Food & Drink Quiz Friday #15

This dessert classically consists of ice cream enclosed in a layer of sponge cake and an outer layer of meringue that are then frozen until ready to serve, at which time it is placed into a very hot oven to brown the meringue. Both the meringue and the sponge cake act as insulators (keeping the ice cream from melted) due to the trapped air in their cellular structures.

Although present before 1876, that is when the dessert was served at Delmonico's Restaurant in NYC with the name, in honor of the USA's newly acclaimed territory.

If you have a fun or interesting food or drink related trivia question that you'd like me to feature, send me an email with the words "Food and Drink Quiz Friday" in the subject line to girlichef@yahoo.com!

(Captain) Quark Waffles inspired by Ratchet & Clank

For the past month or so, my daughter has been telling me that she wants to go see the Ratchet & Clank movie. Daily. Sometimes more than once. Well, it was finally released this past weekend. Guess what we did? Oh yeah, went to the movie theater.

So, here's the thing—I wasn't really familiar with Ratchet & Clank. I knew it was a video game, but I'm not a gamer. It's basically for the same reason that I can't read e-books...a bit of photosensitivity. If I decide to throw caution to the wind (like I did when my sister first bought Guitar Hero so many years ago), I'm dizzy and unbalanced for at least 2 days. It's not fun and I can't get anything accomplished or even focus on anything, so I just don't do it.

5 Tampopo-inspired Dishes—a #FoodnFlix Roundup

At the beginning of the month, I announced that I would be hosting the April edition of Food 'n Flix with my choice, one of the most celebrated food movies in the past 30 years, the first (and only?) "Ramen Western"—Tampopo. I actually watched it for the first time myself this month, and while ashamed to admit that fact, am so happy that I finally did. There's not a moment in the film that doesn't center around food and its relationship to life.

That said, we had a small turnout this month, and the participants other than myself, were split evenly down the middle in terms of liking and not liking the film. It is a real Japanese comedy with subtitles, and that particular style is not for everybody. If you find yourself wanting to know more before you go in, or just wanting a bit of a break-down, I hope you'll take a few minutes to read my overview of Tampopo (because I often think it's helpful to go in with a bit of background).

Cherry Pie Milkshake inspired by The Outsiders | #FridayPieDay

I'm stepping outside of the box today and sharing a derivative of pie for this month's edition of FridayPieDay. I originally made this with the intention of sharing for a "favorite '80's movie-inspired" post I did earlier this month with Kimberly from Coffee and Casseroles, but I watched a couple and wound up sharing something inspired by License to Drive instead. Fortunately that means I can share this Cherry Pie Milkshake that was inspired by one of my favorite '80's movies (and books), The Outsiders, with you today!

If by some chance you're not familiar with The Outsiders, it's a story set in Oklahoma in the mid '60's—a time when "class wars" were a pretty big problem. It revolves around a lovable (and super cute*) group of "Greasers" from the north (poor) side of town and the "Socs" [pronounced: soh-shis] from the south (rich) side of town.

Food & Drink Quiz Friday #14

Used to make all sorts of different foods like tapioca, flour, and chips, this root must be cooked properly before consuming in order to destroy the cyanide compounds found naturally in its raw form. And apparently a small number of people, especially those with latex rubber allergies, are also allergic to this plant.

If you have a fun or interesting food or drink related trivia question that you'd like me to feature, send me an email with the words "Food and Drink Quiz Friday" in the subject line to girlichef@yahoo.com!

Omurice (Japanese Rice Omelet) inspired by Tampopo | #FoodnFlix

There are movies that contain food, and there are movies that celebrate food—this month's Food 'n Flix pick is one of the latter. Touted as the first-ever "Japanese Noodle Western", the 1985 film Tampopo has topped the list of "best food movies" for the past 30 years. But the crazy thing is that I—the person who started this movie-inspired food club almost 6 years ago—had never seen it before this month. I'm ashamed, but I finally righted that wrong by choosing it as our featured film in April.

Okay, so here's the thing...this is a Japanese comedy that might seem strange and disconnected to some. And it is, but in the most brilliant way. Because when you really look at it and really think about it, that seeming disconnect is actually the thread that binds everything together. It's an exploration of the role that food plays in life and all of its aspects: love, sex, happiness, simplicity, the pecking order, generosity, culture, and death.

HUGE Instax Mini Prize Pack Giveaway!

 It's time for another awesome group giveaway organized by Angie of My So Called Chaos. This month we've got a HUGE Instax Mini Prize Pack up for grabs—and it's pretty freaking awesome! Although I love all of the prizes I've joined with these other bloggers to give away, this may be the one that I want for myself the most.

If you've seen Angie's previous monthly giveaways, you'll know that she likes to ask all the sponsors who helped contribute to the prize to answer a question, and then she likes to share that answer with you so you can get to know them better. April is Angie's birthday month, and she just turned thirty years old (oh, to be thirty again...). Here's what she asked her Sponsors this month...

Chocolate and Vanilla Egg Creams inspired by The Decent Proposal

What would you do if a private benefactor offered to give you $500,000 if, after 1  year's time, you've spent 2 hours a week for the entire year meeting and getting to know a person (of their choosing) that you'd never met before? That is the situation in which Richard and Elizabeth find themselves, two entirely different people with no obvious connection, in The Decent Proposal.

Richard is a handsome 29-year old producer dealing with the fact that the business he started with a buddy several years ago just isn't making any money. He's considering getting a job...anywhere...just to pay his bills.

Almond Pretzel Bread Pudding | #ProgressiveEats

Welcome to this month's edition of Progressive Eats, which I am very happy to be hosting this month! Since today just so happens to be National Pretzel Day, I invited everybody to share a recipe featuring pretzels as an ingredient, a recipe for pretzels (or using pretzel dough), or a condiment that went perfectly with pretzels—and boy did they deliver!

My love for pretzels has never been a secret, I've shared everything from regular homemade soft pretzels and pretzel sticks to homemade pretzel dogs to cinnamon-sugar pretzels, pretzel bites to pretzel pockets, and even pretzel crackers and pretzel croissants! Initially I planned on trying my hand at homemade pretzel rods to share today, but time got away from me and I had to push that endeavor back...but only temporarily.

Rock and Roll Sangria inspired by Vampire$

Here we are, the final Sunday of the month already, and that means it's time to share another all vampire book and a movie challenge post. Kimberly's April selections were Vampire$ by John Steakley (book) and John Carpenter's Vampires (movie). And once again, the movie, while based on a really good book, was crap. Talk about taking away every thing that made the story interesting and intriguing! The only thing that really stayed the same was the name of the main character, Jack Crow and the name of one of the priests, Adam. But the names were the only similarities, as the "character of each character" was not.

The book (1990):

Jack Crow is the leader of a Vatican-sanctioned team of vampire slayers. They are the only ones. The average person does not know about the existence of vampires...until it is too late. From the outside, this team of hardened men appear a motley crue of trouble makers. But when you get an insider's glimpse, you realize that they are a devoted bunch of smart, funny, rough-around-the-edges guys with the biggest hearts. But they're not only guys, because they also have a mama bear who takes care of not only the behind-the-scenes aspects of their team, but of the actual men themselves. They save the world over and over again, while losing those dearest to them.

Colcannon

It's pretty amazing how something as humble as a potato can produce one of the most beloved side dishes in the world. Who else lists mashed potatoes in their all-time favorite comfort foods? Served plain with butter and salt, enriched with cheese and cream, strewn with greens, punched with roasted garlic, or spread thick on top of minced meat—I love it all.

Books 'N' Bloggers Swap Reveal: April 2016

Several months ago, I stumbled on a site run by Angie of My So Called Chaos (who you often see me join for awesome monthly giveaways) and Beth of Printcess (where she makes her own cruelty-free mineral eye shadows—inspired by novels!) called Chaotic Goddess Swaps. The site was born out of their mutual obsession for swapping. They hold all sorts of fun swaps throughout the year, including a Homelovin' Swap, a Geekgasm Swap, Swapoween, a 12 Days of Christmas Swap, and the one I'm participating in this time, the Books  'N' Bloggers Swap!

Regular friends and readers know how much of a bookworm I am, so this swap was all kinds of fun for me.  The objective of this swap is to send (and receive) a thoughtful package that you think your assigned partner for the swap will love. The best way to do that is by digging through their blog a bit, reading their "about" page, checking them out on social media, and generally chatting with them a bit.

Food & Drink Quiz Friday #13

The recipe for Jarlsberg was developed using a formula that originated with Swiss cheesemakers who moved to this country during the early 1800's and was named for nobleman Count Wedel Jarlsberg who owned land in the area where they were making it. 

If you have a fun or interesting food or drink related trivia question that you'd like me to feature, send me an email with the words "Food and Drink Quiz Friday" in the subject line to girlichef@yahoo.com!

Chicken Marsala inspired by #CaughtUpinRaine

I'm so exciting to be hosting a book tour stop for L.G. O'Connor's newest release, Caught Up In Raine, today! I was first introduced to O'Connor and a category of books that I'd never looked twice at before when I was a part of her Trinity Stones book tour just over two years ago. The term "paranormal romance" is what drew me in. And then I didn't want to leave. I'm sure the paranormal part has something to do with that, but after reading CUIR, my sneaking suspicion that it was L.G.'s fun, fresh, contemporary writing that really held me captive, was confirmed.

Considered romantic women's fiction (nothing paranormal going on in this series), Caught Up In Raine features a seemingly unlikely May-December romance and is told from two points of view: 40-something Jillian's and 20-something Raine's. So, here's the thing—this book will resonate most with women who have already hit that 40-mark.  You know, women like me (I'm right on the dot). I have a sneaking suspicion that any ladies younger than that might not be in the right place to make a connection. I mean, if somebody had told me that I wouldn't feel any (okay, much) older at 40 than I did at 25, I wouldn't have believed them.