Crackballs!

Steph here. And no, I'm not a) on drugs, b) advocating violence against spherical sporting equipment or c) channeling Dr. Horrible. This is a recipe that Am & I were discussing last night and I thought "hey, I should totally post this". So I'm totally posting it.

In the interest of full disclosure, I have no idea who actually created these little marvels of culinary sinfulness. I wish I did; I'd find them and kiss them on the lips. So maybe it's better for all concerned that I don't know... Anyway. What was I saying? Oh yeah. "Crackballs" isn't the official name for these tasty treats. I think they're actually called Oreo Truffles, but I rarely call anything by its proper name, and the first time I ever made them, my husband took one bite and proclaimed them to be little balls of crack, and the name stuck. Mostly because I love the look I get when telling complete strangers about them. What can I say; I have a bit of an evil streak. Let's just say I come by it honestly. :)

What's that? Oh, right. "Get on with it." Can do. Here's the recipe:

Crackballs
1 pkg Oreos, crushed into oblivion (ideally with a food processor but if you've got some rage you need to work out...)
1 (8oz) block cream cheese, softened
1 bag Wilton CandyMelts (or whatever brand you prefer; this is just what I have easy access to)

The first thing to note is that you can mix the filling by hand, but I find that a hand mixer results in a smoother, more velvety texture. And you don't have to deal with digging filling out from under your fingernails. That being said, here are the directions. Make sure you print this or write these down or something; it gets uber complicated. (By the way, I also have a bit of a sarcastic streak. Hard to tell, I'm sure.)

1) Beat the cream cheese into submission.
2) Add crushed Oreos and mix until well-blended. If you're using an electric mixer, it might seem like your beaters are gonna get gunked up, but they won't. It'll be ok, honest.
3) Roll spoonfulls of the filling into balls. Make them as big or small as you want, just know that they're rather rich. I try to keep them small enough that you can eat them in one bite, two bites max. But that's just me; I tend to stuff them in my face and if I make them any bigger than two bites, things could get ugly.
4) Place the balls o' filling onto a plate/cookie sheet/whatever you have that's flat and will fit in your fridge. Chill in the refrigerator for anywhere from 30 minutes to overnight.
5) Melt the Candy Melts per package directions. Dip the crackballs into the chocolate and place onto a plate/cookie sheet/counter/whatever lined with parchment paper (the parchment paper is important; I learned that one the hard way...). Let them set for a while. Now, the warmer your house, the longer this process will take. Resist the urge to throw them back into the fridge. It doesn't affect the flavor, but it can make the chocolate look a little weird. Once they're set, drizzle with a contrasting color if you so desire, then take a picture because they'll be gone so fast that you won't be sure if you actually made them.

One of the gorgeous things about this recipe besides it being "stupid easy, y'all", to quote Kitchen Queen Paula Deen, is that you can get creative with them. They're beyond wonderful just as-is, but you can add a little of your favorite extract or liquor to the cream cheese for something different. Just don't add too much or it'll screw up the consistency of the filling and trying to make them retain anything even vaguely reminiscent of a ball-like shape will be a total pain in the ass, as will dipping them. Again, something I learned the hard way. If you do end up with swampy filling, just add more Oreos. I've found that stronger extracts like orange and peppermint do very well in this recipe because you don't need very much to get a nice flavor going.

Oh, one last tip (learned the hard way, of course): If you share your domicile with one or more human males, I strongly recommend that you squirrel a few of these away for yourself. Or use a flavoring that only you like. It might be the only way you get to eat any.

Enjoy!! :)

In Praise of Heirloom Tomatoes

I spent the early morning hours at the local farmer's market where, in addition to some other amazing food finds, I happened upon some yellow heirloom tomatoes that were ripe and lovely. When I got them home I remembered the heirloom tomato bruscetta from the movie Julie and Julia. I googled the recipe and the instructions included brushing the bread with olive oil and then toasting them in the oven. I remembered in the movie that the Julie character fried them in butter in a cast iron skillet (then because I have a little of the OCD I re-viewed that portion of the movie to double check). So after I made my homemade from scratch raspberry jam and got that canned and put away; I hacked up some tomatoes added kosher salt and some coarsly ground black pepper and let them sit for the afternoon while I finished knitting part of the cardigan I'm working on. (I know, I sound like Martha Freakin' Stewart here, but really, no. Were I Martha Almighty I'd have also painted my kitchen, fed some Bosnian orphans, handcrafted my own shoes from leather I'd tanned myself - or had my staff of gay minions tan- and looked fabu while I was at it).

So five-ish I cut my ciabatta loaf (bought fresh this morning from the Mill Pond Bakery of Chelsea, MI at the Farmer's Market) into some slices, smeared on some room temp butter and "toasted" them in my cast iron skillet. Once they were brown, crispy and buttery on both sides I rubbed one side with a fresh clove of garlic and spooned my tomatoes on top. Oh my Goddess! That was GOOD! I can admit here that I had tomato juice running down my arm, and I was trying to lick it off. Henceforth I will only make my bruscetta with butter in a cast iron skillet. You HAVE to try this!!!!!!!

Now I'm off to have a cup of Lobster Butter Love from Roo's Roasts of Ann Arbor. Happy tummy, happy tastebuds.

Sue's Request

Amber here. My friend Sue, who is our first (but hopefully not last follower), asked for this recipe. I made it for her a couple of days ago since she's a vegetarian and honestly, it's one of maybe three vegetarian things I know how to make, or will eat. My Mom got the recipe for these while she was in China about 20 years ago and we all love it. My Dad used to claim she was trying to kill him because she liked it so spicy, but you can control how spicy it is by how much of the garlic chili paste you use. Oh, and beware, although it's often better the second or third day it also gets spicier.

Dan Dan Noodles
1 pound spaghetti (I like the thick spaghetti, my Mom makes it with Angel Hair)
fresh cilantro
fresh green onions/scallions sliced
1 cup soy sauce
2 - 3 Tbsp sugar
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
2-5 Tbsp sesame oil
2 - 6 Tbsp garlic chili paste
fresh garlic minced fine
fresh ginger peeled and finely minced

Cook the pasta. While the water is boiling mix together the soy, sugar, vinegar, sesame oil, garlic chili paste, garlic and ginger together to taste. It should be spicy but you can control that by how much garlic chili paste you use. Slice the scallions, use the whites in the sauce, reserve the greens and sprinkle them on after everything is mixed together. Drain the pasta, and dump the sauce over and mix together completely. It's ok if some of the sauce pools in the bottom of the bowl, eventually as the pasta cools it will soak it all up. Once the pasta is room temperature mix in the cilantro (tear it into small pieces), and sprinkle on the sliced scallion greens.

You can mix in some toasted sesame seeds too if you want. Serve at room temperature.

It's pretty healthy, AND it doesn't require mayonaise, butter or bacon fat!

Everything's Better with Bacon!!!!!!!!

It should be my motto and thanks to the WONDERFUL people at Zingerman's Bakehouse in Ann Arbor, MI I can, with a pre-order on special weekends, get their Pepper Bacon Farm Bread. Trust me folks, this stuff leaves the bag greasy and you get bacon flavor from their applewood smoked pepper bacon in every bite. Tip: toast it and then spread it with butter ('scuse me a moment I have to go put on a clean shirt and change my panties).

When I got married my (now ex) husband asked sometime during our first year of marriage if there was anything that I made that didn't have butter, bacon fat or mayonaise in it. After a moment to whirl through my mental recipe rolodex I said, "NO!" It's my fault for marrying a Yankee. So here's my favorite bacon based recipe - it actually has two of my ex's list; bacon and mayo.

Tomato Bacon Salad:

1 pound of bacon, cooked until crisp - reserve.
1 pound of pasta cooked and cooled - I prefer radiatore but macaroni will do nicely.
tomatoes - fresh off the vine and diced
salt and pepper to taste
mayo to taste (anywhere from 1/4 to 2 cups depending on how many tomatoes and how closely you're watching your fat intake)

Dice the tomatoes, add salt, pepper, and mayonaise and put in the fridge to macerate for an hour or two.

When you're ready to serve dish the pasta onto the plate, spoon the tomato/mayo mixture over it and sprinkle the crisp bacon over the top. Be prepared to have at least 2 helpings.

I've tried mixing it all together ahead of time, but the pasta sucks up the sauce and the bacon gets soggy and the tomatoes start to taste metallic, so put it all together at the table - each person making their own to their own taste - and need to watch their calories and fat intake.

So... yeah.... old favorites

Talking today about some old favorites....

Napoli's Pizza in Annville, PA is a VERY old favorite. We started eating there as college kids (they delivered to the dorm) and now whenever we can we try to get back there (Am has been known to drive from MI to PA and go STRAIGHT to Naps) for some of the old stand-bys. When we were in college this place was a hole in the wall, a few tables, some HUGE beer coolers and a small counter area. Since we've graduated they've added some very nice seating areas, limited the number of beer coolers, created a bar, added plants and expanded the menu from subs and pizza to honest to Gods, home made Italian classics. They make them from scratch, half the family still only speaks Italian, and the bread, oh my soul the bread. Sorry, a little drool on the keyboard there....

The Tokyo Diner outside of Harrisburg, PA is another old favorite. Great Sushi and also a good Japanese Grill type place. Reasonable prices and the food is AMAZING. Have the Spider Roll (ignore the name - it's fried soft shell crab) - it's a religious experience!

Old Favorites and New Beginnings.....

So here were are.... a new beginning. We talked about getting this started earlier in June, but with kids graduating from high school (congrats Eric and Dominic!) and returning to Germany after their exchange year (miss you Felix!), it's taken until now to get it started. We attended the same college and became friends so long ago we don't even like to talk about it, and the one thing we've always had in common is FOOD. We differ in weight by about 200 pounds (one is about 116 the other is 316), live 500 miles apart and don't get to eat together as often as we'd like, but we'd like to share some of our favorite places - some we've loved for 20+ years, others we've discovered because of the Food Network (thanks for the tip on Blimpy's Guy!), or we've made food pilgrimages (The Lady and Son's in Savannah - didn't get a glimpse of the Lady but waddled back to the hotel happy anyway), or just found by accdident but... if we've had a great meal there we thought we should share it!

So put on the expandapants or your mu-mu and we'll try to share some of the best food we've had. And we'd love to hear about yours too.

Amber and Steph