Side Dish - 30th Nov.

Side Dish - Scotty's Food Blog from ABC, Brothers & Sisters.

I see gourmet cupcake shops everywhere these days and feel like I'm always hearing from one friend or another about some insanely good cupcake they've just eaten. It seems that the cake in its classic sliced form has been demoted; the cupcake is the confection of our time.

Cake is more stuffy, formal and reserved for "functions." Unencumbered by the fork and plate, the cupcake is really another expression of our freedom. It is the desert of the masses, offering something for all occasions and people. Today, you're as likely to find the ubiquitous treat at a wedding as you are at a child's birthday party, as the energy-boosting study group snack or the forbidden sweet that derails a diet, eaten in secret behind the boiler in the basement.

And flavors? Vanilla and chocolate are so 1983. How about a cupcake that tastes like a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup? Why drink a Pina Colada when you can eat a pineapple cupcake with a rum/coconut cream cheese frosting? I even saw a $4 cupcake meant to look and taste like a Hostess cupcake. This is what we've come to: Cupcake-flavored cupcakes. How meta.


Don't get me wrong. I love eating cupcakes almost as much as I love making them. And as some of you know, I bake a mean cupcake. Back when I had that toucan hairdo, I even toyed with the idea of opening an overpriced (I mean "gourmet") cupcake shop of my very own. When I first met Kevin, his sister invited me to a party at their house and did I bring flowers or wine? No. I brought the one thing that I knew would win him over if my charm and good looks failed: red velvet cupcakes. They were both rich and sweet. I, on the other hand, was just sweet.

Sure when I first bit into a Creamsicle Cupcake or a Grape Bubble Gum Cupcake or even a Chipotle Chocolate Cupcake with Maple Glazed Bacon I knew I was tasting something special. But (and I never say this about things with bacon in them) I couldn't help but feel like something was missing. It's hard to believe that a cupcake the size of a softball could be missing anything, but after the initial excitement faded and my blood sugar levels returned to normal I was left feeling like they were all show and no substance. The Paris Hilton of desserts.

I'll take one of my mom's cupcakes – which she made from a box – any day. I envy pastry chefs' patience and their eye towards precision and perfection, but when my mom made cupcakes she had to find the time in her busy day to do it. She did it out of love. So maybe that's what's missing. Maybe that's why I made red velvet cupcakes for Kevin rather than buying a dozen at Crumbs. My cupcake might, at first glance, have seemed like one I could get at a store; they both would have had the same colors, textures and taste. Maybe the difference, as corny as it sounds, is love. I guess you could say I was looking for love at first bite.

Red Velvet Cupcakes Recipe

Cupcakes
2 1/2 cups sifted cake flour
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 tablespoons red food coloring*
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon vinegar
1 cup buttermilk**
* You can also substitute beet juice or beet puree to achieve the red color and retain some moisture.
**If you don't have buttermilk you can add a tablespoon of distilled white vinegar to milk and let it stand for 10-12 minutes.

Cream-Cheese Frosting
8 ounces cream cheese (one bar)
1/2 pound unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups confectioner's sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
(Optional) Cupcake toppers or colored sugar

Cupcakes
Preheat oven to 325° F. Line muffin tins with wrappers. Mix all dry ingredients together. Mix all the wet ingredients together. Combine the wet and dry mixtures together thoroughly. Fill each wrapper about two-thirds full will batter. Bake 15 to 20 minutes. Let them cool completely. (This is hard for Kevin!)

Frosting
Mix all the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Slowly add confectioner's sugar, mixing as you go. Next, add the vanilla extract. Frost cupcakes the cupcakes and sprinkle with colored sugar or cupcake toppers.

Makes about 24.

Brothers & Sisters S4E09

"Pregnant Pause"

This episode is directed by Matthew Rhys.
I love their conversation at the clinic.

Scotty: Will you come with me?
Kevin: No, it's a clinic, not a motel.

And I like his line on the phone,

Kevin: I'm waiting for my husband to finish masturbating.

Hilarious!

Matthew Rhys was on the View

There were nothing related with Luke, but Matthew Rhys was on the View on 24th November. Just only once the name Scotty came up.

Side Dish - 23rd Nov.

Side Dish - Scotty's Food Blog from ABC, Brothers & Sisters.

This week has been particularly cold for LA. I imagine that this is what autumn in New England feels like: the approaching cold, coming indoors rosy-cheeked after a pickup football game, raking colored leaves into piles and drinking hot mulled apple cider.

"I can see my breath," Kevin demonstrated with characteristic gruff as we left the house this morning to head over to his mother Nora's house. So much for global warming. When we got to Nora's, Kevin was still complaining about the cold and so I got an idea. One quick look at Nora's pantry assured me that she would not miss a few ingredients (and we all know how expensive nutmeg is!), so while everyone was in the other room undoubtedly spilling secrets they had promised to keep, I slipped into the kitchen and raided Nora's pantry.


I filled the crockpot with about a gallon of apple cider and stirred in 1/4 cup of brown sugar. Then I stuck about 20-25 whole cloves into the skin of 1/2 an apple cut into wedges and 1 whole orange.

To the apple and orange, I added 2 whole nutmegs, 3 cinnamon sticks, 4 pieces of crystallized ginger wrapped it all in cheesecloth and dropped it into the crock pot, topping it off with the rest of the gallon of cider.You can use other spices too star anise, lemon zest or allspice berries, for example but make sure you use whole spices; ground spices will leave the cider gritty and cloudy. Let this simmer for a few hours, enjoying the autumnal aromas as they fill your house.


Next, pour a healthy mug two-thirds full, top off with Brandy and enjoy with someone who needs a little warming up.

Happy Thanksgiving!
Scotty.

I didn't expect a new post because there was no airing yesterday. That was a very good surprise.

Side Dish - 16th Nov.

Re-post with pictures.

Dear Friends,

It's 6:00 AM and I'm sitting cross-legged on my couch while my husband sleeps quietly in the next room. Usually this time of day is relaxing for me, but not today. In fact, today I feel panicked because I'm typing the first tentative lines of my food blog and, as my closest friends can tell you, writing has never been my strong suit. Some of you may recall my attempt in high school at self-publishing the comic: Johnny Truth and the Big Secret Squad.


I don't want to call it a dismal failure, but let's just say I couldn't even convince my parents to buy a copy. But I've been poked enough times by friends and colleagues to put a few of my kitchen and culinary musings into print to reconsider my literary ambitions. I know you were hoping for a cookbook, but after Johnny Truth, this seems like a more manageable first step. Who knows? A blog today, a cookbook tomorrow...

Part of the deal with my little online journal is that it remain amongst my friends. The truth is that as much as I love my slumbering husband, I've become entangled in his family's life rather profoundly and I'm looking for a bit of an escape. I want to talk about my thoughts on cooking, recipes, restaurants and all of my culinary adventures free from the Walker family's web of gossip. As much as I love my Mother-in-Law she has her way of making a Hollandaise sauce and I have mine.

Because it's my first post and it's so early in the morning it seems fitting to start with breakfast and a few thoughts on a kitchen classic that is all too easy to get wrong: the poached egg.

And, believe me, over the years I've gotten the poached egg wrong. In fact one of my first recipes was a Zucchini Summer Stew with a poached egg on top. I first made it for my Dad when I was 9 and my Mom was out of town visiting Granny. It was so good he hasn't stopped asking me to make it for him since. Coming up with the recipe (which I can share later) was the easy part – poaching the egg proved a good deal harder.

So here are my favorite egg poaching pointers – I wish I had these when I was 9:
• You need to use a fresh egg. There's no substitute for that. Trust. Me.
• I always add a tiny bit of vinegar to the water first (about 1 TBSP per pint). Something about the chemicals helps to keep the egg together as it cooks.
• Bring the water only to the slightest boil. A roaring boil can pock the egg and leave bubbles.
• To make sure your egg is perfectly shaped, crack it into a small bowl first, and then tip the egg from the bowl into the boiling water.

Two other things. First, I'm not a believer in the whirlpool technique for poaching eggs. I've tried this "chef secret" many times and just find it messy. I used to work with a sous chef who liked to say: "Whirlpools are for happy blokes, not cracked yokes." I couldn't agree more.

Second, don't overcook the egg. It probably needs a maximum of 3 minutes, covered. A runny yoke is always preferred, unless you are classless. (You know who you are.)

I like to serve my eggs with salt and pepper on toasted bread smeared with the slightest bit of White Truffle Butter. My sister-in-law just brought me a tiny jar of the stuff from a recent trip to France. Now don't think that I am one of those people who thinks that everything taste better with truffles. But I do think that starting your day off with a bit of class can only lead to good things.


And on that note I think I may just open up that bottle of Champagne that has been sitting in the back of my fridge, make a Mimosa, and bring sleeping beauty some breakfast in bed.

Scotty.

It's started!!!

Side Dish - Scotty's Food Blog has launched today. It will be posted weekly.

Obviously it's better to read it on its own website though, I would like to copy them here.

Side Dish
Get weekly dish from Scotty Wandell as he talks about his favorite recipes, cooking adventures and thoughts on the latest Walker drama.

Dear Friends,

It's 6:00 AM and I'm sitting cross-legged on my couch while my husband sleeps quietly in the next room. Usually this time of day is relaxing for me, but not today. In fact, today I feel panicked because I'm typing the first tentative lines of my food blog and, as my closest friends can tell you, writing has never been my strong suit. Some of you may recall my attempt in high school at self-publishing the comic: Johnny Truth and the Big Secret Squad.

I don't want to call it a dismal failure, but let's just say I couldn't even convince my parents to buy a copy. But I've been poked enough times by friends and colleagues to put a few of my kitchen and culinary musings into print to reconsider my literary ambitions. I know you were hoping for a cookbook, but after Johnny Truth, this seems like a more manageable first step. Who knows? A blog today, a cookbook tomorrow...

Part of the deal with my little online journal is that it remain amongst my friends. The truth is that as much as I love my slumbering husband, I've become entangled in his family's life rather profoundly and I'm looking for a bit of an escape. I want to talk about my thoughts on cooking, recipes, restaurants and all of my culinary adventures free from the Walker family's web of gossip. As much as I love my Mother-in-Law she has her way of making a Hollandaise sauce and I have mine.

Because it's my first post and it's so early in the morning it seems fitting to start with breakfast and a few thoughts on a kitchen classic that is all too easy to get wrong: the poached egg.

And, believe me, over the years I've gotten the poached egg wrong. In fact one of my first recipes was a Zucchini Summer Stew with a poached egg on top. I first made it for my Dad when I was 9 and my Mom was out of town visiting Granny. It was so good he hasn't stopped asking me to make it for him since. Coming up with the recipe (which I can share later) was the easy part – poaching the egg proved a good deal harder.

So here are my favorite egg poaching pointers – I wish I had these when I was 9:
• You need to use a fresh egg. There's no substitute for that. Trust. Me.
• I always add a tiny bit of vinegar to the water first (about 1 TBSP per pint). Something about the chemicals helps to keep the egg together as it cooks.
• Bring the water only to the slightest boil. A roaring boil can pock the egg and leave bubbles.
• To make sure your egg is perfectly shaped, crack it into a small bowl first, and then tip the egg from the bowl into the boiling water.

Two other things. First, I'm not a believer in the whirlpool technique for poaching eggs. I've tried this "chef secret" many times and just find it messy. I used to work with a sous chef who liked to say: "Whirlpools are for happy blokes, not cracked yokes." I couldn't agree more.

Second, don't overcook the egg. It probably needs a maximum of 3 minutes, covered. A runny yoke is always preferred, unless you are classless. (You know who you are.)

I like to serve my eggs with salt and pepper on toasted bread smeared with the slightest bit of White Truffle Butter. My sister-in-law just brought me a tiny jar of the stuff from a recent trip to France. Now don't think that I am one of those people who thinks that everything taste better with truffles. But I do think that starting your day off with a bit of class can only lead to good things.

And on that note I think I may just open up that bottle of Champagne that has been sitting in the back of my fridge, make a Mimosa, and bring sleeping beauty some breakfast in bed.

Scotty.

I can't wait to read next blog already.

Brothers & Sisters S4E08

"The Wine Festival"

How cute Scotty is! I love his shirt.

SIDE DISH - Scotty's Food Blog

There is an unbelievably incredible, amazingly wonderful and absolutely fabulous news!!
Luke is gonna blog as Scotty. It's "SIDE DISH" and will start this coming Monday, 16th. You can check it out on the website, Bloggers & Sisters.

Beginning this Monday (November 16) Scotty Wandell fans have a new weekly treat to look forward to – SIDE DISH, Scotty’s very own food blog. But wait, Scotty’s a fictional character...so who is actually going to be writing this new blog? Well, who knows Scotty better than Luke Macfarlane himself

“All my life, I’ve loved writing. In high school I used to write short stories all the time. So when I first had the idea of writing a food blog as Scotty, I knew that I also wanted to do most of the writing. I asked John Kazlauskas to be involved as well, but it's just the two of us who will be writing everything you see posted.”

But that’s the last time you’ll hear that Luke and John are doing the writing:

“We wanted this to come completely from Scotty’s world -- to feel totally real and intimate. Like the show is alive outside of Sunday night. So you won’t see John’s or my name anywhere on the blog. This is from Scotty. Even down to the pictures we’re taking. We’re not going to use ABC publicity stills from the show. We’re doing what Scotty would do: take pictures with his phone.”

How did the idea for the blog come about?

“I love going out to eat and the idea came while I was out eating with some friends. It just seemed like a fun opportunity to explore more about who Scotty is. And, unlike Scotty, I’m not much of a cook so this is a chance for me to learn something, too.”

What can we expect to see on the blog?

“It’s basically everything food-related that’s going on for Scotty when he’s not on screen. It might be his musings on a particular food or food trend, his kitchen tips, a copy of his favorite recipes or just stories about his random culinary adventures. But it’s all real. John and I are actually doing everything we write about whether it’s pickling beets or doing a tasting of frozen TV dinners. It’s going to be a lot of fun”


SIDE DISH launches on Monday, November 16. A new SIDE DISH will be posted the Monday following every new episode of BROTHERS & SISTERS.

I can't wait to start reading his blog as Scotty! I think it's a great interaction between Luke and his fans. He hasn't been around much as himself, but at least we can see him on the website as Scotty from now on. And he still can keep his private life as his own. I would like to thank for this wonderful idea. And the same time, I'm a little jealous of the writer, John, because he can work with Luke!

Brothers & Sisters S4E07

"The Wig Party"

I love "Scotty and Dad" moments. I really like writers lately because they made Scotty as a human being, not garnish. He has his own stories with Nora or Michell or Dad, not always with Kevin.
As Kong said, I reckon this season is for Calista. Main stream is her cancer story. But it doesn't matter. As long as Scotty gets good scenes or lines, I truely am looking forward to the next episode every week.
But I'm afraid there'll be coming Ryan story in the next episode or very near future, because there wasn't any stories in this episode. Last week there was a short Ryan story that seemed he stole some information from Ojai Foods and gave it to a enemy.
Anyway I'm thinking how Scotty's dad's story influences Scotty and Kevin. Does it make their lives more complicated, or just a story?

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Brothers & Sisters S4E06

"Zen & the Art of Mole Making"

I don't know how to say. I'm happy with having a concrete storyline involving Scotty, but I've got a sort of uneasiness. Probably I don't want to let them have a baby yet. I think I should patiently watch the progress of this storyline.
In this episode, Tomy has showed up. To tell the truth, I didn't like his character in this family, but in this episode he told Nora what he thought, and as you know if you come here several times, I don't like Nora, so I felt a little sympathy with him.
Anyways I'm pretty satisfied with having Luke in Brothers & Sisters as not being like a Julia. And I love the scene where Scotty holds Kevin's shoulder. I want to be a Kevin.

I wrote maybe more than a few times, this season is much much much better than season 3, and I guess many people agree with that. The Gays of Daytime's admin wrote

"I must say I like how Scotty is growing in this relationship. Scotty as Kevin's little pet was not so much fun, Scotty the grown up husband - much better!"

I strongly agree with him. I want to thank to the writers of Brothers & Sisters for their scripts of the Season 4 for Scotty.