Think~ Love~ Sleep~Eat

Salted Caramel Banana Panna Cotta with Chocolate "Crust" (and a Lemon Meringue Pie Tragedy)

2011-02-28T08:15:00.002-07:00

Caramel Banana Panna Cotta

Salted Caramel Banana Panna Cotta

adapted from David Leibovitz's "Perfect Panna Cotta"

Ingredients:

3 T cold water
1 pkg. Knox gelatin
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 ripe banana, pureed/mashed very well (I used a small potato ricer)
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup 2 % milk
1 tsp vanilla
2-3 tsp dark rum (optional)
5 chocolate cookie wafers, crushed*

Directions:

In a medium sized bowl, sprinkle gelatin over cold water and let sit sit for 5-10 min.
In a heavy saucepan, gently swirl together 1/3 cup water and sugar. Bring to boil over medium-high heat without stirring
When mixture turns a deep amber color, remove from heat and quickly whisk in 1 cup heavy cream.
Return to medium-high heat and, whisking constantly to dissolve any remaining bits of caramel, bring cream and caramel mixture just to boil.
Immediately remove from heat to stir in milk, banana and salt.
This time, heat until very hot, but do not boil.
Carefully pour hot liquid over gelatin mixture and stir until gelatin is completely dissolved.
Stir in vanilla and rum.
Divide evenly into 4 small serving dishes (custard cups, wine goblets, pretty jars, etc.).
Chill until firm, about 4 hours or up to 24 hours.
Just before serving, top with ground cookies or cake crumbs

*NOTE:

I happened to have leftover dark chocolate cake (just the bits that I'd cut off when leveling and torting the cake) in my freezer. I whirled it in the food processor to grind it up and it worked beautifully. So don't throw away (READ: waste) all of the extra bits of cake when you cut them off to make layer cakes! Put them in a ziploc and throw them in a freezer for cooking inspiration on another day!

And now, for a sad story...

I also made a Meyer lemon meringue tart this weekend, after a friend gifted me with a large bag of amazingly fragrant and juicy Meyer lemons from a relative's tree.

The tart was beautiful.

The crust was a golden and crisp pate sucree.

The filling was perfectly creamy with just the right balance of creamy and sweet.

The meringue was gloriously golden brown.

I had just pulled it out of the oven and set it on top of the counter to cool.

And then I leaned over to wipe a few crumbs off of the floor.

And then...

well...

tragedy struck.

Moral of the story: Don't clean your floors until after dessert has been served.

(P.S. Much like our hideous counters, the floors in our very old house were "redone" by former owners who had an aversion to grout sealant. )

Serendipity on a Tuesday

2011-02-15T09:48:00.002-07:00

Happy eggs.

I was disappointed that the yolk broke, until I looked again. Such a cheery way to start the morning!

"All you need is love..."

2011-02-14T10:13:00.001-07:00

"Love is all you need." Of course, some tasty little Valentine cookies never hurt, too, right? These cookies are buttery sweet and delicious (just like my babies). No matter where you get your sweetest love, I hope your Valentine's Day is filled with it. <3

Sweet Love & Cookies

(NOTE: This recipe comes from a dear high school friend, who makes them every Valentine's Day for her husband, who adores both her and her cookies!)

Ingredients:

3/4 c. butter
3/4 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
2 1/2 c. flour
1 t. baking powder
1 t. salt

Directions:

Cream shortening and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix dry ingredients together and blend in slowly with butter mixture. Let chill at least one hour before rolling out. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until just the weensiest, tiniest bit golden on the edges. Ice with poured fondant,* a simple buttercream or royal icing.

Consistency of finished dough should be similar to play dough. At this point it's a little tempting to play with it like, well, play dough, but try to resist the temptation. :)

Split the dough into two pieces before chillling. This way one can stay cold in the refrigerator while you roll and cut out the other.

*I used King Arthur's recipe for poured fondant. It was FANTASTIC. It poured well and tasted much better than other poured fondant recipes I've used in the past. After mixing the ingredients together, keep warm in a bowl set over gently simmering water and stir often. This will help the consistency stay smooth while you work.

Fondant covered cookies

Royal icing...not so tasty but darn pretty.

And now for a few more sweet treats...

Hummingbird Cake, filled with mascarpone cream and iced with white chocolate Swiss Meringue buttercream.

Chocolate Birthday Cake...Redux

2011-01-26T15:21:00.002-07:00

The prettiest part of a not-so-pretty birthday cake for my buddy, Liz.

My littlest one had taken one of his signature catnaps and needed to be cuddled most of the afternoon. Baby in one hand + piping bag in the other = CakeWreck.

Three layer chocolate birthday cake filled with mocha ganache and iced with browned buttercream.

Do you see that moist, tender crumb? TYVM, EGGS.

So, remember this cake? Well, as tasty and easy as it was, I wasn't 100% satisfied with it. The crust on the cake leaned a little too far towards tough, which is never a good quality in a cake. Check out the photo of the unfrosted cake...do you see how the sides look almost matte? I was missing the lovely, shiny, slightly crisp edge of a well made butter cake.

The thing is, I've been really reluctant to make any major changes or add special ingredients like sour cream or buttermilk (both of which can make a cake more moist and tender). The beauty of this cake is in it's simplicity and ease of preparation. I love that it can be made with only what most people have on hand. Still, as a cake perfectionist, I couldn't help but change just a couple of things that I hoped would make at least a little difference:

I beat a couple of eggs and mixed them in with the oil and cooled cocoa/water mixture
When adding the eggs, the overall amount of liquid in the batter was increased by about 1/2 cup (which is the approximate volume of two eggs), so I just reduced the water to 2 1/2 cups.

These two changes, as simple as they were, made a major difference in the texture and flavor of the cake without taking away what I love most about it.

While the original cake had merit in that it was:
(A) Easy, (B) Quick, (C) Tasty, (D) Sturdy and (E) Made from ingredients you can find in your pantry;

Version 2.0 has merit in that it is the following:
(A) Easy, (B) Quick, (C) even MORE delicious, (D) Sturdy and (E) refer to C.

Easy Chocolate Layer Cake*

Makes 3 8in. layers or 36 cupcakes

*Note: I filled this cake with a very simple mocha ganache and iced it with browned buttercream (in robin's egg blue). I didn't use recipes for either but would be happy to write one down and post it if anyone's interested. Leave me a comment if you'd like some help with a recipe for one or the other!

Ingredients:

4 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 1/2 cups hot water
1 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs, beaten
3 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/c cups chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Grease 3-8in. round cake pans. Line the bottoms with greased parchment. Dust pans and parchment with flour, tapping out excess.
In a medium bowl, whisk together hot water and cocoa powder. Let sit for 10 minutes to allow the cocoa to bloom and the mixture to cool slightly.
Whisk in oil, eggs and vanilla extract.
In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking soda and salt.
Mix wet ingredients into dry, stirring until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
Divide evenly between 3 prepared cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 30 min or until tops spring back when pressed lightly and toothpick inserted in center of cakes comes out clean. Do not overbake.
Immediately run a knife around the edges of each pan and let cool in pans for 15 min. Remove from pans and transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
When completely cooled, ice with your favorite buttercream.

And now, some gratuitous pictures of my babies and our life over the past week:

Very simple, Pantry Chocolate Layer Cake

2011-01-22T16:57:00.001-07:00

A tiny (4 in.) owl chocolate birthday cake, iced with strawberry buttercream.

Strawberry buttercream = regular American buttercream flavored with strained strawberry puree

The wee-est little chocolate cake with the top lopped off.

Just before torted (i.e. sliced) it into two layers and filled and frosted it with strawberry buttercream.

This is my new go-to chocolate cake recipe. It is a delicious, chocolatey, quick and easy way to get a big (READ: 3 layers!) chocolate cake fix. I used it to bake 18 standard cupcakes, 48 minis and still had plenty leftover to make a tiny, 4 in. two layer cake. The flavor is fantastic and rich, yet simple. This isn't Jaques Torres' chocolate cake. It's a friendly, happy, kid's-birthday-party kind of a chocolate cake. I love it.

(Sidenote: If you use a non-dairy frosting, made with shortening or "buttery spread" (recommended: Earth Balance) instead of butter, this can be a wonderful celebration cake for your vegan friends!)

If you're just starting to bake layer cakes, this is a fantastic "gateway" cake.

1) The texture is light and spongy but still sturdy enough to be easily torted. You can stick with three layers but for more of a showstopper effect, each layer can be split very easily into two, for a super tall 6-layer cake.

2) There is zero creaming involved. In fact, you don't even really need a mixer.

3) Even better, you only really NEED to use ONE bowl.

4) With a full cup of cocoa in the batter, it packs a nice chocolately punch without having to mess with melting chocolate.

5) You don't have to wait for ingredients to reach room temperature. Every ingredient in this recipe can come straight out of your pantry. (sidenote: does the word "pantry" make anyone else giggle?)

All this cake really needs to make you happy is a couple of bowls, a spoonula, some cake pans, an oven and a delicious buttercream (or perhaps, a ganache?). It's the perfect cake to make when, like me, you are short on time, counterspace and available hands.

Easy Chocolate Layer Cake

Makes 3-8in. layers or 36 cupcakes

Ingredients:

4 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 cups hot water
1 cup vegetable oil
3 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/c cups chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Grease 3-8in. round cake pans. Line the bottoms with greased parchment. Dust pans and parchment with flour, tapping out excess.
In a medium bowl, whisk together hot water and cocoa powder. Let sit for 5 minutes to cool slightly.
Whisk in oil and vanilla extract.
In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and salt. Add sugar and whisk together.
Mix wet ingredients into dry, stirring until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
Divide evenly between 3 prepared cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 30 min or until tops spring back when pressed lightly and toothpick inserted in center of cakes comes out clean. Do not overbake.
Immediately run a knife around the edges of each pan and let cool in pans for 15 min. Remove from pans and transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
When completely cooled, ice with your favorite buttercream.

Whole-Wheat Apple Carrot Muffins (or bread)

2011-01-18T15:09:00.003-07:00

If you've spent any time here, you might have noticed I have a thing for baked goods. More specifically, I. love. cake. In fact, cake in almost any form, whether it be sky-high layers, cutesy cupcakes or diminutive petit fours, is, hands down, my favorite food. Unfortunately there are times when it's not a good idea to have your cake and eat it too, so to speak. For example, it's usually a good idea to include foods other than cake for, say, breakfast, lunch and dinner (okay, so that would be most of the time). Since I teach group fitness classes regularly, I realize the need to be fueled with a wide variety of nutrients beyond butter, sugar and flour in order to function well and feel good. Also, I would like to someday fit back into my pre-pregnancy pants and let's just say that right now, THINGS ARE NOT LOOKING GOOD.

Well, thank goodness for healthy muffins and quick bread. They are quick and easy to whip up, can be filled with all sorts of healthy add-ins, don't require frosting and can be eaten at almost any time of day! Most importantly, they are somewhat reminiscent of CAKE! These muffins in particular, are actually a little reminiscent of carrot cake and would be even more so if topped with some fluffy cream cheese. In other words, they are a lovely, delicious and actually quite healthy way to start your morning or fuel up your afternoon without resorting to buttercream.

Whole-Wheat Apple Carrot Muffins

Makes 18 standard-sized muffins or one large loaf of bread.

Note: Since we can't eat 18 muffins in one day, I like to store them in a freezer-safe airtight container, in the freezer. This helps the muffins stay fresh longer and keeps them ready for quick breakfasts whenever we need them. Thaw/warm one or two at a time in the microwave for about 30 seconds at 50% power.

Ingredients:

2 cups white whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
2 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup cereal flakes (I used Flax Plus Multi bran flakes but any bran flake would work)
3/4 cup finely chopped apple
3/4 cup shredded carrot
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped pecans
3 T turbinado sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.
Line 18 muffin cups with muffin liners
Whisk together the flour, baking soda, spices, salt and sugar in a medium bowl.
In a large bowl, whisk together buttermilk, eggs, oil and vanilla until creamy.
Stir in cereal.
Gently stir dry ingredients into wet with a rubber spatula until the batter is just combined.
Fold in fruit and pecans.
Divide evenly into muffin cups (they will be pretty full), sprinkle tops with a little turbinado sugar.
Bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes for muffins, 50-60 min for bread or when tops spring back when lightly pressed.

Source: moi.

Beef Stew with Cognac and Roasted Vegetables (and a quick browning tutorial)

2011-01-17T10:41:00.000-07:00

"Waiter, there's a tree in my stew."

As it turns out, my extremely limited food photography skillz made it difficult for me to capture an appealing picture of beef stew. But rosemary is pretty! And also one of the ingredients!

See the bit of beef on the right? It's brown, but not BROWNED. The piece on the left is going to give your stew much more flavor. You want all of your stew meat to look like this before adding the onions, carrots and garlic and deglazing the pan.

Carrots and garlic...add after sweating the onions and about 1 min before deglazing the pan.

Organic beef stock base

A cast of characters...er, herbs.

Homemade whole-wheat bread from the book, Healthy Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

If you like making your own bread, you must check out this book! You basically just stir the ingredients together in a big bowl, let it rise for a bit, then throw the whole batch into the fridge until you're ready to shape and bake. The method is as easy as using a bread machine but the bread is so. much. yummier.

Check out the blog for more info!

NOTE A: This isn't much of a recipe b/c quite honestly, I threw it together late one afternoon based on what sounded tasty to me. But I suspect most of you reading this don't follow recipes that closely anyway, so hopefully the bare bones will give you enough info to work with. Feel free to comment if you have any questions!
NOTE B: This was a two-day process and TOTALLY worth it. I cooked most of the stew on a Monday afternoon, let it cool a bit and then threw it in the refrigerator overnight. The next evening all I had to do was roast off the potatoes and mushrooms, warm up the stew and stir it all together with a little fresh rosemary before serving. Like most soups/stews, the flavors were so much more intense after giving it a chance to hang out for 24 hours.

Beef Stew with Cognac and Roasted Vegetables

4 servings

Ingredients for stew:

1 lb. beef stew meat, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 T flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
1 T olive oil
1 T unsalted butter
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic
2 medium carrots
3-4 cups beef stock
1/2-3/4 cup dry red wine
1/4 cup cognac
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried parsley
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp gr. mustard
fresh rosemary (2-3 T)

Roasted Veggies:

1 large russet potato, cleaned and diced (I prefer to keep the skin on!)
1 1/2 cups cremini mushrooms, cleaned, stems removed
1 T balsamic vinegar
olive oil, salt, pepper

Directions:

1. Toss the beef with the flour, salt and pepper

2. Heat dutch oven or heavy stockpot over med-high heat until HOT.

3. Coat the pan with the oil and butter then add beef, in one layer, making sure each piece has at least one side touching the pan.

4. Let sit and get nicely browned (see photo) on at least one side before using tongs to turn each piece.

5. When all beef is mostly browned, move to the sides of the pan and toss onion into the center of the pan, stirring lightly. Add more oil if necessary.

6. When onions are translucent, stir in carrots and garlic. Stir and cook for about 1 min. or until garlic is fragrant.

7. Deglaze the pan with the wine and cognac, scraping up browned bits from the bottom of the pan.

8. Stir in stock, dried rosemary, dried parsley, the bay leaf and ground mustard.

9. Bring to a boil.

10. Reduce heat to low, cover and let simmer for about 3 hours, stirring when necessary.

11. Turn off heat, cool slightly and refrigerate overnight.

Before serving
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Toss potatoes with oil, salt and pepper. Roast for about 45-60 min or until browned.
3. Toss mushrooms with oil, salt, pepper and balsamic. Roast for about 20 min. (Do this just before serving.)
4. Heat stew on low until warmed through. Check for seasonings and add more salt/pepper if necessary. 5. Stir in roasted potatoes, mushrooms and fresh rosemary.
6. Serve in deep bowls with fat pieces of crusty bread with butter. Preferably on a cold, winter day.

6:365:2011 Fresh Baked Bread

2011-01-06T21:27:00.000-07:00

6 days into the New Year and I'm already on successful batch #2.

Batch #1 (made on 2:365:2011) was my first successful yeast dough. Ever.

This photo is of the 1/2-whole-grain version of an incredibly easy "roll" dough recipe that I found deep within the stacks of long-forgotten, old family recipes. It's a little like a "poor-man's brioche," if you will.

And if I can pull myself away from baking/eating this supremely delicious, no-knead, bread/dinner roll/cinnamon roll/whathaveyou dough long enough, I'll try to post the recipe here, with some photo-evidence that I actually was the one who baked this. A successful YEAST bread! By hand! From scratch!!! Made by me!!!!

:::marks it off of her bucket list::::

Stay tuned for the recipe...

Fresh Cranberry Muffins

2011-01-03T22:32:00.002-07:00

I never knew how lucky we were to live in an age of modern conveniences until we lived out of a cooler for 6 WEEKS. (Long-story-short: about a year and a half ago we bought a "new" fridge. It had to be serviced no less than 7 times in twice as many months and in November, was pronounced "unrepairable" by our now-familiar appliance repairman. God Bless "Jo" at the Whirlpool Headquarters who recognized our plight and agreed to send us a new, working unit) FINALLY, after miles of red tape and holiday delays, our brand-spanking new frigidaire arrived last week, courtesy of Whirlpool. It was followed by an epic grocery trip.

Call me a nerd but the general process and outcome of a routine refrigerator clean-out is oddly cathartic to me. Seeing those nearly empty shelves, just waiting to be filled, is (to me) the embodiment of optimism. It's the promise of a fresh start in one of the most basic areas of need that I can fill for my family: wholesome, satisfying, nourishing and hopefully yummy meals. So when I had the opportunity to begin again with a completely new refrigerator I was nearly giddy! What better way to start the New Year (and decade) that with a totally clean slate in one of my favorite areas of the house???

Is there a part of your home/world where you'd like to start fresh this January?

Fresh Cranberry Muffins

Makes 18 standard sized muffins.

Ingredients

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries, chopped
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
zest from one small orange
3 T turbinado sugar (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 18 muffin cups with paper liners. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and ginger. Working over the bowl, toss cranberries in a fine sieve with about 1 1/2 teaspoons flour mixture to lightly coat; set aside the flour mixture and the blueberries.
In the bowl of an electric mixer beat butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until combined. Mix in vanilla.
With the mixer on low speed, add reserved flour mixture, beating until just combined. Add milk, beating until just combined. Do not overmix. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the cranberries. Fold in orange zest. Divide batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups. If desired, sprinkle a little turbinado sugar on top of each muffin.
Bake, rotating pan halfway though, until muffins are barely golden and a cake tester inserted in the center of one muffin comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Let cool briefly then carefully (and quickly) remove muffins from pan onto cooling rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Adapted from Martha Stewart's Favorite Blueberry Muffins

Rough Around The Edges but Sweet In the Middle (Deep Dish Pecan Pie)

2010-12-16T15:10:00.000-07:00

Life in our household has been both extraordinarily busy and exhaustingly wonderful lately. Since the end of November, we have flown 2,000 miles with two under three, celebrated Thanksgiving once, Chanukah twice and a birthday thrice. We haven't slept more than 2-3 hours at a stretch in 6 weeks. We haven't had a working refrigerator in over a month (hence the lack of any recipe here that can't be baked quickly and served at room temperature). We will celebrate Christmas next weekend but haven't started shopping yet. The house is (still) a mess. We are tired. And crabby. And overwhelmed. And not quite sure where our days begin and end.

But we are also very, very blessed. And in life I tend to think that without rough days, it is hard to fully appreciate the wonderful moments. Our beautiful oldest child turned 3-going-on-16 but had THE BEST TIME EVER celebrating it. Our spunky youngest babe turned holy-4-month-Wakeful-Period but also giggles loudly and unabashedly at even the slightest hint of a tickle. Our home is warm and filled with love. Our families are supportive and generous. Good friends help keep our spirits bright. And while we don't have a way to keep food cold right now, we never, ever have to worry about how we will fill our bellies or access clean water or clothe our children, thanks to my husband's hard work.

This incredible pie was a team effort between my brother, sister-in-law and me this Thanksgiving but would be delicious on any Christmas menu as well. Between the homemade crust and concentric pecans, it took a fair amount of work to make. The crust is slightly salty and as you can see from the pictures, not pretty. (We prefer to call it rustic. :) ) The filling is warm and nutty and gooey and intensely rich. It also has the perfect amount of sweetness when paired with the salty bite of the crust. Separately, the parts of this pie would be missing something, but together they form a delicious balance of flavors. The salty balances the sweet. Crunchy meets gooey. Pecans meet bourbon. (Okay, maybe that one doesn't really fit...)

So in this crazy, busy, sometimes overwhelming holiday season full of salty, rough edges, where do you find your sweet middle?

Deep Dish Pecan Pie
FOR THE CRUST:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 pound cold unsalted butter, cut into dice
1/2 cup ice water, more as needed
About 5 cups dried beans or 3 cups pennies (for baking)

FOR THE FILLING:

5 eggs
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup molasses, dark or unsulfured
1/3 cup light corn syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons bourbon
2 cups finely chopped pecans
2 1/2 cups pecan halves
Whipped cream, for serving.

1. Make the crust: In a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, combine flour, salt and white sugar at low speed. Add butter and mix until pea-size lumps form. Raise the speed to medium-low and add 1/2 cup ice water in a slow, steady stream, mixing just until dough holds together. To test, pinch a small amount of dough. If it is crumbly, add more ice water, one tablespoon at a time. Shape dough into a ball and wrap it loosely in plastic, then roll it into a disk. Refrigerate at least one hour, or up to 3 days, before rolling. (Dough can be frozen for up to a month.)
2. Open a 10-inch springform pan, flip the bottom over so the outside surface faces in, then close. This will make removing the pie easier when it is done, by preventing the dough from sinking into the pan’s crease. On a lightly floured surface, roll chilled dough into a circle 16 inches in diameter. Lift it and let it settle into pan, fitting the dough down into the edges. Press the sides firmly against pan and pinch around the top rim. Trim dough with kitchen scissors so it hangs over the rim by one inch, reserving excess. Refrigerate in pan until very cold and firm, at least 45 minutes.
3. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Prick bottom of dough with a fork. Lay a piece of parchment or wax paper in pan, then a piece of aluminum foil. Fill foil lining with dried beans or pennies. Bake 15 to 25 minutes, until the sides of the crust have set and turned slightly golden. Remove from oven and lift out the beans, foil and parchment. Bake 10 to 15 minutes more, until bottom turns a light golden brown. Let cool at least 30 minutes before filling.
4. Fill the pie: Heat oven to 325 degrees. In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, brown sugar, melted butter, molasses, corn syrup, vanilla, salt and bourbon. Place baked pie shell, still in the pan, on a sheet pan. Gently pour in the filling. Sprinkle chopped pecans evenly over surface. Working from outside in, arrange pecan halves in concentric circles, without overlapping, until entire surface is covered. (Use only as many as needed.)
5. Bake 50 to 60 minutes, just until filling is firm and a wooden skewer comes out clean when inserted into center. (Do not worry if the overhanging crust becomes very dark brown.) Let cool completely. Use a serrated knife to saw off all overhanging pie crust. Carefully remove outer ring of pan. Slice with a large, very sharp knife and serve with whipped cream.
Yield: About 12 servings.

-adapted (only slightly) from this NYT recipe

To her, it was perfect.

2010-12-02T21:47:00.000-07:00

She asked for a pink cake. ALL pink.
"Mama, I want a PINK strawberry cake with PINK strawberry frosting for my birthday!"

I couldn't WAIT to make it for her. I had visions of perfectly piped roses, swooping buttercream swaths, fluffy pink layers of cake, fresh strawberry filling and three pink birthday candles to top it off. I pored over pictures of beautiful cakes and even sketched out a version of The Perfect Pink Cake on paper. The cake recipe was one I'd made numerous times before and knew would be delicious. The frosting was one I'd perfected just a few weeks before.

This is quite possibly the prettiest cake on the planet. Leave it to Martha...

Since we were celebrating a few days after Thanksgiving, we would be at my parent's home in Florida. In my suitcase I packed 8 different frosting tips (each handpicked for a different purpose), a rose nail, silvery candy pearls and piping bags. I sent my mom a detailed shopping list of ingredients to buy ahead of time, in case the store were too crowded or closed to buy what I needed the weekend after Thanksgiving. I. Was. Prepared.

Reality Hit:
A last minute grocery trip, disposable cake pans, a fussy baby, humid Florida air, uneven layers, persnickety buttercream, and not enough time. It was, officially, the ugliest cake I've ever made.
I was heartbroken. Disappointed. Frustrated.

Melty frosting.

The leaning tower of Pink Cake Wreck.

And then she saw it. Eyes wide and smile even wider, she reached a finger out to steal a taste of frosting and then extended her arms for a hug. As she snuggled into the crook of my neck, she whispered, "Mama, I love my pink cake."

A few days later her Bompa would ask her, "What was your favorite thing about your birthday?"
Her answer? "Eating cake!" Mission accomplished.

Happy 3rd Birthday to my sweet, bright, chatty, loving, curious girl!

Raspberry Cupcakes with White Chocolate Raspberry Buttercream

2010-11-20T15:57:00.002-07:00

Raspberry Cupcake with White Chocolate Buttercream

White Chocolate Raspberry Buttercream. Rainbow colored sugar is from Dean & Deluca!

1) This recipe is super easy. And quiet. Like the lemon cupcake recipe, this doesn't require a mixer and is perfect to make with little helping hands (or while they are sleeping). Tuck it away for a cold, blustery day in February when all of the blocks, crayons, dance parties, play-dough, dress-up clothes and books in the world aren't enough to entertain a house full of bored, cranky kiddos.

2) For the raspberry puree, thaw one bag of frozen raspberries and strain through a fine mesh sieve to remove the seeds. You'll only need one cup for the cupcakes. Save 3-4 tablespoons for the frosting and the rest can be stirred into yogurt, smoothies, sauces, salad dressings etc., etc., etc. I stirred 2 tablespoons into a basic Good Seasons Italian Dressing (made per the directions on the package) for a yummy raspberry vinaigrette. The possibilities are endless!

3) These are moist, full of raspberry flavor and dense enough to hold up to a good frosting, yet still light enough to be called cake. They are a great choice if you need to make your cupcakes a day or two ahead (something I usually don't advocate). Just let them cool completely and keep them in an airtight container until you are ready to frost and serve them.

4)The cake itself isn't especially pretty. When the raspberry cooks, it gets quite a bit darker, so the cake is more of a deep purple than a pretty, pink "raspberry" color. Some pink or red food coloring might help this.

5) All I have to say about the frosting is, YOU'RE WELCOME.

NERD ALERT (and a spelling lesson):

From 4th-8th grade I attended a School for Gifted & Talented students and in 4th grade, competed in the All-School Spelling Bee. I practiced for weeks and weeks in preparation. When the Big Bee finally arrived, I could spell the entire Peoria Journal Star Spelling List forwards and backwards in my sleep. Translation: I was (still am) a damn fine speller.

That morning, I nervously spelled my way through the first four rounds, gaining confidence each time I left the microphone without hearing the "DING!" of failure.

ROUND FIVE went a little something like this...

Judge: "Raspberry."

9-yr-old ThinkLoveSleepEat: "Raspberry. Rassssberry."

9 yr old TLSE: (breaking out in a cold sweat): "Razzzzzberry. Razz-Berry. Razzberrrry."

Judge: "RASPBERRY."

TLSE: "RASZSZZBERRRY. R-A-S......can you use that in a sentence?"

Judge: "I ate a raspberry for breakfast this morning. RASPBERRY."

TLSE:"............."

TLSE:"R-A-S.......M-m-may I start over? R-A-S-S...................B-E-R-R-Y. RASSBERRY."

Judge: DING!

As long as I live, so help me God, I will never again forget the 'P' in R-A-S-P-B-E-R-R-Y.

That is all.

Raspberry Cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter

1 cup raspberry purée (strained to remove seeds)

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 2/3 cups white sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream or plain low-fat yogurt
1 tsp pure vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, sour cream and vanilla.
In a large saucepan, bring 1 cup butter or margarine and raspberry purée just to a boil. Remove from heat, and quickly whisk in dry ingredients first, followed by egg mixture. Whisk gently until smooth but do not overmix. Divide batter evenly between prepared cupcake tins.
Bake at 350 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 18-20 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean and tops spring back when lightly pressed. Cool completely before frosting.

White Chocolate-Raspberry Buttercream Frosting
*Frosts 24 cupcakes

Ingredients:

4 oz. good quality white chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup cream
1 stick unsalted butter, at cool room temp.
3 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
3-4 tablespoons raspberry purée

Directions:
-Bring cream to a boil and immediately pour over white chocolate. Stir until smooth.
-Beat butter and confectioner's sugar on med-high until butter is fully incorporated. Mixture will be dry.
-With mixer on low, pour in white chocolate mixture. Increase speed to medium and beat until smooth.
-Add in salt and vanilla.
-With mixer on medium, beat in 2-3 T raspberry purée. Increase speed to high and beat until frosting is light, fluffy and smooth. Use immediately.

Some Disconnected Rambling, Roasted Pumpkin & Pancetta Pasta and Quiet Cupcakes

2010-11-14T21:21:00.000-07:00

Mini Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Buttercream for a good friend's birthday. (recipe below) Since the cake recipe doesn't require a mixer I prefer to call them "Shhhhh...The Babies Are Napping" Cupcakes.

These wee bites were decorated by my very talented nearly-3yr-old.

We plan to open a bakery together before she turns 5.

I busted out the winter dishes this weekend. I swear they really do help brighten the cold, snowy, dark days. Plus, everything tastes a little bit yummier in a festive bowl, right?

Baked Macaroni and Cheese with Roasted Pumpkin & Pancetta (recipe below)

Three generations of love. A little bit of girl talk and so. many. giggles.

I took this photo to remind myself of how fast this time with her will fly. We'd been stuck in the house all day due to the weather and I was feeling worn down, restless and in no mood to play. Naps weren't great, Daddy was working late, Mama needed a workout and the laundry piles were threatening to suffocate all of us.

All she wanted was someone to sit with her while she molded, squished, smashed and chatted.

All I wanted was a moment. to. myself. and perhaps some time to pull my house back together (and fold a load or two of laundry).

I chose to take a deep breath, pour a glass of wine and jump in with her. It made my day.

Her: "Cheeeeese!"

Him: "BRIGHT COLORS!!!"

"Huh?"

"BRIIIIGHT COLOOOORS!!!!!"

Speaking of bright colors, yellow is officially OUT. As is the jaundice!

Leaving only pure cute.

Roasted Pumpkin & Pancetta Pasta

This is essentially macaroni and cheese topped with sweet roasted pumpkin and smoky pancetta. I prepped it in the morning, covered and refrigerated it, then baked it just before dinner that night. Serve this with a simple salad of Arugula, pears and walnuts. So delicious on a cold autumn day.

Ingredients:

3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 cups (1-inch) cubed peeled heirloom pumpkin (or butternut squash)
Cooking spray
6 oz. pancetta, chopped
1/4 cup minced shallots
8 ounces uncooked penne
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups 2% reduced-fat milk
1/8 tsp nutmeg
3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded "Italian blend" cheese (Mine had romano, asiago, provolone and mozzarella)
1/3 cup (1 1/2 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425°.
Combine 1/4 teaspoon salt, rosemary, and pepper. Place squash on a foil-lined baking sheet coated with cooking spray; sprinkle with salt mixture. Bake at 425° for 45 minutes or until tender and lightly browned. Decrease oven temperature to 350°.
Cook the pancetta in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove pancetta from pan and set aside, reserving 1 1/2 teaspoons drippings in pan. Increase heat to medium-high. Add shallots to pan; sauté 8 minutes or until tender. Combine squash mixture, bacon, and shallots; set aside.
Cook pasta according to the package directions until just barely al denta, omitting salt and fat. Drain well.
Combine flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt and nutmeg in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Gradually add milk, stirring constantly with a whisk; bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute or until slightly thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add shredded Italian cheeses, stirring until cheese melts. Add pasta to cheese mixture, tossing well to combine. Spoon pasta mixture into an 11 x 7-inch baking dish lightly coated with cooking spray; top with squash mixture. Sprinkle evenly with Parmesan cheese. Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until bubbly and the cheese begins to brown.
Let sit 10 min before serving.

Adapted from HERE.

Quiet Mini Lemon Cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter

1 cup water

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 2/3 cups white sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream or plain low-fat yogurt
1 tsp pure vanilla

zest from one lemon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 48 mini-muffin tins with liners or generously grease a 10x15x1 inch baking pan.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, sour cream and vanilla.
In a large saucepan, bring 1 cup butter or margarine and water to a boil. Remove from heat, and quickly whisk in dry ingredients first, followed by egg mixture. Whisk gently until smooth but do not overmix. Stir in lemon zest. Pour batter into a greased 10 x 15 x 1 inch baking pan. (or prepared cupcake tins)
Bake at 350 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 20 to 22 minutes (10-12 min for minis), or until cake is just barely golden and springs back when lightly pressed. Cool completely before frosting.

Lemon Cream Cheese Buttercream

Ingredients:

1 stick unsalted butter, room temp.
8 oz. cream cheese, room temp.
pinch of salt
3-4 T fresh lemon juice, divided
2 tsp. pure vanilla
4 cups confectioners sugar

Directions:

Beat butter, cream cheese, salt, vanilla until smooth.
Add in confectioner's sugar, 1/2 cup at a time.
Beat in lemon juice, starting with one tablespoon and then adding the rest one teaspoon at a time, until frosting is light and fluffy. You may not need all of the lemon juice.
Frost cooled cupcakes immediately or store in an airtight container in refrigerator until ready to use. Bring buttercream to room temp and rewhip before frosting cupcakes.

Adapted from my brain. :)

Cupcakes, Penguins and Bears, Oh MY!*

2010-11-05T15:50:00.000-06:00

Applesauce Cupcakes w/ Caramel Frosting

Makes 36 cupcakes

Ingredients:

-3 cups all-purpose flour

-1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
-4 teaspoons baking powder
-1 teaspoon baking soda
-1 1/2 teaspoons salt
-2 teaspoons cinnamon
-1 teaspoon ground ginger
-1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
-2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
-1 2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
-2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
-4 large eggs, room temp
-3 cups unsweetened applesauce, room temp

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees (or 325 for convection oven). Line cupcake pans with paper liners.
In a large bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. In a separate mixing bowl, beat butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer at high speed until light in color and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. On low speed, alternate adding in applesauce and dry ingredients, beginning and ending with dry, until just combined. The batter may look a little curdly and uneven.

Divide batter evenly between prepared pans and bake until a wooden pick inserted into center of a cupcake comes out clean or tops spring back when lightly pressed, about 15-20 minutes. Remove from pans as soon as possible and place on racks to cool completely. Frost with Caramel Buttercream (recipe follows).
Adapted from the always brilliant smittenkitchen.

Caramel Buttercream (Dark Penuche Frosting)
Makes enough to frost 48 cupcakes or one large 3-layer cake (i.e. you will have some leftover)

Ingredients:

-2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter

-2 cups packed dark brown sugar

-1 tsp salt

-1/2-3/4 cup milk

-2 tsp vanilla

-6 cups confectioners sugar

Directions:

Melt together 2 sticks of butter, salt and dark brown sugar. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium.
Whisking constantly, cook 5 minutes on medium. Stir in half a stick of butter, one tablespoon at a time and 1/2 cup milk.
Boil 2 minutes more. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
Beat in powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, adding more milk if necessary, 1 T at a time. Beat until lighter in color and fluffy. Frost cooled cupcakes immediately.

Applesauce cupcakes, sans frosting.

They were almost as tasty unadorned as they were covered in frosting.

A very happy penguin!

An ornery cupcake, impatiently waiting for her first "real" Trick Or Treat, was not in the mood for pictures.

A growing boy, enamored with his sister, listens to a story. She's a fantastic storyteller.

And it was a pretty hilarious tale.

How sweet as pie is this wee face?

*Apologies for the corny title. I couldn't help myself.

Dried Fruit and Proscuitto Stuffed Pork Tenderloin with Port Reduction

2010-11-01T15:08:00.001-06:00

I first fell in love with this amazing dish at a dinner celebrating my mom's 60th birthday a few weeks ago. It was so swoonworthy that I couldn't get my mind off of it for days. Thankfully, an Autumn-themed cooking club with some of my girlfriends gave me the chance to share it (i.e. eat it again myself) in all of it's rich, fruity, port-y glory, with other food-loving friends. It is SO darn good that even People Who Don't Eat Pork rave over it.

If you cook nothing else this winter, please do yourself a favor and find an occasion to make this dish (unless you are a vegetarian, obviously). Dried fruit, soaked in warm port, scented with thyme and shallots, mixed with creamy Gorgonzola, wrapped in proscuitto and pork tenderloin and paired with a rich, dried cherry port reduction (that uses, I kid you not, an ENTIRE BOTTLE of port)...LAWDAMERCY, it is delectable. The sauce, alone, is worthy of it's own sonnet. Serve this all next to a pile of golden roasted or mashed potatoes (that can be used as another vessel for the sauce...did I mention the SAUCE? :::swooon:::) and a braised dark-leafy-green and you have yourself a meal fit for even the most special of occasions (perhaps your mom's 60th birthday, for example? Or dinner with some of your best girlfriends?)

Please note the empty bottle of port.

(Please do not note the horrendously stained grout that no amount of bleaching or scrubbing will whiten. Ahhhh...the joys of living in a very lovely old home with the former owner's crappy DIY tile job.)

The stuffing, pre-Gorgonzola.

If you're short on evening time this can be prepared in stages and chilled hours before serving and finished about 45-60 minutes before dinner. I made the stuffing, reduced the port and stuffed/rolled the tenderloin ahead of time. Then all that needed to be done for dinner was to brown and roast the pork and finish the sauce.***

Ingredients

1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup dried sweetened cranberries (Craisins)
1 cup Tawny Port
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup minced shallots
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 cup fine dry breadcrumbs
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
4 ounces mild Gorgonzola, crumbled (if you prefer, Goat cheese can be used instead)
4 ounces proscuitto, thinly sliced
2 (3/4 pound to 1 pound each) pork tenderloins, butterflied and pounded slightly to an even thickness
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
Port Wine Sauce, recipe follows

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (375 for convection oven)

-In a small saucepan, combine the raisins, cranberries and 1 cup Port. Bring to a simmer, remove from heat and let sit for 10 min. Drain fruit well and set aside. Reserve leftover port for sauce.

-In a medium skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the shallots and garlic and cook, stirring, until soft, about 1 minute.
-Add the bread crumbs, thyme, salt, and pepper and stir until the bread crumbs are lightly toasted, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat and let cool, slightly. Stir in fruit mixture. Let cool completely.

-In a medium bowl, combine the breadcrumb-fruit mixture with cheese and stir gently to combine.

-Lay the prosciutto slices over the butterflied pork to cover. Starting about 1/2-inch from the bottom and leaving 1/2-inch on either side, lay the bread crumb mixture in a uniform line across the meat. Pull the bottom edge of meat up and over the filling and roll up into a thick cylinder. Using butcher's twine, tie the meat to seal. Rub with vegetable oil on all sides and lightly season with salt and pepper.

-In a large ovenproof skillet or roasting pan, brown the meat on all sides over medium-high heat, 3 to 5 minutes. -Place in the oven and roast until cooked through and an instant-read thermometer registers an internal temperature of 155 degrees F to 160 degrees F, about 30-35 minutes.

-Remove from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes before carving.
-To serve, remove the butcher's twine from the roast and carve into slices about 1/2-inch thick. Serve with a generous drizzle of the Amazing Port Wine-Dried Cherry Sauce.

Amazing Port Wine-Dried Cherry Sauce:
1 (750ml) bottle Tawny Port* (including any remaining from the dried fruit mixture)
1 cup beef stock
1/4 cup dried sour cherries
1 stick very cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
In a medium saucepan, bring the Port to a boil. Reduce the heat and cook at a low boil until reduced to a thick syrup, 1/4 to 1/3 cup in volume. Add the stock cook until thick and reduced by half. Stir in dried cherries. Reduce the heat to low, and whisking constantly, add the butter several pieces at a time, adding more butter once the previous pieces have nearly been incorporated, removing the pan from the heat occasionally to prevent the sauce from getting too hot and breaking. Continue until the sauce is emulsified and all the butter has been added.
Adapted from HERE.

*Note: This is not the time to break out the 20-yr, $100 bottle of Graham's. I used a bottle of $6.00 Taylor Tawny Port and it was fantastic.
***Caution: The entire preparation for this dish will make your home and surrounding area smell HEAVENLY. The neighbors may stop by and casually mention their lack of dinner plans for the evening in the hopes of an invitation.

Whole-Wheat Pumpkin Bran Muffins*

2010-10-27T15:05:00.000-06:00

*adapted from this recipe

INGREDIENTS:
Yield: 18 muffins
1/3 cup canola oil
1/2 cup honey
1 T molasses
1T brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 tsp salt
1-15 oz. can pumpkin puree
1 cup bran flakes, lightly crushed
1 3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cloves1/3 cup very hot water
1 tsp baking soda

DIRECTIONS:
-Line muffin tin with 18 baking cups.
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees (325 for convection oven).
-Prepare muffin tin by
-In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, honey, molasses, sugar and vanilla. Add eggs, pumpkin and salt. Mix well. Stir in bran flakes.
-In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves.
-Stir dry ingredients into wet until just combined.
-Add baking soda to hot water, stir to mix, and then gently stir into batter.
-Divide mixture evenly into 18 muffin cups, filling each cup to about 3/4 full.
-Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 min or until a toothpick inserted into the center of muffins comes out clean.
-Enjoy warm or at room temp. with cream cheese or butter.

     Summer has finally decided to give up the fight and let fall arrive this week. Cooler temperatures, leaf gathering, costume wearing and fall baking has replaced the warm sunshine, outside playtime and cool drinks. The evening light disappears a few minutes earlier each evening and the mornings now feel cold and dark.

     As with every year, I'm sad to see the warmth and light disappear. It's not so much that I dislike fall. It's such a beautiful time of year, especially when we are lucky to have one in our state. (Sometimes winter blows in too early and the leaves literally get snowed off of the trees.) But it's mostly that I don't love winter. I'm not a fan of cold, snow, ice, or layers of clothes. I much prefer the lightness of flip-flops and longer days.

     However, with the onset of colder, darker mornings we have been spending a few more minutes snuggling under the covers together as a family. The littlest one nestles in for an early morning snack before dozing off for a bit while longer. My daughter chats and giggles, cooing over her baby brother before giving all of us our character names for the day (today we were named members of "The Backyardigans," Uniqua, Pablo, Tasha Tyrone). Daddy (or "Tyrone") gets a few extra minutes of much needed sleep. And I get to sneak downstairs to let the dog out, make a cup of coffee and spend 10 minutes alone before starting my day of juggling the needs of two littles and a never-ending To Do list.

    With my husband's work schedule and my new-to-two learning curve, it can feel like we don't often get time to catch our breath before putting out the next fire. These slow moving mornings are an unexpected blessing during a time of year I don't always feel so thrilled about, and for that I'm grateful.

What could be better than having a snack with a good friend? Laughing HYSTERICALLY while having a snack with a good friend.

Sibling bonds are the longest relationships a person can have and arguably, some of the most important. Someday their father and I won't be around. Hopefully they'll still have each other. I feel so blessed that I get to watch them learn how to love one another.

I suppose this blog isn't called "think, love, sleep, eat, clean" for good reason.

2010-10-17T16:37:00.000-06:00

My house is a sad state of affairs these days. I just can't seem to keep up with the laundry, dishes, clutter, cooking, shopping, animal fur and dog drool (yes, drool)...not to mention the fragile-toddler meltdown managing, round-the-clock nursing, diapering, soothing, playing, crafting, snuggling, etc., etc., etc. It's a daily source of stress for me, not so much because an imperfect house drives me crazy to look at but because I feel I am failing at part of my "job" as a stay-at-home-mom.

This afternoon the wee one fell asleep in my arms while putting the older one to bed for a nap. Since my better half is working today, my options were either to swaddle him up tight and put him in his swing for a nap (so I could take care of the dishes and laundry) or keep him in my arms, rendering them useless for scrubbing and folding. I chose the latter.

The weather today is absolute perfection: 70ish degrees, with impossibly blue skies, a faint breeze and radiant sunshine. It will likely be one of the last of it's kind for many months. So the two of us rocked on the front porch for a good hour while he snoozed, I chatted with the neighbors and he got a bit of natural photo-therapy. It. was. heaven.

I'll be honest...I felt pretty lazy. Our sink is full of dishes from the chocolate-pumpkin cupcakes I baked for a fall picnic with friends YESTERDAY (as well as breakfast and lunch dishes from today). The washer and dryer are both full. Our bed is unmade. What would people think if they saw my house right now??!!? My floors! The dryer full of dry but wrinkled clothes! The empty fridge! The unmade beds!!!

Song For a Fifth (or Second!) Child, by Ruth Hamilton. 1958

Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth
empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
hang out the washing and butter the bread,
sew on a button and make up a bed.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I’ve grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue
(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
(pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).
The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew
and out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo
but I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo.
Look! Aren’t her eyes the most wonderful hue?
(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
for children grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.

A birthday celebration

2010-10-14T14:35:00.001-06:00

Singing in the rain

What my son did for most of the weekend

Some colorful and delicious birthday cake prep

Coconut cake, Raspberry Filling, Cream cheese Swiss Meringue Buttercream

A very popular game. And a tall aunt and uncle on wee chairs.

Lovely ladies...

...and gentlemen. And two special girls.

Comfort = Good Friends and Baked Grits

2010-09-17T14:58:00.000-06:00

"Aunt" Jaime

Garlic and greens (Not pictured: shrimp and grits)

Comfort Food

A life in words, September 2010:

Doctors, Numbers, Heel Sticks, Blood Draws, Worrying, Waiting, Researching, Questioning, Talking, Praying, Pleading, Feeding, Swaddling, Shushing, Napping, Cooking, Cleaning, Working, Distracting, Snuggling, Hugging, Reassuring, Reading, Playing, Singing, Celebrating, Giggling, Loving, Loving, Loving.

Baked Garlic Cheese Grits
Ingredients

* 3 cups chicken broth
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon pepper
* 1 clove garlic, minced
* 1 cup regular grits
* 6 ounces shredded sharp cheddar, divided
* 4 ounces shredded Monterey Jack
* 1/2 cup milk
* 2 large eggs, beaten
* 2 T butter (optional), melted and slightly cooled
* 2 oz shredded Parmesan

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 2-quart casserole dish.

Bring the broth, salt, pepper, and garlic to a boil in a 2-quart saucepan. Stir in the grits and whisk until completely combined. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the grits are thick, about 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat and add half of the Cheddar and Monterey Jack; stir. In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs and butter (if using) and gradually stir mixture into grits, stirring until all are combined. Pour the mixture into the prepared casserole dish. Sprinkle with Parmesan and remaining Cheddar and bake for 40-50 minutes or until set and the top is nicely browned.

Adapted from (another) Paula Deen recipe!

Sugar Cookie Birthday Cake Bars

2010-09-13T14:43:00.000-06:00

I am passionate about cake (understatement of the year--see other blog), especially cake of the celebratory variety, i.e. birthday cake and wedding cake. My dream birthday would involve scores of cakes with numerous layers with several fillings, all of which would be covered with PLENTY of sweet buttercream. My husband is neither a foodie nor a big fan of cake (such a travesty), so for his birthday celebration this weekend I was a little at a loss. As far as sweets go, he really only likes cheesecake and frosted sugar cookies. However, with a toddler and a newborn in the house, both of these time-consuming sweets weren't really an option.

Enter The Sugar Cookie Bar Recipe, which food bloggers have been swooning about for months. With all of the sweet deliciousness of a decorated sugar cookie at a fraction of the work, it seemed the perfect choice. What's more, these came together quickly and easily enough to hold the attention of my 2 yr old "sous chef," providing fun and entertainment for a boring Friday afternoon! But the best part about them? They were terribly yummy. The Birthday Boy loved them (Confession #1: I did, too...many times over, if you catch my drift.) (Confession #2: I committed a cardinal sin of baking and used a jar of Pillsbury Butterbream frosting rather than making my own, even though I used to bake and frost for for an ACTUAL PAYCHECK. I blame the sleep deprivation.)

Sugar Cookie Birthday Cake Bars

Ingredients:
For the cookie bars:
*1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter (room temp if possible)
*1 cup sugar
*2 large eggs
*2 teaspoons vanilla extract
*2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
*1 teaspoon salt
*1/4 teaspoon baking soda

*3 cups of your favorite buttercream

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (325 for a convection oven). Generously grease a 9x13 baking pan.

Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium-high speed until light and smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl and beat on low speed just until incorporated.

Transfer the cookie dough to the prepared baking pan and press into an even layer. Bake 10-15 minutes, until edges are light golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Do not overbake. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool completely before frosting.

A Day of Firsts and a New Year Apple Cake

2010-09-09T10:28:00.009-06:00

The end of the year is here. We are at a new beginning.
A birth has come, and we reenact
At its remembrance the extraordinary fact
Of our unique, incomprehensible being.

The new year has started, for moving and growing.
The child's laugh within and through the adult's tears,
In joy and incomprehension at the singing years
Pushes us into fresh life, new knowing.

Here at the end of the year comes the year's springing.
The falling and melting snow meet in the stream
That flows with the living waters and cleanses the dream.
The reed bends and endures and sees the dove's winging.

Move into the year and the new time's turning
Open and vulnerable and loving and steady.
The stars are aflame; creation is ready.
The day is at hand: the bright sun burns.

-"For Dana: 4th November" by Madeleine L'Engle

August and September have been filled with sweet new beginnings: A new life in our son, a new role for our daughter (big sister!), a new dynamic for our family of three-turned-four, and just today, a new preschool for big sister and the beginnings of first smiles from Henry. In an effort to do a better job capturing moments from this sweet life, I am taking a renewed interest in this blog. Coincidentally, today is also Rosh Hashanah, the beginning of the Jewish New Year, which is time for reflection, resolutions and renewal.

In honor of the day, we eat apples, honey and other sweets to symbolize our hopes for a sweet new year. The following recipe is one I've made to celebrate this holiday before and it is nothing if not SWEET. Filled with apples and pecans and enrobed in a rich, buttery glaze, it is certainly worthy of a special celebration.
Happy New Year...here's hoping this year is as sweet as the last one!

Happy New Year Cake

Ingredients
Cake:

* Butter, for greasing pan
* 1 3/4 cups sugar
* 3 large eggs
* 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
* 1/4 cup orange juice
* 3 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
* 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
* 3 1/2 cups peeled and finely chopped apples
* 1 cup shredded coconut
* 1 cup chopped pecans (I toasted mine first)

Sauce:

* 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
* 3/4 cup sugar
* 1/2 cup buttermilk
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 1 tablespoon brandy or cognac

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Generously grease a bundt pan.

For the cake: in a large bowl, combine the sugar, eggs, oil, orange juice, flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and vanilla extract; and mix well. Fold apples, coconut, and pecans into batter.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a tester comes out clean, about 1 1/2 hours.

Shortly before the cake is done, make the sauce: Melt the butter in a large, DEEP saucepan, stir in the sugar, salt, buttermilk, cognac and baking soda, and bring to a good rolling boil, stirring constantly. Boil for 1 minute. Poke a few holes in the cake and pour the sauce over the hot cake in the pan as soon as you remove it from the oven. You may have to gently move the cake away from the walls of the pan to allow it to soak in and run down the side of the cake inside the pan. Let stand 1 hour, then turn out onto a rack to cool completely.

-Adapted from Paula Deen's "Grandgirl's Fresh Apple Cake."

Posted by ThinkLoveSleepEat at 7:20 AM 0 comments
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Whole Wheat Banana Bran Muffins

2010-03-07T12:25:00.006-07:00

The Winter Germs have taken my daughter hostage for the 739th time since November and we are all more than a little bummed about it. On top of a very runny nose, a hacking cough, incessant sneezing and the voice of a middle-aged man, my poor moneky has had little to no appetite anything beyond Gatorade and crackers for 2 days. Thankfully, her Nana (my mom) has been around to help snuggle away the sniffles too. However, we still haven't been able to coerce her into eating much. She's a sad little state of affairs.

This morning, in the hopes of encouraging a little nourishment into her body (and in an effort to use up 3 sad, overripe bananas) I decided to bake some banana muffins, also known as "cupcakes" in this house. As always, my goal was to create something delicious AND healthy. After poring over a variety of whole wheat and banana bran recipes, I decided to combine the two and create these muffins, which have whole wheat and bran, no processed sugar and a touch of molasses (one of my favorite "secret ingredients" for hearty muffins.)

The whole experience brightened all of our spirits. My daughter was torn away from her beloved Sesame Street long enough to help stir the batter and we all enjoyed a house filled with the warm scent of baking bananas. It was just what we needed on this uncharacteristically foggy, cool, germy morning.

These muffins are not only healthy and tasty but also surprisingly light. If you can avoid it, try not to use regular whole wheat flour (in lieu of WW pastry flour) since they might turn out a little denser.

INGREDIENTS:
Yield: 18 muffins
1/3 cup canola oil
1/2 cup honey
1 T molasses
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 tsp salt
3 med mashed bananas (1.5 cups)
1 cup bran flakes, lightly crushed
1 3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup hot water
1 tsp baking soda

DIRECTIONS:
-Line muffin tin with 18 baking cups.
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees (325 for convection oven).
-Prepare muffin tin by
-In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, honey, molasses and vanilla. Add eggs, bananas and salt. Mix well. Stir in bran flakes.
-In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and cinnamon.
-Stir dry ingredients into wet until just combined.
-Add baking soda to hot water, stir to mix, and then gently stir into batter.
-Divide mixture evenly into 18 muffin cups, filling each cup to about 3/4 full.
-Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 min or until a toothpick inserted into the center of muffins comes out clean.
-Enjoy warm or at room temp. with cream cheese or butter.

By Request...Chicken Fajita Soup

2010-02-21T20:27:00.002-07:00

It is a snowy, snowy, snowy, snowy, COLD, cold day. And it's certainly not our first snowy day of the year ...no no no! Not by FAR. We've been watching the white stuff fall since EARLY OCTOBER. And I'm sick of it. Sick and tired. Sick and tired and CRAAAAANKY about it. Something had to be done. So, what could heal a grumpy soul better than a deep bowl of hot chicken soup (besides a large chocolate cake, obviously), right?

The thing is, I'm also pretty worn out and weary of my usual roasted chicken soup recipe (which I have yet to post here...but it's yummy). And I'm tired of trying and failing at multiple "Chicken Tortilla Soup" recipes (especially those with condensed soup listed as primary ingredents...BLECH). So tonight I gave up trying to make chicken tortilla soup and decided, instead, to tackle a soup with the flavors of one of my favorite dishes of childhood...FAJITAS!

Please forgive the lack of photos. I wasn't planning on adding this tonight but since some of my buddies have requested the recipe I figured WTH? Also, you'll have to forgive the somewhat poorly organized list of ingredients and directions. I'm not even entirely sure that all of the measurements listed below are completely accurate. I tend to get a little lazy about writing things down while I cook, especially if I'm feeling grumpy about the weather.

The good news is that this warming stew, along with a big bowl of fresh guacamole and chips (shall I post my guac recipe too?) really DID lift my spirits. It eased the crankiness right out of me. (My family is so grateful.) However, I might have to eat it for breakfast in order to force myself out of the house and into the frigid air tomorow morning...to clean off my car...oh dear...
:::::SHIVER::::::

INGREDIENTS
2 T olive oil
1 T butter
1 medium yellow onion, small dice
1 green pepper, small dice
1/2 red pepper, small dice
3 large cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp chili powder
juice from 1 small lime
5-6 cups chicken stock
Meat from 1 rotisserie chicken, chopped or shredded
2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can crushed fire-roasted tomatoes, pureed (with my stick blender)
2 small cans chopped green chilies
3 T grits (or cornmeal)
Salt & pepper to taste.

Shredded cheese, sour cream and cilantro for garnish

DIRECTIONS
Heat large soup pot or dutch oven over med-high heat. Add butter and oil. Saute onion and pepper until onion is translucent. Stir in seasonings and garlic; cook for 1 min. Add in lime juice, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan as you stir it in. Stir in chicken stock, chicken, beans, tomato puree, chilies, salt&pepper and grits. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for at least an hour or up to 3 hours, stirring occasionally and adding more stock/water if necessary if it reduces too much. Taste after about 45 min to see if it needs more seasoning. Alternatively, you can throw all of the above into your crock pot and cook it all day long. :)

Serve in deep bowls, generously topped with cheese, sour cream and a little cilantro.

Confession: Because I happened to have some leftover heavy cream in my refrigerator, I *may* have thrown in a tablespoon (or so) of that as well. :) Just saying...

Tree Trimming Dip

2009-12-06T19:59:00.002-07:00

Some of my fondest memories of the Christmas season, growing up, were the nights we'd gather as a family (usually on a Sunday evening) to decorate our tree. There was nothing especially unique about our evening, when compared to most families we knew, but it was still a special time. We had Christmas music on the stereo, discussions about how many lights to use (as many as possible), questions about which side of the tree was the straightest, varying degrees of participation (as we grew older and more teen-aged) and the same stories to tell every year about where each ornament came from.

Our food tradition that evening was simple. My mom would make a handful of our favorite appetizers and serve them with simple cut veggies and fruit, maybe a bowl of popcorn and sometimes a plate of Christmas cookies.

At the end of the night, after everyone else had gone to bed, I'd sneak into the living room (usually after snatching just one. more. cookie.) and turn off all of the lights except for the tree. Sitting in the silence I'd squint my eyes until all of the lights (which were colored, of course) blended together into one shiny blob of Christmas happiness.

Tonight, with the help of our just-turned-2 (!!!) year old babygirl, we continued an old tradition with our new family with a coffee table full of tasty treats and some shiny (also new) ornaments for our little tree. Most of the ornaments are only about 36 inches off of the ground (and we watched Dora's Christmas Carol rather than listening to Christmas Carols) but the tree is just as beautiful and the evening just as magical.

In honor of appetizers of Christmas Tree-Trimmings past, I combined two of my favorite dips into one ridiculously sinful pan of joy. You can serve this with toasted bread, cut veggies and tortilla chips but it is also just as good with only a spoon. I'm hoping to sneak one more nibble of it just before bed, with only the Christmas tree lights for company...

Tree-Trimming Dip
Also Known As,
Hot Artichoke, Crab and Spinach Dip

1 8 oz. tub whipped cream cheese
1/2 low-fat sour cream
1/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack
1/4 cup shredded Parmeson
1-10 oz can artichokes in brine, drained and chopped
1/2 10 oz. bag frozen spinach, thawed and well strained
1-6 oz can crab, drained
3 green onions, white parts only, finely sliced
juice of half a lemon
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/4 tsp dry mustard powder
dash or three of Tabasco
2 T shredded Parmeson

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Lightly oil a 9 in pie plate.
Combine the cream cheese and sour cream together in a large bowl. Mix well. Stir in the cheeses, artichokes, spinach, crab, green onions, lemon juice, garlic salt*, mustard and a few (or more) dashes of Tabasco. Mix everything together well but don't stress over it. It's hard to mess this up. (Feel free to grab a spoon at this point for a wee taste of it while it's cold. You won't be sorry.)
Spread the whole, delicious mixture into the pie plate and even out the top a bit with a spatula. Sprinkle evenly with the rest of the Parmesan cheese. Use more if you feel like it.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes. Crank the heat up to 375 and bake 15 minutes longer or until the top is browned.
If you can stand the wait, let it sit for about 10 minutes before serving.

*Note: Seriously. Garlic Salt. This is supposed to be quick and easy so you can get to the decorating (okay, eating) part faster. I wouldn't screw it up by dealing with a sticky mess of minced garlic. Just saying...

Cheesy Dinner Muffins w/Butternut Squash

2009-01-30T21:45:00.005-07:00

So that's a pretty long title for such a small, easy little recipe but, really, it could have been worse. These are actually more like, "Savory, Cheesy, Butternut Squash Muffins with Whole Wheat and Flax" but that length seemed even more ridiculous. The point is, these little guys are not only yummy, they are also pretty healthy.

I made them to go with my favorite Roasted Chicken Soup (more on that another time) on a very snowy night. It had been a loooong day at the T~L~S~E house. My poor little monkey had been snuffly, coughy and weepy all day and I could feel my own nose growing more clogged by the minute. I was *this* close to giving up on making dinner in favor of ordering take-out. Then I realized that the most nurturing thing I could do for both myself and for my family was take the time to craft a hearty, healthy, warming meal to fill our bellies and soothe our sneezes.

The chicken soup is one I've made enough times that I was able to throw it together with one hand while attending to my grumpy girl with the other. And muffins are the perfect quick bread when you don't have time, extra hands or half a brain left after a long day. They don't even require a mixer! After searching my favorite cookbooks for a decent savory muffin recipe and coming up empty-handed I decided to use what I had in the fridge (leftover roasted butternut squash + shredded cheese) and pantry (whole wheat flour, etc.) to create my own.

The basic ingredients for any muffin are few...flour, seasoning, baking soda, liquid, fat and eggs (sugar if you're making them sweet). After that all you need is two bowls, a spoon, some muffin tins and a hot oven and you have fresh bread to dip in your hot soup...or to warm your tummy while you wait for the soup to cool. :)
*Try to eat these lovelies while they are still warm. If you're feeling extra indulgent, split one in half and allow a tiny pat of butter to melt into each side.
INGREDIENTS:

1 cup AP flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
3 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1/4 cup olive oil
3/4 cup pureed butternut squash
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup ground flax
1 cup shredded cheese (gruyere would be amazing but I used sharp cheddar)

DIRECTIONS:
1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2) Sift or whisk first four (dry) ingredients together into a large bowl.
3) Stir in grated cheese.
3) Whisk egg, oil, squash, milk and ground flax.
4) Lightly whisk wet ingredients into dry until just combined. Do not over mix.
5) Divide batter equally into 12 greased (or lined) muffin cups and bake for 20 minutes or until very lightly browned. Enjoy warm and store leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container.

(ridiculously addictive) GingerSnaps

2009-01-26T14:03:00.014-07:00

Otherwise known as... "Gingercrack," these cookies are insanely addictive. They are even better the day after you bake them, provided you've stored them safely in an airtight container. Ever since I found the recipe in September and tweaked it to my liking, I've baked them no less than once every two weeks. That's a lot of cookies.
They actually played a small role in our annual Loafman 3-day Thanksgiving extravaganza. And let me tell you, it is NOT easy to break into the long list of "must-have" treats at that event. We have some seriously strong, unwavering Loafman traditions and at times it can be hard to be the new kid in town. Many a new dish has gingerly approached the table in years past...ne'er to be spoken of again (sweet potato balls, anyone?).
The dearest honor that these cookies hold, however, is that of being the VERY first sweet to ever enter my sweet baby's mouth, at 10 months, and they are still her favorite treat. As such, they are one thing I've found to distract her from almost any looming tantrum. (Yes, she can be pacified and bribed with baked goods. Cue: "Like mother, like daughter" joke.)
They would make FANTASTIC ice cream sandwiches, if you are so inclined. Pumpkin ice cream would make a heavenly pairing. A drizzle of melted dark chocolate or a piping of cream cheese buttercream would also be lovely.
Most often we eat them as plain as can be, with just a sprinkle of coarse sugar on top for a bit of sparkle and added crunch.

INGREDIENTS:

2 1/4 cups A.P. flour
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves (freshly ground if you can)
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/4 cup molasses
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp water
1/4 cup sugar (for topping)

DIRECTIONS:
1) In a medium bowl, sift together all dry ingredients.
2) In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until fluffy.
3) Beat in egg.
4) Beat in molasses, vanilla and water.
5) On low speed (or by hand) mix in dry ingredients a little at a time.
6) Cover dough and refrigerate at least 4 hours.
7) When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
8) Roll dough into balls (about 1 1/2 in. diameter)
9) Place balls on ungreased cookie sheet (I use a silicone mat for easy removal) 2 inches apart.
10) Dip the flat end of a glass into remaining sugar and carefully flatten each ball, slightly, with sugared end of the glass.
11) Optional: Sprinkle tops with coarse sanding sugar or decorating sugar.
12) Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until set throughout (the centers should not look "doughy"). If you prefer "snappier" cookies, bake until slightly golden brown.
13) Remove from cookie sheets immediately and let cool on racks.
14) Once cooled completely, store cookies at room temperature in an airtight container.

Spanakopita

2009-01-22T21:04:00.004-07:00

*Recipe courtesy of my buddy Sophia

Two of my dear friends, for different reasons, have been recently bed/couchridden and therefore have been graciously accepting meals from many of our friends. I've never been much of a fan of the typical lasagna/casserole/enchilada/freezer-meal fare (see my minestrone post) that often accompanies this sort of an occasion. However, that presents a bit of a challenge when attempting to plan a meal that would be easy to transport and reheat without completely ruining it. Thankfully my buddy Sophia came to the rescue!
Sophia's family is entirely, beautifully Greek (you should see the photos from her amazing wedding in Mykonos) and she has this incredible book of authentic recipes to show for it. One of those recipes is this delicious and actually, quite simple spanakopita. I doubled the filling and was able to fill three 8x8 pans (which, thankfully, meant that we got to keep one for our dinner) but the recipe would also generously fill one pan for a family with hearty appetites. Uh...who am I kidding? I ate half of of our pan myself.

This is best eaten fresh out of the oven but is actually quite lovely at room temperature too.

Ingredients:

one bag frozen spinach or two boxes frozen spinach
2 small/medium onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp fresh dill
2 eggs, beaten
1.5 - 2 cup crumbled feta
one package phylo dough
1/4 -1 stick butter, melted (+ olive oil to make it healthier! I use 1/4 stick, my relatives use a whole stick)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350.
Saute onions and garlic in oil over med heat. Add salt and spinach. Cook over med heat for 5 min, remove. Allow to cool, then add beaten eggs, dill, and feta. Set aside.
Butter 9x13 pan. Place sheet of phylo in pan, butter/oil it, add another sheet, butter/oil it, etc. After approx 5 layers, put spinach mixture on top. Layer phylo again. This time, crumble/scrunch several layers of phylo to trap air and make it lighter/crispier. Josh prefers to use oil for bottom layers and butter for top. I often do an oil/butter blend. You can skimp on all butter except for the topmost layer. Really lather it on there.
IMPORTANT: Cut the spanakopita before baking. It will help make the pieces neater and easier to serve afterwards.
Bake for 45 min, or until golden brown.

If you want to make this ahead of time, cover it tightly and refrigerate until it is ready to be baked. Adjust the baking time accordingly (mine took about an hour).

My First Brisket

2008-12-15T21:28:00.004-07:00

*This was so tasty that I reheated it the next day with a few tsp of italian herbs and served it over pasta. The picture to the right is my yummy leftovers!

This weekend we hosted our 2nd Hanukkah with my mother-in-law, her husband, my brother-in-law and of course, the rest of my little immediate family (husband + sweet baby). It was a relatively last minute decision to host it here, so I didn't plan a large menu weeks in advance the way I might normally do for such a celebration. My mother-in-law and I quickly agreed on a simple menu that made it easy for both of us to contribute. Obvious by the title of this post, my charge was the traditional Hanukkah brisket.
After a quick internet search I vetoed a number of sweeter roasts (many of which included dried fruit) and settled on this very basic recipe from Martha Stewart (with a few of my own modifications), mostly because I had most of the ingredients on hand and I knew it would be relatively inexpensive. Not to mention the fact that it was the perfect "make-ahead" meal. I cooked it on Saturday evening and then pureed the sauce, sliced the meat and heated it through on Sunday just before dinner.
This recipe is about as simple as they come. Season and brown the meat, caramelize the onions and garlic, add the rest of the holy trinity, pour in a generous amount of decent red wine, throw in a bay leaf, dump in a can of tomatoes, add the meat back to the pot and cook for a long, long time. Then you simply puree the sauce, slice the meat and serve. The result is a fork tender, melt-in-your-mouth dish that belies the humble beginnings of this tough cut of meat. It is accompanied by a rich sauce with an incredible depth of flavor that BEGS to be poured over latkes, bread or anything else that might soak it up.

Ingredients:

1 brisket of beef (about 4 pounds), top flap removed and fat trimmed
salt and pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 large onions (about 2 1/2 pounds), halved and thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, peeled
2 cups dry red wine
5 medium carrots, cut into 2-inch pieces
3/4 cup diced celery, including leaves
One 28-ounce can plum tomatoes, with juice (I used Muir Glen fire-roasted)
1 bay leaf

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Trim any remaining excess fat from brisket. Season both sides of brisket well with salt and pepper.
Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a heavy dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add brisket, and brown very well, 4 to 5 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate, and set aside.
Reduce heat to medium low, add remaining tablespoon olive oil, onions, and garlic, and cook, stirring frequently, until quite brown and very soft, about 25 minutes. Add red wine, raise heat to high, and bring to a boil. Cook about 2 minutes, scraping up the brown bits on the bottom of the pot. Add carrots, celery, tomatoes and bay leaf and stir well to combine.
Return brisket to the pot, spooning some liquid and vegetables over it. Cover, and transfer to the oven. Cook until very tender, about 3 hours, carefully turning meat after 1 1/2 hours.
Let cool slightly, and remove brisket, being careful not to shred it. Puree sauce with stick blender (or in food processor). Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper if necessary. If preparing the day before, return brisket to pot, with sauce, and refrigerate. If serving right away, slice meat across the grain into 1/4-inch-thick slices, and place in sauce. Keep warm over low heat until serving time.
If refrigerated overnight, remove brisket from refrigerator, and slice across the grain. Add sliced meat to sauce, and reheat over medium-low heat untill warmed through, about 30 minutes.

Spiced Winter Squash Soup

2008-12-08T15:13:00.004-07:00

The original recipe for this warming winter soup from a delicious one made in the small, inviting kitchen of my Aunt Lis. She needed something to stave off a hungry lunch crowd while preparing Thanksgiving dinner for 22 (!!!). Enter a super easy squash soup that could be made ahead and kept warm in a crock pot, which freed up precious stove and counter space for the bigger feast that was to come.
A week later, I was looking for the perfect vegetarian soup to serve next to my favorite black bean and kielbasa soup at my sweet baby's 1st birthday party. A few cloves of roasted garlic and a dash of garam masala later I had the perfect recipe for a warm vegetarian soup on a cold December day.
Serve in deep bowls with warm, crusty bread spread with roasted garlic and butter.

INGREDIENTS:

2 T olive oil, divided
2 medium acorn squashes, halved
2 medium-large butternut squashes, halved
4-5 cloves garlic, unpeeled
2 T unsalted butter
2 medium leeks, cleaned and sliced (white/light green parts only)
5 cups water or chicken stock
1 1/2 tsp garam masala
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup cream
1/2 tsp sugar

DIRECTIONS:
1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2) Cut the squash in half, scoop out the seeds and place flesh side down on oiled baking sheet.
3) Place garlic on a small sheet of foil, cover with olive oil and wrap tightly.
4) Roast squash and garlic for 30-40 minutes or until squash is tender throughout and garlic is golden brown and fragrant.
5) In a deep sided pot, saute leeks in butter until translucent. Stir in water or stock, squash and garlic. Puree soup directly in the pot using a stick blender or blend in batches in a food processor/blender. Return soup to pot, stir in garam masala, sugar, salt and pepper to taste. Add more water/stock if necessary. Simmer over low heat until heated through and thick. Just before serving, stir in cream.

Lentil & Farro Salad with Roasted Vegetables

2008-07-30T16:47:00.013-06:00

So, as you can see by the title, this dish doesn't really scream SUMMERTIME! Not only do you actually have to turn the oven ON but you also have to preheat said oven to a seriously roasting temp of 400 degrees. However, my dear (vegetarian) friend just had a beautiful, sweet baby and specifically requested this dish when I offered to bring dinner...and who am I to tell a post-partum babymama 'No'?

I first made this salad for a cooking club a couple of years ago because I was dying for a reason to try farro, a grain I'd only recently discovered at the time. As it turned out, the farro, as tasty as it was, ended up as that afterthought (aftertaste?) to the deliciousness of the earthy vegetables, creamy lentils and zippy vinaigrette.
Unfortunately I didn't write down the recipe after I created the dish 2 years ago so this time I had to rely on taste memory.
Thankfully, it turned out well, even with a last minute, random raddichio addition. And my dear (vegetarian) friend swooned over it, which is the ultimate reward.
********************

Lentil and Farro Salad w/ Roasted Veggies

1 cup french lentils
1 cup farro* (or barley, or hard red winter wheat)
5 carrots, peeled and quartered
15-20 cremini mushrooms, halved, stems removed,
2-3 T olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste
2 medium leeks, halved and thinly sliced
3 T parsley, minced
1/2 medium head raddichio, chopped

Vinaigrette:
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
Juice from half of a lemon
1 tsp dijon mustard
1/2 cup plus 1 T olive oil
1 T minced fresh thyme
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:
1) Toss peeled, quartered carrots and halved cremini mushrooms (15 or so?) with olive oil, S&P
2) Roast at 400 degrees until soft and slightly browned (the mushies will take less time than the carrots).
3) Let veggies cool and dice into small cubes.
4) While the veggies are roasting, cook 1 cup french lentils for about 15 minutes or until just tender. Strain and rinse under cool water to stop cooking.
5) Cook 1 cup farro as you would rice but do not over cook. It should still have a little bite to it. Rinse under cool water.
6) Whisk together the vinegar, lemon juice, dijon mustard, 1 T thyme and olive oil. Season with S&P.
10) Combine the roasted veggies, grains, lentils, parsley, leeks and radicchio. Toss mixture with enough of the dressing to coat everything. Let sit at room temp for about 20 min. Stir again to see if you need to add more dressing. Add more if necessary. Serve immediately or refrigerate, stirring frequently and adding more dressing as needed.
Stir before serving. (I also think this salad is best when it's brought to room temperature before serving, but this is optional.)

*I just made this recipe again for a different new-mama-friend of mine and used a combination of barley and hard red winter wheat. It was so deliciously nutty that I almost liked it better than with just the farro!

Peas-acado!!!

2008-07-23T09:32:00.003-06:00

Now that my sweet monkey-girl is nearly 8 months old (GASP!!!) she is enjoying all of the wonderfulness that is SOLID FOOD. Determined to raise a child who appreciates at least some of the virtues of veggies we started with two very verde "first foods" (after introducing the usual suspects of baby cereal, sweet potato and banana), PEAS and AVOCADO. What could be more nutritious than one of nature's perfect foods, avocado, which is CHOCK FULL of things like folic acid, phytonutrients, lutein, beta-carotene, and the nutritional superstars essential fatty acids (GOOOOO OMEGAS!!!)....all mashed up and mixed with mild, also green, pureed sweet peas?

Best of all, if you have already made the frozen puree o' peas it's MUY easy. Not to mention the fact that it feels so squishy and squeezy between teeny fingers!

Peas-acado
2 cubes pureed peas, thawed (See Note!)
1/4 avocado

Stir/mash/smoosh the thawed peas with the avocado and serve! Easy Peas-y!

Note: To make pureed pea cubes I just steam a bag of frozen organic peas with a little water and puree the heck out of them with my stick blender. Divide puree evenly into an ice cube tray and freeze. Once the cubes are frozen, pop them out and store them, in the freezer, in a labeled zip-loc bag.

Grilled Radiccio w/Walnuts and Gorgonzola

2008-05-07T09:58:00.007-06:00

Flipping through the venerable Alice Water's "The Art of Simple Food" I saw dozens of beautiful recipes full of what promised to be vibrant, full, layered flavors. But rather than choose something large and complicated, I decided to go with a simple side. I would have begun with something bigger, say, a main dish or a souffle, but isn't this supposed to be "Simple"?

Ms. Waters "recipe," if you can call it such, forgoes the usual List of Ingredients followed by a paragraph of Instructions. Instead, she glazes over the general technique and leaves plenty of room for modifications. Essentially, you cut a head of radicchio into quarters or sixths, depending on the size, tossed the wedges with a little olive oil and S&P and grill them over a med-hot fire until "wilted and tender throughout," which *should* take about 10 minutes. Then you toss the wedges with a little bit of your favorite homemade vinaigrette and serve.

As you can see by the title, I took a few liberties with this recipe in the hopes that my formerly and sometimes currently picky husband might actually eat it. I added the Gorgonzola and walnuts hoping to 'disguise' the purple leaves. For the vinaigrette, I chose red wine vinegar, which has a bit of sweetness to counteract Radicchio's bitterness. Furthermore, you should know that our fancy-schmancy $99.99 grill has two heat settings, "screamin' hot" and off, so the total cooking time was cut in half.

The verdict? Delicious. Hands down, this is the most. incredible. way. to eat Radicchio. The pungent, bitter flavor of the raw leaves melted away on the grill, leaving only a deep, caramelized nuttiness that paired beautifully with the walnuts and creamy Gorgonzola. Even my husband raved about it. As he says, "Everything tastes better with cheese and nuts." And there you have it.

*Grilled Radicchio with Toasted Walnuts and Gorgonzola
Serves 2-4

1 head of organic Radicchio
3 T olive oil, divided
1 clove garlic, minced
2-3 T organic walnuts, broken into pieces
2-3 T crumbled Gorgonzola
1 T red wine vinegar
salt and pepper

Toast the walnut pieces in a dry pan over medium heat until fragrant and slightly golden. Set aside to cool.
Trim base of Radicchio and cut into 4 wedges (for a smaller head) or 6 wedges (for a medium-large head).
Toss wedges with 1 T olive oil and garlic and sprinkle with salt and pepper. In a separate small bowl, whisk remaining olive oil with vinegar. Season to taste with S&P.
Grill wedges over medium-high heat (or screamin' hot) until core is tender and leaves are darkened, 5-10 minutes, turning as necessary.

Transfer Radicchio to platter, top with a sprinkling of walnuts and Gorgonzola and drizzle with red wine vinaigrette.
Serve warm or at room temperature.

*I served this with plain, old hamburgers, baked organic french fries and grilled asparagus.

Minestrone with Italian Sausage

2008-02-25T09:32:00.005-07:00

I made this soup for a friend who had just had her second baby. She asked for a healthy alternative to the usual "pasta bake/enchilada" meals normally brought to new mothers.

Yield: 8-10 servings

2 T olive oil
3/4 cup chopped onion
1 med. leek, thinly sliced
1 cup diced carrot
3/4 cup diced celery
2 cups diced zucchini
1 med. fennel bulb, quartered and thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups low-sodium chicken stock (or water)
2 15 oz. cans navy beans (or sub 1 can of chickpeas for 1 can of navy beans)
1 cup packed, chopped kale
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained (I used Muir Glen fire-roasted)
1 15 oz. can crushed tomatoes or tomato puree
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
4 links Italian sausage (I used Italian chicken sausage)
1/2 cup dry red wine.
Shredded Parmesan cheese
Chiffonade of fresh basil

Preparation
Heat 1 T oil in a large stockpot or dutch oven over medium-high heat.
Add onion; sauté 4 minutes or until translucent. Add celery, carrots,
zucchini and fennel. Saute 5-6 minutes more to soften vegetables.
Stir in garlic; saute 1-2 min. more. Add stock and next 7 ingredients
beans (through red pepper flakes); bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat
to a low simmer.
In a separate saute pan, heat remaining oil over high heat. Brown
sausages well on all sides. Carefully remove sausages and thinly
slice. (Return slices to pan to finish cooking, if necessary.) When
sausage is cooked through, remove from pan and add to soup pot, reserving
accumulated juices in saute pan. Return pan to medium-high heat and
deglaze with red wine, scraping up the brown bits from the bottom.
Simmer 1 minute to reduce wine and accumulated juices. Stir mixture
into the stockpot.

Bring soup back to a boil and then reduce heat. Simmer on low for at least one hour. Salt and pepper to taste.

To serve, ladle into individual bowls and sprinkle with Parmeson and a little fresh basil.

Lola's Christmas Eggs

2007-12-29T16:47:00.001-07:00

Over Christmas in the Rocky Mountains this year my sister got up each morning and made her favorite breakfast treat: Rice & Eggs with cheese. Her daily breakfast was so beautiful and unique I HAD to include it in the blog.
This dish is best, I think, with an over-easy egg. With a soft yolk can mix the golden goodness in with the rice and melted cheese. Not to mention the fact that it's the perfect breakfast to fuel a day of winter sports!

LOLA'S CHRISTMAS EGGS
Serves 1-2

2 cups water
1 cups uncooked rice
olive oil
1 egg
1-2 T shredded cheese
sea salt
fresh ground pepper

Bring 2 cups water to a bowl. Add one cup uncooked rice of your
choice, a glug of olive oil, and a few shakes of sea salt. Bring back
to a boil then reduce to a simmer and cover. Cook until most of the
water is gone, let sit for a few minutes. While its sitting, make an
over-easy or fried egg.

Serve rice in a bowl with a sprinkle of shredded cheese on top. Lay
fried egg on top and finish with plenty of salt and pepper.

Thats the 'recipe' form of my delicious rice and eggs, yum yum, I
think I'll make rice right now. :)

Black Bean & Sausage Soup

2007-11-04T13:23:00.000-07:00

After our baby shower last weekend Jeff and I took Mom and Dad to one of our closest and tastiest local restaurants, Cafe Brazil. It's an amazing little restaurant that serves authentic Brazilian (surprise!) food like prawns in a coconut, lime, and ginger sauce; or our favorite, "grilled Manchego cheese with garlic pesto"! Usually their black bean soup is quite tasty but this time it seemed watery and less flavorful...a big disappointment. The next day I was really craving a good, rich black bean soup for dinner, much like the one we always used to get at "The Grill" in Peoria.
After researching a bunch of different basic recipes that either seemed to unhealthy or too boring, I decided to just create my own!

Black Bean & Sausage Soup
(w/ Kale and Sweet Potato)

2 T olive oil
1 lb. turkey kielbasa, sliced
1 large (or 2 med.) leek, thinly sliced
2 large carrots, diced
3 stalks celery (with leaves), diced
3 cloves minced garlic
1 sweet potato, medium dice
2 large handfuls chopped kale
32. oz low sodium beef stock
4 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup dry sherry
Pinch of cayenne pepper (or more, to taste)
1 tsp dried thyme
1 bay leaf
2 T minced fresh parsley
1 T fresh thyme leaves

Heat 1 T olive oil in a large dutch oven over med high heat. Add
sliced kielbasa and brown evenly. Remove kielbasa from pan and set
aside. Add 1 T olive to pan and saute leek, carrot and celery until
translucent. Stir in minced garlic and saute 1-2 minutes longer to
release fragrance. Deglaze pan with wine and sherry. Stir in stock,
kielbasa, beans, sweet potatoes, chopped kale, cayenne, dried thyme,
bay leaf, fresh thyme and parsley. Stir in 1-2 cups water, if
necessary, to entirely cover beans and sausage. Bring to a boil and
immediately reduce heat to a simmer. Let simmer on low for at least
one hour or more if possible to develop flavor to to thicken soup. Salt and pepper to
taste, if necessary.
Serve with sour cream and Tabasco OR a splash of sherry and a sprinkle
of fresh thyme if desired.

TIP: Kielbasa has quite a bit of salt already. It's a good idea to wait until the soup has cooked for at least 30 min. before you taste it and add more salt!

Pumpkin for Breakfast...

2007-10-14T13:29:00.000-06:00

Now that it's October I've been dying for a thick slice of sweet pumpkin bread for breakfast. In an effort to make this worthy of a healthy breakfast I've added some ground flaxseed and reduced the oil. It's not quite as sweet and pumpkiny as a really traditional pumpkin bread but it's delicious toasted with a little cream cheese!

Pumpkin-Flax Breakfast Bread

1 cup pumpkin
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup *applesauce
1/3 cup ground flaxseed
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp each nutmeg, cloves
pinch ground ginger
1/2 cup each raisin and chopped pecans, if desired

*You can use a full 1/2 cup canola oil instead of half oil/half
applesauce if you'd rather.
YIELD: One regular loaf or 12 standard muffins.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease one loaf pan (or 12
standard muffin cups).
In a large bowl, whisk together pumpkin, oil, applesauce, flaxseed,
sugars and eggs until smooth. In a medium bowl, whisk together
remaining ingredients, including raisins and nuts if you are using
them. Gently stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until
everything is incorporated. Do not overstir.
Spread batter into greased loaf pan. Bake for 50-55 minutes or until
toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

After loaf has cooled completely, store tightly wrapped or in an airtight container.
This tastes even better the next day!

"To Hot To Cook" White Bean Salad

2007-07-24T18:58:00.001-06:00

With the temp hitting 90 and above ALL week and no A/C in our house I'm on a cooking strike. Everything we eat this week must meet at least one of two requirements: (1) It must taste good grilled, AND/OR (2) It must taste good without having to be cooked at all! Since Jeff can only stomach so many salads and grilled vegetables I created this marinated white bean salad as starchy alternative for pasta on the stove or french fries in the oven.

Note: All measurements are approximate. Add a little more or less of each ingredient to meet your tastes!
Yield: 4-6 servings

3 cloves minced garlic
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
1-2 T white wine vinegar
approx. 1/4 cup plus 1 T olive oil
1 T fresh rosemary, minced
Tiny pinch of sugar
Salt & fresh ground pepper (to taste)
Dash of Tabasco
3 roma tomatoes (seeded), diced
2 cans Navy Beans (any white bean will do), drained and rinse well

Whisk together the first 6 ingredients in a large bowl. Add salt, pepper and Tabasco to taste. Toss in white beans and diced tomatoes. Check for seasoning and add more salt and pepper if necessary. Let sit for at least 30 minutes before serving. Refrigerate any leftovers.

This would also be yummy served on some toasted french bread as a "white bean bruschetta"!

Grilled Pizza with Fig Jam, Goat Cheese and Proscuitto

2007-06-30T08:50:00.000-06:00

I developed this recipe after reading about a similar dish in a book by Jennifer Weiner. I served it at my first "Nestie" cooking club and it was such a hit. After eating it earlier in the week I couldn't stop craving it so I made it again for Jeff and I later that week!

Pizza Dough for medium pizza
3-4 T Fig Jam (I used Stonewall Kitchen's Fig & Walnut Butter)
2-3 oz. fresh chevre, crumbled (Haystack Mtn. Boulder chevre)
4 slices proscuitto

Preheat grill on high heat.
Stretch pizza dough into a long, narrow rectangle to fit on grill. Dough should be thin. Lightly brush one side with olive oil.
Carefully lay oiled side of dough on hot grill and immediately reduce heat to med. Cover and "Bake" for 2-4 minutes, or until you dough is not sticking anymore and you see nice grill marks on the bottom. This will be your top crust. Turn dough over and bake for 2-3 more minutes or until barely browned. This will be your bottom crust.

Remove dough from grill and cool slightly while you grill proscuitto.

To grill proscuitto, increase heat to med-high and carefully place each piece onto the grill. Proscuitto is done when toasted and crispy, like bacon. Remove from grill and chop into 2 inch pieces.

To top pizza, spread a thin layer of fig jam over the "top crust" side of the dough. Evenly distribute proscuitto pieces across jam and top with crumbled chevre.

Return pizza to med-high heat grill. Cover, turn off heat and let bake until cheese is warm and bottom crust is golden brown.

To finish pizza, brush olive oil on crust if desired, cut into long slices and serve.

Home

2007-01-10T17:32:00.000-07:00

This year was a *last* Christmas of sorts...or at least our last Christmas in the moderately-sized Midwestern city in which I grew up. Officially my parents still live there in the home where I spent my formative years: a gorgeous brick home surrounded by giant trees and quiet streets. But in a few months that home will be empty and no longer ours, when my parents pack up and move south. While I haven't lived in that home for years, and neither have either of my siblings, to us Christmas morning "at home" means curling up by the fireplace in THAT house, wearing brand new pajamas and diving into a mug of thick cocoa and a plate warm, homemade cinnamon rolls. Next year it might feel strange to celebrate Christmas "at home" in a new house, in a new town and enjoying a very new climate. But I'm pretty sure once we tuck into a plate of these cinnamon rolls, together, on Christmas morning, we'll know that we are, in fact, still "home."

Christmas Morning Cinnamon Rolls
*begin preparing on Christmas Eve

Rolls:
2 pkg. active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
2 cups scalded milk, cooled to lukewarm
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. salt
1 egg
6 1/2-7 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Filling:
6 T butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
6 tsp. ground cinnamon

Icing*:
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 T milk (or enough to make icing smooth)
1 tsp. real vanilla
*double recipe to ice both pans of rolls

Make Rolls:
Dissolve (well) yeast in warm water in large bowl. Stir in milk, 1/3 cup sugar, oil, baking powder, salt, egg and 3 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Mix in enough of the remaining flour to make dough easy to handle (not too sticky).
Turn dough onto floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, 8-10 minutes.
Place in large greased bowl; turn over so greased side is up. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 1/2 hrs. (Dough is ready if indentation remains when touched.)

Punch down dough; divide in half.
Roll 1 half into rectangle, 12x10 in. Mix remaining sugar and cinnamon together in small bowl. Spread rectangle with 3 T softened butter. Sprinkle with half the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Roll up, beginning with long side and pinch edge firmly to seal. Stretch roll to make even. Cut into 12 1-in slices and place slightly apart in greased 13x9x2 in. pan. Cover tightly with aluminum foil.
Repeat with remaining dough and filling ingredients.
Refrigerate at least 12 hrs. and no longer than 48 hrs.

To Bake:
Heat oven to 350˙. Remove foil from pans and bake until golden, 30-35 minutes.

Icing:
Mix powdered sugar, milk and vanilla until smooth, adding more milk if necessary. Drizzle over WARM rolls.

Yield: 2 dozen rolls

Latke-sauce*

2006-12-14T16:43:00.000-07:00

I miss my family. I mean, I miss them much of the time but lately there have been a few issues demanding my emotional attention more acutely than usual. So the other day, in preparation for Hanukkah dinner with my husband's family (who live in town) I decided to make some homemade applesauce for the latkes-which I bought from Whole Paycheck, thank you kindly.
I miss my family.
But it is amazing how therapeutic it can be to stand over a sink and stare out a kitchen window at little squirrel families arguing over their winter worries, while carefully peeling every last tart, green bit off of 3 lbs. of apples. And then there's the smell...that whole mess of apples, spices and sugar slowly melting down into softness and warmth and pure appley love.
*A slow-cooker ROCKS for this recipe.

3 lbs. Granny Smith apples
1/2 lb. Rome apples
5 cups+1/2 cup water, divided
Juice from 1/2 lemon
1 T. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. grated lemon zest
6 T. sugar (or to taste)
1 T. candied ginger
pinch cloves to taste

Pour 5 cups water into a LARGE bowl. Stir in lemon juice, cinnamon and 1 tsp. cloves. Peel and chop the apples. Discard the peels. As you work, submerge each chopped apple into the lemon juice mixture to prevent browning and to soak in the flavors. Let sit in juice mixture 10 minutes. Drain apples and place in large slow cooker (or deep pot on the stove). Add the rest of the water, lemon zest, ginger and sugar. Stir gently and cook on low for 4-5 hours until apples are very soft. Stir gently until a thick sauce forms. Taste and add more sugar and a pinch of cloves, if desired. Cool and refrigerate in an airtight container. Serve warm or cold (with sour cream) on top of potato latkes!

Feelin' my oats

2006-12-13T10:16:00.000-07:00

Because it's December. Because it's the holiday season. And because I'm completely bored with eggs, PB toast and other breakfast choices, I have discovered a new obsession: Irish Steel Cut Oats.* To be completely honest, I've had these oats a few times before but for some reason, never really latched on to them until recently. There really is something LUXURIOUS about the fact that they are at once creamy AND chewy, rather than simply slimy (like their more common relative, the rolled oat). They are so decadent that my mom enjoys a warm bowl each evening for dessert!

So here's my recipe for the loveliest bowl of winter breakfast (or dessert, as my mom calls it) you may ever encounter:
Heavenly Oats
1/2 cup quick cooking steel cut oats (I use McCann's)
1/2 tsp. good cinnamon
3/4 cup plain soymilk (not lowfat)
2 T plain applesauce
1 T ground flaxseed meal

Mix the first 3 ingredients together in a DEEP,microwave safe bowl and cook on HIGH for 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 minutes, depending on how your microwave cooks.
Let sit for at least 1 minute to cool down and thicken up. You can also stir in a bit more milk if you'd like a smoother consistency. Stir in the applesauce and flaxseed.
For a more complete "experience" I highly recommend finding a comfy chair and a good book to enjoy while you savor your breakfast!

*While I hate to ruin your enjoyment of this recipe with boring nutrition facts, it IS worth noting that this oatmeal is terribly healthy and chock full of good fiber and protein. Sorry.

Think~ Love~ Sleep~Eat

Salted Caramel Banana Panna Cotta with Chocolate "Crust" (and a Lemon Meringue Pie Tragedy)

Serendipity on a Tuesday

"All you need is love..."

Chocolate Birthday Cake...Redux

Ingredients:

4 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour3 teaspoons baking soda1 teaspoon salt2 3/4 cups granulated sugar1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder2 1/2 cups hot water1 cup vegetable oil2 eggs, beaten3 tsp vanilla extract1 1/c cups chocolate chips

Directions:

Very simple, Pantry Chocolate Layer Cake

Ingredients:

4 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour3 teaspoons baking soda1 teaspoon salt2 3/4 cups granulated sugar1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder3 cups hot water1 cup vegetable oil3 tsp vanilla extract1 1/c cups chocolate chips

Directions:

Whole-Wheat Apple Carrot Muffins (or bread)

Whole-Wheat Apple Carrot Muffins

Ingredients:

Directions:

Beef Stew with Cognac and Roasted Vegetables (and a quick browning tutorial)

6:365:2011 Fresh Baked Bread

Fresh Cranberry Muffins

Directions

Rough Around The Edges but Sweet In the Middle (Deep Dish Pecan Pie)

To her, it was perfect.

Raspberry Cupcakes with White Chocolate Raspberry Buttercream

Some Disconnected Rambling, Roasted Pumpkin & Pancetta Pasta and Quiet Cupcakes

Ingredients:

Directions:

Cupcakes, Penguins and Bears, Oh MY!*

Dried Fruit and Proscuitto Stuffed Pork Tenderloin with Port Reduction

Ingredients

Directions

Whole-Wheat Pumpkin Bran Muffins*

I suppose this blog isn't called "think, love, sleep, eat, clean" for good reason.

A birthday celebration

Comfort = Good Friends and Baked Grits

Sugar Cookie Birthday Cake Bars

A Day of Firsts and a New Year Apple Cake

Whole Wheat Banana Bran Muffins

By Request...Chicken Fajita Soup

Tree Trimming Dip

Cheesy Dinner Muffins w/Butternut Squash

(ridiculously addictive) GingerSnaps

Spanakopita

My First Brisket

Directions

Spiced Winter Squash Soup

Lentil & Farro Salad with Roasted Vegetables

Peas-acado!!!

Grilled Radiccio w/Walnuts and Gorgonzola

Minestrone with Italian Sausage

Lola's Christmas Eggs

Black Bean & Sausage Soup

Pumpkin for Breakfast...

"To Hot To Cook" White Bean Salad

Grilled Pizza with Fig Jam, Goat Cheese and Proscuitto

Home

Latke-sauce*

Feelin' my oats

4 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 1/2 cups hot water
1 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs, beaten
3 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/c cups chocolate chips

4 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 cups hot water
1 cup vegetable oil
3 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/c cups chocolate chips