My Most Favorite Thing In The Kitchen ...

... is my stoneware bundt pan. From Pampered Chef. Yes. Pampered Chef.

This bundt pan and I go way back. Before I lived in Charlotte. Before I went to cooking school.

I remember the day I bought it like it was yesterday ... except it was over 10 years ago. I was working as a consultant in Charlotte and still living in Miami. A new friend, who is now a dear old friend, was hosting her first Pampered Chef party and invited me since she knew that I didn't know anyone in town. So I went to her home, met her friends and family and bought this bundt pan. It was love at first sight. Okay ... glimpse in a catalog ... since it was about a week or so until I had it in my hands.During the week between when I ordered it and received it, I went to the Barnes and Noble at South Park and browsed through cookbooks. I found the perfect cookbook with the perfect recipe for a vanilla bean poundcake. That recipe alone was worth the price of the cookbook.

I schlepped the bundt pan and the cookbook back to Miami (since my rental apartment kitchen was not equipped for baking) and made that first glorious poundcake. It was about the same time I discovered vanilla bean paste ... an efficient and cost effective substitute for vanilla beans ... it's the same end result without all the work. I don't use anything else ... 10 years later.

This is my winning trifecta ... my stoneware bundt pan, my vanilla bean poundcake recipe and Nielsen's Massey's vanilla bean paste. Don't you agree?I schlepped them all back to Mooresville a year later where they live comfortably in their appointed spots in my kitchen. If there's ever a natural disaster or some other reason to leave home in a hurry, after I grab my passport I'm getting my bundt pan!

Tickled Pink!

I'm hosting the Golden Girls later this week. We'll be making fiery, hot and sexy appetizers and desserts. What are we going to drink with it?

A Tickled Pink cocktail ... made with X Rated Fusion Liqueur, a blend of premium French vodka, blood oranges from Provence and mangoes and passion fruit from Brazil (available at our local ABC store).

The recipe is quite easy, one part X Rated Fusion liqueur mixed with 2 parts Champagne or Prosecco served in a flute! I'm positive we're going to have a great time and lots of laughs!

Here's a link to the X Rated Fusion site (it's safe): http://xratedfusion.com. There are recipes on for other cocktails on their site.

Better Late Than Never ... Buche de Noel

This holiday season I set one simple goal for myself, to make a buche de noel or traditional yule log cake for the first time. I did not get a chance to work on it before Christmas so I decided to tackle it on New Year's Eve. I figured if I got it in before year end I would feel good about being able to accomplish something.

I searched high and low for the perfect recipe and even borrowed a couple from our new friend and customer, Lorraine. In the end I used a cake recipe that I liked, the filling I used in my almond tiramisu and milk chocolate ganache. At the end of the three hour effort, we had a delicious but very unattractive Christmas Cactus. I will try again next year. Here's a recap of the fun!

Gathering the key ingredients

The Cake Batter

Batter Before Baking

Cake Out of the Oven

Coating the Cake with Amaretto

Filling Made with Mascarpone, Whipped Cream, Powdered Sugar, Amaretto and Almond Extract

Spreading the Filling

Rolling the Cake. This was a Nail Biter!

The Log Before Being Frosted

Ganache or Grout for Cake according to Carolyn

Adding the Bark

The Final Log with Sliced Almonds ... not exactly a Yule Log ... more of a Christmas Cactus