Old Photo Round-up

A Christmas gift from Hubband:

Creamy broccoli soup and multi-grain toast
Beef and bean chili over cornbread
We will return to our regularly scheduled programming very shortly.

A Christmas Melody

It's been a busy few months here at Chez Marshmallow, and the next two look incredibly busy as well. Plans almost every weekend for 3 months straight are fun, but boy they tire me out! Lots of things have been churning out of the kitchen here, but at such a volume and pace that most weren't even photographed. I didn't even get pictures of each course of our Christmas dinner!

It consisted of 4 courses:

1: Rigatoni with homemade bacon, shredded brussels sprouts, and seared bay scallops (Schramsberg Blanc de Blanc)

2: Onion tart topped with mixed baby green salad with sherry-shallot vinaigrette and pistachios (Trefethen Viognier)

3: Akaushi NY strip steaks, broiled, served with roasted cauliflower and sweet potato-chard gratin (Del Dotto Cave Blend 2006)

4: Pierre Herme's Melody (Dolce)

We also had my first attempt at truffled brioche, which turned out rather well.

Our fourth course: Pierre Herme's Melody is a rather cryptic statement, so let's throw a little light on the subject. I received a Pierre Herme cookbook for my birthday. Pierre is France's premier pastry chef, and authored this particular book in conjunction with Dorie Greenspan, she of "Baking with Julia" (yes, THAT Julia) fame.

Hubband and I browsed through the book looking for a Christmas dessert and decided on Melody, a multi-layered confection that required days of advance prep. I was ok with that, in fact, it was one of the reasons we picked that dessert. I didn't want to have to assemble something at the last minute.

Melody is composed (Ha, get it?) of a layer of extremely delicate cinnamon pastry, topped with a layer of genoise, a layer of Twenty-Hour Apples, a layer of cinnamon-caramel Bavarian Cream, another layer of genoise, another layer of cinnamon pastry, and finally a decoration of thinly sliced fresh apples brushed with strained apricot preserves.

I began with the genoise, which is a dry cake leavened only by whipped egg whites. It was my first attempt, and came out as only average, but good enough to proceed.

I then worked on the Twenty Hour Apples. Granny Smith apples, thinly sliced, fanned, layered with sugar, butter, and orange zest. Repeat x 8.

Sliced

Layered, wrapped, and weighted

After baking in an extremely low oven for 10 hours, they come to room temp, and then move into the fridge for at least 10 hours, weighted all the time. They come out as a sort of apple confit, lightly sweet, with a hint of orange. Very nice. The recipe makes about 6 times as much as you need, so we put some of the excess on pancakes, which I highly recommend.

The finished, assembled dessert.

After all the slicing, caramelizing, whipping, chilling, layering, rolling, baking, trimming, and fiddling were done, the dessert was good. It was shockingly light for something with so many components and layers. It was almost refreshing after a long rich meal, but still had enough sweetness to be a good finish.

My true disappointment was with the book itself. Several times during the making of this complex recipe, the instructions failed me, and it was only by experience and MacGyver-ing that it worked out. The directions for making the cinnamon caramel, the first step of the Bavarian cream, were complete and utter hogwash. I tried it his way 3 times, and failed spectacularly each time. I did it my way once, and succeeded. The recommendation for an ice bath to cool the creme anglaise was ridiculous, and caused the gelatin to seize. Furious whipping ensued. Pan sizes were off, thus making it impossible to me to have a truly professional-looking result. Hubband rather enjoyed my complaints, as he felt that being thus challenged was good for me, and interesting for him to watch. I, on the other hand, expected more from a book by Pierre Herme and Dorie Greenspan. I felt almost as though I was being tested, as if someone had purposely given me a book with incorrect instructions, just to see how I would adapt. I will likely try other things out of the book, and may even make this dessert again, but I will certainly take his instructions with a grain of salt.

How was your Christmas meal?

Giving Thanks

I took this picture two weeks ago in Asheville, NC. The leaves are nearly done with their show of colors, and that can mean only one thing: Thanksgiving time. Last year I wrote a post detailing just a few of the things I'm thankful for, and I'd like to make that a tradition. Without further ado, here are just a few of the things that I'm grateful for this year.

For my health, and the health of my loved ones. I had surgery in March, and I'm very thankful to have had no complications and a relatively easy recovery. I'm grateful for all the people who helped out during that time.

For the opportunity to take another amazing trip to California, and to have Mom with us this time. I am grateful to have a Mom who's so fun that you WANT to take her with you on vacation, and a Hubband who's so wonderful that he's glad she's there too.

For the renovations we did on our home. I'm thankful we were able to do them, that they turned out even better than we hoped, and that we don't have a single contractor horror story to share.

And always, never last nor least, I'm so thankful for Hubband. He's my greatest gift and my biggest supporter. He takes care of me, makes me laugh every day, and always inspires me to do and be better.

Happy Thanksgiving to you, and may you have much to be thankful for.

Pride

I will attempt just about any recipe that you set in front of me, provided of course that it sounds interesting, and I have finally gained enough experience that a new recipe will usually turn out pretty well. I have developed so much confidence in the kitchen that now I've even acquired the disturbing habit of often trying out a new recipe on company.

One area of cooking that I really want to get better at, and really develop a feel for, is bread baking. I've got my standard sandwich loaf all wrapped up, but I also love a good chewy and crusty loaf, and that's what I want to gain the ability to bake.

On a recent evening that company was coming, I decided to combine my bad habit of new recipes with my doughy aspirations for a double-whammy of inexperience and the unknown. Fortunately, even with some small deviations from the recipe (accidental) everything turned out very well, and these were my best loaves yet.

I mean really. Look at that crumb structure! Look at the lovely air pockets! The lightly browned, crusty-chewy crust! I was so proud of it, I called my mom to describe it. I got off the phone quickly as our friends C & B arrived, and we sat down to this bread with creamy European-style butter and butternut squash soup. We chatted for awhile, and then had a second course of baked pork chops stuffed with prosciutto and asiago, and ended it all with caramel cake and coffee. The next day we took the rest of our soup, bread and butter over to mom's for a nice lunch. I'm still proud of that bread, and it's long gone. Not forever though...I'm making more this week to go with a broccoli soup recipe that's been brewing in my mind.

Pugliese bread, from The Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart. I'm not going to post the recipe here, because I did have some accidental variations. I'm going to bake it again the right way, see how much difference that makes, and then post whichever I like better.

Challenge, Part II

Here are a few more photos of things I baked for the guys during our Master Bath renovation:

Nutmeg Doughnut mini-muffins:

Very subtle flavor of nutmeg in a rich, buttery muffin. They are reminiscent of cake doughnuts, and after baking are brushed with butter and tossed in confectioners' sugar. The guys seemed to really like them, but one did mention that the nutmeg flavor may have been TOO subtle.

Carrot Cake mini-cupcakes with cream cheese frosting:

My standard carrot cake and cream cheese frosting recipe. This cake is so moist that it almost doesn't hold together as a cupcake. These disappeared rapidly.

Korova Sables/World Peace Cookies:

Buttery, rich, crumbly, sandy, chocolatey. These cookies are something unto themselves. Too bad they have such a cheesy name. For the recipe, check here.

Dulce de Leche Brownies:

A recipe by David Leibovitz, which is always a good start. These babies are ooey-gooey, rich and delicious, and the best part is that you make the batter in one pot! One pot, one spoon, one baking dish. Easiest clean-up ever. These are our new go-to brownie recipe, and won't be surpassed any time soon.

Challenge, Part 1

Phase one of our recent renovations was our master bathroom. Instead of going with the same contractor who was going to work on our kitchen, we chose a smaller company that we have used in the past for handy-man-type work. We know the guys quite well, and trust them to not only do a thorough job, but to honestly critique new recipes that I spring on them. They expected our bathroom to take about two weeks, and I set myself a challenge: bake something for them every day that they were here. I got to try out a few new recipes, tweak some old ones, and get honest feedback, and they got fresh treats and coffee daily and felt appreciated. It was a win-win situation for all of us.

In no particular order, here are the first four days' efforts:

Peach Pocket Pies

Adapted from Rose Levy Beranbaum's Pie & Pastry Bible

Individual hand-held peach pies. Ok, but not great. I think peaches are best eaten fresh. The crust did turn out nicely though, as Rose's always do.

Schrafft's Butterscotch Cookies

Very subtle flavor. I don't know that I would even go so far as to call it 'butterscotch'. I found that to be misleading, as people were expecting a much bigger flavor once they heard the name. They were tasty, but I think they need something else to bolster them. They'd be great as the base for an ice cream sandwich.

Good old peanut butter cookies, by request.

I did half the batch with milk chocolate kisses, and folded dark chocolate chunks into the other half. I liked the dark chocolate better. The guys were divided: half for classic with kisses, half for dark chocolate.

Raspberry Bars

Adapted from Favorite Brand Name Baking

A shortbread-like base, filled with jam, and topped with crumbles of the same base dough. Simple, delicious, and always a hit.

Strawberry Bars

Adapted from Favorite Brand Name Baking

Varying the temperature of the butter will change the texture of the cookie. Keeping it on the chilly side with give you more of a crisp shortbread, and room temperature will make it more like a slightly crumbly butter cookie. Both are delicious. The quality of the jam you use will directly affect the flavor of the bar, so get one that you really love. I've used almonds in the crust before, and they work very well but have a much milder flavor than the pecans. You can, of course, also use a preserve other than strawberry. I used raspberry in the photo above.

2 C all-purpose flour

1 C granulated sugar

1 C butter, softened or still slightly cold

Heavy pinch of salt

3/4 C pecans (or almonds) coarsely chopped

1 egg

10 oz strawberry preserves (or flavor of your choice)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease an 8" or 9" square pan with butter or cooking spray.

Combine the flour, sugar, butter, salt, nuts, and egg in a large bowl and mix until combined. If you use colder butter the mixture will be crumbly, which is fine. Scoop 1 cup of this dough out of the bowl and set it aside for the topping. Pour the remaining dough into the prepared square pan and use your fingers to press it evenly into the bottom of the pan. Spread the preserves on top, keeping a 1/2" border around the edge free of preserves, if possible. (Preserves at the edge bake onto the pan, making the bars harder to remove.) Crumble (or dollop) the reserved 1 cup of dough over the top of the preserves and bake for about 45 minutes, or until the edges are lightly browned. Cool completely in the pan, then cut into bars.

Before and After

I've mentioned renovations quite a few times here on MLM, but I'm not sure I've ever really given an idea of just how much we did. It was a three-phase operation: Phase 1 was our master bathroom, Phase 2 was our floors, and Phase 3 (most relevant to this forum) was the kitchen.

Phase 1 went very well. There were a few very minor bumps in the road, each easily solved and none of which put us more than a day or two behind schedule. We took the bathroom down to studs and slab and started over, everything new except the toilet. It turned out fabulously, with a larger shower, deeper soaking tub, feature wall of stone, more cabinetry, and small layout changes that made a world of difference.

Phase 2 involved more work, both on our part and the part of the workers. Hubband and I packed all of our things, and moved every piece of furniture out of the first floor. The garage was full of our furniture, the bedrooms upstairs were stuffed with boxes; there was even a bookcase on the front porch. He and I moved into a guest bedroom at Mom's for about a week and a half (Thanks Mom!) while the workers came in and chiseled up the wood floor. (Yes, chiseled. It was glued down.) They had the old floor up in 3 days, and laid the new floor in just 2 days. We spent the next few days cleaning the house with the help of some wonderful neighbors and setting things to rights again before we could move back in.

Phase 3, the kitchen. The phase that involved the most planning and the most thought. The phase with the most bumps in the road! There was some confusion over cabinetry pieces, a few minor things that were fairly easily fixed. The biggest issue was the range. To make a long story short, after much research and thought, we settled on a very particular model, which we were assured was in stock. The night before we were scheduled to take delivery, we received a call telling us that there had been a mistake, the range was not in stock. It was, in fact, back-ordered. It would be two more weeks before we got it. Then, a few days before that delivery, Hubband called to double-check. Oops, the company rep said two weeks? He meant four. Hubband demanded that we be provided with a loaner range in the meantime, which eventually we were. They ended up pulling something close to what we ordered out of their showroom. It was very disappointing, but I've found myself curiously at peace with it. I spent a lot of time cooking with my Mom, and I've gotten to challenge myself by figuring out ways to make meals with a wall oven, a microwave, and a single gas burner that's outside, attached to the grill. Now that we have the loaner stove, I'm playing with that a bit, and discovering that there is definitely going to be a learning curve. Before we get into that, though, how about a before and after photo?

Before:

Note the nice color, but plain style of cabinets, backsplash made of various shades of tan porcelain tile, and icky shades of beige countertop.

After:

All new cabinetry (the old was recycled, given to a friend to redo their kitchen. Countertops were recycled as well.) including a large hearth/mantel style hidden hood. The backsplash is a continuation of the countertop, natural stone. We moved the refrigerator, placing it next to the existing full-size wine refrigerator and placing a microwave, wall oven, and hidden warming drawer where the fridge used to be. The range has increased in size from 30" to 36", from four burners to six. We installed an LP tank and gas line. In the 'Before' photo you can see the extent of the island; it ended at the pillar on the left. In the new kitchen, we've added more cabinetry there and extended that end to create an integrated eating area, as well as a very large workspace. I love that now when we entertain, guests will be able to sit at that eating area and talk to me while I cook, but not have to worry that they are in my way. I think we've added a lot of character to what was a very bland and standard kitchen. I love it.

The first thing that I made with the loaner stove had to be pasta, because I was finally capable of boiling a whole pot of water in a reasonable amount of time! Bacon, caramelized onions, butternut squash, with a splash of white wine, fresh thyme, some chicken stock, and a pinch of cayenne.

I Read Nie-Nie

I wonder if you've heard of Nie-Nie. Stephanie Nielson, she of the paper silhouettes , back-to-school-dinners, and nearly fatal plane crash. A woman of faith and a woman of hope.

Have you heard of her sister, C Jane? Courtney Jane, who took in three of her sister's children while Nie recovered, who rejoices in the little things but isn't afraid to talk about wanting some big ones.

Both are Mormon, (I am not) both are mothers, (I am not) but both are very inspiring to me. They are unafraid to discuss their shortcomings, unafraid to discuss faith and loss, body-image and love, cake and Mormon-inspired vegetarianism. They will also willingly delight in a fabulous pair of shoes.

I've been reading both for well over a year, and I'm not really sure why I've decided today to blog about them. Maybe it's because I noticed this morning that when I don't have much time, and cannot check in on every blog I've bookmarked, those are two that are never skipped. I always check in on Nie and C Jane and their families.

Do you read Nie Nie?

Big Sur

As discussed back in JUNE (shame-face), we headed from San Francisco down the Pacific Coast Highway to get to Big Sur.

Eventually we found our resort for the night and after being scared out of our wits by a man that popped out of a tree*, we checked in and were driven to our treehouses:
After ooh-ing and ahh-ing at our amazing accommodations, we decided to take a walk around the secluded property, and there were gorgeous views every way we turned:
Part of the property is a redwood forest, and it was truly amazing to encounter these giants. I remember being shocked at how straight they grew:
After a fabulous dinner at the resort's restaurant (I forgot my camera. Let's blame jet lag, eh? At this point I had been awake, traveling, and enjoying to the max for an absurd number of hours.) we went back to our respective treehouses, and Hubband started a fire for me in the treehouse's beautiful stone fireplace, step one toward our goal of a fire every night. We only enjoyed it for a short time, as sleep was soon to come, but it was wonderful. The next morning, we enjoyed the views for a little while, then bid adieu to this amazing place to continue south, to Hearst Castle. We stopped for breakfast at a little place I had researched called the Big Sur Bakery. Simple and unassuming, you'd never guess from the exterior what lay within:
Ricotta-asparagus tarts with kalamata olives, apricot-studded coffee cake, multiple flavors of danish, huge cookies, scones, cinnamon buns, croissants, and other assorted trays of deliciousness, all freshly baked! Fabulous coffee too. All in a rustic little wooden building attached to a gas station. Breakfast was fabulous, and we picked up ham and gruyere stuffed croissants to save for our lunch. We jumped back in the car, and continued south.

*No really, a man popped out of a tree. Mom and I were already slap-happy at this point, and were laughing out of proportion to the actual humor of anything. Poor Hubband. Then we pulled into the resort, Hubband was telling us to calm down, and A MAN POPPED OUT OF A TREE. He was the security guard of the resort, checking to be sure we had reservations, but his hut was an enormous tree trunk that perfectly blended in with the landscape. At that point, we all lost it, and to this day we feel that we were accosted by a Hobbit.

Surfacing

*Crickets chirping*

Wow. June 25th. I'm a little ashamed that June 25th is the date of my last post. This year has been so incredibly busy, and gone by so quickly. We've been renovating our home since mid-July, including the kitchen, so the cooking has fallen by the wayside a bit. Thank goodness for having Mom close by. We had to move into her house for about a week during one stage of the renovation, and have been eating dinner there for several weeks while waiting for the new kitchen to take shape. Everything was supposed to have been finished today, but of course, there's always a hiccup, and that hiccup just happens to be my new range! Backordered, so it won't be here for two more weeks. I must admit that this renovation has gone incredibly smoothly, and if there had to be a hiccup somewhere, I'm grateful it was just a backordered appliance, instead of a plumbing or electrical disaster. Grateful, but still wishing I had my range.

I need to get back on the right track, and putting up a list of things to come is one way to keep me honest. There will be posts to come about our California vacation, about the baking challenge I set for myself during Phase I of the renovation, and before-and-afters of the kitchen. They will all be mixed together.

If you're checking in, thank you for sticking with me through the silence!

California Dreamin'

Things remain busy here at Chez Marshmallow thanks to planning for some upcoming renovations, but I still apologize for the lack of posting. I need to work harder on making time for this. 

Our recent trip to California was a welcome respite from all the things going on here recently, and we enjoyed it fully. We began by flying to San Francisco on a Sunday morning; thanks to the time difference, we left here at 7 am and got there at 9:30 am, leaving us a full day to play. We found our bags and engaged in some Tetris-like calculations to fit them all in the car, and then took off in search of some authentic Dim Sum. Doing some research before the trip, I found that a restaurant called Ton Kiang kept popping up as a great authentic place to go for dim sum. Literally meaning "a bit of heart",  dim sum began as small snacks to be eaten with tea, but has become an experience all its own. Small plates of various preparations are carried around on trays or carts, as the server pauses at each table to tell you what they've got. After struggling to find some parking, we found that the restaurant was already full and bustling at 11:15 on a Sunday. By the time we were midway through our meal, there was a line out the door. 

I only took one shot of the table, as I'd forgotten my camera in the car (bad blogger!) and was using Mom's. Also, I wanted to get back to eating. We had a wide range of dishes, including roast duck (with bones, our least favorite) spicy long beans, shrimp-stuffed scallops, green chive & shrimp dumplings, egg rolls, calamari, foil-wrapped chicken, pot stickers, BBQ pork buns (both baked and steamed) and egg custard tarts. The pork buns and the calamari were my personal favorites, although the pork bun/Hambow in Seattle still wins as best, merely for the reason that it had a better ratio of meat to bun. The calamari was amazing; super tender with a thin batter so crisp that it crackled when bit. The egg rolls were also perfectly fried; they positively shattered when you bit into them, and weren't greasy at all. The green tea was a refreshing and appropriate accompaniment. After an incredibly satisfying lunch, we got back into the car. 
We traveled over what is probably the most famous bridge in the country and headed up to Muir Woods to see some redwoods. Fortunately, we arrived into the most beautiful day the city had had in quite awhile: mid 70's, no fog. Unfortunately, this meant that Muir Woods, the closest and most accessible National Park to many San Franciscoans, was packed. The closest parking space we saw was more than a mile from the head of the trail, so we headed out again and stopped to take a few photos of the beautiful vistas that to road to Muir Woods provides. 
We headed back into the city, toward the piers, to get to the Ferry Building Market. The architecture of the old building was beautiful:
and the vendors were amazing. Summer truffles and fresh porcini anyone? I was so tempted. We browsed, oohed, and ahhed, but we knew that few things would survive the trip home. We settled on some chocolates from Recchiuti, bread from Acme, and sweet treats from Miette. The chocolates were delicious; Hubband and I shared some fleur-de-sel caramels and some burnt caramel hazelnuts, while Mom tried the chocolate peanut butter balls and Key Lime apples. I felt that I couldn't go through San Francisco for a second time without trying their sourdough, which is what we ordered at Acme, while Mom tried their 'Not-so-cross' buns, which she loved. 
Hubband got a vanilla cupcake with strawberry buttercream from Miette. He enjoyed it, but I felt the buttercream was too whipped; it was nice that it was so light, but buttercream (to my mind) should also be rich, and this one had so much air whipped in that it was closer to whipped cream than frosting. I got a few macarons, which were fairly forgettable. The chocolate-lavender had far too much of the latter ingredient. Instead of an accent, it was an herbal punch to the mouth, and was rather unpleasant. The hazelnut was very mild, but nice. The salted caramel was the best of the bunch, but that's a hard flavor to mess up. The texture on all three was good, however. 

Armed with treats and some bottles of water, we settled in for our ride to the next destination: Big Sur. 

Happy Harvest

Well, we're home. The trip was amazing, but I'm still in the process of acclimating to being back home, as well as organizing the 700+ photos I took, so posting about that is going to wait, just a short while. 

In the meantime, check these out!

My first morning home I went out to check on my little tomato plants. First off, they're not so little anymore! They've really taken off, and have set quite a bit of fruit already. My earliest yielder is an heirloom variety called 'Lime Green Salad", shown above along with one early graduate of the 'Porter's Dark Cherry' plant in another container. I got three from the LGS plant, two chubby rounds and one lovely semi-oblong, classic heirloom shape. Deeee-licious. 
I enjoyed them simply, with a sprinkle of good salt and some fresh mozzarella for lunch. It was a nice little welcome home from the garden. 

Something A Little Different

Here's a little something different. About a month ago I tried to improve, or at least germinate, another skill set: sewing. Hubband's cousin is expecting a wee bundle of joy, and the organizers of her shower asked that everyone decorate a onesie for the baby. I decided that instead of just breaking out some tie-dye or puff paint, I would attempt to sew the baby a matching onesie and stuffed animal set. I already had the pattern for small stuffed animals, so I shrank it down to 30% or so and used it for the onesie as well. I think they came out quite well for was what basically my first solo project. 

Here's another view, with a better angle of the onesie. 
Fun! There were some tight spots, as the pieces were so small, but I really enjoyed making them. I hope Hubband's cousin thinks they're as cute as I think they are! 

Things will be quiet around here, again, as I'm heading out for a much-needed vacation! I will have LOTS to share upon my return however....shall I drop a few hints? No, the anticipation is more fun! 

Le Sigh

1) No, I am not dead. 

2) No, the blog has not been abandoned. 

I know it's become a familiar refrain here lately, but things have been so damn busy! How busy? Well, for the past week I've been saying that I want to make a trip to Whole Foods, and I still haven't had time to get there. All I've been able to manage are quick trips to Publix to get bare essentials, and even that's not working out so well. (Example: we're out of olive oil. Gasp!) On top of, indeed because of, the busy-ness I haven't really been in my groove food-wise. We've been eating of course, but nothing particularly interesting. A nice change from that happened on Sunday, when I had a fun and wonderful little cooking class with my friend M, and we made 2 flavors of soft pretzels, 2 fondues to dip them in, and Chinese chicken salad. Of course, being in teaching mode I didn't take any photos, and I was reluctant to interrupt Hubband's tete-a-tete with M's boyfriend J to make them do it. (They were pretending it was the 50's, as M and I were in aprons in the kitchen. Theirs was a discussion of wood-paneled man-rooms and old scotch. Hilarious.) 

We're going on vacation soon, and I think that a week of decompression will be really good for me. I'm hoping that by our return, I will have found my groove again. I'm hoping that I will be re-energized and ready for what lies ahead. I'm hoping to find new inspirations that lead to great dishes. 

I'm hoping to hit the store today, and hoping to make something new for dinner tomorrow. Hope springs eternal. 

Oops!

I forgot to mention this little bit of fun in my last post about Hubband's birthday dessert buffet. When I was dipping the buckeye centers in melted chocolate, one went in too far and had only a thin line of center left showing.  I picked up a toothpick, added two little dots, and instead of a mistake, I had created (drumroll please!) BUCKEYE NINJA!

He was pretty awesome. Why did we find him so amusing? I don't know, but I was sad when his number was up a day or so later. 

Is This Thing On?

Wow. It's been a long time, hasn't it? I apologize. Things have been out-of-control crazy around here for the last few weeks, and if you know me personally, you know how much I detest it when things are out of control. Things are mostly back to normal now, which means I can get back to cooking real meals and posting! Hooray! First, though, there's quite a backlog to get through. There were a lot of fast meals there for awhile, but I still occasionally managed to take a photo and make something semi-worthwhile. 

Let's rewind the clock a few weeks, to mid-April. 

It was Hubband's birthday! 

He didn't want a big party and all the attention, but did want to spend time with friends and neighbors, so he decided on a dessert buffet. We invited a few folks without telling them the occasion, and just enjoyed their company and some sweets on a Sunday evening. 

Above (on the beautiful etagere Hubbs gave me for Christmas!) we have buckeyes, bite-size smores, and jammie bodgers. Jammie Bodgers are a sweet, crumbly cookie, almost like a shortbread, but more buttery, that are filled with buttercream and jam. They are also Hubband's favorite cookie. We also served Mud Pie and our favorite homemade strawberry balsamic ice cream, made from strawberries we picked a few months ago. I roasted the strawberries back then and poured them into a vacuum-sealer bag with all their juices, (they were a tad too much for pint jars, so I couldn't go with the original idea of canning) sealed them, and froze them until required. It worked perfectly! 

We had a great night with our neighbors, although as usual I made too much and there were too many leftovers. The next day was Hubband's actual birthday, which he took off from work. He did request a menu, which began with his favorite biscuits: sweet potato. He wanted them topped with another of his favorite things, but one that I've never made before and he doesn't get very often: sausage gravy. As it was all an experiment anyway, I made it with spicy italian sausage instead of the usual mild or breakfast variety. I made a double batch of biscuits, but cut the usual number to get thicker, double-height biscuits to stand up to that rich and heavy gravy. Served with an egg over easy, they made Hubband smile and proclaim 'Best Sausage Gravy & Biscuits Ever', so I guess they turned out just fine. And yes, because he didn't let me make him a traditional birthday cake, or anything remotely close, I stuck a candle in his biscuits. On second thought, that sounds like some sort of family-unfriendly innuendo. I'm leaving it anyway. 
I know sausage gravy isn't very photogenic. I should have used Michelle's trick, and topped it with a chive. 

Lunch was another of his favorites, homemade wheat bread with raisins and a cinnamon sugar swirl, made into a chicken salad sandwich. We went out for dinner. This birthday baking frenzy came soon on the heels of Easter, which I already mentioned was hampered by my lack of an oven. Fortunately the oven was fixed just in time to complete most of this, although a few early pieces were done at Mom's house. 

Spicy Sausage Gravy

This was all done by sight, and isn't very hard, so these amounts are going to be approximate. If you want exact measurements, I'm sorry, but look at the bright side: this way you can make as much or as little as you want! 

Spicy Italian sausage (I used 3 large links)

Olive oil

All-purpose flour

Milk or cream (I used skim milk with a little half & half for richness)

Dried thyme

Freshly ground black pepper

Salt 

Red Chili Flakes (optional)

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Remove casings from sausage and crumble into skillet. Add about 1 Tb of olive oil to get things going. Cook sausage until it is browned and cooked through, stirring occasionally and using your spoon to break the sausage into small chunks. When browned, use a slotted spoon to remove the sausage, leaving the fat in the pan. Add an approximately equal amount of flour (i.e. 3 Tb fat in the pan, add 3 Tb flour) and whisk together to make a roux. Let the roux cook for 1-2 minutes to remove the raw flour flavor, then gradually begin whisking in your chosen dairy product. Continue adding dairy until the gravy is a bit thinner than you want the finished product to be. Let the gravy come to a boil so the flour fully thickens, and add a little more milk if necessary to make your desired consistency. Add salt and lots of pepper, as well as dried thyme. (Dried thyme is powerful, so unless you're making a huge batch, you probably only want a pinch. Crumble it between your fingers before sprinkling it in.) Taste for seasonings, and add more salt and pepper as you see fit. If it's not spicy enough, add a pinch of red chili flakes. Add the sausage back into the pan, stir to combine, and simmer for a few minutes to meld the flavors. 

Serve hot, over biscuits. 

Back in the Saddle

Yes, this post is overdue. Can anyone say they were really on the edge of their seat? I thought not. 

Easter, to me, is all about breakfast. Sure, I like Easter dinner; when I was a child it always included ham and green bean casserole, and this year we were hosted by some wonderful neighbors who fed us delicious grilled salmon. But the breakfast...Easter breakfast should always include something sweet, to my mind, and so it is an excellent day for making cinnamon buns or french toast. This year, I set my mind on having homemade danish to accompany our shirred eggs, home-smoked bacon, oven-roasted onion potatoes, and Bellinis. I've made the danish recipe once before; it's by pro pastry chef Sherry Yard and was a feature for The Daring Bakers, which is how I heard about it. It's a nice dough, subtly scented with orange and cardamom, smooth and silky to the touch. It's fairly easy to work with, provided you allot yourself enough time: from start to finish, flour to baked good, this takes 11 hours. Unfortunately for both Mom and me, my oven stopped working two days before Easter, and so I hauled lots of groceries to her house to get things done. I called her at 9:30pm the night before Easter, asked her to preheat her oven, and said I'd be there in a bit. I showed up around 10, popped the danish in the oven, and we stuffed glassine bags with Easter cookies and drank wine until the danish were golden brown and puffed. I wasn't too sad that my oven had stopped working. 

The danish recipe makes enough dough for two braids, but I like to do one braid and one set of individual danish. The individuals were shaped into 'spandau', or envelopes, and filled with sweetened cream cheese and a rhubarb-vanilla compote. 

The big braid was filled using Sherry Yard's recipe for spiced apples, as well as my personal addition of frangipane. Hubband loves the almond flavor, and I think it compliments the apples perfectly. 

We brought dessert over to our neighbors, as they were providing dinner. With Hubband's invaluable help I settled on making my good old carrot cake recipe, as it's simple, delicious, and fitting for the season. (Rabbits like carrots.) The cake was baked, just like the danish, the night before at 10pm in Mom's oven, then blanketed in cream cheese icing on Sunday afternoon. I had leftover fondant at home from a project that never got off the ground, and decided to try my hand at a little cake decorating. Some grass, flowers, a rabbit, and a bee were all I could muster in the time I had. Each got attached to the cake and brushed with a little luster dust, and off we went!

The carrot cake didn't fail me. As always, it was soft and super-moist, and I was pretty pleased with the decorations considering they were only my second time playing with fondant. 

A Weeknight Dinner

I've gradually gotten back into cooking, first in my trusty office chair, then standing on one leg, and now, finally, I'm back on my two feet! Hubband and I worked together to make this a few weeks ago, while I was still on one leg. He made it possible for us to eat outside in the garden, which was a huge treat for me, having been stuck in the house so long! 

We shared one of the thick NY Strips that I butchered up and individually froze; Hubband grilled it after we concocted a dry rub of sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, cumin, clove, chili powder, and cayenne. The rub turned into a flavorful crust after a meeting with the grill, and I sliced it and laid it alongside some simply roasted Brussels sprouts (olive oil, salt, and pepper) and our surprise side of the night. I don't even know what to call it, but it really ended up being the star of the dinner! I thinly sliced a yellow onion and caramelized it along with two zucchini that needed to be used up. When they were soft and browned, I added a minced garlic clove, a tiny minced jalapeno from our garden, fresh thyme, and a half can of creamed corn leftover from corn muffins, then finished with a little butter and pepper. The corn added wonderful sweetness that played with the caramelized vegetables, but the little hint of garlic and spice kept a great balance.

It was a great weeknight dinner!

Zucchini-Onion Side Dish

Not only does this dish lack a snazzy name, I don't have an exact recipe, as this was yet another case of me making something up on the fly with whatever I had. This should be close enough. 

1 med. yellow onion, peeled and thinly sliced

2 med. zucchini, thinly sliced width-wise

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp minced jalapeno, seeds and rib removed

1 tsp fresh thyme leaves

1/2 can of creamed corn

1 Tb butter, unsalted

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. 

Place a large skillet over medium heat. When hot, spray with a little nonstick spray or add about 1 Tb olive oil, and add onions. When they are translucent and beginning to brown around the edges, add the zucchini slices. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until onions and zucchini are both deeply browned and limp. Add garlic, jalapeno, and thyme leaves and stir until fragrant. Add creamed corn and heat through, then stir in butter to finish. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste. 

Tea for Two (or Three, or Four...)

Another one from the archives: Welsh Tea Cakes! I made these about a month ago, just before my ankle surgery. I had a very busy week scheduled, after a very busy week before that, and realized that I finally had one day when nothing was going on. I pledged to do whatever I felt like that day (plus a load of laundry and tidying whatever mess I made), and decided that I felt like baking. I pulled out a recipe that I've had for years, and peeked in the pantry for a way to enhance it. The recipe was for a Welsh Tea Loaf, molasses-flavored and raisin-studded. Normally molasses and raisins are two big hints that something will be delicious, at least to my mind, which is I'm sure why I saved the recipe in the first place, but when I have made it in the past, the flavor was lacking. It was good, but muted; it needed some tweaking. I wanted the molasses flavor to be much stronger, but without the hint of bitterness that lots of molasses can sometimes impart. I also didn't want to drastically alter the texture of the loaf by adding so much extra liquid. Moistness is nice, but I didn't want a sog-fest. A rummage through the pantry revealed a small bag of dark muscovado sugar left over from gingerbread baking last Christmas. Muscovado has big molasses flavor without so much of the moisture, so it was exactly what I wanted. I replaced two thirds of the white sugar in the recipe with the muscovado, and baked it in muffin tins instead of an 8x8" square. 

The little tea cakes came out perfectly! Moist, with rich molasses flavor, they were just what I had been hoping for. Hubband didn't like the original recipe when I made it for him way back when, but he just couldn't get enough of this more flavorful version. Who knows if this cake is authentically Welsh or not, but it certainly goes wonderfully with tea, or coffee for that matter. They were even better when eaten outside in the garden, slathered with homemade strawberry preserves. 

Homemade strawberry preserves? Yes, a few months ago Hubband and I ventured south a little bit and found a hydroponic strawberry farm, where we picked about 15 lbs. Mom came over a few nights later when Hubband was out and we washed, hulled, diced, simmered, and canned all fifteen pounds (with a few set aside to roast in balsamic for ease of future ice cream batches). It was my first time canning, and pressure-canning at that. Each jar sealed tightly, and after dividing them up with Mom, using them on pancakes and toast, and on these tea-cakes, we still have some to spare. I think we'll certainly be doing that again. Especially when you do it like this:
with a strawberry-basil-lemonade cocktail on the side! 

Welsh Tea Cakes

adapted from goodness-knows-where

I kept it simple for this first time, but I think adding cardamom, cloves, and/or a bit of nutmeg would be really nice as well!

2 2/3 C water

12 oz raisins

4 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 C butter, softened

1 C dark muscovado sugar

1/2 C granulated sugar

3 eggs

2 Tbs unsulphured molasses

1 Tbs vanilla extract

1/4 tsp salt

4 C AP flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine water and raisins in a saucepan and place over medium heat. Bring to a boil and then turn down the heat to simmer for 2 minutes, to plump the raisins slightly. After two minutes, remove from the heat and add the baking soda. Set aside to cool. Cream together the butter and sugars, then add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each. When incorporated, add the cooled raisins, cooking liquid, molasses, salt, and vanilla. Mix, then add the flour and mix until incorporated. Pour into a greased 8x8 pan or divide among 24 greased muffin cups. Bake 50-60 minutes for 8x8, 30-35 for muffin tins. Once baked, let cool in pan (8x8) or turn out onto wire racks (muffin tin).