Happy Blogoversary to me! {giveaway}

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A year ago today, I posted my first post launching Sweetbites into the food blogging community.

I had no clue what in the world I was doing.

If I’m honest with each of you, I still think I have no clue what I’m doing.

Just like, I still can not believe that a whole year has passed by this fast.

Guess I been having fun?

I’ve come a long way since then.  At the beginning the idea to create a food blog, was simply another outlet for me to put my recipes and experiences in the kitchen and share them with a couple of my close friends and family.

And along the way, it became more.  I always had a passion for cooking for my family and friends, now that passion has expanded to include everyone out there that cares to come and spend a bit of time here on this tiny bit of space in the immeasurable internet.  You guys are my inspiration to post better recipes, give better tips, and take pictures that make you run to your kitchen and pick up a saucepan.

If I choose to believe my monthly stat – what started with only a couple of people visiting has grown to a couple of thousand.

I still shake my head and wonder how in the hell has that happen?

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HCB: The Bostini

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Internet, after months and months, and plenty of baking from Rose’s Heavenly Cakes, and as my fellow baker, Mendy, dully noted on last week comments: “The Bostini has landed”.

This dessert has been patiently waiting in the wings for quite some time now. Even while some of the Heavenly Cake Bakers venture off the path and made it during the free choice week and gave the rest of us a small peak of what this dessert could be.

And what could it be?

Dear heaven above - THIS IS GOOD.

Ok, good is not a worthy word to describe this.  Maybe excellent? Nah, not good enough… How about first-class? Nope, does not do it justice.  Superior? Outstanding? Tremendous? Or maybe we can just call it simply brilliant.

Yep, that is it – BRILLIANT.

Because, this little cup has a whole lot to make it brilliant.

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GCC: Menu 5 - Braised Oxtail with Wine and Herbs and Polenta

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Braising is the classic cooking technique for food to be browned in hot fat, then covered and slowly cook in a small amount of liquid over low heat.  It’s ideal for preparing tough cuts of meat, such as beef short ribs and pork shoulder, oxtail, shanks and many more.

This method dissolves collagen from the meat into gelatin, to enrich and add body to the liquid. Braising is also very economical, as it allows the use of tough and inexpensive cuts, and efficient, as it often employs a single pot to cook an entire meal.  Most braises follow the same basic steps.

The food to be braised is first seared to brown its surface and enhance its flavor. If the food will not produce enough liquid of its own, a small amount of cooking liquid that often includes an acidic element, such as tomatoes, beer, or wine, is added to the pot, often with stock. The dish is cooked covered at a very low simmer until the meat is fork tender. Often the cooking liquid is finished to create a sauce or gravy

For the Gutsy Cook choice this week we had the Braised Oxtail with wine and herbs and instead of pairing it with the most likely candidate of mashed potatoes, we took it one step further and instead choose to cook polenta as the perfect side dish.

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