The Friday Five 12.21.12

1. What I’m Reading: I love cookbooks, but usually borrow them from the library instead of buying them. When I do buy them, they tend to be more scientific or educational, rather than a compilation of recipes with photos. I finally got around to purchasing The Science of Good Cooking, one of books by Cooks Illustrated. It is the best and you need it. This is a must have for any home chef who likes to know the hows and whys of cooking.

2. What I’m Eating: As far as faux meat products go, I usually stick to Morningstar chick’n patties or spicy black bean burgers. I had some really bad products by Gardein a couple years ago, but these beefless burgers are a new favorite. I would have been easily fooled if someone told me they were beef.

3. Recipes I’m Bookmarking: Savory Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with White Beans and Kale. Interesting combo, right?

4. What I’m Listening to: Her voice. His production. This collaboration: Sweet Nothing by Calvin Harris featuring Florence Welch.

5. GIFs I’m Loving:

WHEN SOMEONE NEEDS HELP WRAPPING PRESENTS

WHEN THE HOLIDAYS START TO STRESS ME OUT

WHEN SOMEONE ASKS IF I’M DONE WITH MY CHRISTMAS SHOPPING

Happy Friday! Have a wonderful weekend!

Bell’s Brewery Beer Dinner at The Coastal Cupboard

One of my favorite stores in the Belle Hall Shopping Center is The Coastal Cupboard, “the Lowcountry’s most complete kitchen store.” They’ve got all sorts of tools, gadgets, gourmet food products, and gifts. I could spend hours just poking around looking at all the fun kitchen toys. Aside from being a store, The Coastal Cupboard offers cooking classes taught by Chef Stephen Harman.

My friend Eric, another food writer, and I were both invited to select a class to attend. The Bell’s Brewery Beer Dinner appealed to both of us, so we signed up, and my “sister wife” Amanda came along for the fun. The class started at 6:30, shortly after the store was closed so we had the entire place to ourselves (and about 18 other guests).  We were seated and given the recipes with room to take notes.

We got down to business right away. And by business I mean beer. The first bottle we tried was Lager of the Lakes. I’m not much of a lager fan, but I actually quite liked this one! While we sipped, Chef Stephen started on the first dish: Maple Bacon Mac N Cheese.Look how creamy that is. Guess how. Butter, flour, whole milk, maple syrup, and cheese. Paula Deen would be so proud.

The second course was Rahmschnitzel, which is essentially veal cutlets that have been breaded and pan seared, then cooked with cream, lemon juice, and herbs. MORE CREAM!

The Rahmschnitzel was paired with a Pale Ale. I liked this one a lot too.

The next dish was sort of a bonus; the chef was braising pork for another event but let us have quite the sample…and I’m so glad he did. It was fantastic! Alongside the pork were braised mustard greens.

The third beer we tried was Two Hearted Ale, which Eric said is one of the best-rated beers. I liked it, but had to give it to him or else I would have been bouncing all over the place. ;)

Our fourth and final course was dessert of course! For this, we tried the Kalamazoo Stout. I’ll be honest – there was no chance in hell I was drinking this. It was way too heavy for me. A man beer if you will. I was much happier with the dessert.

We had a slice of Chocolate Stout Cake with a scoop of Molasses Stout Ice Cream, both of which had been prepared in advance. I’m not really a fan of chocolate cake (weird, I know), but this was so rich, I couldn’t resist eating half of it. The ice cream? Oh, that went down easily.We had a great time at the cooking demonstration. Stephen gave us great tips, let us ask questions, and was very personable. I’d love to go to another class. Eric and I both suggested they do a class on pickling. Pickles + beer = heaven.

Thanks to The Coastal Cupboard for having us! Check out more classes here.

Fall 2012 Bucket List

First off, I’d like to give a shout out to Jane, one of my favorite bloggers, who writes In The Pink & Green. She’s got an awesome blog, writes well, has a great sense of style and seems like such a sweetheart. I hope to meet her one day! Yesterday she posted a Fall 2012 bucket list and inspired me to make my own.

Food

• Bake at least 1 new recipe with pumpkin
• Bake at least 1 new recipe with apples
• Make 1 new recipe per week using my CSA produce
• Use the double waffle iron I won on The Shiksa’s blog

Fitness/Health

• Run at least one registered 5k – the Pajama Run and/or the Reindeer Run
• Reduce sugar intake during the week, feel less guilty about indulging on the weekends
• Continue doing 30 pushups and/or 1 minute planks every hour at work with Dane

Education

• Attend a cooking class
• Read at least one book a week (I know, I’m crazy.)
• Go to the 30th Annual That BIG Book Sale
• Attend a Wine Awesomeness Wine School class

Fun

• Have a girls’ beach house weekend on IOP using the gift certificate Amanda & I won from the Bacardi contest
• Celebrate my baby brother’s 16th birthday – ahh!
• See Breaking Dawn Part II on November 16th…at midnight, of course
• Halloween!!

Travel

• Go to at least 1 college football game this  year
• Visit my family in Massachusetts
• Visit my grandparents in North Carolina

Fall officially starts September 22nd and ends December 21st. I have plenty of time to cross everything off!

What’s on your Fall bucket list?

What’s your favorite thing about Fall? I bet 50% of you are going to say PSLs….

Gnocchi Making Class at Bacco–A Go Charleston Deal!

Before we get started, I want to introduce you to Go Charleston Deals. Locally owned by Holly Roberson,  they offer a fabulous daily deal from one of Charleston’s businesses. I’m a huge fan of Go Charleston deals because each purchase not only gives the consumer a discount, but also stimulates the growth of Charleston’s economy. They support 3 of Charleston’s charities: Darkness to Light, Chase After a Cure, and South Carolina Special Olympics. When you purchase a deal, you have the option for Go Charleston deals to donate 5% of the sale to the charity of your choice. Everyone wins!

My most recent Go Charleston deal was for an Italian cooking class at Bacco in Mt. Pleasant. For just $32, we had over 2 hours of food, wine, and fun! Check it out!

Upon our arrival, we were served a few delicious appetizers prepared by Bacco’s Chef and Owner Michael Scognamiglio. Roasted parsnips, eggplant bruschetta, caprese salad and oh, a slab of parmesan:

While we nibbled, Michael demonstrated how to make the pasta. As a big group of ladies who like to chat, we had plenty of questions and Michael was happy to answer them.

Then it was our turn! We were paired up and given all the ingredients needed to make fresh gnocchi: 1 lb. of ricotta cheese, 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese, 1 egg, 1 cup of flour, and salt. We were also given gloves for sanitary purposes. This made drinking wine just a bit awkward.

First we mixed the egg and the cheeses.

Next we added the flour and salt to the cheese mixture to form a dough. We were told to make sure not to over knead!

Once a smooth ball of dough was formed, we cut it in six sections and rolled them into snake-like pieces, about 1 inch thick. Using our fingertips, we poked the dough in 1 inch increments to form the separate pieces.

We then cut between each indent to make the gnocchi! How cute are they?

The gnocchi was placed in a bag for us to take home. Meanwhile, our dinner was being prepared.

We had a short break, then returned to the dinner tables for a gnocchi trifecta and a glass of wine. All three sauces were incredibly delicious, but the tomato-based was my favorite. Though I have never eaten at Bacco, I am sure that if their menu items are as delicious as what I sampled, I need to get there quick. As should you!

After dinner, we made sure to snap a photo of a few of us with the master behind fresh Italian food! Do you like how Mia (left) is holding Michael’s waist? That flirt!

We all had a great time and were impressed at how easy it was to make the pasta. It is definitely worth making at home. The results are unbelievably fresh and will make you never want to purchase boxed pasta again. We’re hoping that Bacco will pair up with Go Charleston Deals for another cooking class. Are you reading Michael? We want more lessons!

Have you ever made your own pasta?

Have you ever taken a cooking class? What did you learn?

Have you signed up with Go Charleston Deals yet? GO!