Play dough!

I've been trying for a very very long time to figure out how to turn out a good loaf with varying results. I think I've finally stumbled upon one that will become my go-to recipe...want to see how things turn out once they are baked? Look over here!

mmm Cake.

After suffering a week long craving for Tres Leches cake and not having any luck finding any single serving pieces anywhere locally (I admit to not calling mexican restaurants and asking after carryout), I finally gave up and just baked one myself.

After referencing various online recipes, I wound up going with the recipe from the Pioneer Woman. The only difference is that I didn't bother to transfer the cake to a platter before dousing it with the milky mixture....and I reserved the excess milky goodness 1) to use in my coffee and 2) to re-moisten the cake if there were any drier bits found during the course of eating.

It was delicious. The only bits to stay focused on are: 1) don't over-whip your egg whites 2) don't overbake your cake and 3) make sure to be liberal with the stabbing of the cake - it helps the sweet milky mix find its way inside :)

the Spice of Life

Salt. I don't know about you, but I find the varieties of salt intriguing. I also find its history to be rather interesting too. If you're interested in learning more about how salt has shaped the world, I recommend reading Salt: A World History.

I'm one lucky girl, because a good friend of mine correctly figured that I'd find this small collection of finishing salts fascinating. A couple of them are more common or standard - including:
Fleur de sel de guerande - a fine sea salt that hails from the south of France
Sel Gris de l'ile de noirmoutier - a coarse sea salt, also from France - the color comes from the grey clay saltpan that the seawater evaporates in for harvest.
Maldon - white sea salt with large thin crystalline flakes - this salt is evaporated in England's Blackwater estuary in stainless steel saltpans that are mounted over an intricate set of brickwork that is used to control the evaporation rate, encouraging the formation of the large flaky crystals.

More exotic are the following beauties:

Alaea Volcanic - this coarse salt gets its beautiful color from the red hawaiian clay that is introduced during the harvesting of this seasalt.

Turkish Black pyramid - this salt is combined with activated charcoal to obtain its color - this salt is incredibly crunchy - and I can't get over the wonderful crystal structure that it displays.

Kauai Guava Smoked - this hawaiian salt is hand harvested on molokai and kauai. After evaporation by sun and wind, the salt is ground and hand smoked using wild guava wood. The smokiness in this salt is simply incredible.

If you'd like to try some finishing salts, this set came from the Meadow in Portland - they also have chocolate...and wine...and flowers. The next time I'm up in that area of the country, I'm definitely going to have to check it out in person.

Bounty

mmm. Glorious reds and orange. I don't know what it is with that color family, but it has me seriously entranced right now.

In addition to wandering the town, having adventures by subway, watching musicals and baseball games, I had to get in my fix for the farmers market. In all fairness, there are markets where I live, they just aren't anywhere near as sizeable as those in other areas of the country. The Union Square Market apparently runs Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. It's a mix of food, flora and crafts - I, of course, focused on the food. All the stuff I had the fortune to try was delicious.

But not only were they good for eating, they were wonderful on the eye also :) Since we're moving on towards the winter, the root vegetables were out in force. I can tell you the various fingerling potato varieties were delicious (but they don't seem to photograph real well).

In addition to your regular standard-issue orange carrot, there were these beautiful yellow and red/purple varieties. I was tempted to bring some home on the plane, but my luggage was already quite full...and I wasn't sure how I'd be received trying to clear security with a couple bunches of carrots as my "personal item".

They also had these gorgeous cauliflowers though why the purples wound up so much more monstrous in size than the orange, I'm not so sure. There were also some white cauliflower, of course.

And finally, some more fall blooms. It sure was nice to visit the City!

Inspiration Found.

Sometimes, I lose my kitchen mojo. Okay, of late, it seems to happen a lot - I blame it on the ambient oven-like temperatures down here in the desert southwest. Sometimes I get over my slump by flipping through my piles of cookbooks - other times, I get ideas from my blogroll (though in all fairness, not all are listed because I've forsaken bloglines for google reader). Still other times I resort to PBS (generally on the weekend, and only because I do not have Food Network). When all else fails, my friends usually help me out by pointing me in a direction.

A recent suggestion was to head over to the Pioneer Woman blog and check out her kitchen experiments - and more specifically the recipe for this salad - it suited my mood perfectly - fresh, chock full of veggies - and no cook! I happened to have some leftover roast chicken in the fridge that shredded up nicely and went right in. I will warn you though - this makes a LOT of salad - so if you're not feeding a small army, nor are you prepared to be eating this for the next week, I recommend scaling it down some.

Go have a look at Ree's blog - it's beautifully done - all of it - not just the part about the cooking though all those photos in the cooking section seem to always make me hungry!

Speaking of Preserves...

Seems like a whole host of folk that I follow in blogland and Flickr are talking about their gardens - so far, I have not been brave enough to try to put in a raised bed garden in my back yard - the yard is quite small, and currently landscaped liberally with cactus. Also, having grown up in the northern Midwest, I can't seem to wrap my brain around the growing season down here in the desert. For those that don't have gardens, I've been enjoying hearing about their local farmers markets as well.

The abundance of produce, inspiration from others has made me more intrigued by preserving foods - the only method that I have tried my hand at is dehydration (mostly due to the hiking and backpacking activities - though I have to admit to really enjoying the convenience of prepackaged freeze-dried meals).

Well-Preserved appears to be a nice introductory book in trying one's hand in small-batch preserving. The book touches on several varieties of preserving fresh foods including canning, pickling, freezing, preserving in oil and curing/smoking. The book is further broken into sections for fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts and fungi, and meat, poultry and fish (the last six being grouped together into two separate groups of three).

Within each of the chapters are several recipes, followed by three recipes in which to use to the master recipe as an ingredient. In most cases, the putups for the master recipes range from 3-4 pints once prepared. While not all of the recipes include a photo, the photos that are present are beautifully done and certainly make me want to give several of the recipes a try...perhaps I should join the local CSA after all!

What to do...

When berry season arrives and you can't seem to stop yourself from buying more berries than you could possibly consume before they go past their peak?

Well...you could bake a delicious cake layered with berries...

or you could try your hand at preserve making :) read on for the recipe. I can tell you that this tastes absolutely fantastic served warm over dark chocolate mousse cake and vanilla ice cream...just sayin'

On Brunch and Burgers

Mmmm. Brunch and burgers, not together of course, but both things I enjoy :)  I think both chefs got it right in their respective books:

There is just something to be said for a weekend brunch, whether it's just you and your family, or with additional guests for weekend entertaining.  I have good memories of brunching while growing up, and now that I've a home of my own, it's a nice break from my weekday routine.

Gale Gand's Brunch! is a great compilation of fantastic things to prepare for brunch, or even for other meals (who says you can't have breakfast all day?) - the book is laden with gorgeous photography, and each recipe has a nice introduction.  Split into multiple chapters, each focusing on different aspects of brunch such as: drinks, basics, more eggs, pancakes, waffles, french toast and other sweets, bakery items, brunch bits, savories and sides, salads and soups, and finally fruits and condiments - the book includes a total of 100 recipes.  The back of the book also includes some menu plan suggestions, in case you need some assistance in making selections.  In case you're wondering, the basics section features old standards such as omelets, strata, fritattas, quiche and crepes - each with a number of variations listed.  The "more eggs" section features some other egg preparations including the stunner on the cover - baked eggs in ham cups.  The "bakery" section includes both sweet and savory preparations (heavier on the sweet than the savory, but all look delicious) including scones, pretzels, muffins, coffeecake, turnovers, tarts and doughnuts.  I'm looking forward to digging into this book the next lazy weekend I've got at home :)

Now then....onto Burgers.

While I am trying to cut down on the general meat intake, and red meat in particular, there are times when I crave a nice big steak - or more simply, a really good hamburger.

Bobby Flay's Burgers, Fries, and Shakes is a cookbook based on the chef's restaurant Bobby's Burger Palace.  At home, I tend to go for plain old cheeseburgers, but sometimes have a craving for something a little "more" - and this cookbook has plenty of variations to choose from, each beautifully photographed.  33 mouth-watering burger variations (in all fairness, there are a few that are fish-burgers and one turkey burger), 10 sides (regular fries, plaintain fries, sweet potato fries, potato chips and onion rings) and a slew of milkshakes.  If you're curious for what you might be in for, you can sneak a peek over on the Amazon listing where you'll find the recipe for the Miami burger and Sweet Potato fries posted.

Practicing 'Wichcraft

Throughout the year and especially during the warmer months, it seems I turn to sandwiches. Of late, I've been enamored especially of the breakfast sandwiches at Bertha's Cafe - but Bertha's is a ways away, and they will be moving at the end of this month (and will be closed while they renovate their new space). I was really excited to check this new book - 'wichcraft - out. Both beautiful and a fun read, the book doesn't disappoint. The table of contents features large thumbnails of the detailed sandwich photos throughout the book - it's like a menu of sorts!


I've never had the pleasure of visiting any of the 'wichcraft restaurants, but I certainly look forward to doing so the next time I happen to find myself in proximity to one. In the meantime, I'll satisfy myself by taking some inspiration from the cookbook. 'wichcraft is broken down into several sections including breakfast sandwiches, cool sandwiches, warm sandwiches and sweet (think dessert) sandwiches. There's also a section in the back with recipes for "pantry" items like dressing, sauces and condiments for the sandwiches included in this book. I'll admit, while some of these sandwiches are not anything I would have ever thought of conjuring (boucheron with grapefruit and crispy olives or raw yellow beets with avocado, grapefruit and radish sprouts) - their description and photographs sure make my mouth water. I'm looking forward to giving a bunch of these sandwiches a try over the next few months!

Just a bite...

In my continued quest for a delicious cupcake, this weekend I stumbled across these at a small cafe in Phoenix - Bertha's Cafe - each one of these adorable mini Red Velvet cupcakes is a large bite - the papers remind me of the peanut butter cup papers for those pb cups you can get at Trader Joes. This trio is sitting on a small dessert sized styrofoam plate, in case you're having a hard time figuring out their size.

Delicious, the frosting was very rich (and there was a bit much of it - I'm one that prefers a more sparsely frosted cupcake), and the cake was tasty and moist. This one wee cupcake was just enough to satisfy. Thanks much to Mel's Chris who bought the lot for the table to share :)

I should say the food at Bertha's is also very tasty :) I had the Asparagus, Havarti, Pesto Chicken Panini and it was fantastic.

You know it's the holidays when...

...the Almond Snowmen Cookies make an appearance at the local Trader Joes!

Yes, I am fully aware that I could bake my own randomly shaped almond shortbread cookies (and I have, too!) but it's so much easier to just get them from Trader Joes. They're just about as good as home made...and so addictive, what with the sparkly and satisfyingly crunchy dusting of sugar on them....

And just in case you're wondering how I eat them? Why head first of course...


...the same way I eat gummy bears. You have to put the poor things out of their misery quickly you know.

Do your Duty....

If you are a US Citizen and have not yet submitted your ballot, do your homework, get on out there and vote! If you found yourself in a long long line at the polling place today, consider getting onto the early voting list, or the vote at home list - or whatever alternate your state may offer. I voted from home for this election, and found it convenient and conducive to taking the time to do my research on various ballot measures and propositions.

After today, I'm sure the candidates might need to hoist a drink - either in celebration or condolence, the following book may be useful (and a good one to keep in mind for entertaining this holiday season too!):



The Essential Cocktail: The Art of Mixing Perfect Drinks is a fantastic book - especially if you are an aspiring mixologist. The book is well put together with approximately 100 "essential" drinks (plus variations) - each drink recipe includes a stunning photo of the finished cocktail in addition to a brief history on the drinks creation. The book is broken down into nine sections for the drink recipes and also includes a few appendices to address basic recipes (basic syrups), garnishes, and glassware/tools. The Drink Sections include: the Classics (prohibition era drinks), the Modern Classics (cocktails born post prohibition) , Martinis, Sours, Highballs, Tropicals, Punches, Sweets and Innovations (did you know there is a cocktail out there that uses avocado as an ingredient?!).

Simply reading the book has proven entertaining, and has brought back memories of playing at tending bar way way way back when! Coincidentally, the book has a recipe for from-scratch eggnog that I may just have to try this holiday season, especially since I generally object to most of the commercially available eggnogs, what with their strange thickeners and liberal use of corn syrup! I've also discovered that I apparently like Bloody Caesars (though I don't object to a simple straight up Bloody Mary).

Interlude with a Cupcake....

I finally had a chance to taste a cupcake from Sprinkles...it was quite tasty - I haven't had a chance to do a side by side with Melati's Sugar Blossom Cupcakes, but they are both tasty, and are apparently both in Scottsdale!

mmm....Cookies!

I always love a good cookie - sometimes I prefer fancier cookies, sometimes I just want the quick convenience of a drop cookie - especially if I can make up a whole batch, portion out the dough and freeze them for fresh baking at a later date :) I always appreciate a cookie fresh from the oven, chased down with a nice cup of coffee or a cold cup of milk. Yum.


Of course, with my fixation on cookbooks, it is fair to admit that I have a whole shelf dedicated to cookbooks that focus primarily on desserts - cookies, pastries, cakes and ice cream - if its for dessert, its probably safe to say I can likely find a recipe for it in my cookbook collection - if not for the exact item, probably for something that can be adapted to suit.

Not long ago, I received a review copy of Martha Stewart's Cookies: The Very Best Treats to Bake and to Share - now, I have to admit that I don't subscribe to any of the myriad of Martha's publications, nor do I frequent the Martha Stewart website (I seem to prefer Food Network, Cooking Light or America's Test Kitchen) - with that said, several other individuals have pointed out that if you are a big fan of Martha's, this book may not have a whole lot of new recipes to offer you.

For me, the book was a pleasure to look at - 175 recipes, broken down by texture. The table of contents was unique in that it shows a small full color image of the finished cookie to aid the browsing :) Each recipe also includes a large beautifully photographed image of the finished cookie, so you know what you're aiming for when you start. While several of the recipes appear to be old favorites (meringues, snickerdoodles, macaroons, cocoa crackles, chocolate chip, classic shortbread, thumbprints, rugelach, and peanut butter, to name a few) there are still plenty to investigate and bake. My sister-in-law actually baked me up a bunch of the Lime Meltaways for Christmas last year - and I have to admit they disappeared quickly!

In addition to the wonderful recipes and photographs, the book also has a small section at the end that focuses on tools and techniques - providing tips on making, portioning, shaping and decorating the cookies...and finally, there is a great section on packaging your freshly baked treats for gifting. Once the weather cools down again, I'll hopefully start baking again :) (with temps starting to head into the upper 90s and with the 100+ temps to come, I can't bear thinking about turning on the oven!) Maybe I need to learn more about solar baking ;)

Anyhow, if you're looking for a good, well rounded cookie book, this one looks to be a good fit!

No Epiphany Needed

I have always been a fan of Chocolate - so imagine my delight when offered this stunning book for review!

Chocolate Epiphany most certainly does not disappoint. The book is heavy, featuring stunning photographs and wonderful recipes all featuring Chocolate. Written by Francis Payard of Payard Patisserie and Bistro, this book is gorgeous and full of wonderful things - I spent days gazing at the photos and reading through the recipes.

Chocolate Epiphany is broken down into several sections, starting out with what Chef Payard looks for in Chocolate as well as some tips on working with the wonderful stuff. The book then progresses into the recipes - broken into sections: Breads and Brunch Dishes, Cookies and Petits Fours, Candies and Chocolates, Custards, Mousses, Meringues and Ice Cream, Tarts, Cakes and Plated Desserts. Finally, it winds down and finishes with basics on handling and tempering chocolate and creating chocolate decorations.

While the subtitle to this book is Exceptional Cookies, Cakes and Confections for Everyone - I feel I should make you aware that quite a number of the items in the book are not your every day simple desserts - they will take time to prepare, and you may need to learn some new techniques - I would expect no less, given the who the author is. Also, if you are baking for someone with a nut allergy - you will want to steer clear of quite a number of recipes in this book - almonds, hazelnuts, pecans, pistachios and walnuts all make an appearance in various recipes in this book. Finally, if you have a corn allergy, or an aversion to corn syrup, you will need to make some modifications - especially to the recipes in the candies section.

While I would have loved to make a slew of these recipes, I simply have not yet had the time or the occasion - though I did take the opportunity to try my hand at one of the candy recipes. Click onward to view the experiment (as usual, I didn't follow the recipe exactly, but used it as a starting point to create something of my own).

Incidentally, with chocolate and caramel on the brain, I finally restocked the shop's stock of Caramel Mocha spinning batts :)

Who wouldn't like...

Little Cakes, or Swift Knits?! I'm a sucker for both :)

As I mentioned recently, there was a time when I actually entertained the thought of doing some pastry cheffing, and around the holidays, I usually am looking forward to fancy sugar cookies and the decorating of said sugar cookies. This book, Little Cakes from the Whimsical Bakehouse is a treat to look at. I am especially enamored of the various flower cupcakes...and I really like the looks of the Caramel Popcorn Cupcakes (scroll down for recipe, or read the whole interview!)

The book starts out with basic information including tools of the trade, baking tips and notes on ingredients. It also has basic information on frosting and decoration - my favorite part of these little treats! There's even a color mixing chart - that I might find cross functional use for for some of my colorways :D

For recipes, we start with the frostings, then head into the muffins and mini-coffee cakes, special occasion cakes (mmm strawberry shortcake and mini cheesecakes...not to mention the devil dog and twinkie-alikes...) and then we have the cupcakes - I'm extra happy to see a recipe for red velvet...course, I'm not sure I could bet Melati's Red Velvets...

As an extra sweet treat, the publisher is allowing me to offer up a copy of this lovely book to my readers...if you're interested, send me an email (woodlandsprite at gmail dot com) and I'll use the trusty random number generator to select the lucky winner at the end of next week.

Now then, in addition to small cakes, I also appreciate a nice quick knit. That's where Twinkle's Weekend Knits comes into play with 20 patterns to choose from, each knit (mostly) from fast knitting bulky weight yarn. The projects range from the expected scarves and hats, in addition to some wonderful sweaters and other accessories. Photos for this book are lovely, and right up front in the book, on glossy paper - the patterns are referenced clearly and are presented in the back of the book on matte paper. The patterns themselves appear to be well written, though it should be noted that most of the sweaters assume you're comfortable wearing knits with negative ease. I've got some bulky yarn in my stash that I've been trying to figure out what to do with - and I'm especially interested in some of the sweater designs :)

If the thought of working with bulky yarn wigs you out now that we are hopefully moving into the spring, don't forget about that scarf book I reviewed not too long ago - it's now available and has projects perfect for the warming weather!

Let me eat cake.

Still recovering from the Half :) and still awaiting photos - almost as good as happy running photos is a photo of cake...

Red Velvet - my current favorite and fascination, even though I've never baked one myself - this slice came from AJ's Fine Foods - quite tasty, but not as tasty as Melati's Red Velvet Cupcakes...her website isn't open for business yet, but she has been taking and baking orders - if you're local, you can inquire about her fantastic cupcakes by emailing her!

Knitting is photoless - but progressing - I've cast on for some rather fancy socks called Scherherazade's Slippers - I'll be trying to modify them a little as I go to accommodate my curvy calves - possibly making them one repeat longer to get up up over my calf and to my knees - we'll see if the yarn holds out :)

The firestarters and I are back at the beginning of the gussets - I'll be back to where I was pre-frogging in no time. In an attempt to eliminate bagginess through the instep, I shall be adding some ribbing in the sole.

In other news, a big box of yarn arrived - and is being prepped for photographing. I'll be having Malabrigo Silky in the shop soon!

A quick flash back

One last finished object in 2007 - I did finally finish the Urban Homesteader hat. the summary and details are over here. I knit on it for a day, and was seaming buttons and doing the finished edging that evening. I've already worn it - in the house no less. Apparently once I get cold, I have a really hard time getting warm again, even if the heat is on. No amount of warm fluids was doing the trick, and I didn't want to waste electricity bringing the temps inside the house into the "tropical" range....so on went the hat :D

And since we're light on the content, how about something good to eat? Sorry, no photos - I always seem to forget to take photos when I'm taking dinner...

I had Zucchini Carbonara for dinner last night - very tasty - and easy to make too! Recipe essentially from Mark Bittman's The Minimalist Cooks at Home. Basically, boil up some pasta...while the pot for the pasta is getting going, slice up several zucchinis about 1/4 inch thick, saute them in olive oil and season to taste (I also added some minced garlic, and seasoned simply with salt and pepper). Mix 2 eggs + 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese. When the pasta is done, quickly drain it (don't rinse!) and add it to the zucchini - quickly pour on the egg & cheese mixture and toss - the heat from the pasta should do the cooking, though if it isn't hot enough, you can do this in your pot over low heat, be careful to not let the pot get too hot or you're going to have scrambled eggs and pasta. Adjust your seasonings, serve with a drizzle of olive oil and more freshly grated cheese :) and a salad. And garlic bread. Yum.

Here and Gone...

My favorite cookies arrived for the holiday season...and they are already gone. Apparently this same time last year, I discovered the cookies were gone gone until next year. This year, I asked after them at my local Trader Joe's and they pulled the very last box in the shop from under their Christmas Tree for me. It was my lucky day :)

Berry Season!

You know it's summer when all the berries start making an appearance at the market...


One of my favorites are raspberries - growing up, we had a bunch of raspberry brambles growing in our backyard. Between us kids and the birds, the brambles would be picked clean!


I also love cherries - I lament the fact that I don't live in the Pacific Northwest anymore - what with the varieties of cherries up there! I have to settle for Rainiers and Bings down here now....unless I want to mail order them in.


And finally, the wonderful Strawberry - speaking of which, I love my local Trader Joes. They have gorgeous organic Strawberries in stock now for a very reasonable price...especially good seeing as Strawberries are typically listed as among the top fruits to be laden with pesticides.

Incidentally, perfect for Project Spectrum, I also had a bunch of blackberries on hand too - they just wouldn't photograph well....