Fiesta Friday #15

Tags

Fiesta Friday, Fiesta Friday #15, Fiesta Friday Challenge, moscato, moscato santero, moscato strawberry

Our Fiesta Friday Challenge #1 is off to a great start. We have 45 participants so far, including Catherine and me. (Yes, we’d like to participate, too.) Everybody is truly excited about it. There are talks about conquering the “Yeast Beast” and putting on a hugely humongous “Creative Cap.” That’s always an encouraging sign.

Catherine and I have been brainstorming for ways to make Fiesta Friday Challenge even more exciting. We have been busy trying to get sponsors to provide prizes for the winners and we got one. She would like to remain anonymous, but I just can’t let a generous gesture such as this go unnoticed. I won’t tell you her name, so I won’t get into trouble, but I’ll give you a few hints. Please revisit the Fiesta Friday Challenge #1 post to find out what the prizes (and the hints) are.

In the meantime, you can start conversing with each other. Record your trials and tribulations in your yeast quest, and share them with us. Yeast has the tendency to have a mind of its own. Those of you who have not worked with it will see. I expect a lot of laughter to come out of this.

Please feel free to add your comments and thoughts on the FFC post. Interaction with one another may be the best part of being in an event. You’d never know what you could come up with when two or more heads get together.

For instance, when I started talking to a co-worker about it, I found out that there are many kinds of yeast, the obvious being the ones used for baking and brewing. But, there’s also the kind that is used to make tempeh. Tempeh starter is sometimes also called tempeh starter yeast. It may be a misnomer to categorize tempeh starter as yeast, since it’s really a mold, but for the purpose of this challenge, we will allow it. I have updated the Fiesta Friday Challenge #1 post to include this as well.

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Okay, now back to our regular programming. You may have known by now that Fiesta Friday #15 is co-hosted by Jhuls@The Not So Creative Cook
and Selma@Selma’s Table, since I put their gravatars on my last post.

For Jhul’s sake, I’m grateful that Selma will be there to lend her a calming influence. Jhuls, you know, can use some calming down at times. Just kidding, Jhuls! You can take a little kidding around, yah? You’re a fun-loving, easy-going, fabulously friendly kind of girl, aren’t you? My kind of gal!

Selma, on the other hand, is as cool as a cucumber. Nothing ruffles her feather. She remains unflappable no matter the circumstances. Just so classy. My kind of gal!

This is not a reflection of my fickleness, you know. It’s completely okay and normal to like many kinds of people. Just like the artistic and creative Saucy@Saucy Gander and Johnny@Kitschnflavours. Totally my kind of people. They make the best Fiesta Friday co-hosts, along with fun-loving and calm people.

They rescued me, by the way, when I needed extra pairs of eyes to select features, especially since last week we had a record of 71 links from 71 individual blogs. It was such a job to select these features, which Sir and Saucy aptly did. Give them a rousing applause and a standing ovation, please!

Fiesta Friday #14 features are:

Popcorn: Our Favorite Three from Prudy@Butter, Basil and Breadcrumbs. In Sir’s words, “…I don’t even eat [popcorn], [but] this [was] innovative, [and] the flavors must be superb.” He went on to say that he’d definitely be trying the walnut version. I couldn’t agree more. This was the post that grabbed my attention as well. Popcorn is good on its own, with just a little salt and butter, but Prudy’s Favorite Three elevate the humble movie theater staple to a new level. Have a little fun, serve them next time you have a posh event. Don’t be surprised if you start seeing a line of guests forming, each trying to be the first to get their hands on them.

Hollering for Challah, Challah! from Ngan@ngan made it. All of us concurred that Ngan’s sensational-looking challah loaves belie the fact that she was a first-timer in baking with yeast. As Saucy aptly described, challah is a “slightly tricky enriched dough,” not one that comes to mind for a starter to try. This is highly encouraging for other first-timers, don’t you think? And so timely to coincide with Fiesta Friday yeast challenge. Ngan, you couldn’t have brought a more perfect bread for the occasion.

yogurt & fava bean soup from Seana@COTTAGE GROVE HOUSE. In Saucy’s words, “Maybe it’s the fava beans, which seem like the hoity toity cousin to peas (and how dreamy is the idea of fava beans pureed with rice, as a base for soup?); maybe it’s the idea of a spring time yoghurt soup – warm, tangy yet rich, loaded with spring herbs, lemon zest and hazelnuts. Although this soup is a springtime celebration for Seana, it has also been calling my name all week as a late autumn warmer…” I have only one thing to add. I have fava beans in my fridge right now. All courtesy of this soup.

Asparagus Flan or Crepes with Maltaise Sauce from Timethief@ this time-this space. This is what seasonal eating is all about. Asparagus is currently coming out fast wherever Spring is happening. This is the best time to enjoy this vegetable. Timethief’s recipe is not just an inspiring way of using asparagus, it’s also a lesson in using vegetables in whole. By incorporating perhaps the stalks of the asparagus into the crepe batter, you’ll lessen the waste coming out of your kitchen. It is such a clever way of using “veggie scraps.”

There you have it, folks! Give these features a round of applause. Such outstanding posts!

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This is such a long post. I’ve filled up the space with enough words that I hope people don’t notice I didn’t bring the recipe for the Momofuku-style cake, to the fiesta. You don’t mind waiting for a few more days, do you? Besides, this is the start of Mother’s Day weekend, and I’m a mom, so I’m going to kick off my shoes, put my feet up, relax, and start the celebration early.

I’m pouring myself a glass of bubbly. Cheers to you, especially all you mothers out there!

Fiesta Friday #15 is now open. Come and join the Fiesta Friday fun by linking your post. Click on the button below. If you’re new to Fiesta Friday, please read the guidelines.