New look and giveaway!

Ah, finally. I have been talking about re-launching this blog ever since Ry interviewed me.

I had been keeping this blog as sort of a side project, a place to share some random recipes I didn't want to include in my main blog, Diary of an Unlikely Housewife.

However I decided it was time to give this blog it's own look and its own direction, and a little "launch party" to start it off anew. To celebrate that, I am hosting my very first giveaway!

The prizes are of course related to cooking: 2 beautiful hardbound cookbooks! Take a peek:


To participate in the giveaway, all you have to do is vote in this poll:

Online Surveys & Market Research

After voting, you can get additional entries if you:
- link to this blog (using the graphic I provided on my sidebar)
- subscribe to my RSS feed
- subscribe to the RSS feed of my other blog, Diary of an Unlikely Housewife
- post about this giveaway on your blog using this graphic (code provided):

<br /><a href="http://unlikelyhousewifecooking.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="Unlikely Housewife in the Kitchen - blog launch and giveaway" src="http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a388/ElyMom/Blog%20design/bookgiveaway.jpg"/></a><br />

Please post additional comments if you do any of the above, and please include your cookbook preference, as well as your blog address and/or e-mail address so I can get in touch with you if you win!

This giveaway will end on Monday, September 15th. Winners will be posted here as well.

Good luck!

Ok - this isn't gourmet. This is madness!

If you routinely travel through the blogosphere, by now you have probably heard of The Omnivore's Hundred. For those of you who haven't heard of it, it's a list of 100 items created by Andrew of Very Good Taste; but not just ANY 100 items: these are apparently the 100 items that every Omnivore should taste at least once. To be honest, I kind of feel like some of these items were added to create a lasting impression on the list, and also to make an easy 100. because who would want to eat... ok, I won't spoil it for you. Here's the list with my items in bold, and my impressions when applicable.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison: yup, big in Switzerland. I don't like it, I feel like I'm eating Bambi.
2. Nettle tea: don't like it.
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare (no way I'm eating raw ground meat. nope.)
5. Crocodile (ha ha aha are you kidding?)
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue: yup. One of my 4 mayor food groups during my first pregnancy (after I moved to Switzerland). Goooood stuff.
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush: yum. Love eggplant!
11. Calamari: double yum. Fried, or with spinach... yum.
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi (pretty sure I'd love this)
15. Hot dog from a street cart (nope. no way. don't like hot dogs, don't buy food from street cars. end of discussion.)
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle: mized in chocolate. Yum.
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras: ok, this should be disgusting to me, but seriously, is there anything more delicious?
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese (that sounds gross. but I have eaten brains before. can't believe I did. *shudder*)
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper (huh? what?)
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters: yes. disgusting.
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl: ok, this might be one of the few things that rivals foie gras. Delicious.
33. Salted lassi (nope. but I love sweet lassi.)
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float: I hate root beer. It tastes like toothpaste.
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea (been wanting to. I think I might like it.)
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O (vodka, yes. jello, no way.)
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects (no!)
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk yup - don't like it. my daughters drink it though.
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala: delicious.
48. Eel: we make them roasted in Sardinia.
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin: in spaghetti sauce. Sardinian dish.
51. Prickly pear: oh, my favorite fruit. We call them "Indian figs". If you pick them ripe, when they are a rich orange or red, and peel them properly so the thorns don't pierce the pulp, they are absolutely delicious.
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer: in curried dahl. Fantastic.
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal: not sure why this made the list.
56. Spaetzle: yup, Swiss stuff.
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV: yes, but I don't like beer.
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads (no. I'm serious. no.)
63. Kaolin (isn't that a type of clay?)
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake (why aren't zeppole on the list??)
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe (nope - but I've had wormwood extract as part of my cleanse. does that count?)
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill (seriously? people eat roadkill?? omnivores are expected to eat roadkill??)
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie (huh?)
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini: my favorite part of being forced to go to lots of weddings while growing up in Italy.
81. Tom yum: one of my favorite dishes. Could eat it every week..
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky: we called it Mikado when I was growing up.
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers: pansies, on salad.
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam (ewwww!)
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta: what Italian hasn't had polenta? Now liking it, that's another matter.
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake (you have got to be kidding. that is NEVER going to happen.)


So there you have it. Now here's the rules:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

Roll with it - and post a link to yours in the comment section, so we can see what disgusting and delicious things you have tried :-)

News of things to come

Today I felt like a celeb, found a great new blog and made a new friend. Ry from Arts & Dafts just interviewed me as part of the The Great Interview Experiment, and inspired me to do something new with this blog. I had been wanting to find a direction to give to the blog, and now I found it: I will be starting a series of cooking lessons for complete beginners soon, so stay tuned!

Thanks Ry! I knew my Muse was out there somewhere ;-)