Blueberry Sour Cream Cake

To continue my week of Martha Stewart recipes, I made this blueberry sour cream cake. The slight hint of sour, a dash of lemon zest, and a dense moist texture make this summer-y blueberry cake totally comforting, even in the middle of January. Frozen blueberries can be substituted for fresh so long as they are thawed and drained before use.

The recipe was actually for a pound cake, but I made it in a scalloped ceramic pie pan, just for a pretty result. Scallops= pretty. The shape, not the seafood. Though I am a fan of that kind of scallop, too. 

Pound cake is fascinating to me. Is it weird to be fascinated by a type of cake? I think it's the lack of leaveners and odd proportion of butter and eggs that really gets me. Traditionally made with a pound of flour, plenty of butter and sugar, and no baking soda or powder, it's no wonder the result is rich, but admittedly it can sometimes turn out too dense. I found the texture of this cake to be pleasant though, instead of super heavy.

 The original recipe did not call for lemon zest, but rather for lemon whipped cream on top. Sounds delicious, but I decided to skip the cream for now, as it is recently post-new years, and I am at least pretending to be healthy. Apparently in my mind cake= healthy, but once you add whipped cream...forget about it.

Blueberry Sour Cream Cake

Adapted from Martha Stewart

Note: the original recipe was doubled, I decided to make only one cake, hence some odd numbers like 4 and a half eggs. To see the original recipe click the link above. Be prepared though, it calls for 3 sticks of butter and 9 eggs!

1/2 lb  + 1 Tablespoon Flour

1/2 Tablespoon coarse salt

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter (+ some to butter pan) softened

1/4 cup sour cream

1 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

4.5 large eggs, room temperature (yeah, sorry about that half egg thing...)

1 cup blueberries fresh, or frozen (thawed and drained)

zest of one lemon

1 Tablespoon powdered sugar 

Directions:

Oven temp: 325

1. Cream together the sugar, butter and sour cream with a hand mixer or standing mixer.

2. Add eggs and vanilla slowly to butter mixture and continue to blend

3. Add the lemon zest to the butter/sugar/egg mixture

4. Combine the flour and salt in a separate bowl

5. Fold together the flour mixture and the wet ingredients until smooth

6. Fold in the blueberries

7. Butter your baking dish and pour in the batter

8. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, up to 65 minutes.

9. Let cool, then sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Mushroom Tart

One of the first places I look for food inspiration is Martha Stewart's website.  She is so good at everything you sort of want to hate her, right? And she has built an empire. But then you try a couple of her recipes and see how easy and delicious they are. A few martha stewart recipes I have posted on this blog so far include Bacon Jam (which was such a hit this New Years!),  Roasted Roots and Tubers Pizza, and Spiced mixed nuts.  I spent some time browsing her website now that I am back in action blogging recipes, and I decided to do a week of Martha. It just had to be done. And to kick it off right, I made this beautiful and simple Mushroom Tart.

The process is simple, the result rewarding. A sheet of puff pastry, baby spinach, goat cheese, a clove of garlic, and a variety of types of mushrooms (I used cremini and shataki.) If you can saute vegetables in pan, you can probably make this delicious appetizer.


Mushroom Tart
Recipe inspired by MarthaStewart.com, however my steps and choice of ingredients differ a bit
Ingredients:
1 sheet of puff pastry
1 TBS olive oil
1 lb of mushrooms of your choice, sliced
a handful of baby spinach
1 clove of garlic, minced
soft goat cheese
1 TBS melted butter

1. Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat
2. Add minced garlic, allow it to cook a couple of minutes until just golden
3. Add the mushrooms to the pan, and cook until they are tender
4. Fold in the spinach
5. Lay out your puff pastry (the instructions on the box may suggest to allow it to sit for 10 minutes to defrost) on a buttered baking sheet
6. Top with your mushroom mixture, salt, pepper and sprinkle with goat cheese
7. Using a pastry brush, apply the melted butter to any exposed edges of puff pastry
8. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes, or until edges are golden and crisp

Notes:

This tart would be delicious with any variety of wild mushrooms. I droll imagining it with Hen-of-the-woods. My choice of and shataki is easy to find at grocery stores and relatively inexpensive. I used primarily the cremini (also called baby bella), and suplimented with a couple of shataki mushrooms sliced thin (tough stems removed)

The secret for perfectly browned puff pastry (which is luckily the sort of item even serious chefs buy premade from the grocery store...hence the ease of this recipe) is to brush any exposed parts with either melted butter or egg wash to aid in browning. You can choose to do this step at the end, removing the tart from the oven a few minutes before the end of the cook time, buttering it and returning it, if you are worried about the edges burning, or include it as a step before placing the item in the oven.

If you are making this ahead of time a few additional minutes to heat up in the oven (preferably on a pizza stone) will bring back any crispness it may have lost from sitting out. I made this early in the day (to accommodate bright sunlit pictures) but served it at night. A quick heat-up was all it needed.

Black Bean Soup & Sweet Potato Biscuits

When people ask me what my favorite thing to cook is, I almost always answer with some sort of soup. French onion some days, butternut squash, perhaps a lively and spicy black bean soup, like this one. To me, cooking soup seems like a nearly magical process. Brown a few simple ingredients in the bottom of a large pot, perhaps onions cooked until translucent and lightly sweet, garlic and herbs, add liquid, a few other choice ingreidients, cover the pot and... Magic happens. Water becomes flavorful broth,  dense root vegetables become soft and sweet. Herbs and spices mingle on your tongue, and the whole thing can be sopped up with a nice piece of hearty bread.

We have had our first few days of true fall weather recently, the rare moment in time where 50 degrees feels just chilly enough to curl up in a blanket on your couch with a book and make every excuse not to leave the house, or run all the errands you need to. (Or is that just me?) As the months wear on, we will grow accustomed to the colder weather, and a 50 degree day will seem like such a luxury, a moment to take back out our summer clothes. But at the end of the summer, with the certain crisp air only fall can bring, 50 degrees means it's a time to make soup; to comfort yourself.

I made this soup with my (lovely and pretty) friend Sophie, one of my oldest friends, whom I met in pre-school. We attempt now to cook dinner together every Friday (before settling in to watch Fringe-- any other Fringe fans out there? WHERE IS PETER BISHOP??) and her regular email to me "What should we make this time? Should I bring wine?" has been a great motivator of many of my food posts on this blog.

This time around, unsure what to make, I linked Sophie to my pinterest board for food inspiration. She responded pointing out that many of the recipes included sweet potatoes, and it had her thinking about the African Sweet Potato Stew I often make. Since I have already blogged that recipe, I suggested making a different sort of soup, and pairing it with the Sweet Potato Biscuits I had pinned and had been wanting to try. I suggested black bean soup particularly for a few reasons:

1. I love black bean soup

2. I love the way black beans pair with sweet potato- like in this recipe

3. The ingredients for black bean soup are cheap- no lies, this is always a good motivator for me

In the end we both loved the combination, and the leftover biscuits were great for breakfast the next day, too.

too bad I can't master the perfect sour cream dollop at the moment

Since we followed the recipe with no alterations I am not including the steps in this post, but you can head over to this link to see the original recipe- it's easy and delicious, they turned out flaky and just a tiny bit sweet. Like with pie crust, the key is to keep the butter cold and handle minimally. We ended up having to handle our biscuit dough more than we intended, but even so they were tender and flaky.

The only note I would make about the above recipe, is if you are short of time, peel and poke some holes in your sweet potato, then microwave it for about 3 minutes before mashing instead of baking it. We also chose to keep our sweet potatos mashed in a chunkier style, I liked the chunks of sweet potato in each bite that this created.

And for the soup...

This soup was adapted from a recipe from Eating Well. The recipe I started with was very basic, but gave me just the guidelines I needed. I supplimented it with 2 large cloves of garlic, more lime and cilantro than it called for, and where they asked for prepared salsa I used Trader Joe's Habenero Lime salsa which really added a lively kick. If you don't have a salsa like this available to you, I would suggest adding some diced fresh hot pepper and doubling the lime juice.

Black Bean Soup

Adapted from Eatingwell.com

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon canola oil

1 onion, diced

1 tablespoon chilli powder

1 teaspoon cumin

2 or 3 cloves of garlic, minced

2 15oz cans of black beans, rinsed

3 cups of water

1/2 cup prepared salsa- I used Trader Joe's brand Habenero & Lime Salsa

Salt to taste

Juice of one lime

fresh cilantro chopped, plus some additional for garnish

Sour cream to garnish

Process:

1. In a large pot heat the oil. Add chopped onions and cook until translucent- less than 5 minutes

2. Add to pot: cumin, chilli powder, minced garlic, stir and cook 2 minutes

3. Add rinsed beans, salsa  and water. add salt to taste, and adjust spices as needed at this point (remember that the heat of the soup will vary depending on what salsa you use)

4. Using a traditional or immersion blender, blend mixture minimally so that some chunks remain.

5. Add the lime juice and cilantro before serving, add additional cilantro to garnish, as well as a dollop of sour cream if desired.

Serve with cornbread, biscuits or something else delicious. Feel happy. Go watch Fringe.

Banana Rum Caramel Bread Pudding

Holy goodness, guys. I really can't think of anything else to say. Somehow "holy goodness" is an exclamation that comes out of my mouth sometimes. Is goodness holy? I don't even know. Whatever. But seriously. Hot, gooey bananas, custardy challah bread, and a drizzle of rum-y caramel? Yes, please. Mother, may I? Holy goodness. Jabberwocky. I can't even make sense right now.

For the record, these are far superior served warm, so the caramel is melty and gooey and so are the bites of chopped up banana. I was a bit impatient reheating one, and learned the hard way. It was still pretty yummy, though.

I used Challah bread I had in my freezer from the last time I made french toast. If you don't live in an area where this is available (ie, not in an area with a large Jewish population) other types of egg bread or brioche would both be good. I love how Challah is lightly sweet and fairly dense and chewy, so it works perfectly to soak up eggy custard in bread pudding or french toast.

I loved every step of this recipe, and it was a recipe with many steps. I suggest only making this when you have the proper attention to pay it, as getting distracted while making caramel sauce never ends well (have you ever tried to get burnt caramel off of your favorite pan?).

I have mentioned before that I love the feeling of becoming totally involved in the steps of a recipe, the complete zen mindfulness this process creates for me. This was just that kind of recipe, though actually each step was easy and pretty quick. Basically I made the rum caramel sauce first, set it aside. Then sliced the challah bread into 1 inch cubes, lay them out on a baking sheet, and cooked them until lightly browned, and dry. Then made the custard. Then sliced the bananas, and cooked them breifly in a pan with a glaze made of  butter, brown sugar, rum and lemon juice. In the end I assembled them in ramekins for cute individual servings, layering in the bread, bananas and custard. After some time in the oven, I let them cool and then drizzled them with my caramel sauce, which I had poured into a plastic bottle once it cooled down to lukewarm. So, so perfect.

You can see the full recipe here from Bon Appetit. I halved the recipe and made 4 individual servings in 1-cup ramekins.

A Perfect Sunday- and how to a make a red wine, onion and blue cheese tart

I just had a birthday. A couple weeks ago, actually. It was delicious. I decided instead of throwing a big shindig like I sometimes do, which for me can lead to feeling stressed out and overwhelmed and can take on a bit of "must have fun" pressure, I actually just wanted to create my ideal Sunday (since my birthday fell on a Sunday this year) and not even really think of it as a birthday celebration. Luckily for me, I have a close (and yet so far away) friend from Australia who was slated to visit over the week of my birthday this year. If I could create an ideal Sunday it would definitely include having her around! (If you see her, won't you tell her to move to Boston?)

Other things my ideal Sunday would include?

•  waking up early
• doing a bit of organizing around the house (is it strange that this is truly one of my favorite activities?)
• having a leisurely breakfast, either at home or at a diner
• doing a little bit of baking in the morning- in this case a pie crust which I popped in the fridge to chill during the course of the day
• stopping in for a fruit smoothie at a favorite local place
• on the way to....attending a matinee of a new show at a local theater
• and then spending the evening sipping wine with a couple friends, nibbling on cheese, and baking off a few tarts

Doesn't that sound perfect? OK, I understand that not everyone has the same love I do for organizing, or waking up early, or even making pie crusts. But to me? Bliss.

And what was that baking that I did?

Oatmeal cookies for my mom

Mother's day was this weekend, and so I surprised my mother with one of her favorite things: Oatmeal cookies. I have my own personal favorite oatmeal cookies posted on this blog already, crispy with orange zest and cranberries, but I wanted to make her a more traditional soft, chewy oatmeal raisin cookie.

I am so lucky to have my mother in my life, she is the most supportive and generous person, not only is she always there for me and my sister at a moments notice, she is emotionally supportive to so many family members and friends. I think she is the kind of person that people think of when they just need someone to talk to, and she has close, nurturing relationships with so many people it is astonishing.

She has also taught me my entire life that it is more than OK to march to your own drummer, follow your passions, and not let anyone make you feel unimportant or wrong for being yourself. She is such a passionate person, and when she likes something she REALLY LIKES IT and is not afraid to let it show. Just ask her about the lengths she has gone to for her favorite hobby, standing in the pit at Bruce Springsteen concerts every time he tours- She has traveled to other states to see him, and stood outside all day in the winter to get those prime GA spots.

As I get older, I notice how nice it is to get to know your parents in a more grown up way, and it has been fun talking to her about when she was in her mid twenties and had just moved to Boston, I can tell so many ways we are so alike, and some ways we are different, but the coolest part is I can tell that if I met her 24 year old self, we would probably be friends.

As an odd coincidence, the apartment I am in now (which I found and moved to while my parents were out of the country) turns out to be just 2 blocks from her first apartment in Boston. She moved here for library school, right around my age, and found a roommate in the classifieds in a local paper. I moved back to the Boston area from the Berkshires two years ago, found my place and roommates on Craigslist, and now that I am going back to school I have even been considering programs at her old school. I currently am studying her undergrad major, too.

I love you Mom, thanks for being so awesome. You deserve lots of oatmeal cookies!

Chewy Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies
From Baking Illustrated

I stuck to the exact directions here, didn't change anything (except some comments I'm sure you'll spot), as I know that the cook's illustrated people put in much more thought and science than I do (though I did make the cookies smaller rather than larger, so I could feel better about eating several...I adjusted the cooking time accordingly). I ended up wishing I had smushed the cookies a little flatter, but other than that was quite happy with them. The fresh nutmeg is really what makes them fantastic. In the strange way in which the Stop & Shop near my house always runs out of really normal items, I could not find a single bag of raisins on my trip there, and so used dried cherries. What's up with the out of stock raisins, S&S? Also, that time I went to you for red onions, tangerines and and boneless chicken thighs and you were out of all them was way uncool, too.

These are particularly good warmed up a bit before you eat them, even just 15 seconds in the microwave- you won't regret it. Maybe served warm and with a small scoop of french vanilla ice cream?

On with the recipe...

Yield: 18 cookies
1½ cups (7½ ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
½ teaspoon salt
16 Tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened but still cool
1 cup packed (7 ounces) light brown sugar
1 cup (7 ounces) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1½ cups raisins

1. Adjust the oven racks to the low and middle positions and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or spray them with nonstick cooking spray. ( I actually just used a silcone mat and called it a day)

2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, nutmeg, and salt together in a medium bowl.

3. Either by hand or with an electric mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy. Add the sugars; beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs, 1 at a time.

4. Stir the dry ingredients into the butter-sugar mixture with a wooden spoon or large rubber spatula. Stir in the oats and raisins. Find excuses to have to eat a lot of the raw batter.

5. Working with a generous 2 Tablespoons of dough each time, roll the dough into 2-inch balls. Place the balls on the prepared baking sheets, spacing them at least 2 inches apart.

6. Bake until the cookie edges turn golden brown, 22 to 25 minutes, rotating the baking sheets front to back and top to bottom halfway through the baking time. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 2 minutes. Transfer the cookies with a wide metal spatula to a wire rack. Let cool at least 30 minutes.

Recipe Round Up- My Top 3 Cookie Recipes

So I let my 1 year bloggiversary pass right by. I first started this blog on March 30th, 2010, after a rather drunken discussion with a couple of my roommates over my secret aspiration to be really cool like all those food bloggers whose posts I followed. That particular night I cooked up some steak topped with shallot red wine sauce. That particular sauce, made by caramelizing the shallots in butter, adding red wine, a touch of balsamico and a pinch of brown sugar then reducing to perfection, is actually the base behind my recent onion tart. So, that is kind of symmetrical in a nice way, isn't it? I will be posting that tart soon, I swear.

In the meantime, to mark the end of my 1st year of food blogging (and the start of my second!), I thought I would revisit some more favorites, like I did in this post.

But this time, I am going to look at my favorite recipes in specific categories.

My Top 3...

Cookie recipes:

1. Classic Crinkle Cookies-
these have become my go to chocolate cookie! I made a giant batch at thanksgiving and they worked out great. I made the batter at home, froze it overnight, and then brought it in a little cooler to new jersey for my family's thanksgiving celebration. By the time we got there it had thawed enough, and I was able to roll them in confectioners sugar and bake them off. They were rich, chocolaty, and delicious, garnering lots of compliments, and they were an especially good choice for a large event because they are dairy free.

2. Crispy Oatmeal Cookies with Orange Zest and Cranberries (otherwise known as the best oatmeal cookies)-  The bright citrus-y orange zest really shines through in these crispy, just sweet enough oatmeal cookies. I have made them both with butter and margarine, and this is one cookie I am actually perfectly happy with subbing out all the dairy. One batch makes a lot of cookies (up to 48) but trust me, you'll be glad you made that many!

3. Seedy Snow-day Cookies
Luckily it's actually a pretty nice day today around here- cloudy, but mild enough (52 degrees currently) so I don't have to worry about snow. It sure puts things in perspective to remember back to all the snow days this winter- this morning I was standing at the T station shivering- but at least it wasn't snowing!
I made these when I was snowed in, and they were quick and easy, and I loved the sweet, delicate flavor. Poppy and sesame seeds add an unexpected twist to a basic butter-y cookie.

Do you have any all time favorite cookie recipes? I'll be back soon with some more categories of favorites!

Red Wine + Cake + Red Wine

Some of you may have noticed I went a bit awol this week, even after teasing to post recipes for both Brown Butter and Sage Mashed Potatoes with Sharp Cheddar and a really yummy citrus-y beet salad. Those are still to come, up until now I had no time!

And why did I have no time? Because I decided, with only a week before the application deadline, that I would really like to go back to college. I may have mentioned on here before that I am taking a course in the mornings before work at a local community college, and originally it was my plan to keep at it that way for a few more semesters before applying to a university. Well, I got a sudden idea in my head that I don't want to wait! I want to start asap. I will still have to find a way to balance work, but I think some big changes could be in store for me come september.

Anyway, all of this is to say that I spent the last several days writing a college essay, and calling the admissions office over and over to discuss transfer credits, and tracking down someone to write a recommendation letter, and discovering that my SAT scores have expired.

It has been a whirlwind few days. Especially with my class back in session now after break, and my job really picking up with the spring market. And by the end of a couple days like that all I really want is a little red wine. And some chocolate cake. And some more red wine, which happens to be baked into the cake. Yes.

You can find the cake recipe right here it's an absolute winner, so simple to make, and really moist and delicious. I think this will be my new go to chocolate cake recipe. The ingredients are so simple! I was concerned with only unsweetened cocoa called for that it would not be chocolaty enough, but it really surprised me!

Lemon Buttermilk Pudding Cake

Lemon. Buttermilk. Pudding. Cake. Yes, really. To me every single word of that is so right. It sort of makes me drool. Of course I love lemon. And buttermilk makes me think of perfectly sour sweet pancakes and waffles drizzled in syrup. And if I don't have to decide between pudding and cake, well, perfect, I don't want to.

A texture halfway between mousse and lemon pie filling, served chilled and topped with blackberry sauce, this dessert was bright, fresh tasting and a perfect spot of sunshine in the seemingly eternal darkness that is the month of February. I sat, I lifted each bite slowly. I didn't multitask with my computer or a text book at my side, I had no pressing thoughts on my mind. I sat and let myself be entranced by sweet and tart lemon and blackberry.

Brie Pastry Squares

I made these brie pastry squares to bring to a friend's the night of the Superbowl. Then I felt too tired to go (you know you can't be well when your body tells you 5pm is bedtime...) so I ended up eating most of these myself, while not watching the superbowl. It was weird. But, they are yummy and buttery and crisp and don't require silverware or proper manners, and are also super easy to make. Maybe you want to make them as an appetizer at your next dinner party? I imagine they are great for snacking on while milling around and socializing with a glass or two of wine. I can say from experience that they also are great for eating in your pajamas at 6pm alone in the house, in  place of a real dinner.


The process was easy as pie (er, easy as baked brie):

4 ingredients:
frozen (defrosted) phyllo dough or puff pastry (I used Trader joe's All-butter artisan puff pastry)
brie cheese
jam/jelly
1 egg, beaten and applied as a wash

Spread out your sheet of phyllo dough and paint on the egg wash with a pastry brush. Slice the brie (which I bought in a roll instead of a wedge or wheel) into even slices.

Arrange the slices of brie on the dough, and top with jam of your choice. I used apricot jam which I infused with brandy for extra interest. I think fig jam, or spicy/sweet pepper jelly would also be great options.

I originally imagined these not as square but as purses of  phyllo dough filled with melty brie and sticky fruit jam. Kind of like that yummy baked brie at holiday parties, but with no need for crackers or bread to scoop it up with. I folded my adorable little purses, washed the top with egg, and put them in the oven.

sadly when they came out they had un-pursed themselves, and were more like brie-pastry boats... I tried to seal the edges with egg wash and squeeze together, but somehow it just didn't work out. I think I probably just cut the dough too small to seal tightly on top.

While I thought these weren't as cute as purses I actually still thought they looked kind of nice. I ate one though while pondering how to fix the design and discovered that the pastry-brie ratio was off, and mostly you just tasted pastry. I decided to make the next ones with less dough, cutting it only a bit larger than the brie circles

Back into the oven (on a parchment lined baking pan, oven preheated to 400, for 6-12 minutes, or as directed by the instructions that came with your specific dough packaging.) When they come out the pastry is flaky and golden, and the cheese and jam are bubbly.

Sure wish I had a better picture of the finished product! It had gotten dark by the time I finished up, refer to the earlier "boats" to see how delicious and melty these would look in better light. :)

Seed-y Snow Day Cookies

These cookies are the right kind of seedy. They won't approach you in a dark alley, or make you question your safety, they will only fill you up with sweet nutty toasted seed goodness. They may also cause a drug test to reflect positive for opiates, but whatever.

Lemon Poppyseed Cake

I own 2 Best of Gourmet cookbooks (1989 and 1996 I believe, thrifted), but until this week I had never actually made something from either of them. I guess I was a tiny bit intimidated. But I offered to bring dessert for Christmas Eve dinner (as well as a soup for Christmas night) and I wanted something lighter and a bit less sweet and rich to balance out all of the chocolates and cookies and goodies that we all seem to stuff ourselves with this time of year. Don't worry, I also made my favorite uber-rich chocolate fudge tart and even added a 1/2 tsp of orange extract to give it the chocolate/orange flavor combination I loved without the orange infused whipped cream.

I decided to make the Lemon Poppyseed Cake with Fruit Compote recipe from Gourmet. First I should say this: I was mildly disappointed by the cake, not the flavors, but the texture. It came out a bit too dry and crumbly. I was unsure whether I had perhaps overcooked it, or if the recipe was at fault. That being said, people seemed to enjoy it, especially served with the fruit compote, which lends it some extra moisture. I choose to make some lemon glaze to the top off the cake, which I think was also a good addition, lemon juice and zest gave it added interest and brightness, and made the top shiny and nice. I am open to suggestions if anyone has made a lemon poppy seed cake that turned out a bit moister, perhaps I will revisit this later with a similar recipe if I find something better. I quite enjoyed the delicate flavor though, and the compote was a nice addition to both the cake and the chocolate tart.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

A good friend came to me recently, after we had struggled to find time to spend together, and asked if our next get together could involve baking something for her mother. She had joined me last when I painted the chevron pattern in the kitchen, featured earlier this month, and while we worked we had been snacking on some pumpkin-chocolate chip cupcakes which we both enjoyed. We discussed, and decided to make something similar for her mother. We ended up making chocolate chip pumpkin bread, 2 loaves so my roommates and I got to enjoy the other. I dug up a basic pumpkin quick bread recipe in my trusty Betty Crocker Baking book, and all we changed was the spices, and adding the chips.

The Best Oatmeal Cookies

These are THE BEST oatmeal cookies. Don't believe me? Ask my mom. That's right. She said so. But also, I say so, and a bunch of other people who tried these cookies seemed to agree. Also, they have cranberries. Who could turn down cranberries? They are such a pretty color, and add such a sweet-tart element that plays off the subtle fresh taste of the orange zest in the batter. Try these, they are just what you need right now. Really, I think you need a cookie. You're so thin! You look famished! (By the way, how have you all enjoyed your various events and family time over thanksgiving? Do I sound like anyone's grandma yet? Maybe an aunt?)

But truly, you deserve a cookie. Not crazy about cranberries? Change em out. Go traditional with raisins, shake things up with dried cherries, appease your sweet tooth with dark chocolate chips (orange and chocolate are a great pair!) go nuts (add nuts!).

This recipe works surprisingly well substituting margarine in place of the butter originally in the recipe, I used earth balance, and I swear you can't tell (I really mean it, and I am somewhat of a snob about baking with butter).

Ok, enough chitchat, go make these cookies. Then bring me a couple at my office; I could really use a cookie like this right about now.

Apple Tarte Tatin + The Pixies "Wave of Mutilation"

The last time it was this Cherry & Blueberry Tart and The Clash's "London Calling".  This time? Apple Tarte Tatin and The Pixies' "Wave of Mutilation". It seems I have found a formula that works for salvaging whatever bad mood may hit.


Apple Tarte Tatin, a classic french dessert with apples, caramelized sugar and a flaky crust, falls nicely into my recent category of culinary fascination: butter heavy french dishes. Also, it really isn't fall without some baked apple desserts, right? Besides requiring a careful watch, and sometimes nearly 3 hours of time from initial prep to final presentation, this is a very simple and easy dish to make. The key is allowing the sugar and liquid to cook down enough to reach a caramelized stage, without loosing track and allowing it to burn to the bottom of the pan.

Chocolate Truffles

First off I have to say that this may be the world's messiest dessert. Well, maybe not, but it is right up there. And I suppose it is really only the making of it that is messy, eating them carries far less risk of making a mess of yourself than, say, eating ice cream from a cone on a hot day.

There was something cathartic about the messiness of the process though. Something calming that reminded me of my childhood fascination with mud balls. And mud pies. And digging in mud. and really anything that involved mud.

Case in point:

Here I am at approximately 10 years old at a family reunion in Big River, CA with my cousin Cameron. Notice how muddy my hands are, and the fine display of mud balls we are proudly showcasing for the camera. Also notice that I seem to be wearing purple pants. That is unrelated, I just thought it was worth noticing. I suppose it should be no surprise that I found it very soothing and familiar when the process of shaping these truffles on a warm fall day turned out like this:

Awesome

Here is a list of a few things commonly known to be awesome.*

•  Dinosaurs
• Kalamata olives
• cookies
• drawing with crayons

 Well, what if one person could combine those awesome things, to make one, entirely awesome something? Perhaps the result would be so awesome, it would grant the creator the power to take over the world. Well my 2 or 3 readers, I am happy to tell you I have created just that. Only I actually have no interest in taking over the world, so instead I will share the secrets with you, and perhaps one of you will recreate such a thing and be able to harness its power.

Kalamata olive cookies, dinosaur cookie cutters, and a gorgeous crayon drawn landscape. Yes, I said gorgeous. What? you're not impressed? Also, I think it is important to say here, that while a cookies with olives in them probably sound a bit strange, everyone I have forced these on (some people take some convincing) seemed to like them quite a bit. They are sweet and buttery, with just a hint of briney salty olive flavor. Also, they are shaped like dinosaurs, and nearly as fun to play with as they are to eat. I ate the pterodactyl first, mmmmm.



The cookie recipe (which I really do suggest!) was recently posted by Heidi over at 101 Cookbooks. Go check out the post, she used tiny little scalloped cookie cuters and her tiny, adorable cookies are just too cute for words. But they would look quite out of place in my little prehistoric backdrop.

*OK, maybe this isn't all that commonly known.

Peanut Butter Flax Seed Cookies

I noticed a product at Trader Joe's recently which intrigued me: natural peanut butter with flax seeds. I started wondering what peanut butter cookies baked with this product would be like. High in omega 3s, for one thing, and doesn't everyone need more of that? Studies have suggested that Omega 3 may do everything from prevent cancer to improve mood and lessen depression. Who wouldn't want all that? And in the form a crunchy little peanut butter cookie?  Also, these cookies are gluten free, so hey, you can even make them for your gluten intolerant friends you never know what to bake for...unless of course they are also allergic to peanuts.

I-Love-Lemon Bars

I love lemon. On chicken, on fish, on greens, on pasta, in tea, IN DESSERTS, it just seems you can't go wrong. And lemon bars, rich and creamy, lemony (which may sound redundant, but such genuine lemon flavor is not always present in lemon desserts), not-too-sweet, refreshing served chilled, surprisingly good served slightly warm, seem like the perfect summer-y dessert. Also, their lemon-custard like filling is reminiscent of my great aunt Lossy's lemon pie.

I brought these to an outdoor movie event in a park near my apartment. They were a great snack to pass around and share.

Cherry Blueberry Tart - And How To Salavage A Bad Day

I made this tart with the 4th of July in mind- red cherries, blueberries, and pastry cream seemed like a pretty patriotic combination (though I will admit, the egg yolks, vanilla and liqueur in the pastry cream turned it a bit yellowy/tan rather than white) and since I have been trying to make desserts inspired by holidays this year (my green st. patty's day cake was a hit) I decided to make this to continue the theme.

As it happens, the day I made this was shaping up to be JUST NOT A VERY GOOD DAY. Things were not going my way, and I felt angry and hurt by a series of events that morning. I was hesitant to start a project while feeling that way, worried that I would not be able to concentrate and put my best effort in. After some convincing from my favorite (and only) sister, I ended up discovering that making this tart was in fact just what my day needed. I turned on London Calling (which makes for great "I'm angry and I'm gonna bake things!" music), threw on my apron, and sang along while I worked. And I may have danced a bit. I am sure I looked like a fool, but by the time the tart was done, not only did I have a delicious dessert to show for it, my bad mood had been magically repaired. And I knew how to make pastry cream.