Sugar & Spice by Celeste

I am SO VERY excited to announce that my blog - "Sugar & Spice by Celeste" - is now featured on al.com , which is a wonderful and popular source of local news in the state of Alabama. If you're an Alabama resident and you haven't been to visit this website, please do! Some of the categories on the site include News, Weather, Sports, Entertainment, Travel, Jobs and Real Estate...just to name a few. If it's happening in Alabama, you'll be able to read about it on al.com! There is a local blog section that you can visit here: http://www.al.com/blogs/ Please support our local bloggers by checking out their sites and what they have to say. ;) Of course, you'll find me under the "FOOD" section on the Blogs page. Also, here's a direct link to my blog on the site: http://blog.al.com/sugar-and-spice/ I want to take this opportunity to thank you - MY READERS! You are the reason that I continue to blog and write about the happenings in my kitchen...

***Julia Child mentions the sauce chapter in Mastering the Art of French Cooking several times in her memoir, "My Life in France." In fact, there's a really cool photocopy of a piece of paper that contains her hollandaise sauce recipe...that she typed herself. It's marked "Top Secret" in what I assume is Julia's handwriting. I recently finished reading the memoir, and I was definitely curious about this hollandaise sauce. I looked it up in MtAoFC , and it sounded both classic and delicious! On a side note, if you're thinking about reading "My Life in France," you definitely should! I absolutely loved it! It's always good to have several good, homemade sauces in your cooking arsenal...ready when you need them. This is one such sauce. Who doesn't like a decadently rich and eggy hollandaise sauce? There are so many things that you can serve it with....poached eggs, bacon, and toast...just name a few. I decided to serve it with a simpl...

***The July Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth . She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network . Homemade marshmallows are one of those things that I've wanted to try for such a long time, but I have just not gotten around to it...and have not mustered up the courage! That's why I was so excited to see the July DB Challenge. I couldn't put it off any longer!! The process was both really fun and neat! I enjoyed this challenge and actually can't wait to make these again. I didn't have any major snafus, and I was pretty happy with the results. The process of making marshmallows is pretty involved (but not too difficult!), and it was fun making sure each step was done just right. I tried to really take my time with this challenge. After adding the chocolate glaze to my first cookie, I realized that my chocolate was too hot...the fact that the marshmallow started to melt ...

***I was watching Sandra's Money Saving Meals on The Food Network earlier this morning, and Sandra Lee made these delicious Meatball Subs. The dish looked simple and yummy...and VERY cost effective. Not to mention, Brad loves Meatball Subs...it's one of his favorites. So, it easily made it onto my "Dishes I Want to Make Soon" list. The only ingredient that I didn't already have on-hand was the ground beef. After a quick stop at The Fresh Market while we were out shopping today, that problem was remedied. I found this dish to be very simple, and Brad loved it, too! Plus, it's always great to find a cheap meal that will save you money these days!! This is definitely a winner and a dish that I will be making again and again!!!*** Ingredients: For Meatballs: 1/2 pound ground beef 1 tablespoon garlic, chopped 1/2 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs or panko bread crumbs 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley leaves 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan 1 egg Salt and f...

***After coming home from work one night, Brad brought the latest issue of Gourmet to me and pointed to the cover photo, saying "THIS looks GOOD ...Can you make it??" It was a gorgeous photograph of this dish - Lobster Rolls with Lemon Vinaigrette and Garlic Butter. It's not often that Brad requests a very specific dish, so I was determined to make it...it looked too scrumptious not to! Because I had never cooked lobster before, I was excited to try something new! I quickly bookmarked the recipe and bought the ingredients on my next grocery trip. Every once in a while, a dish comes along that you just wish you could eat at least once a week. This definitely falls into that category!!! I'm serious...the flavors are amazing, and the phrases "Mmmmm", "WOW", and "Oh my gosh!" are sure to escape your mouth while you're busy scarfing it down! Haha. First of all, what seafood is there that tops lobster?? It's definitely the main star h...

I've got some exciting news for all of the Julia Child fans in the USA...I was recently contacted by our local PBS station to let me know that the show "Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home" will be aired on Saturday afternoons. It's on at 1:00PM CST here in Birmingham, AL. Click HERE for more info...and be sure to check your local listings to see when it will air in your city!!! Here's an excerpt from the website: "Two of the world's best known and most loved culinary stars, Julia Child and Jacques Pépin, join each other in Julia's home kitchen for this popular Emmy Award-winning public television series. America's favorite cooking duo takes you to the heart of good home cooking and shows you that while there are traditional ways of preparing a dish, nothing is written in stone. These two legendary cooks play off one another like The Odd Couple, joking, even bickering good-naturedly, over kitchen technique, demonstrating that cooking is deeply pers...

'Julie and Julia' movie trailer Before Giada, Ina, Paula, or Emeril came along, there was the Culinary Queen...the original....Julia Child. Her wit, charm...and that unmistakable voice. She was truly a force to be reckoned with. August is going to be a very exciting month for Julia fans. First, the much-anticipated new movie Julie & Julia will be released on August 7th. And then...one month from today, on August 15th, foodies around the globe will celebrate Julia's birthday. I can honestly say that there's no celebrity out there that I can really relate to...except for Julia. You've probably been asked the question, "If you could meet one famous person, dead or alive, who would it be?" There's no doubt that I would choose Julia. There are so many questions I'd like to ask her...so many things that I'd love to discuss with her. I'm currently reading her memoir, My Life in France . It has quickly become one of my favorite books I've...