Fruit Compliments and Bits and Bites

Aren’t those little oranges adorable? I didn’t make anything with them, I ate them as is, but they demanded to have their picture taken and I complied. Since when do oranges call you cute? I don’t know, but I could get used to receiving compliments from fruit. I’m not choosy, I’ll take ‘em where I can get ‘em. If a pineapple wants to call me pretty or a kiwi wants to call me smart, I’m ok with that too. Of course, I would prefer if the Kiwi was tall with a cute accent, but once again, I’ll take what I can get.

Ahem, back to the food… About twice a month I write a review for Paper Palate. Sometimes I share the review here or link to it and sometimes I forget altogether. That was the case last month when I posted a review on Paper Palate of the March issue of Bon Appetit which featured that amazing Caramel Walnut Upside Down Banana Cake and then falsely thought I had also posted about it on Jumbo Empanadas. Eventually I realized this error and posted about it here too because it’s definitely a cake that deserves to be seen.

Also in that post, which was filled with bananas, I mentioned making Banana Walnut Whole Grain Muffins from the Wellfed Network and Bran Banana Raisin Muffins from Cookie Baker Lynn but I didn’t post pictures of either of those. It wasn’t because I didn’t have any, but because for some reason, (lack of organization or a Kiwi to remind me) I couldn’t find them at the time. They’re here now though, so enjoy.

And for the record, I jazzed up the Wellfed muffins by subbing the walnuts for white chocolate chips and filling the middle with bittersweet chocolate chips. On top of that, I had been seeing a lot of carrot cakes with cream cheese frosting and I really thought I wanted carrot cake, but then I realized it was just the cream cheese frosting I wanted. So I made some, ate it with a spoon, (craving satisfied!) and then topped a few of the banana muffins with it.

When I discovered the banana pictures that I had forgotten to post I also found some pics of more dishes I made at Chef School, (which were MIA at the time I was going to post about them). So the Spinach Stuffed Chicken Breast and Lasagna Bolognese with Spinach Noodles both should have been in last week’s post about chef stories. Geez, this post is filled with links. You’ll be lucky if they all lead where they’re supposed to, half the time I don’t even know.

More recently on Paper Palate I reviewed my new Food & Wine magazine, (which I received courtesy of the amazing Katie) and made Reverse Chocolate Chip Cookies from that issue. They were so good that I took them in to work on my day off so that others could enjoy them, (and by ‘others enjoy them’ I mean so that I didn’t devour the entire batch myself). In my quest to make cookies an acceptable currency, (and to make everyone love me) I’m slowly gaining ground, every cookie helps.

Have you had enought yet? I’m cleaning out my closet and I’ve still got one more Paper Palate post of mine to share with you that’s all about Italian cuisine, or more specifically The New Regional Italian Cuisine Cookbook. This is a book that has a photo of every single recipe, as well as scenic shots of Italy and close-ups of ingredients.

Recipes are titled in both English and Italian and are indexed by region as well as by course which is very convenient for scatterbrains such as myself who are constantly losing things. The only reason I remember what I made from that book is that I wrote it down: Insalata al Pecorino (Salad with Pecorino Cheese), Ossobuco d’Agnello (Braised Lamb Shanks) and Crostatina di Mele (Apple Puff Pastry Cake). Which reminds me, there were a whole bunch more recipes from that book I wanted to try. I should go do that…

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Bananas + Italian + Cookies + Muffins + Paper Palate