Friday Faves Roundup!
I had a lot of fun featuring some of my favorite bloggers this year with my Friday Favs. I’m posting an entire roundup of all the posts that you saw throughout the year. If you’re reading this on my blog home page, be sure to click through to see the entire post. Thanks to everyone who participated this year!!
Katie from The Small Boston Kitchen made Cranberry Risotto Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms
Maria from Two Peas and Their Pod made Pomegranate White Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Fiona from A Boston Food Diary wrote about her Favorite Boston restaurants
Jene from The Original Bean talked about Life married to an Engineer
Peabody from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody wrote about Various treats from her blog
Amy from Drawings in Motion wrote about Food Photography
Megan from Delicious Dishings made Chocolate Babka
Cate from Cate’s World Kitchen made Dolmas
Anne from The Fit Bridesmaid’s Blog talked Cupcakes and her upcoming Wedding
Ashley from Big Flavors From A Tiny Kitchen made Thai Chickpea Soup
Shawnda from Confections of a Foodie Bride made Banana Zucchini Bread
Courtney from Cook like a Champion made Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
Amy from Sing for Your Supper made Lemon Blueberry Buttermilk Scones
Cara from Cara’s Cravings made Massaged Kale “Cobb” Salad with Crispy Eggplant “Bacon”
Michelle from Hit the Bricks made Buttermilk Biscuits
Nikki from Pennies on a Platter made Cookies N’ Cream Ice Cream
Michelle from Fun and Fearless in Beantown made Drunker Pound Cake)
mycameraeatsfood wrote about Food Photography
Brandy from Nutmeg Nanny made Chocolate Almond Pastry
Danae from The Busty Baker made Pumpkin Muffins
Tina from Carrots ‘N’ Cake wrote about Her Book
Kerstin from Cake, Batter, and Bowl made Reese’s Peanut Butter Cookie Cups
Meaghan from the decorated cookie made Cookie Sticks n’ Dip
Niki from Big City Cooking made Frozen Yogurt
Melissa from Made in Melissa’s Kitchen made Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp
Elly from elly says opa! made Corn Fritters with Feta and Dill
Daisy from Indulge Inspire Imbibe wrote about Osushi
Bridget from The Way the Cookie Crumbles did a Tapioca Pudding Comparison
Elina from Healthy and Sane made Chewy Caramel Chocolate Sandwich Cookies
Stef from The Cupcake Project made Hefeweizen Cupcakes
Stephanie from White Room Colorful Life made Pickled Banana peppers
Mary from The Food Librarian made Coffee Cake Bundt)
Josie from Pink Parsley made Spiced Peach Carrot Bread
Hannah from Bittersweet made Marbled Blueberry Bundt Cake
Aimee from The Apron Archives made Orange Kiss Me Cake
Emily from Sugar Plum made Italian Black Forest Cookies
Liz from Blog is the New Black made Strawberry and Cream Scones
Becky from Becky Bakes made Caramel Apple Crisp
Jessica from The Novice Chef made Churro Cake
Kelsey from Apple A Day made Cranberry Chai Cupcakes
Rachel from Baked by Rachel made BBQ Chicken Quesadillas
Amber from Sugared Whisk made Spiced Pumpkin Fudge
Stefany from Proceed with Caution did a Carrot Cake Comparison
Erin from Erin’s Food Files made Tipsy Cake
Rebecca from Ezra Pound Cake made Rosemary Cheese Crackers
Shannon from Tri 2 Cook made Butternut Thyme Bars
Julie from The Little Kitchen talked all about Cookies and Pinterest
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
I am of two minds on this post. On the one hand, my OCD really kicked in when I read that you had not followed Mark Bittman’s recipe but still decided to write about it. Seemed a bit sloppy for a nerd and an engineer. On the other hand, that is how Pasteur discovered Penicillin. Bittman is such a great cook, that I think he deserves better treatment; so I plan to do him the honor of making his recipe. I am not going to make the other two though!
Oops! Senior moment that – it was the Scottish scientist and Nobel laureate Alexander Fleming in 1928. Apparently, the Pasteur Institut ignored the work of a French physician, Ernest Duchesne, who in 1897 discovered the curative properties of the Penicillium Glaucum, a different mold than the one Fleming discovered, but in the same genus. Gotta love Wikipedia.
There are two tapioca recipes on the Minute Tapioca box. I always use the one for Fluffy Pudding, which calls for 2 cups milk and whipping the egg whites separately from the cooked milk with tapioca and egg yolk. I think you will find the pudding much improved over the basic recipe.
Also, the quality of the vanilla makes a huge difference in something like tapioca. Cooks Illustrated likes McCormick and I found this on amazon and at Sam’s Club in large bottles for very reasonable prices.
One other note: I find that CI has a sweet tooth: their recipes are sometimes too sweet for my taste, though they are a go-to source otherwise.
This is an interesting discussion. I tried the Kraft recipe today. I threw everything (except the vanilla) in the blender before putting it on the stove. I also added 1/2 tsp. salt and a bit more vanilla. I actually thought it was sweet enough already, though. However, I agree with your overall conclusion that it’s a bit boring. Well, at least it was easy. Anyway, next time I may a recipe using large tapioca. 🙂
Thanks for the comparison.