mizchef

Archive for April, 2009

Hi, everyone. This past week, I decided to have myself a Latin feast. I’ll tell you all about it, but first an update on the kumquatcello.

Okay, so the kumquatcello sat for two weeks and the vodka picked up a really nice citrus-y scent and the faintest orange tint. (This is very different from limoncello, which takes on a beautiful lemony color.) I made a sugar syrup by boiling water and sugar together. If you decide to give this a whirl, don’t let this mixture cook too long because it will darken and give the liqueur a muddy look. (In fact, this is the beginnings of caramel and if you cook it long enough, that’s what you’ll get.) Then I combined the sugar syrup, kumquat vodka, and fresh vodka and split it into various containers. Now, we sit and wait. I can be drunk at this point, but the longer it sits, the better it will be. Can’t wait to try it.

Now for the Latin feast!

¡Vamanos!

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Hi, all. I’ve just gone crazy with the kumquats! The Chinese market still had them, so I just had to buy more. This time, I made kumquat salsa (different from the Cranberry-Kumquat Salsa) and kumquat marmalade.

And salsa! So read on to see how that all went…

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The other day, I went into my local Chinese market. I love going in there because I can always find some new/unusual/hard-to-get product that I can try. Anyway, in the produce section there were these big containers of kumquats. I’d passed them up last week because I was in there for only a few specific items and my funds were limited. But when I saw them again, they just looked so beautiful and enticing, I couldn’t resist.

Want to know what I did with them?
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For those of you who have considered writing a cookbook, I can tell you from experience that it is hard work. Don’t get me wrong, it is fun, challenging, and when all is said and done, very satisfying. But I’m one who believes in having all the facts before going into something. I believe in being prepared for a challenge.

Many people believe that writing a cookbook is a cinch. After all, what is there involved? Writing down some ingredients, scratching out a few instructions, and slapping it together neatly for a publisher, right? Wrong. Very, very wrong. Writing a cookbook is a very specific process.

What to find out more about it?

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