31-recipe challenge Day 20: Butterscotch pudding and Liebster Blog Award

Before we get started, I’d like to note that it is February 28, and it is the final day of my 31-recipe challenge, and my final day of cooking. I have a few more posts to get out to be all caught up, but this is it. I want it on record that I HAVE made all 31 (well, 30) recipes in the 28 days of February. In the words of Top Chef, at the end of today it’s “knives down, hands up.” Done-zo.

But until then…

I was so excited to make this pudding. Butterscotch pudding…are there any two more beautifully paired words in the English language?

Butterscotch pudding, when done right, is one of those things you find yourself daydreaming about, craving at any hour. Basically, it’s heaven in a bowl…

…until I lay my hands on it. I had such high hopes for this one, and it came out, well, a flop. Now, the recipe from Jennifer at Foodess is not to blame; her pudding looked DIVINE. My ineptitude with anything remotely dessert-y is to blame here. It’s a vicious curse, really…a woman with a sweet tooth as voracious as mine can’t make dessert. That’s irony. (I’m 0 for 2 on puddings here; they are clearly not my forte. Remember the bread pudding?)

To be honest, I have no idea where this began going downhill. I followed the recipe exactly (I didn’t even halve it!), and when I put the finished pudding in the fridge, it seemed fine.  But when I went to taste-test hours later, the texture was totally off-putting. It was gritty, grainy and curdled (ugh!).The one good thing, at least, was the flavor. (Thank you very much, Johnnie Walker Black Label. Good scotch=good butterscotch.)

It still looked nice. I can pretend, can’t I?

Sure, I had encountered some curdling through the cooking process, but I didn’t freak…Jenn said that may happen, and if so, just our through a strainer before storing in the fridge. I guess mine wasn’t fine-meshed enough, or the curdling continued during refrigeration. I’m not sure. As for the grittiness…I got nothing. The caramel/butterscotch base (i.e., the molten sugar) was smooth and creamy, not grainy and sugary, so that’s not to blame. I’m out.

My one true disaster actually occurred early on. My successful caramel was actually my second attempt–my first attempt burnt to a crisp and filled my apartment with smoke. My eyes were burning, my dog was whimpering, I was running around half-blinded to open all the windows in the vicinity. At one point, I thought turning on the ceiling fan in the kitchen would help, but instead it just blew the burnt-sugar smoke into the living room, the foyer, the hallway. The dog and I took refuge in the bathroom (the only safe place) until we could breathe and see again. That was tragic, and nearly ruined the saucepan. (Two days of soaking, scrubbing and boiling water later, it’s like new!)

Needless to say, I watched round two like a hawk–at exactly that five-minute mark, off the heat. And it was lovely.

Anyway, let’s move on from this disaster that was (not) butterscotch pudding.

On Tuesday, I received the Liebster Blog Award from Sherry at Cafe Vita! I’m so excited! My little blog finally got noticed, and this is my first-EVER blogging award! The Liebster Blog Award is given to new bloggers that only have about 200 followers. “Liebster” is German for dearest, loveliest or favorite.

There are some rules to accepting this award:

1. Each awarded blogger will post 11 random facts about themselves

2. 11 questions provided by the sender have to be answered

3. 11 new bloggers have to be chosen to which the award will be passed on

Go to their pages, tell them about the award and pass on the link to your post!

So it is kind of a blogger chain mail. This is a nice way to hep promote new blogs and to  get to know the owners.

So here it goes: 11 random facts about me:

1. I graduated Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ, with a degree in Journalism and Media Studies and a minor in Spanish.

2. While there, I also seriously considered minoring in dance (and auditioned to).

3. I currently live with my mother and my English Pointer named Nikki, and occasionally my younger sister. Four months ago, we moved out of the house we lived in for 21 years.

4. But, within the next two months, I will be living with my boyfriend Kevin and his/our yellow lab, Mackenzie.

5. I hate mushrooms.

6. I’ve lived in five different towns in New Jersey and one city in Spain (Valencia).

7. I am absolutely terrified of needles and crickets.

8. I’m very short. I’m just barely 5’1″ with shoes on.

9. By day, I work as a writer and web site administrator for a national political and  public opinion polling company.

10. I’ve been a dancer since I was three years old.

11. I dye my hair. I’m a natural brunette, but dye it red.

So now is the time to pass this award along!

I looked through Facebook, Twitter and WordPress to find up-and-coming blogs I enjoy and who’s work I want to promote. I noticed these blogs and would like to pass the award on to them.  This is a vehicle to help you connect with other new bloggers and to mutually encourage one another.  Have fun! (Confession: I may or may not be fudging a bit, since I’m not entirely sure how many followers some of these blogs have.)

Treats and Trinkets (so many sweets! I’ll leave the desserts to her! And she’s a Jersey girl!)

Our Dinner Table (another Jersey girl! You know I love it!)

Michele’s Woman Cave

Turn Up The Eat

At the red table

40 Fit in the Mitt

Hungry Hungry Runner

Down-Home South Jersey (THREE Jersey girls! Clearly NJ is the place for awesome food bloggers!)

Heike Herrling …but it tasted good (such beautiful, creative dishes!)

Young Grasshopper

Crostini and Chianti (is that a blog title or an invitation? Because, yes please!)

These were the 11 questions asked by Sherry at Cafe Vita:

1.  Where do you live NOW? 15 minutes away from my old house, right on the Jersey Shore
2.  What made you decide to blog? I was unhappy with where my life was 13 months ago, and I wanted to do something for me. I had toyed with the idea for a few weeks, so I just decided to jump in and do it.
3.  What was the number one tool that helped you get started? I’m not really sure how to answer that…Wordpress?
4.  Share a blog address that INSPIRED you. The Lean Green Bean. She’s an inspirational health, fitness, food and nutrition blogger. She gets me off my couch! http://www.theleangreenbean.com/
5.   What are your goals for your blog? I hope to reach out to people who share my passion for food, cooking and nutrition and I hope to expand my readership beyond my parents and my really bored friends.
6.  How do you take your photos? Badly! Haha…on an iPhone (I knoooow). I try to set up some good lighting and staging, usually on my well-lit end table in my living room. Then I edit in PicStitch.
7.  How much time do you spend per day/week on your blog or Facebook interactions? That really varies. This month, about an hour a day. Other times, much less.
8.  What do you like most in a blog post from others? Humor, relatability, honesty, personal anecdotes and pretty photos.
9.  What are other hobbies that you have besides blogging? Theater and dance, nutrition, yoga
10. Favorite blog? Peas and Crayons…she nails the factors I mentioned in #8, and sometimes I believe we’re kindred spirits.
11. Favorite ingredient? That’s such a tough call…fresh basil or cilantro or ginger. And red wine. And black pepper. And peas. OK, that was more than one…

Congratulations to all the recipients, it was well deserved! Now, here are my 11 questions for YOU!

1. What’s the best advice you would like to receive from an established blogger?

2. What’s the best advice you would give to a new blogger?

3. What is your favorite cocktail/beverage?

4. Favorite guilty pleasure food?

5. Favorite television show?

6. Why did you start blogging?

7. If you could have dinner with anyone from history, dead or alive, who would it be and what would you ask?

8. Who’s your main taste tester/critic/support system?

9. What’s your occupation?

10. What’s the biggest disaster you’ve ever had in the kitchen?

11. It’s almost spring! What’s the thing your most excited about heading into spring?

Now it’s your turn! Copy and paste these questions into a new post and answer them, and then pass along the award to 11 more well-deserving bloggers! Have fun!

And a major thanks again to Sherry from Cafe Vita for passing this award to me!