I love my iPhone. Honestly, if Apple designed and released a toaster I’d be first in line, but in all seriousness this phone is a fantastic gadget with countless uses beyond making phone calls and listening to Mandy Moore’s fabulous new album while I’m walking to the T. Surprisingly, a lot of the functionality of the iPhone is very kitchen and cooking friendly. For instance the “Notes” application allows me to make grocery or ingredient lists on the fly. You can keep the list on your phone or email it to someone else so that they can do the shopping. This is a great feature for me since I tend to make elaborate lists and then leave them tacked to the magnetic pad on the refrigerator (a habit I seem to have inherited from my mother).

Since the iPhone comes with Safari you can actually search the internet for recipe ideas. I like to google randomly for ingredients I have on hand i.e. sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and chicken and see what turns up. You also have full access to all of your favorite food websites, or even the option of shopping for your groceries online. I’m an avid Peapod user (because getting things delivered makes me giddy with happiness). Now instead of reading old Glamour magazines at the dentist office I can get my groceries ordered and scheduled for delivery or plan the menu for the week. I’d like to see you do that on your Blackberry.

Some food blogs have even begun creating iPhone optimized editions. One of the best examples of this is located at the 101 Cookbooks blog. There’s also a free magazine portal at Texterity.com that allows you to read full versions of popular titles on your phone. So far they have Rachael Ray and Taste of Home available in the cooking category. I’m pretty excited about this since unfortunately when I moved last month my copy of the June/July issue of Rachael Ray didn’t follow me.

Pretty brilliant, right?! I suggest you put the iPhone on your wishlist immediately. It really is as fantastic as everyone says.

In celebration of The Simpson’s movie opening today (and for being one of those “lucky” kids who grew up watching The Simpsons way back in the 90’s) I give you the Simpsonization of Erin Cooks! I really like my hair! Obviously I should be a cartoon and not a human being.

I think my favorite Simpson’s episode was the Duff Garden’s theme park adventure, but I also loved the Tree House of Horrors when James Earl Jones reads The Raven. What’s your favorite Simpson’s memory?

The Tea Experience, the latest publication from TeaTime magazine, offers a smashing array of recipes and images from tea rooms across the country that would make even the Queen herself drool (if Queens actually did such things). It’s a bit heavy on the Southern tea establishments (13 reviews to 5 actually) as the majority of the travelogues do seem to reside in the lower 48 states, but they did include a lovely write-up on the Martin House Inn in Nantucket. We’re big on tea in New England too, you know! It might have something to do with that whole fancy “Tea Party” that happened in Boston Harbor a few hundred years ago…

This elegant book is the perfect gift for your favorite tea aficionado or maybe even your foodie office mate. Each tart, scone, and savory quiche recipe turned my thoughts to envy as it occurred to me that I’ll never be able to pull off such a decadent display even if Martha Stewart held me at spatula point.

When I was a kid, tea parties were totally my thing. I’d line up dolls and stuffed animals around the coffee table and serve each liberally from my Fisher Price tea set. Through the wonders of google I can assure you that the image to your left is exactly what “little Erin” used to force feed tap water and Ritz crackers to a wide array of stuffed cats and Cabbage Patch kids. Obviously Ritz crackers aren’t going to cut it in the Hors D’oeuvres and Canapés department anymore so I decided to give the White Chocolate Raspberry bars, as featured in the section detailing The Ladies of Lucerne Tea Room, a go.

Tea is a leisurely activity, and honestly this is a leisurely (read time consuming) recipe. Thankfully these sinful bars taste so amazing (how can you possibly go wrong when your main ingredients are a stick of butter and almost a pound of white chocolate slathered in Raspberry jam) that you forget all about slaving over a hot stove the moment you take a bite. I paired mine with a piping hot cup of Raspberry Early Grey and promptly died and went to heaven. Now that’s what I call a “tea experience!”

Chop	Beat Eggs
Add Sugar	Divide Chocolate
Melt	Mix the Batter
Bake Layer #1	Heat Jam
Mix in Chocolate	Evenly Spread the Jam
Layer with Batter & Almonds; Bake	Tea Time!

White Chocolate Raspberry Bars
Makes 12 Bars

1/2 cup butter
1 (12 ounce package vanilla milk morsels or 2 (6-ounce) packages white baking bars, chopped and divided
2 large eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon amaretto liqueur or almond extract
1/2 cup raspberry jam
1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted
Garnish: fresh raspberries

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour 9-inch square pan.
2. In small saucepan over low heat, melt butter. Add 1 cup vanilla milk morsels. Let stand; do not stir.
3. In large bowl and using electric mixer at high speed, beat eggs until foamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until lemon-colored. Stir in butter mixture. Add flour, salt, and amaretto; mix at low speed until just combined. Spread half of batter (about 1 cup) in pan. Bake 10-15 minutes, or until golden brown.
4. In small saucepan over low heat, melt jam. Spread evenly over warm, partially baked crust.
5. Stir 1 cup vanilla milk morsels into remaining batter. Gently spoon teaspoonfuls of remaining batter over jam. (Some jam may show through batter). Sprinkle with almonds.
6. Return to oven; bake additional 25 to 30 minutes or until wooden pick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool completely. Cut into bars. Garnish serving plate or individual bars with fresh raspberries, if desired.

(Originally posted on the Well Fed Network’s blog A Nice Cuppa)

My obsession with scones began last winter after spending an amazing weekend in Burlington at a fabulous Bed and Breakfast called The Willard Street Inn. Each morning we’d awaken to the smells of freshly baked breakfast treats and without fail I managed to eat my weight in their delicious scones.

My only other experience making scones was from one of those King Arthur mixes and they turned out like sugared hockey pucks (no fault of King Arthur Flour I’m sure, since I made those back in the days when the height of my culinary experience was heating a Skillet Sensation on the stove).

Now my memory isn’t perfect, but I really felt as though one version of the scones I had at the Inn contained oatmeal and brown sugar, so after doing a little internet research I found a scone recipe that contained those ingredients. I didn’t have any buttermilk on hand, but I did have vinegar so I made my own buttermilk and hoped for the best. I also changed the brown sugar ratio to 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons so I would be assured of a slightly sweeter dough, and honestly I was incredibly happy with the results. Frankly, I was shocked at how well they rose, and I loved the taste and texture. The scones more than met my expectations and when paired with fresh fruit I could almost pretend I was back in Vermont being pampered again…until that yappie dog down the hall started barking and totally burst my bubble.

Pulse Dry Ingredients	Add Butter & Pulse Again
Make Buttermilk	Combine Until Dough Forms
Pat Out and Slice	Top With Oats & Sugar
Simple Joys

Oatmeal Scones (based on the November 2005 Gourmet Magazine recipe)

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cups plus 2 tablespoons old-fashioned rolled oats
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon pieces
2/3 cup well-shaken buttermilk plus additional for brushing

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 425°F.

Sift together flour, 1/3 cup brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a food processor. Add 1 1/3 cups oats and pulse 15 times. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal with some pea-size lumps. Transfer to a bowl.

Add buttermilk and stir with a fork until a dough just forms. Gently knead on a floured surface 6 times.

Pat into a 9-inch square (1/2 inch thick). Cut into 9 (3-inch) squares. Cut each square diagonally to form 2 triangles. Transfer to an ungreased baking sheet.

Brush with buttermilk and sprinkle with remaining brown sugar and oats. Bake until golden brown, about 16 minutes.

Ingrid Hoffman inspired me so much on Saturday that I promptly left the house after viewing her new program on the Food Network and picked up everything I would need to make the spicy Chipolte Tamale Pie. Unfortunately my local grocery store is Whole Foods so there isn’t a box of Jiffy Cornbread allowed within 500 feet of that place so I ended up purchasing the Arrowhead Mills Muffin and Cornbread mix, which I wasn’t really thrilled with. The batter was ridiculously runny when made to the package instructions, so much so in fact that I ended up adding additional mix to thicken it. I just wasn’t feeling “brave” enough to see if batter the consistency of water would bake adequately, especially with all of those peppers and lean ground turkey on the line. Ultimately, the dish turned out quite well, with the exception of a cracked top (once again I’m totally passing the buck here and blaming Arrowhead Mills) and also possibly the fact that I used a round deep cake-pan as opposed to a square dish. Pair this hearty pie with a Corona and you’ve got a quick and festive summer meal to feed your starving beach combing crew.

Peppers, Onions & Turkey	Add Spices, Chipolte and Beans; Simmer
Pat Firmly Into Baking Dish	Top With Cornbread Batter
Bake & Cool Slightly	Caliente!

Ingrid Hoffman’s new Food Network show, Simply Delicioso, is presented with a saucy and fresh twist that viewers will definitely find appealing. With the lush scenery of Miami as her backdrop, Ingrid’s enthusiasm and effervescent personality allows her to connect effortlessly with the audience, drawing us in with humor and a frenetic cooking pace that just skirts the edge of Rachael Ray levels.In preparation for a sailing trip with friends, Ingrid devises a spicy one pot meal of ground turkey breast, onions, peppers, and “bells and whistles” (aka flavor or spices) topped with a cornbread crust. The preparation was, true to her word, simple and the resulting Chipolte Tamale Pie emerged from the oven looking hearty and delicious.

Jello shots otherwise referred to as “Chica Lychee shots” during the episode received an Ingrid style makeover via the mixing in of rum and lychee fruit. A brief explanation of the Lychee included a reminder that this item is available fresh for only one month of the year, but assured the audience that the canned variety are readily available in their local supermarket. In addition to the shots, which served as dessert, Ingrid also made a spicy beer Michelada which included a chili powder and salt rimmed glass, lime juice, and a few dashes of Tabasco and Worcestershire as a finish. I wonder if that combination will give you a four alarm hangover? Hmm…

Somehow Ingrid managed to cook all of these items in wedge heeled sandals and also came up with some tasteful decorative touches for the table (thankfully it wasn’t a full blown “tablescape” like you know who). Hoffman’s style of cooking appears to be a great addition to the Food Network lineup. I found her to be refreshing, bold, and just the right amount of quirky (closing her episode with, “Hasta La Vista, Baby!” made me laugh out loud). Whether or not my taste buds can handle her heat remains to be seen, but either way I look forward to trying many of her upcoming recipes in the future. Ingrid’s cookbook, Simply Delicicoso, will be released in February of 2008.

(Originally posted on the Well Fed Network’s blog Edible TV)