Ringing in 2011 with a Top 10 list, and a Giveaway!

Happy New Year friends!  2010 has officially come to a close, and what a year it has been.  On the rollercoaster of life, this blog has been a consistent high point, and I get such happiness from sharing my love of food with each of you every day. Throughout this past year, I hope The Cilantropist has given you delicious recipes that helped you experience the simple joys of eating well and sharing good food with friends and family.  I have so many exciting ideas to share with you in 2011, and I can't wait to get started; I hope you will continue to pull up a comfy chair and follow along with me on my adventures.  

But first, lets take a little look back at 2010 and your favorite posts and recipes!  I chose the Top 10 based on pageviews, twitter, reader comments and emails; not surprisingly, many of the top posts were from Project Food Blog, where I made i my mission to put my very best food forward and improve the quality of my blog by leaps and bounds.  So, without further ado, here are the The Cilantropist's Top 10 post of 2011!    

1. The post where I shared my lunch menu for A Presidio Picnic, with Italian Pressed Sandwiches is by far the most viewed post on The Cilantropist.  The post includes a recipe for Sopressata and Provolone Italian Pressed Sandwiches, which I also made for a post-Project Food Blog Celebration, and is the most popular recipe with readers.  For the lunch, we also enjoyed Parmesan and Gruyere Cheese Straws from Barefoot in Paris by Ina Garten, as well as Spiced Pear and Cranberry Pocket Pies.  The Pocket Pies were a huge hit as well, and I can't wait to make them this summer with peaches! 

Spiced Pear and Cranberry Pocket Pies

When I was little, I remember eagerly waiting for my dad to come home from grocery shopping.  He would unload all the big bags full of fruits, vegetables, and canned goods, and I would always be peeking to spy the inevitable sweet treat that he had snuck in with the rest of the healthy groceries.  We didn't eat many 'gourmet' foods back then (this was in the pre-foodie era), so the sugary surprise might have been some Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pies, or maybe some Swiss Rolls, and I can remember eating Entenmann's Raspberry Danishes on dozens of occasions.  I would usually gobble up a slice of Entenmann's danish after school, but those plastic-wrapped Little Debbie treats usually made their way into my lunch bag since they were perfectly portable.

And speaking of wrapped, lunchbox treats, I can't forget about all the Hostess Fruit Pies that I used to eat!  My memory of whether or not we had fruit pies at home is slightly foggy, but I do know that I could get them with my lunch if I ordered from the school cafeteria.  I remember I could never quite decide which flavor to get, but I could be sure that the filling would be super sweet, oozing, and not at all 'made with real fruit.'  The pie 'crust' was waxy, chewy, and also laden with sugar.  As a kid, this was exactly the way I wanted it.  

Nowadays, I prefer more adult-type treats, but that doesn't mean I need to completely shake off my childhood addiction to snack cakes.  For grown-ups and kids alike, a dessert that will give you the tasty goodness of a slice of pie in a compact hand-held form is delicious and just plain fun.  Plus, there is the added aspect that it is yours, and only yours; it is your own personal pocket pie and you don't have to share it with anyone.         

A Presidio Picnic, with Italian Pressed Sandwiches

Remember when I told you that I looove to have dinner parties?  Well, that same passion applies to picnics, barbecues, and brunch dates with friends; anytime I can put together a little meal to feed someone, I am a happy camper.  So imagine my delight when I realized I had advanced to Round 6 of Project Food Blog (woo hoo!!!) and that I had the pleasure of packing up a picnic lunch to take on the road that will travel well and still look great!  To celebrate the end of picnic and barbecue season I decided to kick my usual picnic fare up a notch. I hope you really enjoy the picnic lunch I planned, and that you will continue to show your support and vote for me in this round! 

Before we officially get into my menu, here are a few things I keep in mind when planning to take food anywhere on the go:


-Food that is compact and self-contained (ie. does not have lots of sauces, condiments, etc.) transports best, and creates the least amount of mess.  This also means you don't need to worry about 'assembling' dishes after you arrive at your picnic or party.
-When appropriate, I use high-quality prepared foods that I know are as good as 'homemade.'  This saves time and energy.
-If possible, I like to stick with foods that don't need much cutlery or serving utensils; since it is a picnic, it is more fun to eat with your hands anyway!
-I always think about the aesthetics of my food, and try to keep things festive, fun, and colorful, or use packaging that translates into ease of transportation.   
-I choose dishes that are relatively easy to make, or that I have made before and loved, so there are no snafus and everything tastes fabulous and fresh! 


Keeping these things in mind, I formulated my picnic menu:

Drink: Pomegranate Berry Spritzer

Snack: Parmesan and Gruyere Cheese Straws

Main: Sopressata and Provolone Italian Pressed Sandwiches

Side: Shredded Red Cabbage Salad with Pistachios

Dessert: Spiced Pear and Cranberry Pocket Pies

I got all my food and drinks ready to go, I loaded up my Project Food Blog cooler, and I headed out to meet my good friend Jill at the Presidio of San Diego for an afternoon picnic.  

To start out my menu and wash down all these delicious picnic treats, I decided to go with a refreshing Pomegranate Berry Spritzer.  The good folks over at POM had sent me some awesome POM wonderful and I was eager to try it out!  Pomegranates are loaded with antioxidants, so this drink not only tasted great, but also was healthy too.  Since pomegranates have a sweet-tart flavor, I decided to boost the sweetness factor by making a simple syrup from blueberries and blackberries.  The simple syrup combined with the POM and lime sparking mineral water was a perfect combo and was so easy to make by just bringing along the bottles of POM, a bottle of mineral water, and the syrup in a small container.  Plus, who can resist the deep ruby color of pomegranate juice!   

California Cutie Pie

I really just could not wait to share this recipe with you. Can you blame me? Even right now as I am writing this, my heart is pitter-pattering just thinking about this lovely, juicy, sunny strawberry pie.

So, its really no secret that I have been obsessed with fresh, in-season berries. I just can't get enough of them; when I see them at the farmer's market, their beautiful, bright faces just seem to whisper, "Take me home with you..." And of course I am a more than happy to oblige them. If if wasn't for the fact that berries are packed with antioxidants, this might be an unhealthy obsession. Lucky for me, I can even bake strawberries into a pie and call it healthy. 
I decided to make this pie as a submission for a contest put on by Ms. Humble from Not So Humble Pie. I LOVE her blog, and it is definitely close to the top of my list of favorites. She has a wonderful voice when she speaks about her baked goods, and every single one of her dessert creations seems like the food equivalent of a runway model with a mellow soul: gorgeous enough to be straight off the page of a magazine, but not so pretentious that it is unapproachable. Everything Ms. Humble shares always makes my mouth water, my tummy rumble, and all those sweet tastebuds on my tongue scream for attention. And it certainly doesn't hurt that she was a scientist in a former life.
 

I am not really sure how popular Strawberry Pie is out on the west coast, but growing up in the Midwest we had strawberry pie all the time.  It is really popular in a lot of homestyle diners, and is always heaping with strawberries and served with a big dollop of whipped cream.  I wanted to replicate that here, but with more of a California feel to it. 

So to make this a California strawberry pie, I used local strawberries and I also included some mandarin segments in the filling.  As I mentioned, strawberries are in season here, and I always get mine from the local farmers market.  The strawberries they sell are outstanding, and they are picked in Carlsbad, which is just about 15 minutes north of where I live.  Also around this time of year, you can also buy bags of these adorable little California mandarins.  They are so tiny, that they would just fit in the center of your cupped hand (maybe a little bigger than a golf ball).  On the bag they always call them "California Cuties," and it seems appropriate; everything is cuter in mini-size.  Like the strawberries, these mandarins are sooo sweet and juicy, so it is a perfect pairing for this pie.

Citrus Layer Pie

Are you ready for another grapefruit recipe?  I hope so, because this citrus layer pie is sweet, silky goodness.  

Over Easter weekend, I had planned to host a small brunch party with some close friends, but I was worried about the time it would take to make the apartment "party-ready."  So when a good friend and co-worker invited us over, I eagerly accepted.  He was particularly keen on celebrating the holiday since it was his son's first Easter experience.

Little Viktor Diego Tautz is just under 8 months old this month, and although he can't yet run through the yard on his own, he likes to cruise around in his baby Jeep Liberty that is almost as cool as the new Jeep his dad drives. For Easter he was excited to spend time with his good friend Peter Cottontail and to hunt through the yard for hidden, colorful eggs.  He needed a little help to find his gifts from the Easter Bunny, but that was mostly because he was more interested in the grass than in finding presents. (Already a true outdoorsman!)  Diego still has a few years to go until he can enjoy the champagne, cakes, and yummy citrus pie with the rest of the adults; however, in short time he will join the ranks of children all over the world who celebrate this sugar-laden holiday by eagerly scarfing down Cadbury eggs and chocolate bunnies.