I have the honor of hosting this month’s Does My Blog Look Good in This? event. If you’re not familiar with it, a quick read through the rules should clarify everything.
The event is a competition of food photography. Anyone who wishes to participate should:

• Select their best original food/drink photo from the month of May.
• E-mail me with a link to the blog entry containing the image.
• The deadline is June 24th, at which point the entries will be closed and judging (a panel of highly qualified persons) will begin. The winner will be announced before then end of the month.

In your e-mail, please include your name, location, blog name and the type of camera you used. If it is not obvious as to what your photo is of, please describe the food item in question. There is only one entry per person.

Photos will be judged on originality, eatability and aesthetics.

Good luck everyone!

Update: The gallery of entries can be viewed here and it will be updated until the contest deadline.

Further Update (6/25): The entries are now closed. The list of winners will be released shortly.

The first impression upon biting into one of these cookies is that they’re good, but nothing special. There is no dramatic spice or flavor that really sets the apart and, in fact, they have a smooth and subtle flavor to them. Once you’re finished that first cookie, I guarantee you’ll be back for more because, as it turns out, there is something very special about these cookies. They may not have the pizzazz of spices or the texture of oatmeal or even eny kind of frosting, but they have something better: white chocolate melted into the batter.

The cocoa butter lends an unusual depth of flavor to the cookies and the added fat keeps them crispier longer, though the centers still have a bit of chew to them. The white chocolate also lends sweetness without making the cookies seem overly sugary.

One of the best characteristics of these cookies is that it is difficult, if not impossible, to tell at first glance that they are different from ordinary chocolate chip/chocolate chunk cookies. It might even be hard to guess what you’re tasting unless you’re expecting it.

I hadn’t made this recipe in many years, though for a while they were my favorite cookie to make. The recipe is from Mrs Fields Best Cookie Book Ever and the only change I made was to use chocolate chips instead of chocolate chunks. I can’t really say that it’s the best ever, but it is a great collection of cookies. It even has the recipe for Mrs Fields’ Chocolate Chip Cookies, which I know that people have spent a long, long time trying to replicate since they didn’t know there was a cookbook available.

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I was flipping through one of the newer issues of Everyday Food magazine, the quicker and easier recipe collection published by Martha Stewart, and was looking for something to make for company when I spotted the recipe for Mustard Crusted Turkey Breasts. As usual, the picture really appealed to me, as did the fact that the recipe called for whole-grain mustard which I love.

The coarse, whole grain mustard has a much more interesting texture than other mustards, since the seeds are still whole. It gives sandwiches and pretzels a bolder flavor than plain mustard. Of course, I’m still going to use the bright yellow stuff on my hot dogs, but it’s really a delicious thing to have around. It seemed like it would make a delicious compliment to turkey.

The problem with the recipe as it was written was that it called for a whole turkey breast, which I couldn’t find. I did find nicely sized turkey breast cutlets, however, which are about the size of chicken breasts. Since I didn’t have any skin to deal with, I decided to pan-fry the turkey instead of baking it. I did have some issues with oil splattering as a few of the mustard seeds popped, but by keeping the lid on most of the time, it was very minimal. I wouldn’t hesistate to do it again, but I don’t know that I’d attempt the recipe without a lidded pan.

The turkey was incredibly moist and the mustard paired perfectly with it. In fact, the mustard was so good that they turkey didn’t really need any other seasonings. I wouldn’t say that it formed a “crust,” but because parts of it were crisp and it was certainly coated in mustard, I’ll still give it the name. This recipe is a great twist on turkey and a good reason to eat it at times other than Thanksgiving. As you might imagine, the leftovers make great sandwiches, so consider throwing an extra cutlet into the pan if you have room.

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Sugar High Friday’s theme this month is ginger and the event is hosted by Ruth at Once Upon a Feast. Frankly, I had a huge craving for vanilla and couldn’t get it out of my head enough to focus on the ginger. After a while, I gave up on trying not to use vanilla and decided to work with it.

I went with some simple scones and added a lot of vanilla to them. Again, I used vanilla paste instead of vanilla extract, so if you look closely, you can see the vanilla beans. I added candied ginger chips to the batter not only to fit the theme of the event, but to provide a contrast with the vanilla.

It worked beautifully. The ginger was sweet and a little bit sharp, while the vanilla was wonderfully fragrant. To say that the kitchen smelled fantastic while these were baking is an understatement, as butter and vanilla wafted through the air. The scones tasted excellent, as well. The vanilla flavor was almost a surprise, since it is often included in recipes but not played up to the extent that I used it here. I think that it really had a chance to shine in these scones. They were tender and not dry in the least, with crisp, browned edges.

I ate them warm, but you can certainly serve them at room temperature. They are best the day they are made, but can be stored in a plastic bag and refreshed with a few minutes in a 350F oven if necessary. Halve the recipe if you don’t need a dozen scones at once, though these are definitely on the small side. You’ll probably want two per person.

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When summer hits, there is nothing better tha a cold, sweet treat to help cool you down. I wasn’t picky and would take most fruit flavored popsicles (except grape), but pudding pops were always my top choice. Much to the delight of basically everyone else I can in contact with, including my family, I only ever liked the vanilla ones and no one ever had to fight me for the chocolate or the swirls.

I’ve heard that that quality has been nothing to write home about in more recent years, so instead of buying a box as the weather warmed up, I made some. It’s easy peasy: make pudding and put it in the freezer.

I opted to go with an eggless recipe as a nod to jello pudding (If you use a boxed mix, I won’t tell). The vanilla flavor was tremendous, as I used vanilla bean paste with specks of real vanilla bean in it, though you could easily use half a vanilla bean or even vanilla extract to infuse flavor into the pudding. The finished pop was lighter that ice cream and not as overly sweet as some store bought pops. In fairness, this was not as completely smooth as I remember the ones from my childhood being, but it tasted wonderful and melted easily on the tongue. I also suspect that the ones from my childhood were not even as dreamy as I remember them being. These are certainly good enough for me.

If you would prefer to have a regular pudding and not a frozen popsicle, simply pour the pudding into ramekins and chill overnight in the refrigerator. I like the consistency, which is a bit thinner than most puddings. I love the “skin,” but if you prefer your pudding without it, just put a layer of plastic wrap on top before chilling.

Getting back to the pudding pops, I use some molds that I’ve had for ages. They’re plastic and very inexpensive. I recommend picking up a set for a few dollars, but you can use small paper cups and wooden popsicle sticks in a pinch. They’re a bit harder to eat because of the shape of the cups, but they’ll turn out fine.

To release the popsicles, run the molds under warm water for a few seconds. If you use paper cups, you can simply peel it back.

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I couldn’t make up my mind whether to make peanut butter or banana cupcakes. Peanut butter seemed like it might be too heavy on its own, while banana sounded like it might be too sweet. I was looking for something light, wiht a nice flavor, when it occured to be to combine the two. Reflecting back on the decision-making process, it should have taken far less time to come to that conclusion that it did, but that’s beside the point now. What matters at the moment is that I have cupcakes.

In this case, the cupcake itself is tender and lighter than I would have expected, with a tight and even crumb, but a very fluffy texture. The batter comes together very easily. There are flavors of both peanut butter and banana, but neither is overly strong and they match each other perfectly. I used regular, creamy peanut butter, which means that there is a fair amount of salt already in it. I took this into account when I added salt to my recipe, but if you use unsalted peanut butter, increase the amount of salt to 1/2 tsp. The resulting cake has a hint of saltiness that perfectly compliments the peanut butter flavor and also allows you to use any kind of frosting without worring that you’ll overdo the sweetness.

Speaking of which, I also had a difficult time deciding what type of frosting to use. I ended up using a marshmallow frosting recipe that I love, though I can’t say that vanilla was the perfect frosting for these. If you want to really appreciate the peanut butter and banana flavors of the cake, eat them plain with a cup of tea or coffee and a dusting of powdered sugar. To play up the peanut butter, use this peanut butter frosting, and just use your favorite chocolate frosting if you need a chocolate fix and don’t mind hiding the other flavors.

Next time - and there will be a next time - I am going to add a touch of peanut butter and banana extracts (yes, those little bottles that you see in the grocery store) to this vanilla marshmallow icing. I mean, can it get any better than peanut butter, banana and marshmallow?
I think not.

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