Nice Rack!

Ummm... Spice rack, that is.

If there is one thing I have grown to love and become really passionate about, it's spices. There is no end to what you can do with some of the most ho-hum ingredients and recipes-- go from Thailand to Tuscany in the blink of an eye-- with spices.

There are two places I go for my spices; a little middle-east Market in Denver for my bulk spices, and things like whole nutmeg and mint. For everything else (exotics that aren't middle eastern, or for some really fun and creative blends), I head to the Savory Spice Shop.

I think one of the best uses of spices I've found is in this chai-inspired carrot cake, courtesy of our friends at Cuisine at Home magazine. Recently I made the carrot cake for a potluck at my husband's office. It's a pretty standard carrot cake, but what really separated it from the pack is the home-ground spices. It uses cardamom (break open the pods and crush the black, sticky seeds inside) as well as fresh ground nutmeg.

The cake is absolutely amazing. A moist, not too sweet carrot cake, with a punch of flavor and spice reminiscent of a hot, rich chai tea. I've made it for potlucks, for my brother's 40th birthday celebration, and for our holiday Christmas party at home. It is always, always a hit, with an impressive layer of cream cheese frosting in the center.

Hello

Hello, and welcome to my blog.

I am a mid-thirties working woman, married with no children (unless you count the menagerie of pets that we have children) that loves to cook.

I'm not sure if there's much that I enjoy more than coming home to my kitchen, putting on some music and starting a meal. I love to dream up dinner parties, to cook for friends and family, and experiment with cuisine.

In a world that is take-out, instant access, electronic and impersonal, I find the tactile, textured, and unpredictable world of cooking to be soothing to the soul. In such a fast paced world, nothing is better than having to spend hours on something to share with friends and family.

I started photographing my food earlier this summer-- it was a jam-making project with my mom that inspired me. We were making strawberry jam and the vibrant red and glossy sheen of the bubbling juices were so beautiful I wanted to capture them. I've since been taking fun pictures of disasters (not pictured: the flaming garlic bread forgotten under the broiler) and pretty plates (the lunch of homemade falalfels with Persian cucumber-yogurt sauce). I decided it would be fun to share them with the world, if only to have a place to put them instead of on my hard drive, gathering jpg dust.

If there's one thing I know about blogs, it's like poetry: more people write them than read them, so I guess I feel fairly comfortable that my experiments and fun can be enjoyed by me and perhaps anyone else that cares to stumble by.

Thanks for reading my ramblings, pictures to come soon!

Sioux