Getting settled in SF. Updates to resume shortly.

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I’m considering one or both of the following seminars at the BU Culinary School:

- A Taste of Sicily: A Symposium: February 23 -24
- CookWise with Shirley Corriher: March 29 - 30

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As Carol noted, the UN declared 2008 the year of the potato. The Providence Journal has more here, as well as some recipes. I know I’m a week late but I was on vacation.

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Peanut butter cookie made with crunchy peanut butter

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Have you noticed the frequency of ads from the Idaho Potato Commission? I have. The commission and I go way back.

Back in my fourth grade English class led by Mrs. Gage we were tasked with mastering the business letter. In order to keep our little minds engaged (back before Ritalin) and make the assignment more personal, she gave us the opportunity to send a business letter to any organization of our choosing.

In 1984, in a fourth grade classroom in Rochester, NY, both the Kirk Cameron and Michael Jackson Fan Clubs were by far the most popular destinations for our handwritten letters. Girls with big, curly hair practiced their swirly cursive in letters asking for autographed photos from the stars du jour. The size of my hair may have matched the rest, but my little grey cells understood the finicky nature of fame. What if my star was out of style by the time I received a response? No doubt that would kill my own social status among the group.

I chose to send a letter to the Idaho Potato Commission asking for recipes. Perhaps it was at that moment that my fate was sealed and I was started down the foodie path. In six to eight weeks when the rest of the class brought in big envelopes with glossy photos, I proudly showed-off my folded brochure touting the health benefits of the Idaho potato.

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I started off the new year in the kitchen — frying up beignets. We found Cafe du Monde mix in the grocery store and thought I’d give them a try.

I only ate at Cafe du Monde once and that was back in 2000, but from what I remember, the cafe’s beignets were a bit lighter and fluffier. I tried not to overmix the dough, and I made sure the oil was hot enough. But, it was just a mix. Perhaps I’ll try to make a batch from scratch–but not today!

Or perhaps we should take a quick weekend trip down to New Orleans to do some comparative tasting.

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I stopped in Paper Source to pick up more blank cards and spotted the bear buble gum from Mineco at the register. It’s adorable. so i picked up a package ($1.50 for 4 pieces of gum).

I’ve tried out the grape. Perfect ‘fake’ grape flavor, just the way I like it. Though while it gets a perfect 10 in presentation, it got stale and lost all flavor in about ten minutes. Oh well, it can’t be pretty and taste good, too.

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This time with a bit of crispy, pan fried pancetta on top. Delicious, thought I don’t think my jeans will thank me if I eat too much of this!

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Lance passed along this link for bacon salt. I do think it would be a tasty addition to fries — it’s even vegetarian!

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I signed up to be a beta tester for KitchenBug, a new online cooking/recipe community. I just started using it today, but I’ll let y’all know how it goes.

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