Pietown

Chocolate Cherry Cookies

2010-11-21T08:28:00.000-08:00

I meant to get a photo of these cookies once I put them out at the potluck, but I ended up completely forgetting. So instead, a picture of the potluck itself!

These are made just like chocolate chip cookies (cream the butter and sugar, add the eggs and vanilla, and then the dry stuff)

- 1 1/4 cups flour
- 1 cup cocoa
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/8 tsp almond extract
- 1 cup dried sour cherries
- 1 2/3 cup chocolate chips (I used a mix of semisweet, milk chocolate, and white chocolate)
- 1 cup butter
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 3/4 cup white sugar
- 2 eggs

Baking them for 9 1/2 - 10 minutes, using my larger ice cream scoop (leveled) seemed to be exactly perfect - chewy, and they stayed chewy even after they had cooled.

Apple Sandwich

2010-11-10T14:08:00.000-08:00

- Bread
- Thinly slice apple
- Sharp cheddar cheese
- Mustard
- Honey
- Black pepper

Cook on a sandwich press (I use my George Forman.) I like to drizzle a little bit of honey on the outside of the sandwich before cooking it, so it will caramelize.

Broccoli Cauliflower Soup

2010-11-10T13:55:00.000-08:00

This soup tastes so much better than it should. And it is an easy way to get a large dose of veggies. But it isn't very pretty, so no picture...

- 1 cup diced celery
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1 cup diced carrot
- minced garlic
- olive oil
- salt
- 1 head of cauliflower, broken into pieces small enough to fit into soup pot
- an equal amount of broccoli (okay to use stems.)
- 1 packet Trader Joe's Savory Broth (I used vegetable)
- water
- about 2-3 ounces cream cheese

In a large soup pot, cook the celery, onion, carrot and garlic in olive oil. Add the cauliflower, broccoli, broth, salt and water (a few cups?). Simmer until broccoli and cauliflower is soft. Blend with immersion blender. Add cream cheese and blend.

Dinner in Bonners Ferry

2010-09-06T18:33:00.000-07:00

Chicken pot pie, homemade pickles, corn-on-the-cob (which came with a really good story)...

Kale Salad

2010-08-05T09:12:00.000-07:00

- finely chopped kale
- cooked pearl couscous
- diced red bell pepper
- cherry tomatoes
- garbanzo beans
- lemon juice
- olive oil
- a splash of TJ's seasoned rice vinegar
- salt

Next time I want to add some salty feta cheese. One of the nice things about this salad is that it keeps so well, even after the dressing is mixed in. And it just tastes really good.

Summer Veggies over Pasta

2010-07-28T06:41:00.000-07:00

I always tend to overdo it when it comes to adding herbs to my cooking, especially veggies. Recently I had dinner at a friends house - veggies over pasta. It was HEAVENLY. I asked him what he had added, and there was nothing but onion, garlic, salt and pepper.
A few weeks later I went to my friend's farm and picked some summer squash, and tried to duplicate it. It took so much willpower not to start dumping in the usual culprits, but I'm so glad I resisted! SO GOOD!

- summer squash
- yellow onion
- red pepper
- cherry tomatoes
- garlic
- olive oil
- salt
- pepper
- pear juice*

Chop it up and cook it in a big pan. Squash and tomatoes went in last. Eat over pasta. (Later I kind of regretted not throwing in some frozen corn at the last minute.)
* While I was sauteing the veggies, the pan started to dry out. I added pear juice (because I had it on hand) instead of more oil.

Honolulu

2010-07-04T22:05:00.001-07:00

It's the 4th of July, and so cold I could see my breath on my ride home from work. Which would be okay if there had been any nice weather whatsoever leading up til now. So last week I finally snapped and bought a ticket for Honolulu. It was fabulous - only too short! The city was way more interesting than I was expecting with tons of food and neighborhoods I wanted to explore.

Leonard's Bakery for malasadas.

They were basically fried dough. Somewhere between doughnuts and fry bread.

My beverage of choice when in Hawaii.

Granola

2010-06-05T09:49:00.000-07:00

Granola (from Molly Wizenberg in Bon Appetit, June 2010)

- 3 cups oats
- 1 cup nuts (I used chopped pecans and sliced almonds)
- 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut (I didn't have any, but will use it next time)
- 3/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- generous 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup honey
- 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 cup dried fruit (I used montmorency cherries)

Oven to 300 degrees; line a baking sheet with parchment.
Heat honey and oil on stove; mix other ingredients (except fruit) in bowl. Add warmed honey and oil. Mix well and spread on baking sheet. Bake until golden, about 40 minutes, stirring every ten minutes.

The directions say to cool before adding fruit. I add the cherries right out of the oven because I like them a little chewy.

The Peanut Butter Cookies I've always dreamed of...

2010-02-24T08:23:00.001-08:00

I've never liked peanut butter cookies. I wanted to, because I love peanut butter, and it seemed logical that peanut butter would just make cookies better. But they are always chalky, dry and crumbly, when I wanted them to be chewy. It turns out the flour was the problem! These are exactly what I've always wished for...

The recipe comes from Emeril, in the March 2010 issue of Everyday Food.

Sorry about the photo - it is from my phone.

- 1 cup creamy peanut butter (I used the bad stuff - not natural)
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips
- 1 beaten eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- (I added about 1/4-1/2 tsp of salt)

Oven to 350 degrees. Stir together all of the ingredients. Roll heaping tablespoons of dough into balls and place onto cookie sheet. Squash with fork. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until puffed and lightly golden. Cool cookies on cookie sheet.

New donut shop! And Pasta with Clam Sauce

2009-11-02T07:49:00.000-08:00

Frost Doughnuts is a new doughnut place north of Seattle (Mill Creek). In the picture is a cinnamon-sugar cruller, a pecan, caramelly cake doughnut, and a pumpkin spice. So, so, so very good. Luckily their only shop is a long drive from me.

Clam sauce: this comes from my friend who will hopefully start her own blog, but until then I need to store this recipe somewhere. I couldn't find a way to make clam sauce look pretty in a picture, but I'm posting it anyways...

- 1-2 cans of clams
- butter
- white wine
- garlic
- half and half, cream, evaporated milk, or whatever you have on hand (optional)
- parmesan cheese
- black pepper
- herbs of your choice (Italian mix, I use 21 Salute from Trader Joe's.)
- lemon zest
- veggies (a handful of frozen spinach thrown in is good, roasted cherry tomatoes were too.)
- cooked pasta

Drain clams and save juice. Saute canned clams in butter. Add garlic and saute until cooked. Add clam juice, white wine, lemon zest, and seasoning. Simmer until reduced a bit. Add a bit of the dairy of your choice. Serve with spaghetti, black pepper, and parmesan cheese.

Rolo Cookies

2009-02-12T14:32:00.000-08:00

There are a zillion different versions of this recipe floating around out there. These are so good that I ended up making them three times in two weeks. Seriously. At least I shook it up a little the last time by filling them with peanut butter. They're not much to look at, but they were really, really good.

- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 3/4 cup cocoa
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup butter
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 2 eggs
- either frozen rolos, or frozen balls of peanut butter mixed with an equal amount of powdered sugar? I can't remember for sure. I added salt to the peanut butter mixture too.
- bowl of sugar and/or pecans

Cream the butter and sugars together, then mix in eggs and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and mix. Chill for half an hour. Then wrap dough around either frozen rolos, or peanut butter balls. Roll balls of dough in sugar/nuts.

Bake at 375 degrees for about 7-9 minutes, until cracked.

Puran Puri

2008-11-29T13:54:00.000-08:00

I doubt I will ever get around to attempting these on my own. (As you can hear M's aunt say in the background, "A lot of skill is required. She is a specialist. Everybody cannot make...") However, I certainly look forward to eating them again sometime soon. Puran puri (pooran poori) are chapatis stuffed with a sweet paste made of chickpeas. After wrapping the chapati dough around the paste, the ball is rolled flat, and you wind up with three perfect layers. It was pretty amazing to watch. And to eat.

Indian Food

2008-11-20T17:09:00.000-08:00

Custard apple (also called sugar apple, or atis)

Oops! Guess where I've been?

2008-10-30T07:55:00.000-07:00

I was frantically busy before leaving on my trip, and so I figured I would write an "on vacation" post when I arrived at my destination. But it turns out that it was way harder to find internet access in India than I expected!

Coming soon: pictures, picture, pictures! (Plenty of food pic's - best vacation food ever!)

Blueberry Hand Pies

2008-09-18T11:53:00.000-07:00

For some reason, herion addicts develop nasty sweet toothes (sweet teeth?!). For example, I had one patient that favored chocolate milk with hot cocoa mix and six (6!) sugar packets added to it. Their hospital rooms rapidly become piled high with the fallout from their snacking - candy wrappers, crumbs everywhere, stockpiles of the little jams that come on their mealtrays, etc etc.

Any-hoo, I had a patient like this the other day. Buried within her pile of junk food was one of these these. Um, yuck. But here I was at home a few days later, with a pile of blueberries that needed used up quickly, and I found myself thinking about those pies, and the glaze they put on the crust...

So the filling and the crust were nothing special, but I want to jot down the glaze that I used, because it was exactly what I was hoping for:

- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 Tbsp milk (I used evaporated)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla

Stir together well, then brush onto warm pies.

Garden Envy

2008-09-10T06:06:00.000-07:00

Corn Cheddar Chowder

2008-09-04T11:21:00.000-07:00

Yup - more soup. I usually don't start in with the soup until fall, but considering the weather lately, a pot of hot soup has seemed pretty appropriate.

This batch started out the same as the salmon chowder, but it ended up with corn and cheddar cheese instead. (Very tasty - I've already repeated this one.)

Corn Cheddar Chowder

- chopped onion
- white wine
- chopped potatoes
- broth
- chopped celery
- corn
- 1/2 and 1/2
- oregano
- thyme
- salt and pepper
- grated sharp cheddar cheese

I pretty much followed the same process as with the salmon chowder. The corn gets added when the potatoes are about half way cooked. Then the half and half and cheddar cheese get added last.

Frozen Goodies

2008-08-13T21:19:00.000-07:00

My popsicle molds get a lot of use. When I was a kid living in Texas, I remember always having frozen orange juice or grape juice popsicles, and a lot of times that's still what I'll have in my freezer. But I also need some chocolate now and then...

All the recipes I found for fudgsicles involved mixing up a box of instant pudding and then freezing it, which I was not going to do. Then I saw a recipe in Martha Stewart FOOD for vanilla pudding pops. I tried a batch (which I infused with cardamom pods - yum.) So then I took the chocolate pudding recipe I usually use, and tweaked it a little bit...then stuck it in the freezer. I think I have made it two or three times this summer.

Later in the summer my dad made some incredible strawberry jam. One batch didn't set, so he was left with some strawberry syrup. I immediately knew what I wanted to do with it...(see the picture above!) I used this recipe for lemon pudding, then swirled the strawberry syrup through it. I can't even begin to express HOW GOOD these are!

Fudgsicles

- 3 Tbsp corn starch
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup cocoa
- generous 1/4 tsp salt
- 3 cups milk
- 3 egg yolks
- 2 tsp vanilla

Combine sugar, cocoa, starch and salt in a saucepan. Whisk in milk, then yolks. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until first bubbles appear, then cook another minute (pudding will be starting to thicken.) Take off heat. Pour through seive, then add vanilla. Pour into popsicle mold and freeze.

Salmon Chowder

2008-08-09T15:40:00.001-07:00

This is my first food post in a zillion years, and I don't have a photo! And I even have my new camera... But I made this soup late at night, then brought the left-overs to work for lunch, and that was that. But I want to remember this recipe, so I may as well store it here!

I am so bummed I went so much of the summer without a camera. I got to go to fabulous farmers markets in Santa Fe (I got pictures there, but they were still on the camera when it got lost) and Austin. And I ate in all sorts of good restaurants. And there was the posole I made. And the cardamom ice cream bars. And oatmeal blondies. And the homemade vanilla ice cream with strawberry-rhubarb cobbler. I would have loved to post all of that here! Any-hoo, nothing I can do about that now. The picture I ended up posting instead of soup is my favorite farmers market treat - french bread with lots of butter, sliced radishes, and sprinkled with salt. I could eat just that for several weeks and be content.

Coming soon (hopefully with pictures): more frozen summer treats...

But for now -

Salmon Chowder

Ingredients:

- leeks, cioppino onions, or some other mild onion

- 1 clove of garlic, chopped

- white wine

- 2-3 stalks of celery, chopped

- 8 small potatoes, chopped into chunks

- salt and pepper

- unsalted vegetable broth (TJ's organic in a box), aboiut 2 cups

- milk

- about 8 -10 ounces of smoked salmon

- half and half*

- dill

Cook the onions in the bottom of your soup pot, stirring constantly, and adding a small amount of white wine or vegetable broth when onions begin to stick to bottom of pan, scraping up the browned bits. Repeat this several times, until the onions are carmelized. Add garlic, celery, potatoes, and salt and pepper. Continue to stir, and cook another few minutes. Pour in enough broth to cover the potatoes. Simmer until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in the salmon, milk, and half and half over low heat - do not boil. Stir in dill and serve.

*Next time I am going to try replacing the half and half with cream cheese. In the past I have made a fish soup that had cream cheese in it, and it was fabulous, and I wanted a little bit of that flavor here too...

Tagged!

2008-07-28T09:20:00.000-07:00

Good news - a camera is on the way! Yahoo! In the meantime, I was tagged by Brittany, the Pie Lady, for a non-food meme. I went a little bonkers with it - seven songs turned into ten. Sorry. But these are all songs that will make me think of this summer (yes, I'm pretty much stuck in another decade lately). Plus a few that just make me too weepy to leave out.

Hotter than Mojave - Iris Dement

Seeds of the Pine - Martha Scanlan

Waitin' Around to Die - Townes Van Zandt

By Your Side - the everybodyfields

The Coolin - Samuel Barber

Bang My Drum - Danielia Cotton

Like A River - Kate Wolf

Favorite - Neko Case

Tomorrow is a Long Place - Bob Dylan

Sundown - Gordon Lightfoot

Back soon, but...

2008-07-08T10:18:00.000-07:00

I lost my camera! I never, never, NEVER lose things. But while in Santa Fe, with my camera full of photos of the farmer's market, my aunt June's surprise 90th birthday party, and a fabulous lightening storm, well...

I think I'm over my heartbreak. Now I just have to face the fact that I have to replace the darn thing. If you have any tips, please send them my way!

Blog Break

2008-04-30T10:00:00.000-07:00

I didn't plan on this, but here it is - a month since my last post! Lately, almost all of my creative free time has been directed elsewhere (see photo above). (I think I have also gotten tired of trying to photograph food in the dark - it is almost May, and still cloudy and COLD.) I'll be back before too long. In the meantime, I will still be lurking around your blogs!

Lemon Pudding, and my sorry excuse for a sink.

2008-03-27T15:57:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to show you my kitchen sink for awhile, but I'm not sure this photo even does it justice. It is shallow to start out with, and then the divider down the middle makes it even less functional. Did I mention that I do not have a dishwasher? What I am saying here is that it is a wonder that I ever make anything BESIDES pudding.

I've been making pudding a lot lately. It is so easy, doesn't dirty a lot of dishes, and satisfies my sweet tooth without making me feel ill. I usually make chocolate, but I recently got the bug for lemon pudding. I wasn't even sure there was such a thing outside of the world of Jello. I finally found a recipe on the Food Network. It was just like any other pudding, only you cook the milk with lemon zest, then at the end you stir in a bunch of fresh lemon juice. This fascinated me - I thought for sure it would cause the pudding to curdle. But it didn't! It just made it taste really lemony, and not at all heavy.

Lemon Pudding - from the Food Network.

- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 2 1/2 cups milk
- 3 egg yolks, lightly beaten
- 2 Tbsp lemon zest
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup lemon juice
- 2 Tbsp butter
Whisk the sugar and the cornstarch together in a medium saucepan. Add milk, stir until smooth. Add the egg yolks, zest, salt and cook, stirring frequently at first and constantly towards the end, over medium heat until thickened enough to thickly coat the back of a spoon.
Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the lemon juice and butter. Pour through a strainer. Cover and chill.

Aunt Arlene's Chicken and Tough Noodles

2008-03-22T16:56:00.000-07:00

Some background: I have been mostly vegetarian for fifteen years. During that time there have only been a few things that I missed eating - one of them was my Aunt Arlene's Chicken and Tough Noodles. This year I have made a few exceptions to my vegetarianism. I had some Christmas turkey for starters. Then a few weekends ago I made a trip to Bonners Ferry, Idaho, for a mini family reunion, AND to get a tutorial in making Chicken and Tough Noodles!

Here's the thing - you know how over time, your memory can kind of exaggerate the greatness of things from your childhood? The opposite was true of these noodles. They are pure heaven. Dense and almost chewy. The closest thing I can compare them to is spaetzle. The best part is that they are SUPPOSED to be tough, so you don't have to worry about over-working the dough!

I was hoping to try making a batch on my own before I did this post, but life has been interfering. However, my stepmom gave it a try the other day, and reported great success!

Here is the general gist, because of course, there was no recipe used:

Day 1:
Boil a whole chicken.
Save the stock; chill, then skim and discard the fat off the top.
Save the meat from the chicken.

Day 2:
Put an egg or two into a food processor. Add flour until a ball forms. If a ball is not forming, add a small amount of milk. Set dough aside and repeat - one egg's worth of dough will make approximately enough noodles for one person.

On a HEAVILY floured surface, roll out a ball of dough to approximately 1/8" thick. (The extra flour on the noodles will help thicken the sauce later.)

Sprinkle with flour, then roll the sheet of dough into a jellyroll shape. Slice off noodles at 1/4" increments.

Bring the stock to a simmer. Unroll noodles and drop into broth.

Add cream of chicken soup and/or chicken bouillon, depending on your mood, and what you have around. Add chicken. Simmer until done (I think about an hour? The longer you cook the noodles, the less tough they are.)

Eat, eat, and eat some more.

The final spread included Chicken and Tough Noodles, mashed potatoes, two kinds of jello salad, green bean casserole with onion topping (yay!), and green salad. Followed by chocolate cake with milk chocolate frosting, which you will be hearing about at another date.

Eleven people, four dogs, and a cat squeezed into this house for Chicken and Tough Noodles!

The view of the Kootenai River from the downtown Bonners Ferry bridge:

Two Tags!

2008-03-18T06:13:00.000-07:00

Open Book from Mama J at Hang in There Babywear:

p 123, sentence/phrase 5 of the book nearest me:

"And if my mind breaks up in all so many ways, I know the meaning of the words I love you." Cat Stevens Complete Songs from 1970-1975, from the King of Trees

List of Four, from Carrie at Rhubarb Sky:

Name 4 Jobs You've Had:
registered nurse
barrista
bicycle salesperson
generic office worker

Name 4 Places You've Lived:
Houston, TX
Santiago, Dominican Republic
Jersey City, New Jersey
Seattle, WA

Name 4 places you've been on vacation:
Haiti
Mexico
Scotland
Spain

Name 4 foods you love:
Malt-o-Meal
raspberries from Northern Idaho (they taste different, I swear.)
Aunt Arlene's Chicken and Tough Noodles
Grandma A's homemade whole wheat bread, with her seedless raspberry jam (made from Northern Idaho raspberries...)

Name 4 places you'd rather be right now:
Somewhere warm. Actually, somewhere hot. Like 100 degrees.

Hyacinths are prettier than french toast...

2008-03-10T18:40:00.001-07:00

That's why you are getting this picture first. I also haven't shown you the view out my kitchen window for awhile.

Moj momak gave me these zumbul cvijece for International Women's Day. Apparently that is celebrated more in Europe than here, even though it originated in America. (As a result, I got these flowers, and an evening at the symphony.) I had worked that day, so I was nearly in a coma with exhaustion, but I'm pretty sure I had a good time.

I may have mentioned this before, but I'll say it again: I LOVE french toast. I threw some together for dinner tonight, and I wasn't planning on posting about it. But it turned out so tasty, that I changed my mind a few bites in (hence the sub-spectactular photo...)

I recently flipped through a cookbook called American Masala, by Suvir Saran, and saw a french toast recipe that involved a coating of raw sugar. I decided to try it tonight. I wasn't in the mood for cinnamon, so I added a couple drops of coconut extract, just because it was staring at me from my cupboard. Oh my god.

French Toast
- good bread
- eggs
- milk
- salt
- drops of coconut extract
- raw sugar (turbinado sugar? Large, brown granules...)
- butter

Whisk everything together (except bread, sugar, and butter). Heat butter in skillet. Sprinkle sugar onto skillet and drop egg-soaked bread on top. Sprinkle more sugar on top of bread. Cook as usual. Eat.

Red Beans on Laundry Day

2008-03-03T18:25:00.000-08:00

I was unable to get a satisfying picture of my red beans, so instead I will show you a few other things.

First, look at the fabulous present I got from my Aunt Arlene this weekend:

It was published in 1946, and is filled with recipes calling for things such as "ground suet", and credited to women with names like "Mabel C. Hamlett", or "Mrs. Walter T. Palmer Jr."

Here is one of the more intriguing recipes - let me know if you have tried this one...:

Grape Juice Custard

- 2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
- 2 Tbsp grape juice
- 1 1/2 tsp powdered sugar

Combine egg yolks and sugar. Add grape juice. Cook over hot water, beating constantly , until light and fluffy. Serve at once. 1 serving. -The Household Searchlight.

On to my red beans...

I never got to meet my Grandma F., but from what I've heard from everyone who did, I definitely missed out. My dad remembers her putting a pot red beans on the stove on Mondays (laundry day). This was to take advantage of the fact that the stove would be fired up all day, heating water for doing the laundry. My dad has been trying to duplicate her beans for awhile, and even though I never tried hers, I decided to give it a shot today.

Here is what I came up with:

- dried red beans
- chopped onion
- chopped celery
- spicy sausage (some piece of pork would be traditional, but spicy chicken or veggie sausage is valid in my book)
- chopped collard greens (my addition)
- celery seed
- bay leaves
- dried thyme
- dried basil
- dried parsley
- onion powder
- garlic powder
- maple sugar (or maple syrup)
- black pepper
- canned diced tomatoes
- cayenne pepper
- a dash of apple cider vinegar
- salt to taste
- Tabasco sauce to taste

Saute the sausage, then the onions and garlic, in the bottom of your soup pot. Then add everything except the vinegar and maple sugar. Simmer until done, then add the vinegar and maple sugar.

It turned out wonderfully, and I wouldn't change a thing. I ate it with generously buttered bread, and some mango chutney I had in the frig. I'm looking forward to the left-overs tomorrow.

I don't have a picture of my grandma, but here are dad, grandpa, and Uncle Gene:

Maple Sugar Popcorn, and a Food Crisis...

2008-02-27T16:27:00.000-08:00

First the popcorn - go buy the ingredients, and make it immediately. Especially if you want your home to smell really, really, good. It is salty and sweet, and the maple sugar makes the popcorn taste nutty, toasty, and buttery. I found the recipe in the March 2008 issue of Cooking Light:

- 2 Tbsp canola oil
- 1/2 cup popcorn
- 1/4 cup maple sugar
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt

Heat oil in a 3-quart pot over med-high. Add the rest of the ingredients. Shake pot frequently to avoid burning. (Pay attention to this part. I shook "frequently", and still burned mine on the bottom. I would recommend shaking non-stop.)

(For those of you interested in this sort of thing, 1 1/2 cups of this TASTY-*$# treat has only 89 calories.)

Now on to my food crisis: I work from 7:00AM to 7:30PM. I don't like to eat after I leave work, which means I have to pack both lunch and dinner. That is a lot of food.
And there are days when it isn't even feasible to get to a freakin microwave oven. I've been falling back on Trader Joe's an awful lot lately. I need help! So, please...let me know if you have any ideas for good portable food.

In other news: my vacation was fabulous. I spent the entire time reading/sleeping under a beach umbrella, with my feet sticking out in the sun. I've never spent a vacation being that sedentary, but it was obviously needed. I was there with three co-workers. Most of the time we looked like we had been out too late the night before, despite going to bed before 9:00 every night. (Just how stressful is work, anyways?!)

View from the balcony:

Back soon!

2008-02-08T08:28:00.001-08:00

As you can probably tell from my lack of posts, I am in dire need of a vacation. Every February I reach my breaking point with the Seattle weather, and become downright desperate for a change of scenery. Luckily, I was thinking ahead last September, and bought myself a plane ticket. So off I go!

But first, here is a photo: it looks like some sort of blood-bath. But it's really just beets and cauliflower tossed in salt and olive oil, then baked in a 400 degree oven until TASTY. The cauliflower had crispy bits that tasted like french fries, and the beets were sweet and caramelized (dessert!).

Pizza Crust

2008-01-24T12:52:00.000-08:00

I wish I could remember where I found this recipe for pizza crust! It turned up on a google search, and was from one of the millions of recipe websites... The reason I tried it was because it only called for a 10 minute "rest", as opposed to an hour or so for rising. It could be that a crust that has spent the time rising would be more flavorful, but I have no complaints about this one. I have made it twice - the first time I didn't roll it thin enough, and it made a very bready thick crust (which would be great if that is how you like your pizza; see photo below.) I prefer a thin crust, with crunchy edges, and I got a lot closer to that the second time (see photo above). I'm not sure if this is relevant or not, but I used active dry yeast in the breadier crust, instant in the thinner crust (which also seemed to have bigger bubbles throughout - also a plus in my book.)

Pizza Dough

- 1 cup warm water
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 packet of yeast (instant, or active dry - see instructions)
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 Tbsp sugar

If using instant yeast: Mix flour, sugar, salt and yeast in a large bowl. Add warm water and olive oil and stir until dough comes together.

If using active dry yeast: Mix flour and salt in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, stir together warm water, sugar and yeast until dissovled. Pour into flour, add olive oil, and stir until dough comes together.

Knead until dough is smooth, adding just enough flour so that dough doesn't stick to hands (dough will still be sticky.) Allow dough to rest for 10 minutes. Preheat the oven and cookie sheet to 500 degrees, and then roll out the dough on parchment paper. Load up the pizza, then slide it onto the hot cookie sheet. Turn down the oven to 425 degrees, and bake it until it looks done.

A bag for work, and some sunshine

2008-01-20T10:58:00.000-08:00

I have a mess of craft projects I have been wanting to post about, but I keep getting side-tracked with food. I made this bag a while ago, with no particular purpose in mind - I just liked the fabric, and wanted to try putting a zipper on something. But now that I am in the float pool at work, I need to take all of my stuff home with me every night, and it turns out this bag works perfectly.

In other news: we had a sunny day here in Seattle last Tuesday! I hadn't noticed how long it had been since I had seen the sun until it made its appearance; I could feel my eyeballs cramping up.

I haven't shown you the view out my kitchen window for awhile, so here it is on that sunny day:

I went for a couple walks, first through my neighborhood, then at Golden Gardens, which is a park in Ballard (a neighborhood in Seattle.) Cold, windy, and SUNNY!

Found: lots of barnacles, a tiny orange starfish, and a few sea anemones.

Granola Bars

2008-01-15T10:02:00.000-08:00

I had been pondering making some kind of granola bars for awhile when I saw a version of these on Coconut and Lime. I am a sucker for anything with sweetened condensed milk, so even though they probably aren't particularly "healthful", I couldn't help trying them. I swapped around a few ingredients, but kept the ratios the same. The only problem I had was the size of pan - I used a 9x9 (I didn't have the recommended size), which made the bars too thick. They ended up overdone on the outside, and underdone inside, even though they are baked at just 250 degrees. Next time I might double the recipe, and then use one of my large rimmed baking sheets lined with parchment paper.

Even though these need some tweaking (or at least a new pan), they were still a success - slightly caramely, chewy, and not as sweet as you would think.

- 2 1/3 cups old fashioned rolled oats
- 1 can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 cup roasted and salted pistachios
- 3/4 cup dried tart cherries
- 3/4 cup toasted coconut (I only had sweetened and didn't want to make a trip to the store, but I will use unsweetened next time)

In a large saucepan heat the sweetened condensed milk over med-low heat. Stir in the rest of the ingredients, then spread into a greased pan. Bake for 250 degrees for 65-70 minutes.

In other news...I went to a basketball game last night! I had never been to one before, and it was actually way more fun than I ever would have expected. The Sonics were playing the Lakers, and they had to go into overtime, so the crowd was in quite a frenzy. I now understand all the fuss about Kobe Bryant, but the entire game was almost as mindblowing as he was - like watching figure skating or gymnastics in the Olympics - it is hard to believe what you are seeing.
And the cheerleaders (oops...I mean, "dance team"), while still icky, weren't nearly as disturbing as I would have thought, based on this, and they also had boy cheerleaders! ("Boom Squad").

Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies

2008-01-10T22:12:00.000-08:00

I made these almost a month ago, and then completely forgot to do the post (?!). These cookies are near the top of my list of favorites, but they are a little labor-intensive (especially if you don't have a dishwasher, and your kitchen sink was designed by someone with a playhouse in mind).

I saw these popping up on lots of blogs this Christmas. They came from Martha, so here is the recipe. These cookies are really chocolatey and spicy - they have lots of fresh ginger in them. And if you get them out of the oven on time, they stay chewy for days.

Winter Farmers Market Dinner

2008-01-05T18:27:00.000-08:00

I had no idea that radishes were a winter food. I went to the U-District Farmers Market today and saw tons of them. Which was lucky for me because I LOVE radishes. I was so impressed by how much you could find at this farmers market in the dead of winter: tons of greens, squashes, brussels sprouts, potatoes, carrots, and apples. And every kind of meat you could possibly want, cheese, bread, seafood, honey, jam, and apple cider. And eggs - I bought a dozen.

I also bought some collard greens. I would have gotten a butternut squash as well, but I already had one at home...

I boiled the collard greens in vegetable broth for about 40 minutes, then added a can of white beans and a pinch of red pepper flakes. The butternut squash I baked, cut side down, in a 400 degree oven for about 40-45 minutes. I put the radishes on buttered crackers, and sprinkled them with salt and pepper - definitely my favorite part of my dinner...

I love how many colors there were on my plate - all with local, seasonal food.

Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins (aka: dinner)

2008-01-03T19:58:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

I'm not usually one for muffins. But tonight when I saw the bag of wild blueberries in my freezer, I suddenly couldn't survive without some blueberry muffins.

As usual, I turned to Baking Illustrated: the Practical Kitchen Companion for the Home Baker, by the Editors of Cook's Illustrated Magazine. I'm not going to print out the recipe because I didn't change a thing from the original recipe, except for swapping in whole wheat pastry flour. These muffins rocked - they have 1 1/4 cups of sour cream in them, and it tastes lovely with the blueberries. The texture is nice and cakey too, even with the whole wheat pastry flour. My only complaint about the whole wheat flour is the color - these muffins just aren't very cute.

Painting Smock for a Seven-Year-Old Horse Fan

2007-12-25T09:42:00.000-08:00

What were you doing at 5:00 AM on Christmas morning? I was sewing this smock. Which I just finished, barely in time to run off to our Christmas gathering.

My niece found this fabric in my mom's old stashes. The pattern came from Bend-the-Rules Sewing, by Amy Karol. I think it took about an hour and a half for me to finish (that includes the requisite 20-30 minutes cursing at my sewing machine while I try to thread it.)

I have no wrapping paper and I'm leaving in an hour. Oops.

Merry Christmas!

Kitchen Sink Frittata

2007-12-19T17:42:00.000-08:00

Another left-over post from December...I am mainly posting this (so late) as a reminder to myself: This is easy to make! And was good for taking in my lunches!

Okay - that's all I have to say on that...

- 9 eggs
- milk
- grated Parmesan cheese
- roasted potatoes
- roasted onions
- frozen spinach
- salt and pepper

8x8 baking dish, lightly greased. Oven to 350 degrees.

Apple Pie

2007-12-19T17:04:00.000-08:00

Whoever says baking a pie is easy is lying. Or maybe they just have a reliable oven. This pie spent 2 hours baking. Every time I checked my oven thermometer, it was 100 degrees off in either direction, so I was constantly trying to get it close to what the recipe called for. Also, the crust was done 20 minutes after the pie went into the oven, which didn't help much.

I used the apple pie recipe from Baking Illustrated. They described a pie with good apple flavor (yes). They also said the filling would spread because they didn't want to dull the flavors with butter or thickener (true). In making this pie, I discovered the following:
1) I like pie filling to be thick
2) I like lots of spices

I used a mixture of granny smith apples and gala, and I really liked the combination. Next time I will use more granny smith, and less of the gala, because the gala was apple sauce by the time the granny smith was finished cooking. But I liked having the flavors of both.

Also, I used a store bought pie crust, which I will NEVER do again. I used Trader Joe's, and there was nothing bad about it, it just didn't compare to Martha's all-butter pate brisee, which I will definitely take the time to make the next time I make a pie.

This is a picture of Mt. Baker that I got out the car window on the drive home from Vancouver. For some reason I am quite fond of it:

Peppermint Cookies & Cream Brownies

2007-12-07T10:01:00.000-08:00

Thank you, Baking Bites! I saw these brownies there, and they immediately went on my Must Try List. I have been a sucker for Peppermint Jo-Jo's since I tried them last year, and nothing is better than a brownie...

I pretty much followed the recipe to the letter, but I will copy an abbreviated version here. They were every bit as fabulous as I was hoping - I especially liked how the slightly salty cookie bits contrasted with the brownie. Next time (there will definitely be a next time!) I will experiment with less sugar, because they were tooth-achingly sweet. I will also try adding a bit of peppermint extract to the brownie batter, just because you can't have too much peppermint in my book.

Peppermint Cookies & Cream Brownies, from Baking Bites

- 1 cup butter
- 6 oz unsweetened chocolate
- 3 cups sugar
- 3/4 tsp salt (original recipe called for 1/2 tsp)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 eggs
- 1 2/3 cups flour
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 18 Peppermint Jo-Jo's, roughly chopped, plus 4 more to sprinkle on top

Oven to 350F. Line a 9×13-inch baking pan with aluminum foil or parchment, lightly grease if using foil.
Melt together butter and chocolate. Remove from heat and stir in sugar, salt and vanilla. Add eggs one at a time. Stir in flour and cocoa powder. Stir in Peppermint Jo-Jo's. Pour batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle 4 additional chopped cookies over batter.
Bake for 25-35 minutes, until a toothpick comes out with crumbs.

Here are the brownies packed up and ready to LEAVE THE PREMISES. Otherwise I will end up in a sugar coma - there is no hope for restraint with these in my apartment, so out they go.

PS - These brownies are definitely in the fudgy camp (as opposed to chewy or cakey).

Sorry...more brussels sprouts

2007-12-04T18:12:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago while eating out, I had some amazing brussels sprouts. They were roasted with bleu cheese and hazelnuts. I wanted to try duplicating them at home, but decided I needed to use up some left-over goat cheese I had in my fridge. It was good, and definitely repeat-worthy. (But bleu cheese would have been better.)

I tossed the sprouts with olive oil, salt, and pepper, then spread them face down on a baking sheet with the hazelnuts. I stuck them in a 400 degree oven until they were done, then scattered the goat cheese on top.

PS - It snowed this weekend! (In case you are wondering, that is unusual for Seattle.)

Squash+Figs+Goat Cheese=YUM.

2007-11-24T22:33:00.000-08:00

I truly meant to follow the recipe this time. I even made a special trip to the grocery store to make sure I would have all of the ingredients. And yet, I STILL managed to get home missing three things for the soup and a fourth ingredient for the compote... However, this turned out to be a happy accident, because I cannot imagine improving on how either the soup or compote turned out.

The fig compote came from the December 2007 issue of Food. The original version called for thyme, which I didn't have on hand, but I did not miss it!

Fig Compote
- 1/2 cup chopped dried Mission figs
- 1 cup red wine
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- pinch of salt

Boil in a saucepan until reduced and thickened. Cool to room temperature and serve on toast with goat cheese (with squash soup, if available).

The original soup recipe came from the November 2007 issue of Cooking Light. In addition to the missing ingredients, it called for putting the soup through a blender before serving. I don't have a blender, and couldn't really be bothered anyway. Instead I cooked it down a little longer on the stove. It turned out smooth with tasty chunks of squash. Yes, it looks like unappetizing babyfood, but I think that is true of most squash soup; I'm not sure it can be helped.

Squash Soup
- 5 cups water
- two bouillon cubes *please see note below
- 3/4 cup applesauce
- about 2 Tbsp molasses
- 1 butternut squash
- 1 acorn squash
- 1 large onion
- canola oil
- half-and-half

Oven to 400 degrees. Cut the squashes in half, clean out their seeds (save them to toast later). Place halves face down on baking sheet lined with parchment. Coarsely chop the onion, drizzle with canola oil, and spread out onto baking sheet with squashes. Bake until squash is soft (40 minutes? 50? I don't remember.)
Next, add water to soup pot and bring to boil. Add bouillon. When the squash is cool enough to handle, scoop out the insides and add to soup pot, along with the onions. Simmer until soup is at desired consistency, then add applesauce, molasses to taste, and half-and-half to taste (I think I used about 1/3 cup?).

*This is what I used - I did not add any additional herbs or salt, and the soup was perfect, so I guess I have to thank my bouillon...

Brussels Sprouts and Sweet Potato Fries

2007-11-22T06:04:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving! It is six A.M., it is 32 degrees outside, and I am about to head to work...That's right - I will be spending my Thanksgiving at the hospital. For some reason I enjoy being at work during the holidays. It sort of reminds me of being a kid, and going to school at night for a school play or something.(?) Any-hoo, I still need to get my fix of Thanksgiving food:

I love brussels sprouts! These were tossed with melted butter, pecans, salt, and pepper, then roasted in an oven set at about 400 degrees until the were done (browning on the bottom). I had some sweet potatoes that I threw in too. They were good, but nothing compares to brussels sprouts...

A Perfect Night In (guitar, knitting, and Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies)

2007-11-15T19:13:00.000-08:00

It was so rainy today that it got dark earlier than usual (even for Seattle in November). I finished my grocery shopping, came home, and cozied up for the evening.

I am not going to write out the whole recipe for these cookies - I used the one that has been printed on the Nestle chocolate chip bag since forever. I just used whole wheat pastry flour instead of all purpose. I couldn't tell a difference.

Stuffed Pumpkin

2007-11-15T09:59:00.000-08:00

I found it difficult to photograph this - something about the Israeli couscous looks a little icky in pictures...
But it tasted really good, and was incredibly easy, so here is the "recipe" (as usual, I don't remember any specifics...)

Stuffed Pumpkin

- a small pumkpin (the kind meant for eating, not carving)
- vegetable broth
- couscous
- tart cherries
- anything else that sounds good (Carrie - I'm sure it would be good with some roasted root veggies thrown in at the last minute?)

I took the top off the pumpkin and emptied it (keeping the seeds for toasting, of course). I think I had the oven pretty hot, around 400 degrees. I put the pumpkin on a baking sheet, then poured hot vegetable broth inside, and stuck the pumpkin in the oven for awhile. When the pumpkin started to seem cooked, I added the couscous and the cherries, then cooked the pumpkin a while longer, until the couscous was done.

One pumpkin made enough for my dinner, and then lunch the next day. The pumpkin become really soft and savory cooked in the vegetable broth, and you can scoop bites of pumpkin out with the couscous. Yum!

Chocolate Pudding

2007-11-13T15:50:00.000-08:00

Seriously - chocolate pudding. This is not something I would normally crave. I'm sure it has been years since I have even eaten pudding. But I got a hankering, and then my curiosity took over (how do you make that stuff, anyway?!)

It turns out it is easy and yummy and now I wish I had more. It was a little too sweet for my taste, so I may experiment with less sugar next time, but otherwise I had no complaints - it was exactly what I would want chocolate pudding to taste like.

Chocolate Pudding, slightly modified from Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book

- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 2 Tbsp cornstarch
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 2 2/3 cups milk (I used 1%)
- 4 egg yolks, whisked
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Put sugar, cornstarch, cocoa powder, and salt in medium saucepan, and mix together. Add milk, and heat over medium, stirring constantly, until beginning to bubble and thicken - cook for two more minutes, continuing to stir. Remove from heat. Gradually stir 1 cup of the milk mixture into the egg yolks, then return egg and milk mixture to saucepan. Continue stirring over medium heat until it comes to a very gentle boil; cook for two more minutes. Remove from heat and add butter and vanilla. Mix well, then pour through fine mesh strainer into bowl and cover with plastic wrap pressed to surface to chill.

Finally Sewing!

2007-11-10T20:10:00.000-08:00

Certain crafts can be challenging to the urban dweller; sewing is one of them. No matter how efficient you are, you still need a wide open space to spread out. For that reason, my sewing machine has been gathering dust for quite some time (the fact that I usually end up yelling curse words whenever I use it probably didn't help.)

Well, I finally have a set-up that will work in my tiny apartment! I christened it by making an apron for my nephew. It is the Vintage Apron out of Bend-the-Rules Sewing, by Amy Karol. I still wound up yelling curse words, but I made it to the end with something resembling an apron. And the best part is that I am still feeling inspiring to try something else!

Chocolate Banana Muffins

2007-11-04T08:28:00.000-08:00

Every time I make something with whole wheat pastry flour, I have to ask myself why I don't just use it all the time. I have never had a recipe go bad by replacing it for all purpose. This is another example. These muffins are chocolate-banana heaven. They called for all purpose, and I swapped in exactly the same amount of whole wheat pastry flour. The muffins are soft and cakey and chocolately. I made them yesterday, and then I accidentally left them out all night without wrapping them up, and they were still still moist and yummy this morning.

Chocolate Banana Muffins, modified from a recipe in the 2002 issue of Martha Stewart's Holiday Baking magazine

- 1/4 cup melted butter
- 3 ripe mashed bananas
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 3 eggs
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 cup and 2 Tbsp sugar
- 3/4 cup cocoa powder
- 2 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt

Oven to 375 degrees, line a 12-cup muffin tin with muffin papers. Mix together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl. In a large bowl whisk together bananas, vanilla, buttermilk, butter, and eggs. Mix dry ingredients into wet using a wooden spoon, then fill muffin tin (I had extra batter left over - enough to make a couple more muffins.) Bake for 20-25 minutes, until toothpick is clean with just a few crumbs.

Cranberry Sauce

2007-11-04T08:19:00.000-08:00

I love cranberries! This time of year I am always looking for anything that I can possibly eat with cranberry sauce - in this picture it is greek style yogurt with honey. Yum. I made this cranberry sauce using one bag of fresh cranberries (12 or 14 ounce? Whatever the standard bag is.) I simmered the cranberries for about ten minutes with 3/4 cup of water, a sprinkling (1 tsp?) of corn starch, and about 1/4 - 1/3 cup of Wax Orchards Fruit Sweet, which is basically just concentrated apple juice. It is sweet enough to eat straight out of a bowl, but just barely.

The Easiest Biscuits in the World

2007-10-21T10:20:00.000-07:00

I'm beginning to feel like an advertisement for this book:Baking Illustrated: the Practical Kitchen Companion for the Home Baker, by the Editors of Cook's Illustrated Magazine. Almost anytime I try something for the first time, I will turn to this book, and I'm pretty sure it has never led me astray.

This is another example. I haven't made biscuits in years, and decided to give it a try yesterday morning. When I turned to my baking bible, there were two recipes listed - one was pretty traditional, with cold butter cut into the flour. But this one was the easy version, and instead of butter, it uses only heavy cream. I was intrigued and gave them a try. They were indeed incredibly easy to make, and they were actually really good! The texture was crispy on the outside, soft and flakey on the inside. I must confess, I am not a true connaisseur of biscuits, but I can't imagine ever using another recipe (and the other folks at the breakfast table didn't seem to have any complaints either.)

Cream Biscuits, from Baking Illustrated: the Practical Kitchen Companion for the Home Baker, by the Editors of Cook's Illustrated Magazine.

- 2 cups flour
- 2 tsp sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Oven to 425 degrees and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment.

Whisk together dry ingredients, then stir in only 1 1/4 cups of the heavy cream with a wooden spoon. When the dough comes together, dump it onto a lightly floured countertop, and then use small amounts of the remaining cream to moisten the dry bits left in the bowl. Add these to the dough and knead briefly until smooth. Pat dough to 3/4 inch thickness and cut out biscuits. Bake for about 15 minutes.

PS - I discovered that this recipe works great for dumplings in a pot of veggie soup. I halved the recipe, which worked well. I also used half-and-half in place of the cream, because that was all I had around, and it worked fine. Just make sure not to crowd the dumplings too much, or else you may end up with little under-cooked spots.

My first embroidery project

2007-10-18T10:19:00.000-07:00

DANGER:This stuff only costs THIRTY cents a skein.

It is sold in a zillion beautiful colors which are enticingly displayed at the store. I think it is going to require an enormous amount of willpower to keep from getting over-run with this stuff.

A new/old friend of mine has recently inspired me to try embroidery. I found this book,Doodle Stitching, and instantly went out and bought needles, thread, a hoop, and a few pieces of craft felt. (As I mentioned, this is a VERY inexpensive hobby.) Then I proceeded to get a horrible cold, and have spent the last day and a half on my couch, with my new hobby!

The bird pattern I tried came out of a project in the book. When I got started on it I really didn't have a plan. As a result, the embroidery is not placed on the fabric in a way that lends itself to much. Let me know if you have any ideas. I will probably just turn it into a small bag or something.

Mexican Wedding Cakes

2007-10-11T10:05:00.001-07:00

These were another request from my Bosnian friend. He was very concerned that I would try and sneak frosting on them, "You Americans put frosting on everything!" Yes, I am guilty! But I reassured him that even I could resist frosting Mexican Wedding Cakes.

When I started baking these I realized I didn't have half the ingredients that the original recipe called for, so I ended up mixing pecans with almond meal. They actually turned out great anyways - very nutty!

(More of the view out my kitchen window. The other day I glanced up and saw that the air outside looked yellow - it was super weird. This was the view to the east. This picture doesn't do it justice, but it was the best I could do. The sky was black, the air was yellow, and there was that stripe of royal blue peeking out from under the clouds.)

Mexican Wedding Cakes

- 1 cup chopped toasted pecans
- 3/4 cups almond meal (toasted in 325 degree oven for about 5 minutes)
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 2 sticks of salted butter, softened but still cool
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- powdered sugar for dusting cookies

Oven to 325 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. In a small bowl mix pecans, almond meal, salt, and flour together. In the bowl of a mixer, beat butter and sugar together until fluffy, then add vanilla and almond extracts. Add flour mixture and beat until just combined. Using 1 Tbsp of dough, roll into balls and place on cookie sheets. Bake for 16-20 minutes, until cookies are beginning to brown on the bottom and turn golden on the tops. Cool to room temperature before rolling in powdered sugar.

Pumpkin Cookies with Orange Frosting

2007-10-07T18:13:00.000-07:00

For as long as I can remember, my mother has been making these cookies, only as a banana version with lemon frosting. We have no idea where the recipe came from, but I remember eating them when we still lived in Houston (in other words, a very long time ago.) I have wondered how they would be with pumpkin instead, and finally gave it a try today. My experiment was successful! They are like tiny little pumpkin cakes - they are incredibly soft and spicy and made my apartment smell delicious. They would be lovely on their own, but I can never resist frosting...

(I have been enjoying the ledge outside my kitchen this fall - the ivy finally reached my window!)

Pumpkin Cookies

- 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup canned pumpkin
- 2 cups flour (The flour can be replaced with 2 cups of whole wheat pastry flour, or with quinoa flour for gluten-free cookies. Both work really well with this recipe, and still give you soft, cakey cookies.)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (I will use a little more next time)
* If you want to do the banana version instead, use 1 cup of smashed banana (about 2 large bananas), and replace the pumpkin pie spice with 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 1/4 tsp cloves.)

Oven to 375 degrees. Mix dry ingredients well in a small bowl. Beat sugar and butter in a large bowl until fluffy, then add eggs and pumpkin. Mix well, then add dry ingredients. Drop in heaping tablespoons (or use a smallish ice cream scoop) on cookie sheet, and bake for 8-10 minutes until firm to the touch, or a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

Frosting

- 1/3 cup butter at room temperature
- 2-3 cups powdered sugar
- zest of 1 orange
- 2-3 Tbsp orange juice

Beat until fluffy. Spread on cooled cookies.

A Shared Present

2007-10-07T14:59:00.000-07:00

Finally - I finally got to try them! I've been reading about salty caramels forever, but couldn't bring myself to fork out the dollars to try them. However, my mom received some as a gift and was kind enough to share. Yay! The reason I have been so drawn to these is because 1) I LOVE chocolate and caramel, and 2) I love chocolate and salt (particularly in the form of Chubby Hubby Ice Cream, or World Peace Cookies.) Therefore, chocolate, salt, and caramel all in one should be pretty good, right? Yes! Very tasty, with a very satisfying crunch to go along with it. The one change I would make to these would be to distribute the salt more evenly on the candy (I realize that would decrease the cute factor, but it would be nice for those of us that like to take small bites...)

Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

2007-10-02T11:29:00.000-07:00

I got the recipe for these cookies from Smitten Kitchen. She mentions that she uses less sugar than the original recipe calls for, and I used the lower amount too. But the next time I make these, I will probably experiment with using even less. The cookies were still very sweet, and left me craving that saltiness you get with Oreos (my brother mentioned the same thing). I also used salted butter, and used a generous 1/4 tsp of salt - I would probably increase that slightly too. However, these were still very good, and I will definitely be making them again!

Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

Cookies:

- 1 1/4 cups flour
- 1/2 cup cocoa
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup sugar
- 10 Tbsp butter at room temperature
- 1 egg

Filling:

- 4 Tbsp butter at room temperature
- 1/4 cup vegetable shortening
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla

Oven to 375 degrees. In a food processor or an electric mixer, mix the dry ingredients, including sugar. On low speed, add the butter, and then the egg. Mix until dough comes together. Place rounded teaspoons of dough on cookie sheets and flatten the dough slightly with damp hands. Bake for 9 minutes, rotating trays half-way through. Cool cookies on baking sheets on wire rack.

Meanwhile make the filling:
Mix butter and shortening, then gradually beat in the sugar and vanilla. Mix on high until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Assemble cookies using about 1 tsp of filling per sandwich.

Blondies

2007-09-23T16:19:00.000-07:00

This will be a quick post. All I will say is that it doesn't get any better than these.. They are easy to make with no advance notice. Their texture is chewy, and the nuts get even toastier and crunchier in the oven. The white chocolate is very important - they take on the butterscotch flavor of the butter and brown sugar. I have made this recipe so many times I know it by heart. I'm pretty sure I haven't made a single batch of chocolate chip cookies since finding this recipe - these are the perfect combination of chocolate chip cookie and brownie.

Blondies, from Baking Illustrated: the Practical Kitchen Companion for the Home Baker, by the Editors of Cook's Illustrated Magazine.

- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 12 Tbsp butter, melted and cooled in a large saucepan
- 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
- 1 cup chopped and toasted pecans

Oven to 350 degrees; 13 x 9 inch pan lined with parchment, parchment sprayed with cooking spray.

Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a small bowl. Mix the brown sugar into the melted butter, then add the eggs and vanilla. Fold in the dry ingredients until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips and spread the batter into the pan. Sprinkle the pecans on top. Bake until the top is shiny, possibly cracked, and feels firm to the touch, about 22-25 minutes. Cool in pan on wire wrack.

Parmesan French Toast with Zucchini, Squash, and Tomatoes

2007-09-20T17:40:00.000-07:00

I seem to be doing a lot of complaining about the weather lately, so before I get to my french toast, I need to mention how much I love Fall in Seattle! The weather is totally unpredictable, and can change at a moment's notice. After a sunny day today, the clouds just rolled in about an hour ago. Now there is a flat, grey haze over everything. Leaves are starting to turn amazing colors, and there is a bite in the air. It is cold enough to need a sweater and a jacket. All of this just makes for really good baking weather. (Blondies, actually. I will post about them soon.)

I took the photo below Tuesday night. I was on my way to a lecture on "perspective" at Gage. When the black clouds in the distance finally arrived, they brought a few flashes of lightening, but no rain.

Okay - french toast... I love french toast. I was craving it today, but my sweet tooth wasn't present at the time. This was the result:

French Toast

- eggs
- milk
- pepper
- finely grated parmesan cheese
- good crusty bread

Whisk eggs, milk, pepper, and parmesan together in a bowl. Dip bread into egg mixture, and fry in a pan on medium heat until cooked all the way through.

Sauteed Veggies

- zucchini, chopped
- squash, chopped
- cherry tomatoes, left whole
- butter
- herbs
- salt

Saute everything until done to your liking; serve atop french toast, with a spoonful of sour cream or plain Greek-style yogurt.

Coconut Cookies with Lemon Icing

2007-09-18T21:44:00.000-07:00

Please notice how dark it is in these photographs...all of a sudden I am finding myself getting ready for work in the middle of the night. When did that happen?! I made these cookies late in the evening, and figured I would photograph them in the morning before taking them to work so I could have better light. Apparently that won't be an option anymore. Luckily I left two cookies at home, and got a couple more pictures the next day.

I have future plans for these cookies. I could never duplicate them exactly even if I wanted to because there were so many mishaps, (such as tripping while measuring in the almond extract.) But the fact of the matter is that they were too labor intensive with the rolling, etc, anyway. I am thinking they might work as a refrigerator slice and bake cookies, with more spices to go with the cinnamon, and then sandwich them with something creamy. Okay, I will confess, I secretly want to duplicate Mother's Taffy Sandwich Cookies. I think these are on the right track, and I will revisit them the next time I am inspired to work on this endeavor. But that may be awhile, because now I also have major negative associations with these cookies. I took them to work, and ate one-too-many, which left me feeling a little gross late in the afternoon. Then my day proceeded to turn into one of my Top 3 Most Sad and Heinous Days At Work Ever. I almost couldn't bring myself to post about these cookies because of it, but really, they are just cookies, and good ones at that. So here they are.

The original recipe came from Big Fat Cookies, by Elinor Klivans. The unadulterated cookies were fabulous - nice and crispy-crunchy. And they tasted wonderful with the lemon icing, but it caused them to become chewy cookies, which is not what I wanted at all. Does anyone out there know how to avoid that in the future? I want a frosted cookie that is also crunchy...

Toasted Coconut Washboards

- 1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut, toasted in a 300 degree oven for about 10 minutes (stir occasionally, and watch closely)
- 2 cups flour
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- heaping 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon (I used 1/4 tsp, and regretted reducing it)
- 3/4 cup butter at room temperature
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 tsp almond extract

Oven to 350 degrees. Mix together dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Beat together butter and brown sugar until fluffy, then add the egg, vanilla, and almond extract, and beat until blended. Mix in flour, then coconut.

The dough is soft, and the recipe calls for rolling it to 1/4 inch thickness between sheets of wax paper, then slicing the cookies into rectangles, and transferring the cookies to the cookie sheets. I did it, but I won't be doing it again. It was a royal pain in the ass. Bake until edges are golden, about 15 minutes. Cool on sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack.

Lemon Icing

- lemon juice
- lemon zest
- powdered sugar

Mix until spreadable, and spread on cookies.

Mittens

2007-09-18T08:29:00.000-07:00

I just heard on the radio that it is 49 degrees outside.

Anyway...I thought I had already posted about these mittens, but I'm not seeing the post anywhere, so here they are (again?). They were my first successful attempt at knitting something that wasn't a square. The pattern is Heather Dixon's "Valentine's Hat & Mittens" from Stitch 'n Bitch Nation by Debbie Stoller. In the end I was surprised at how easy it was to make something with so many corners and turns. I still wasn't happy with my finishing though - there are little knots poking out all over the place.

The yarn is Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Bulky. I'm fairly certain that this yarn was purchased in either 1992 or 1993. I bought the grey for a sweater vest(?!) that I gave up on after two disasters (involving a LOT of frogging.) Nina Roux, my roommate at the time, bought the brown. I don't remember what she had planned for the stuff, but it was still tidy in its original skeins when she finally passed it on to me about five years ago.

Found: A Good Cup of Tea!

2007-09-12T22:24:00.000-07:00

I do like coffee, and an Americano with cream and sugar can certainly hit the spot. However, nothing compares to a good cup of tea. But in this town of endless cafes, a good cup of tea seems next to impossible to find! Tea in coffee shops is usually weak and flavorless, one tiny tea bag to 12 ounces of hot water. Or sometimes you may get a really expensive pot of tea that is no better, and the pot is usually served with a tiny, wide-mouthed mug that causes the tea to become tepid moments after you have doctored it with cream and sugar. Years ago I travelled through Ireland, Wales, and England with my choir, and one of my best memories of that trip was the amazing tea that you got with every breakfast. It was strong and hot and could hold its cream and sugar!

The other day I was wandering through Pike Place Market, and came upon the Crumpet Shop. I've seen this place a million times in the million years that I have lived in Seattle, and it never occured to me to go in before. But today I was having a bit of a sweet tooth and decided to give it a try. Hurray! Not only was the tea as good as the stuff I had in England, but there are free refills, the mugs were the proper shape and size, AND I got to drink it with one of my new favorite foods - a crumpet!

The crumpet was steamy on the inside, and crispy-chewy on the outside. The dough was almost salty which went well with ricotta cheese and blackberry preserves. And my Earl Grey tea.

Chewy Gingerbread Squares

2007-09-11T07:54:00.000-07:00

I made these the last week of August, back before summer had actually arrived in Seattle. Now that we are getting our share of sunshine, these cookies seem a little less appropriate, but I will post about them anyways because they were GOOD.

I found this recipe while snooping around the Canadian Baker. I made only three tiny modifications to her recipe: 1) No candied ginger 2) I added lemon zest to the icing 3) I over-baked them because of my bad, bad oven...

But even though I nearly ruined them, they were still chewy and spicy, with a texture like a cakey brownie, or dense gingerbread. The icing was super-lemony. I will definitely make them again once the leaves turn crunchy.

Gingerbread Squares:
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup molasses
- 1/4 cup melted butter
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 cups flour
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- generous 1/4 tsp salt

Icing:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup melted butter
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- zest of 1 lemon

For the icing: mix everything together just before spreading it on the gingerbread.

For the gingerbread:
Oven to 350 degrees; line a 13 x 9 inch pan with parchment.
Whisk together dry ingredients in small bowl. In larger bowl, whisk together butter, sugar, molasses, eggs, and vanilla. Add dry ingredients to wet, mix until combined, then pour into prepared pan. Bake until toothpick is clean, about 40 minutes (unless your oven sucks, like mine, in which case your chewy gingerbread squares will be overdone at 28 minutes.) Cool in pan for 45 minutes, then spread on icing.

Bunny

2007-09-06T19:36:00.000-07:00

I've never made any critters before. I usually stick to mittens and scarves, but when I saw this pattern I decided to give it a go. It was easier than I expected, but as usual, I had a difficult time with the finishing. I can never seem to tie off the ends neatly, and this project had lots of ends to deal with. The pattern called for wool, but I used some old left-over acrylic stuff I had laying around. Also, all I had on hand to stuff him with was black beans, so he packs a mean punch when hurled by his 3 year old friend.

Bunny meeting his new best friend:

Flying Bunny:

Fruit Tart

2007-09-02T07:35:00.000-07:00

I have a friend that moved to the United States about 8 years ago. Every since he learned that I like to bake, he has been requesting a "fruit cake". I figured that something was getting lost in translation - there was no way he could possibly be asking for an actual Fruit Cake. I thought maybe something along the lines of strawberry shortcake? Nope. Finally one day, we were walking through a Whole Foods bakery and he exclaimed, "That's it! That's what I want! A fruit cake!"

I made this "fruit cake" for his birthday. It was my first time making pastry cream, and now that I have done it, I can't wait to move on to Boston Cream Pie and eclairs. It was way easier than I imagined, and tasted heavenly. I followed the directions exactly, but still had a moment of terror just after the mixture came to its final simmer - suddenly the cream appeared to curdle, and looked like it was rapidly becoming scrambled eggs. But I just continued to whisk vigorously as I removed it from the heat, and the cream turned out beautifully.(!?) I don't know if that is normal or not, but the final product was wonderful. The tart shell was also delicious, and the dough was easy to roll out and work with. It tasted like not-too-sweet vanilla sugar cookies.

I used the recipe for the "Fresh Fruit Tart with Pastry Cream" in Baking Illustrated: the Practical Kitchen Companion for the Home Baker, by the Editors of Cook's Illustrated Magazine. The recipe calls for either currant or apple jelly to glaze fruit - I used neither, and did not miss having a glaze. For the fruit part, I used blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, champagne grapes, and mandarin orange slices. The recipe called for unwashed berries, because any moisture left on the fruit would cause the pastry cream to weep. My O.C.D. tendencies in the kitchen prevented me from following that direction. Please note the drying fruit in the following picture...

Sweet Tart Pastry for 9 or 9 1/2 inch tart shell, from Baking Illustrated, p223

- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 Tbsp heavy cream
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cups (6 1/4 ounces) all purpose flour
- 2/3 cup (2 2/3 ounces) powdered sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 8 Tbsp cold butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces (I used salted)

Whisk yolk, cream, and vanilla in a small bowl and set aside.

Place flour, sugar, and salt in food processor and combine. Scatter in butter and process until resembles coarse meal, about fifteen pulses. Turn on machine and pour in egg mixture; process until dough just comes together, about 12 seconds. Turn dough onto plastic wrap, press into 6 inch disk, wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

If dough has been refrigerated for longer than 1 hour, remove dough from frig and let stand at room temp until malleable. Roll out between lightly floured sheets of parchment to a 13 inch circle. Transfer dough to 9 or 9 1/2 inch tart pan with removable bottom and carefully press dough into corners. Roll over pan with rolling pin to trim edges. Freeze tart pan for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, oven to 375 degrees, rack to middle position. When dough is done freezing, place pan on baking sheet. Line with foil, and fill tart with pie weights. Bake for 30 minutes on baking sheet, rotating half-way through. Remove from the oven and carefully remove foil, lifting weights with it. Bake another 5 to 8 minutes, until tart shell is deep golden brown. Set baking sheet on wire rack to cool shell completely.

Pastry Cream, from Baking Illustrated, p227

- 2 cups half and half
- 1/2 cup sugar
- pinch of salt
- 5 large egg yolks
- 3 Tbsp corn starch
- 4 Tbsp cold butter, cut into 4 pieces
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Heat the half and half, 6 Tbsp sugar, and the salt in a saucepan over medium heat until simmering, stirring occassionally.

Meanwhile, whisk egg yolks and 2 Tbsp sugar in medium bowl until creamy, about 15 seconds. Whisk in corn starch until pale and thick, about 30 more seconds.

Gradually whisk simmering half and half mixture into egg yolks to temper. Return mixture to saucepan and bring to simmer over medium heat, whisking CONSTANTLY, until a few bubbles burst on surface and the mixture is thickened, about 30 seconds. Add butter and vanilla off the heat. Strain through fine-mesh sieve over a bowl. Refrigerate at least 3 hours with plastic wrap pressed directly on surface to prevent skin from forming.

Do not assemble this tart until very close to the time that you will be eating it, particularly if you are using sliced or washed fruit (see above).

Zucchini Bread

2007-08-25T13:27:00.001-07:00

I'm doing my best to embrace the cool weather, starting with this zucchini bread. It was sort of an odd recipe, almost savory, which made the chocolate chips a little out of place. I think if I had left them out, this bread would have just been an interesting green bread with a really nice texture. (I wish I had gotten a picture of the inside of this loaf, because it truly was green!) I won't be repeating it because it was actually a little time intensive for a "quick bread", and to be honest, when I think of zucchini bread, what I REALLY am craving is pumpkin or banana bread. I just happened to have a zucchini to use up, so here we are.
ps - Except for the addition of chocolate chips, I used the recipe word-for-word out of Baking Illustrated: the Practical Kitchen Companion for the Home Baker, by the Editors of Cook's Illustrated Magazine.

Goodbye, summer

2007-08-19T18:11:00.000-07:00

Part of me is still hoping that September will deliver a good heat wave, but as I was pulling out my wool sweater and umbrella this morning it was difficult to get too optimistic. Then while I was doing my grocery shopping I saw the word "maple" on a carton of yogurt, and I realized that I might be able to get excited about this premature autumn if I put some effort into it. Maple, cinnamon, pears, pumpkin, nuts, pie crust...

Plain Old Coffee Cake

2007-08-12T09:30:00.000-07:00

Here on the West Coast we had the honor of a visit from Nina Roux recently. I made this cake for one of our gatherings. It was buttery and tasty, with a sweet (but not too sweet) crumb topping. I couldn't get a good photo, but if you are really itching for a glimpse, then scroll to the bottom for a mediocre picture.

The recipe came out of Martha's Baking Handbook, and the only modification I made was to use only half of the crumb topping. It was more than enough, and I can't imagine that you would even be able to find the cake if you had used the whole amount called for.

Classic Crumb Cake, from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook

- 10 Tbsp butter at room temp
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 1/4 cups sour cream
- crumb topping

Crumb Topping (this is half of what was called for)

- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 Tbsp cinnamon (I will try more next time)
- 3/4 tsp coarse salt
- 1 3/4 sticks of room temp butter

Mix the dry ingredients first in a food processor, then add the butter in pieces until clumps form.

Oven to 350 degrees; grease a 9 x 13 inch baking pan.
Mix dry ingredients in bowl and set aside.
Beat butter and sugar until fluffy (about 4 minutes.) Beat in eggs one at a time; add vanilla. Add sour cream and flour mixture, alternating. Spread batter into pan and then sprinkle crumb topping over batter. Bake for about 40-50 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan for a little while, but this cake is great while still warm.

Whole Wheat Bread

2007-08-11T16:56:00.000-07:00

As usual, I am baking way less since it is summertime. I imagine that will change once September rolls around, but in the meantime I did make a really tasty batch of bread. I am going to continue my lazy streak and simply say that I followed the recipe for Whole Wheat Bread in Baking Illustrated to the letter, and the results were fabulous. It called for all purpose flour, whole wheat graham flour, wheat germ, and rye flour. The bread was soft, it wasn't dry at all, and it didn't require an enormous effort to chew (I guess I had pretty low expectations, which is odd since I grew up with my grandma's amazing homemade whole wheat bread...?). The texture was actually pretty amazing, and I will definitely be coming back to this recipe.

This seems to be all I'm eating lately

2007-08-11T16:49:00.000-07:00

Ever since I finally got around to trying Greek style yogurt I haven't eaten much of anything else. That stuff tastes like straight-up sour cream (which is a good thing in my book.) Sometimes the blueberries are swapped out for nectarines or peaches, but for some reason this has been the extent of my cooking these days. I'm going out to try a new restaurant tonight - maybe that will help shake up my routine. ps - you can't see it in the picture, but there is honey drizzled on top.

It's what was in the fridge...

2007-07-31T18:21:00.001-07:00

Sometimes you luck out, and the odds and ends lurking in your kitchen turn out to hit the spot perfectly. This was one of those times. I sauteed frozen spinach with random herbs, then scrambled in an egg at the last minute. Then I chopped a cucumber with cherry tomatoes, and added Greek yogurt and feta cheese to it. All of the above turned out to make a very nice filling wrapped in the toasted flat bread. Yum. Now I have time to do my homework for my drawing class, and my kitchen is still clean to boot.

Riding to West Seattle

2007-07-28T14:03:00.000-07:00

If you ride from downtown Seattle, through here:

across this:

over this bridge:

you will suddenly find yourself here, feeling like you are a million miles away from Seattle:

Here is the view, looking back towards downtown:

And if you go just a few more miles you find yourself on the back-side of the peninsula, with no view of the city at all - just islands and mountains and water.

This is a super-quick, short bike ride from downtown, and I had never been there until a few weeks ago (and I have been biking in Seattle for over a decade!) You want to make sure to do it on a weekday though - apparently it becomes quite the place to go "cruising" on weekends in the summer (I didn't know people actually "cruised" anymore, but I guess they do if you are in West Seattle.)

Roasted Chickpeas with Cherry Couscous and Cucumber-Lime Raita

2007-07-28T10:01:00.000-07:00

Nina Roux sent me this kick-ass cookbook for my birthday,The Flexitarian Table. The raita and chickpeas are the first things I have made from it, and they are both to be repeated soon. This is probably the best way I have ever eaten chickpeas - they are very nutty tasting. And the onions get nice and sweet during the roasting. I ended up altering the recipes a bit. For one thing, I didn't have some of the ingredients called for in the book (for example, I only had ground cumin - no cumin seeds.) I also have a very difficult time following recipes when I am cooking (baking is a different story), so there were no measuring spoons out when I made these.

Cucumber Lime Raita

- cucumber, seeded, peeled, and chopped
- dash of olive oil
- lime juice
- cumin
- coriander
- salt
- Greek yogurt (I had fat-free Greek yogurt, and honestly couldn't tell)
- black pepper

Combine all of the above ingredients, seasoning to taste.

Cherry Couscous

- couscous (I used Israeli-style)
- dried tart cherries
- salt
- butter

Cook couscous according to package instructions, but add cherries, salt, and butter to the water before it comes to a boil.

Roasted Chickpeas

- 1 15-ounce can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
- olive oil
- lemon juice
- 2 bay leaves, broken in half
- cumin
- turmeric
- sweet paprika
- cayenne pepper
- fresh flat leaf parsley

Oven to 400 degrees. In an oven-proof skillet, place chickpeas, onion, oil, lemon juice, bay leaves, cumin, turmeric, paprika, cayenne, and a dash of salt. Stir over medium heat until sizzling, then transfer to oven for 20 minutes, stirring once or twice.

Lemon Blueberry Bread

2007-07-24T18:40:00.000-07:00

There has been a lot less baking going on around here lately because the weather was actually acting like summer. As a result I was spending way more time on my bike , and way less time in my kitchen. But last week, after the seventh straight day of rain, I found myself pulling out the butter, sugar, flour, and eggs again, and this bread is the result. (Luckily the sun returned today, and I just got back from a nice ride by the lake.)

Lemon Blueberry Bread

- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1 1/4 cup sugar
- zest of about 2 lemons
- 2 eggs
- 8 ounces yogurt (I happened to have fat-free Greek style at home and used that; it worked great)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 to 1 1/2 cups blueberries; I used frozen

Oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan. Mix first four ingredients together in medium bowl. In bowl of mixer, beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Add lemon zest, then the eggs one at a time, and vanilla. Alternately add flour and yogurt, beginning and ending with flour. Mix in blueberries. Batter will be thick. Pour into pan and bake for 55 to 65 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean. Cover in foil part way through if cake appears to be browning too quickly. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove and cool completely on wire rack.

This bread (cake) is nice and lemony, slightly tart from the yogurt, and with the texture that I always hope for in a blueberry muffin. I used frozen wild blueberries, and they did the trick nicely. It keeps well for a day or two, but loses the slightly crunchy crust (my favorite part) that it has coming out of the oven.

Oops...

2007-07-13T19:13:00.000-07:00

...this is what happens when I try to crochet a granny "square" while watching Sense and Sensibility:

I don't usually knit or crochet during the summer - my interest completely vaporizes as soon as biking weather arrives. But the other night I was suddenly inspired, and these are the results. I recently discovered one of the cooler crochet books ever - 200 Crochet Blocks for blankets, throws, and afghans by Jan Eaton. It is basically a catalog of squares that theoretically will fit together if you use the same yarn and hook on all of them. I have been flipping through it and trying out ones that look interesting. I am relatively new to crochet, so I am still getting used to reading the maddening patterns, but I haven't encountered any mistakes in this book yet. I'm also finding granny squares to be way easier than I anticipated.

I am using left-over acrylic yarn that I had laying around (takes the pressure off!). Besides, I'm not sure I will ever have the patience to do an entire blanket, so these will probably just line the bottom of my knitting bag for awhile.

For some really gorgeous squares, check out yarnstorm.

Left-Over Lime Bars

2007-07-07T16:34:00.000-07:00

I made lime curd for the first time a few weeks ago. It was for my birthday cake. I'm not sure when I have had a harder time resisting anything - I was eating it by the spoonful and having an impossible time stopping. I ended up having left-over lime curd after the cake was assembled. I knew I had to actually DO something with it - there was no way I could let it go to waste. These lime bars are the result.

I found a recipe for lemon bars in the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook (the red plaid one). I cut the crust recipe in half, put it in an 8x8 inch pan, and then swapped in my lime curd for the lemon filling. It actually worked, except that I had to bake it for quite a bit longer than the original recipe called for, and I think that left me with a harder, crunchier crust than it would have been otherwise. Whatever. It was simply a vehicle for lime curd anyways.

Crust, modified for an 8x8 inch pan (and a couple cups of lime curd?), from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book, 14th edition, p264

- 1 cup flour
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1 Tbsp cornstarch
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 6 Tbsp cold butter, in pieces

Oven to 350 degrees, line 8x8 inch pan with parchment. Mix dry ingredients together, then cut in butter and press mixture into pan. (Next time I will use my food processor.) Bake for 18 - 20 minutes until edges are golden. Pour curd over crust and bake for another 15 - 25 minutes, until center is set. Cool completely.

Woolly Coconut-Lime Birthday Cake

2007-07-05T19:56:00.000-07:00

This was my birthday cake. I had been craving lime and coconut, I think because I associate those flavors with trips to Mexico and summer was nowhere to be seen when my birthday rolled around a few weeks ago. This cake turned out to be exactly what I wanted, and I won't change a thing the next time I have an excuse to make it. The cream cheese frosting wasn't too sweet, and it was heaven with the lime curd (I was having an impossible time not eating spoonfuls of each while waiting for the crumb coat to chill.) The cake actually tasted of coconut too (just like the recipe promised) without any annoying coconut flakes in the batter itself. The half-toasted sweetened coconut smashed on the outside was actually WAY better than I was expecting. It was chewy-crunchy, which added a great contrast to the cake, but it also added a lot more flavor than I had anticipated.

(It is warm outside, my windows are open, I have wobbly-tired legs from a fifty mile bike ride today, and I am listening to Neil Diamond while I write this. Meow.)

I had searched high and low for a recipe that used coconut milk instead of "cream of coconut" (which I find a little scary - it contains several mystery ingredients), but I wasn't having much luck. I was surprised when I saw that the Cooks' Illustrated recipe even called for the stuff, but then they explained themselves (yay Cooks' Illustrated!). Apparently when they were testing recipes with coconut milk they had wildly varied results. With a little research they discovered that from can to can, coconut milk's fat content can vary as much as 33%. Hence, the cream of coconut.

Martha's Lime Curd, (slightly modified) from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook

- 8 large egg yolks
- 1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp lime juice
- 1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp lemon juice (I actually used more lime juice - I only had 1 lemon)
- zest of 2 limes
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1 1/4 sticks cold butter, cut into pieces (10 Tbsp)(I used salted)

Put yolks, juice, zest and sugar in heavy saucepan. Whisk well to combine, then cook over medium-high heat, constantly stirring with a wooden spoon until mixture coats back of spoon and is 160 degrees on instant-read thermometer (about 8-12 minutes).

Remove from heat. Stir in salt. Add butter pieces gradually, stirring until mixed well. Press through sieve into bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing onto surface to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate at least one hour.

Coconut Cake, (modified slightly) from Baking Illustrated.

- 2 1/4 cups (9 ounces) cake flour (I used 9 ounce AP flour)
- 1 egg
- 5 egg whites
- 3/4 cream of coconut (Coco Lopez)
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 tsp coconut extract
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup (7 ounces) sugar
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 sticks butter (12 Tbsp), softened but cool, cut into 12 pieces
- 2 cups packed sweetened shredded coconut

Oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans.

In a large measuring cup, mix egg and egg whites with a fork, then mix in cream of coconut, water, and extracts.

In bowl of mixer, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add butter one piece at a time, and mix until resembles coarse meal with no pieces bigger than a pea, about 2 - 2 1/2 minutes.

With mixer running, add a cup of the liquid mixture. Beat on med-high until fluffy, about 45 seconds. With mixer still running, add remaining liquid in steady stream over about 15 seconds. Scrape down bowl and beat for another 15 seconds.

Divide batter between pans. Batter will be thick - spread with spatula. Bake for about 30 minutes, until toothpick is clean. Remove cakes, and toast coconut spread on baking sheet for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until half of coconut is golden, half is still white.

Cool cakes on wire racks, remove from pans after 10 minutes to finish cooling.

Ina Garten's Cream Cheese Frosting, (slightly modified) from the Barefoot Contessa at Home

- 1 pound cream cheese at room temperature
- 2 sticks butter at room temperature (I used salted)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 pound powdered sugar

Beat together everything except the sugar. When it is well combined, add the sugar, and beat until smooth.

Assemble and eat! (I put a thin coat of frosting on the bottom layer before the lime curd.)

Reasons to ride to Redmond

2007-07-05T19:35:00.001-07:00

1) The British Pantry is a restaurant with a little shop attached that sells British food. I have never actually eaten anything from the restaurant or pastry case because it seems to mainly consist of meat-stuffed things. But they do have yummy snacks that you can't often find elsewhere!

For example...these helped me on the 25 miles home:

2) This stretch of the Burke-Gilman Trail is probably my favorite, and is something to look forward to on a ride to Redmond:

A perfect day...

2007-07-04T23:36:00.000-07:00

...for only a dollar fifty. It finally feels like summer here in Seattle, and my bike is no longer feeling neglected. I went for a ride on the Burke-Gilman Trail the other day. It heads north out of Seattle and wraps around Lake Washingon. I rode up into the suburbs, found a grocery store for my cheese and nectarines (and made the frightening discovery that there are TELEVISIONS in the check-out line at Albertson's?!?!?), then headed back home. The trail is flat and car-free, so it is a good place to ride if you are in need of zoning out (the only place I allow myself to listen to music on my bike!). You can ride about 25 miles to the suburb of Redmond without ever having to deal with cars.

A happy bike:

A lot of the trail has a view of Lake Washington:

Birthday Cupcakes

2007-07-01T09:14:00.000-07:00

These cupcakes were not good in my book, but they were a success for two reasons: 1) I learned how not to fill cupcakes (I will try a different technique next time.) 2) I found a recipe that worked really well for the filling (for when I try these again. Which I will.)

I used Martha Stewart's recipe for Devil's Food Cupcakes, and I will definitely NEVER use that recipe again. They were chocolate-colored, but that was about it. Blah. I couldn't find the recipe I usually use, but I will try harder to find it next time. For the filling I modified the Vanilla Cream Filling from her Baking Handbook. It is supposed to be the filling for some oreo-type cookies. I added a tiny amount of corn syrup until the consistency was right, then piped it into the cupcakes. I had read of people having luck that way. I don't think I was aggressive enough though, and wound up without enough filling for many of the cupcakes. I just can't be bothered to do the cone method - too lazy. So next time I will be more aggressive with my piping, and I also may try the straw method... But at least I found a filling I liked! And it also worked for decorating the top of the cupcakes. (You may notice my clumpy ganache - it was one of those days where I couldn't get anything to work out!)

Cupcake Filling

- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/3 cup vegetable shortening, room temperature
- 1/3 cup butter, room temperature
- 1/4 - 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
- 1 - 3 tsp light corn syrup

Beat together all ingredients except for corn syrup until light and fluffy. Add corn syrup in small amounts until filling is to desired consistency.

Ice Cream Cones

2007-06-27T18:40:00.000-07:00

I finally finished the last painting from my painting class this spring. The assignment was to copy somebody else's painting, and I did one of Wayne Thiebaud's ice cream paintings. I liked the exercise - it took the pressure off! I am not currently signed up for any classes...I need to remedy that.

Austin - Last Installment

2007-06-23T11:22:00.000-07:00

This is a final wrap up of the southern snacks I had to try on my trip to Austin - things you would not be likely to find in Seattle.

Crawfish Etouffee at Ruby's BBQ. Everytime I go to Austin I have to get myself some of this stuff.

Fried Pie - this is definitely not something you would find in Seattle. I found this at Jo's, the fabulous coffee shop where I spent so many hours reading while sitting in the balmy shade.

I would love it if there were more filling, but the dough was heavenly. I really don't know what to compare it to - it was not flakey like normal pie crust, and was almost like fried bread. Then there was a glaze over the top of it. I will definitely be going back for more the next time I am in town.

Frozen Custard at Culvers. This was like soft serve ice cream only it wasn't. It was creamier and tasted more like ice cream, and wasn't as soft as soft serve.

I've Been Tagged...

2007-06-23T11:00:00.000-07:00

by fellow southerner, Sandi, over at the Whistlestop Cafe!

But first, a picture of one of my favorite places in the world. This is Discovery Park in Seattle. It is huge, and no matter how nice the weather, the place never feels crowded. The park overlooks Elliott Bay. You can walk through the woods down to the water, or picnic on tall bluffs. It is close to downtown, but feels like you are a million miles away, and makes for a really nice bike ride destination.

This is supposed to be 8 Random Things About Me but I am going to have to make it 4 instead - that is all I have been able to come up with!
1) I have two fat old cats (please see photo) that I adopted from my brother. When my niece was born, she turned out to be allergic to the beasties so I took them in.
2) I am a chocolate wuss. Dark chocolate, flourless chocolate cake, "tortes", truffles - it is all too much for me. And if there were a Hostess Ding Dong nearby, I would take that over any of the previously mentioned treats. (I like to think this is because I am one of the "supertasters" I read about in David Lebovitz's book, The Great Book of Chocolate!)
3) I biked across the United States.
4) Singing is my first love. Choral music and country, especially!

Not sure yet who I am going to tag next - I will get back to you!

Cherry Blackbottom Cupcakes

2007-06-22T23:22:00.000-07:00

After all my griping about the weather, I decided to celebrate the sunshine by taking my cupcakes outdoors for their class picture. It still isn't exactly summer here, but I have at least been able to go on a couple of long bike rides. This should somewhat compensate for the fact that I will be eating these cupcakes for dinner every night until they are gone (three per night, 12 in a batch means I'll be back to real food by Monday.)

These cupcakes land somewhere near World Peace Cookies on my top ten list. I love the combination of chocolate with the cherry and the cheesecake, and the texture is exactly what I want out of a cupcake, too. They are incredibly easy to make, and they keep well. Basically I have nothing bad to say about them. I used David Lebovitz's recipe for Black-Bottom Cupcakes from the Great Book of Chocolate, and made two tiny modifications (cherry jam and almond extract).

*I am in love with this jam, and am constantly seeking out new delivery methods (toast, sandwiched between graham crackers or cookies, by the spoonful when nothing else is available). That is how I ended up with cherry jam in my cupcakes.

Cherry Blackbottom Cupcakes

- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- 5 Tbsp natural cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup water
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 Tbsp white or cider vinegar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract

Filling

- 8 ounces room temp cream cheese
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 room temp egg
- 1/8 tsp almond extract
- 2 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
- cherry jam*

Oven to 350 degrees, line one standard muffin tin with cupcake papers.
Beat cream cheese, sugar, egg, and almond extract together. Mix in chocolate chips.
In large bowl, mix together dry cupcake ingredients. Make well in center and pour in wet ingredients. Stir together with wooden spoon. Distribute amongst cupcake papers. Next, distribute cream cheese mixture, about 1-2 Tbsp per cupcake. Finally, drop about a tsp of jam onto each cupcake.
Bake for 25 minutes, or until cupcakes are springy and tops are slightly golden.

Austin Treats - Kolache

2007-06-17T16:27:00.000-07:00

I got this book a few weeks before my trip to Austin. Reading it, I learned of kolaches, a treat found in many Texas bakeries, probably of Czech origin. I decided I would have to try them on my trip. Upon arriving however, I couldn't find a single local that had actually eaten one. Still, there were plenty of bakeries to choose from. I ultimately wound up at the Kolache Shoppe, mainly because it was right around the corner from my friend, Jen T.'s place, where I was staying. It was a small little place in the middle of a strip mall, and I am pretty sure it sold nothing but kolaches. There are both sweet and savory varieties, but all of their savory ones contained meat, so I stuck to sweet. My plan had been to sample just one.

I tried cherry.

Then apple.

Then cream cheese.

I think they appealed to the same part of me that secretly likes Twinkies. The dough was soft and flakey, like a cross between danish, a buttery dinner roll, and Wonder Bread. And the dough was not very sweet. Then resting in the center was the filling. The fruit could have come straight out of a can of pie filling (which I love as much as Twinkies). The cream cheese was sweet. I would love a cherry-cream cheese version...

Brownies with Peanut Butter Caramel

2007-06-17T15:40:00.000-07:00

I am about to lose my mind - it is the middle of June and I can't remember the last day the sun was REALLY out. As I write this, it is 3:45 in the afternoon and 55 degrees out. And cloudy. And rainy. Two nights ago I finally broke down and brought my winter blanket back to bed. Meanwhile I am supposed to be training for various bike rides I signed up for this summer. Instead, I am staying inside, where it is warm-ish, and baking (and eating). Like these brownies, for example.

I'm discovering that I may be a bit of a chocolate wuss. With all of my brownie-experimentation lately, I am finding that my favorites have been a little bit light on chocolate. This time around I used David Lebovitz's recipe for his Dulce de Leche Brownies, then modified the dulce de leche with some peanut butter. The brownies were of the fudgy variety, and were so chocolately they were almost black. They were truly amazing, but I think that next time I will go back to these or these.

I followed DL's brownie recipe to the letter, so I won't re-copy it here. For the peanut butter caramel variety, just replace the dulce to leche in the recipe with the following:

Peanut Butter Caramel

- 1 can sweetened condensed milk
- 1/2 cup peanut butter (natural-style works fine, if not better - not quite as sweet)

Mix together in pan over medium heat until well combined. Continue to warm, stirring constantly, for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and use as directed in brownie recipe. This recipe makes much more than is needed for the 8x8 pan of brownies. I plan on using my left-overs on ice cream, but there would certainly be enough for a 9x13 batch instead.

Austin

2007-06-09T19:43:00.000-07:00

I had planned on doing one big post about my trip to Austin, but I've changed my mind. Austin is one of my favorite towns and I am having a hard time thinning out my pictures, so I will be doing three or four "little" posts instead. This one is for Nina Roux - it is hard to explain why I like this place so much, and these pictures probably don't help, but at least you will have a little idea of what Austin looks like! It seems like everyone has the idea that all of Texas is a desert. East Texas is actually very green for much of the year. A lot of the neighborhoods I wandered through reminded me of where I grew up in Houston - tons of trees and plants and thick grass. The weather was muggy and hot (my favorite!) and we even got a nice and loud thunderstorm the night before I left.

This is what you see looking over the fence in my sister's backyard.

Barton Springs is in Zilker Park - a HUGE park right in Austin.

Around South Congress.

On South Congress looking back towards downtown:

South Congress is a fairly hip neighborhood with cafes, restaurants, and vintage shops, etc. It is one of the good spots to go if you want to park your car and walk around. For the most part though, Austin is a car town. And if I am truly honest with myself, it is not particularly attractive. Considering those two things, I still can't quite put my finger on why I love it SO MUCH. The weather certainly doesn't hurt!
This picture is of Jo's, a cafe on South Congress that I will mention again later in another post. I spent a good hunk of time reading and journaling here, sipping on an iced americano, sitting in the shade. I love that so many restaurants have outdoor seating, and that even at night, (or during the thunderstorm) you never get cold.

Speaking of thunderstorms, there was a doozy while I was down there. I miss those so much! It never thunders in Seattle, and when it does, it is generally an isolated event during a "storm" that lasts all of five minutes. This storm in Austin first showed up on the horizen at about 6:00 in the evening and didn't let up until late at night. At one point I was standing on my friend's balcony, and the lightening literally never stopped. The sky looked like a strobe light because it was constantly flickering from lightening going off somewhere.

I think I will post most of my storm pictures even though some of them aren't that great, because you can also get an idea of what the town looks like.

Driving north of downtown:

This is taken from the parking lot of minimart right around the block from where J.T. lives.

It is probably difficult to see what you are looking at in this picture. It was taken off the deck of J.T.'s apartment during the storm. She has a view of a tin-roofed Mexican restaurant and its parking lot. There was a LOT of rain coming down.

Lemon Cornmeal Cookies

2007-06-09T11:50:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to try this recipe for awhile now. Then yesterday, after one of my most favorite co-workers worked her last day with me after quitting her job (I still can't believe it is true!), I decided to go home and drown my sorrows in these cookies. The recipe came out of a Martha Stewart Food Christmas cookie magazine. The recipe seemed a little odd to me, but I wanted to try it anyways because the photo looked so promising. Of course my cookies looked nothing like the ones in her picture. It turns out that these cookies are heavenly when they are warm out of the oven - lemony and buttery, but dense like shortbread, with a cornmealy crunch. The next day, however, they are just flavorful hockey pucks. That is when I discovered how lovely they are when softened by a little bit of melting blueberry frozen yogurt, or dipped into a hot cup of tea. So there is no need to worry that my lemony hockey pucks will end up in the garbage. These cookies are good enough (and easy enough) that I can imagine trying them again. But I may add a tiny bit of leavening, and also try a finer ground cornmeal or corn flour. Into half of my cookies I squashed a dried tart cherry. Next time I would definitely do that to all of them.

Lemon Cornmeal Cookies (adapted from Everyday Food, Holiday 2006)

- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1 cup cornmeal (I reccommend finer rather than coarse, or maybe a mix of the two?)
- 1 Tbsp lemon zest
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 12 Tbsp butter, at room temp
- 3/4 cup of sugar
- 1 egg
- 24-36 dried tart cherries (optional)

Oven to 350 degrees. Mix dry ingredients together in small bowl. Beat together butter, sugar, lemon zest, and egg. Mix in dry ingredients. Roll dough into balls, using a heaping tablespoon of dough. Place 2 inches apart on baking sheet lined with parchment. Flatten dough to 3/4" thickness. Squish a cherry into the center of each cookie. Bake until browned around the edges, about 20-25 minutes.

I am submitting these to the Weekend Cookbook Challenge. This is the 17th one, and the theme is cornmeal. I imagine the round up with be up soon, so check it out!

Dorie's Peanuttiest Blondies

2007-06-05T19:29:00.000-07:00

I cannot begin to express how devastated I was when I got home from the grocery store and discovered...I had forgotten the PEANUTS! I made these bars anyways, and they were great (like everything else I have tried from Dorie). But they would have been so much greater with the peanuts! The blondies are pretty sweet, and I can only imagine what a lovely contrast the salty peanuts would have been. And they were indeed chewy, just as Dorie said they would be. The one thing I will leave out next time, however (because I WILL be making these again), is the cinnamon. For some reason, the combination of peanut butter and cinnamon didn't work for me.

Peanuttiest Blondies, from Baking: From My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan

- 1 cup flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup peanut butter (not natural)
- 5 Tbsp room temp butter
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup chopped salted peanuts
- 6 ounces semisweet, 1 cup minichips

350 degrees. Line a 9 inch square pan.

Whisk together dry ingredients. Mix butter and peanut butter until smooth, add sugars and mix 1-2 minutes. Add eggs, mixing well after each. Add vanilla. Add dry ingredients, mix until just combined. Stir in peanuts and chocolate. Spread into pan. Bake 40-50 minutes (mine were finished early). Thin knife should be clean.
Cool completely in pan, lift, cut, etc.

Blueberry Frozen Yogurt...

2007-06-05T17:58:00.000-07:00

...good enough for a cold and rainy Seattle day. This stuff is way better than the sum of its parts. When I had my first taste, I honestly did a quick mental scan, trying to recall if I had accidentally dumped in a pint of heavy cream without realizing it. The texture is wonderful (requires a ten or fifteen minute thaw at room temperature before serving), but the flavor! I went back and tasted the plain yogurt left-overs, and that didn't explain this stuff either. Whatever. It is just good. Creamy and fruity and just sweet enough.

Of course this came from David Lebovitz's fabulous and amazing new book, The Perfect Scoop, which I finally have in my possession. Anyone with an ice cream maker that does not yet have this book needs to go out and buy it immediately! I think I have already read it cover to cover twice, and my lilliputian freezer is the only thing keeping me from making every recipe.

I used Greek-style yogurt, and frozen wild blueberries. (The recipe calls for straining out the blueberry seeds. All I will say is that I have a strange compulsion that prevented me from doing that - therefore my yogurt was unstrained.)

Blueberry Frozen Yogurt, from The Perfect Scoop

- 1 1/2 cups plain Greek-style yogurt
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3 cups blueberries
- 1 tsp kirsch
- 2 tsp lemon juice

Place yogurt, sugar, and blueberries in food processor and mix well. (Strain.) Stir in kirsch and lemon juice and chill for 1 hour. Place in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions.

Marble Magnets for M!

2007-05-24T19:41:00.001-07:00

My friend, M, has been asking me how to make these magnets so that she could try it with her daughter. So it finally occured to me to just do a post about it.(?!) It is super easy, and you don't need much in the way of supplies:
- glass marbles, the type usually found the in the floral arranging section of craft stores. They are slightly random in shape and size, and have a flattish side.
- 1/2" round magnets, also to be found in craft stores
- 1/2" round paper hole punch (craft store, in the scrapbooking section)
- silicone sealant, as seen in the following photo...I think I got this at Home Depot, but I imagine you could find something similar in any hardware store. It is found with caulk, etc, and other types of goop one would use in a bathtub? The tube says "100% silicone sealant" - MAKE SURE TO GET THE CLEAR KIND!!! (It may say "clear" or "transparent" on the tube somewhere.)
- magazines, catalogs, maps - anything with interesting pictures or designs that you would like showing through on your magnet.

Use the hole punch to chop out your pictures, then with a toothpick, or similar item, smear a very thin layer of the silicone sealant onto the magnet. Then place your picture on top and press it down. Do this with all of your pictures, and let them dry a little bit ( a few minutes is plenty). Then with your toothpick, put a small glob of sealant on top of your picture (about the size of a peppercorn) and press the flat side of the marble onto it. Let dry (about 24 hours?)

Cocoa Brownies

2007-05-24T19:20:00.000-07:00

I cannot stop making brownies. I found a fabulous recipe that I posted on Sweet and Savory, but then I couldn't resist trying these too. The original recipe only had the cocoa, without the chocolate chips added. I added the chocolate chips because I was afraid they wouldn't be chocolatey enough, but it probably wasn't necessary (but still good!). I really like the texture (chewy!) and they were definitely chocolatey. I think they would be a good recipe if you wanted a frosted brownie. They had an interesting flavor that kept making me think of honey. I don't know if it was the kind of cocoa I used, or the fact that I used such a heaping teaspoon of vanilla? Whatever the case, it will be a tough call the next time I make brownies, choosing between these and these.

Cocoa Brownies, modified from recipe in old Pillsbury cookbook

- 1/2 cup salted butter
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/3 cup cocoa
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- heaping 1/2 tsp salt
- mini chocolate chips (about 1/2 cup - I wasn't paying attention)
- enough chopped toasted pecans to sprinkle on top

Oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 9 pan, or line with parchment.

In large sauce pan, melt butter. Mix in sugar, vanilla and eggs, then ry ingredients. After combined, stir in chocolate chips and pour batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle nuts on top. Bake for about 22 minutes, when toothpick comes out with crumbs.

Mini-Roadtrip to Portland

2007-05-24T18:33:00.001-07:00

In my mind, the drive on I-5 between Seattle and Portland is marked by a few things:

1) Heinous traffic the entire stretch between Tacoma and Seattle

2) An unusually high number of Hooters restaurants (maybe that is just my perception?)

3) Some very pretty, wide-open green stretches, mountain views, and bits of various rivers

4) Alfred Hamilton's Uncle Sam billboard. It is generally serves as something to look forward to on your drive, to break up the monotony of I-5 and provide some conversation. But I am having a hard time figuring this one out. Any ideas? Is it referring to gun control? I'm afraid I'm not quite getting it.

As far as the trip itself, we had a fabulous time. The day was basically spent walking and eating, eating and walking, which was exactly what I was in the mood for. We stayed in a motel in the Nob Hill neighborhood, and before the day was through, we had walked all the way to the main section of Hawthorne in SE Portland, and walked most of the way back to Nob Hill. We took the street car the last 14 blocks after a rain cloud opened up on us.

ps - I tried watching the movie Snow Falling on Cedars the other night. I eventually had to turn it off. It felt like I was watching porn aimed at pedophiles and I got totally grossed out. Did this movie strike anyone else in this way? I got on the internet and couldn't find much of anything on the movie - just that the book has been on banned lists for being "pornographic". I haven't read the book so I am curious if the movie was simply keeping true to the original? Ick.

Lemon Sorbet

2007-05-21T18:22:00.000-07:00

I finally tried out my ice cream maker! Of course it was way easier than I had expected, and now I can't wait to try out all of the fabulous-looking recipes that have been popping up lately. A friend had put in a request for lemon sorbet, and sorbet didn't have the intimidation factor of actual ice cream, AND the Sugar High Friday event is requesting white food! So here we are.

I found different versions of this recipe on several different blogs. Some of them included alcohol and I wish I had made the trip to the liquor store because my sorbet ended up freezing up too hard. But the flavor was perfect - not too sweet, and very lemony. And while the texture worked itself out after being left on the kitchen counter for a little while, I'll definitely try it with the booze next time.

Lemon Sorbet

- 1 cup lemon juice
- 2 1/2 cups water
- zest of 2or 3 lemons (I added some orange zest too)
- 3/4 cups sugar

Place zest, sugar, and water in sauce pan and warm until sugar is melted. Chill completely, then add juice. Put in ice cream maker, according to directions. Makes about 1 quart.

Perfect Brownies?

2007-05-17T19:49:00.000-07:00

I may have finally found a brownie recipe that satisfies my craving for brownies from a box. The texture was perfect! They are chewy and chocolatey but not at all damp - they are neither cakey or fudgy - they are just exactly how I want them! However, in the name of full disclosure I must confess that I had a horrible cold, complete with plugged nose, when I made these, so my taste buds were probably not performing at full capacity. (I suppose I will simply need to make them again soon to reassess their superb-ness.) I found the recipe in my weird old Pillsbury cookbook, then I modified it just a bit. I thought the photo in the book looked promising and so I left the essentials alone. You could mix the pecans into the brownies, but I prefer leaving them on the top so that they stay crunchy rather than becoming soggy.

Chewy Brownies, modified from a Pillsbury cookbook recipe
- 6 ounces plus about 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips (12 ounce bag)
- 1/2 cup butter
- 3 eggs
- 1 1/4 cups flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 generous tsp vanilla
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- about 1 cup chopped toasted pecans

Oven to 350 degrees; 13 x 9 pan lined with parchment or greased.

Melt 6 ounces of chocolate chips with the butter. Remove from heat when smooth and allow to cool slightly. Mix dry ingredients together in small bowl. Add sugar, then eggs, then vanilla to chocolate mixture. Stir in dry ingredients, and then remaining 3/4 cup chocolate chips. Pour into pan, then sprinkle pecans on top. Bake for 18-25 minutes (toothpick will be sticky with crumbs); cool in pan on rack.

Go check out the browniebabe event over at Once Upon a Tart!

Something New...World Peace Cookies

2007-05-12T15:10:00.000-07:00

These cookies are new for me, at least! I have been reading about them for ages now, and finally got to try them out. I just got Dorie's Baking From My Home to Yours cookbook and this was the first recipe I that I put to use. (Dorie Greenspan is also new to me, believe it or not!)

Just like everyone has said, these cookies are AMAZING. My plan had been to take them into work, but immediately after baking them I got a horrible cold. So rather than going in to work, I have spent the last two days laying on my couch feeling like death warmed over, eating a steady stream of World Peace Cookies. (Actually, I did venture out long enough to track down some hushpuppies, then I returned to my couch and my cookies). It should not be a surprise to anyone that I STILL feel like crap. And I have no cookies left.

Usually, after I violate myself with some sort of treat, I never want to see the thing again. But instead, I am actually mourning that I have none left! I kept reading about the "sandy texture", and didn't know what that meant - I guess I still don't exactly, but the texture of these cookies is soft and lovely. I like them with biggish chunks of dark chocolate, to contrast with the soft cookie. Then every once in a while you get a wave of salty goodness, and maybe even a tiny crunch when you find a bit of fleur de sel. Yum! I will be making these again soon, only I will find a way to share next time (maybe).

World Peace Cookies, or Korovas, from Baking From My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan

- 1 1/4 cups flour
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 11 Tbsp butter at room temperature
- 2/3 cup light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp fleur de sel
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 5 ounces chopped bittersweet chocolate (I used really dark chocolate)

Mix together flour, cocoa and baking soda.

Beat butter until soft, then add sugars, salt and vanilla. Beat for 2 minutes. Add dry ingredients and mix slowly until just combined; mix in chocolate. Do not overmix this dough. Divide dough into two portions, and form into logs of 1 1/2 inch diameter. Chill in refrigerator for at least 3 hours.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and line baking sheet with parchment. Slice dough into 1/2" thick cookies, squishing back on any bits of dough that fall off (the dough is crumbly). Bake for exactly 12 minutes even though cookies will look underdone, and cool on baking sheet on wire rack.

Be sure to check out the roundup for the Weekend Cookbook Challenge, which should be posted soon.

Granny Purse #2

2007-05-10T19:11:00.000-07:00

Like my other "purses", this one has been residing on my closet doorknob. But it was still very satisfying and very quick to make! I used the Fat-Bottom Bag pattern by Julie Holetz in Debbie Stoller's book, the Happy Hooker. I used a bunch of cheapy acrylic yarn I had sitting around, so I am not even sure what it was...

Macaroni and Cheese

2007-05-07T20:07:00.000-07:00

I have been planning on participating in the Taste of Yellow event at winosandfoodies ever since I first read about it. (Like everyone else who commented after Barbara's announcement, cancer has made plenty of appearances within my immediate circle lately). But suddenly it was May 7th and I had not done my entry! I had pretty much given up on pulling anything together when I developed an enormous craving for mac and cheese - very convenient. So here it is.

With the exception of breadcrumbs, I followed the recipe to the letter, so I will just give an abbreviated version here.

Classic Macaroni and Cheese (only slightly modified) from The New Best Recipe from Cook's Illustrated.

- 1 pound macaroni
- salt
- 5 Tbsp butter
- 6 Tbsp flour
- 1 1/2 tsp dry mustard
- 1/4 tsp cayenne
- 5 cups milk (I used 1%)
- 8 ounces monteray jack cheese, grated
- 8 ounces extra, extra, extra sharp cheddar, grated
- panko breadcrumbs

Using a large pot, cook pasta in well-salted water until tender. Drain in collander and set aside. In the now-empty pot, heat the butter over medium-high until foaming; add flour, mustard and cayenne, and whisk for about a minute, until color deepens. Continue whisking while gradually adding the milk; whisk until mixture is brought to full boil. Turn down heat to medium and simmer for about 5 minutes, until mixture is the consistency of heavy cream. Remove from heat. Add cheese and 1 tsp salt and stir until mixed. Add back pasta and stir over med-low heat until well heated, about 6 minutes. Pour into 9x13 pan (or ramekins). Sprinkle with panko breadcrumbs and place under broiler until browned.

Go see what A Taste of Yellow is all about!

Chocolate Peanut Butter-Caramel Macaroon Tarts

2007-05-04T19:11:00.000-07:00

I think you must have to REALLY like coconut to enjoy these macaroon tarts. I got the recipe for the tart shells from Donna Hay's book, Off the Shelf. I think that even with my pan modifications, they turned out "right". Unfortunately, it wasn't until I was sampling my first bite that I remembered that I don't like macaroons. Shoot. However, the whole point to making these tarts in the first place was to find out what happens when you mix peanut butter with sweetened condensed milk. Turns out it is every bit as good as I had imagined. I am already thinking up tastier ways to use it (ways that don't involve macaroons, for example), so you can expect to see more of that here soon. But for anyone who is interested, I will go ahead and add the recipe for the macaroons too...

Macaroon Tarts (from Donna Hay's Off the Shelf):

- 3 egg whites
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3 cups desiccated coconut

Oven to 280 degrees. According to the original recipe, you should grease six 3 1/2 inch tart pans with removable bottoms. I had none of those sitting around, so I lined the bottoms of six ramekins with parchment cupcake papers. (That left me with tons of left-over crust, which I attempted to make use of in various ways, none of which succeeded.) Mix all the ingredients together and press into the tart pans (or ramekins). Bake for 25-30 (or 50) minutes, until firm and turning golden. Allow to cool.

Peanut Butter Caramel:

- 14 ounce can of sweetened condensed milk
- 1/2 cup natural creamy peanut butter

Mix together over medium heat until well-combined and the consistency becomes thin enough to pour (about 3 minutes). Pour into tarts and return to 280 degree oven for 5-10 minutes, until bubbles appear in caramel. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Remove tarts from pans (or ramekins.) Make ganache.

Ganache:

- 4 ounces chopped chocolate
- 4 ounces heavy cream.

Heat cream in pan, add chocolate and stir until melted and combined. Pour over tarts. Chill until set.

Granny Purse #1 (with tasty pink lining)

2007-05-04T17:45:00.000-07:00

For the record, I don't think I have ever used a "purse" a day in my life. But for some reason I keep finding myself making purses. When they are completed they generally live on the doorknob of my closet. This one is no exception.

I am pretty sure I chose this combination of green and blue because my grandma had a couch made with these exact colors. The yarn is Lion's Homespun. It is a slightly scary acrylic yarn that was perfect for this project. I can't remember where I found the pink innards, but I couldn't resist adding that in too.

I used the pattern for the "Chinese Charm Bag" from Debbie Stoller's Stitch 'n Bitch book. I changed the dimensions a bit, but otherwise followed the pattern. It was basically knit in the round, then the handles and lining were sewn on.

View from the Olympic Sculpture Park

2007-05-03T21:20:00.000-07:00

I finally made it down to the sculpture park the other day. It's nice to have such a wide open space right in downtown. It was windy and feeling a bit wintry again (considering that it is MAY, I do not believe I should be wearing a scarf). Still, it felt good to be wandering around outside.

Spicy Hot Brownies

2007-04-30T20:09:00.000-07:00

I have a confession to make: I love brownies from a box. I have never tried homemade brownies that I liked better than ones made from a mix. Homemade brownies always seem to be either fudgy or cakey, and what I want is CHEWY. Therefore, when I started out looking for a base for my chile pepper brownies, I chose a recipe at random. They turned out to be of the fudgy variety. The flavor is fabulous - spicy like a cinnamon red hot melted together with the most decadent chocolate, tons of cinnamon-chocolate flavor with a lingering heat. But it still doesn't have the boxed mix texture I long for... I have high hopes that somewhere in the browniebabe round-up there will be lurking my ideal brownie. But in the meantime, these were a fun experiment, and I'm sure they would be fabulous to those of you that like fudgy brownies (particulary spicy-hot fudgy brownies.)

Spicy Hot Brownies

- 1 stick butter
- 1 cup flour
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 Tbsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 8 ounces dark chocolate
- 1 1/4 cup sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 9x9 pan with parchment.

Melt chocolate and butter together, then allow to cool slightly. Mix all of the dry ingredients together in small bowl. Stir sugar, eggs, and vanilla into butter and chocolate. Add dry ingredients and stir until mixed. Pour into pan. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until toothpick has crumbs. Cool in pan, then remove and cut.

Never-to-Be-Repeated Crab Cakes

2007-04-29T21:08:00.000-07:00

My mom had left-over crab the other day after making a crab quiche. I was lucky enough to obtain the left-over crab just before lunchtime yesterday. I was starving. I went home and frantically starting throwing things into a bowl. To the best of my recollection, these are the things that wound up in my crab cakes:

- crab
- mayonnaise
- panko bread crumbs
- random spices, including celery seed, thyme, rosemary, marjoram, parsley, lemon pepper
- aioli garlic mustard sauce*
- egg

Everything was mixed together, then I tossed dollops onto a cookie sheet and baked at approximately 350 degrees until they looked good. Then I ate them. Now I am sad that I was not paying closer attention to what I was doing because they were so tasty.