Comfort Foods and Indulgences

I have been craving my favorite spicy hot chocolate, but instead I turned on the oven and made these.

I have been on a late night baking kick. It seems like the perfect time to get into the kitchen and make some magic. Oh who am I kidding, I have no other time to do it. But I still like it!!

And these muffins. I love them. I mean really love them. I wanted spicy and chocolate-like, not to mention I was slightly motivated by the very ripe bananas sitting on my counter. They needed to be made into something or into the freezer they would go.

Now, let's get back to the spicy. Have you had chile and chocolate? You're missing out if you haven't. I used chile powder and cayenne to create the heat and flavor I wanted. The spicy taste lingers and heats up. It's perfect...PERFECT. You could even add a cream cheese frosting if you wanted to be fancy, but it doesn't really need it.   

I’ve steered clear of biscuit-making ever since I mixed up a crumbly mess of dry ingredients with butter and buttermilk years ago. The end result, inedible hockey pucks, came after a very frustrating baking experience. The wanna-be biscuits wound up in the garbage. That was when I decided I just didn’t need to ever, ever be making biscuits. And that’s why, when Katie Novotny, owner of St. Paul Classic Cookie Co. said that scones are simply a biscuit, I got nervous.

Katie Novotny offered to show members of my Bemidji Cookbook Club how to make the perfect scone. We gathered in her bitty bakery with an enormous menu of sweet treats in the south St. Anthony Park neighborhood of St. Paul on a recent Friday morning.

She sliced small chunks of butter into a bowl holding her measured dry ingredients, emphasizing the fact the butter must be well-chilled. I use the same technique when I make my favorite recipe for scones — the ones I plop onto a baking sheet using a measuring cup. That technique keeps my hands off the dough, convincing me that I am making scones, not biscuits.

Are you looking for a little something to go with the Academy Awards? No, this dip does not emulate any of the films up for best picture. There are so many creative-Oscar food posts out there. However, if this was up for an award....OMG it would take home the trophy in every category. Yes...it is that good. It definitely falls into that "crack" dip category. This would have been amazing during football season.

Everyone's hineys will be firmly planted in front of this dip and the TV, no matter how boring the Oscars get. If you have this dip, you are set...no ball gown needed. It won't fit after you eat this dip anyway.

My favorite part of this dip is the heat that comes from the chipotle in adobo. It is the perfect amount of spice and flavor. It is what makes this dip so tasty. And addicting. It's perfecto.

Try it if you dare...but have lots of people around to share in the calorie load.

I just can’t forget the truffle pasta we enjoyed at the American Embassy residence in Rome accompanied by homemade Limoncello served by Ambassador John Phillips himself. We walked the catacombs under the Embassy to get to the wine cellar where just the three of us including my husband Mike ate the best Limoncello and pasta in the world. It was simple with butter and truffle, just pure food magic.
Our best meal in Paris was at L’Amis Louis. Their fois gras, escargot and scallops are always crazy good…but the potatoes and garlic with butter and fries can't be beat…and this new place, also in Paris, served us the tiny best appetizer in world of mushrooms, figs, cheese and proscuitto.
  Irena Medavoy

The best thing I ate last year was on Thursday, December 24th at E. Baldi in Beverly Hills - Chef Edoardo makes an amazing antipasti of Deep fried Shiitake Mushrooms with sea salt & truffled pecorino cheese ... What a taste treat!!!
  Wendy Howard Goldberg

The best thing I ate last year was a chicken schnitzel sandwich at Falafel Hakosem on King George Street in Tel Aviv, an hour before going to dinner at my grandmother's house. Never go to my grandmother's house hungry. 
  Anna Harari

Hot fluffy biscuits right out of the oven from Good Enough to Eat on Columbus Avenue in New York City.  I had many delicious foods in 2015 but seemed to only crave, and adore, those biscuits with their luscious strawberry butter. Mmmmm. Is it morning yet?
  Diane Sokolow

Last May, when my wife and I vacationed in Anguila, I ate a nectarine that I can taste to this very day. New Year's resolution - the moment that taste disappears, we'll head back to Anguila for another nectarine.
   Alan Zweibel