Wilton Tent Sale Event!

What will make me get up at 6am on a Saturday morning? The Wilton Tent Sale of course! The Wilton Tent Sale is an annual event that takes place just outside of Chicago at their headquarters in Woodridge, IL. Today was the first weekend the sale was open since 2007 (they didn't have a sale last year) and it's also dubbed the Baker's Black Saturday among those who are familiar with Wilton products.


I arrived at 7:30am, 30 minutes before the sale started, and there was already a long long line of anxious shoppers before me. It was an amazing sight to see how many people came out for this sale! Clearly hundreds of people were in line before the opening and it was only the first Saturday. While in line, I met folks who travelled from Minnesota, Iowa, Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan, as well as all over the state of Illinois!

I plan on going back again next week for round two of my shopping spree but this time around, here's what I filled my cart with...

Assorted colored chocolate melts, baking cups,
candy cups, set of 12 gel colors...

Assorted colors of sprinkles, vanilla/almond/butter extracts,
squeeze bottles, cupcake boxes, soft grip cookie cutters,
reusable decorator bags, wine/liquor pourers...

Assorted multi-colored sprinkles, parchment paper,
disposable decorator bags, tart pan set,
standard muffin pans, mini loaf pans,
mini springform pans, more cupcake boxes...
(not shown: doilies and Cupcake book)

Winner of Foodie Freebie Friday: Wilton!

Happy Friday everyone! 'Hope the sun is shining out where you are and you have a fun weekend ahead! I'm pretty psyched about tomorrow since I will be on a shopping mission at the Wilton Tent Sale, just outside of Chicago. There's quite a few things on my list and I'm also taking the list of a lucky reader for this week's Foodie Freebie Friday!

Earlier this week, I asked readers to share what Wilton products they use and what their Wilton shopping list would have. I have quite a bit of Wilton items in my kitchen arsenal and back in 2007, I made out like a bandit with the Wilton things I picked up. This week, a lucky reader was randomly chosen and I'll be doing my best to get what's on their list from the Wilton Tent Sale. So who's the lucky winner this week?

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

40

Timestamp: 2009-05-29 15:03:26 UTC

Comment #40 comes from wifeplazak who said...

I want the decorating tip pack that comes with a bunch of different sizes... and tart pans! May 26, 2009 5:04 PM

Congratulations to Wifeplazk! Please email me at itsjoelen@gmail.com so I can have a shopping list of Wilton goodies to shop from!

Thanks again to all those that commented and stay tuned to the next Foodie Freebie announcement on Monday, June 1, 2009! Don't feel discouraged if you haven't won yet - I have a whole year's worth of freebies ahead and next week is one that you won't want to miss!

Dinner Party Menu: Gia & Robert

Our friends Gia & Robert came over for dinner tonight and it's always great to see them. They've been friends of ours for awhile and often would come over from the south side of the city when we lived on the far north border of Chicago. Now that we're downtown, it's a lot easier to spend time together and see each other more often.

I prepared the following menu for us, knowing that they are big fans of salmon. Feel free to click on the links for recipes!

Cheese Plate
double cream brie, aged gouda, super ripe Humbolt Fog (in dish)

Lemon Garlic Hummus
with baby carrots, English cucumbers & pita bread

Roasted Asparagus

Steamed Brown Rice

Sauteed Vegetables
zucchini, yellow squash, cremini mushrooms

Garlic & Dill Salmon

Chocolate Frosted Cinnamon Cakes
with fresh whipped cream & coffee service

Lemon Garlic Hummus

I prepared this hummus to go along with the pita I bought from a recent trip to a pita factory. I especially liked how the addition of lemon juice really made the hummus more light and refreshing. This is great to have on hand, especially if you have guests coming over and need an easy appetizer!

Lemon Garlic Hummus
recipe from AllRecipes

3/4 cup vegetable oil
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 cups garbanzo beans (chickpeas), rinsed and drained
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt


In a food processor, add all the ingredients above and process until smooth. Serve with pita or fresh vegetables.

Garlic & Dill Salmon

I prepared the following for dinner guests and it was a cinch to make for a weeknight. If you're a fan of salmon, you'll definitely like this recipe! The only change I made to the original recipe was adding some capers since it adds some extra flavor.

Garlic & Dill Salmon
recipe adapted from AllRecipes

2 (1.5 pound) salmon fillets
1 head garlic, peeled
1 ounce fresh dill, chopped
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon capers
1 teaspoon salt and pepper to taste

In a food processor, process garlic to a rough mince, add dill and olive oil and pulse a few times to combine.

Lay fish fillets in a baking dish, skin side down. Rub garlic mixture over fish and top with capers. Refrigerate for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees F).

Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Do not overcook.

Blue Cheese & Crispy Shallot Burgers

I've been craving burgers in a fierce way lately. It started with the burger I got last week for lunch that lead to sliders I had over the weekend and another burger I had for lunch yesterday. Tonight my burger craving was still going strong so I made burgers for dinner. With the exception of my recent sliders, all the burgers I've had this past week were topped with blue cheese and included caramelized onions. Tonight, blue cheese found it's way into my burgers along with crispy french fried shallots.

Normally I prefer my burgers simply seasoned with garlic salt and pepper, which is then topped with cheese and other varied toppings. Since I had 93% lean ground beef to work with, I needed to add some fat into the mix so I combined the ingredients to make my patties. After they were grilled in my grill pan, off they went to settle inside a soft, sweet King's Hawaiian sandwich bun. Mmm... I think I've finally satisfied my burger craving!

Blue Cheese & Crispy Shallot Burgers
original Joelen recipe, inspired by favorite burgers ordered out

1 1/2 lbs extra lean ground beef (93%)
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
1/2 cup french fried shallots*
1/4 cup BBQ sauce
Salt to taste (although you may not need it since the cheese is salty enough)
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

* I found french fried shallots at my local asian market, since it's often used as a garnish. If you can't find them at the store, you can make your own or use french fried onions instead.


Combine the above ingredients in a bowl and mix carefully without overworking.


Form 6 patties or 12 mini patties for sliders.


Place patties on a hot grill or grill pan. Cook to your desired wellness and serve on a bun with your favorite toppings.

BBA Challenge: Jalapeno Cheddar Bagels

I can't tell you how much I've been learning and enjoying baking bread every week. The Bread Baker's Apprentice challenges are giving me the opportunity to feel more comfortable working with yeast and my friends are definitely benefiting from all the homemade baked goods as a result! For week three of our Bread Baker's Apprentice (BBA) Challenge the recipe we're tackling are for bagels. Peter Reinhart provides a straightforward bagel recipe but I wanted to add some flavor to mine, specifically something savory.


One of my favorite bagels that I often order out includes Jalapeno Cheddar from Au Bon Pain. Here's my chance to recreate them or at least be inspired by Au Bon Pain. To Peter Reinhart's recipe, here are the ingredients I added to create Jalapeno Cheddar Bagels:

Jalapeno Cheddar: add the following ingredients when you begin to knead the dough:
- 1 fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced finely
- 1 tablespoon mexican seasoning
- 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
... and top the freshly boiled bagels with shredded sharp cheddar cheese before baking

If you would like the recipe, you can find it starting on page 115 in Peter Reinhart's book, The Bread Baker's Apprentice.

Making bagels (or bread) is a lengthy yet easy process. Sure, you can very well purchase bread at the store but something about making it from scratch just amazes me. To make these bagels, I made a starter with yeast, flour and water.


After this starter fermented a bit, I added more yeast, flour, honey, salt, along with the additional ingredients to make my jalapeno cheddar bagels.


Everything gets kneaded together until you have a uniform dough.


The dough is divided into small balls to rise and create individual bagels.


Each ball of dough is then poked in the middle and shaped into bagels before resting again.


Finally, the dough is ready to be boiled in water...


Then topped with sharp cheddar cheese before baking.


After a few minutes in a hot oven, they're cooled on a cooling rack before devouring.

Chipster Topped Brownies

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe came at a great time! I prepared the Chipster Topped Brownie for our friends' Memorial Day Dinner. It was a perfect dessert for the weekend and was so easy to make. Thanks goes out to Beth of Supplicious for choosing this week's recipe!


Why debate over making chocolate chip cookies or brownies when you can have both! The recipe involves preparing a walnut brownie batter and topping it with a chocolate chip cookie dough batter. This combination of 2 favorite classics are baked for about an hour and then enjoyed with a nice cold glass of milk.


I really enjoyed this recipe because of how easy it was to make. The only change I made was to make the recipe in a 9"x9" square pan, because I like my brownies and bars on the thick side. It also prevents me from overbaking them. I also enjoy a slightly underdone bar... you get both the gooey chocolate brownie and chocolate chip cookie dough mixed together and it's complete heaven!


Be sure to check out the other bakers who made this delicious dessert!

Foodie Freebie Friday: Wilton!

We're back from the Memorial Day weekend and hope wherever you are, you enjoyed the time off! This week for Foodie Freebie Friday, I'm letting my readers decide what I'm giving away... because I'm going wild for Wilton!

Wilton Food Crafts, based in Woodridge, Illinois, and founded in 1929, is the leading food crafting company in the industry, with the number one position in cake decorating, bakeware and tea kettles. Today, Wilton Food Crafts offers the industry´s most comprehensive and innovative selection of baking, cake decorating, candy making, cookie making, wedding, baby, party, seasonal, kitchen and hydration products. These products are designed to make it easy for anyone to enjoy the thrill of serving something special and utilizing unique style and design while doing it.

I have quite a few Wilton products I use including cake decorating supplies, candy making supplies and bakeware. Here's your chance to tell me what Wilton products you like and would like to have because I want to see your Wilton Wish List! Not sure what you should put on your Wilton Wish List? Check out Wilton's website for ideas.

This weekend marks the start of Wilton's famous "Tent Sale" where many of their products are on deeply discounted for consumers. I'm going to the tent sale this weekend with my shopping list of bakeware, cookware and kitchenware items.... along with this week's Foodie Freebie Friday winner's list! I'll take your wish list and purchase items up to $50 in merchandise. Read on to participate...

Some guidelines:
- Giveaway is only for those who live in the United States - my apologies to my international readers!
- You must have a valid email address (within your comment or blog link) so that you can be contacted if you win.

To enter the giveaway, leave a comment answering:

- What Wilton products do you use and/or also have on your wish list?


Deadline: Thursday, May 28, 2009 at 12 midnight CST.

ONE WINNER will be randomly chosen by Random.Org's Interger Generator based on the number of your comment and will be announced on Friday, May 29, 2009. Good luck!

BBA Challenge: Greek Celebration Bread (Artos)

It's the end of week two of the Bread Baker's Apprentice challenge and time to share the results of our Greek Celebration Bread. There were 3 breads to choose from that fell into this category, all of which were in the book - Greek Celebration Bread (aka Artos), Christophsomos (a Christmas bread), and Lambrosomo (an Easter bread).


Greek Celebration Bread involves a dough made with a "poolish sponge" - a mixture of bread flour, water and yeast. This mixture is combined and allowed to ferment before introducing with the rest of the bread ingredients. Once you have made your poolish, it's combined with bread flour, additional yeast, allspice, cinnamon, ground cloves, nutmeg, honey, orange zest, almond extract, eggs, olive oil and milk.


A dough is then formed and kneaded, before it's left to rise.


After it's risen, the dough is formed into a boule and left to rise a second time before baking.


The bread is baked and to finish them off, a honey, sugar and orange zest glazed it brushed over the bread while still hot.


Since the amount of dough that the recipe yielded was more than I expected, I made two small boules instead of one. I initially planned on making "Christophsomos", a bread which included dried cranberries, golden raisins and toasted walnuts... however I mistakenly forgot to include these ingredients in the dough. It's what happens when you're trying to do too many things at the same time - which is often the case for me! What also intrigued me to the Christophsomos bread was the beautiful decorative cross on top of the boule.

Despite the lack of the fruit and nuts in the bread, I formed my Greek Celebration dough into a boule and topped it with the decorative cross seen on Christphsomos. I also studded the cross with dried cranberries. and continued with the rest of the Greek Celebration Bread recipe.

The result was beautiful... and the sweet smell of this bread was amazing.

Be sure to check out the blogs of others who are participating in this challenge through Pinch My Salt's site! If you would like the recipe, you can find it on pages 112 - 114 in Peter Reinhart's book, The Bread Baker's Apprentice.

Megan & Matt's Memorial Day Dinner

Happy Memorial Day! I hope you enjoyed the holiday weekend (if you're celebrating) and had a chance to relax! Today we celebrated with our good friends, Megan & Matt, who prepared an amazing dinner. The following is their delicious menu and links to the recipes...

Thank you Megan & Matt for a wonderful evening!

Hummus Platter:
Garlic Hummus & Sun Dried Tomato Hummus
with red bell pepper strips & baby carrots

Ham & Cream Cheese Roll ups

White Chocolate Glazed Popcorn

Spinach & Cranberry Salad
with Poppyseed Dressing

Crispy Grilled Asparagus

Parmesan Crusted Sweet Onions

Whole Wheat Couscous with Toasted Pecans

Chicken, Pineapple & Strawberry Kabobs

Megan's "Famous" Snicker Surprise Cookies

Chipster Topped Brownies