Whilst I'm Not Cooking #7

It's been a very very crazy week filled with lots of ups and downs for me here in the Valley. My big news is that I got a contract to record an Audio Book, which is extremely exciting and is going to involve a lot of work. I'm really chomping at the bit to get started on it tomorrow! It's a memoir of a woman raised in South Africa.
In hand with that, my website for my voice work launched, and you can check it out here if you are curious:

Redd Horrocks

And also, since everything should come in threes, you can now get directly to this blog by going to:

www.saltedspoon.com

How busy was I this week?!

Since I've got all this extra work to do, I'm wondering if anyone is interested in doing a guest post for me. I'd love to see a couple of your recipes featured here on Salted Spoon. If you're interested, just send me a note using the contact form in the Sidebar to the right!

And now, here is what I've found awesome and inspiring this week:

Brandy Snaps from Lottie + Doof
*Update: I made these! They were really yummy with my Strawberry Fruit Fool. The only note I have on this recipe is that when putting the second batch on an already warm baking pan, they spread significantly more and needed much less time to bake. Might be good to rotate two pans and have one cool all the way while the other is in the over. 

Spicy Butternut Squash Pie from The Copycat Cook

Chocolate Chip Cookies from Everybody Likes Sandwiches

Chive Blossom Vinegar from Food in Jars

Spring Pea Hummus from Simply Recipes

The Photograph above is entitled "Double Cherry" and you can purchase it here

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Whilst I'm Not Cooking #1 Made 2/5

Day in the Life #1

Every so often I get into a kind of rut where what I eat doesn't change much, or I'm not really doing much cooking. This isn't particular conducive to writing a food blog. So, it's Day in the Life time. Early morning tea with toast and Laurie's home made plum butter was first up for the day.

My weekends fall on Tuesday/Wednesday. Having weird days off is pretty standard when you work in the entertainment industry, and you get used to it quite quickly. One of the nice things is that on the weekends, life and restaurants feel much busier, but if your Saturday is a Tuesday, everything is nice and quiet.

My friend Dani and I almost never have the same days off, but when we randomly do we go to Brio for their Basil and Cucumber Gimlets. I don't know what it is about this drink that makes us both love it so. Maybe it's how fresh and delightful it tastes. Maybe it's just the right amount of sweet with the tang of the gin. Either way, we love it.

They are so perfect! The bread there is great too.

I tried the Chicken Piccata. I confess I didn't love it. The sauce was yummy, but it tasted like there was too much egg in the batter. I didn't mean to eat it all, but I finished my plate. Then, it was home to get dolled up for a voice gig. They wanted me on camera so I had to put on good makeup with fancy liquid eyeliner. It turned out that they didn't want to do the camera work after all, and they gave me the script so that I could go and record it from my home studio. Worked out perfectly for me because I hate being on camera and I'd always rather record from home!

Mini-recording session was followed by a short stint at the pool, which was blissfully quiet. I've been reading this fabulous book and I'm loving hearing about what it was like for Julia Child living in Paris in 1949. I would love so much to have been there! It really does sound like a heavenly time for food and wine and camaraderie.

The weekends are my long days in the gym. I usually spend two hours there one of the two nights. This  feels like a lot, but it flies by when you're watching the season finale of the Voice. I did an hour of jogging, followed by 20 minutes of weights, then forty minutes of incline walking work.

Back home it was cheese and crackers and wine for dinner. I'm still eating through the leftover cheese from my birthday. On the plate there is a Cave aged blue, Emmi Gruyere and Seaside Farm Cheddar. Plus a glass of wine to make me feel all classy. I've been working my way through 30 Rock and I adore it.

Finally, some candy imported from back home. When my Dad last visited, he brought me lots of goodies including Quality Streets and Fruit Pastilles. I'm rationing them out, slowly but deliciously!

Whilst I'm Not Cooking #2

I did actually cook this week. I made Beef Stew, Cottage Pie, Spicy Beans, Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, Barbecue Pork Riblets and Bitter Lemon Icecream. Most of these don't have recipes and most of them also don't have pictures, which is horribly lame of me, I know. So I thought instead I would tell you of the things that I plan to cook, and what I managed to pull off from last weeks list.

One of the things I managed to make off last weeks list was David Lebovitz's Wild Rice Salad with Roasted Vegetables and Lemon-Tahini Dressing. I made it with Butternut Squash and a Wild Rice blend, and it was pretty good. I think it was a little heavy on the Tahini, so I probably would change the balance of the dressing if I made it again. It was a nice set of texture and flavor though. I definitely recommend it.

Whilst I'm not cooking this week, I'm drooling over these recipes:


Easy Spicy Garlic Bread in a Pot from Joy The Baker

Smoked Trout and Cave-Aged Gruyere Bites from Coconut & Lime

Twice Baked Boursin Souffles from Eat-Tori

White Chocolate Pistachio Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies from Eat the Love

Spicy Spinach Stuffed Mushrooms from The Pioneer Woman

The picture that you see above is out the window of The Flying Biscuit Cafe in Atlanta, the one location on McClendon Ave. It's one of my favorite all time brunch spots. If you ever get a chance to eat there... do. Order a biscuit, some scrambled eggs, and some Moon-Dust Potatoes. Delicious. When I was in Atlanta in December I did that twice.