A little over a week ago I went back in time.  I attended camp. Yes, camp.  You know, that place that has cabins full of bunkbeds lined with sleeping bags.  The place where a hike in the mountains is called Tuesday, and every night ends with dinner and s’mores over an open fire.  It was just like being a kid again… except for the late night partying and wine tasting in front of the fire, that is.  I haven’t attended camp since I was a kid, so it was fun to go back. The weekend reminded me why I loved camp so much when I was younger.  Not only did you get to hang out in nature, you got the chance to make great new friends.  But what made this camp better than the ones I attended when I was little, was I left with a better sense of my foodie self.

See, this camp was all about food blogging.  There were a variety of different panels ranging from how to manage the stress of blogging to learning how to decorate with fondant.  (Which I still can’t do, by the way.)  Several panels (managing stress and building a community) hit home and made me realize that this blogging thing is really where I want to be.  At first Kitchy Cooking started out as a hobby, something I’d do to keep my writing up and share some recipes with the internet masses.  But now that I’ve been doing it for over a year, I’ve come to realize it’s not just a hobby, it’s a job, and one that I thoroughly enjoy.

Fun with watermelon thanks to the Watermelon Board

Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of days that it’s stressful, but that comes with every job.  Camp helped me realize that I’m not alone.  A lot of food bloggers get stressed out over their posts.  The way to handle the stress, set up a schedule and decide what’s important to you. I’d already begun figuring that out, but getting confirmation was a huge spirit builder.

The other exciting observation I made during camp was that several other bloggers were in the same spot I currently am.  The first year was sort of question mark with the occasional post and there wasn’t really any focus.  But between years 1 and 2 the direction of the blog became more firmly established, and a community of followers was built.  Yes, tweaks continue to be made for each and every blog, but the foundation is pretty well set.  The bloggers behind filling me with a new found sense of blogging spirit? Cheryl Sternman Rule, Greg Henry, Jennifer Leal, Lori Lange, and Susan Russo.

Andrew Wilder and Sara O'Donnell

While these bloggers truly inspired me, there were others like Jennifer Hoffmeister, Suzanne Bern, Gina Melton, and Amee Meghani who were just plain cool to hang and drink with.  I comiserated with Nancy Buchanan, Rachel Hutchings, Shefaly Ravula, Jeanne Fratello, and Kelly Anderson over the trials and tribulations of child rearing. Thanks to Andrew Blok and his Wente Vineyards pinot noir, I had a late night laughing fit with Dara Michalski over some stuffed germs.  And Sarah O’Donnell and Andrew Wilder knew just how to keep the party going till the wee hours. But the person I need to thank the most for this awesomely inspiring weekend is the woman who put Camp Blogaway together – Patti Londre.

Yes, this weekend isn’t one I will soon forget for a couple reasons.  First it’s breathed new life into me and my blog.  But second, and more importantly it’s showed me that being a blogger doesn’t mean your isolated in a room behind a computer screen.  It means you’re part of a community of wonderful, intelligent men and women who all share one common interest – food.  And as long as there’s food (and wine), there will be friendship and inspiration among the stars.

As some of you may recall, I participated in the Eatmyblog 2.0 in June where we raised over $5400.  Since June’s bake sale was such a huge success, I told Cathy Dahn of Gastronomy Blog that I’d be more than happy to bake something new for Eatmyblog 3.0. 

Melt the chocolate.

For those of you who don’t know, Eatmyblog is a charity bake sale where are all the goodies are made by southern California food bloggers and all the money raised goes to the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank.  This month’s bake sale, held again at West Hollywood’s Tender Greens, raised over $3700.  And while I was unable to attend the actual bake sale this time, I was still able to participate. 

Since the bake sale was to take place in December, I wanted to make something that said the holidays to me.  And nothing says Christmas better than chocolate and mint.  So, I decided to make one of my favorite holiday treats, Chocolate Mint Cookies. 

Who could say no to this much chocolate?

I discovered this recipe I don’t know how many years ago in a Bon Appetit magazine.  It looked so good I just had to try it and I’ve been making them every year since.  They’re easy, take no time and are so yummy, it’s hard for me not to eat the whole batch as soon as they come out of the oven.  So, in case you were like me and couldn’t get out to West Hollywood last Saturday to sample these and many other scrumptious treats, here’s the recipe so you can whip up a batch yourself.

All packed up and ready for Eat My Blog

Chocolate Mint Cookies

• 2 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 6 Tbsp flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 Tbsp dark corn syrup
• 1/2 tsp peppermint extract

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Line 2 baking sheets with tin foil; butter the foil.

Place 1 1/4 cups of chocolate chips in a glass bowl.  Microwave on medium-high until melted, stirring every 30 seconds.  Cool for 15 minutes.

Sift together flour and baking powder in a small bowl.

Beat together the sugar, eggs, corn syrup, and peppermint extract in a medium bowl until thick, about 3 minutes.  Gradually beat in the melted chocolate, then the dry ingredients.  Mix in the remaining chocolate chips.  Freeze cookie dough for 10 minutes.

Drop heaping spoonfuls of batter onto each prepared baking sheet, spacing the cookies apart (they’ll spread as they cook).  Bake until cookies are cracked on top and softly set, 12-15 minutes.

Cool the cookies on the baking sheets for 5 minutes.  Using a metal spatula, transfer the cookies to racks and cool completely.

Blogher.com is the web’s leading guide to women in the social media world.  They’ve been holding conferences on blogging and the blogging community for the past six years.  But with all the food bloggers out there, one two-day conference just wasn’t enough. Hence Blogher Food was born.  In its infancy, the conference is only in its second year, but is already insanely popular.  Kitchy Cooking is also in its infancy.  I haven’t even been blogging a year, but I’ve already learned so much.  I’m taking better photos than I was even a few months ago and I’m learning more cooking techniques than I knew before, thanks to all the food bloggers I now follow.  So because I’m so new to the food blogging community, I have yet to attend a food blogging conference.  I want to go, but by the time I find out about them, they’re sold out. Pitiful, I know.

Mixing up the chocolate

Thankfully this year, the brilliant team behind The Peche.com started their own conference for those of us that weren’t going to Blogher Food.  They created the Blogher Food ’10 Pity Party.  We’ve been spending today (and tomorrow) making fun of each other, laughing, crying, and generally being pathetic in the fact that we couldn’t make it to San Francisco for the conference for one reason or another.  And we’re winning prizes too.  What could be better?

Don't forget the vodka

One of the contests was to come up with the saddest 1 day menu possible using recipes from allrecipes.com.  I’d been to All Recipes on occasion, but I’d never scoured their site before.  That all changed for this contest.   Since the point of the pity party was to remain unshowered, bitter, drunk and in your pajamas all day for two days I scoured their site for recipes that all had alcohol in them.  You wouldn’t believe how many there were.  Or maybe you would. 

Layer the chocolate and cream cheese mixtures

I came up with a seriously sad menu.  But the saddest thing about it was that I wanted to make at least half the items listed in my menu.  There was only one however, I absolutely had to make immediately. The White Russian Brownies. Not only is there a full cup of liquor in these babies, it’s actually the ingredients of a White Russian – vodka and Kahlua.  I can’t think of any drink, or dessert for that matter, that’s better suited for ending our pitiful party.  But don’t take my word for it, whip up a batch and join us.  Please?

White Russian Brownies (adapted from Allrecipes.com)

• 2 squares of unsweetened chocolate
• 4 Tbsp of butter
• 1 cup of sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/4 cups of flour
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp Kosher salt
• 3/4 cup of coffee flavored liqueur, such as Kahlua

• 12 oz cream cheese (1 1/2 blocks of Philly), softened
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup of sugar
• 1/4 cup of flour
• 2 Tbsp butter, softened
• 1/4 cup of vodka

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.  Grease a 9×9 cake pan.

Melt chocolate and 4 Tbsp of butter in a pan on low heat.  Once melted pour into mixing bowl.  Add sugar and mix until combined. Add eggs 1 at a time.  Stir in coffee liqueur.  Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.  Gradually add to the chocolate mixture until well combined.  Spread half of this mixture into the prepared baking pan.

In a separate bowl stir together the 1/4 cup of flour and 1/3 cup of sugar.  Add softened cream cheese and mix well.  Stir in the egg, 2 Tbsp of butter, and vodka.  Mix until smooth.  Spread this evenly over the chocolate mixture already in the pan.  Pour the remaining chocolate mixture over the top of this. 

Bake for 40-45 minutes in preheated oven.  Let the brownies cool for 10-15 minutes.  Once cooled brush with the remaining 1/4 cup of coffee liqueur and serve.

If you follow me on twitter (@kitchycooker) you know that I participated in Eatmyblog 2.0 on Saturday in West Hollywood.  For those of you who don’t know, Eatmyblog is a charity bake sale where are all the goodies are made by southern California food bloggers and all the money raised goes to the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank.

While I’ve only been blogging for a short amount of time, I heard about this event and wanted to be a part of it.  As someone who cooks and bakes for fun, it never struck me that there might be something I could do to give back.  Sure, I’ve given money to chairites and I make several donations to Goodwill every year.  But I’ve never done anything with my baked goods (other than bring them into work or give them to friends).  But then someone on twitter mentioned the event and I immediately went over to the Eatmyblog website to check it out.

Cathy Dahn and Laurie Moore of Gastronomy Blog and G-Ma’s Bakery had started the blog because they thought it “seemed silly to have people make food and eat it without a cause.”  Well, I couldn’t have agreed more.  So I e-mailed Cathy and was thrilled to have her welcome my chocoholic brownies to the event.  But since I have a serious sweet tooth, baking wasn’t enough for me. I was going to have to sample some of the other goodies because they all looked so damn good. 

My box of yumminess

While I still haven’t finished my box of sweet treats, I want to thank bakelab for their amazing Coconut Clouds. I only bought one, but it was sooooo good, I had to go back and buy a second. Pete Eat Em All made these awesome mini chocolate coconut cakes that had a toasted coconut custard filling and then covered it with white frosting and toasted coconut. I seriously want that recipe.  I still have to try the Dulce de Leche Brownie from 100 Miles, a peach pie on a stick from Sweet Life Kitchen, and a Mexican Brownie from Foodshethought.com, but I can’t wait to savor each and every bite.

Pete Eat Em All's Mini Chocolate Coconut Cake

And since I know you’re all wondering, I and numerous other Angelenos purchased so much yumminess, the Eat My Blog bake sale made a whopping $5,427.  I know.  Who knew a little bake sale could make and do so much for so many people. I feel honored to have been a part of it and I can’t wait for the next one.

As I mentioned in my previous post, The Grilled Cheese Invitational was May 24th and I, along with several hundred other Southern Californians decided to enter what I consider the best cooking competition ever created – a grilled cheese cookoff.   Since I talked about the event in my last post, today I’m going to tell you what I made.  

There were 3 categories you could take part in: The Missionary, The Kama Sutra, and The Honey Pot. 

The Missionary was your basic grilled cheese. It could be any kind of bread and any kind of cheese, but that was it. No bacon, no tomato, no extras. That’s what the Kama Sutra was for. 

The Kama Sutra was the exotic grilled cheese which pretty much meant you could do whatever you wanted.  As long as the contents were 60% cheese, you could put anything else, including the kitchen sink in that sandwich. And believe me, people did.  There was one guy – a 10 year-old – who won a judge’s award for his Kama Sutra masterpiece. It included Tillamook Cheese, queso fresco, grilled portobello mushrooms, sauteed onions, tomato, ground spicy cheetos, and sauteed chorizo. Sounds disgusting, I know. But several people, including at least one judge, raved about his concoction. 

Then there was the Honey Pot. Again as long as the contents were 60% cheese, anything else could be included.  But unlike the Kama Sutra, this sandwich had to be sweet – like a dessert. I decided this was the heat for me since I love baking sweet things.  

You wouldn’t believe some of the creations: a team called the Suzie Homemakers won two awards for their Gimme S’more which included sweet brown bread, marscapone cheese, chocolate, and marshmallow fluff. 

The Suzie Homemakers with their Gimme S'more

The team next to me created something called the Cardiologist’s Dream. It was made up of cheddar cheese and bacon sandwiched in the middle of a glazed doughnut. Then they drizzled maple syrup over it and garnished with a slice of apple “to keep the doctor away”. 

Then there was my creation which I dubbed American as Apple Pie because one of my favorite combinations is apple pie with a slice of cheddar cheese.  But I didn’t think cheddar was the way to go for the Invitational.  I thought a better cheese to use would be brie. And I’ve had it with sliced apples before so I knew the two would go together perfectly.  Since I only had 50 minutes to make 20 samples of my sandwich for the competition, I made the apple pie filling ahead of time.  Then at the competition itself, I placed a few slices of brie on a slice of french bread, covered it with my pre-made apple pie filling, topped it off with another slice of bread and fried the whole thing in butter ’til golden brown and the cheese oozing out the sides.  Then as a finishing touch, I drizzled a little sauce over it I’d made out of burbon and apple cider. Yummy!  

So the next time you’re in the mood for grilled cheese but are looking for something a little more exotic, give this a try. It’s yummy and different and will absolutely satisfy that salty/sweet craving so many of us have from time to time. 

American as Apple Pie Grilled Cheese 

Apple Pie Filling 

• 3 apples sliced (I used a Pink Lady, but whatever your apple of choice is, is fine)
• 1/3 cup of sugar
• 1/4 cup of flour
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 2 Tbsp bourbon
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Grilled Cheese Sandwich 

• 2 slices of French bread
• 3 slices of brie cheese
• 1 Tbsp butter
• Apple Pie Filling

Apple Cider Bourbon Sauce 

• 5 cups apple cider
• 5 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 3 Tbsp bourbon

 Apple Pie Filling: 

In a medium bowl mix the sliced apples with the flour and sugar until coated. Pour the apple mixture into a medium sauce pan cook over a low heat.  Stir in the cinnamon and bourbon.  The flour and sugar combined with the juice from the apples will start to thicken.  Continue to cook on low for 15 – 20 minutes until sauce is thick and apple slices are tender.  Place aside and let cool. 

For Apple Cider Bourbon sauce:
Boil apple cider in heavy medium saucepan until reduced to 3/4 cup, about 45 minutes. Add butter and sugar and whisk until butter melts. Boil 3 minutes, whisking occasionally. Remove from heat. Whisk in bourbon. Let the sauce cool. 

For the Sandwich:

Place your cheese on one slice of French bread.  Cover the cheese with 2 -3 spoonfuls of the apple pie filling.  Place the second piece of bread on top.  Melt the butter in an 8 inch fry pan.  Place the sandwich in the melted butter and cook over medium heat until goldenbrown, about 2 minutes per side.  Place the sandwich on a plate, drizzle the Apple Cider Bourbon sauce over and enjoy.