Goodbye 2010!

Wow- it's the end of another year already, and I find myself shaking my head, wondering where the last 12 months have gone.  It seems like just yesterday I was going bonkers in the kitchen, cooking for 40 people for the New Years party we threw last year.  I'll go ahead and say it with you- time flies when you're getting old!

I know there are lots of "Best Of" lists out there, so I figure why not bore you with yet another one?!  Hey, like I said, I'm getting old so I like to sit back and reminisce about the year gone by while I cry in my whiskey about how quickly time is slipping away from me....well, maybe that's not exactly how it goes (I don't drink whiskey) but here's a look back at my favorite dishes and restaurants of 2010.

Rabbit Terrine

Ok, how many of you read the title and thought of Bugs Bunny?  Perhaps you had memories of a cute, fuzzy childhood pet...possibly named Hoppy or Money Da Bunny (ok, maybe you didn't but it'd be a cool name, ok?) to whom you'd feed carrots and cuddle with after school.  Maybe the word "rabbit" instantly takes you to the scene in Fatal Attraction when the little girl is running to her bunny cage to greet her beloved pet just as her mother walks into the kitchen to a mysterious pot of boiling something and they scream in unison as one discovers the rabbit missing and well, you know where it ended up.  Don't worry, this post isn't about any of those things, so if you hate Bugs Bunny or that scene in the movie, you're safe.  If you feel weird about eating rabbit, well...don't say I didn't warn ya!

Holiday Baking and a Confession

Christmas is right around the corner, and although I don't go bananas over every holiday tradition, I do love holiday baking.  One of the my favorite things about cooking is being able to feed the ones you care about, so distributing Christmas cookies is a great way to cover a LOT of people at once.

I made my first batch of goodies the other day, and although none were traditional Christmas cookies, I figure if you put them in a holiday container, they're automatically transformed into Christmas cookies!  Magic!  I knew I wanted to bake three different varieties but didn't want to end up cursing the pastry gods hours later with flour in my hair and butter under my fingernails (hm, not a great visual!) so I decided to do something I'd never done before.  Ok, here it goes: I bought pre-made pie dough (insert loud dramatic organ chord here)!!!!!!!  I have nothing against pre-made anything but have always tried  making everything from scratch.  Maybe Sandra Lee scared me off with some of her crazy "Semi-Homeade" ideas (Campbell's Cream of Mushroom can't be the basis of 60% of your recipes, ok?), but I felt a small tinge of guilt as I purchased two packages of Pillsbury pie crust.  I've crossed over to the dark side.  The Sandra Lee side.