sweet potato gnocchi

With sage, chestnuts, and brown butter. I made these once before and they are super yummy - sweet and nutty, tasting like fall. Somehow the last batch were more elegant - these turned out a little more large and lumpy-lookin'. Let's call it "rustic." This recipe is from the October issue of Gourmet magazine 2009. (RIP) Be aware when frying sage that your neighbors will think you've been smoking pot all day.

marshmallows

So, I was so enamoured by the marshmallows I bought in Madison, I decided to make them for Christmas presents this year instead of cookies. Time to practice! I found a great recipe online, which worked really well. I had a super-delicious brunch at Southport Grocery and Cafe yesterday: A chorizo, goat cheese and arugula omelette - yum! They also have a gorgeous little market there with all the fancy food things I love, so I bought some rose water (among other things). My marshmallows were raspberry-rose flavored, and I added a few drops of red food coloring to make them pink. So purty! I am very pleased with myself, as I don't often make candy and when I do, it usually becomes a sticky disaster involving serious burns and a good deal of cursing. I tried a marshmallow in a cup of Vosges "La Parisienne" drinking chocolate,which is really thick and rich - just like Maxim's. It melted into a gooey delicious chocolate-marshmallow soup - the best treat on a cold November day.

patchwork pillow, cheese extravaganza

I've been really bad about not posting because I was totally distracted by the anticipation of and participation in A Super Rad Wisconsin Cheese Weekend with a couple of my cheesemonger friends. We went to the Wisconsin Cheese Originals Annual Festival in Madison, where we tried lots of delicious cheese (Rush Creek Reserve - hooray! If you like stinky, gooey, washed-rind cheese, this is the one for you) and shopped at Fromagination, pictured above. Aside from lovely cheese, they also carry these beautiful marshmallows from a company called Butter. I bought some rose flavored ones and devoured them all myself. What a great weekend! We had some great meals at Nostrano and Sardine and just pigged out generally. Then I came home and made this little pillow from bits and pieces of all the lovely fabrics I've been collecting. I put it in my shop on Etsy, and I will definitely be making more.