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by El

Guac-Off 2008

Last Christmas Eve, my godfather arrived at our house with a gorgeous bowl of guacamole. [Where else besides California would guac make an appearance during Christmas??] While definitely tasty, we started our usual competitive banter: this time over who made a better guac. It was clear that just arguing would not resolve the question, which is how the challenge came about. It was determined that during my summer trip home, a guacamole competition was in order!

Click “MORE” for Rules, Recipe and RE-MATCH (2009)….

by El

Moroccan Food Porn

Alright, that headline ought to get us some google hits.

Editor’s Note: Before anyone accuses me of pulling a Huffington, I should confess that this is not a “real” blog post from El. Our sometimes contributor recently took a trip to Morocco, and while she has yet to write about it, she did finally do the Kodak Gallery thing, and her food pics were so amazing that I had to grab them and share.

Escargot

Moroccan Coffee

Beans

Much more after the j.

by El

When Life Gives You Pineapples…

Obviously you have to make sweet and sour sauce to go with it. Not only was my boss headed out of town for the week, but she was kind enough to leave me with her leftover pineapple. Needing to come up with a way to use a large quantity of soon-to-spoil fruity goodness, I turned to my wok for inspiration.

Recipe and more inspiring photos just a click away…

in Fowl / Recipe 5 comments

by El

When East Meets Chef

Picking a book for my book club tends to be a slightly contentious undertaking each meeting. Although we are a small group, our different tastes in literature can provide us with a challenge in deciding what to undertake next. While a book club is a great excuse to read and catch up with friends, I also see it as an opportunity to test my culinary skills.

The hostess of each meeting is charged with providing the entire meal for the group. Personally, I love tying my meal to the book as closely as possible. Sometimes this is a daunting undertaking – A Million Little Pieces proved too much for my culinary creativity. Luckily, last month I had Reading Lolita in Tehran as my inspiration. The internets came to my rescue and provided me with an easy, scrumptious stew to serve my book club: Khoresh-E Bademjan.

in Red Meat 2 comments

by El

All Hail the Mac-n-Chief

Editors Note: This blog wouldn’t be possible without the musings of El, who was at the core of our food obsession beginnings. Although she had shied away from the blog spotlight for a while, she eventually gave into our demands that we feature her glorious and knowledgeable take on food. Welcome, El.

As one of the founding members of CC 508, and long time food lover, my first post will no doubt be a disappointment to ES lovers (most particularly the ES founders). I fully admit that I have committed a sin against ES’ cardinal rules: the big C-word. But I feel I must baby-step back into the kitchen after being a slacker for way too long. Now, on with the story…

I was born and raised on homemade macaroni and cheese, turning my nose up at anything coming from a box–-the epitome of CHEATING. However, necessity drove me to discover Annie’s when I was in college. The “organic” label made me feel I was not straying far from the comfort I found in a bowl of mom’s classic. Post-college I find myself vacillating between 100% homemade, and the ease of boxed Alfredo. Last night I decided it was high time to merge these two loves.

in Cheese / Veggie 8 comments