Columbus Foodie

Mark your calendars for this Thursday (May 9th), as Dine Originals Columbus holds it’s annual fundraising event in partnership with Buckeye Ranch, the Taste of Dine Originals. Representatives from DOC’s 50 member restaurants and 30+ wineries, beer brewers, and micro-distillers serve up food and drink that shows you the best of what each has to offer. It’s an event I’ve enjoyed attending over the last few years, and am continually surprised at the creativity the chefs show when given free reign to display their craft. I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the event last year, after missing it in 2011 because I was in the hospital. A deep and heartfelt thanks goes out to the organizers of the event, who have, in previous years, let me attend the event gratis. Since I’m likely not attending this year, and since I completely neglected to do the write-up immediately after last year’s event, I’m hoping that my entry about the 2012 event will convince you that you really want to go – tickets are a little bit steep for most at $100 each, but then again we’re talking about great food and drink from a whole room of independent restaurants. It’s a great way to spend a weekday night, going from table to table, talking to the chefs and noshing at each one, drink in hand while you run into those people that you’re happy to see because it’s been a while, but who you usually only run into at these food events.

I think if one particular chef embraces the philosophy of the independent spirit, it’s Alana Shock. The great thing about dining at her restaurant, Alana’s Food and Wine, is that you never really know what’s going to be on the menu, as it is seasonally driven and each menu is created that day based on what ingredient has inspired her at farmers markets or other local purveyors. Personally, I think her strong suit is in her small plates and risottos, but I’ve never once disliked anything I’ve ever eaten there. The same could be said for her offerings at this event, as she has been known to put out at least a dozen different things (not all at one time, mind you – 3 or 4 at a time, switched out for other things a few times that night). You can’t go wrong here – even if it’s something you’re not familiar with, try it anyway. It’ll be delicious.

One of the new features of last year’s event (in addition to the change of locale from Italian Village to the Capital University Field House in Bexley) is that Edible Columbus hosted an artisan’s market that featured many local farmers and other producers, and which allowed people to talk directly to those who create their food and try various samples in a laid-back environment. Luna Burger and Shagbark (seen below) are just a couple of the many, many others that will be there.

I’m usually not a fan of meatless burgers, but Luna Burger will convince you that there are meatless alternatives that are worth seeking out.

One thing I really dug abut last year’s event was that DeepWood made their own charcuterie plates. Loved loved loved this.

Some bites are hot, some are cold. One thing I do know for certain is that you’ll be full to bursting long before you get the opportunity to try everything, so plan accordingly. Seriously. I’m still full from last year (nah, not really – but couldn’t eat another thing until lunch the next day).

Local fave Katzinger’s Delicatessen had a few different sandwich bites, but this corned beef sung to me.

Just in case I haven’t convinced you yet, take a second to check out my set on Flickr with the rest of the pics:

Taste of Dine Originals 2012 pics

At any rate, if you’d like to go, you can get tickets at this link: Taste of Dine Originals tickets. And I believe that they are also available at the door for $100 for unlimited tastings and samples (please correct me on this if I’m wrong, Dine Originals folks). The event will be held from 6-9pm at the Capital University Fieldhouse at 670 Pleasant Ridge Avenue in Columbus. Hope you get a chance to go, if you can only go to a handful of these events each year, this should be one that’s near the top of your list.

Well, that deadline definitely went out the window – updating the theme isn’t as easy as I originally intended (since I’m installing a completely new framework, and behind the scenes getting everything to work with everything else is a bit harder than I thought. Luckily, I’m married to an IT professional, but at the moment, he’s married to his job, so I only get visitation (and help w/ the upgrade) on weekends now. I’m excited about the new look, though – I’m getting there slowly but surely and it will definitely be easier to update when I don’t have to go line by line through the code and by extension, getting a crash course in CSS.

We’ve made lots of new dishes in the past few months – becoming a hermit has done wonders for getting us to cook at home since going out to eat isn’t an option at the moment (hopefully that will change soon – I’m getting a bit stir crazy after confining myself to the house since July).

One unfortunate side effect of getting on the right medication is that I’ve managed to pick up a few (uh, like 35-40) unwanted pounds along the way. It’s difficult to tread the fine line between disordered and healthy eating, and I’ve started taking small, gradual steps to dropping the weight, adding in some exercise and cutting out the obvious culprits (way too much fast food, and highly refined sweets). I really need to find something I can stick with, but finding moderation is a challenge.

I’m a day late with our menu plan for the week – but feel good about the fact that we had most of the ingredients for these dishes on hand. We just got a Ninja Cooking System (we got one for my sister and she raved about it, so I got one for myself). I’m going to adapt a few crock pot recipes (including the Transylvanian Goulash we’re making later this week) and see how they turn out.

So, here’s what’s on board for this week:

Monday: Lemon Chicken with Orzo, Green Beans

Tuesday: One Pot Spaghetti, Garden Salad

Wednesday: Bacon Fried Rice

Thursday: Tofu Tortilla Casserole, Authentic Street Style Elotes

Friday: Transylvanian Goulash (in the Ninja)

Saturday: Oven Fried Chicken, Roasted Garlic and Tomato Risotto

Sunday: Manestra with Lamb, Spinach Feta and Mushroom Crustless Quiche

Breakfasts: Meyer Lemon Ricotta Pancakes w/ Blueberries, Slow Cooker Peaches and Cream Steel Cut Oatmeal, Fried Egg & Sliced Avocado Open Face Sandwich

Desserts: Apple Strudel, Mississippi Mud Pie

What do the rest of you have on deck this week? Are you all hating winter as much as I do? Take a second to check out what other Meal Plan Monday participants have on their minds…

Postings have been sporadic around these parts – part of it for reasons that are personal (getting on proper meds to treat my PTSD/depression/anxiety – the difference before and after is like night and day). A big part of it is technical reasons – wanting to switch over to a new theme that will actually work the way it is supposed to, won’t have to be designed to work around the limitations of the ad network I had belonged to. There’s tons of things to write about – so definitely no writer’s block – but don’t want to make it any more frustrating than it already is now. Part of it is because I need these last couple of weeks to get things organized, to get pictures processed, to divvy up the writing between Paul and I. Due to some ongoing dental issues I’ve been dealing with, Paul has picked up my slack and will be the outward face of Columbus Foodie – he’ll be doing restaurant reviews, attending and covering events, judging, the farmers market reports, while I’ll be here at home gardening, organizing, cooking and writing. I think it’s a step in the right direction, and a direction I’ve been pulled in for quite a while now. It’s just a little difficult, when you’ve built your identity around a hobby you can no longer be relaxed enough to enjoy, to make the decision either to keep going with it or letting it fall by the wayside.  There’s enough left to write that neither he nor I are ready to hang it up for good quite yet. But it has become very clear that it can’t quite continue the way it was going: sporadic, inconsistent, and untimely. It does no justice to either the words or the reader, and it just isn’t fair to anyone.

So, the next 3 or so weeks, I’m going to find and then configure a new theme – not sure which one yet, but I do know that I want it to be on a white background so it’s easier to read, navigate the links, etc. It will also integrate social media right into the site to make it more usable. Once I relaunch (on January 1st), I’ll strive to update everyday, but at the very least 3-5 times a week, depending. Maybe more. I’m so far in the weeds with old drafts that I could write nothing but and have a new entry for every day of 2013. I’ll try to consolidate where possible (for example, rather than going week by week for 2012 farmers market reports, I’ll just post a link to a Flickr slideshow that shows our pics from the whole summer, with weekly reports starting again in the spring.

So, thanks for reading, and thanks for continuing to read. I’ll be back before you know it!

I’m also going to implement a better system for getting my additional pages organized (food blog directory, events in Columbus and elsewhere in Ohio, menus for local restaurants) – it’s hopelessly outdated, and I’m hoping to use Outlook Tasks to get the updates done regularly.

So, one last time – I’m so sorry for being a sucky blogger in 2011 and 2012. I so don’t have my crap together right now. Now that I can finally think clearly again (because the panic attacks have stopped), the Herculean task of redesigning/relaunching seems like something I can handle.

It’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve done a post for Menu Plan Monday – it’s not that we haven’t eaten or cooked anything – it’s been more that the last couple weeks have flown by without me really taking a moment to breathe. Over the past couple of weeks we have made a few new recipes – namely, the delicious Philly Cheesesteak Sloppy Joes.

This year is going to be a fairly low-key Thanksgiving, just Paul and I. Glad that there won’t be the stress that comes with entertaining, grateful that I have the physical ability to cook this year, and sad that this holiday marks the one year anniversary of what has become a huge fracture in the family dynamic. But also very grateful for the lack of drama that comes with maintaining that particular relationship, which was definitely taking a great toll on my mental health. Also very, very thankful for second chances – my brush with death last year led me to do a lot of healing in my relationship with my father. I will miss him greatly on Thursday, and hope that I will be able to see him and his soon-to-be wife sooner rather than later.

But we decided to keep it really simple this year – he and I both prefer white meat over dark, so we’re just doing a non-stuffed turkey breast this year – it will make eating up the leftovers a breeze rather than a chore. What are the rest of you doing for Thanksgiving? Looking over the link-up for this week’s blog party gives me tons of ideas. Here’s what we have planned this week:

Monday: Pork and Sauerkraut, Kielbasa and Knockwurst, Mashed Yukon Golds

Tuesday: Oven Hot Dogs, Make-Ahead Mac and Cheese, Corn

Wednesday: Homemade Hamburger Helper Stroganoff, Green Beans

Thursday: Roasted TUrkey Breast, Mashed Yukon Golds, Stuffing, Candied Yams, Creamy Brussels Sprouts with Bacon, Cranberry Sauce, Make Ahead Turkey Gravy, Favorite Shoofly Pie, Amish Sugar Cream Pie, Caramel Apple-Pear Crisp

Friday: Turkey Chowder with Wild Rice, Crimini and Pancetta, Thanksgiving Sandwiches

Saturday: Fried Mashed Potato Cakes with Cheddar Mustard Sauce topped with a Fried Egg (Brunch), Sweet Potato Pockets, Chicken Meatballs with Sage and Cranberries and Cranberry Reduction

Sunday: King Crab with Beurre Blanc and Spinach-Corn Orzotto

I’m really glad we started participating in the Menu Plan Monday blog party last week. For the first time in a while, we cooked almost all week. We did a pretty good job of sticking to the schedule, and if we keep this up, we may actually start to put a real dent in our pantry and freezer stores. So we’ve been doing a pretty good mix of old favorites and new recipes – on average, we tried 3 or 4 new recipes last week, and most of them were good enough that we’ll make them again, especially the Elotes Bake – we’re already planning on making it again this week along with Tamale Pie. Each one of the recipes below should be linked to either our blog post when we made it, or the original blog source of a recipe we’d like to try. This week, with the shift downward in temperature, we’ve been craving warm spices and hearty, stick to your bones meat and potatoes type of fare. Be sure to check out what others are making this week. Here’s what we have planned.

Monday: Avocado Melt, Chips

Tuesday: Meatball and Italian Sausage Grinders, Garden Salad

Wednesday: Chicken Tamale Pie, Elote Style Corn Bake

Thursday: Apple Sausage with Sauerkraut, Sauteed Pierogies and Onions

Friday: Chicken Meatloaf (from North Market Poultry and Game), Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans

Saturday: Sugo di Carne with Pasta

Sunday: Chicken Divine (original recipe, which I’ve recently adapted and need to rephotograph – I’ve blogged about it previously when using leftover Thanksgiving turkey to make a Turkey Divine)

New Breakfast/Brunch Recipes: Healthy Pumpkin Pie Muffins with Streusel Topping, Pumpkin Pie French Toast, Kale Frittata

Dessert to Try: Butterfinger Nutter Butter Cheesecake Bars

So what dishes do the rest of you have planned for this week?

It’s funny – in the 7 years I’ve been blogging (just had an anniversary pass last week!) I’ve seen the food blog community expand from a thousand or so to tens of thousands. Many come and go within a few months, many others have been around as long (if not longer) than Columbus Foodie has, and have become the foundation and inspiration for many others yet. In the time I’ve been blogging, I’ve tried thousands of recipes, and about 500 or so of those have ended up in our permanent rotation.

I’ve been following the participants of the Menu Plan Monday blog party for ages now, and have often toyed with the idea of participating myself – but always find myself planning meals at the last minute, which results in tons of wasted food and money because I fail to shop and plan around sales and what I have in my own (Mormon-like – no kidding when I say we could eat for a year out of my pantry alone) pantry. So I’m finally making a commitment to planning in advance and in the process, to participate regularly in this hop.

Each one of the recipes below should be linked to either our blog post when we made it, or the original blog source of a recipe we’d like to try. Each week, we like to try a couple new recipes – this week is no exception. Be sure to check out what others are making this week. Here’s what we have planned.

Monday: Italian Wedding Soup, Garden Salad

Tuesday: Baked Tortellini, Wilted Baby Greens

Wednesday: Double Decker Beef Tacos, Rice Cooker Mexican Rice, Elote Style Corn Bake

Thursday: Balsamic Chicken Thighs with Orzo, Sauteed zucchini

Friday: Penne Vodka Pasta

Saturday: Maple Glazed Salmon with Roasted Brown Sugar Sweet Potatoes, Green Beans

Sunday: Lazy Sunday Casserole

Growing up in South Jersey, I pretty much took the whole eating local thing for granted. I mean, we had an embarrassment of riches to choose from: excellent milk from a the local dairy, garden fresh produce from my grandpop’s back yard or local roadside farm markets, fresh seafood from the Delaware Bay or the ocean. The Jersey Fresh motto encompasses everything that growing up in Cumberland County meant. The city I was born (Vineland) was named that by its founder because of how well grapes grew in our soil and climate. One of our claims to fame is that Thomas Welch himself started making grape juice a block or so away from our main drag. We have some of the best pasta ever (Conte’s is a favorite of mine), wineries, and more. The point is, growing up in South Jersey during the time I did meant Jersey tomatoes, blue crabs from the Bay, ethnic influence from Italy and Puerto Rico, and the cuisine of the area reflected that. That’s why on my last visit back, I was pleasantly surprised to find someone putting out awesome food in a small kitchen tucked away in the back corner of a newly opened public market.

The chef in charge of the operation, Lurie Luciano, had similar experiences growing up – we’re fairly close in age, both have many of the same childhood food memories, both let ourselves go out into the world to explore and learn new things (in her case, to New Orleans, where she fine-tuned her culinary skills – in mine, to Columbus, where I started getting adventurous in my eating and taught myself how to cook). We both share similar food philosophies now, and both of us find ourselves drawn to the city where it all began.

To her, returning to South Jersey meant being the first person on board to occupy the new public market (more on that in a separate post – let’s just say for the moment that Luciano’s FreshMarket is the shining star of the place, by far). It means crafting a new menu each week based on what’s seasonal, what’s fresh, what inspires her. She, for the most part, keeps the preparation simple. When you’re working with the best quality of everything, it doesn’t take much to let the ingredients shine. She’s extremely skilled at coaxing out the inherent flavors of the dish, preferring to not drown it out in sauces, heavy seasonings that overwhelm the senses, or the like (which I find is done way too often in Cajun and Creole influenced cuisine). She releases a new menu weekly – here’s the menu from the week I visited in March:

Still, even with the printed menu, be sure to check the menu board, where you can sometimes find additional specials. Prices are quite reasonable for the quantity and quality of the food.

We went over the course of two days. I was so impressed the first day that I grabbed my dad and took him with me on the second. Even though he lives in Jersey, he wasn’t aware of its existence. I was lucky to stumble across it at all – I wish it were more visible from the street so that more people would try it out. Once you taste her food, you can’t help but be a convert.

The salmon cakes were solid – reminds me of something I would whip up myself when in the need for comfort food. The sweet potato fries were out of this world, especially when dipped in her remoulade. Together they made my mouth a very happy place. The slaw didn’t stand out to me, but then again I’m not much of a slaw person, so it’s a matter of personal preference.

The gumbo was full of flavor, built on obvious care in making the roux. I was expecting it to be spicy hot, but it wasn’t – the flavor was quite nuanced with obvious infusion of the trinity. With shreds of chicken throughout, and on top of rice, it was a hearty meal unto itself. Considering it was still quite cold and late winter, it was the kind of stick-to-your-ribs warmth needed to give you the push to face the mad dash to the car in the cold. With the weather tending toward cold again with fall setting in, it’s a perfect choice whenever you see it on the menu.

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love Catfish Po-Boys – hers is a little different than those I have had locally here in Ohio, being topped with a nice crunchy slaw rather than lettuce and tomatoes. The catfish was fried to perfection – flaky and tender and not even a little bit greasy. The remoulade, slathered thickly on the uber-fresh bread, tied the whole sandwich together. The portion was quite generous, with the catfish literally spilling out of the confines of the roll. One of the best examples of the sandwich that I’ve ever had. I still crave this regularly, even 6 months later.

My dad got the Fried Shrimp Po-Boy, which is a similar take on the sandwich but with shrimp rather than catfish. My dad gave me a taste, and it too was cooked to perfection. Shrimp is very easy to overcook, especially when fried, but her expert hand at cooking seafood means that she nailed this one as well.

I was too stuffed to eat the Crab Cake Po-Boy while I was still there, and ate it later in my hotel room. Even cold, it was pretty darn good. I tend to prefer my crab cakes sautéed rather than breaded and deep fried, but even with that in mind I still enjoyed this one immensely.

Along with some more sweet potato fries, we got a crawfish pie – it was a nice small bite, with a bit of heat – an afterthought, really. Thought at the time it would make a great mid-afternoon snack.

I also enjoyed the Ahi Tuna Melt, which was seared earlier, and then sliced and topped with cheese that was then melted on top – technically, this ends up cooking the tuna through – but not the kind of through that dries it out and makes it difficult to eat. The texture was still spot on, as was the flavor. Since it used a bun rather than the rolls that are used with the Po-Boy’s, the balance of bread to fish was just right.

I really wish my visit to Jersey had been longer, or that I had discovered it earlier in my trip. If I still lived in Jersey, I’d have likely turned into a regular. I’m on her mailing list, where she sends out the weekly menus, and torture myself regularly reading about delicious stuff that I’d have to drive 10 hours each way to get. But alas, it’s not to be.

There was an article earlier this week in my hometown newspaper, about how she’s not renewing her lease with the market when it expires at the end of the year. Given the circumstances (more about that in the post about the Marketplace – way too complex an issue to get into right this second), I would probably do the same thing, but I’m still sad to see her go. I have no doubt she’ll land squarely on her feet and will be off and running once she finds the right location, but you still have a couple of months left to give this place a try while it’s the same concept in the same location. Trust me when I say it’s worth the trip even if that’s your sole purpose for going there. It’s a bit of bright light in a corner of Vineland that people unfortunately write off because of preconceived notions. Once you try it, if you like it, let Lurie know. You can’t miss her – she’s the redhead at the counter with infectious smile and passion for all things local. Personally, I’d love to see her do a food truck of some sort in the interim – I think it would be a great match with the nature of the food she puts out. And be sure to keep an eye on her website – she posts regular menu updates and gives other pertinent info about hours and special events. I hear the lobster pot pies this week are to die for.

If you’d like to go: Luciano’s FreshMarket/New Orleans Seafood Kitchen (inside the Landis MarketPlace), 631 E. Landis Ave., Vineland, NJ 08360. 609-970-7653. Also on Twitter.

We were invited — nay, challenged — by the nice folks at Yagööt to use their wonderful frozen yogurt creatively.  Yagööt’s specialty is their tart Original Flavor frozen yogurt.  They also make sweet yogurts; their strawberry and their caramelized pineapple are fantastic, and they offer a variety of other flavors which change regularly.  Yagööt was founded in 2008 by the owners of Cincinnati’s Busken Bakery; they expanded into the Columbus market about two years ago with a scoop shoppe at Easton Town Center, and have been a huge success. Personally, we prefer it to the other yogurt shops in town – their yogurt contains a little bit of fat (1%, as opposed to the non-fat offerings at most others), so it has a creamier mouth feel. We’ve talked about them before on this blog, and we’re happy to say they haven’t changed one bit since our first visit, except that they now offer about 6 different flavors in take home pints in addition to their regular menu of soft serve creations. Although we got at least one of each flavor available, we settled on our three favorites that we felt would be complimentary to both the toppings and to each other (thus, the Tutti Fruitti moniker – because of the “many fruit” flavors that make up the bulk of the dessert’s flavor).

Now, back to the challenge:

We finally decided to make petite frozen yogurt cakes, which we dubbed “Tutti Frutti, So Yagööty!”.  We made three varieties — Strawberry with Oreo Crust and Homemade Milk Chocolate Magic Shell with their Yomance topping; Caramelized Pineapple with Graham Crust, Cajeta (Goat’s Milk Caramel) and their Alligator Crunch topping; and Original Flavor with Granola Crust, Honey and Candied Pecans. Since these are tiny little cakes (they pack a lot of flavor in a small package), we’re considering three of them a modest dessert. We tried, for the most part, to use toppings that are unique to Yagööt, so technically the only ingredients that would require an outside trip are the graham crumbs, the butter, and the sugar. Your imagination is the limit when it comes to combinations of ingredients – we also played around with the idea of doing an oreo crust with pistachio yogurt, topped with a peanut butter magic shell, some mini peanut butter cups, and a few Heath sprinkles.

Before you start, make sure you have the tools for the job.  We used a Mini Cheesecake Pan from Chicago Metallic (see link below to purchase one for yourself – this is no unitasker) to form the ice cream cakes, and to freeze them. Like tart pans, they have a removable bottom metal plate that allows the cakes to pop right out of their forms. We also used parchment paper to prevent the frozen yogurt from sticking to the pan’s walls during the freezing/forming process, which would ruin the finished product.  With no further ado, here’s the step-by-step to make all of these little gems:

1.  Make the crusts.  Each crust used the same ratio of crumbs to melted unsalted butter — 1/2 cup of crumbs, 2 Tbsp butter.  For the graham crust, mix in 1/4 cup granulated sugar before adding the melted butter.  For the Oreo crust, pulverize 12 whole cookies.  For the granola crust, pulverize 4 crunchy granola bars (2 pouches).  You can use your food processor or “mini prep” chopper, but I find doing it the manual way to give better control over particle size, and to be a lot more fun.

2.  Press approximately 1 to 1-1/2 Tbsp  of crust into the bottom of each tin.  Use a shot glass or something similarly flat-bottomed and small to compact the crumbs.  Place the entire pan in the refrigerator for 45-60  minutes to give the crumbs time to set properly.

3.  Cut 12 strips of parchment paper long enough to encircle the inner wall of each tin, and wide enough to rise out of each tin by at least half an inch.

4.  Take the pan out of the refrigerator and get the frozen yogurt one flavor at a time from your freezer.  (Note: if you have a freezer that can reach -10 to -20F, store the Yagööt there.  It’ll be, and stay, more solid.)  Insert a loop of parchment into a tin and drop a scoop of Yagööt inside the paper loop.  Press down on the frozen yogurt with the bottom of a shot glass, preferably one that’s been chilled in the freezer.  You’ll do this to spread out the yogurt to occupy the width of the tin with the parchment between the yogurt and the walls of the tin.  This will let you properly shape each cake.

(Note:  I put the pan back in the freezer after each flavor and allowed the already-filled tins to freeze for 20-30 minutes before filling the next four tins with the next flavor.)

Repeat until all twelve tins are insulated with parchment and filled with Yagööt frozen yogurt.  Place pan back in freezer and allow to freeze at least 1 hour, preferably overnight.

5.  Make the homemade Magic Shell[tm] topping.  (Recipe below.)  If you’re feeling particularly lazy, you can just go to the store and buy it off the shelf.  It’s not the same, though.  Trust me.

6.  Take the pan out of the freezer again and top each mini Yagööt cake with the appropriate topping(s).  We figured that by using something sticky (honey, caramel, magic shell), it would let the toppings stick to the yogurt better. We were right. When using the Magic Shell[tm], distribute the Yomance topping on the cake before the Magic Shell solidifies.  You’ll have a ten second window while the topping is still liquid.  Once all the toppings are in place, put the pan back in the freezer one last time.  Allow the toppings to solidify for at least 30 minutes.

7.  Remove pan from freezer.  To serve individual cakes, simply push up on the bottom of each individual tin (there’s a metal disc at the bottom of each tin) to pop out each cake.  Using a sharp knife, separate the metal disc from the bottom of the crust (it’s very buttery, so that shouldn’t be difficult to do).  Remove the parchment ring, and serve.

Homemade Magic Shell

150g finely chopped chocolate (milk, dark, white — your choice)
100g refined coconut oil (I used Louana brand)
Pinch of salt

Place the chocolate and coconut oil in a Pyrex bowl.  Microwave for 30-45 seconds then stir.  Microwave an additional 15-30 seconds and stir again.  Once the chocolate is liquified, whisk the oil and chocolate together until they form a uniform emulsion.  Whisk in a pinch of salt.  Transfer the emulsion to a squeeze bottle.  Use exactly as you would the store-bought variety.

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Yagööt was also kind enough to provide two $20 gift cards to give away to readers of this blog. You can enter below, through the Rafflecopter widget. Since you would need to redeem these in person, ideally you will live in the Cincinnati or Columbus metro areas.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

(Disclaimer:  We were invited to participate in a blogging “event” sponsored by Yagööt Frozen Yogurt.  They graciously provided gift cards which covered the cost of the ingredients. If you’d like to buy the special pan we used to make these, we’d appreciate your use of our affiliate link below so you can help support the costs of running the site. )

I love pizza.  Okay, I admit it.  Is that so wrong?

I’m not talking about big corporate pizza chains like Pizza Hut, Domino’s, Little Caesars, etc.  I love *good* pizza.  There are plenty of good independent pizzerias in Columbus.

Those pizzerias, as well as some of the chains, are represented at Slice of Columbus.

Slice of Columbus is an annual competition amongst the best of Columbus’s pizzerias. B. and I attended Slice of Columbus 2011, where she judged and I — as usual — captured the event for posterity on one of our digital cameras.

Slice of Columbus is a charity event which benefits Nationwide Children’s Hospital. This year’s event is open to the public at a cost of $15 per person at the door or $40 for a family pass (2 adults and up to three children plus five free Pepsi products).  Slice of Columbus 2012 will be at Columbus Commons downtown, from 5pm to 9pm today.  Attendees will be able to try all the competitors’ pizzas, if you’re willing to wait in a couple dozen fast-moving lines.  Trust me, you won’t leave hungry.

Last year’s Slice of Columbus was held at Huntington Park in the Arena District. We had a lovely view of the outfield from the press box…

We’re not sure whose pizza this was, but it certainly rocked.

And then there was the Dire Pizza[tm].  Definitely a congealed, greasy mess.

This pizza looked perfect to me, but made B. reach for the Rolaids…

If you want more information about this year’s Slice of Columbus directly from their website, go here.

All proceeds from the Slice of Columbus benefit Pediatric Research at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, so you won’t just enjoy pizza — you’ll be doing a good deed!

See you there!

B. and I have gone to Taste the Future every year since 2006. It’s always great to see the best that Columbus restaurants have to offer, and this year was no exception. It was a shame that the threat of inclement weather forced the event to be held in the parking garage; alas, a dimly-lit parking garage doesn’t allow for good photos.

Taste the Future is, of course, the annual fund-raiser for Columbus State Community College’s Culinary Apprenticeship program. This three year program produces graduates who have gone through 4000 hours of apprenticeship at a sponsoring restaurant while completing their Associate of Applied Science in Culinary Arts at the College. Graduates, in addition to earning their degree, also earn ACF certification as Certified Culinarians.  They are usually in high demand throughout the region.

Many of the restaurants which participate in Taste the Future employ Culinary Apprenticeship students during their apprenticeship; those participating restaurants who do not apprentice, hire the program’s graduates.

There were plenty of highlights at this year’s Taste the Future. One of my favorites was this Liptauer Cheese Crostini:

Costco represented themselves well with this Tuxedo Cake:

Sadly, I wasn’t able to get a good picture of my single most favorite item, Bob Evans Farms’ Braised Pork Belly “Cones”. I went back for more than one of those.

Blackwell Inn of Ohio State University’s Fisher College had a nearly-as-irresistable offering in their Confit of Duroc Pork Wonton with Pickled Red Onion, Micro Greens, and Herbs:

Bob Evans did offer up Mashed Potato Doughnuts, which were very good. It’s a pity I’m not a huge fan of coffee, they might’ve been even better dunked in some java…

The Easton Hilton delighted my palate with one of my favorite proteins: Duck Three Ways. Didn’t see the cherry risotto that they were supposed to offer, oh well…

Last, but certainly not least, is The Kroger Company’s Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake. I have to admit, I’m a sucker for a good mousse cake (think Chocolate Tower Truffle Cake from the Cheesecake Factory and you’ve pretty much hit the mark). This was worthy of comparison. In fact, this was BETTER.

If you’d like to see all the photos I took of the event, take a look at the slideshow. Until next time…

FTC disclosure: I was provided with a free pass to the event, along with extra tickets to give away.