Blurgs

When you write a blurb in your blog, that is called a blurg. Here are two.

** Last night, while picking out two pints of Ben and Jerry's at my local grocery store, I was very excited to find the Americone Dream, Stephen Colbert's new flavor. I know it's been out for a while but I had kind of forgotten about it since the hype had died down and since I can't keep my eyes open late enough to watch the Colbert Report anymore. I have this to report: meh. I like caramel swirls, waffle cones, and chocolate coating. But maybe I just don't like all those things together.

Anyhow - now that that bubble has been burst, I can spend my time looking for the new Breyer's Triple Chocolate flavor. (I've got to find the ice cream to take me through the upcoming Murray-less winter. They close for the season on December 2nd and it is NEVER too early to start planning ahead.)

** Last week's food section in the Kansas City Star had a tremendous recipe for Chocolate Molasses Cookies. The point of the "Eating For Life" feature was portion control, and if I had the ability to eat just one cookie the whole concept would be excellent. But I don't. And if they had a better website, I could just link to the recipe. But they don't. So here you go, then.
(Typing out this entire recipe makes this much less of a blurg, but these cookies are worth the work.)

2/3 c. semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 c. unsalted butter
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 c. brown sugar
1 egg
2 T dark molasses
1 tsp vanilla
confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Melt chocolate and butter in microwave-safe glass mixing bowl on high power in 30 second increments, until almost melted. Stir to blend well, then let cool.
In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt.
Stir brown sugar, egg, molasses and vanilla into cooled chocolate mixture. Add flour mixture, stirring until combined.
Place scant tablespoons of dough on ungreased cookie sheet, 2 in. apart. Bake 10-11 minutes until tops begin to crack and cookies are still soft to the touch. Let cool 5 minutes; transfer to wire rack and dust lightly with confectioners' sugar.

This is my giant head

Hey! My giant bespectacled melon was on the front page of the Star this morning!

Click here or here to read the article about other local bloggers.

Peppers!

Hello there.
So you might have seen yesterday's Kansas City Star. Perhaps you are a subscriber, even. Possibly you were perusing the food section and just happened to stumble upon the back page where you saw, um...me. Me and my Beaver Dam bachelor farmer Great-Great Uncle Louie's recipe for really tasty pickled peppers.
First of all, I have to thank my friend Tate, who likes the peppers and likes me and thought that I should be in the paper. Thanks, Tate!
And secondly, a special thanks to those of you who are visiting this little blog - I am so very glad to have you. Maybe this would be a good opportunity to say that I am here, doing this, because I thought there was a little hole that I could fill. Because I read food blogs, lots of them. Because I think Kansas City is a food-bloggable town. Because I've been blogging since 2001 and since giving up my personal blog, I wanted to write about something just as personal - food.
And now, I'm hereby giving up the word "blog." Sorry about that. That word could seriously use some synonyms.
Just in case you didn't see it, here is the pepper recipe. Lately, I've been pickling big jars of Hot Banana Peppers almost exclusively (see photo) - they're the ones coming out of my Mom's garden, and they're incredible. Feel free to pickle whatever peppers you like best. And don't forget to wash your hands, or just wear gloves. Pepper juice hurts.

Uncle Louie's Peppers
Makes 6 pints

6 cups vinegar
1  1/2 cups water
1  1/2 cups sugar (or more, to taste)
1 tablespoon salt
6 cloves garlic, peeled (or more, to taste)
1 bunch curly parsley, separated into sprigs
6 tablespoons olive oil
3 pounds jalapeno peppers, washed and sliced into thick rounds (see note)
Anchovy fillets (optional)

Combine vinegar, water, sugar and salt in nonreactive pan to make brine. Bring to a full boil and continue boiling 3 minutes, or until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool 5 minutes.

Sterilize 6 pint canning jars, lids and rings. In the bottom of each sterilized jar, place 1 (or more) cloves garlic, a sprig of parsley and 1 tablespoon olive oil. Pack full with pepper slices until almost overflowing and top with a single anchovy, if desired. Pour hot brine into jars to fill them to the rim. (The peppers will reduce in bulk and compress in the hot brine.) Immediately seal with sterile lids and rings.

When jars are cool to the touch, place in refrigerator and let cure at least a week. Peppers are crisper with shorter curing periods. Jars must be stored in the refrigerator. Unopened jars may be refrigerated up to 6 months; opened jars 2 to 3 months.

Variation: For milder mixture, substitute 1 pound banana peppers for 1 pound of the jalapenos.

Note: Wear rubber gloves while slicing peppers. Also wear gloves to protect hands against heat of jars while sealing.