to the beautiful city of Seville. We enjoyed the architecture, people, food, and pretty much everything about the trip.  Thanks to recommendations from a friend we visited local favorites, saw lesser known museums, and explored different neighborhoods in each city.  One unexpected highlight was the Roman ruins outside of Seville in Italica. The amphitheater was the third largest in the Roman Empire! There were original tile floors, a bread oven, and outlines of most of the buildings in this ancient city.

Despite not eating jamon, we managed to eat a lot! From the Mercado de San Miguel with aceitunas and queso to the leg of lamb at Botin (oldest restaurant in the world, est. 1725) we enjoyed the local cuisine. Some places we even visited twice - like Chocolateria San Gines for churros con chocolate and the market for huge plates of pickles and olives.  

The month of March finished off with a trip to Kansas City to surprise my oldest friend Mara for her 30th birthday! Her husband asked me to fly in to surprise her, how could I say no? Our moms were sorority sisters in college and we were born exactly 3 weeks apart. She grew up in KC and I grew up in St. Louis, but there were a lot of trips back in forth. And there were often matching outfits.  In honor of our matching fashions during our elementary school years, I brought along outfits for us to wear for the birthday weekend.  During the trip I also got to spend time with my aunt, uncle, cousins, and their cute dog Sam.  

April

In April we took a quick trip to St. Louis to visit my grandmother and family.  The rest of the month was busy finishing up class work and projects around the house.  The hubby has been working at his job for over seven years, which meant an 8 week sabatical.  He used his time off for our trip, to paint the bedroom and bathroom and take a class to learn how to lay ceramic tiling. This summer I'm looking forward to a freshly tiled back porch.

May

May marked the start of summer farmers market season in Boston with the opening of the Copley Square Farmers Market and the SoWa Food & Produce Market. I started my weekly visits to Copley and was excited to get to know some new vendors this year.  Mara came to town for a visit and we explored the SoWa market on its first day of the season. Our friend Avi threw a gourmet dinner party and we dined in style and caught up with some of the hubby's old friends from college.

May also marked my return to running. After running the Disney Marathon in January 2008, it would be fair to say that I have not laced up my sneakers very regularly.  Thanks to my unexplainable ability to win contests on twitter, I "won" two entries into Boston's Run to Remember. I picked the 5-mile option and signed up my dining partner Renee to run with me.  We survived the race and celebrated with ice cream!

In addition to seeing all my old friends, I also got to meet some of my favorite bloggers in person at a wine tasting hosted by Michelle and Megan. It was the first of many delicious meetings over the summer and fall.

June

The celebrations continued in June! The hubby's parents bought him a cake that suggested "3" more than "30", but it was just as delicious.  We hosted a backyard party with lots of delicious meat and good friends. While the 80's trivia game proved too challenging for those of us born in 1980 we still had a blast.  

This year I am honored to be the president of my sorority's Boston Alumnae Chapter. I represented our chapter at the International Convention held in sunny Orlando.  It was an amazing experience with over 800 women, both alumnae and collegians gathering together for a week of fun.  Of course I had to take a quick detour to my favorite park - Epcot.  I flew straight from Florida to New York for wedding number #1 of the season. We met up with family from all over the country for a fabulous celebration.

July
No surprise - July was full of more fun! We hit the road and headed south to Westport, CT to see our LA family who was visiting for a wedding. All of the MA family headed down too. It was quite a party!  Our nephew Sammy was a perfect beach baby and we also toured the aquarium and downtown Westport.  On the way home the hubby and I stopped for my first trip to the drive-in (in Mendon, MA).  Later in the month I joined my mom and brother for wedding #2 of the season in St. Louis.

August
Tomatoes! My little tomato plants that I bought on the first day of market season grew into tall, healthy plants covered in little green zebra tomatoes.  But before I could harvest them all, some furry creature (or hungry neighbor) took them all. Not to worry, they eventually came back.

I met up with my Boston blogger friends for a wonderful restaurant week dinner at Sportello. A fun bonus? We got filmed for a promotion with Southwest Airlines!  A lovely foodie from Philly did a 'dish trip'  on Southwest - flying to Boston for one day to take in the cities best dining.  We were her dinner stop before she headed back home. While our dinner is just a quick toast on the video, you can see some of my new friends in the earlier parts of the video.

Local in Season hit the market scene in August at the Roslindale Market. I joined Jon and Michelle for the Tomato and Zucchini day at the market. It was a lot of fun chatting with farmers market shoppers about local food and sharing the Local in Season message.

September
September was jam packed! The LA family headed east again for Rosh Hashana and a beautiful wedding  of Josh's cousin (#3 of the season).  The wedding was on the pavilion at the Museum of Science looking out onto the Charles River.  The following weekend we packed up and flew south to Virginia for Tim and MaryBeth's big day (#4 of the season).  Their wedding was a blast - held at a winery in Virginia Wine Country.  The weather was spectacular and we had a wonderful time toasting the newlyweds.  As a bonus, we got to stop and see two other good friends on our way back to the airport.

October

One thing that is different about my gastronomy classes is the amount of reading!  I spent a lot of hours reading about the sociology, philosophy, and anthropology of food this fall.  It was fascinating and I'm looking forward to another class this upcoming semester.  When I wasn't reading, we were out enjoying the beautiful fall weather.  We started the month with wedding #5 of the season, one of the hubby's high school friends. Renee and I laced up our shoes and met up with our sorority sisters for our second race of the year, the Tufts 10K.

I spent a day in the glorious sunshine at the first annual Boston Local Food Festival with Local in Season. The crowd was huge and it was wonderful to meet so many readers and local food companies. That's where I met Joanna, the winner of the giveaway!

November
November marked the end of the 'summer' market season. I closed out my share at Atlas farms and started to get ready for a big Thanksgiving in St. Louis with my family.  This year almost everyone came into town and we stuffed ourselves with Turkey day favorites, White Castle, Frank and Helen's (best hamburger & onion pizza anywhere), and more.

December
We followed our family Thanksgiving trip with a visit to the hubby's parents in Columbus. We had a low-key weekend full of delicious eats.  I posted a recap of our dining adventures and couldn't figure out why my traffic was so high. Turns out the market we visited and a number of the vendors posted links to my post on their sites! What a wonderfully supportive food community!  Next time you're in Columbus, be sure to visit them all!

I spent a lot of hours working on my first research paper for the gastronomy program. I am working on a shorter version for the blog - while it was a fascinating topic I don't think that you all want to read my 17 page paper! I researched Boston area farmers markets and the increasing participation by female food entrepreneurs. Since I spent a lot of time at markets this season it was a fun topic to research. Thanks to the lovely food entrepreneurs who helped provide insights and information for the paper.

There could be no better way to end the year than with family and friends! We spent Christmas Eve with my sister- and brother-in-law and our three nephews. I will admit, it's hard to answer questions about why Santa doesn't go to Auntie Lara and Uncle Josh's house too.  I just hope we aren't the ones to blow Santa's cover.

Christmas Day we packed up half a dozen KO Catering and Pies frozen meat pies and a few sausage rolls and flew to DC to meet up with Mara and her Aussie husband Mark.  We spent four days touring the historical sites, eating at unique local eateries, and taking it all in.  Thanks to my twitter friends for all of the delicious food recommendations. There will be a separate post on our DC dining.

Here's to a fabulous 2011! Happy cooking to all!  Cheers!

A few fun blog facts for 2010, in honor of my second blog-a-versary!

How many visitors?
4,559 Unique Visitors
9,821 visits
16,283 pageviews

Where are they from?
80 Countries
52 States (thanks Google analytics)
The country with the longest average visit time: Switzerland

How did they find the blog?
14% Direct visitors
Top Referral Sites:
1. Facebook
2. Twitter
3. Foodbuzz
4. Blogger
5. Hootsuite
6. Boston.com
7. Google
8. Refrigerator Soup
9. Foodie Blogroll
10. Local in Season

Top Keywords in Search Engines (excluding Good Cook Doris)
1. Slow braising roast beef
2. Comida de Espana
3. Quick Friday night dinners
4. In the kitchen where I'm cooking where its good for me -- this one is my personal favorite (it resulted in 30 page views!)

Top Content
1. Main page
2. About Us
3. Not Such a Simple Stew (Project Food Blog entry #2)
4. Reading List
5. Good Cook Doris' New Adventures (Project Food Blog entry #1)

Thanks for joining me on my adventure!