New Web Address!

I bought my own domain! Head on over to www.adventuresinshaw.com to continue keeping up with my adventures!

Announcing Bittman Mondays

I know I promised the first installment of Bittman Thursdays today but honestly, Shaw Girl is STILL sick.  I am thinking spending well over 12 hours out in the cold didn’t help any on Tuesday (but it was soooo worth it).  So due to illness, Bittman Thursdays will henceforth be rechristened “Bittman Mondays” (see the fancy logo…yeah that’s about as much as I could muster).  I actually made the recipe already and even took the photos.  I am just too exhausted to put together my usually (or at least in my mind) witty prose.  So check back in on Monday!  And send soup!

Beignets

There are probably a list of things I shouldn’t be allowed to do without adult supervision:

• Play with matches
• Go to the grocery store (I inevitably buy way more than originally intended)
• Okay, anything involving fire

After making these beignets, we should probably add deep frying to this list.

Shameless Campaigning!

Remember the MarxFoods.com Comfort Food Recipe contest I told you about a few posts ago? Well, the good people over at Marx Foods have selected my recipe as a finalist for the contest! Now it is up to the public to vote for their favorite recipe…and this is where my abject groveling commences. Don’t you want Shaw Girl to win a $250 gift certificate to Marx Foods? It would mean I could share lovely recipes involving truffles, bison and whatever else my grubby little hands can grab. Just head over to the MarxFoods.com site (the badge to the right can get you there in two shakes of a lamb’s tail) and vote for my Roasted Winter Squash Soup!

Kindest Regards,

Shaw Girl

Food for Comfort

This is the time of year where we turn to food for comfort…it’s cold, it’s snowing (at least for some…so bummed it’s not snowing here yet) and you want something that makes you feel warm and cozy. I admit it, this is the time I break out the heavy recipes and relish every last bit. Apparently the people over at Marx Foods think the exact same way about this time of year. They are hosting another one of their fabulous contests and this time it’s a call for comfort food recipes! I’m throwing my hat in with my lovely Roasted Winter Squash soup, but there are already tons of great recipes in the running. And what is the fabulous prize this time? Are you sitting down? No? Well perhaps you should because it’s a $250 MarxFoods.com gift certificate (did I mention they sell TRUFFLES)! So head on over before the contest ends on November 17th and give it the old college try!

Ballot Cast…Baking Tonight!

My ballot’s been cast and tonight I will watch the election results with Carmen, Liz and Patrick…and make those yummy treats I promised you guys if you voted!  Happy Election Day everyone!

Just a Friendly Reminder….

Please vote…if you do, I’ll have a nice treat for you on Wednesday (“I voted” sticker not necessary).

And Now Back To Our Regularly Scheduled Blog

I’m sure everyone is wondering what happened to Shaw Girl? Where did I go? What was I doing? Am I even still alive? Well, fear not, I am alive…just not a fan of the heat that is DC summer. I don’t like baking or cooking in the heat, even if I do have air conditioning. Besides there was so much to do and see, how could you possibly expect me to chain myself to a stove? You will be happy to know that I thoroughly enjoyed my summer but am now so psyched that it’s Fall!

I LOVE this time of year…almost as much as I love Christmas (you’ve been warned, so don’t be shocked when everything from mid November until the end of December has something to do with Christmas). The crisp coolness in the air; the beautiful sweaters and cute wool jackets; the chance to snuggle up under the blanket with The Boy (uhmmm, yeah I picked up a guy along the way this summer…kind of like shopping for a new car) with cups of tea and Deep Space Nine (and I also picked up an almost obsessive love for DS9…it’s better than heroin, right); and the wonderful opportunities to bake. As it is, I have a few ideas for pumpkin related treats and my mother’s favorite cranberry bread (I am required to make it at every family Thanksgiving).

So now that I’ve caught you up on my summer vacation, I am happy to announce Shaw Girl is back and ready to lay the whisk smack down on her kitchen. To keep from getting burned out again, I plan to go from daily posts to several times a week. But no worries! Adventures will still be had and recorded! Tonight I am sipping tea, under my Grandmother’s quilt and enjoying the change in weather. But I will be back this week with an ode to pumpkins (or perhaps even apples)! So stay tuned…

It’s Been A While…

I know I promised to get back into my blogging groove, but life happens. I’ve been swamped with friends, with work and with my unofficial role as wedding planner to the stars. Fear not, however, I have plenty of content to keep everyone reading this week, as I played hostess/caterer to the engagement shindig over at casa de Liz’s last night. Just let me recover (hostess should not drink that much white wine) and steal Liz’s photos off of Flickr (you didn’t expect me to take pictures AND cook, did you?) and we’ll be back in business.

So Sorry…

I know a number of you have come to my site in search of the latest Daring Baker’s challenge (and my usually disastrous tales that come from it) but a very hectic life and sadness have gotten the best of me this July.  Hence the lack of posting lately, for which I am truly sorry.  The good news:  my dear friend Daphne is now a DC resident (and my neighbor) and I am finally shaking off the cooking inertia that set in after the Diva’s passing. 

The bad news:  I am currently sans my beloved Canon.  The pop-up flash wasn’t working, making it impossible to take pictures in low lighting in automatic mode.  Fortunately, for the first time ever, I opted to purchase a warranty when I originally bought my camera.  So now it’s been shipped to the Canon gods for repair.  But apparently the Canon gods are super slow, as it will take up to 6 weeks for me to get it back.  Daphne has been kind enough to offer me her point and shoot in the mean time, so you may notice a slight difference in photo quality for a while.  BUT, I am back and I definitely plan on hanging out in my kitchen this upcoming weekend (for the first time in a LONG time), so stay tuned!  In the meantime, head on over to the Daring Baker’s blogroll to see what some of my fellow DBers did this July!  And I promise I will be back to my usual DB shenanigans in August…snafus, idiotic decisions and all!