A Delicious Corn Chowder Recipe for Cold Winter Nights

We’ve been looking for a corn chowder recipe to add to the “permanent” on-demand recipe collection but most are geared toward summer when fresh corn on the cob is abundant in the Midwest.  This allows you to use the rich pulp, corn juices, and kernels to create a delicious, thick chowder that can be eaten [...]

from Joshua Kennon

E. Dehillerin Delivers When Williams-Sonoma Doesn’t

In early December I ordered a 10-piece set of Mauviel Professional 2.5mm copper pots and pans from Williams-Sonoma.  They were backordered until December 26th.  Then, they were supposed to be delivered January 5th or 6th.  Then, they were pushed back to February 28th.  On the morning of January 20th, I received an email telling me [...]

from Joshua Kennon

I’m Working on a Recipe for Spinach Salad with Blue Cheese Crumbles, Whole Almonds, Fresh Chicken, White Onions, Tomatoes, and Drizzled with a Cinnamon Pear Balsamic Vinaigrette

We’re working on dinner salad recipes tonight and my dish of choice was a spinach salad with blue cheese crumbles, whole almonds, fresh chicken, white onions, tomatoes, and drizzled with a cinnamon pear balsamic vinaigrette.  It’s not perfect but it is a very good starting point.  One option is to take it more in a harvest [...]

from Joshua Kennon

My Day In Pictures – Belgian Waffle Party

We had an impromptu Belgian waffle party tonight at the house and it was awesome.  The recipe came from America’s Test Kitchen and included buttermilk, seltzer water, sour cream, sugar, salt, unbleached flour, eggs, vegetable oil, and a host of other items to create a waffle batter mix that was crispy on the outside and [...]

from Joshua Kennon

I Got Around the Joining the Nespresso Club and I’m a Total Convert to the Whole Nespresso System

Back in June, I picked up one of those new Nespresso machines that Nestle was touting so heavily in their annual report.  With my schedule, the projects, work, and extra-curricular activities such as this blog, I hadn’t gotten around to ordering the Nespresso pods or setting up an on-going subscription because I wanted to do taste [...]

from Joshua Kennon

I Managed to Settle on the Fine China and Sterling Silver Flatware Sets

In between pizza and Coca-Cola and an afternoon of work, I managed to get away for an hour or two to approve the final flatware and china purchases for the before-I-turn-30-next-year home upgrades.  For now, I’m dividing things into a core “fine” set for dinners, holidays, and regular family meals, and a “casual” set for [...]

from Joshua Kennon

I Added a Staub Coq Au Vin Dutch Oven Cookware Piece to the Collection … and I Blame Susan of Between Naps on the Porch

Williams-Sonoma and other retailers continue to plot against me by having more unbelievable sales during the six-month life renovation project.  After the Mauviel copper pots, the Ruffoni pots, the cut lead crystal, the barstools, the Edwardian sofa and reading chairs, the tea makers, the coffee machine, the espresso machine, et cetera, purchased mostly over the [...]

from Joshua Kennon

A Favorite Kansas City Tradition: Anderson Erickson Classic Egg Nog

This time of year, one of my favorite traditions comes from a Midwestern dairy called Anderson Erickson.  Released only around Christmas, the Classic Egg Nog is one of the most fattening, calorie intensive, overly rich, immoderate luxuries you can imagine – a single carton contains 2,000 calories, with each half cup counting as 250 calories. [...]

from Joshua Kennon

I Took the Plunge and Bought the Professional Mauviel Copper Cookware Upgrades to the Kitchen, As Well as a Few Stainless Steel Ruffoni Pots and Pans

The gourmet food posts on the site are probably going to grow exponentially over the coming years.  I’d publicly debated various cookware as far back as last year and finally decided to take the plunge as part of the six-month May Day project.  Yesterday evening, I bought a set of copper Ruffoni pots and pans, which were going [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Gourmet Three Cheese Macaroni and Cheese

One of the things on the “to find” culinary list is a recipe for the perfect gourmet macaroni and cheese and the perfect recipe for mango pineapple smoothies.  Tonight was a chance to make a go at both of these things.     Ideally, a great macaroni and cheese would be smooth, rich, and complex.  Aaron [...]

from Joshua Kennon

The Perfect Cinnabon Cinnamon Roll Recipe (10 Years in the Making)

Most people don’t know the exact Cinnabon cinnamon roll recipe but for a decade, both Aaron and my mom have been intermittently attempting to crack the code, making various tweaks to their pastry-baking-marathons. They’ve been close but never hit upon a recipe that was indistinguishable, in our opinion, from the Cinnabon franchise version. Until tonight. [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Dinner at the Yachtsman Club Restaurant in the Yacht and Beach Club Resort at Walt Disney World

Dinner tonight was at the Yachtsman Club restaurant in Orlando, Florida, on the Walt Disney World property (specifically, the Yacht and Beach Club resort).  It’s a classic steakhouse menu that comes highly recommended.  The bar is going to be set high after dinner at Citricos last night and The California Grill prior to that but [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Citricos Review at The Grand Floridian Resort in Walt Disney World

This has been the hardest day so far in terms of miles walked.  It’s easily in the 10 to 15 miles range and possible even higher (part of this is purposeful: Just like running the beach earlier, I am trying to take the longest ways possible to burn off the huge portions at the nicer [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Disney’s Living with the Land Epcot Greenhouse Can Grow 35,000 Tomatoes from 1 Tomato Plant in 16 Months and Produce 9 Pound Lemons

One of the coolest, and most thought-provoking, experiences of The Walt Disney World experience thus far is the greenhouse ride at the Living with the Land attraction in Epcot.  By focusing on renewable farming techniques and applying best-practices in technology, the researchers and scientists that work in this facility have been able to dramatically increase [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Lunch at the Mexican Restaurant in Epcot Was a Huge Disappointment

Our Walt Disney Epcot adventure continues. Unfortunately, it continued right into the first bad (and it would turn out, only bad) food experience on the trip.  The Mexican restaurant inside the pyramid is not, as Charlie Sheen would say, winning.  In fact, it is the opposite of winning.  It is losing.  It is losing badly. [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Dinner at California Grill with Aaron, Ashly, Ian, Karen, and Blake

We met up with everyone around the Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse statue at Cinderella’s castle before heading over to Space Mountain to ride the famous indoor roller coaster.  Ordinarily, roller coasters aren’t my thing, but just like the Everest Expedition (the Animal Kingdom equivalent to Disneyland’s Matterhorn), I have to say I really enjoyed [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Lunch at Yak and Yeti in the Disney Animal Kingdom Park

The safari this morning was awesome but it is now getting excessively hot so we are going to go into our lunch reservation at the Yak and Yeti early.  After that, it’s roller coaster time, specifically the Everest Expedition, which is the Florida Disney World equivalent of the Matterhorn at Disneyland in California.  The restaurant [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Dinner at Narcoossee’s Restaurant at The Grand Floridian Deluxe Hotel and Resort in Walt Disney World

Dinner tonight is taking place at Narcoossee’s, a seafood place on the edge of the lake that separates the Walt Disney Magic Kingdom, The Contemporary Resort, The Polynesian Resort, and The Grand Floridian Resort.  The view is wonderful, the food is terrific, and you can take a nearby boat to any of the other listed [...]

from Joshua Kennon

We’re Having Lunch at The Brown Derby Restaurant in Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World

Next up on the Walt Disney World foodie tour is The Brown Derby in Hollywood Studios.  It is a reproduction of the famous eatery on the West Coast.   Our reservation had fortuitous timing because a sudden downpour and lightning storm hit, relentlessly drenching the area as we enjoyed the comfort of the restaurant and [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Nescafe Coffee Is as Good as Douwe Egberts

Many of you know about my Douwe Egberts coffee obsession.  No, not the roasted beans, the machine itself that combines with a concentrated form of the coffee produced overseas so that every cup is identical.  It’s normally only available to restaurants but I called the company and just bought one outright so that it sits [...]

from Joshua Kennon

The Great Tootsie Roll Fruit Midgee War Of 2011

To avert inner-office strategic hoarding of the Cherry Flavor and Vanilla Flavored Tootsie Roll Fruit Midgees after the semi-annual candy-run last week, I finally tracked down a distributor and am purchasing around 2,000 pieces of candy (roughly 30 pounds) at a cost of 5.5¢ per piece including shipping. I don’t know why Tootsie Roll Industries [...]

from Joshua Kennon

My Day In Pictures – Chicken Canzanese with Aligot Potatoes – Sunday, August 21st, 2011

One of the weekly traditions in my life, the family get-together of four generations, rolled around again today and it was our turn to provide the food, meaning the kitchen was a flurry of activity for three or four hours as the dishes were prepared.  The menu was set as follows: Main Dish 1: A [...]

from Joshua Kennon

We Are Getting Closer to the Perfect Red Wine Reduction for Steak

You know how we’ve been working  on the perfect red wine reduction for steak?  We are getting closer.  After going out and visiting businesses, stopped by to see my sister and her kids, and then coming back home, Aaron worked on the recipe he’s been messing with and my mom and I got to enjoy [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Baking Cherry Pastries and Playing We Rule with Family

With much of the family at the U.S. Open golf tournament in Maryland – well, for a few more hours anyway, until their plane gets into Kansas City – my mom and sister came over today to have dinner and bake cherry pastries that we read about on our friend, Erika’s, blog, which is called [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Bow Tie Basil Pesto Pasta with Fresh Parmesan

Dinner tonight consisted of bow tie basil pesto pasta.  The recipe included pine nuts, garlic, fresh basil leaves, parsley, extra-virgin olive oil, salt, Parmesan cheese, and farfalle. It was very good; we both enjoyed it a lot.  I imagine it would even be good cold in a packed lunch, but that is just a hunch.

from Joshua Kennon

We Bought a Nespresso CitiZ with Milk Frother in Limousine Black and It Is Fantastic

We added a Nespresso CitiZ with Milk Frother in Limousine Black espresso machine to the office lineup – and we are loving it. After seeing my new nephew at the hospital two or three hours after his birth, Aaron and I took one of my parents’ cars and headed over to the Country Club Plaza [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Trying to Find a Good Red Wine Reduction Recipe

We are trying to come up with a restaurant-grade quality red wine reduction sauce for beef, pork, and lamb.  We are getting close but it still isn’t perfect; too tart, not savory enough.  Ignore the presentation; it is clearly a mess on the plate and drenched in the sauce but it was about the recipe. [...]

from Joshua Kennon

My Search for How to Make the Perfect Vanilla Caramel Latte

You may have noticed that there have been a lot of pictures of coffee or lattes in the last few posts.  There is a reason besides my usual coffee addiction.  A few days ago, I decided I wanted to learn how to make a vanilla caramel latte that was better than anything I could order [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Continuing on their quest for the perfect cupcake, my mom and Aaron were cooking up a storm in the kitchen tonight making what turned out to be an amazingly fantastic chocolate and peanut butter cupcake filled with cream peanut butter and layered with melted liquid milk chocolate. Here are some pictures of the work in [...]

from Joshua Kennon

My Mom Had Cupcakes Flown In from Georgetown Cupcake in Washington, D.C.

We had hoped to have time to swing by Washington, D.C. on our upcoming business trip to New York but it looks like that won’t happen because we need to spend more time in New York and New Jersey.  My mom wanted to try this place called Georgetown Cupcake in Washington and now that we [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Lemon Cream Cupcakes with Lemon Frosting

I love lemon cake, as you learned in the post about Duncan Hines trying to break my heart when we stopped eating it because of the trans fats.  I’m working from the home office tonight, responding to all of your comments and submissions, and Aaron comes in to tell me he is making lemon cream [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Dear Duncan Hines – Are You Trying to Break My Heart?

Trans fats are really nasty things.  They are an artificial form of fat that the human body can’t break down normally.  Trans fat has been linked to an increase in coronary heart disease, as well as a host of other health problems.  Trans fats are so bad, in fact, that most medical associations around the [...]

from Joshua Kennon

I’m on a Kristian Regale Sparkling Juice Kick

When I find a product or company I love, I get a bit obsessed from time to time.  Lately, when I am writing, I want a bottle of Kristian Regale sparkling juice, which is basically a form of glorified, carbonated fruit juice in a classic green bottle.  They make individual serving sizes and if you [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Homemade Gourmet Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream with Cinnamon and Caramel

Why did I write about the trip to the pumpkin patch last year?  Because I was reminded of the memory after Aaron decided to take a pumpkin his sister brought him and create a recipe for homemade pumpkin pie ice cream with caramel and cinnamon.  Here are the fruits of his labor, study and testing, [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Cherry Cream Cupcakes

At my sister’s wedding, I fell in love with the cherry cream cupcakes, which had fresh cherries in a cream flavored, pink cupcake batter.  They, along with the almond ones, were just fantastic. These cupcakes were so good, in fact, that I want the recipe because they would be great with a cup of hot [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Fresh Tomatoes from the Garden

I am up working on publishing all of my new About.com content, eating a fresh tomato from my grandma’s garden that she gave me a few days ago.  It reminds me of my childhood when all of my family members, who lived in the country in the Midwest for the most part, had their own [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Chicken Simmered in White Wine Butter Sauce

Tonight’s menu: Chicken simmered in white wine butter sauce over steamed rice and broccoli with mashed potatoes aligot stuffed with garlic and mozzarella cheese.  It was really good.

from Joshua Kennon

Spicy Nachos with Jalapenos, Project Runway and Selma Blair

Tonight, Aaron and I had nachos with beef, sour creme, assorted cheeses, and enough jalapenos to make it burn as we watched the season premier of Project Runway. (Seems weird to say “tonight” because the sun was still up and it was light outside; gotta love summer.) The only thing that was more spicy than [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Tasty Homemade Lemon Cupcakes

My mom brought by a batch of homemade lemon cupcakes she made, along with some raspberry-filled lemon cupcakes, because she is trying out some new recipes. A few moments ago, as I paused before going back to work on the book and the regular About.com updates, I decided to enjoy one with a glass of [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Back to Business …

Seriously, I am not running a food blog but those of you who know me keep calling and asking why I haven’t posted each day’s food selection because you want to know what we are having so you can try it yourself. I know we eat, and live, extremely well but I really don’t like [...]

from Joshua Kennon

My Sister Made Homemade Barbecue Ribs for Easter

Last Christmas, my sister put in her Christmas list request and wanted a Crock-Pot (seriously, this is how I knew we had all reached full adulthood).  She says it was the best gift I ever gave her.  Ordinarily, I just go to the Chanel counter at a specific, well-known department store and buy a complete [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Cinnamon Apple Baked French Toast with Sweet Potatoes

This is another one of the unique breakfasts we had last week. It’s a cinnamon apple french toast that was baked in the oven with wheat bread base and apple butter glaze, fresh slices of apple, and cinnamon. The side dish consisted of “fried” sweet potatoes, which were really prepared in a pan over open [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Balsamic Chicken Pizza with Ricotta Cheese and Sauteed Onions

Last Thursday, we had a homemade balsamic chicken pizza with Ricotta cheese and sauteed onions; an original creation thanks to our dinner guest!  I am just now getting all of the pictures online because of family and business stuff to which I had to attend to this weekend. More pictures …

from Joshua Kennon

White Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies with Cranberries and Cherries

As part of their plan to completely derail all dietary restraint, Jocelyn and Aaron plotted against me today.  The result was the baking of two distinct styles of delicious cookies; one a white chocolate oatmeal cookie with cranberries and the other a white chocolate oatmeal cookie with cherries. Here are some more pictures of the [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Fresh Salmon with a Tomato Bruschetta on a Bed of Orzo Pasta with a Tasty Reduction

Aaron and I got to be the lucky recipients of an original recipe creation by Jocelyn tonight.  The amazing thing was, each serving had only 500 calories after measuring the ingredients and portion sizes.  It was refreshingly light yet satisfying, which is a difficult combination to achieve.  Between Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse last night, the Julia [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Dinner at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse with Jocelyn and Aaron

Jocelyn came to visit Aaron and me!  After picking her up from the airport in Kansas City, we headed to a nearby Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse because we wanted something good and it was unquestionably worth it.  I had read their annual report a few years ago and wanted to experience the food for myself.  I [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Beef and Onions Braised in Beer by Julia Child

Tonight, we decided to try the recipe immediately following the Julia Child Beef Bourguignon recipe in Mastering the Art of French Cooking (I wrote about our experience with that recipe a few months ago).  The entree is called Carbonnades a la Flamande, which translates into Beef and Onions Braised in Beer.  This followed the Chicken [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Eggs Benedict with Hollandaise Sauce for Breakfast

During Ashly and Ian’s visit from Ohio this weekend, and as part of our weekend of gourmet dining, they made us eggs benedict with a hollandaise sauce on Saturday morning.  The nutritional sacrifice was worth it (health food, this is most certainly not but 1,000 calories was a small price to pay). The eggs benedict [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Gourmet Chili with Red Wine

Aaron said he wanted to make chili.  I said fine (this went on for a few weeks – he really wanted to try to customize his own gourmet chili recipe).  It ended up costing $65 to $70 for the ingredients alone, making me wonder why everything we do tends to be in excess.  Now, this [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Rainbow Pancakes

I happened to be sitting at the dining room table, a cup of coffee in one hand, writing out plans for potentially launching a mutual fund this year (this time around, it’s a Parker Duofold rollerball in an amber check pattern from the recent shipment of fine writing instruments we received at Kennon Home Accessories [...]

from Joshua Kennon