Creamy Chicken Soup with Parsnips, White Pepper, & Peas {to cure a bad mood}

I've been having one of those weeks. You know the kind - where everything and everyone conspires to  irritate, annoy, and infuriate.

But that's okay, because I have a secret weapon: soup. Yes, soup. We all know the restorative properties of chicken soup, and this version adds even more punch with the addition of a little cream and half and half and a sinus-clearing amount of white pepper.

Each slurp of this soup not only contributed to an increased sense of equanimity and well-being, it gave me strength to (figuratively) vanquish my annoying enemies.

Or maybe that was the booze?

Chicken, Cabbage, & Cashew Stir Fried Rice

Do you really need me to tell you how to make a simple stir fried rice dish I made for dinner one weeknight?

But what the heck - I'll tell you anyway. After all, as my professional recipe development, food and travel writing, and photography obligations grow (I am neither complaining nor humble-bragging - I unabashedly love it!), I find that I have less and less time to make complicated dishes just for fun. Which is what this blog is supposed to be - fun.

Bucatini in Tomato Saffron Cream with Wild Salmon

Pasta and cream. Not exactly a New Year's resolution friendly dish. But that is kind of my point. I am posting this simply because I feel like it.

Let me back up and explain.

I have noticed an off-putting proscriptive tendency creeping into some food blogging lately. Year-end posts have popped up here and there purporting to be the last word on what food blogging should and should not be, and what we bloggers must and must not do.

As snarky as I know I can be, I find these proclamations - even when they claim to be tongue in cheek - a little too self-congratulatory for their own good.

A Holiday Lunch at Family Meal: Bryan Voltaggio's Retro Casual Eatery

My favorite thing about the holiday season is the way I let myself relax and slow down. I realize this goes against the conventional wisdom: for many, this is a frantic time of year. Too many parties to attend, last-minute gifts to buy, family obligations that must be met, and so on.

But I don't really go in for all of that mania. For the last week or so of each year, I unwind. I only make engagements that I want to keep. I take deep breaths. I cook what I want, when I want. I take long walks with my dog. I enjoy some alone time. And if I'm very lucky, I get to go out for a rare weekday lunch with Poppa Trix.

Blueberry, Bourbon, & Brown Butter Spiced Cakebread: the Un-Fruitcake

Recently, a representative from the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council saw my recipe for seared duck breast with blueberry sage sauce and invited me to participate in a recipe competition.  The rules? Create an original sweet or savory recipe featuring winter fresh or frozen blueberries. Extra points for twisting up tradition and creating a new classic holiday dish.

Gourmet Rhubarb and Pepper Jellies from Iceland: A Holiday Giveaway

When Poppa Trix and I were in Iceland, we met a really cool woman named Eirny Sigardurdottir, who owns Búrið, a lovely and quirky little cheese shop in Reykjavik. If you're ever in Reykjavik and you have have a hankering to put together a cheese feast, that's your spot, as I suspect Eirny knows more about cheese and what goes with it than just about any other person on the planet.

Charlevoix, Quebec: Odds and Ends from the Flavor Trail

The vibrant produce at the farmers market at Le Ferme in Baie-Saint-Paul, the first stop on the gastronomy train

In early September I was fortunate to be one of four journalists chosen to go on a food-centric press trip to explore the Flavor Trail in Charlevoix, Quebec. I drank cider, consumed my weight in local cheese, and ate more (ethically raised, local) foie gras in three days than I had in my entire life up to that point.

Mini Skyr and Birch Liqueur Cakes with Coffee Buttercream Frosting

As you can see, I continue to obsess over all things Icelandic after our recent vacation. First it was Icelandic lamb, and now it's skyr, the Icelandic yogurt that is technically a cheese. (Truth be told, I have been eating the stuff for breakfast since long before our trip. It's a bit like Greek yogurt, but creamier.)

Here I've substituted vanilla skyr for yogurt in a Trixified version of yogurt cake. I also included a splash of Birkir, an Icelandic birch liqueur with a distinctive, almost resin-like taste. It imparted a very subtle "What's that?" kind of quality to my mini cakes - if you can't get your hands on any, substitute a pine liqueur. I used Madagascar vanilla bean in both the cake batter and the frosting, and threw in some coffee extract to give the frosting a little oomph.

Cheddar Cheese Soup with Haricots Verts, Mushrooms, & Cronions; A Green Bean Casserole Makeover

In honor of Thanksgiving, the theme for this month's 5 Star Makeover, hosted as ever by Natasha of 5 Star Foodie and Lazaro of Lazaro Cooks! is a holiday classic, the green bean casserole.

For those of you who did not grow up in the U.S., the green bean casserole is a staple of many American Thanksgiving celebrations, and generally consists of some variation of canned or frozen green beans, cream of mushroom soup, cheddar cheese or imitation cheese product, and bread crumbs or fried onions. It's a gloriously and unabashedly white trash dish, and it conforms perfectly to my late, much-missed mom's philosophy of cooking: Do as little as possible.

Icelandic Lamb Soup

We got back from Iceland late last week, and I already miss the stark landscapes, black lava fields, golden grass, slate gray sky, the buildings of Reykjavik  ... and, me being me, most of all I miss the food.