I’m already exhausted with this 2012 presidential election. 

Why must we begin analyzing things two years in advance?  I feel like I’ve been hearing about these candidates since 2010.  By the time election day rolls around, will anyone care anymore?

I won’t even be here for the upcoming election.  With any luck, John and I will be chilling in Guatemala for the month of November, enjoying the small town on Lake Atitlan that we fell in love with back in 2009.  (And filling out absentee ballots if we can figure out the system.)

I don’t know about you, but I’d much rather think about Guatemala right now than Mitt Romney vs. Newt Gingrich.

So let’s talk salsa.  It has more in common with Guatemala than with the New Hampshire primary.  And unlike CNNs neverending coverage of the presidential campaign, it can actually make your night a little nicer.

This salsa has a bit of a tart, citrusy flavor, and not too much heat.  Roast it, blend it, serve it.

It’s that simple. 

Unlike political campaigns which are complicated.  And ugly.

Skip the CNN.  Choose salsa.

Ingredients

It’s one of those beautiful Colorado days today.  The kind where the sky is perfectly blue, the sun is shining, and everything is covered in a perfect dusting of snow.

Just enough snow to cover the brown grass, make the leafless trees look pretty, and accent the rooflines.  Enough to cover the little blemishes of our neighborhood and make everything look quaint and nice.

Think of the sour cream topping on this cake as a light snow dusting on your cheesecake.  It will cover a multitude of sins – including a giant crack that goes through the middle and a touch too much browning across the top.

It makes everything seem smooth, light, and nice.  The illusion of perfection.

The original topping recipe turned out really runny and weird for me, so I made my own, which is listed below.  I also drizzled the caramel sauce over the entire cake before serving, rather than each slice as it came out.  It just seemed easier to me, but do whatever you like.

Just don’t fret about the cheesecake looking perfect straight out of the oven.  With a little topping it will look perfect, and no matter what, it will taste good.

Unlike the snow outside.  I don’t advise eating that, no matter how white and fluffy it looks.

Ingredients

Crust:
500g plain sweet shortbread biscuits
½ cup (60g) almond meal (ground almonds)
150g butter, melted

Filling:

350g ricotta
500g cream cheese
1 cup (175g) brown sugar
4 eggs
2 tablespoons golden syrup (I couldn’t find this and used agave)
¼ teaspoon table salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping (different from original recipe):

1 cup (240g) sour cream
2 tablespoons icing (confectioner’s) sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Caramel Sauce:

1 cup (250ml) heavy cream
60g butter, chopped
1 cup (175g) brown sugar

Directions

To make the caramel sauce, place the cream, butter and sugar in a saucepan over low heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to high, bring to the boil and cook for 5–7 minutes or until thickened. Set aside and allow to cool.

Preheat oven to 160°C (325°F). Place the biscuits and almond meal in the bowl of a food processor and process until coarsely chopped. Add the butter and process to combine. Press the biscuit mixture into the base and sides of a lightly greased 22cm springform cake tin lined with non-stick baking paper. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Place the ricotta and cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 5–6 minutes or until smooth. Add the sugar and beat for 3–4 minutes or until combined. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the golden syrup (or agave), table salt and 1 teaspoon of vanilla and beat until well combined. Spoon the mixture into the biscuit shell. Place the tin in a baking dish and pour in enough boiling water to come halfway up the sides of the tin. Bake for 1 hour 30 minutes or until firm to the touch. Remove cheesecake from the baking dish and allow to cool in the tin. Refrigerate for 3 hours or until set.

Place the sour cream, icing sugar and vanilla in a bowl and mix until smooth.  Add extra sugar to taste if desired. Top the cheesecake with the cream, drizzle with the caramel sauce and sprinkle with sea salt flakes to serve.

Source: Adapted from Donna Hay

At one point last year, John and I decided we needed to have safety questions.  You know, in case one of us suspects the other of being an evil twin.

I dunno, maybe it could happen in real life.  It’s always good to be prepared.

So I suggested his safety question be “What do you always order to drink on an airplane?”  The answer is ginger ale.  I thought it was odd that he always had ginger ale on a plane, and never anywhere else in life.  Seemed like a good question to me.

Apparently not.

It would seem John is not unique in his love of ginger ale at high altitude.  He showed me this comic to prove it.

Well, there goes that.  We’re going to need another evil twin weed out question.

In the meantime, I thought I’d make my own ginger ale, just for grins.  Mix this syrup with club soda and a lime and you have a tasty little beverage.  Not too spicy, not too sweet.  If you add rum or vodka, you’ve got yourself a nice little cocktail.

Good thing my life looks nothing like a soap opera.  If yours does, beware of evil twins.  Apparently they like ginger ale, too.

Ingredients

2 cups coarsely chopped ginger
2 cups granulated sugar
6 cups water

Directions

Process ginger chunks in a food processor or blender until finely chopped. Place in a large stock pot. Add sugar and water to the pot and stir. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer over medium-low heat and cook for one hour until a rich syrup is created (about 2 cups.) Strain the syrup twice through cheese cloth or a sieve into a large jar or bottle. Refrigerate.

Source: Imbibe Magazine

I have a To Do List the length of my left arm.  And my torso.  And possibly my left leg.

There is a lot to do to prepare for World Tour.  Even though we’ve been planning this for about 6 months, it’s now getting toward the time when I need to, you know, do some stuff.   A lot of stuff.

And remember to breathe.  And cook.

These almonds are not on my World Tour To Do List, but they were on my New Year’s Eve To Do List.  I made them for a yummy salad with pears, spinach and red onion.  Seriously tasty.

You could probably eat them alone, too.  I may have done some of that in the cooking process.

What?  You’d snack a little too if you saw my list, trust me.

Ingredients:

5 cups sliced almonds
½ cup sugar
3 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon cumin
1-1 ½ teaspoons smoked paprika (I used about 3/4 teaspoon ground chipotle pepper instead)
1 teaspoon vanilla
sea salt

Directions

Place a large sheet of foil on a work surface. Spray with cooking spray or rub a teaspoon of oil over foil with a paper towel.

Place sugar in a large non-stick sauté pan and heat over medium heat , occasionally tipping and swirling the sugar until it is all melted into a pale golden syrup.

Lower heat immediately and add butter, cinnamon, smoked paprika and vanilla. Stir until well combined and all butter is incorporated into the sugar syrup.

Add the nuts and stir gently to coat. Don’t worry if you have some clumps of caramelized sugar – they will melt as you continue to sauté the almonds. Cover and continue to cook on low, stirring every minute or so until almonds are a delicious golden brown. Turn out onto prepared foil and sprinkle liberally with sea salt. Spread out on foil to cool.

Source: The Cafe Sucre Farine

Were you hoping for the year of the cookie?

Bummer.  I do hate to disappoint.  But trust me, this is something much bigger than cookies.

Last year, John and I decided we want to travel the world.  Sure, we’ve been on our share of international journeys (I’ve hit 28 countries so far), but we’re ready for something more extended.

This year we’ve decided to take advantage of how low maintenance our lives are right now (no kids, no property, no 9-5 jobs) and create an adventure for ourselves.  An adventure in traveling the globe slowly, living in cities or countries for weeks at a time, intermingled with small stints as tourists.  Six to 12 months of being international vagab0nds.

Here’s the gist of the plan.  At the end of April we’re moving out of our Denver apartment, putting our furniture in storage, and dropping the cat off at my parents.  For May, June and July we’ll be floating around Colorado and the midwest, visiting family and friends, attending some important weddings, and photographing a few last events.  Then in late July/early August, we’re outta here.

We’re still tweaking our international route, and leaving a good amount of freedom for exploring and changing our minds along the way.  But generally speaking, we’ll be starting out in South and Central America and moving west around the globe.

Since there are no guarantees that we will have excellent kitchen facilities or access to certain ingredients along the way, I’ve decided to forgo a specific culinary challenge for this year.  My challenge will be to continue making and eating amazing food as we travel the globe.

For the next four months you can expect the same standard posts of sweet and savory recipes coming from my kitchen (and likely several updates about our planning process.)   In May things will start to get more interesting.  There will still be recipes, but also travel photos.  Lots of travel photos.

If you haven’t already subscribed to or bookmarked this website, do it now.  There might be more information here that you are interested in than just recipes.  More updates to come as the planning (and freaking out) truly gets into swing!