Strawberry Panna Cotta

Every once in awhile I come across a recipe that looks delicious, quick, and simple to make. Strawberry Panna Cotta seemed like one of these, needing a mere 20 minutes of elbow grease. Despite all of this in my favor, I managed to butcher my poor panna cotta. It was a complete and utter disaster. My panna cotta (translation: "cooked cream") was not so panna and had the texture of cotta-ge cheese.

However, I find a cooking failure to be just as interesting as a cooking success (though remarkably less tasty), which is why I am sharing this with you. Failures become a mystery to solve--where did I go wrong and, more importantly, why? I hope you can learn from my mistakes and have a finished product that you can be proud of (and that I will be envious of).

It really is important to run the mixture through a fine sieve. I ran mine through a medium sieve since I have yet to invest in a fine grain sieve. This was mistake #1. By running it through the fine sieve, you can eliminate all of the strawberry seeds which makes the panna cotta very smooth and creamy. My panna cotta was littered with strawberry seeds.

Also, when the recipe states to let the gelatin to stand for 1 minute in the milk, it really means 1 minute. During this step I got distracted by heating the cream and let it stand for several minutes. Mistake #2. By letting it soften longer, the gelatin started to do what it does best--gelatinize. This meant that I had little lumpy gelatin bits in my finished panna cotta. Since panna cotta is known for being smooth in texture, this mistake brought me great shame.

Now do me a favor and don't bring shame upon your panna cotta. Do I as I say, not as I do, okay?

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Twix Cookies

My favorite candy bar has long been the Twix. The crunchy cookie, the ooey gooey caramel, and the melt-on-your-hands-and-in-your-mouth chocolate has made itself a home in my heart. And so, when I saw these cookies for the first time, I knew I had to make them. Pronto.

The shortbread cookie is phenomenal. It has a wonderful salt/sugar combination and is just the right texture. It converted me from an "I like shortbread on occasion" to an "I love shortbread, feed me moooore" kind of girl. The shortbread could easily stand alone, but when combined with the chocolate and caramel? Let me just say you will no longer be buying Twix bars from the supermarket.

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Simple Rhubarb Jam

For as long as I can remember, there has been a huge rhubarb plant in the garden. It is abrasive and tries to overtake and suffocate the other plants. It is a conquering tyrant. My mother refers to it antagonistically as a weed.

Growing up, my family never ate rhubarb and that is the sad, sad truth. The rhubarb plant would sit, lacking attention like a middle child. During sunny afternoons, we could spot the neighbors eyeing our plant with green envy. And then, in the dead of night, they would sneak over with a pair of hedge clippers and steal as much as they could get away with. I kid you not.

I decided this desperately needed to change and so this rhubarb jam was born. It is quick, easy to make, and goes well on just about anything.

Because it was a hot afternoon, I was not about to spend my time canning in the kitchen. Since I am not looking to save up for winter, making one jar sufficed. It takes less than 15 minutes to have a tasty spread. The recipe can easily be doubled or tripled if necessary.

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