If you’re not familiar with Threadless, you might want to head on over and check out their site. The t-shirt company started small and became a runaway hit by using user-submitted designs for their clothing. The community is huge and new designs are usually voted in by them. They’re a creative crowd. The designs range from pieces that look like classical works of art (or better) to those that are just a little silly or fun.
This week, Threadless launched their Threadcakes contest. The contest is to turn t-shirt art into edible art, and invites users to come up with cake designs that match those of their favorite Threadless tees. It’s probably a bit harder than it sounds since some of the shirt designs are so unusual, but it’s a fun challenge to take on. There are lots of prizes and categories for both 2D and 3D cakes. I’m one of the judges this year, along with Jen from Cake Wrecks, Louise from Cake Journal, Jennifer from Bake or Break and Mary Alice from Charm City Cakes/Ace of Cakes.
The contest runs until August 3rd, 2009, with no limits to the number of entries you can submit. There will even be some “surprise” weekly prizes given out, too! Check out some of the previous entries pictured below, then browse through the Threadless tees to find some inspiration for your own cake!
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I was out shopping the other day when I came across Nordicware’s new Bug Pancake Pan. The pan was so cute, I almost couldn’t resist taking one home with me. The havy duty pan is nonstick and has silver dollar sized depressions for pancakes in each of seven designs: the dragonfly, snail, butterfly, ladybug, spider, bee, worm and beetle. The bugs are adorable and much closer to the big-eyed, plump Disney cartoon bugs than real ones. All you do is pour your pancake batter into the depressions, let the pancake set up, then flip them over to the other side to imprint them there, too. The design will come out much clearer on the first side of the pancake, but the nonstick pan gives a good release and it is easy to turn them over without any problems.
This pan would be great for making breakfast for kids. The cuteness of the bugs will appeal to some and the fact that they’re, well, bugs at all, will be great for other kids that aren’t into “cute” as much. Nordicware also makes a zoo animal pancake pan if you’re looking for another option.
Yogurt can be a great, no fuss base for souffles. This is particularly true of thick Greek-style yogurt, as it provides a lot of body to the base of a souffle recipe. One of my favorite souffles that features yogurt is my Yogurt Cheesecake Souffles, as they have a fluffy texture but a rich cheesecake-like flavor in spite of the fact that they include no cream cheese in the recipe. The souffle itself is only mildly flavored, and I made a little variation on it by adding some Nutella to the souffle base.
The souffle has a taste and texture that is very similar to a mousse, although it is served piping hot shortly after it emerges from the oven. It has a relatively subtle Nutella flavor when compared to eating a spoonful of the stuff straight out of the jar, but the clear hazelnut and chocolate notes come through well and make the souffle both airy and tasty. The tang of the yogurt, as well as the fact that there just isn’t that much sugar in this recipe to begin with, keeps things from getting too sweet. It’s a great dessert to end a meal – even a big one – thanks to its lightness. Plus, it only takes a couple of minutes to mix up the base and pop it into to bake.
The souffles will rise up impressively in the oven (see photo below) and are pretty stable, so while they will deflate and sink down slightly into the ramekins as they cool off (see photo above), you don’t have to worry about them being so fragile that they’ll collapse with a puff of air. As I said before, Greek-style yogurt works the best for this recipe, as “regular” yogurt can be a little bit on the thin side. Any fat content will work, and you should be able to find Greek-style yogurt in most grocery stores. If you can’t, drain some plain yogurt over a cheesecloth for 15-30 minutes to allow some of the excess moisture to drain out and leave behind a thicker, more cheese-like, yogurt.
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A cooking club is just what it sounds like – a group of people who come together to share their love of cooking, eating and food in general. Many people who join cooking clubs have a vested interest in food and are looking to meet other like-minded people. Others choose to join a group to encourage themselves to cook more, or even to get out of a culinary rut of only preparing the same few foods over and over again. You can start one with existing friends, or start one (or join one) to meet new people. Whatever your reason. Cooking Club: Great Ideas and Delicious Recipes for Fabulous Get-Togethers is a good place to get started, as the book is all about how to start a cooking club.
The introduction covers a lot of the logistics of putting your club together, such as coming up with some goals for the group – lower fat cooking, international cooking, etc. – and determining where and when you all will meet. It also points out little things that might cause a few glitches down the line if you don’t think them through in advance, like who does the dishes and how will the leftovers be divided up. After the intro, the book is divided up into complete menus with recipes for all the dishes it mentions. The menus are mostly seasonal and include several “exotic” themes, such as Hawaiian Luau and Thai Cuisine.
The recipes are easy to follow and, although there are more photos of cooking clubs meeting than of the dishes themselves, there are lovely descriptions of each of the foods that precede each recipe, describing flavor of the food, the history of the dish and/or how the recipe was put together. There are also some tips sprinkled throughout that will help with the planning of meetings, including where to shop and how to add a little ambiance to a room to better set the mood. The book is encouraging and definitely makes you want to go out, join a club and get cooking!
