Western Pennsylvania Culinary Warfare League

This weekend, I was privileged to attend the fourth battle of the Western Pennsylvania Culinary Warfare League at my friends', Sara and Fred's, house. A brief summary of what the WPCWL is all about is Iron Chef at home.

Sara and Fred's secret ingredient, leafy greens, was revealed to them after midnight the day of the battle. They each had the whole day to do their shopping and prepare foods for the battle. Not only was I able to supply them with my NEW food processor (which I am still pumped about), but I was invited to be a judge in the competition.

Sara's Menu:

1st Course
- Pickled Brussels sprout "olives" stuffed with bleu cheese in a martini
- Mint and arugula granita on goat cheese with a blackberry balsamic reduction and candied pecans
- Palak paneer curry-deviled eggs with "sun-dried tomato caviar"

2nd Course
- Swiss chard ravioli with fresh white anchovies and lemon-caper butter

3rd course
- Dark chocolate kale ice cream with kale chips and sea salt (this was made with dry ice)

Fred's Menu:

1st course
- Prosciutto-wrapped Brussels sprouts with three sauces: mint-yogurt, honey mustard, and ginger soy

2nd course
- Filet over a slaw salad, leek mashed potatoes, and a swiss chard salad with a whiskey-carrot dressing

3rd course
- Nori cannolis filled with cherry-raspberry pastry cream

To find out who won and for mouth-watering pictures, you will have to read the update on the WPCWL page.

All I can say is that I left a very full and happy camper and can't wait to make Sara make me those raviolis again.

Resolutions to Keep

The holidays were a blur of activity and by the end of my winter break I felt like I needed a vacation from my vacation. My January month is filling up with Fun-A-Day, a four-day trip to see my friend before she moves back to Mexico, and (hopefully) an adventure into Columbus, Ohio.

I'm trying to stay focused on the important things in 2010, like traveling. Every year my calendar is marked with all of the zine, comic, and punk fests of interest that I never attend. Today I sat down and looked through airfares for Stumptown Comic Festival in Portland, Oregon in April.

In addition to Stumptown, the Boston Zine Fair, Philly Zine Fest, New York Comic Con, Richmond Zine Fest, Small Press Expo and Chajos in Tejas are all on my radar for the coming months. From the internet, it doesn't seem like the BZF didn't happen last year but maybe the organizer's new year's resolution will be to make this happen.