The Caper Continues: Why the Rolled Angel Food Didn't Rock

So our hard boiled detective has already investigated the mystery of the disappointing zabaglione. Although the case isn't definitively closed, there are some good suspects. Now for the rest of the mystery. Why was this apparently innocent attempt to make a high-brow version of rolled angel food cake a disaster? Rolled angel food cake with macerated Bing cherries and brandy zabaglione...it sounds

The Great Zabaglione Caper

It’s late, a little after eleven in the evening. The alleyway is soaked in shadows as I move in. My trench coat rustles against my feet. I have my collar turned up against the drizzle. The film noir scene is complete. “Is that the victim?” I gruffly ask an officer. “Yes, ma’am.” I click my tongue. What a sad sad way to end up. I lean in closer, too hard-boiled a detective to be shocked by the

To Err is Human, To Post It...Divine?

I'm stuck in an internet cafe waiting out a torrential downpour, so it seemed like an ideal time to blog. I've long spouted philosophically to my friends that the world was made up of two kinds of people: those who have their kitchen garbage cans out for the world to see, and those who keep them discretely hidden beneath the sink. I've recently realized that this division runs deeper than I

How to accidentally give someone a wedding present

We've arrived safe and sound in Ghana. We're still searching out accommodation, but we are temporarily lodging with my friend Victor "the maven." To disabuse any of you out there of your National Geographic ideas of Africa, the Maven is addicted to cutting edge technologies and fashions. He had an iPhone two weeks after they came out in the US and was one of the first who had it "cracked" to work

A Kitchen on the Move

I am now less than 24 hours from the plane ride that will take me to Ghana for the next six months. Moving for a moderate amount of time to Africa is a challenge few people experience. I have done it now four times. The first time I went, as an eager 20 year old on a college exchange program, I was shockingly unprepared. That lack of preparation, however, encouraged me to live much as an average

Cantaloupe Melon Fruit Soup with Applemint

Ever since discovering the wonders of a truly great farmer's market cantaloupe paired with the softness of apple mint, I have been thinking about fruit soup. Fruit soup is an odd thing for me to think about because frankly, where I grew up you just don't make fruit into soup. Until I started researching this post, I thought fruit soup was some trendy conspiracy between Gourmet magazine and

My "Must Eat" Countdown

I love Ghanaian food. But in the final week before departing I can't help but kick into "deadman walking" mode, where I begin mentally listing (and craving) the foods that I won't be able to get when I'm there. Today, on the way back down from visiting my native Wisconsin, we stopped at Borzynski's Farm to get the best caramel apples on Earth (check). This afternoon I had a gourmet pizza at