Romancing the dog

Hot dogs are romantic, everyone has a fondness for the frankfurter. There are vegan hot dogs, there are vegetarian hot dogs, turkey, chicken and salmon hot dogs - there is a hot dog out there for everyone.



Before I get all caught up in the franks please take a minute and vote for my recipe over at Foodista for Candy Cap Flan - all you need to do is click that little widget up there.


There is actually a National Hot Dog & Sausage Council just in case you need to file some official paperwork. The hot dog is serious and it has its own etiquette.


Perhaps you were wondering who eats the most of these luscious tube steaks, No need to guess its New York City!

Caribbean Belle

Way back in the summer I created a Plum Carpaccio and this particular recipe generated a lot of buzz and hype. It was to be published in France and in New Zealand and also in the Caribbean but the funny realistic thing of it all is I had no idea if it actually was ever published since I somehow never received any copies of the publications. This is also a testament to how things have changed in the digital world, people e mailed me and asked if they could use it and credit me and I said yes and then they vanished, my guess is that they never used it. All this changed today when, lo and behold, my lovely friend Cynthia from Tastes Like Home managed to get me a copy of her article that was published in the January issue of Caribbean Belle magazine. This publication is available online and at news stands - but I think you would need to be in the Caribbean to pick one up.



I scanned in the piece but you can go to the website to see it there as well. In my scanned version I included my Plum Carpaccio picture that they said they could not include because I shot it at too low a resolution (I did not expect it to be printed but I have since started to shoot everything with possible printing in mind) so this is how it would look in my ideal world.



As much as I would have loved to have my photo included in the actual piece I am still happy to have my recipe out there for more of the world to see. Thanks Cynthia.

Shrimp Ravioli

Guest posting again over at MarxFoods - go check out my Shrimp Ravioli.

chile is my nectar

Did you know that I could probably eat chile every day for the rest of my life and still react like it was the best thing I have ever tasted? Well I could! Red chile, green chile, red and green chile, green and red chile - you can see that the possibilities and combinations are endless.



Basic green chile stew is easy to put together. Brown some meat, add some onions, add roasted, peeled and chopped green chile and garlic, salt and pepper to taste, a little mexican oregano and add broth. You can add cube potatoes and mushrooms if you want to make it super deluxe.



This simmers for a while until it smells so good you cant resist it any longer.



I like it simply poured over a warmed tortilla that is filled with cheese and rolled. I could eat a few of these little cheesy bites, want to kick it to the moon - top it with an over easy egg!

open for business

When OpenSky approached me about opening up a shop on their website I didnt realize what a special honor it was until I saw all the fantastic items they have via their 85 shopkeepers. There is literally something for everyone. I then spent the next few days choosing and organizing my products so that you guys would have the easiest time finding what I already found for you. If you are a new reader or if you have been around for a while you probably already know that I am a little on the unique side (to say the least) so it is with this built in meter that I bring to you things that I think are great. When a good opportunity comes along I jump on it like its ultimate fighting, I am all over it with headlocks and power flips and jumping kicks and this is exactly what happened when OpenSky asked me to set up a shop. This unique marketplace has a limited number of shopkeepers and a vast assortment of products and it is growing everyday. The limited number of shopkeepers is a great thing because then you know that each merchant was hand selected for their originality. My URL has always been "a little bit of Christo" and now this shop is going to give me the forum to bring this to you, no longer will I be using something you cant get because if I can get it to you I will.



In the coming days and weeks I will be offering promotions not unlike this fantastic promotion that Greg @ sippitysup offered yesterday and I was all over it. Thats right, even though I am also a shopkeeper I couldnt pass up this amazing deal on a great utensil and a lot of the times these deals come and go so quickly so you have to act fast, glad I did.



Keep in mind my shop is brand spankin' new so it will be going through some changes as I get the hang of the format, you can look for a more exciting splash page as well as highlighted specials to be surfacing real soon. For now go have a look around, and by all means check out some of the other shopkeepers as well, there are gardening shops and cosmetic shops and even shops for things you cant mention - have a look and have fun.