Use Goat Cheese to Liven Up Holiday Meals!

Be the hit of your holiday gathering with these delicious recipes from Goat Cheese by Maggie Foard!

Espresso cheesecake brownies

[makes 16]

7 ounces 70 percent bittersweet chocolate, broken into chunks

1 (1-ounce) square unsweetened chocolate

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup sugar

2 extra-large free-range eggs

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup pecan halves

Topping

4 ounces fromage blanc or fresh chèvre

1/4 cup shot of freshly made espresso or very, very strong fresh drip coffee, cooled

3 tablespoons powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 beaten egg (about 2 tablespoons)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line an 8 x 8-inch baking pan with parchment that is oiled

or buttered on both sides. Melt the chocolates with the butter over simmering water in a double boiler; or do it my way—on the defrost setting in the microwave—until the chocolates are just about melted. Remove

from heat and whisk in the salt and sugar. Add the eggs one at a time. Add the flour and mix thoroughly. The batter should be satiny and dark and pulling away from the sides of the bowl. Scatter the nuts on the bottom of the prepared pan. Spoon all but 1/2 cup of the chocolate mixture into the pan.

Topping

Whisk together the fromage, cooled espresso, powdered sugar, vanilla and egg. Drizzle the fromage mixture over the chocolate batter. Dot the remaining chocolate batter over the top of that and run a knife back and forth through the batter to create kind of a swirl pattern over the top. Bake at 325 degrees F for 30–35 minutes, or until the top is set but not dry. Cool on a rack. Chill thoroughly before cutting if you want nice

neat pieces, but be sure to take the brownies out of the fridge a little while before eating. The flavor

is so much better when they are at room temp!

Fresh tomato tapenade

[makes approximately y 2 cups ]

1 pound fresh ripe tomatoes, seeded and chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced and poached in 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil for 1 minute

1/4 cup chopped pitted kalamata olives

1 tablespoon capers

1/4 cup chopped basil

3 ounces crumbled goat feta

Salt and pepper to taste

Organic Roma or San Marzano tomatoes are best for this dip, but any full-flavored tomato can work.

In the dead of winter when I crave tomato bruschetta, I use diced organic tomatoes from a can.

Combine the ingredients in a medium bowl shortly before serving at room temperature with bruscetta. For a change, omit the feta and serve the tapenade with slices of fresh goat mozzarella or goat brie.

Flying M in Boise hosts Dinner at Your Door authors for booksigning

From the authors of Dinner at Your Door:

It's "Buy Local Week" in the City of Boise, Dec. 1 - 7th. Meet us First Thursday at the Flying M Coffeehouse for some pre-holiday cheer. Diana, Andy and Alex will be sipping coffee and signing books from 6-9 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 4th - that is this Thursday!

Bring in gift copies of “Dinner At Your Door” and we’ll add personal inscriptions to your friends and family. Flying M will also have books for sale. If you have recently started a Dinner Co-op of your own, come in and let us know how it's going. If you're trying to convert some pals, bring them in and we'll see what we can do. :)

This is our last scheduled local event before the holidays--it would be fun to see you there. To learn more about this all Boise-based project, please visit the dinner co-op website:

www.dinnerco-ops.com

*Also - Join our group on Facebook- "Dinner At Your Door"

For Ordering Information, visit the Gibbs Smith Website:

Raving reviews of Art and the Gardener by Gordon Hayward

Artful Living: A library of garden delights
by Linda Brazill, The Capital Times

In a field like gardening, where new books are as numerous as tulips in spring, it's rare to find one that stands out. Gordon Hayward's books, however, are always noteworthy because the Vermont resident is that rare talent: a good garden designer and a good teacher, in print as well as in person -- as those who've attended his presentations in Madison can attest. But "Art and the Gardener: Fine Painting as Inspiration for Garden Design," Hayward's 10th book on garden design, is a radical departure from his previous work.

It's also stunningly beautiful, inspiring and filled with ideas and observations that will give even the most informed -- or jaded -- gardener pause. If you buy only one book this year, make it Hayward's. The book's been germinating since 1994 when Hayward first gave a talk at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston on the relationship between art and the garden. That event made him realize the two disciplines share a vocabulary, but more importantly, they both train the eye to see. And that's what Hayward does for readers in "Art and the Gardener" (Gibbs-Smith, $40, 176 pages).

Hayward trains your eye by continually comparing paintings and gardens focusing first on style (romanticism, minimalism) and then on the relationship between the house and garden (view from the front door, out the window). He offers 10 "methods of composition for the landscape painter and garden designer" and looks closely at design principles like curving paths and focal points.

There is a whole section devoted to the role trees play in the garden: orchards, allees, the effects of low-pruning in compressing views under them. None of these ideas is necessarily new but Hayward's presentation is. Showing each concept as a pair of images -- painted and gardened -- brings a freshness and intelligence that has often been lacking both in books on garden design and in many gardens themselves.

Hayward also looks at that most difficult issue: color harmony and contrast, and begins at the beginning with a color wheel. He uses the gardener's color wheel expertly put together by fellow author, gardener and New Englander Sydney Eddison. He finishes up with a look at Monet, the master at combining life, garden and art.

Hayward includes images of a painting at various stages of creation, floral arrangements that interpret paintings, superb appendices on symbolism in art and gardens, descriptive language and a bibliography. The end papers are swirls of William Morris floral designs that continue onto the cover. "Art and the Gardener" is a book one will never tire of nor cease to learn from.

To Order Art and the Gardener, Fine Painting as Inspiration for Garden Design, or other works by author Gordon Hayward, please visit our website:

Christmas Gift Ideas from Gibbs Smith

Can't quite find the perfect gift this holiday season? The creative minds here at Gibbs Smith have come up with some fantastic, creative, economical ideas for your holiday shopping ... all involving the wonderful Gibbs Smith titles!

You’re getting “Muffin” for Christmas = Muffins Book $16.95, Gift items $4.75

Play Some Reindeer “Games” = Pocket Guide to Games $ 9.99, Gift items & basket $8.50

Hope Your Holiday is Warm and “Toasty” = French Toast $16.95, gift items & basket $12.75

Save Santa a trip. Be naughty = Pocket Guide to Mischief $9.99, slingshot and box $3

Other ideas:

• “It’s a Marshmallow World in the Winter” = Marshmallows & hot chocolate
• May you have “S’more” Love this Holiday Season than you know what to do with. = S’mores with all the fixings
• "I wish we could put up some of the Christmas spirit in jars and open a jar of it every month." ~ Harlan Miller = Putting Up with a jar of homemade jam
• May your new year be Festive and Fruitful! = 75 Remarkable Fruits for Your Garden with seeds or unique fruits
• Add a Little Spice to Your Holidays!” = Salsas & Tacos with a jar of homemade salsa and chips
• You take the “Cake” neighbor. We think you’re top rate! Happy Holidays = 101 Things to Do with a Cake Mix and a packaged cake mix
• Thyme again to wish you and yours a Happy Holiday Season = 75 Exceptional Herbs and a seed pack or gardening tools
• Have a wonderful Christmas this year with a “plateful” of fun = Small Plates and some Christmas Dishes
• Take “note!” We’re thinking of you this holiday season! = Box of Gibbs Smith note cards, pens and stamps
• Wishing you a wonderful holiday “simmering” gently with love = 101 Things to Do With Canned Soup and a fresh batch of homemade soup
• "Like snowflakes my Christmas memories gather and dance – each beautiful, unique and too soon gone." ~ Deborah Whipp = Snowflakes, paper and scissors

Tasty Thursday

Happy Thanksgiving!

This week's Tasty Thursday feature comes from Muffins: Sweet and Savory Comfort Food by Cyndi Duncan and Georgie Patrick. You can whip up these fantastic muffins Thanksgiving morning and then snack on them until your main dinner event! 

Frosted Pumpkin Muffins

Try substituting chocolate chips for the raisins to get your daily dose of chocolate—delicious!

1 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt, optional

1/4 cup butter or margarine

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 cup evaporated milk

1/2 cup seedless raisins

Cream Cheese Frosting

3 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

1/2 cup butter or margarine

2 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray muffin cups with nonstick cooking spray.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt together in a medium bowl. Cut in butter until mixture resembles cornmeal.

Combine the egg with pumpkin and milk. Stir in raisins. Add egg mixture to dry ingredients, stirring just to moisten. 

Fill muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake for 15–20 minutes. Cool.

In a large bowl, beat frosting ingredients until smooth. Frost cooled muffins. Makes 16 muffins.

 

Bark House Style signing in the Highlands

Bark House Style: Sustainable Designs from Nature authors Chris McCurry and Nan Chase, recently did a booksigning at Summer House antiques in Highlands, North Carolina.

Bark style is quickly becoming a popular green-building material in commercial and residential architecture. Learn about the history, various styles and varieties of homes built with bark siding and designs in Bark House Style: Sustainable Designs from Nature.

Chris McCurry and her husband, Marty McCurry, are the originators of the modern poplar bark shingle manufacturing company, Highland Crafstmen, based in North Carolina.

To Order, Please Visit our Website:

Add a little Italian to Thanksgiving

Chef Leonardo Curti, author of Trattoria Grappolo and Food Festivals of Italy, shares his recipe for Pumpkin Ravioli, a delicious appetizer to your upcoming turkey feast.

Happy Mangia!