Our Resident Blogebrity.

Kalyn got some more good press in the Deseret News today. To read the article (which includes one of her recipes) go here. Nicely done Kalyn. I look forward to trying this recipe.

Kalyn's Kitchen has a Birthday!

I can hardly believe it, but today my blog turns two years old. Not long ago I passed two million pageloads, and in March I had over 300,000 pageloads in one month, so a little celebrating is in order. Thanks to Rand and Bradley for all their assistance, and to everyone in the family for the support! Hopefully there will be many more years of good food and blogging to come!

Look What I Found!

Follow the link to read a story about Kalyn!
It was in the Clipper yesterday!

Since the link is too long, go here to read it.

I Won!

Just a quick note to let you know that Kalyn's Kitchen did win the 2006 Food Blog Award for Best Food Blog - Theme.

Thanks to everyone who voted for me. (And much thanks to Rand and Bradley. I would not be winning this award without all their help!)

Please Vote for Me . . .

Just in case any of you happen to read the blog more than your e-mail I thought I'd remind you that Kalyn's Kitchen has been nominated for Best Food Blog - Theme for the 2006 Food Blog Awards. (Unlike that one I was nominated for last year, this is quite A Big Deal.)

Please click on this link and vote for me if you haven't already voted! You can vote once on any computer you use (except networked computers like at the school or prison probably have the same ISP number.)

Much Thanks!

Getting You In the Mood with Some Thanksgiving Recipes

Here's a turkey I cooked using a recipe from my friend Elise, and it was absolutely the best turkey I've ever made. Every bit of the meat was moist and delicious. I can't link to her recipe because then people can find our blog from her Technorati page, but here's the short version of how she does it. (Send me an e-mail if you want the link to her actual recipe.)

Preheat oven to 400.

Rub the inside of the turkey with salt and juice of one lemon.

Combine cut up onion, celery, and carrots,and stuff into inside of turkey. (I mixed in some dried sage and thyme with the veggies.) Squish up a big sheet of tin foil and stuff it in to keep the veggies inside.

Rub the outside of the turkey with 1/2 stick butter, plus more sage and thyme.

Put turkey in pan UPSIDE DOWN. Cover and roast for 30 minutes at 400.

Reduce heat to 350 and roast another hour. Then reduce heat further to about 225 and continue to roast until turkey is done. (I was in a hurry and kept the heat about 300 for the final cooking time and it was still juicy.)

You can turn heat back up to 350, carefully turn the turkey over and cook uncovered the final 30 minutes if you want the top browned. (Meat thermometer shows about 170 when it's done. It takes about 15 minutes per pound to get to this temperature.)

Cooking the veggies like that inside the turkey creates an incredible juicy result. You throw away the vegetables, but all the juce has drained down into the pan, flavoring your gravy. I guarantee this is the only way I'll cook turkey from now on.

Here's my favorite new Thanksgiving recipe, which I got from Andrea's recipe blog. (I'm pretty sure E doesn't have a technorati page, so I can link to her!) I made it twice, with half sugar, half Splenda, and with all Splenda. Both versions were fantastic, if anyone is interested in limiting their sugar intake. It only has 1/2 cup of sugar, so even if you used all the sugar it's still pretty healthy for a dessert. Here's that recipe from my blog:

Reduced Sugar Layered Pumpkin Cheesecake
(8 servings, recipe from Laura with adaptations by Kalyn)

2 packages (8 oz. each) light cream cheese (not fat free)
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup Splenda
1/2 tsp. Vanilla extract (I used a bit more)
2 eggs
1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. apple pie spice (recipe called for a pinch each of ground nutmeg and cloves, but I didn't have any cloves)
1 (9-inch) purchased graham cracker crust
(get the lowest sugar crust you can find)
whipped cream (optional, I didn't think it needed it)

Preheat oven to 325F. In large bowl combine softened cream cheese, sugar, Splenda, and vanilla. Beat with electric mixer until smooth. Blend in eggs, one at a time. Remove one cup of batter and spread into bottom of graham cracker crust.

Add pumpkin and spices to remaining batter and stir until blended. Carefully spread pumpkin layer over first layer in the crust. Bake in preheated oven 35-45 minutes, or until center is almost set. Allow to cool, then chill several hours or overnight. Serve with whipped cream if desired and wait for compliments.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

This is Me Having Fun At Blogher

Here's a picture of me having a great time at the Blogher conference. It was actually taken at a Japanese restaurant where I was having dinner with some other food bloggers. It was wonderful to have the chance to attend this conference with so many other smart women bloggers. The mental energy was quite amazing.

The photo was taken by my friend Elise Bauer, who writes the highly successful blog Simply Recipes. In my opinion, Elise's blog is the #1 food blog in the U.S. Elise has been such a great online friend and mentor to me that it was wonderful to meet her in person. She's not only one of the smartest people I've ever met, but also completely genuine and friendly.

I think a lot of you would enjoy Elise's blog. She lives with her parents and shares the things they cook together on the blog.

Here is what the article in Woman's World said about me. Thanks so much to Rand for scanning it for me and spiffing it up a little for me to put it on my blog. I'll still send the magazine for anyone who wants to see the "real thing".

I also have another bit of news that some of you may be interested in. For those who remember Frank, he is back in my life again, and we are making some plans to spend time together and do some serious traveling. I really care about him, and he seems to feel the same way, so it is really great so far. (It feels a bit weird to write this on the blog, but it's the easiest way to tell everyone without spending hours on the phone. If you want more details you'll have to call me.)