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.

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.

Hyacinths are prettier than french toast...

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.

Kitchen Sink Frittata

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.

Chocolate Banana Muffins

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.

This seems to be all I'm eating lately

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.

My goal for the day...

...was to make oatmeal look good in pictures. It is now impossible for me to tell whether or not I succeeded. However, this is best TASTING oatmeal ever, so I will share:

- steel cut oats cooked in salted water
- dried montmorency cherries (or other tart cherries)
- maple syrup
- chopped toasted pecans
- butter
- evaporated milk

Cook the oatmeal according to directions, adding some salt to the water. Add the cherries about ten minutes before the oatmeal is done cooking. Serve your oatmeal, and doctor it up with the remaining goodies listed.