A Belated Blogaversary!

So, in case anyone was wondering when I started this blog (officially) it was on Dec 1, 2011. Yes, my blog is one year old! This is a rather exciting milestone, as so much has been accomplished this year. What started out as a way to reclaim a part of my past that I thought (resentfully) that I could never have again has transformed into an amazing journey. It is my past intertwined with my present, it is acknowledgement that many skills I have earned through hard work, and even tears, are not wasted. This blog has truly become my world of food through the lens and the keyboard. I truly believe G-d gives us many skills, and we are told not to squander them. Knowing that I am using my G-d given talents again in a completely kosher way adds a depth and richness to my life that was sorely lacking.

It’s been an exciting year- anyone who has been following along can see that. It has had it’s lows, sure, but the highs- they have truly outweighed any negative. The meeting of new people, making new friends, learning new things, refining old skills-it has made it all worth while.

So to celebrate, we do it my way. Nothing too fancy, nothing too flash. My recipe for a celebration calls for some family, something good to eat, and a lot of laughter. Add in anything else you like (music, presents, games). DH and I celebrated Motzei Shabbat Chanukah with something really amazing called affogato. Affogato means “drowned” in Italian, and when I saw the recipe in the December issue of Bon Apetite, I knew I was making it.

Affogato is basically a coffee drink (usually hot espresso) poured over gelato or ice cream (the most basic type being vanilla). The recipe in BA called for more of a hot chocolate with added espresso, and they used peppermint ice cream in honor of the season. I like to think I am something of a purist.  I made mine with 40 oz  vanilla almond milk, a half-pound of semi sweet chocolate, a splash each of vanilla extract and rum, and 6 oz of instant coffee with triple the amount of granules used normally. Bring to a boil, then let sit for a little bit. I had parve vanilla ice cream I made ages ago in my freezer, so that was the ice cream component. I filled the cups with the chocolate mixture, added chunks of the ice cream- and served.

A rich chocolate-coffee mixture topped with vanilla icecream. Works well parve or dairy!

However, if you have a delicious drink like this, you must have a bit of something to go with it! I decided that cookies would be perfect. These cookies are made with gluten-free flour using Michael Ruhlman’s 1-2-3 cookie dough recipe (see previous post). I doubled the recipe, added cocoa powder, chocolate chips, and chopped walnuts. It is not a terribly sweet cookie, but that was alright because it was meant to go with, not compete with the affogato, which was sweet enough as is.

Gluten free chocolate-chocolate chip walnut cookies. Crispy and not too sweet.

So, you might wonder what is next for the blog. Confession time: I’m not 100% certain myself. There will definitely be more Kosher Connection Challenges, more Holiday Blog Parties, and hopefully more experiments. There is at least one cookbook review on the horizon, and I feel like taking a Cuisine Trip ( that’s when I study and cook from a particular area – I did that in the summer with my posts on Middle Eastern cuisine) back to the style I was trained in -France! I also want to Cuisine Trip through Italy and the UK as well.

In the end, we all know it is man that proposes and G-d that disposes, and I am looking forward to whatever happens- both in my personal and my culinary life- with a great deal of enthusiasm.