guest post: jill smokler of scary mommy

Today is a special day for me. One of my good friends Jill from Scary Mommy is our featured guest post. And as many of you already know Jill is almost set to release her first book: Scary Mommy. It will be available April 3, 2012!
Thrilled to pieces for her and like I've always said, "its about time" her writings about her daily adventures in parenting-does-not-have-to-be-perfect come to fruition and into a book. What I adore about this book is the fact that she included many confessionals from real people; showing that they, just like Jill (and her hubby) are not perfect at parenting. There is a part in this book that everyone can relate to.
Many of you may know Jill from her infamous blog scarymommy.com, where she writes all things motherhood: the good, the bad, and the scary. Sure it's honest with a huge dose of humor but it's honesty mixed in with reality and how she deals with the hard hits of motherhood. She's even developed an anonymous confessional for everyone to chime in on their horrid, happy and scary thoughts of parenthood: fears and all. Let's call it a wonderful way to relieve parenthood-stress anonymously and know that you are not alone when one of your worst fears arises....again and again and again.
How honest is Jill in her writings? Take a look at Chapter 4 titled: "are they really letting me take this thing home with me?" How many mothers can relate to that? Apparently millions, as Jills' website averages about 1.5 millions hits per month.



There's also a "Scary Mommy Society" forum for other “scary mommies,” blogging newcomers, and parenting and non-parenting people alike with something important to share in a community setting. With it's huge popularity there is an 8-week waiting list. But don't let that stop you.
I was lucky enough to steal some time from Jill during her hectic schedule (did you know that she wrote this book in a matter of a couple months? Crazy publisher deadlines! And she has three children? She's crazy, full of energy, honest about her parenting decisions/roles, and I love her that way. I asked her to answer a few questions for me and her fans--let's just get to the good stuff.



I know that you are a very busy mom of three children, you had to write a book in was it 2-3 months? How on earth did you stay focused when it came time to write? I ask this because sometimes when you plan out the writing it’s a lot harder to focus!

Basically, I just didn't sleep. Plus, I was a complete bitch to everyone in my real life. Writing is not something that comes all that naturally to me, so I'd just have to ride the wave when I felt inspired, and get the rest of my life done when there was a lull in my creativity. But, I highly recommend not writing a book in a few short months. It was all far from ideal.

I, and I’m sure all your fans, just love how open and honest you are in your writings. Are there times where you wish you wouldn’t have said something or wanted to take it back ?

I'm sure there are times that my mother wishes I wasn't so honest, but for me, there's no point in writing if I can't do it honestly. It is a little strange thinking that my kids' teachers read about my vibrator, so instead of censoring myself, I just don't think about who's reading. If I did, I'd never write a thing.

You know I’m a foodie, and I know you are too, so I gotta ask: what are your favorite foods?
Are there any dishes that you’re known for?

I could live on Thai food. Thai iced tea, spring rolls, satay, curry, noodles... all of it. It's my absolute favorite food in the universe. Just thinking about it makes me drool (thanks, Dawn.) I do love cooking, although I am one of the world's worst bakers. I've perfected my caramelized onion pizza over the years and it's pretty kick ass. If I'm cooking for a group, Chicken Marbella is usually the way I go and my favorite dessert to make is a Kaluah dip from my husband's family. It has three unimpressive ingredients, but is ridiculously delicious. Plus, it gives you a nice buzz if you eat enough of it. Win/win.

Have you done any public speaking yet? I know for me speaking in front of a crowd is a bit scary. Do you have any fears on public speaking?

I've done some. I don't love it, but I actually enjoy it more than public listening. If I'm in an audience, I want to fall asleep. At least if I'm speaking, I know I won't snore.

In your poem post, that mirrors the book “Go the F**K to Sleep", you say its inspiration from your hubby. I know your husband is used a lot in your writings. I admire his thick skin, but I admire that you aren’t afraid to speak about it. Don’t you wish more people were as open and honest as you are in their writings about married life?

Jeff is a really, really good sport in a way that I could never, ever be. And, no, I don't. I need to be unique, somehow!

If you and your hubby could go on vacation (kid free), anywhere, for free, where would it be and why?

Since we're talking fantasy land here, Moorea, which is an island off of Tahiti. We went there on our honeymoon and it was the most gorgeous place I've ever been. The beaches, the smell of flowers everywhere, the food... The distance and cost will keep us away for as long as I can imagine, but I would love to go back. It was heavenly.

I know there are a lot of people out there that admire you and your zest/zing for “honest blogging”. I’ve gotten a couple people ask me to ask you what advice would you give someone who wants to take up blogging about their crazy life?

For the first three years of blogging, I saw little reward. I always treated it like a job, but until recently, it just didn't pay. (Not that the pay now is anything to shout from the rooftops, but at least it's something.) So, until the last year, I had to remind myself that if it wasn't fun, it wasn't worth it. That would be my advice to someone looking to start a blog: Have fun. For most people, this won't become a career, so just enjoy it. If it ever becomes a chore or a stress, it's time to reevaluate.

Do you see yourself (and we hope to see this as well) in a sitcom on TV? Chronicles’ of Scary Mommy?

It's definitely something I've fantasized about! It's a huge long shot, but the fact that I wrote a book is proof that you never know where life will lead. :)

Thank you Jill! How can you not love her? Mazel Jill and Jeff!

Jill is gearing up for book signing appearances. To learn more her tour date click here and to pre-order her book click here.

Lastly, I was super-duper lucky enough to have Jill use one of my favorite recipes
for a few of her upcoming book parties. To find out what it is head on over to Scary Mommy.

Congrats to the winners of the book "Baking Basics & Beyond" Sara #16 and Lisa #45. You won. Look for an email from me soon to get your address! Congrats!

blueberry-cream cheese fritters

My last batch of fritters I received a few emails from people telling me they love and want to make their own donuts at home, but are a little afraid of deep frying. To quote one of the people "the whole frying thing scares me a bit, so I'll pass..." Yikes I thought. I can understand that it scares you a bit, with the heat of the oil, the fear of burning, soggy/greasy donuts, or worse yet a fire. But if you keep a few things in mind, and play them into practice, you will have a better sense of confidence. First, have a good, sturdy, well made pot for deep frying. I've seen some people use cast iron for frying, and while that might be fine for frying chicken, I'm just not comfortable with it for donuts. Donuts, fritters tend to bubble up a bit and should have high walls of a deep stockpot. You need a high sided pot, or thick/high stockpot is what I use. Or if you have a le creuset pot all the better, those are great or conducting the heat uniformly. Second, invest in a thermometer. You'd be amazed at how many times you'll use if for other baking/cooking adventures, like candy, caramels, french fries, chicken, etc... Third, never use high heat for frying; always use medium heat. I've seen so many people start off thinking they need high heat to "get it nice and hot" No no! That's the worst thing you could do. Go medium and slow, and you'll get there. And lastly, no need to fill the pot up with oil. I'd say 3-5 inches of oil is fine for frying donuts/fritters; a bit less for chicken, wings, egg rolls, potatoes, etc... I've seen way too many people put in about 7 inches or more of oil just for frying donuts! You need to do that if you're frying commercially or for a commercial deep fryer.

blueberry-cream cheese fritters
print recipe

2 cups AP (all purpose) flour
½ cup white sugar
2 ¼ ts baking powder
1 ¼ ts salt
1 ts cinnamon
2 large eggs
¾ cup whole milk
1 ts pure vanilla extract
3 TB melted butter, cooled a bit
½ - ¾ cup fresh blueberries

glaze
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/4 ts salt
1/4 cup half & half (more/less depending on how thick/thin you like glaze; I like mine thick)
4 ounces of cream cheese, room temp

Cook Notes: You are working with hot oil. Never ever walk away from the stove when deep frying. To keep the fritters crunchy, you may want to drizzle the glaze over the fritters instead of dunking. If the fritters get too much glaze they will get soggy. Some blueberries will pop out when frying. To make sure your oil is the perfect temp for frying, use a thermometer. A temp of 360-375 is ideal for donuts/fritters. Always test a small fritter to see if oil is ready. Do not overcrowd pan with fritters, they brings the heat way down and will result in oily fritters.

In large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
In a separate bowl, mix the eggs with milk and vanilla extract, then add in cooled melted butter; mix until just combined—do not overmix!
Fold in the dry with the wet ingredients; only mix till just combined. Lumps are good. If you overmix you will have tough chewy fritters—that’s a no no. Next fold in the blueberries.

Heat about 3-4 inches of canola oil over medium to medium-low heat (it takes time to heat up).
When it gets hot, drop a little drop of batter into the oil to see if oil is ready; if it sizzles immediately and rises to the top, the oil is ready; if it burns quickly, turn down the heat.
Drop oversized tablespoons of batter (using a small to medium size ice cream scoop, or use two spoons to roll out the scoops of batter) into the hot oil. Only do about 3 -4 fritters at a time. If you want flatter fritters, use two chopsticks to spread out the batter immediately after you put into oil. They cook fast about 1 ½ - 2 minutes per side or if you want extra crispy about 2 ½ - 3 minutes per side—if that? Make sure to flip them.
Remove and drain on a paper towels or brown paper bags. Let these cool a bit before the glaze bath.

For the glaze:
In a small saucepan, heat the half and half with the cream cheese over low heat. Stir until all melted. Then transfer to a bowl and whisk in the powdered sugar and slat. Mix well using a whisk. I had lumps in my glaze and just used a whisk (for a while and got rid of them). Then quickly dunk each fritter and let them rest on wire rack with cookie sheet on bottom to catch drippings. Or you can easily just drizzle the glaze over the fritters if you want a lighter glaze and want the fritters to stay crispy. Don’t let the fritters sit too long in the glaze as they will get soggy.
Makes about 12-15 fitters depending on size you make them.

friday links PLUS giveaway!

Let's just dive right in shall we?

I just love when I get emails from PR companies or publishers that want to share the launch or re-launch of a FABULOUS baking book. This one Baking Basics and Beyond by Pat Sinclair is a keeper. Very helpful little baking book. It has kicked up recipes inside. Like savory blue cheesecake, banana bars with brown sugar frosting... Luckily they were nice enough to give away 2 books!
This is the new edition of Baking Basics and Beyond by Pat Sinclair. It's a down-to-earth, reader-friendly baking guide is updated with beautiful full color photos throughout. According to Pat Sinclair, "If a little kneading is good, is a lot of kneading better? Not for biscuits, as I learned the first time I made them. I discovered that biscuits are tender and flaky only if I follow two key baking techniques--cutting in shortening and gentle kneading. I've learned many more secrets like these over decades of baking professionally for companies such as Pillsbury and Land O'Lakes." Included are many traditional and old-fashioned American favorites such as Buttery Crescent Dinner Rolls, Dark Chocolate Cake with Praline Filling and Cranberry Nut Tartlets. Most of the recipes are easy and recognizable, if not extremely familiar. Some of the recipes, such as Turtle Cheesecake Pie, are variations of classics but with a little twist that makes them unique.
Baking Basics and Beyond differs from other books on baking because it concentrates on basic techniques and simple directions. No prior experience is necessary.
Although Sinclair has a master's degree in Foods, much of her baking experience came at home. She began baking in elementary school by learning how to bake from her mother, especially how to make a pie crust.




Reprinted with permission from Baking Basics and Beyond, by Pat Sinclair, Agate Surrey, December 2011.

All you have to do to enter is leave ONE comment telling me what your favorite baking-guided cookbook is/was.
I'll do the drawing Friday March 2, 2012 and announce the TWO winners.

FROM AROUND THE WEB:

Did you know you can turn your ice dispenser into a candy dispenser? Can you imagine?


Did you hear? Ben & Jerry's is coming out with Greek Style Frozen yogurt! And it's NOT boring--it has stuff in it--lots of stuff! Goodbye boring ass strawberry and vanilla frozen yogurt!


I saw this on Pinterest and it had no link. Would love to know where to buy this. Anyone know? Cute right? Found it. Thank you reader for sending me the link. Apparently she isn't taking orders anymore?


My latest obsession is this site called freecabinporn.com. It's NOT what you think. It's all about absolutely gorgeous and breathtaking photos of various cozy cabins from around the world.

Are you getting enough magnesium? I wasn't, but am now. It's a powerhouse mineral.

Are you an avid knitter or crotcher? However you spell the latter. If you are, you need to check out this group called raverly.com. It's like a candy store for knitters, complete with patterns, tips, boards, photos, links, etc... It's like the modern take on knitting.

Tell me this is not a joke. . An app that let's you walk and type, AND let's you see in front you while walking? Was this developed because of all those people who texted while walking and fell into a sewer or pool? The Type & Walk App. For realz peeps.

Prevention magazine says you can shrink a size in 14 days. Hmmm. What do you think?

Have you ever made your own almond flour/meal? I've wanted to for a while, to make a good batch of classic macarons. It's also a staple for those gluten free kitchens. Here's a fabulous tutorial to make your own almond meal at home.

Can I be totally honest? I've never ever thought to make baked potatoes in a crock pot. I just learned about this from this blog. I feel like an idiot -- why didn't I think of this years ago?. Excellent tip and time saver!


Anyone tried using a dryer sheet for collecting dust on the floors or baseboards? This article says it works. I'm tempted to try it. Have you?


I must have this coat and this dog. How did the photographer keep a straight face and not giggle the whole time? You can actually buy this on Etsy.

All this hype these days about clean eating for whole body detox; so many theories on it, so many ways to detox each promising to be the right one. NPR recent article about clean eating detox stated one particular VALID point: "The body is constantly filtering the toxins in alcohol, food and medicines, not storing them," Boston dietitian Maria Adams tells The Salt. "So they're not going to build up. I think the reason people feel better on a cleanse is probably just they're losing weight and are less bloated."
Interesting article, and scary the amount money of that crazy GOOP detox program costs: over $400!


Let's go from detox to mini burgers! Since Oscar night is right around the corner, Wolfgang Puck has a lot of his recipes appearing on the web. And here is one of them using Wagyu beef and a perfect remoulade sauce.

James Beard 2012 Awards Semi finalists. Here here! Glad to see Joanne Chang is on there (from flour bakery in boston).

Real Caveman Diet--there was fruit! If you read this article, you'll see there was real proof the cavemen (and women) ate fruit. Recently they found pieces of dates on a 40,000-year-old Neanderthal. Very interesting read.


Photographer Rachel Hulin captures AMAZING photos of her baby in mid flight in various ways. It's just amazing. How did she do that?


News Boy cap for cats! I need this in my life.......right?

Want a quick and easy Banh Mi meatball rice bowl? All the flavors of bahn mi in a meatball in a rice bowl. FABULOUS.


My neighbors have some of the most gorgeous and friendly chickens I've ever seen. They don't come out much due to coyotes in our area, but when they do I make sure to hang with them for a bit. Here is a video I shot of my favorite rooster kicking it. He loves the camera (no, this was not edited, just perfect timing).

Flickr has a great set of "dogs underwater" photos.

Did you see the concept of this blog? Wild.

That's it. Have a fabulous weekend kids! Don't forget to enter the cookbook giveaway (above).

wordless wednesday (artichoke melts)

print recipe

homemade chai ice cream with spicy pecans

Wanting to make chai ice cream on the spur of the moment and realizing you have no chai tea? Easy peasy! All you need is black tea leaves or even english breakfast tea leaves, along with a few spices, let it seep for a while in a warm milk bath, and eventually you have the beginnings of your ice cream custard. Happy happy!
Why the spicy pecans? Well, for one, my love of spicy pecans (which helps keep Trader Joe's in business btw), and secondly, chai is already gently sweet, so a spicy pecan helps to balance out the sweetness a bit, as well as a hint of texture. I mean who doesn't love texture in ice cream? I don't think I could ever be one of those "smooth" ice cream lovers (unless it's gelato)-- I mean all those calories and no texture, no chocolate/nut/candy surprises to bite into. Sad.
Could you use walnuts? Sure. Peanuts? Why not? Almonds? Indeed, but use those smokehouse almonds and see that magical flavor come about.





chai ice cream with spicy pecans
print recipe

14 ounces of sweetened condensed mik
1 cup whole milk

6-8 regular size black tea bags or the equivalent in loose leaves (if you use chai tea then you might not need the spices—taste test as you go)
¾ cup white sugar
5 large egg yolks
Dash or two fresh ground black pepper
¼ ts salt
1 cup half & half
1 cup heavy cream, room temp
½ cup – ¾ cup of chopped spicy pecans (optional but wonderful)

Spices to use:
(these may not be needed if you use chai tea bags)
I used, a couple pinches of: cloves, cinnamon and fresh ginger.
You can also use a couple pinches of: cardamom, allspice.

Cook notes: I got the spicy pecans from trader joes. You can easily use walnuts, pistachios or even peanuts. You can also make your own candied walnuts too. When the custard is done steeping, do a quick taste test and see what it needs. Some people have different takes/tastes when it comes to chai tea.

IN a large saucepan, bring the milk and condensed milk to an almost boil. Take off heat then add in the tea bags, your spices, and salt. Mix quickly then cover with lid, and let steep at least 1 hour.
Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, mix the sugar with the five egg yolks, and salt until well combined.
Using a fine mesh strainer, strain the leaves from milk; (not needed if you used tea bags).
Return mixture back to pot and add in the half & half; bring to a simmer.
Take your egg mixture and slowly, a few tablespoons to begin with, then gradually ¼ cup at a time, add in the hot mixture. Do not add in all at once as you will cook the eggs. Once the mixture is nicely tempered, pour mixture back into the pot and heat on low heat. Whisk for a while until mixture is slightly thickened. DO NOT BOIL!
Once a thickness has developed, remove from heat, strain into a bowl, and cool.
Stir in the room temp. heavy cream.
Cover and refrigerate until cold or overnight.
When ready to churn in ice cream maker, churn according to the ice cream manufacturer directions. At the last 2-3 minutes of churning add in your ½ cup (or more if desired) of spicy pecans.