Italian Prune Cobbler Filling

375 degrees Square glass pan Plums 1 Tbsp lemon juice Pinch of salt 3/4 cup sugar 2 Tbsp corn starch

Orangette's Italian Prune Jam

http://orangette.net/2014/10/the-satisfaction/ Followed this to the letter and it is amazing. 2:1 Fruit:Sugar by weight Lemon juice. Combine and allow to sit at room temperature for a few hours until juicy. Cook until starting to set per freezer test. (Approx 220 degrees.) Process jars for ten minutes.

Lentil Salad

- green french lentils, slightly under cooked (cooked in broth) - barely steamed chopped asparagus - medium steamed chopped carrots - chopped cucumber - dried cranberries - feta cheese - chopped tomatoes - chopped bell pepper - spinach dressing: - olive oil - salt and pepper - lemon zest - lemon juice Try next time with fresh parsley and chopped salted pistachios on top

Refrigerator Pickles

2 1/2 cups water 2 1/2 cups distilled white vinegar 2 Tbsp sugar 1/4 cup salt Black peppercorns Celery seed Mustard seeds Red pepper flakes Sliced garlic Fresh dill Boil and pour over sliced veggies in jars. Refrigerate for at least 2 weeks (tasted too salty prior to that). Zucchini was really good; also green beans and carrots.

Flying Biscuit - Atlanta, Georgia

Shrimp and grits were amazing.

Cozy Corner BBQ - Memphis, Tennessee

Best ever BBQ. Followed by the best ever banana pudding.

Carlile's BBQ - Birmingham, Alabama

Chocolate Cherry Cookies

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

- 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

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

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

Kale Salad

- 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

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

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

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...

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

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

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

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

Custard apple (also called sugar apple, or atis)