Ham Sandwich Indicted!

....is actually tomorrow (January 27th). But since the Ham Sandwich has other obligations to attend to this evening, she is honoring the day a tad early and letting her coworkers reap the delicious benefits. And damn if it isn't delicious. From the endless source of ideas that is Epicurious.com, I present to you my interpretation of their Chocolate Whiskey Bundt cake: Chocolate Whiskey & Kahlua Bundt Cake (because more booze = more better) Ingredients Cake: 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process) plus 3 tablespoons for dusting pan 1 1/2 cups brewed coffee 1/4 cup whiskey 1/4 cup Kahlua (or other coffee liquor) 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces 2 cups sugar 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 large eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla Ganache: 3/4-1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips 1/4 cup milk 1 tablespoon butter 1 tablespoon instant coffee/espresso powder Special equipment: a 10-inch bundt pan (3 1/4 inches deep; 3-qt ...

...And I can say that because I went through 16 years of Catholic school (yep, college, too...the Ham Sandwich is a glutton for guilt.) Anyway. One my favorite writers out there is a girl named Allie Brosh, who writes a completely hysterical and incredibly well drawn blog called Hyperbole and a Half . Many of her stories are hilarious accounts of her precocious childhood, and her most recent story got me thinking about the weird stuff my three siblings and I did as kids. One of the weirder things we did was this thing (game?) called The Mary Hole. (Insert inappropriate joke here) Let me set the scene: Growing up, we lived on a cul-de-sac, (the "court") that was about 1/10 of a mile around. The middle had a grassy area big enough for pick-up soccer games/red rover/red light-green light, and the perimeter was surrounded by groves of pine trees. It was basically our mini neighborhood park, and it was awesome. And did I mention that all four of us went to Catholic grade schoo...

I "like" Bon Appetit on Facebook, so I get little updates from them fairly frequently. Last week, they sent a link for what they called a " Food Lovers Cleanse ." It's a two week meal program, super light on the dairy and carbs, heavy on the whole grains and veggies. For one hot minute I thought about trying it out and doing it to the letter, then decided: 1) it's kinda pricey (mache? how about just good old baby spinach?), 2) I frankly don't have the time to make dinner every night, and 3) it's going to take a back seat to the Sugar Bowl, and TNDC . Sorry, I'm just not that dedicated. However, I did peruse the menu and figured I could try out some new ingredients/recipes in an attempt to start the new year off right. At the grocery, I picked up some quinoa (a grain that's been around for centuries and is, in my opinion, a cross between, couscous and barley), vanilla almond milk, and other assorted ingredients. Breakfast for a couple of...

The Ham Sandwich and Grandma Nana at Christmas--would you believe Grandma's 89?--The Ham Sandwich is clearly blessed with some good genetics. It's the first week of January--so of course, the Ham Sandwich (along with every other yahoo on the Internets) is starting off the year with some sort of reflective piece about the changeover. Looking back, 2010 was pretty eventful. The year started with the ending of one relationship, but ended with the beginning of a new one. In the middle, I ran my best time in the Columbus Half Marathon, continued my quest to create delicious pickles, and ate--OK, drank--the hottest pepper in the world (well, until this came along). I visited (and ate delicious food with) friends and loved ones in Boston, Philadelphia, and Petoskey, Michigan, made enough baked goods to single-handedly keep King Arthur Flour in business, and brewed my first batch of beer. As for 2011, it's shaping up to be pretty spectacular. I'm headed to Nepal in Marc...