» Ginger

Cookies – who can get enough of them? Around our house, it seems like we almost have more fun making them than eating them. Every weekend, or so it seems, the little guy starts rummaging around in the cupboards, finds the mixer and started chanting something about making cookies. It’s a habit we got started around the holidays and I can’t say I’ve done anything to discourage it.

Sometimes I distract him with the idea of using the mixer for other things. We’ve made bread and rolls, whip cream and soufflé. But it always comes back to the cookies. And I know we could be a little more adventurous with our cookie choices, but somehow the chocolate chip varieties are always popular.

Everyone has a go-to recipe for chocolate chip cookies, right? Maybe even a couple, to suit different moods? I am fond of this recipe because of its convenience – make the dough and pop it in the fridge. Then get ready to enjoy a pan of fresh cookies at a moment’s notice. OK, maybe 10 minutes notice! I love that I don’t have to bake them all at once. I’m also kind of a sucker for chocolate chunks, hand-cut by yours truly. The chocolate shaves off the thin slivers, leaving some chocolate dust, as well as perfect size bites of chocolate.

Also, if you ever find yourself with the tail end of a few chocolate bars that didn’t quite get finished, this recipe is a great way to use them up. I also like to vary the cocoa percentages – you can tailor the chocolate to your taste, adding in a little more bitter varieties to keep the sweetness in check. Sometimes it is tasty to add in a little bit of a mint chocolate bar or something equally delicious for a fun surprise. And while the salt doesn’t have to be added at the end, I think it’s a nice touch.

Chocolate Chunk Cookies with Fleur de Sel

Adapted from Little Nest’s recipe

1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
1/2 cup white sugar
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2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 pound good quality chopped bittersweet chocolate
Fleur de sel, for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 375° F.

Line baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat. Cream butter and sugars until pale and fluffy in an electric mixer. Add eggs one at a time, scrapping down the edges of the bowl between each addition. Mix in the vanilla.

Sift the flour and baking soda into a bowl. Chop the chocolate into pieces about 1/4 inch thick, or to your preference. Add the chocolate into the flour mixture. Add the dry ingredients into the butter mixture and stir gently, until just incorporated. Set out two pieces of plastic wrap. Scoop the dough onto the plastic wrap and form into two large logs and wrap tightly. Place in the fridge and allow to cool for at least one hour.

Cut the dough into rounds. Depending on your preference of crisp or tender cookies, somewhere between 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch thick. Place on the cookie sheet with room between the cookies as they will spread. Top each slice with a small sprinkle of fleur de sel. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden.

The dough will also keep nicely in the fridge for about a week, which is perfect if you prefer your cookies fresh out of the oven!

It’s almost the weekend and I’m thinking about what I should be baking this weekend. I have to tell you though, I simply can’t shake the memory of some delicious pain au raisins from Paris. I feasted on them during my recent trip. Goodness knows that it has likely been in my best interest to not be just around the corner from my very favorite version of them. I’ve been tracking down recipes online and I think that one of these weekends I might just be brave enough to tackle a pastry recipe in order to recreate the taste. I’ll be sure to let you know how it goes. Only after extensive testing though, I assure you!

In the meantime, here are some other things I’ve been excited about:

This cake looks too good to pass up. Early season picnic fare, perhaps?

Quick, before winter is gone, I’ve got to try this recipe.

So pretty to look at and full of good ideas, check out the egg-combination-generator!
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Ripe? This is a must-have!

Happy weekend!

We’ve had a few days of crazy warm weather. It was the kind of weather that sends people to their closets to hunt out shorts and flip-flops. While I didn’t go scrounging for shorts, I did manage to take a nice bike ride and putter around in my garden a little. Just a little though, because at this time of year, the weather seems to have a hard time making up its mind. And I don’t want to get carried away before the warm weather is officially here. I am so tempted to plant some radishes…

In the meantime, I’m still enjoying the citrus season. I think I may have mentioned the crate of citrus sitting out in my garage. I love to keep it stocked with whatever I happen to find at the store and right now, it seems that the blood orange count is dwindling. But there are still plenty of giant grapefruit. And hands down, I always prefer pink grapefruit. You just can’t beat that delicious color!

I don’t really need ideas on how to use up the grapefruit. More often than not, I just peel them into giant segments and savor a juicy bowl of them all to myself. Other days, I might set aside a few nicely peeled bits for a special salad. But when I feel like sharing, this recipe is a tasty one.

While it is not quite a one-bowl-wonder, it is easy. And happily, this is a pretty forgiving cake. You can mix and match on several ingredients, depending on what you have on hand. Feel free to use any fat percentage for the plain yogurt, keeping in mind that whole milk is always going to be better. I’ve also made it using sour cream – it’s versatile, I’m telling you. I like using olive oil in this cake, but feel free to switch out for vegetable oil as well, maybe even melted butter. And, for days when you are running low on grapefruit, this recipe also works well with other citrus. Enjoy!

Grapefruit Yogurt Cake

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
3 extra-large eggs
1 tablespoon grated grapefruit zest (approximately one large grapefruit)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup freshly squeezed grapefruit juice

For the glaze:
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed grapefruit juice

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare and generously grease a loaf pan. If you are feeling ambitious, you could flour it as well.

Wash and dry the grapefruit well. Zest the peel over a small plate. Cut the fruit in half and juice, straining out the seeds. Set aside.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a small bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, 1 cup sugar, eggs, grapefruit zest and vanilla. Slowly stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. With a rubber spatula, fold the oil into the batter, making sure it’s all incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 50 minutes, or until a cake tester placed in the center of the loaf comes out clean.

Meanwhile, cook the 1/3 cup grapefruit juice and remaining 1 tablespoon sugar in a small pan until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is clear and syrupy, about 8 minutes. Set aside to cool.

When the cake is done, place on a rack and allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. While the cake is still warm, pour the grapefruit-sugar mixture over the cake and allow it to soak in. Once the juice has soaked in, remove it from the pan and continue cooling.

To make the glaze, combine the confectioners’ sugar and grapefruit juice and drizzle over the cake.

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You know how sometimes, you just need to sit down? And not just sit down, but really sink down into where ever it is you are? Just to be still for a bit. Float past the everyday hubbub to a quieter spot. Sometimes in all the rushing and running, I forget about that. But it always catches up to me. And then, in that magic swath of afternoon sunlight that sends a little sparkle into the room, I remember. I’ll sit down for a minute, right there and just drink it in.

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Lucky for me – my orchids from my trip to the greenhouse are still going strong. In fact, in the past month or so, the flowers just continue to open. This afternoon was full of sunlight and warmth – almost too much warmth for this time of year. And in the bright afternoon light, they just looked so cheerful and delicate – balancing on their stems like brightly tied bows. And I just sat right down and feasted my eyes on those flowers. It was my landing spot after a busy week. I seem to find myself a little quieter after these moments, refreshed and often a tiny bit hungry. And so I’ll head into the kitchen – it’s almost dinner time. Happy weekend!

So it turns out that I might be a sucker for the Bon Appétit cover recipes. And while taking on cover recipes is always a little daunting, it’s been a rewarding experience overall! The recipes are always delicious although my presentation tends to be a bit off! March’s pizza issue was no exception. When it first arrived in my mail box a few weeks back, I knew we’d be having pizza.

Actually, the timing was pretty good. Last winter, I had a bread starter going, inspired by this amazing book, so most weekends I’d be baking bread. And as noted in the book, pulling off a little piece of dough for a pizza is almost a requirement when you’ve taken all of that effort to make the bread. And not one to take pizza lightly, I have some fun extras – a great pizza stone, a pizza peel and cutter. Anyway, no starter is brewing this winter and there has been some general dissatisfaction noted about the lack of pizza.

This recipe looks easy and it is. Really, all you need is a little time, so make sure you’re planning ahead of your pizza craving! Oh, and this is a good recipe to read all the way through, but isn’t that always the case. If you don’t have a scale to measure the flour, make sure you measure carefully – I find that the softer the dough, the better the pizza. And, this recipe makes enough to feed a small party of friends, or yourself for several days! Either way, it’s all good.

No-Knead Pizza Dough

From the March issue of Bon Appetit

7 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (1000 grams) plus more for shaping dough
4 teaspoons fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
3 cups of water

Measure and mix the flour, salt and yeast in a large bowl. I prefer to get my hands dirty, gradually adding the water and stirring by hand. Continue gently mixing the dough until it comes together and forms a rough ball. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and tuck it in a protected corner or warm spot in your kitchen. Let the dough rise at room temperature (about 72°) until the dough has more than doubled and small bubbles cover the surface. This will take about 18 hours, but could vary depending on temperature, etc. Once the dough is ready, transfer it to a floured work surface. At this point, you’ll want to work carefully with the dough to preserve all of those amazing little bubbles. Gently shape the dough into a rough rectangle. Divide the dough into six equal portions. One at a time, gather the four corners to the center to create four folds. Turn the seam side down and mold gently into a ball. Dust dough with flour and set aside on work surface or a floured baking sheet. Continue shaping the remaining dough.

Cover the dough with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let rest for about one hour. If you don’t plan to use all of the dough at once, wrap individual portions in plastic wrap and refrigerate. Before using, bring to room temperature for two to three hours.

As it turns out, spring is trying to make an appearance around here. It is not too apparent yet, but here and there, a watchful eye will catch a few glimpses.

I found these wild plums just beginning to bud. I trimmed a few wayward sticks off and brought them inside. They are already beginning to break out into blossom, so I know spring can’t be far off. All we need is a few more warm days. And just a ways down the road from the plum trees, I found a patch of snowdrops off in a little patch of wild.
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I always love to find flowers blooming in the most unexpected places. Especially so early in the season. I hope the changing seasons bring you delight.

Lately, I don’t quite know what season it is. The weather will look promising, with slightly warm temperatures and the small promise of sunshine, only to turn flighty and snow a day or two later. In this kind of weather, I need soup. When I’m not sure what to expect, soup seems like a good solution!

I have my standard soups, ones that I can make without thinking or looking at a recipe. They are the ones that I count on week to week. Then there are the clean-up soups, the ones that I make when I need to use something up. Sometimes there is a recipe, other times it is more of a frantic need to use something up before it goes to waste. Last week it was a small basket of potatoes, sending out spindly sprouts. So into the pot they go, with a little of whatever else I might find that sounds complimentary.

But sometimes, I want a soup that I don’t want think about. I don’t want to worry if the flavor of the spices is balanced against the vegetables I’ve already added. These soups are a little fancier than what I make every day – maybe they have toppings or additions, or better yet, dumplings!

Doesn’t everyone have a favorite food memory involving dumplings? I don’t exactly remember what kind of soup my mom would make with her dumplings, but I do remember the dumplings – the soft, steamy dollops of dough, one per bowl for Tina and I. I’m pretty sure we’d both eat around them, slurping up the soup, savoring the dumpling for the very last. Tina always was a better hold out for her favorite part of the meal, so I’m quite sure her bowl would have been perfectly clean except for the dumpling. I never had that much resolve. And while I would make efforts to save my favorite bits for last, I know I would have dug into my dumpling long before Tina.

I can’t quite say when the last time I had a dumpling was, but when I found this recipe with cauliflower and dumplings, I was already on my way to the stove! There is always a head of cauliflower buried somewhere in my fridge. And everything else in this recipe is pretty standard. But what I loved most was the dumplings – they were tiny, almost like little spaetzle. Irresistible!

This soup comes together quickly and the tiny dumplings cook in a flash, perfect for a weeknight meal. And while I think you could likely swap vegetables for what you have on hand, the cauliflower as the main element is delicious! And the paprika adds a delicious warm flavor to everything. Just don’t wait too long to try it!

Karfiolleves, or Paprika-Spiced Cauliflower Soup

From Andrea Németh’s recipe in Saveur

Serves 4

1/3 cup flour
½ tsp. salt
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1 egg
1 ½ tbsp. Hungarian hot paprika
1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
6 cups vegetable stock
1 small head cauliflower, large stem removed, cut into bite-size florets
1 medium carrot, peeled and finely chopped

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 small bunch flat-leaf parsley, stemmed and finely chopped

1. To make the dumplings: In a bowl, mix the flour and salt, then add 2 tablespoons butter. Use your fingers to rub the butter into flour until pea-size crumbles form. Gently whisk the egg and stir it into the flour mixture until a dough forms. Pop this mixture into the refrigerator until ready to use.

2. Heat remaining 4 tablespoons of butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add paprika and onion, and stir, cooking them until soft, about 5 minutes. Add vegetable stock, cauliflower and carrot. Season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium, and cook for about 15 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.

3. To make the dumplings, use a ½-tsp. measuring spoon to portion out the dough. Drop all of the dumpling dough into simmering soup and cook, stirring gently, until the dumplings are cooked through, about 3 minutes.

4. To serve, ladle soup and dumplings into serving bowls, and garnish with parsley.

Blaise and I took a sick day today. Actually, it was more of a sick afternoon, but that has an awkward sound to it! Anyway, we ended up curled up in the sunshine with some time for a little relaxing and a little reading. As it turns out, Blaise is not keen on napping. However, he responds quite well to the notion of relaxing. So, relax we did! We built some blanket tents, got a few stacks of books and a couple of treats. We were set.

Lately I’ve been stuck in a spring cleaning mode. Thanks to Tina’s closet cleaning antics and a few other articles here and there, I’ve been feeling the urge to reduce the clutter around here. It turns out I might be a little bit of a hoarder, but I’m working on it. I still have a few too many boxes that have not been opened since I moved – that scares me just a little! Just the other night, I was trying to sort through some tightly packed book shelves and I found a special book from my childhood.

I am not sure if my memory serves me correctly, but I think this book came as a gift to me. Maybe from an aunt?  Anyway, it is a sweet book about three kittens and their mother. Each of the kittens have little adventures and it just so happens that one of the kittens is named Ginger, likely the reason why I received the book in the first place. Anyway, I remember it being a favorite and I was happy to see it again. Blaise has been stuck on the notion of being a little cat, so I think he might have some interest in this story.

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I have such happy memories of my reading adventures as a child that I can’t help but want to share those with Blaise. Whether it was our evening tradition of bedtime stories, trips to the library or encyclopedia reading over the lunch hour, they all stand out as special time where adventure and intrigue were always close at hand! Already I have a small collection of several of my favorites, including Tintin. There is still more time to build the collection, but I might need another bookshelf! But back to the kittens, they were quite the hit!

George gets up on the wrong side of the bed, Ginger wanders off into the world and Gigi decides she does not to share. And apparently, Mother takes care of Mother-Cat business! Reading the stories again, I feel like a kid, sitting in my childhood room alongside my sister.  But instead, we’re laying out in our little blanket tent with pillows and more blankets so we’ll be cozy. We’ve got treats, not to mention a stashed box of French Pims! Hoarder tendencies, what can I say! And suddenly, a sick afternoon is not quite so bad.

I have a stack of books in my room, just waiting to be read. It seems the stack is always getting taller, never smaller. But that is OK with me – I can’t help but add more as I see books that interest me. That stack also spills over online, with a list of all of the books I might read a review on or hear about and be interested in.  Let’s just say that I have a lot of reading to do.

Somewhere around the beginning of the year, a few ideas were gelling for me. First, there was my Dad talking about his standing resolution to read one book a month. It sounded manageable and like a reasonable amount of reading to fit in. Then, I heard a podcast on Radio Lab, which has to be one of my very favorite radio shows out there. Anyway, one of the things featured in this show was a mention of this guy, Nicholas Feltron, who makes an annual report of his life each year. He captures all of the details of his daily happenings. Long story short, all of the details, the minutia, are charted and graphed every year. It’s beautiful in a detailed and organized sort of way. But before I get further off track, I’d encourage you to take a listen for yourself.

Anyway, back to my books, I couldn’t help wonder what my reading list would look like over the course of the year. What do I really read? What category would win out, books, magazine, online? I have my sneaking suspicions, but I am really not going to track them all. But books, I might be able to track those books. And I can’t help but think that would be an interesting thing to look back on year to year.

The main cause for the irregular erections made by the man are firm enough and also satisfying enough for the person and their cialis overnight partner. generic cialis without prescriptions It is quite easy, isn’t it? What you need is a lot extra raised. Pelvic floor exercises might have long been utilized in Chinese and additional civilizations interminably. cialis no prescription mastercard learningworksca.org There are also some side effects such as headache, flushing, indigestion, nasal congestion, muscle aches and tenderness, hair loss, stiffness and swelling in the joints, mastercard tadalafil cracked skin, rough skin, trouble breathing, changes in the food & lifestyle that keeps up the Vascular And Erection Health The benefits of chiropractic therapy are many because it manages to act against scoliosis, disk hernia, cervical and many other. But as we move closer to the end of February, I’ve got to say that what I am finding challenging is actually getting to reading. January was hard – I picked a book with some emotionally weighty issues. It was a bit of work to finish that up. Next up, I tried to focus in on something I’d really love and what better than a foodie memoir. And while I love it, I still have some reading to get to before I can add it to the list!

We’re all busy, right, so I know I am not alone in feeling like it is hard to make time for the things that I really want to do. But what I notice now more than ever is that I am becoming a skimmer. I don’t know if it is a function of lack of time or time spent as a online reader, but somehow it seems harder to focus in on words on a page. I noticed it online first, flying through my reading list of favorite sites. But after that, I realized I was skimming everything. Anyway, this reading project is helping me slow down, take my eyes off the screen and focus on something else for a little while. Can’t hurt, anyway!

*These pictures are from a recent road trip where only magazine skimming took place!

I like to eat seasonally. Right now I have a crate of citrus in the garage and that doesn’t happen at any time of the year other than a few short months in the dead of winter. Strawberries and tomatoes are scarce at my house right now, but you will find my produce drawers full of kale, parsnips, brussels sprouts and fennel.

But more than that, I’m talking about the actual dishes I make. I am sure it is not news to anyone that a warm stove on a cold day is a good idea. So I’m often roasting or simmering a pan of something. And more often than not, it’s a pot of soup. What’s  not to love about a pot of delicious vegetables stewing away – warm, tasty and convenient. Around here, a pot of soup will definitely tie us over for a few meals, saving cooking and clean-up time when it matters most during the week.

Lately I’ve been toying with potential variations to a Mexican tortilla soup. You know, the rich tomatoey blend that lets you build your own bowl, adding tortillas and whatever else your heart desires? Surely that concept carries over into other ethic flavor combinations?
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Last weekend in a fit of garage cleaning, I decided I had better start into my hoarded squash collection before the weather turns and I am no longer feeling like eating squash or roasting anything. I roasted up a pan of squash and once cooked, scraped them into the soup pot. It was giving me an Italian feeling, so I quickly sautéed a little kale and added a spoonful of roasted tomatoes and a little dollop of sour cream. Tasty!

So what about you? What would you add to your bowl of soup to make it even more delicious or to round in out into a meal? I’d love to hear your ideas.