sweet tarte

applesauce bread

2012-01-22T12:39:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I wonder why I bake. There are so many reasons not to. My skinny jeans for one--but it's not just that. It's the dark spots on my white walls, remnants of chocolate splatters past. It's the running out for eggs at 11pm in my pajamas; the forcing five types of flour into my already overflowing cupboards. Lately, it's also the arriving home after midnight, wilted, weary and wanting nothing more than to fall into bed.

And yet night after night, I find myself gravitating towards the kitchen. I'm not making anything particularly fancy, but as I stand at my stove scooping flour, beating eggs and stirring wet ingredients into dry, my racing mind begins to slow and my worries give way to the task at hand. I'm not baking for an event, I'm not baking for the blog, and I'm certainly not baking because anyone needs a loaf of applesauce bread at midnight. I'm just baking. I'm not thinking about my to-do list, or whether I'm going to make it to the gym in the morning, or if some boy is going to call. I'm just baking.

There are so many reasons not to bake, but there is one important reason why I do. I bake because, as put so eloquently in Julie and Julia, "I love that after a day where nothing is sure — and when I say nothing, I mean nothing — you can come home and absolutely know that if you add egg yolks to chocolate and sugar and milk, it will get thick. It’s such a comfort." And in the morning, there is applesauce bread. Healthy, hearty and just sweet enough, any day that begins with this breakfast is already off to a good start. And when it ends, I'll be back at my stove. It's such a comfort.

Applesauce Bread

Recipe from Martha Rose Shulman, via The New York Times

1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour*

1/2 cup all purpose flour*

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon allspice

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

2 eggs

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup canola oil

1/4 cup plain yogurt (I used 2% Greek)

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

*Note that the original recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour and 1/2 cup all purpose. I only had regular whole wheat flour on hand so I used less whole wheat (1 cup) and more white (1 cup) and my bread turned out fine, but if you have whole wheat pastry flour, I'd go with that instead. It will yield a lighter, less dense bread.

Preheat the oven to 350. Line an oiled loaf pan with parchment and lightly oil the parchment. Sift together the flours, baking soda, spices and salt in a medium bowl. In a large beat the eggs and sugar until thick. Add the oil, yogurt, applesauce and vanilla, and whisk until combined. Whisk in the dry ingredients until just combined, being careful not to overmix the batter. Fold in the walnuts and pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 45-50 minutes, until the loaf is golden and a tester inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, and then turn out onto a cooling rack to cool completely. Shulman says the loaf will benefit from being tightly wrapped in plastic and sitting overnight, and that it will keep 3-4 days. Do not refrigerate.

my first birchbox

2012-01-12T01:24:00.000-05:00

This is not cake. This is not brownies. This is not even some ridiculous, resolution-fueled raw recipe like carrots camouflaged as cookies. This is shampoo and nail polish and face cream. I know it's not the kind of thing we usually talk about here, but 2012 started with the kind of bang that doesn't leave much room for baking. Plus, so many of you seemed interested in the Birchbox subscription that I got my sister-in-law for the holidays that I thought it was only fair to give you a sneak peek inside my first delivery. (Did I mention that I bought myself this present too? I couldn't resist!) Lets open it up, shall we?

The first thing I pulled out was this C.O. Bigelow Lavender Mint shampoo and conditioner. I was quite pleased with this selection--not only does it smell great, but I'm always in need of travel-sized portions of hair products, so I know this will be put to good use.

Next up is Algenist's Firming and Lifting Cream, which Birchbox calls a "sophisticated moisturizer" that "uses a unique microalgae compound to boost skin's elasticity." I have no idea any of that means, but now that I'm an age that starts with a (gulp) 3, I feel like I'm supposed to use Serious Skincare Products, so I'm happy to try this one out as well.

Now on to the part I'm most excited about--this cute little bundle wrapped up like a present! Inside I found a sample of Juicy Couture's signature fragrance, a nail polish in a shade I never would have picked for myself but am excited to give a whirl, and a sample of By Terry Baume de Rose salve, which Birchbox calls a "cult favorite" lip balm.

This brings us to the dark and dangerous side of Birchbox. Did I really need to know about the existence of $58 lip balm, let alone "cult favorite" $58 lip balm? The answer is no--no I did not (no matter how good my lips may be feeling at this very moment).

The bottom of the box was lined with a card that suggests ways to de-clutter your mind, your closet and your diet. And speaking of your diet, I'll be back soon with a recipe that straddles the line between healthy (because it is January after all) and tasty (because this is still a baking blog. Most of the time anyways).

chocolate covered pretzels

2011-12-27T10:02:00.000-05:00

I'm not much of a fashion risk taker, but I know a good trend when I see one. Which isn't to say I jump on the sartorial bandwagon right away--it took me a good three years to embrace skinny jeans, and I'm just coming around to the idea of booties now. I'll get there eventually, but probably not until the cool kids have moved on to something new (clearly I have no future as a fashion blogger). But when we're talking about a food trend, I'm game for almost anything. So when both my friend Colleen and Tracy from Shutterbean made chocolate covered pretzels in the same week, it took me all of about twenty minutes to follow suit.

This isn't much of a recipe--you simply dip pretzel rods in melted chocolate and then coat them with colored sprinkles, chopped candy, or mini-chips in a contrasting color. Still, the resulting pretzels are festive, fun, and, for those feeling the post-Christmas cookie fatigue, don't require that you turn on the oven or dirty more than one dish. They're just the thing to munch on while you cozy up watching movies this week, and I think they'd be a hit at a New Year's Eve party as well.

Mark my words, chocolate covered pretzels are going to be a major trend for 2012. And I should know--I'm wearing jeggings as I write this.

Chocolate Covered Pretzels
1 bag pretzel rods
1 bag milk chocolate chips (or semi-sweet or white--whichever you prefer)
sprinkles, chopped candy, mini m&ms, mini chocolate chips, etc

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Melt the chocolate using a double boiler or the microwave. Dip pretzel rods in melted chocolate, and then in sprinkles or candy. Place finished pretzels on parchment-lined cookie sheet and put them in the refrigerator to harden.

the family gift guide

2011-12-18T02:03:00.000-05:00

1 crate & barrel felix martini glass 2 birchbox gift subscription 3 ugg slippers 4 crate & barrel cocktail shaker 5 king cube ice cube tray 6 garmin gps system 7 the cocktail primer by eben klemm

My family celebrated the holidays a bit early this year, so rather than give you a gift-guide filled with hypothetical haul, here's a peek at the actual presents I passed out to my posse. For my newly cocktail obsessed brother, martini glasses, a cocktail shaker, a mixology book and the king sized ice cube trays he freaked over after finding them in my freezer. My mom got cute and cozy Ugg slippers, and my dad was gifted a Garmin GPS system. For my sister-in-law (and maybe for myself too) a subscription to Birchbox--a new service that delivers deluxe beauty product samples directly to your door each month (because who doesn't love getting mail that's not bills?) I hope that this helps with your holiday shopping--good luck wrapping it all up.

butterscotch blondie bars with peanut-pretzel caramel

2011-12-14T23:43:00.000-05:00

It's been a while, so lets recap what's happened since the last time we spoke: I've attended an office holiday party, a pizza and prosecco party, and an ugly sweater party (I took home the first place trophy. Bedazzled poinsettias were involved.)

I drank pomegranate margaritas topped with sea salt foam at a girls' night out, and ate sheet cake topped with Sesame Street characters at a two year old's birthday party. I spent a weekend in Washington DC. I came down with bronchitis. I praised the advent of antibiotics. I watched every single episode of The New Girl. I downloaded Christmas music.

And I made butterscotch blondie bars with peanut-pretzel caramel. Lets focus on that last one, shall we? The peanut-pretzel caramel is obviously the star here--it's sweet, salty and every bit as delicious as it sounds. But that doesn't mean that the blondie itself is a mere afterthought. Rather, the browned butter and sea salt infused batter is so rich and nutty that I actually exclaimed "wow" upon tasting it. Outloud. To myself. In my kitchen.

The best part? You can make them up to a week ahead of time and keep them in the refrigerator. Now if you'll excuse me I need to go add "ate another blondie straight from the pan" to the list of things I've done since my last post.

Butterscotch Blondie Bars with Peanut-Pretzel Caramel
Bon Appetit Magazine, December 2011

For the Blondies
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups light brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

For the Caramel
4 cups roasted unsalted peanuts
2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 cups 1 1/2 " wide thin pretzel twists, roughly crushed

To Make Blondies

Preheat the oven to 350. Line a 9x13 baking pan with parchment paper, leaving about a 1 inch overhang (once the blondies are baked, you will use the parchment to lift them from the pan). Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together in a medium bowl. Heat the butter over medium heat until it's golden, fragrant, and brown bits have formed, about 7 minutes. (Watch the butter carefully to make sure it does not burn.) Transfer the browned butter to the bowl of a stand mixer, and beat the butter and brown sugar together for 2-3 minutes (it should look like wet sand). Add the eggs and vanilla and mix to combine. Spread the batter into the prepared pan, and bake until the blondies are golden, the edges pull away from the sides of the pan, and a tester inserted into the center pulls out only a few moist crumbs. This should take about 20-25 minutes. Set the pan on a wire rack and allow the blondies to cool completely.

To Make Caramel

Preheat the oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Toast the peanuts, stirring frequently, until golden and fragrant, about 6 minutes. Stir sugar and 1/2 cup water in a heavy bottomed saucepan over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved. Turn up the heat and boil the sugar without stirring, swirling the pan and brushing down the sides with a wet pastry brush as necessary to ensure even cooking, until the caramel is a deep amber color, about 12-15 minutes. Add the honey and return the caramel to a boil, stirring frequently, for about a minute. Add the butter and stir until it's melted. Add the cream (carefully, as the mixture will bubble up). Stir in the peanuts and pretzels, and pour the caramel over the cooled blondies. Place the pan in the refrigerator to chill for about 30 minutes. Run a knife around the edges of the pan and use the parchment paper to lift the blondies out. Cut into bars. Bars can be refrigerated in airtight containers for up to a week. Bring to room temperature before serving.

triple-chocolate cranberry oatmeal cookies

2011-12-01T00:00:00.000-05:00

Happy December 1st! Aside from my birthday and Thanksgiving, December 1st might just be my favorite day of the year. Because as far as I'm concerned, December 1st is the official kickoff of Holiday Cookie Season (yes, that's capitalized Holiday Cookie Season. It's a thing--get on board). When else is it acceptable, let alone desirable, to fly through pounds of butter and sugar at breakneck speed?

With so many cookie contenders (peppermint! spritz! gingerbread!) it was hard to know where to begin, but I think that these triple-chocolate cranberry oatmeal cookies were a wise choice. Filled with rich chocolate, chewy oats and tart cranberries, they are the perfect way to give fall a proper sendoff and welcome December with open arms. The most wonderful time of the year indeed. Have a happy Holiday Cookie Season.

Hey! Sweet Tarte is now on Facebook! Like Sweet Tarte, keep up with new posts, and find photos and other fun links here.

Triple-Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

Bon Apetit Magazine, December 2004 via Epicurious

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh or frozen cranberries

2 ounces milk chocolate or white chocolate, chopped (for drizzling)

Preheat oven to 350 and line two cookie sheets with parchment or silicone liners. Whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl. Beat the butter, sugar and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer until smooth. Beat in the egg and the vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and the oats and mix to incorporate. Drop rounded tablespoonsfuls of dough onto the prepared cookie sheets leaving two inches between mounds of dough. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until the edges are golden. Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheets for a few minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Melt the milk chocolate or white chocolate in the microwave or over a double boiler. Use a spoon to drizzle the melted chocolate over the cookies. Let the cookies stand for about an hour so that the chocolate has time to set before serving. The cookies can be made two days in advance and stored in an airtight container at room temperature.

More Holiday Cookie Ideas
Homemade Thin Mints
Peanut Ginger Cookies
Brown Butter Spoon Cookies
Peppermint Chocolate Crackle Cookies
Gingerbread Men

cranberry and orange vodka

2011-11-28T00:00:00.000-05:00

Today we're having a party. I've got my music cranked up, my sparkly shoes on, and I even curled my hair. Wait, what's that? We're not actually having a party? It's two in the afternoon on a Sunday? Sorry I guess I got confused. (Does this mean I should put the glass of champagne down now? Never mind, don't answer that.)

Today we're just talking about parties. About holiday parties to be specific. Holiday parties can be awesome. There are Christmas carols and peppermint cookie and mistletoe. Holiday parties can also be awkward. There are reindeer sweaters and fruitcakes and mistletoe. We've all been there.

I can't mend the mistletoe mishaps, but I do have the answer to another of your burning holiday party questions--what to bring the hostess. This cranberry infused vodka makes for a festive and pretty gift that any party planner would be happy to receive. Tie it with a bow, attach the recipe for the cranberry cocktail listed below, and you've got an instant holiday hit on your hands. Just don't forget to make an extra batch for yourself. It will pair perfectly with all that leftover fruitcake.

Sweet Tarte is now on Facebook! Like Sweet Tarte, keep up with new posts, and find links, photos and other fun here.

Cranberry and Orange Vodka

Recipe from Martha Stewart

1 cup cranberries, rinsed

1/4 cup sugar

2 Tablespoons water

1 large piece orange peel

3 cups vodka

Combine cranberries, sugar and water in a saucepan over medium heat and cook until the sugar is dissolved, the liquid is pink and the cranberries are beginning to burst. Remove from heat and pour into a glass jar. Add the vodka and the orange peel, cover, and let sit at room temperature for at least three days or up to a month. Strain before serving.

Serving Suggestions:

Cranberry Cosmopolitan

Recipe from Martha Stewart

(Note: I haven't made this yet, but it's Martha's recommended way to serve. Let me know if you try it out!)

1 1/2 ounces cranberry infused vodka

1 1/2 ounces cranberry juice

1/2 ounce Cointreau (or another orange liqueur)

1/2 ounce freshly squeezed lime juice

ice cubes, for shaking

cranberries and orange peel for garnish

Combine the cranberry vodka, cranberry juice, orange liqueur and lime juice in a cocktail shaker. Add ice and shake until well combined. Strain into a martini glass and garnish with skewered cranberries or orange peel.

Other Edible Holiday Gift Ideas:

Caramel Corn

Cocoa Roasted Nuts

Fleur de Sel Caramels

Homemade Marshmallows

Spicy Glazed Nut and Pretzel Mix

{twd} brown butter apple pie

2011-11-25T00:41:00.001-05:00

This Thanksgiving, I'm oh so thankful for family, for friends, and for pie. I spent my holiday in Minnesota surrounded by food and family (and the kind of signs you just don't see in Manhattan). Below is a recipe for one of the treats that graced our Thanksgiving table (the other, which has become somewhat of a staple around these parts, can be found here). I hope that however you spent your holiday, you had a happy one. Thank you for reading. I'm so grateful that you're here.

It's been a while since I've participated in Tuesdays with Dorie, but the group is nearly finished working its way through Baking from My Home to Yours so I figured it's time to get back on the wagon. This week was a "rewind" week, so I made Dorie's All American All Delicious Apple Pie and fancied it up for the holiday by adding some browned butter.

Brown Butter Apple Pie

Adapted from Baking from My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

For the Pie Dough

3 cups all purpose flour, plus extra for flouring surfaces

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, very cold and cut into pieces

1/3 cup shortening, very cold and cut into pieces

1/2 cup very cold water

For the Filling*

3 lbs apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced (I used a mix of Cortland and Honeycrisp)

3/4 cup sugar, plus additional for the pie top

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

pinch salt

2 tablespoons quick cooking tapioca

2 tablespoons graham cracker crumbs

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

heavy cream for brushing the pie top

To Make the Pie Dough

Combine flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine. Drop the butter and shortening into the food processor and pulse until just combined. Don't over mix the dough--you want pieces the size of green peas. Gradually drizzle about 6 tablespoons of water into the processor, pulsing the machine on and off as you go. Give the machine a few long pulses. The goal here is to sufficiently moisten the dough so that it doesn't look dry, and holds together when pinched. You may or may not need the full half cup of water. Turn the dough out onto a clean, floured surface. It's okay if there are some pieces of butter or flour that don't look like they're incorporated. Divide the dough in half, gather each half into a ball, and flatten each ball into a disc. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least an hour. (If I am going to leave my dough in the refrigerator longer, say overnight, I slip each plastic wrapped disc into a Ziploc bag to protect against refrigerator odors.

To Make the Filling

Heat the butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat until it is golden, fragrant, and browned bits have formed. (Watch the butter carefully as it burns very easily.) In a large bowl, combine the apples, sugar, cinnamon, salt, tapioca and graham cracker crumbs (you can crush a few crackers with your hands or the back of a knife, or pulse them in a food processor). Pour the brown butter over the apples, stir, and allow the filling to sit while you roll out the dough.

*Note: The original recipe included the zest of one lemon, but I used the only lemon at my parents' house the night before in a hot toddy. Oops!

To Roll Out the Dough and Assemble the Pie

Remove your dough from the refrigerator, and let it stand for a few minutes at room temperature. You want your dough to be cold, but not so stiff that it will crack and tear when you try to roll it out. Place one disc of dough on a clean, floured work surface. Sprinkle some flour on top of the disc of dough and on your rolling pin. Working from the center of your disc of dough, roll the dough out towards the edges. Every few rolls, turn the dough in a clockwise direction to prevent it from sticking to the countertop. When your dough is about 1/8 inch thick and large enough to fit in a 9-inch, deep dish pie plate, position the pie plate behind your dough, place your rolling pin in the center of your circle of dough, and fold the back half of your dough over the rolling pin. Holding onto the pin, quickly and carefully lift the dough into the pie plate. Gently press the dough down into the pie plate, and use a kitchen scissors to trim the edges. Roll out the second disc of dough in the same manner as the first. Spoon the filling into the bottom crust (the filling will mound up over the top of the crust). Lightly moisten the edges of the bottom crust with a bit of water, and place the top crust over the pie. Press the top crust and bottom crust together, and crimp the edges to seal using your fingers or a fork.

Getting Ready to Bake

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Using a sharp knife, cut several steam vents in the top of the crust. Brush the top of the pie with heavy cream, and sprinkle it with sugar.

Baking the Pie

Bake the pie for 15 minutes at 425, then lower the heat to 375 and continue cooking for 50-60 minutes, until the crust is brown and the juices are bubbling. Cool on a wire rack before serving.

cranberry salsa

2011-11-23T19:14:00.001-05:00

Not to be a total bossypants, but you need to stop whatever you're doing and make some cranberry salsa. I know that you're busy prepping for Thanksgiving, but between planning the turkey, the stuffing, the side dishes and the pies, you may have forgotten the salsa. Yes. The salsa. It's a Thanksgiving necessity. You didn't know? Just trust me on this one.

Here's the thing--If your family is anything like mine, they plan to eat a whole lot at your Thanksgiving feast. In fact, they plan to eat so much, that they probably skipped lunch (and most likely breakfast too) in preparation. This means that your family is hungry when they arrive. And if your family is anything like mine, your Thanksgiving feast probably won't start on time. Because despite your best intentions, you have to wait for Uncle Steve, who's running late, you have to wait for your dad, who wants to watch the last few minutes of the big game, and you have to wait for the rewarming of the mashed potatoes, which grew cold on their journey across town from Auntie Laurel's house. This means that your family was hungry when they arrived, and they're even hungrier now that dinnertime has come and gone and there's still no turkey in sight.

You don't need me to tell you that this doesn't lead anywhere good. It leads to cranky brothers, who whine when they're not fed regularly. It leads to sneaky cousins, who pilfer pecans from the top of the pie. It leads to tipsy sisters, who really shouldn't drink champagne on an empty stomach. The solution? Salsa. Cranberry salsa to be exact. Bursting with fall flavor, this salsa is festive enough to set the mood, but not so filling that your guests will ruin their appetites for the main event. Sweet and tangy with a kick of heat from the jalapenos, it's the perfect snack for both holiday and game day. So now you know. Salsa. It's not Thanksgiving without it.

Hey! Sweet Tarte is now on Facebook! Like Sweet Tarte, keep up with new posts, and find interesting links and other fun things here.

Cranberry Salsa

Adapted from Saveur

3 cups fresh cranberries

1 small jalapeno, seeds and ribs removed and roughly chopped

2 1/2 tablespoons sugar

zest and juice of 1 lime

zest and juice of 1/2 orange

kosher salt

Combine half the cranberries with the jalapeno, sugar, lime juice and zest and orange juice and zest in a food processor or blender (I used a Vitamix) and pulse several times until finely chopped. Add the rest of the cranberries, and pulse a few more times to combine, leaving some larger pieces of cranberry. Let the salsa sit at room temperature for 30 minutes so that the flavors can meld. Season to taste with kosher salt.

brown butter, ginger, and sour cream coffee cake

2011-11-15T00:21:00.001-05:00

In my experience, there are certain things that a single lady should know. A single lady should know how to mix a proper martini (coat the inside of a martini glass with a bit of dry vermouth, shake some gin over ice, and strain the chilled gin into the vermouth coated glass). A single lady should know how to ambush an insect invader (haul out the Dyson and vacuum that sucker right up). A single lady should know how to stop a run in her tights (clear nail polish) and how to pull together an outfit that could stop traffic.

A single lady should know how to make flowers from her corner deli last the whole week (remove the lower leaves and add a dash of sugar and a few drops of vodka to the water). A single lady should know not to respond to text messages from boys that are sent after 1 am (Seriously. Just. Don't.) A single lady should know how to test her smoke alarm and her carbon monoxide detector. (If you don't, go look right now. It's okay, I'll wait.)

A single lady should know that the best way to approach a piece of "assembly-required" furniture is often with a glass of wine in hand. (A single lady should know that this does not mean two glasses, unless she wants a desk with drawers that open out the back. Hypothetically speaking of course). A single lady should know how to firmly yet politely turn down a second date with minimal awkwardness (If you have the secret to this one, please let me know).

And a single lady should know that on a chilly Sunday morning, she deserves a piece of coffee cake. Specifically, a piece of this brown butter, ginger, and sour cream coffee cake from the November issue of Bon Appetit Magazine. Copious amounts of brown butter mean that the cake is rich and nutty, while crystallized ginger and brown sugar swirls add sweetness and spice. A single lady should know that this recipe makes a whole lot of cake. So if there's a single gentleman she's been wanting to invite over for brunch, she now has a good excuse.

Brown Butter, Ginger and Sour Cream Coffee Cake
Slightly Adapted from Bon Appetit, November 2011
Recipe Available Here

Brown Butter
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Topping
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup chopped crystallized ginger

Cake
Unsalted butter, for greasing the pan
2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1 3/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1/2 cup whole milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3/4 cups raw almonds, coarsely chopped

To Brown the Butter: Put the butter in a pan (The original recipe calls for a non-stick skillet but I used cast-iron) over medium heat. Cook the butter for about 10 minutes (the original recipe recommended 6-8 but my butter took longer) or until brown bits have formed and the butter is fragrant. Watch the butter carefully as it begins to brown--it can burn very easily, and once it's burned it's ruined. Pour the browned butter into a glass measuring cup and be sure you have at least 1 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons of melted butter (just shy of 2 cups). Allow the butter to cool slightly.

To Make the Topping: Whisk the topping ingredients in a small bowl. Add 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons of the browned butter and mix until clumps form. Set the topping aside.

To Make the Cake: Preheat the oven to 325, and generously butter a large bundt pan. (Note: the original recipe calls for a 10" tube pan with a removable top, but I don't have one so I adapted the recipe slightly to use with a bundt pan. This means that my "topping" was actually baked into the cake. See the original recipe for instructions on assembling the cake in a tube pan.) Whisk the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices in a large bowl and set it aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the remaining cup of browned butter and the sugar on medium speed until light and thick--about two minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, and then beat in the sour cream, milk and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and just stir until combined. Divide the topping into two parts, and mix half of of the topping with the chopped almonds. Scatter the almond topping in the bottom of the bundt pan. Add half the batter. Cover with the remaining topping. Pour the rest of the cake batter into the pan. Bake for a hour and 20 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. If the top of the cake looks like it's browning too quickly, tent it with foil. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, and then invert onto a cooling rack. The cake can be made a day ahead of time, and stored in an airtight container at room temperature.

white chicken chili

2011-11-09T00:00:00.000-05:00

I've forgotten to eat precisely one meal in my entire life. Sure, I've inhaled a huge weekend brunch and been too full for lunch, or snacked my way through the afternoon and spoiled my dinner. But simply forget to eat? Fat chance. Well, fat chance with the exception of one bowl of chili that is. It was almost exactly a year ago today, and I was having one of those crazy-busy, run around like a chicken with its head cut off kind of mornings. I only had a few minutes for lunch, so I dashed down the block to grab the closest thing I could find--a cup of mediocre deli chili and a sad looking apple. I paid for my food, shoved it into my purse and rushed back to the office where I was greeted with something that had to be taken care of immediately. One task led to another, and before I knew it, it was nearly 4pm. Finally able to take a quick break, I reached into my bag to grab my cell phone and...there was my lunch. I had forgotten to eat my lunch. At first I was flabbergasted. I'd been starving when I went out to get that chili. How had I completely forgotten to eat it? Next I assumed that something must be wrong. Was I feeling alright? Maybe I was getting sick. Could I be losing my mind? And then I realized, it wasn't me that was the problem--it was my entirely forgettable lunch. Clearly, I needed to kick things up a notch. Enter this White Chicken Chili from Eat Live Run. In addition to being creamy, spicy and totally delicious, it's also packed with protein and fiber, making it a filling and healthy lunch option. I made a big batch over the weekend and have been toting a cup to work with me each day. Not only have I been remembering to eat, but I've actually been counting the minutes until lunchtime. I think it's safe to say that the forgettable deli chili is history.

White Chicken Chili

Adapted ever so slightly from Eat Live Run

1 tablespoon canola oil

1 large yellow onion, chopped

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cubed

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 15-ounce cans cannellini beans

2 4-ounce cans diced green chilies (I used one hot and one mild)
14.5 ounces reduced sodium chicken broth

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon oregano

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

1/2 cup half and half

1/4 cup sour cream

Heat the oil in a large pot (I used a dutch oven) over medium-high heat. Add the onion and the chicken and cook until the onion is soft and translucent and the chicken is seared, about six to eight minutes. Add the garlic and continue cooking for another three minutes. Stir in the beans, spices, chicken broth and chilies, and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer the chili, uncovered, for thirty minutes. Remove the chili from the heat and stir in the half and half and the sour cream. Serve warm, topped with additional sour cream, or with other toppings like shredded cheese, chopped onion, avocado or tortilla chips.

red wine caramel apples

2011-11-05T01:35:00.000-04:00

Let me be clear: this is not an early holiday post. Because no matter what the Christmas displays at Duane Reade would have you believe, the holidays are still a long way off. So don't be fooled by the rosy coloring, the curly ribbon and the sweets fit for stocking stuffing. This post is not about kicking off the holiday season.

So what is it about? It's about the apples that linger in my refrigerator each week, left-over from the bushel I haul home from the Greenmarket. About the giant spool of red ribbon in my desk, a remnant of my Little Red Riding Hood Halloween costume. About my need to snack on something sweet every evening while gossiping with my girlfriends over g-chat. But most of all, it's about the fact that as soon as I read the words "red wine caramel" while perusing Epicurious during yesterday's lunch break, I knew that I needed to make some as soon as possible.

Let me repeat that in case you didn't take it in the first time: red wine caramel. As in, my two favorite things in the world combined. Red wine is reduced in a saucepan until it becomes slightly syrupy (and your entire house smells deliciously boozy), and then it's stirred into a simple caramel sauce. The result is a rich, sweet, grown-up version of a childhood favorite that I will be enjoying all winter long. Along with a glass of red wine, naturally.

Red Wine Caramel Apples

Recipe from Gourmet, October 2009

Available via Epicurious

8 apples, stemmed, rinsed, and scrubbed to remove any wax

1 1/2 cups red wine (I used Malbec)

2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup water

6 tablespoons heavy cream

8 wooden sticks or popsicle sticks

Line a tray with a piece of lightly greased wax paper or tinfoil. Insert a wooden stick halfway into each apple. Heat the red wine in a saucepan over medium heat until it is reduced to 1/2 cup, about 8-10 minutes. Set the wine aside to cool.

In a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan, stir the sugar and water over high heat until the sugar dissolves. Then, cook without stirring until the caramel turns a deep amber color, swirling the pan as necessary to make sure it browns evenly (once the caramel starts to turn golden, watch it carefully as it can burn very quickly). Add the wine (careful, the mixture will bubble up) and swirl the pan to incorporate. Add the cream and simmer the mixture until a candy thermometer registers 238 degrees. Remove the pan from the heat and allow the caramel sauce to cool to 200.

Holding the apples by their sticks, dip one at a time into the caramel sauce, rotating each apple until it's coated. Let the excess drip off, and then invert the apple, holding it stick side down (being careful not to let any hot caramel drip on your fingers) so that the caramel distributes evenly over the apple. Place each apple, stick side up, on the prepared tray to cool and solidify, about half an hour.

pumpkin chocolate chip squares

2011-10-28T01:30:00.000-04:00

I can't believe that I let three Octobers pass without telling you about these pumpkin chocolate chip squares. We go back a long way, these pumpkin squares and I. Longtime readers know that before moving to my current apartment, I lived with Julia and her red Kitchen Aid in Morningside Heights. But before that, I lived with another Julia (I know, it gets confusing even for me) in a make-shift two bedroom apartment on the east side. Our living room didn't have any windows and there was only enough space for a love seat, but each holiday season we packed upwards of 30 young twenty-somethings into that tiny apartment for our annual "cookies and cocktails" party. We decorated with greenery and mistletoe, served mulled cider in red solo cups, and baked holiday cookies and other seasonal treats for days. But each year the most sought after item wasn't a peppermint brownie or a Christmas tree cookie or even a candy cane cupcake. Without fail, the first thing to go was always these pumpkin chocolate chip squares. Serving these pumpkin squares became our tradition, and they will forever remind me of the holiday parties we had in that tiny apartment (and of overgrown frat boys spilling beer on my Ikea furniture, but that's another story altogether). Nevertheless, I make them any chance I get, whether it's holiday party season or not. I've made them for a birthday, for a bake sale, for brunch (what can I say--sometimes a girl just needs some cake for breakfast), and now I'm finally making them for you. Packed full of pumpkin, chocolate, and autumnal spices, these cakey squares would be a delicious and seasonal addition to a Halloween party, a fall event, or just an otherwise unexciting Thursday. Lets just try to keep the beer off of the sofa this time. 'Tis the season.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Squares

Recipe From Martha Stewart Living, Available Here

{wanderlust} napa valley recommendations

2011-10-26T00:00:00.000-04:00

Delicious food, beautiful weather, and an endless supply of wine--what better place for a weekend with your girlfriends than Napa Valley? To (finally) finish off my coverage of our trip to California, here are a few of my favorite places that we visited during our weekend in Wine Country. Later this week, it will be back to (almost) all baking all the time.

Churchill Manor: This beautiful inn was historic, quaint and charming, but also sparkling clean and well-equipped. The staff was sweet and welcoming, and the inn was conveniently located within walking distance of downtown Napa.

The French Laundry: You can read a detailed account of my visit to The French Laundry here. The short version? It was extraordinary, the staff could not have been nicer, and I went back the next day to drink champagne in shorts. Seriously.

Ubuntu: Ubuntu is a community focused vegetarian restaurant and yoga studio where we had a delicious, inventive and filling dinner. It was a fun foodie experience, but also light and healthy enough to counterbalance all of the butter, sugar and alcohol we consumed the rest of the weekend. Or so we told ourselves.

Napa Valley Bike Tours: We spent a wonderful day biking through Yountville with the help of Napa Valley Bike Tours. We reserved bikes in advance, and they mapped our route, delivered our picnic lunch, and picked up our purchases so that we didn't have to carry them with us. It was a wonderful way to see some local vineyards and get some exercise at the same time (just remember not to do too much tasting!)

Platypus Tours: We had so much fun touring vineyards from Napa to Saint Helena on our tour with Platypus. Our guide, Jennie, took us to small, family-owned vineyards like Judd's Hill and Arger Martucci that were great spots we never would have found on our own. It was also an easy way to cover lots of ground without having to worry about planning a route (or choosing a designated driver).

chocolate covered graham cookies

2011-10-23T14:29:00.001-04:00

I've never seen the show Hoarders, but if A&E ever shows up at my door, I'll know exactly what they're here for. It's not the shoes, or the bangle bracelets, or even the drawer full of patterned dish towels that keeps getting stuck shut because I've stuffed it too full. It's the cookbooks. Cookbooks from restaurants, cookbooks from trips, cookbooks I've received as gifts. Well-loved cookbooks with dog-eared pages and chocolate splattered covers that I pull down from the shelf at least once a week. New cookbooks with glossy photos and impressive sounding recipes that I daydream about but will probably never actually make.

There's a stack on top of my refrigerator, another on the bar, and a third in the corner of my bedroom. In other words, I don't need any more. But I recently discovered a new kind of cookbook: the souvenir cookbook. If you've been reading my posts on my trip across California, you know that I went to some pretty amazing restaurants and brought home a cookbook as a memento from each one. Putting aside the fact that I had to unpack and repack my suitcase in the middle of the San Francisco airport in order to remove the 14 pounds of cookbook weight I'd accumulated during my vacation, it was a great idea, and one that I think will become a vacation tradition.

I've enjoyed reliving the memories of my California adventure by recreating some of the foods that I ate there. These cookies, which I adapted from The French Laundry, may be simpler than the dishes served up by Chef Keller, but they're still delicious. And I thoroughly enjoyed taking a recipe that may otherwise have been relegated to the inspiring-but-going-to-sit-and-gather-dust pile and make it work for everyday. I made the graham crackers that serve as the base for The French Laundry's Campfire S'Mores, but, rather than sandwich them with marshmallows and chocolate, I cut them into circles and dipped them in melted semi-sweet chocolate. Full disclosure, this recipe was actually published on Epicurious in 2000 rather than in The French Laundry cookbook, but it still took me back to our time in The French Laundry's magical garden. Especially because they were served with champagne.

Chocolate Covered Graham Cookies

Adapted from The French Laundry's Campfire S'mores

2 sticks (16 tablespoon) unsalted butter, softened

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup mild honey

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

pinch salt

1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Beat the butter, sugars and honey in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy, a few minutes. In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the mixer and stir until just combined. Turn the dough out onto a clean, floured surface. Divide the dough in half, and form each half into a ball. Flatten each ball into a disc, wrap each disc in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for an hour. Preheat the oven to 350. Take one disc out of the refrigerator and turn it out onto a clean, floured surface. Flour your rolling pin, and sprinkle some flour on top of the dough as well. Working quickly so that the dough does not get too soft, roll the dough out very thin. Using a fluted biscuit cutter, cut rounds of dough and transfer them to a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone baking liner. Using a popsicle stick, make two holes in each cookie. Use the top of a butter knife to make an indentation down the center of each cookie. Repeat with the remaining disc of dough. Bake the cookies for about 10 minutes, or until they are a deep golden color. Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack to cool completely. Meanwhile, heat the chocolate chips over a double boiler or in the microwave. Dip half of each cookie in the melted chocolate, using the back of a spoon to spread the chocolate and make sure it covers the cookie evenly. Transfer the dipped cookies to the refrigerator so that the chocolate can harden. Remove from the refrigerator an hour or two before serving.

{wanderlust} the french laundry

2011-10-20T08:44:00.000-04:00

This is me. At The French Laundry. In shorts. Don't worry--there's an explanation for how I ended up at the finest restaurant in America so woefully under-dressed. One that involves a fateful phone call, a bicycle and copious amounts of complimentary champagne. But to do the story justice, I have to go back to the beginning of our trip across California. Once upon a time, three girls were on an adventure in a far away land called Los Angeles. There was sightseeing, there was cocktail sipping, there was karaoke (You Don't Own Me, First Wives Club Style. Bring it Diane Keaton.)

While we were in LA, two important things happened. First, we decided to call in a favor and see if we could get ourselves bumped to the top of the waiting list for reservations at the French Laundry. Second, we had a teensy tiny little incident while parking at Runyon Canyon and bumped the front of the Mercedes behind us. (Of course it was a Mercedes. Of course.) There was no visible damage to the vehicle, but being the nice, responsible girls we are, we left a note and our phone number anyways. And then we spent the next 24 hours terrified that the phone would ring and we'd answer it to find the angry Mercedes owner on the other end. (Well, Barbara did anyway. I spent the next 24 hours hoping the phone would ring and we'd answer it to find Ryan (Reynolds or Gosling, it doesn't much matter) on the other end. He'd be calling to tell us that his car was fine but he wanted to thank us for leaving a note anyways and did we want to meet at Chateau Marmont for a drink? Before I knew it, I'd be in the midst of a romantic comedy, dating a movie star, palling around with Sandra Bullock, and undoubtedly falling into a pool at some point because, hey, this is a romantic comedy set at a hotel in Hollywood after all.)

But I digress. The point is that just as we started heading north, the phone finally rang. Barbara and I looked at each other with a mix of dread (her) and excitement (me). But it wasn't the owner of the Mercedes on the phone. (Or Ryan. Or Ryan for that matter.) It was The French Laundry calling to tell us that a spot had opened up for lunch on Friday at 11:30. When Friday rolled around, we could barely contain our excitement. In fact, we were so afraid we were going to be late for Thomas Keller that we left San Francisco at the crack of dawn and arrived at the French Laundry at 10am to find that they were still getting set up for the day.

After strolling around Yountville for a while (we didn't want to be too unfashionably early) we headed back to the restaurant and passed the remainder of the time until our reservation wandering through their incredible garden. (Julia was totally stealing that tomato, by the way.)

And then, it was finally time. What can I say about dining at The French Laundry that hasn't been said before? In a word, it was extraordinary. I don't know how they do it, but this restaurant somehow manages to be impressive, inventive and inspiring without being the slightest bit stuffy or snobby. Actually--I take that back. I do know how they do it and it was all in the service. From the jovial sommelier who joked about making sure we didn't end up too tipsy to our waitress who gave us tips on what else to do in Napa Valley to the Maitre D, Larry, who went above and beyond to make sure we had a good experience (more on that later) everyone took such good care of us that we never wanted to leave. (And almost didn't. More on that later too). What did we eat? Here we go!

When we sat down, we were given a salmon tartare cone (it was literally salmon tartare in an ice crema cone, and it was delicious) as well as the best gougeres I have ever had in my life. Our official menu started with The French Laundry's signature dish, the "Oysters and Pearls," which is pearl tapioca with oysters and caviar. Julia didn't think she liked oysters or caviar until she tried this dish, but by the time she cleaned her plate she was a convert. We washed down our oysters and pearls with some rose champagne.

Next, I had a hearts of palm salad with date "pate," shaved carrots, cashews, coconut gelee and curry, followed by cod with chorizo, corn, artichoke, arugula and spicy tomato emulsion. I almost don't want to mention it here because it was such a non-issue, but because it's important to the story of how I ended up back at the French Laundry in my short-shorts, I will tell you that a small mistake was made with respect to one of Julia's courses. The mistake was caught right away, it was fixed almost instantaneously, and no fewer than four people stopped by our table to tell us how sorry they were for the error. Obviously, we made fast friends with all of them, including Larry, who continued to stop by throughout our meal to see how we were doing.

After the cod came the sweet butter-poached Maine lobster tail with fennel, hazelnuts, watercress, and black truffle and cherry-beet puree. I think I'm prepared to say that the lobster was one of the best things I've ever tasted in my life. The combination of the hazelnuts and the black truffle cherry-beet puree was especially delicious, and I scarfed down the entire thing before I could so much as think about taking a photo. Sorry. After the fish courses, it was time for meat. If you've been reading here for a while, you may know that while I'm certainly not a vegetarian, I don't eat meat very often. So it's really saying something when I tell you that I fell head over heels for the pork jowl with dill pasta, pickled green tomato, mustard greens and Spanish capers, pictured below. While the lobster was stunning, I think that the pork was my favorite dish out of the entire French Laundry experience. I would have eaten five of them if given the chance. Following the pork was lamb with chantarelle mushrooms, peppers, potatoes and red onions.

By this point in the meal, we'd had a lot of wine and a lot of food. We'd also regaled Larry, our waitress, and several others with the tale of how we had driven across the state in a Jeep Wrangler with the top stuck down. (I'm just going to go ahead and venture here that the French Laundry doesn't get many groups of tipsy, twenty-something girls at a typical Friday lunch. Most of those around us seemed to be work colleagues at business lunches (how does one get that kind of job?) or couples on romantic vacations, so I think we were entertaining, to say the least). After soliciting recommendations from the staff on which vineyards to visit on the bike tour we were planning for the next day, it was time for dessert. First on the French Laundry dessert menu was a cheese course, which was a ramp "pain perdu" with sorrel and apple relish. Otherwise known as the best grilled cheese of my life.

We must have all attacked our pain perdu with gusto, because here is what went down next: Larry came over to clear our plates and to chat, and he said, "I can't help but notice you have cleaned all of your plates. Are you still hungry? Are you getting enough to eat?" After a second of stunned silence, we all burst out laughing. "I...meant that as a compliment" he chuckled. We assured him that while we certainly took it as one, we were totally stuffed, and politely declined his offer of an additional cheese course. Needless to say, we spent the next several minutes laughing so hard we had tears running down our cheeks. Remember that time we went to the French Laundry and ate so much they asked us if we required extra courses? Yeah. That happened.

Nevertheless, after a pallet cleanser of watermelon sorbet, an extra, off the menu dessert appeared in front of us. It was the delicious lemon "float," pictured above, and it was accompanied by a glass of dessert wine. Since Barbara was driving, Julia and I did the responsible thing and drank her glass for her. Next up was the dessert we had all ordered--the Chocolate cremeux with banana, candied peanuts, and salted popcorn ice cream. Let me say that again: salted popcorn ice cream. If there's a heaven, this is what is served for dessert.

After the chocolate cremeux, we were served the famous French Laundry "coffee and donuts" which were divine. I'd like a dozen for breakfast tomorrow, please and thank you. Along with the coffee and donuts came chocolates, hazelnut candies, and so much sugar that even I couldn't handle it all. My favorite of the truffles was the peanut butter and jelly (not pictured below, as it was in my belly) and we learned that it was made with Skippy, which is Chef Keller's favorite peanut butter.

There were also shortbread cookies to go. But the best thing we left with wasn't one of the parting gifts. It was an invitation to return. Just before we finished the last of our sweets and made our way back to the car, Larry stopped over at our table and told us that if we wanted to come by the next day post-bike ride for a glass of champagne in the garden, we'd be most welcomed. I don't know if it was the small mistake they made on Julia's cod, the fact that we were apparently among the most enthusiastic eaters The French Laundry has ever seen, or just our wit and charm, but we'd somehow gotten ourselves invited back to the French Laundry.

Needless to say, we practically counted the hours until we could take him up on this generous offer. So after fourteen miles of biking, eight hours in the hot sun, and multiple vineyard visits, we rolled up to the French Laundry. In short shorts. While Barbara had the foresight to bring a dress fit for biking, Julia and I had no such wardrobe options. (And, somehow, between the two of us, couldn't manage to come up with the idea of bringing clothes to change into post-biking and pre-French Laundry. I swear, we really do have law degrees). So that's the story of how I ended up at the French Laundry in shorts.

Despite our attire, they could not have been nicer to us, and we sat in the garden for hours, sipping champagne, watching the staff set up for an outdoor dinner party they were having that night (the table is below) and flipping through the cookbook I bought to commemorate the occasion (that's four in California, for those keeping track). It was magical. So magical that when Larry came out to check on the progress of the party set-up and remarked with a smile, "you're still here!" we told him we were planning to pitch a tent and sleep in the garden. We didn't go quite that far, but it was difficult to drag ourselves away.

Most sincere thanks to Larry and the entire French Laundry Team. Our French Laundry experience was the perfect finish to a perfect trip, and I can't recommend it highly enough. True, it's a serious splurge and the most expensive meal I'll probably ever eat. But to me, the food and the entire dining experience were well worth it. Everyone I've told about our time at the French Laundry has said "Wow--that's a once in a life time experience." My response, "not if I can help it."

{wanderlust} napa valley

2011-10-15T01:21:00.000-04:00

The last stop on our California adventure? Napa Valley of course.

Next week I'll have a very special post on eating in Napa (think Thomas Keller), a recipe, and lots of wine country recommendations. For now, enjoy the view. Happy weekend all. Cheers.

From Top: Grapes and Bottles, St. Helena/A Perfect Patio, Yountville/Pouring, Napa/Corks, St. Helena/Fountain, Napa and Tractor, St. Helena/Me in a Vineyard, Napa/Bouchon Bakery, Yountville/PB&J Macaroon, Yountville/Cinnamon, St. Helena/Gott's Roadside, Napa

{wanderlust} one day in san francisco

2011-10-12T00:13:00.002-04:00

The good news: I went to San Francisco. The bad news: I was there for less than 36 hours. Nevertheless, I still managed to pack in a full schedule of eating and sightseeing. Details from my day in San Francisco are below. Next up is a recap of the fourth and final stop on our girls' trip to California: Napa Valley.

Ferry Building: The Ferry Building is host to gourmet food purveyors galore, making it the perfect place to grab breakfast (yogurt, cottage cheese and fruit from Cowgirl Creamery) and watch the commuters stream into the city. The Ferry Building is also home to an outpost of Blue Bottle Coffee. My expectations were sky high, and I wasn't disappointed. The coffee was so good that I managed to go twice in less than 36 hours.

Telegraph Hill/Coit Tower: After breakfast, we hiked up Telegraph Hill (which took us past some beautiful homes and gardens) to Coit Tower, where we viewed the WPA era murals in the lobby and took the elevator all the way to the top.

Lombard Street: Our next stop was Lombard Street where we watched cars navigate the hairpin turns, took some photos and worked our quads on the steep incline.

Union Street: Seeing as we climbed both Telegraph Hill and Lombard Street before 11am, a leisurely stroll through the shops of Union Street was a welcome break.

Crissy Field/Golden Gate Bridge: No day in San Francisco would be complete without a trip to the Golden Gate Bridge, and Crissy Field was the perfect place to take in the iconic landmark. We did so with our toes in the sand, surrounded by runners, roller bladers and wildlife.

The Mission: After all of that walking, it was finally time for lunch. And what better way to fuel an epic day of sightseeing than a giant mission burrito? We headed to Taqueria Cancun in the Mission and chowed down. Afterwards, we walked around the Mission and took in the murals at Clarion Alley and the Womens' Building.

Zuni Cafe: After a long rest, it was time for dinner. Eating at Zuni was high on my list of Bay Area to-dos, and the chicken alone made it worth the trip. A perfect end to a perfect day in San Francisco!

blueberry citrus scones

2011-10-10T05:00:00.000-04:00

I'm not saying that I planned our entire California trip around where we were going to eat, but I may have made reservations at Zuni Cafe before we had a place to sleep in San Francisco.

And I had certainly decided what I was eating there before our plane ever even left New York. "By the way," I said turning to the non-vegetarian of the two friends I was traveling with. "I made us reservations at Zuni Cafe in San Francisco and you and I will be sharing the roast chicken for two."

If she was taken aback, she didn't let on (by now most of my friends are used to my culinary craziness). And if she harbored any lingering disappointment at being denied the opportunity to chose her own entree, I'm pretty sure it disappeared as soon as the chicken arrived at our table. Zuni's chicken is legendary for being crispy, juicy and flavorful, and it more than lived up to the hype. And the bread salad it was served with? I still think about that bread salad at least three times a week. I obviously bought the cookbook (for those who are keeping count, that's three on this trip so far) and plan on trying to recreate both the chicken and the salad soon.

But first, I wanted to make something we didn't have a chance to sample at Zuni--their scones. The Zuni Cafe scones are made with orange zest and currants, but I substituted some citrus sugar that I had on hand, which was made with lemon, lime and orange zest. I also used dried blueberries instead of currants. I rolled my dough a little too thin, so my scones were more like a biscuity cookie than a proper scone, but they were still rich, flaky and satisfying. Besides, who doesn't love an excuse to eat a cookie for breakfast?

Blueberry Currant Scones

Adapted from Zuni Cafe Cookbook by Judy Rodgers

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup citrus sugar*

2 teaspoons baking powder

pinch salt

1 stick cold unsalted butter

1/4 cup dried blueberries

1/2 extra large beaten egg**

1/4 cup milk

Preheat the oven to 350. Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl and stir to combine. Cut the butter into very small pieces, and, using your fingers, rub the butter into the flower until the mixture forms small clumps the size of peas. Add the blueberries and stir to combine. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg and the milk. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients, and stir until just combined. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and roll into a circle about an inch thick. You can either cut the circle into 6 wedges, or use a fluted biscuit cutter to cut out rounds, as I did. As I mentioned, I rolled my dough too thin and ended up with 8 rather flat (but still delicious) scones. Transfer the scones to a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until firm and golden.

*To make citrus sugar, combine 1/2 cup granulated sugar and a generous pinch of lemon zest, lime zest and orange zest in a jar with a tight fitting lid.

**I halved the original recipe, which called for one large egg. I used an extra large egg, cracked it into a small bowl, and beat it lightly with a fork. Then I measured out half of the beaten egg and combined it with the milk. I discarded the other 1/2 egg.

{wanderlust} if you're going to san francisco

2011-10-07T05:00:00.000-04:00

The third stop on my trip across California was San Francisco. I've been dreaming about going to San Francisco for a long time. What I would eat, where I would go, what I would see and do. But what I loved most about my time in the city was how many beautiful things there were to look at. Here are some scenes from my day in San Francisco. I'll be back with recipes and a full recap of what I did there next week.

From Top: Golden Gate Bridge from Crissy Field/Lombard Street/Stairs to Telegraph Hill/White Flowers on Lombard Street/Purple Flowers/The Mission/Womens' Building

{wanderlust} route one recommendations

2011-10-05T05:00:00.000-04:00

The second leg of our girls' trip to California was a road trip from Los Angeles to San Francisco. The drive can be done in about seven hours, but we decided to spread it over two days to ensure that we would have plenty of time for snacking and sightseeing. Some of my favorite pit stops are detailed below.

Road Trip Snacks

La Super Rica Tacqueria : Julia Child once stood in line at this Santa Barbara taco shack--do you really need to know more than that?

Crill's Salt Water Taffy: For me, no trip to the ocean is complete without a bag of saltwater taffy, and this seaside stand makes their tasty taffy in a variety of flavors.

Chapala: This Morro Bay fish taco spot may be housed in a former gas station, but don't be fooled by the decor--the tacos are great. Don't believe me? The New York Times agrees.

Big Sur Bakery: The gardens are gorgeous, the space quaint and quirky and the pastries delicious (and the cookbook is pretty fabulous, as well). I'm just sorry we couldn't stay for dinner.

Route One Sights

Elephant Seals at Piedras Blancas Rookery: Just north of San Simeon is the Piedras Blancas Rookery, where Elephant Seals come ashore to molt and breed. The seals are huge and playful, and it was fun to watch them napping and lazing in the sand.

Hearst Castle. Just across the street from Piedras Blanca is the Hearst Castle. The castle is supposed to be incredible, and we were disappointed that we arrived too late to take one of the tours. We did however see a heard of zebras, the last of William Randolph Hearst's private zoo, grazing near the side of the highway.

Big Sur: Big Sur is jaw-droppingly beautiful, which made it one of my favorite parts of the drive. The day we passed through it was both sunny and foggy, which made it look as though we were driving through the clouds. The scenery was just incredible and I had to resist the urge to pull over for photos every few minutes or we never would have gotten out of there.

Carmel-by-the-Sea: We chose the charming town of Carmel as our stopping point for the night. A favorite of artists and celebrities (Clint Eastwood was formerly the mayor), Carmel is as upscale as it is low key. There's no shortage of lodging, eating and shopping options here--the stores alone could have kept us occupied for the better part of a day. However, my favorite Carmel experience was the run I took along Scenic Road, which mirrors Carmel's beautiful coastline and passes the spot where the ocean meets the Carmel River. We also grabbed coffee and pastries from one of the bakeries in town and took an early morning walk on the beach before hitting the road.

17 Mile Drive: Just past Carmel is 17 Mile Drive, home to Pebble Beach, amazing mansions, and some truly stunning views. You have to pay a toll for the drive, but we thought it was well worth it.

Monterey Bay Aquarium: This aquarium is all kinds of awesome. We saw sea lions and penguins being fed, pet a stingray, got up close and personal with a giant turtle and much more. A great activity after a day and a half in the car.

apple upside-down cake

2011-10-03T09:56:00.001-04:00

The drive up California's Route 1 was as wonderful as it looked. There was just one problem. Before leaving LA, we sweet talked some boys into helping us put the top down on our rental Wrangler...but we never learned how to put the top back up. Which meant that come blazing sun, cold winds or pouring rain, we were those crazy girls still rocking the convertible. Most of the time this wasn't a big deal--I donned a hat in Malibu to protect my sunburned nose, we turned on the heat near Morro Bay to combat the 40 degree temperature drop, and the rain, thankfully, never materialized. The only issue came when we wanted to stop and explore one of the cute little coastal towns...and had to leave our luggage unprotected in the back seat. Given that it took two of us the better part of twenty minutes to jam that luggage into the back seat in the first place, we toted our valuables in our purses and decided that if anyone really wanted our clothing and toiletries that badly, they were welcome to them. (Provided that they could make off with them without causing a scene that is. We drew a crowd of no fewer than five amused vacationers as we struggled to hoist our suitcases back into the Jeep on day two). Still, because we were basically offering our belongings for the taking each time we made a stop, venturing further than shouting distance from the car was a decision that had to be weighed carefully.

Even so, we didn't think twice about our mid-afternoon snack break at the Big Sur Bakery. In fact, we practically sprinted from the parking lot into the bakery, where we planted ourselves on bar stools and ordered coffee, tea and pastries galore. And where, keeping with tradition, I purchased a cookbook. A cookbook that contained an apple cake that was perfect for Rosh Hashanah. The cake is heavily spiced with nutmeg and vanilla bean, while the caramel apple topping is as rich and sweet as any frosting. It was a welcome addition to our holiday table, but is simple enough to serve as an everyday cake as well. Or, you know, as a snack on a road trip when you're trapped in the car because you don't know how to put the top back up.

Apple Upside-Down Cake

From The Big Sur Bakery Cookbook by Michelle and Phillip Wojtowicz, Michael Gilson & Catherine Price

{wanderlust} the pacific coast highway

2011-10-01T00:00:00.000-04:00

Scenes from a road trip. A road trip that took us out of Los Angeles, and through Malibu, Santa Barbara, Morro Bay, San Simeon, Big Sur, Carmel, Pebble Peach, Monterey and Half Moon Bay until we finally arrived in San Francisco. A road trip that involved some of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen. A road trip that involved themed music mixes (think early morning indie driving music, late afternoon top 40 driving music, and late night I-think-I-need-to-sing-along-to-Abba-at-the top-of-my-lungs-to-stay-awake driving music).

A road trip that involved snack stops for muffins, fish tacos, salt water taffy, more fish tacos, cookies, farm-stand strawberries, clam chowder...I could go on.

A road trip that involved elephant seals and jellyfish and zebras by the side of the highway. Oh my indeed.

A road trip that involved me driving for the first time in a very long time. A road trip that involved simultaneous navigation by no fewer than two GPS systems at any given moment and a giant box of jujufruits stashed in the glove box. In other words, the best road trip ever. Recommendations and recipes from Route 1 coming up next week.

From Top: Beach, San Simeon; Boardwalk, Santa Barbara; Cliffs, Big Sur; Strawberries, Half Moon Bay; Fish Taco, Morro Bay; Farm stand, Half Moon Bay; Elephant Seal, San Simeon; Jellyfish, Monterey Bay Aquarium; Zebras, Hearst Castle; Me in a Jeep, 17 Mile Drive

vote in food & wine magazine's photo contest!

2011-09-28T01:50:00.000-04:00

Hey--that's my photo! I submitted a photo of my Blueberry Buttermilk Cake to Food & Wine Magazine's Beautiful Party Desserts Photo Contest and it's one of the top 5 finalists. But wait, it gets better--the winning photo will be featured in the January issue of the magazine!

To vote, follow this link, select the photo you wish to vote for (my submission is the cake on the far left!) and click the "vote for this photo" button once it loads (it takes a minute). You must be logged in to the Food & Wine website in order to vote, but if you don't want to create a Food & Wine account, you can log in via Facebook, Google, Yahoo, etc. Thanks friends!

{wanderlust} what i did in los angeles

2011-09-27T01:21:00.000-04:00

Our California adventure kicked off in Los Angeles, where we visited my good friend Julia in her new home. We only spent 48 hours in the City of Angels, so I won't pretend to know what's new, what's hip and what can't be missed. What I do know is what I did during those 48 hours that I loved. Much of it involved cruising around town in a Jeep Wrangler, blasting Katy Perry (California Gurls, don't judge) and giggling with my girlfriends, but there was plenty of eating and sightseeing on the agenda as well. Some of my favorite Los Angeles experiences are detailed below.

Food

Lucques: I went to Lucques on Melrose for the Sunday Supper, and it pretty much blew my mind. Everything was so fresh, so well-executed, so simple and yet so elegant, it was almost unbelievable. And I didn't even sample one of their signature cocktails, which are said to be legendary.

Gjelina: Gjelina is a Venice hot spot that gained notoriety for refusing to make an exception to their no substitutions policy for Victoria Beckham. Even though we were there on a Monday night, it was packed with pretty people. The burrata that everyone raves about was good, but it was the kale salad that really left us wanting more. Okay, fine, the kale salad and the butterscotch pot de creme. Sheesh you people are really keeping me honest.

Urth Caffe: We made our way to Urth Caffe for eggs and lattes after a morning hike. The food and coffee were great, and there were lots of healthy options on the menu. We also stood in line with a group of the most attractive fire fighters I've ever seen. In fact, they were so pretty that we couldn't figure out whether they were actual fire fighters, or actors taking a break from a fire fighter movie filming nearby (only in LA).

Clementine Bakery: We hit up Clementine Bakery on our way out of town for some homemade muffins and Intellegentsia coffee to take on the road. My muffin was delicious, and Clementine's menu was impressive. If I had more time to spend in LA I definitely would have returned to this cute cafe to lunch on a grilled cheese sandwich.

Activities

The Getty Center: Our first stop in LA was the Getty Center. The Getty is of course a great place to check out some art, but it's also a wonderful spot to wander around, hang out outside, and enjoy some beautiful views of LA.

Runyon Canyon: We woke up early Monday morning and headed to Runyon Canyon. It was fun to do something active on our vacation, the view was beautiful (hello Hollywood sign) and there was great people (and puppy) watching to boot. Best of all, I didn't see this until after we finished our hike.

plum tarte tatin

2011-09-22T10:07:00.001-04:00

I arrived in Los Angeles at noon on a Sunday. Less than an hour later, I was devouring an animal style burger and a batch of well-done fries at In 'N Out (Can you tell that I spent the last leg of the plane ride studying the secret menu?) And it was good. In fact, I was afraid it was too good. As I sat there shoveling grilled onions into my mouth, I started to suspect that despite my high hopes for California cuisine, dozens of dinner reservations and meticulously mapped out must-eats, the best thing I would taste the entire trip would be that fast food burger. Well, no offense to In 'N Out, but I was quite happily proven wrong just a few hours later. After spending the afternoon visiting the Getty Center, the Hollywood sign, and Julia's new house, we made our way to Lucques, where each week Suzanne Goin and her staff prepare a seasonally inspired three course Sunday Super.

We started out with almonds, green olives, and some remarkably good house made sourdough before moving on to our first course, a salad of baby gem lettuces with green beans, cherry tomatoes, mint and ginger lime vinaigrette. My salad was wonderful, but at this point, I think In 'N Out still had a slight edge (what can I say--I really love a good burger). Then came the main course. We had a choice of two entrees, and I selected the pan-roasted market fish with fennel potato gratin, green olives and lima bean yogurt. Without question, it was some of the best fish I've ever tasted. It wasn't that the flavors were anything outrageous--in fact, the dish was quite simple. However everything was executed perfectly.

Within minutes, I was licking my plate clean and In 'N Out had fallen to a distant second on my list of California culinary treasures. (And that was before I even tasted the dessert, a caramel nut tart with bittersweet chocolate, fleur de sel and coffee ice cream). Needless to say, I couldn't leave without purchasing a copy of Suzanne Goin's cookbook, Sunday Suppers at Lucques. I also decided to kick off a tradition of buying a cookbook on each leg of our California adventure (a tradition that ended with me on the floor of the San Francisco airport ten days later frantically pulling things out of my suitcase, which by that point was 17 pounds of cookbooks over the weight limit).

The cookbook is divided into seasons, and I immediately turned to summer, determined to sneak one last recipe in before fall strengthens its hold. After much deliberation, I chose this plum tarte tatin. A tarte tatin is a tarte that is prepared upside down. The fruit (traditionally apple) is caramelized in butter and sugar before being topped with puff pastry. The whole thing is baked in a cast iron skillet, and inverted just before serving. This version, made with plums instead of the traditional apples, turned out better than I'd ever imagined and reminded me of everything I loved about the restaurant. It's something simple and unpretentious elevated by the power of fresh ingredients and spot-on technique into something elegant and impressive. In other words, totally better than In 'N Out, which is saying a lot--do you really need to know more than that?

A quick note: A photo of my Blueberry Buttermilk Cake is a finalist in the Food & Wine Magazine Dessert Photo Contest. The winning photo will be featured in the January issue of the magazine! To vote, go to this link, select your favorite photo (mine is the one on the far left), and click the blue "vote for this photo" button (it takes a little while to load). You have to be logged in to Food & Wine to vote, but can log in via your Facebook or Gmail account. Thank you!

Plum Tart Tatin
From Sunday Suppers at Lucques by Suzanne Goin

3 lbs plums
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 sheet frozen, all butter puff pastry
1 egg, lightly beaten
creme fraiche, for topping

Cut the plums in half and remove the pits. Toss the plum halves with 1/4 cup of the sugar and let them stand for at least 30 minutes.

Place a 10 inch cast iron skillet (or another heavy-bottomed pan that can be transferred from the stove to the oven) on the stove over medium heat and add the butter. Once the butter is melted and foamy, add 3/4 cup sugar and cook, swirling the pan regularly, until the caramel is a deep golden color (this should take about six minutes). Remove the pan from the heat and let the caramel cool in the pan for 20 minutes.

Drain the plums, reserving their juices for a future recipe such as a cocktail.* Arrange the plum halves, cut side down, in the skillet of caramel, overlapping them slightly in order to pack in as much fruit as possible (they will shrink when cooked). Note that I cut a few plum halves to fit them into the center of the pan. Return the pan to the heat and cook over medium-low for 20 minutes without stirring or touching the fruit at all. Let the plums and caramel cool before proceeding to the next step (Suzanne Goin recommends putting the pan in the refrigerator for two hours).

When you are ready to bake the tarte, preheat the oven to 375, and remove the puff pastry from the freezer, allowing it to thaw just to the point where it's malleable. Cut an eleven inch circle from the puff pastry and place it over the top of the plums. Pierce the pastry a few times with a fork, and brush it with the beaten egg. Sprinkle the remaining two tablespoons of sugar over the top, and bake the tarte for 45-55 minutes, until the pastry is golden and cooked through.

Just before serving, invert the tarte onto a serving platter. Serve topped with creme fraiche.

*After 30 minutes, my plums had not given off much juice. I proceeded with the recipe anyway, but wish I would have let them sit for a while longer. Plums are very juicy fruits, and when I went to invert my tart after baking, there was so much liquid in the pan that it both made a huge mess on my counter, and caused my puff pastry to get soggy. It was still delicious, but don't make the same mistake I did. Be patient.

{wanderlust} city of angels

2011-09-16T02:00:00.000-04:00

Last month, I took a trip across California. I didn't see any celebrities (at least not until I arrived back at JFK and spotted Emma Roberts at baggage claim) but I had a wonderful time eating, drinking, sightseeing, eating again, road-tripping, eating some more, taking pictures, dipping my toes in the ocean, and did I mention eating? Here are some favorite snapshots from our first stop: Los Angeles. Over the next few weeks, I will be sharing photos, recommendations, and recipes from my time on the west coast.

From Top: Cacti; The Hollywood Sign; Good Morning Los Angeles; Legs; The Getty Center; The Santa Monica Pier; The Top of Runyon Canyon

{wanderlust} minnesota state fair

2011-09-12T23:20:00.000-04:00

As promised, here are some snapshots from the Minnesota State Fair. We cooed at baby animals, watched busts being carved of butter, attended a lumberjack show, and ate more fried foods than I ever thought possible (many of them on a stick). I also asserted my skee ball dominance, winning a stuffed animal at the midway. In other words, it was the perfect day.

From Top:

Tom Thumb Mini-Donuts/Grandstand/Mom's First (of 3) Sno-cones/Pork Chops on a Stick/Funnel Cake/Swine Barn/Dairy Barn Malt/Horse Barn/Footlong Hotdog/Baby Lamb/Lumberjack Competition/Swings

peach white chocolate frozen yogurt

2011-09-08T00:01:00.000-04:00

Dear September: You can have my white shorts, my flip flop tan, and my glass of rose. I'll even throw in the iced coffees if it comes to that. But my ice cream? You're not getting that one without a fight. I know that Labor Day has come and gone, but I plan on continuing to enjoy my nightly frozen treat well into the fall and winter. When it grows so cold that my mitten-clad-fingers can't fathom holding that icy bowl, then maybe we'll talk about making a trade for tea cakes and hot toddys. But for now, I'll continue mixing up batches of this peach white chocolate frozen yogurt, and I suggest you tell September that you'll be doing the same. It will be October soon enough.

Peach White Chocolate Frozen Yogurt

This isn't much of a recipe, but here's what I did: I mixed up a batch of peach frozen yogurt (I used a method similar to this one), and when it was finished churning, I stirred in half a cup of high quality chopped white chocolate. That's it! A simple and tasty late summer treat.

{wanderlust} amalfi recommendations

2011-09-07T00:17:00.002-04:00

To round out my coverage of our Italian adventure, below are some recommendations for the Amalfi Coast. Truth be told, I spent much of our stay right here, but nevertheless, I still have a few favorite spots. Our home base was Praiano, a small town outside of Positano, so many of my picks are centered there. Feel free to email me for more ideas if you're planning a trip to the area (and feel free to consider taking me with you? I want to go back!)

Restaurant

Bar Mare Petit: Simply one of the best restaurant experience I've ever had. It doesn't look like much (in fact, we wondered if we were in the right place) but the food and hospitality are unparalleled. We were greeted by Salvatore, who served us house wine and delicious eggplant, peppers and tomatoes from his father's garden. (His father, by the way, is 77 and still climbs 250 stairs to and from his garden every day to pick the vegetables for the restaurant). Next, we ate ricotta gnocchi and spaghetti al vongole, which were handmade by "Mama", who has been fishing and cooking in the area since she was a girl. To finish, Mama brought us a slice of cake and some of her homemade limoncello, which we enjoyed alongside her. Trust me on this one--you simply must go if you are near Praiano.

Hotel

Casa Angelina: A beautiful and modern boutique hotel built into the cliffs of Praiano. Our room was small but clean and well appointed, and everyone at the hotel was incredibly friendly, welcoming, and made sure that we had a wonderful vacation. Like most hotels on the coast, the beach is quite a hike from the main building, but there is an elevator that takes you part of the way there. (They also serve delicious zucchini fries on the beach, which make the trek worth it). We also loved that we could walk from the hotel to several of the restaurants in town, instead of having to take taxis everywhere.

Cultural and Historical Sites

Ravello: Ravello was my favorite of the coastal towns we visited. Quaint, charming and stunningly beautiful, visiting Ravello feels like stepping back in time. We spent an entire afternoon wandering its cobblestone streets, and could have spent days in the gardens at the picturesque Villa Cimbrone (where there is also a restaurant and a hotel). Villa Rufolo was lovely as well (and hosts concerts throughout the summer that we heard are fabulous and quite popular) but if you only have time for one Villa, make it Cimbrone.

Pompeii: We were blown away by Pompeii, which is a couple of hours from Positano by car. We took a guided tour of the ancient city, which I would highly recommend since Pompeii is huge and could be overwhelming to navigate on your own.

Capri:We took a day trip to Capri, but I recommend staying overnight if possible. Even if you catch the first ferry there and the last ferry back, one day isn't enough time to explore the entire island. That being the case, we stuck to Capritown, but I would love to go back and see Anacapri one day. In Capritown, we toured The Blue Grotto (which is exactly as everyone says it is--touristy and crowded but a must-do all the same), ate at Pullali Wine Bar, and strolled through the town.

doughnut peach doughnuts

2011-08-31T20:05:00.000-04:00

I may have left Minnesota eleven years ago (Eleven! Has it really been that long?) but I still consider myself a Midwesterner at heart. I'll admit that Minnesota does at times seem like a strange and far away land now that I'm a (subway) card-carrying Manhattanite. But when I first arrived on the East Coast, I couldn't figure out why my hometown was of such interest to my college classmates. In fact, I spent the better part of my freshman year trying to convince my new friends that yes, there is a difference between Minnesota and Montana, no I didn't grow up on a farm and no, I most certainly did not talk like the characters from the movie Fargo. (I also spent the better part of that year avoiding words like bag, tag and rag so as not to disprove that last claim).

The truth is, growing up in the suburbs anywhere is not much different than growing up in the suburbs everywhere else. Sure, Minnesotans may be a bit nicer, a bit less aggressive, and a bit more predisposed to adding mayonnaise to our salads than our east coast counterparts. But besides the smiling TSA agents at the airport, the Starbucks barristas cheerfully offering to remake your drink if it's not perfect, and the millions of drivers afraid to use their horns for fear of being rude, Minnesota is pretty much like anywhere else in the country.

Except for one thing. The Minnesota State Fair. Arguably the biggest and best state fair in the country, the Great Minnesota Get-Together (yes, they really call it that) is a part of my childhood that I find my East Coast counterparts just can't relate to. Which is really a shame. The fair was fun, it was exciting, and it served as the backdrop for some of my most significant summer memories. My mom took me to my first concert, Tiffany and the New Kids on the Block, at the Grandstand in 1989. I ate so much saltwater taffy the summer of 1993 that I learned that you really can have too much of a good thing. I sat on a bench outside of the haunted house in 1998 and cried over my first real broken heart, listening as my friends shrieked wildly inside. I rode home with an older counselor from the summer camp where I worked in 2000, and he told me stories about what college would really be like.

I may wear little black dresses, paint my fingernails trendy colors and navigate the F-train like a native New Yorker, but don't be fooled--come late August, there's no where I'd rather be than the Minnesota State Fair. In fact, I find that the Fair is somewhat of a litmus test for me when it comes to people. That is, if you can listen to me talk about Princess Kay of the Milky Way, the Miracle of Birth Barn, and the number of foods on a stick (81 at last count!) without being at least the slightest bit charmed, we're probably not going to get along. (I mean come on, she gets her portrait carved in butter people!) Later this week, my brother and I will be making our annual Labor Day pilgrimage to Minnesota, and a trip to the Fair is always on the agenda. I promise to post some pictures when I get back so that you can see it in all of its glory for yourselves, but while I'm away, I thought it was only appropriate to leave you with something deep fried to set the mood.

So I turned a peach into a doughnut. Or a doughnut into a peach? It's a bit of a chicken and egg conundrum, but here's how it all went down: doughnut peach met beer batter, beer battered peach met hot oil, deep fried peach met cinnamon and sugar, and doughnut peach doughnut met my very happy stomach. The idea of the doughnut peach doughnut comes from Lunch at Sixpoint and, in a word, it's genius. The outside of the doughnut is crispy and sweet, but the peach stays firm and juicy. It's a brilliant melding of fresh fruit and fried food that would be just as at home on a breakfast table in Manhattan as it would be on a stick at the Minnesota State Fair.

Doughnut Peach Doughnuts

Adapted from Lunch at Sixpoint

6 doughnut peaches

1 egg

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup beer

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

about 4 cups canola oil (or enough to submerge)

For the Topping:

1/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

Use a sharp knife to remove the pits from the peaches by cutting a hole in the center of each fruit, taking care to keep the rest of it intact. Stir together the flour, sugar and salt. Add the egg and the beer, and whisk until just combined. If the batter seems too thick, you can add some additional beer (don't worry--you won't taste it). Dunk the peaches in the batter, coating each fruit. Heat the oil until it reaches 375 degrees on a deep-fry thermometer (you can also test the oil by dropping a dab of batter into it--it should sizzle and turn golden brown within a couple of seconds). Transfer two peaches into the oil, being very careful not to burn yourself, as the oil might splatter. Don't look away, as the peaches will cook very quickly. In just a few seconds (5-10), the peaches should be golden brown. Remove them from the oil, again taking care not to burn yourself, and transfer to paper towel lined plates to drain off excess oil. Repeat with the remaining peaches, frying them two at a time.

For the topping, mix together the cinnamon and sugar, and sprinkle some over each side of the doughnuts. Alternately, you can press each side of the doughnut into the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Let the doughnuts stand until they are cool enough to eat, and then enjoy!

{wanderlust} rome recommendations

2011-08-24T03:03:00.000-04:00

For those who may be planning future travels to Rome, below is a listing of a few of my favorite places and experiences from our trip to the Eternal City. This is by no means meant to be a comprehensive guide--in fact, I've intentionally left out most of the popular attractions. Instead, my intent was to share some perhaps lesser known spots that I was happy to have found. If you want to know more, feel free to email me. Buon Viaggio!

Art, Architecture and Cultural Sites

San Luigi dei Francesci: This church near Piazza Navona is home to Carravaggio's masterpiece, The Calling of St. Matthew. The work is among Carravaggio's most famous, and it was incredible to see it in such an intimate setting. Definitely worth seeking out if you are an art lover, or if you are interested in seeing the work of one of Rome's most famous painters but don't want to devote a whole half-day to the Galleria Borghese. There are two other Carravaggios depicting the life of St. Matthew in this church, as well.

Santa Maria in Trastevere: This Basilica in the Trastevere was among the most beautiful churches we saw in Italy. The interior is covered in stunning mosaics depicting the life of The Virgin Mary. It's also located in a square in what I found to be the most charming neighborhood of Rome, the Trastevere.

Great Synagogue of Rome: I was enthralled by the entire Jewish Ghetto, but, most of all, this Synagogue, which is far and away the most beautiful and impressive synagogue I've ever seen in my life. It is only accessible via a guided tour, but the tours are short, informative, and leave from the museum in the Ghetto every hour.

Food and Drink:

Pasticceria Zi Boccione: A hidden bakery in the Jewish Ghetto churning out pastries that are snatched up by Rome's Jews and Gentiles alike. I went around 2pm on a Sunday afternoon and nearly everything was already sold out. However, I did manage to procure a cinnamon almond biscotti, some roasted pumpkin seeds, and "pizza ebraica," which was a slightly sweet dough studded with dried and candied fruits, almonds and pine nuts. Everything was delicious.

Camponeschi Wine Bar: We ended a very long day of walking with cocktails at this bar in Piazza Farnese. The wine bar is the casual companion to the more upscale restaurant next door, and we had a wonderful time here sipping our drinks, watching the sunset on the piazza, and enjoying some of the most spectacular people watching I've ever seen (and I live in Soho).

Tazza d'Oro: The coffee in the airports in Italy was better than most of what you can get in New York, so it's not hard to find a fantastic caffeine fix in Rome. However, the Granita di Caffe Con Panna at Tazza d'Oro is an amazing breakfast or snack that puts the frappuccino to shame. Layers of espresso granita are alternated with rich whipped cream, and the whole thing is served with a tiny spoon, like a sundae.

Camp di Fiori Market: This restaurant and bar filled square is home to one of Rome's largest outdoor markets Monday through Saturday from 7am-1pm. Fruits, vegetables, flowers, fish, oil, vinegar, honey, and kitchen wares are for sale here. While I think my local market is more impressive (I'm totally biased), I always enjoy seeing how others shop and eat. The Campo di Fiori market was also home to the most beautiful artichokes I've ever seen.

Taverna dei Mercanti: We had a simple but great pizza at this picturesque if a bit touristy restaurant in the Trastevere.

Tours and Experiences:

Cooking Classes in Rome: You can read about my experience at this Cooking Class in the Trastevere here.

Rome Photo Tours: A walking tour slash roving photo lesson led by a professional photographer. Each tour is a little different, but on mine we covered the best angles from which to shoot Rome's most famous monuments as well as my guide's favorite side streets, window boxes, and corner cafes. I thought that the tour was wonderful. It was so helpful to have someone on hand to answer my photography questions in real time, and I learned some great tips from Gemma, my guide. It was also fun to get to walk around the city for a few hours with someone who actually lives there.

blueberry buttermilk cake

2011-08-21T02:38:00.002-04:00

It's been a long week in my house (okay, my apartment). On Monday, my cleaning lady arrived unexpectedly. At 8am. While I was still in bed sleeping. Did I mention that I live in a studio? Aaaawkward.

On Tuesday I had a total pie failure (tough whole wheat crust) and broke a wine glass while doing the dishes. On Wednesday I shattered a beer bottle all over my kitchen floor while making beer batter, and on Thursday I made another failed pie (this time it was the filling that let me down).

While none of these events posed actual problems (besides the fact that my cleaning lady now knows I sleep in a Juan's Surf Shop t-shirt), by Friday, I was in dire need of some good kitchen karma. I didn't want anything fancy--I just wanted something good.

So I turned to an everyday cake. The kind of cake that is plain but perfect. I made it in the morning, before work, and had a giant slice for breakfast. Needless to say, my weekend is off to a good start. Though I'll be dead bolting my front door tomorrow just in case.

Blueberry Buttermilk Cake
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Recipe Notes: I swapped out raspberries for blueberries and made one and a half times the recipe, which I baked in a springform pan. I also omitted the lemon zest, but made some ginger syrup to drizzle over the top of the finished cake.

{wanderlust} living la dolce vita on the amalfi coast

2011-08-13T17:17:00.002-04:00

I had a long week (lawyer stuff) that left me dreaming about a vacation. My last vacation to be exact. In addition to Rome, we went to the Amalfi coast, where I sipped Americanos, swam in the Mediterranean, and tore through trashy novels. Since lounging beneath one of these orange umbrellas for all of eternity isn't really an option at the moment, I'm going to use these photos as inspiration and try to bring some vacation-like-touches to my working weekend.

From Top:
Umbrellas in Praiano, Italy/Hotel Caruso, Ravello, Italy/A sunset Americano, Praiano, Italy/Pasta, Amalfi, Italy/Catch of the Day, Praiano, Italy/Sailboats, Praiano, Italy/The Port, Positano, Italy

peanut butter pie for mikey

2011-08-12T14:54:00.003-04:00

Last weekend, Brooklyn food writer Jennie Perillo lost her husband, Mikey. It happened suddenly. Without warning. Without time for goodbye. Without time for peanut butter pie.

There has been an outpouring of love and support for Jennie and her young daughters on the internet. And in a beautiful and brave post, Jennie asked that those looking for a way to help make this peanut butter pie, one of Mikey's favorites, in his honor today. Jennie wrote that she'd been meaning to make this pie for Mikey again soon, but hadn't gotten around to it. "Share it with someone you love," she wrote, "Then hug them like there's no tomorrow." I haven't met my Mikey yet, so I can't share this pie with him. But I will share it with my family, with my friends, and you'd better believe I'll be eating a big old slice of it myself.

I'm also going to use this pie as a reminder not to put things off until tomorrow. To do things, both big and small, today. Say hi to the cute stranger in the elevator. Bring your coworker cookies. Pick up the phone and say I'm sorry. Say I love you. Say whatever it is you've been meaning to say. Pay for your neighbor's latte. Call your mother. Smile at a stranger. Turn up the cheesy pop music and sing along. Buy flowers for no reason. Do it. Whatever your peanut butter pie is, do it today.

No one knows what tomorrow will bring. So in honor of Jennie and of Mikey, lets all vow to make today as sweet as possible. With chocolate, with peanut butter, and, most importantly, with love.

Peanut Butter Pie
Adapted from In Jennie's Kitchen

For the Crust
8 oz chocolate graham crackers
4 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted
4 oz unsalted butter, melted
pinch sea salt

For the Peanut Butter Layer
8 oz cream cheese
1 cup smooth peanut butter
1 cup confectioner's sugar
1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 cups heavy cream

For Topping
4 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted
1 cup heavy cream
roasted, salted peanuts

Pulse the graham crackers in a food processor until ground into crumbs. Pour the crumbs into a bowl, add the melted butter, melted chocolate and salt and stir with a fork to blend. Press into the bottom and up the sides of a springform pan, and put the pan in the refrigerator while you prepare the filling.

Beat 1 cup of heavy cream to stiff peak stage, then transfer the whipped cream to the refrigerator until you're ready to use it. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and peanut butter until light and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl, and gradually add the confectioner's sugar. Scrape down the bowl again, and add the sweetened condensed milk. Add the vanilla and the lemon juice and mix for a couple of minutes until well blended. Fold in the whipped cream, and pour the filling into your springform pan. Refrigerate for a few hours, or overnight.

Melt the remaining 4 oz of semi-sweet chocolate, and let it cool a bit. Pour the chocolate over the chilled pie, and use an offset spatula to spread it to the edges. Chill until the chocolate layer is firm. Whip the additional cup of heavy cream, and mound it on top of the pie just before serving. Sprinkle peanuts over the top. Enjoy with someone you love.

blueberry swirl ice pops

2011-08-07T22:15:00.000-04:00

My sweet tooth isn't a secret to anyone I know (or to anyone I don't for that matter--I do have a baking blog after all). But come summer, I totally eschew cookies and cupcakes and candies, and it's not in the interest of fitting into a cute pair of cutoffs. No, it's because once the hot weather hits, I have a single minded sweet tooth: I want ice cream, and I want it all the time.

But for the sake of a little variety (and those cute cutoffs) I'm adding frozen yogurt into the mix. Specifically, these blueberry swirl ice pops. Sweet, creamy and portable to boot they're a delicious and semi-healthy way to get my daily ice cream fix. And given that the two main ingredients, blueberries and Greek yogurt, are breakfast staples in my house, I may just be eating them three times a day.

Blueberry Swirl Ice Pops

Recipe from Everyday Food's Special Summer Issue

1 cup fresh blueberries

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup low fat plain Greek yogurt (I used 2%)

1 cup heavy cream

Combine blueberries and 1/4 cup of the sugar in a heavy saucepan and place over medium to high heat. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce and simmer for about five minutes, periodically using a wooden spoon to crush the blueberries against the side of the pan. When the mixture is syrupy, remove it from the heat, and place it in a bowl in the refrigerator to cool.

In a separate bowl, mix together the yogurt, cream and remaining sugar until the sugar has dissolved.

Pour the mixtures into Popsicle molds (I used Dixie cups) alternating layers of the yogurt mixture with layers of the blueberry mixture. Use a knife to swirl the yogurt and the blueberries together in an up and down motion. Place Popsicle sticks (I used cute straws I'd cut in half) in the center of each mold, and freeze until solid, about five hours or up to two weeks.

whole wheat sour cherry hand pies

2011-08-01T12:14:00.002-04:00

The past two weekends I've been lucky enough to travel to amazing places to see even more amazing friends (and their too-adorable-for-words babies). We caught up over coffee, ate at trendy restaurants, visited important landmarks, and even went kayaking.

And yet, even though I was having a fabulous time, I woke up both Saturday mornings, thinking "I wonder what's going on at the Greenmarket? Am I missing the end of sour cherry season?" Who have I become?

Clearly I have a problem. Fear of Missing Out, Farmer's Market edition.

The low point came at dinner last Saturday night, when our less than stellar server informed my friend that her requested cocktail couldn't be prepared because the restaurant was out of strawberries. "How can they be out of strawberries?" wondered a member of our party out loud. "It's strawberry season." "No it's not!" I cried, my voice practically rising to a shriek. "Strawberry season is over and I missed the end of it!" Yeah. I'm the life of the party you guys.

But you should still invite me to your next dinner party, because I promise to bring you something delicious for dessert. Something like these whole wheat sour cherry hand pies. For the uninitiated, sour cherries are a softer, tarter version of sweet variety we're used to seeing, and they have an entirely different flavor that I liken to cherry Jolly Ranchers. Their season is incredibly short, spanning only parts of June and July, and, at least here in New York, they cause a veritable frenzy when they appear at the Greenmaket each summer. Most people find them too sour to eat raw, but I think they're delicious that way. They are also delicious in these hand pies, which are rustic, cute and, most importantly, extremely tasty. But you can't have any until next summer, because now I'm out of sour cherries.

Whole Wheat Sour Cherry Hand Pies

For the Pie Crust: I used this recipe from Whole Foods, but added a tablespoon of sugar to the flour and salt. I spaced out while I was making these (not that I was watching The Bachelorette while baking again or anything...) and grabbed the whole wheat flour instead of the whole wheat pastry flour, so my crust was a little tougher than it would have been otherwise. My pies were still tasty, but I don't recommend making the same mistake and would like to try this again using the correct flour. After I rolled out the dough, I used a large circular biscuit cutter (about four and a half inches in diameter) to cut circles of dough. I got about 12, re-rolling the scraps one time.

For the Filling: I tossed a little over a pound (around two and a half cups) of pitted sour cherries (I just got a cherry pitter and it is the best. thing. ever.) with half a cup of sugar, a tablespoon and a half of corn starch, two teaspoons of lemon juice, 1/4 a teaspoon of freshly grated ginger and 1/4 a teaspoon of vanilla extract. I let the mixture sit while I made the dough, and tasted it to make sure the balance of sweet and tarte (see what I did there?) was to my liking before assembling the pies. I suggest you do the same.

To Assemble the Hand pies: Mound 1-2 tablespoons of filling in the center of each piece of dough. Brush a bit of cold water around the edges of each circle before folding it in half to create a half moon shape. Press down to seal the edges, and use the tines of a fork to create a decorative pattern. At this point, I chilled the hand pies for about thirty minutes. Next, using a sharp knife, make two slits in the top of each pie. Beat an egg yolk with a tablespoon or two of water or milk, and brush some of the egg wash over the top of each pie. Sprinkle the pies with sugar, and bake at 375 for about 20 minutes, or until the crust is golden and the filling is bubbling. Allow the pies to cool before serving (with vanilla ice cream, if desired).

what i ate wednesday

2011-07-28T09:29:00.000-04:00

When I tell people that I like to bake, nine times out of ten, they respond with something akin to, "well me too but if I did it often I'd weigh 300 pounds." Believe me, I hear you. An endless parade of pastries does not a bikini body make. But just because I like to bake doesn't mean that I subsist solely on sugar. Sure I have a monster sweet tooth. And I do eat dessert nearly every single day. But contrary to popular belief, sweets make up a small percentage of my otherwise healthy diet. To prove it, I thought that it would be fun to participate in the "What I Ate Wednesday" feature that's been going around the blogs lately. So yesterday morning on my way out the door, I grabbed my camera to photograph my day in food. First up was the breakfast you see above: Greek yogurt topped with blueberries, mango, sliced almonds and chia seeds, and coffee with a splash of half and half.

A few weeks ago when I was in Colorado visiting a friend, I grabbed what I thought was an orange from the breakfast buffet at my hotel and tossed it into my bag for later. But when I pulled it out in the middle of a hike, I realized I'd grabbed a grapefruit by mistake. After she laughed at me for a full five minutes, my friend suggested we peel it like an orange and eat it anyways. And it was delicious. So I picked up a few grapefruits at Whole Foods (on purpose this time) and ate this one for my morning snack. The downside is that it was pretty messy. The upside is that I'm pretty sure my desk is going to smell like grapefruit for at least a week.

Lunch was a salad from a take out spot near my office. I had high hopes of making a watermelon and feta salad, but they were out of watermelon, so I went with tomato, cucumber, red onion, feta and grapes instead.

I'm not typically a big vegetable juice person, but I'm addicted to the all greens with apple, lemon and ginger from liquiteria here in New York.

My afternoon snack also included this freeze-dried pineapple from Whole Foods. This stuff is amazingly delicious, and the only ingredient is pineapple (I've had the banana too and it's equally good). However, it costs about a million dollars a bag so I suggest steering clear unless you want to develop a very expensive habit. Don't say I didn't warn you.

I hosted fajita night at my apartment Tuesday night and had the leftovers for dinner on Wednesday. This is a very messy plate consisting of corn tortilla, chicken, peppers, onions, corn and black bean salad, guacamole and salsa. On the side is sparkling water with lime.

And of course, dessert. Tonight I had banana soft serve mixed with a bit of leftover chocolate sorbet and topped with peanut butter and chocolate chips. So there you have it. A day in the food life of a baking blogger. Tomorrow it's back to chocolate for breakfast (just kidding, I swear).

{twd} creamy dark chocolate sorbet

2011-07-26T00:46:00.003-04:00

I'm late for things. A lot. It's a bad habit, I know, and one that I've been trying to work on. But try as I might, I can't seem to trash the tardiness trend. To illustrate, here's a list of things I've been late for in no particular order: my own entry into the world (10 days), my 30th birthday party (10 minutes), my office this morning (somewhere in between but I'm not disclosing the details on the internet).

Which is all to say that I was in a bit of a rush when I snapped the above photo of this chocolate sorbet on my way to work. (And I didn't yet know the half of it. See that girl reflected in the spoon there? She's about to make a mad dash for the subway only to discover that she brought all of her nice shoes home from the office last week and that she must chose between returning to her apartment to retrieve a pair, thus increasing her lateness, or wearing her rattiest rainbows around the office all day.) But don't let the fact that this on-the-fly photo isn't the prettiest I've ever posted dissuade you from making this sorbet. True to its name, it's creamy, it's chocolatey, and, unlike most other homemade ice creams, it retains a firm but scoopable consistency when frozen. It wasn't rock hard, even after a full 24 hours in the freezer, yet it didn't melt into a puddle within seconds of being heaped into a bowl, either. And did I mention that it comes together quickly and with only four ingredients? The perfect thing to have on hand when you're late for dessert. Which, by the way, is the one thing for which I'm always on time.

A huge thanks to Steph of A Whisk and a Spoon (a great blog you should check out if you're not reading it already!) for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie pick. This is one of my favorite recipes to date, and one I know I will make again and again. If you want to make this sorbet yourself (and, trust me, you do) you can find the recipe here.

ricotta stuffed squash blossoms

2011-07-21T01:22:00.006-04:00

At my cooking class in Rome, I ate so much of our first course, fried squash blossoms, that I was almost too full to enjoy the rest of the meal. (Just how many squash blossoms did I eat? Well if you must know, I had three. Fine, it was more like four. And a half.) Even so, the dish was so delicious that I didn't regret my blossom binge in the least. So it should come as no surprise that the first thing I wanted to make when I returned to New York was my own version of stuffed squash blossoms. While Chef Andrea stuffed his with prosciutto and mozzarella, I decided to base my filling around some fresh local ricotta that I picked up at the Greenmarket.

To make the filling, I mixed half a cup of ricotta with two minced cloves of garlic, half a teaspoon of lemon zest, a hefty pinch of salt, and four chopped basil leaves. To prep the squash blossoms for stuffing, start by trimming their stems and removing the prickly outer leaves from the base of the blossoms. Chef Andrea said there was no need to wash the blossoms, but I still looked mine over to make sure they were free of bugs and dirt. Next, remove the pistel by opening the blossom and pinching out the bud that you see in the center, taking care not to tear the flower.

After your blossoms have been prepped, fill them with the ricotta mixture (a piping bag works well here). Do not over-stuff your blossoms or they may burst open while cooking (a lesson I learned the hard way). Once your blossoms are ready to go, it's time to prepare the batter. Chef Andrea made a beer batter by combining about two cups of all purpose flour with one ice cold, almost frozen, beer. Once the batter was smooth, he stirred in a glass of cold sparkling water (I used about a cup), a teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil, and a teaspoon of sea salt. (He also suggested adding ice cubes unless the ingredients were already near freezing). Heat some oil (Chef Andrea used sunflower oil) in a heavy saucepan until it reaches 350 degrees. Dip each squash blossom in the beer batter, and then deep fry, turning once, for about 2-3 minutes a side. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate until cool enough to eat.

I topped my blossoms with a squeeze of lemon juice and a sprinkling of sea salt...and then I ate all four. That's right. Four deep fried squash blossoms. Again. Mine didn't turn out as well as the ones we made with Chef Andrea (I suspect that my batter was too thin, plus one exploded mid-fry) but I'm okay with that--it just means that I'll have to try again soon. And that means that there are more squash blossoms in my future.

{wanderlust} cooking classes in rome

2011-07-13T23:26:00.005-04:00

Though the sights and sounds of Rome had me falling in love at first sight, it was the tastes of Eternal City that really left me hungry for more. While I didn't sample any of the traditional quinto quarto, I did indulge in some modern Roman classics like pasta e ceci, carciofo romanesco, and, of course, plenty of gelato. Needless to say, I enjoyed eating my way through the city.

But one of the best meals I ate during my time in Italy was one that I prepared myself. Well, one that I prepared myself alongside nine other students and under the tutelage of Chef Andrea Consoli of Cooking Classes in Rome. Chef Andrea runs his day-long program at his family's restaurant in the Trastevere neighborhood of Rome, and the classes take place in the very same kitchen that is used for dinner service each evening.

When we arrived at the restaurant, Chef Andrea had already been to the market, where he chose the menu for our class based on what was available that day. To start, we would be making squash blossoms stuffed with prosciutto and mozzarella alongside a southern style pesto dipping sauce. Our next course would be tagliolini with zucchini, zucchini flowers and sausage, followed by involtini of beef in fresh tomato sauce, and, finally, chocolate souffles.

{zucchini sauce for tagliolini and fresh tomato sauce for involtini}

I decided that since I know my way around a dessert recipe pretty well by now, I would step away from the chocolate and the sugar (this took a tremendous amount of willpower, let me tell you) and focus instead on building my skills with ingredients I am less confidant about preparing at home. For me this means savory dishes, especially those that involve meat. I was especially excited about learning how to work with squash blossoms, which I'm tempted by at the Greenmarket on the regular but have always been too much of a culinary chicken to attempt cooking on my own. So instead of whipping egg whites and chopping chocolate, I spent the morning rolling up neat little packages of beef and mortadella, crumbling sausage into a pan of steaming zucchini sauce, pinching the pistils out of squash blossoms, and preparing pesto.

{stirring egg yolks into flour; mom cranking the pasta machine}

And then there was the pasta. After we finished prepping the rest of our lunch, we turned our full attention to making fresh tagliolini. We each took a turn stirring a well of egg yolks into a massive mound of flour in order to create our pasta dough. Next, we divided up into teams to roll out our dough and cut it into tagliolini using a hand cranking pasta machine.

By the time we sat down for our four course meal (with wine pairings, natch) I'd learned several recipes and techniques and was excited to taste what we'd created. First up were the squash blossoms, which were stuffed with prosciutto and mozzarella, dipped in beer batter and deep fried. I'm not sure that words are sufficient to describe how delicious these squash blossoms were so I will let my actions speak for themselves and just tell you this: I had four helpings.

Yes, you read that correctly. I had seconds, thirds and then fourths of deep fried, cheese stuffed, squash blossoms. This didn't leave me much room for the remaining three courses but I didn't care--the squash blossoms were just too good to pass up. (And, I somehow managed to pull through and eat at least one serving of tagliolini with zucchini sauce, involtini in fresh tomato sauce and chocolate souffle.)

{the whole group sitting down to the meal we prepared--mom and i are in the middle of the left}

You can find more information on Cooking Classes in Rome on Chef Andrea's website. And be sure to check back soon to see my attempt at making squash blossoms at home.

{wanderlust} roman holiday

2011-07-06T00:04:00.002-04:00

I'm planning an in-depth post about some food specific experiences I had while in Italy soon. But first, I can't help but share some of the inspiring sights that had me thinking about chucking it all and moving to Rome mere minutes after my arrival in the Eternal City. I haven't been this head over heels with city love since I fell for New York.

From Top:

Peonies at the Campo de Fiori/Artichokes at the Campo de Fiori/Storefront/Fountain/Graffiti, Trastevere/Signage/Windowboxes/Sunset Negroni, Spanish Steps/Laundry, Trastevere/Holding Hands, Trastevere/Reflection, Pizza Navona/25/Door/Laundry, Trastevere

strawberry frozen yogurt

2011-06-24T12:00:00.006-04:00

Frozen yogurt has always been one of my favorite desserts. But this week, well, this week frozen yogurt is just going to have to count as health food. This week is my first back in New York after two spent in Italy. And while I promise to tell you much more about the trip very soon, for now, lets just say that it involved lots of gelato.

Lots of gelato. We're talking, two flavors, twice a day, every day. Hazelnut and Pistachio. Lemon and Chocolate. Nutella and Tiramisu. And don't even get me started on the Tartufo.

Clearly I couldn't abandon all that cream and sugar cold turkey. Instead, I'm gradually weaning myself back to healthy eating, which is where this strawberry frozen yogurt comes into play. Loaded with Greek yogurt and fresh strawberries, it's healthy enough that I can feel good about indulging, but sweet and creamy enough to satisfy my gelato cravings. Now if I could just find a healthy stand in for pizza and wine, I'd be all set.

Strawberry Frozen Yogurt
Recipe Slightly Adapted from David Lebovitz

1 lb. strawberries, washed, hulled and sliced
2/3 cup sugar
scant 1 tablespoon vodka
1.5 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 cup Greek Yogurt (2% or full fat)
sprinkles and cones for serving, if desired

Combine the strawberries, sugar and vodka in a bowl (you can omit the vodka if you'd like, but it helps keep the frozen yogurt from getting too hard in the freezer). Cover and let the strawberry mixture sit for about an hour (David Lebovitz recommends two hours but I simply could not wait that long) before pureeing in a blender or food processor (I used a Vitamix).

Add the yogurt and lemon juice to the pureed strawberry mixture and blend until combined. Chill the mixture in the refrigerator for an hour, then process in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

{twd} blueberry almond cakes

2011-06-07T15:11:00.002-04:00

Bells and whistles can be nice. Brownies loaded with cookies. Cupcakes filled with cream. But sometimes a girl just wants to keep it simple. These Blueberry Almond Plain Cakes, this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe, do just that. They are light, fruity, and enough like a blueberry muffin that I for one think it would be totally appropriate to eat one of these babies for breakfast. I replaced some of the all purpose flour with almond flour which made for a sweet and nutty cake, and sprinkled sliced almonds on top halfway through baking for a little crunch.

I also forgot to add the baking powder, which is why my cakes are so flat. (I blame Bentley, as I was watching The Bachelorette while baking. Are you guys watching? That show is growing increasingly insane but I Just. Can't. Look. Away.) Despite my error these were cute and tasty, and would be perfect for an afternoon tea party. This week's Tuesdays with Dorie host is Cindy of Everyday Insanity and she has the recipe posted here.

gwyneth paltrow's buttermilk pancakes

2011-06-06T12:50:00.006-04:00

Years ago, I had a friend who went to the same private school as Gwyneth Paltrow. My friend was several years younger than the actress, but one of her middle school yearbooks contained Gwyneth's senior picture. In the black and white photo, the Oscar winner smiles up at the camera, blowing a bubble with her gum. The photo is quirky and irreverent, and Gwyneth looks...well she looks like the prettiest girl in your high school. Beautiful enough that everyone notices her, but not so beautiful that you don't catch yourself stealing the occasional glance at her lunch tray or her makeup bag thinking that if you ate that or wore that, you'd look like her too.

Between her Glee appearances, her Goop newsletter, and her new cookbook, Gwyneth Paltrow seems to be everywhere these days. And this month, everywhere includes the cover of Bon Appetite Magazine. The decision to put Gwyneth on the cover caused quite the stir amongst some food bloggers and Bon Appetite loyalists who claimed that Gwyneth isn't a food expert, that her shift from macrobiotic eater to homestyle cookbook author is disingenuous, and that the cover of food magazines should be reserved for, well, food.

I for one look at Gwyneth's new cookbook like a peek onto her lunch tray. Sure, she may not be a professionally trained chef, but I'm intrigued by how other people cook and eat. I can't resist those "what's in my fridge" magazine features, and I can get lost in the archives of The New York Diet for hours. Make that how a celebrity with superior access to tools (wood burning pizza oven) and teachers (Mario Batali) cooks and eats, and I'm hooked. And Gwyneth clearly does both things very well.

As for the abandonment of her macrobiotic eating program, well, lets just say that if I had a dollar for every time I vowed to stick to Vegan Before Six or to cut down on sweets only to find myself tempted by a turkey sandwich or seduced by a Snickers bar mere hours later, I would be a rich lady. My point is that the way that I eat isn't consistent throughout the years or months or sometimes even the days, and if someone were scrutinizing my every bite, I'd probably seem like a bit of a hypocrite too. To me, the fact that Gwyneth tried a crazy diet and abandoned it in favor of a more balanced lifestyle makes her real. As does her latest Goop newsletter, in which she admits to getting drunk and forgetting a pizza in the oven, thereby burning it to a crisp.

In short, I'm on Team Gwyneth. And, judging from the fact that one of the most popular recipes on this blog is a super old post on Gwyneth's Carrot Ginger Dressing (complete with a cringe inducing picture from the days before I knew anything about food photos), I'm guessing that many of you are too. (That dressing is amazing by the way, and I still make it all the time). So when I found myself with fresh buttermilk as a result of my butter-making adventure, I decided to whip up Bruce Paltrow's World Famous Pancakes, from Gwyneth's cookbook.

People. Regardless of your thoughts on Gwyneth, you should make these pancakes. They are incredible. Light, fluffy and tender, they were so delicious that I may have eaten one straight from the skillet, before it ever made it to the plate. Those that were not gobbled up while standing over the stove were topped with maple syrup and strawberry sauce. You can't argue with that.

Buttermilk Pancakes with Strawberry Sauce

Adapted from My Father's Daughter, by Gwyneth Paltrow

This is scaled down for one large serving. You can find Gwyneth's original recipe here

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

heaping 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

heaping 1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1/2 cup buttermilk

milk or water for thinning batter

1/2 cup strawberries, sliced

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Combine the strawberries, sugar and lemon juice in a bowl and set aside. In a medium pan or cast iron skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Pour the melted butter into a small bowl, and return the pan to the stove. Once the butter has cooled slightly, whisk in the buttermilk and the egg. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the dry ingredients, add the wet ingredients, and whisk until just combined (better to have small lumps than to over mix your batter).* If your batter is too thick, add a tablespoon of two or milk or water (which I used as I was out of milk) to thin it out (the thinner the batter, the more delicate the pancakes). Ladle batter into the greased pan or skillet working in batches of 2-3 pancakes at a time. (Note that if you use a pan other than the one you used to melt your butter you will need to grease the pan first). When the top of the pancakes are covered with bubbles (after about 2-3 minutes), flip and cook for another 2-3 minutes or so, until pancakes are cooked through and golden. Transfer to a plate and keep warm until it's time to serve.

To make the strawberry sauce, puree the strawberry mixture in a food processor or blender. Heat the puree in a small saucepan before serving.

*Note that Gwyneth says these pancakes are best if you let the batter rest in the refrigerator overnight, but I didn't plan ahead so I made them right away and still found them to be delicious.

homemade butter

2011-06-01T17:59:00.005-04:00

Last week I found myself in the peculiar position of having absolutely nothing to do in the middle of a weekday afternoon.

So I made homemade butter from scratch.

What? Isn't that what all of the cool kids are doing with their free time these days? No? They're actually getting their nails painted chartreuse, shopping for denim rompers that this 5 foot 4 frame could never pull off and listening to music from bands I've never even heard of?

Okay. That's cool. I still made butter anyways.

I followed the method outlined by Diner's Journal, and surprisingly, it was fun, quick, and not difficult at all. Here's what you do:

First, take some cream (I used about a pint but any amount will do) and put it in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Turn the mixer on medium/high, and whisk for several minutes. Soon, you will have whipped cream.

Keep whisking, and after a few more minutes, your whipped cream will start to turn into clumps. A few minutes after that, the clumps will release their liquid into the bottom of the mixer. This is fresh buttermilk! Pour it out of the mixing bowl, and reserve it for another use.

Continue running your mixer for a minute or two longer, until the butter has released all of it's liquid and has formed into one large clump. Squeeze the butter in a piece of cheesecloth and/or rinse it in cold water to get rid of any remaining buttermilk residue (apparently the residual buttermilk will make the butter spoil more quickly).

If desired, mix some salt into your butter (I used a few pinches of Maldron).

To serve, I spread my butter on crackers and topped each with sliced radishes and a sprinkle of salt, but it would also be fabulous smeared on some good bread, or anywhere else you would normally use store bought butter.

devil's food cupcakes with raspberry cream filling

2011-05-23T12:39:00.000-04:00

The only thing I love more than a baking project is a birthday baking project. I can't get enough of the decadence, the celebration, the element of surprise. But lately, our office surprises have been getting a little old. Case in point: the last big office birthday. We reserved a conference room, had someone call a fake meeting, and delighted in thinking we had fooled the birthday boy when he showed up with a notebook and a pen. That is, until we realized he'd written "I know this is a fake meeting" at the top of the page.

So when it came time to bake something for my good friend and officemate's birthday, I decided that a forced surprise was futile. Instead, I asked Leah exactly what she wanted, and she requested a chocolate and raspberry dessert. So a chocolate and raspberry dessert I made. But old habits die hard, and I couldn't let the occasion pass without sneaking in one tiny surprise.

As it happens, I had just read Luisa's post on Karen DeMasco's Devil's Food Cupcakes, which included a cream filling, and I decided to fill my seemingly plain chocolate cupcakes with raspberry cream. The deep, rich, chocolaty cake was lightened by the sweet, creamy filling, and it was fun watching my coworkers bite into the cupcakes and realize what was inside. Finally, a birthday surprise that everyone can get behind.

Devil's Food Cupcakes with Raspberry Cream Filling

Recipe Adapted from Karen DeMasco, and available here

Recipe Notes:

-To make the raspberry cream filling, puree half a pint of raspberries in a blender or food processor (I used a Vitamix). Add the puree to the cream filling, a couple of tablespoons at a time, until it is the desired color and flavor (you will not need all of the puree). If your filling is too thin or not sweet enough, you may want to add an additional tablespoon or two of powdered sugar, as well

-I found the cupcake filling very difficult, so I ended up just filling the cupcakes from the top. The hole was camouflaged by the ganache and the raspberry that I placed on top of each cupcake

-I found that these rose quite a bit, so be careful not to overfill your cupcake tins

{twd} chicken and vegetable pot pie with maple biscuit topping

2011-05-18T23:55:00.001-04:00

We've been pummeled with rain this week in New York City. The kind of rain that makes you want to curl up on your couch, sipping hot cocoa and pretending it's November, for days. But as I sat this afternoon in the conference room of my midtown office building watching the droplets roll down its long windows, I decided I'd had enough. So the next time the storm looked like it was letting up, like I wouldn't be pelted with millions of cold droplets and chilled to the bone the second I stepped out onto the street, I pulled on my rain boots, grabbed my umbrella, and made a run for it. I ran up sixth avenue, dodging splashes from cars and stray umbrellas until I reached the subway. Miraculously, just as I walked out of the train and into the Union Square Greenmarket the rain stopped. And for a few minutes, it turned into a lovely spring evening. An evening that was made all the lovelier by the fact that there were still plenty of asparagus, ramps and scallions to be had despite the late hour.

But of course, as I made my way back to my apartment, it began to rain again. And by the time I arrived home, replaced my soaking wet clothes with a big cozy sweatshirt and settled onto the couch, the last thing I wanted was the fresh spring salad I had planned for tonight. So with a little inspiration from Ina Garten and Martha Stewart, I turned my fresh spring salad into a spring vegetable pot pie. I sauteed my market finds, made a roux flavored with Pernod and saffron, and threw in some leftover chicken for good measure. I topped the filling with a variation of Dorie Greenspan's Maple Cornmeal Drop Biscuits, this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe (though I realize that it's more of a Wednesday with Dorie for me now). The result was so delicious that I decided to have a second helping instead of dessert, which, as those of you who have been reading here for a while know, is no small thing. This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was chosen by Lindsay and you can find the original recipe here.

Chicken and Spring Vegetable Pot Pie with Maple Biscuit Topping

Biscuit Topping Adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Baking from My Home to Yours

For the Filling

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 tablespoons all purpose flour

1 tablespoon Pernod

pinch saffron threads

1 cup low sodium vegetable broth

2 small sweet potatoes, peeled and diced

5 radishes, diced

5 ramp bulbs, diced

3 carrots, diced

12 asparagus stalks, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces

5 scallions, finely chopped

1 cup frozen peas

6 ounces cooked chicken breast, shredded (optional)

salt and pepper to taste

For Biscuit Topping

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 tablespoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut in pieces

pinch of salt

1/4 cup skim milk

2 tablespoons maple syrup

Preheat the oven to 350. Bring a pot of water to boil, add the sweet potatoes, and boil for about ten minutes. Remove the sweet potatoes, bring the water back to a boil, and blanch the asparagus and scallions by dropping them in the water for just a minute and then transferring them to a bowl of ice water so that they don't overcook.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet, add the radishes, carrots and ramps and sautee over medium heat for about five minutes until they are beginning to soften. Add the butter, and when it's melted stir in the flour. Cook the roux for a couple of minutes until it starts to darken, then add the Pernod and the vegetable broth and boil for about five minutes, until it is reduced by about half. Stir in the cream, and season well with salt and pepper. Fold in the potatoes, asparagus and scallions, and transfer to a 9x11 baking dish.

In a large bowl, mix together the flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the butter, and rub the flour into the butter using your fingertips until it looks like tiny pebbles. Make a well in the middle of the mixture, add the milk and the maple syrup, and whisk together with a fork until just combined. It's okay if all of the flour is not totally incorporated--it's more important not to over mix the batter. Drop large spoonfuls of the batter over the filling and bake for about 35 minutes, or until the filling is bubbling and the biscuits are golden.

{city love} spring sunday

2011-05-18T01:29:00.002-04:00

This past weekend was my first free one in a very long time. And I spent much of it outside, with my camera. I'll be back in the kitchen soon enough, but for now, here are some shots of springtime in New York (Cobble Hill and Boerum Hill Brooklyn and Little Italy Manhattan to be exact). This is what my weekend looked like--what about yours?

{a very fancy railing}

{and a very fancy bench--can you believe the whole house looked like this?}

{so very brooklyn}

{lock and key}

{brooklyn bridge}

{beams}

{home sweet home}

{a very creepy church}

{graffiti, little italy style}

{mascarpone gelato at the new la cremeria on mulberry street}

matzah toffee

2011-04-26T14:13:00.001-04:00

I know that it's the last day of Passover. But maybe you need one more flourless treat to get you to the finish line? More likely, you never want to see another piece of matzah again. Believe me, I'm with you. But matzah smothered with butter and sugar and chocolate? Well that's another story altogether. Besides, I'd be remiss if I let the holiday pass by without sharing my updated recipe for matzah toffee.

I know that I wrote about this recipe once before, but I've changed my method since then. That was also back before I knew how to take a decent food photo, and my images just did not do this recipe justice. What hasn't changed is the addictive nature of this sweet and salty snack. Back when I wrote about this recipe the first time, I told you that in my family, it's referred to as "matzah crack" becasue it's nearly impossible to stop eating it once you've started. (Or, for those of you who caught The Office last week: this matzah is like scrapbooking). So proceed with caution. Or, throw caution to the wind, bake up a huge batch, and eat it all yourself. Remember, it may be a whole year before you see another piece of matzah again.

Matzah Toffee

6-8 sheets of matzah

2 cups granulated sugar

3 tablespoons water

1 stick unsalted butter

1 cup chocolate chips (I used a mix of semisweet and bittersweet becasue that was what I had on hand)

1/3 cup sliced almonds, toasted

sea salt, for sprinkling

Line two medium sized baking sheets with foil, and arrange matzah on top of them, breaking the crackers as necessary to cover the baking sheets. Meanwhile, combine sugar and water in a heavy bottomed saucepan, and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Heat the sugar and water over high heat, without stirring, until the sugar comes to a boil. Continue cooking, watching carefully, until the caramel is a deep amber color (this can be tricky--you don't want to pull your caramel off the stove too soon, as it will be undercooked, but it goes from perfect to burned quite easily which is why it's important to watch it carefully.) When the caramel is ready, immediately remove the pot from the heat and stir in the butter (being very careful as hot caramel burns are no fun). When the butter has melted, pour the caramel over the matzah, and, working quickly, spread it evenly over the crackers. Sprinkle the chocoalte chips over the top, and let them sit for a few minutes. Use a spatula to spread the now softened chocolate over the top of the matzah, and sprinkle with the toasted almonds and a generous amount of sea salt. Pop the cookie sheets in the refrigerator to cool for a few hours, or overnight. Before serving, break the matzah up in to pieces.

blackberry macaroon tart

2011-04-22T01:50:00.001-04:00

Passover desserts get a bad rap. So far this week, two different coworkers have sent out emails offering up leftover sweets from their Sedars, and both have felt the need to include a disclaimer to the effect of, "don't worry--these aren't your typical Passover desserts!" as a part of their sales pitch. Apparently the assumption is that if a dessert is kosher for Passover, it can't possibly be very tasty.

Enter the Blackberry Macaroon Tart from Heidi Swanson's beautiful new book, Super Natural Every Day. Swanson's tart is both shockingly good and (with one simple substitution) Passover appropriate. The buttery crust is rich, nutty and a perfect mix of sweet and salty. Topped with tart blackberries, sweet coconut macaroon and crunchy pistachios, it's so delicious that it just may silence the Passover dessert naysayers for good. Or at least keep their mouths full for a while.

Blackberry Macaroon Tart

Slightly Adapted from Heidi Swanson
Original Recipe Available via Martha Stewart's Whole Living

*Recipe Note: I followed the recipe as adapted by Whole Living, but substituted an equal amount of almond meal in place of the wheat flour in order to make the tart Passover-friendly. I also used a generous half teaspoon of salt in the crust.

{twd} strawberry rhubarb double crisp

2011-04-13T00:18:00.010-04:00

I don't have a problem admitting when I'm wrong.

So here it is: I was wrong about rhubarb.

We're talking forgetting your date's name wrong.

Using a cup of salt instead of a cup of sugar wrong.

Hitting reply all when you meant to hit reply wrong.

See all these years I thought that rhubarb was tough and bitter and stringy. But at is turns out, rhubarb is sweet and subtly tart and when combined with fresh strawberry jam and candied ginger, totally delicious. This crisp not only got rave reviews at the office but it also turned me into a rhubarb convert. Thanks to Sarah of Teapots and Cakestands who selected it for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie.

Strawberry Rhubarb Double Crisp
Recipe from Dorie Greenspan's Baking from My Home to Yours
Available Via Teapots and Cakestands.

spring carrot tea cakes with maple cream cheese frosting

2011-04-09T23:55:00.002-04:00

It's hard to know where to start. You see, I've taken such a long (work-induced) hiatus from the kitchen that everything feels new and unfamiliar. Have I really always had just three mismatched measuring spoons? When did I buy that flour in the cupboard? It's hard to know where to start, so I decided to start with carrots. It seemed as good a place as any. So last week, once I'd done enough laundry, grocery shopping and sleeping to feel recovered from the months spent in the office, I turned to carrot cake. To olive oil laced carrot tea cakes with maple cream cheese icing to be exact.

I began by peeling carrots, toasting walnuts, and whipping cream cheese. At first I felt a little off. A little clumsy with my own things, a little self conscious. But before long, I was snapping photos of bright orange batter and frosting tea cakes before work on a Wednesday as if I'd never been away. Carrots were very good place to start indeed.

Spring Carrot Tea Cakes With Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

Slightly Adapted from Green Market Baking Book by Laura C. Martin

4 eggs

1 cup maple syrup (Martin suggests Grade B but I used A)

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons canola oil

1/2 cup Greek yogurt

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 cup spelt flour

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon baking powder

2 teaspoons cinnamon

3 cups grated carrots

1 cup chopped walnuts

12 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/3 cup maple syrup

Preheat oven to 325. Beat the eggs until frothy. In another bowl, mix the syrup, oils, yogurt, lemon juice and vanilla. Add to eggs and beat for a minute. Sift the dry ingredients and add them to the mixing bowl. Beat until just combined. Stir in the carrots and the nuts. Pour the batter into muffin tins lined with cupcake liners and bake for about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick or knife inserted in the center of a cake comes out clean, or with just a few crumbs attached. (Note, Martin suggests baking for 20 minutes but mine took a bit longer).

Meanwhile, beat the cream cheese until fluffy, adding the powdered sugar gradually. Mix in the vanilla and maple syrup and spread over the teacakes once they have cooled.

the morning after

2011-03-06T00:22:00.001-05:00

The morning after my Oscar party that is. I may spend a lot of time thinking about fancy ingredient like dutch process cocoa, tahitian vanilla and farm fresh eggs.

But sometimes, the sweetest thing imaginable is a night spent on the couch with my girlfriends sipping prosecco, critiquing celebrity outfits and snacking on some good, old fashioned movie candy. With thanks to the academy, of course.

peanut butter nutella krispies

2011-02-20T01:28:00.001-05:00

My love for nutella is no secret. So when I heard that February 5th was world nutella day, you better believe I was on it. Well, if by "on it" you mean a day late. Hey, I've been a little busy lately. Thankfully, these peanut butter nutella krispie bars were worth the wait.

First seen on Top Chef Just Desserts, this grown up version of a rice krispie treat starts with candied rice krispies, which are then coated with a layer of chocolate and nutella and topped off with a peanut butter chocolate ganache. The bars were the hit of my brother's superbowl party, and the leftovers disappeared at the office the next day.

Just thinking about them has me wanting more. I might have to declare tomorrow world nutella day part two.

*PS How cute is my new apron, which served as the backdrop for the above photos? My friend Paulina had it made for me when she lived in the Gambia last year. Thanks P!

Peanut Butter Nutella Krispie Bars

Recipe by Eric Wolitzky of Baked, Available via Bravo

{twd} cranberry and clementine muffins

2011-02-01T23:37:00.002-05:00

Sunday morning I sent two of my coworkers an email entitled, "Important Question." In the body of the email, I wrote "If I were to make muffins to bring to the office tomorrow, would you prefer raisin walnut, cranberry orange or cherry and pecan?" They responded raisin walnut. And then I made cranberry and clementine muffins.

But with a bowl of these clementines sitting on my counter just begging me to do something with them (well, you know, something other than eat four in one sitting) can you really blame me?

Thankfully, these turned out so well that I don't think anyone missed the raisins and walnuts. This week's Tuesdays with Dorie pick comes from Christine of Happy Tummy, and you can find the recipe on her blog.

Great Grains Muffins

From Dorie Greenspan's Baking From My Home to Yours

Recipe available here

browned butter cocoa and walnut brownies

2011-01-31T07:00:00.002-05:00

I haven't been baking much lately. Don't worry--I haven't sworn off sugar or banished butter or made a resolution to go raw (file under: never going to happen). It's not anything that serious. The unfortunate truth is that aside from working, I haven't been doing much of anything lately. After six months at Legal Services and a nice long vacation, I'm back at the firm. And not only am I back, but I'm on a team that's preparing for trial. Which is extremely exciting--but it also means that instead of chopping chocolate and grazing through the greenmarket, I'm spending my evenings and weekends dining al desk.

But when February's Bon Appetit arrived in the mail, I knew the second I saw the cover recipe that I had to make these brownies. Browned butter and chocolate in one recipe? I may barely have time to wash my hair, let alone a sink full of dishes, but I haven't completely lost my priories. So last Saturday when I found myself with a few spare hours I replenished my baking supplies and got to work. Luckily, besides the actual browning of the butter (which, if I'm being honest, usually takes me two tries to get right) these were super simple and only used one bowl. I added the rest of the ingredients to the hot butter, poured the batter into a pan, and popped it in the oven. Twenty five minutes later, I had a batch of amazingly rich and fudgy brownies on my hands. And they were spectacular. My only gripe about this recipe is the walnuts, which I felt overwhelmed the chocolate flavor. Next time, I would reduce the amount of nuts, or leave them out entirely. Nonetheless, they were truly delicious. As in, my trial team ate them for breakfast delicious. Like I said, priorities.

Cocoa Brownies with Browned Butter and Walnuts

Recipe from Bon Appetit, February 2010 and available here

triple layer chocolate peanut butter cake

2011-01-10T00:04:00.005-05:00

Here's a baking tip: if you're going to promise someone the cake pictured above for their birthday, don't wait an entire year to deliver. I made this mistake last January when I told my friend that I would bake him this cake and then....didn't. (In my defense, his birthday falls right after New Years, and keeping this promise would have meant spending the day on which the rest of the free world starts a diet baking a triple layer chocolate cake with peanut butter buttercream and chocolate peanut butter ganache instead. It just seemed wrong.) Needless to say, I heard about this broken promise for the rest of 2010.

Which, lets be honest, I deserved. Who promises a birthday cake and doesn't follow through? Clearly I had to start 2011 off on a better note. So I cast my healthy resolutions aside, shook off my champagne hangover, and made the cake. And I am so glad I did. For starters, the cake itself may just be the moistest chocolate cake I've ever baked (as an added bonus, it's also made without a mixer, meaning fewer dishes!) As if that weren't enough, the cake is coated in a peanut butter frosting and topped off with a peanut butter infused chocolate ganache. It's rich, decadent, and so totally delicious that it almost didn't matter that it was an entire year late. Yes, if this cake is any indication, it's going to be a very good year indeed.

Sour Cream Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting and Chocolate Peanut Butter Glaze

Recipe from Sky High: Irresistible Triple Layer Cakes by Alisa Huntsman

Available Online via Smitten Kitchen

{twd} marshmallows

2011-01-02T23:46:00.003-05:00

Having grown up in Minnesota, I'm no stranger to a big winter storm. I'm familiar with the anticipation that often begins to boarder on hysteria, the knee high drifts, the buried cars...and I'm certainly familiar with cold weather comfort food. So when reports started coming in last weekend that we were in for a blizzard here in New York City, I knew just what to choose for last weeks' Tuesdays with Dorie recipe, which was a rewind week.

Sweet, fluffy homemade marshmallows. Perfect for dropping into a steaming mug of hot chocolate and enjoying while cozied up on the couch with some fuzzy slippers and season one of Friday Night Lights (or at least, that's how I like to spend my snow days). Whether it's snowing where you are or not, these marshmallows make the cold weather a little easier to swallow. They were originally chosen by Judy back in April of 2008, and the recipe is available on her blog.

gingerbread men

2010-12-25T18:35:00.000-05:00

Wishing you a holiday filled with chestnuts roasting....

Celebrity chefs...

Champagne toasts....

Pretty decorations...

And of course, sweet, crispy gingerbread men. Eaten head first, natch.

Gingerbread
From Gourmet via Epicurious

chocolate bourbon pecan pie

2010-12-22T20:18:00.001-05:00

Still haven't figured out what you're making for Christmas dessert? Allow me to suggest this Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie. I know that Pecan Pie is usually reserved for Thanksgiving, but it would be an error of epic proportions to relegate a dessert this delicious to only one day per year.

Creamy pecans, sweet custard and rich chocolate come together to create a perfect filling that gets kicked up a notch with a hit of bourbon. It's comforting enough for a cold snowy night, but special enough for a holiday celebration. I've already made this pie twice this winter and it's gotten rave reviews both times (including being called the best pie ever on two different occasions). No matter what you're making this holiday, I hope you have a sweet one.

Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie
From Baked: New Frontiers in Baking by Matt Lewis and Renaldo Poliafino

1 ball of Classic Pie Dough (I use Dorie Greenspan's Perfect for Almost Anything Pie Crust)
2 cups pecan halves, toasted
3 large eggs
3/4 cup light corn syrup
3 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons firmly packed dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 tablespoons bourbon
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

Roll out your dough on a floured surface, transfer to your pie plate, and crimp the edges. Wrap the crust and freeze it for at least two hours.

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Coarsely chop 3/4 cup of the pecans and set them aside. Whisk the eggs, corn syrup, sugars, butter, salt, vanilla and bourbon. Stir in the chopped pecans. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the bottom of the crust. Pour the filling over the chocolate chips, and arrange the remaining pecan halves on top. Bake for one hour, or until a knife stuck into the center of the pie comes out clean. (Note: the original recipe suggests covering the crust with foil halfway through baking. I didn't do this either time I made the recipe and it turned out fine).

homemade thin mints

2010-12-02T23:35:00.000-05:00

Despite appearances, this is not a belated Halloween post. Well, okay, so it kind of is. But as soon as I tasted these homemade thin mints, which I made to go with my girl scout Halloween costume, I knew that they would make a perfect holiday cookie.

Not only do the chocolate and mint flavors of these cookies make them appropriately seasonal, but they are even better when frozen. Which means that you can whip up a batch before the holiday craziness sets in and have them on hand to pull out for unexpected visitors or sparse Christmas cookie trays.

Or you could eat approximately twenty-seven of them straight from the freezer the morning after Halloween. You know, hypothetically speaking. Girl scout sash optional.

Homemade Thin Mints
Recipe from Cakespy, via Serious Eats

pumpkin muffins

2010-11-07T23:01:00.004-05:00

Lets get one thing straight. I am not, nor will I ever be, a morning person. Sure I love brunch, and the Sunday paper, and other supposedly morning activities that everyone knows don't actually start before noon. But you're never going to find me bounding out bed before my alarm goes off (or when my alarm goes off for that matter...despite putting the clock all the way across the room I still always hit snooze at least once or twice). Which doesn't leave me much time for breakfast.

In fact, I'm always surprised when I hear of people who make themselves breakfast at home every morning. Sure, sitting on my couch with a bowl of oatmeal and a cup of coffee on a weekday sounds idyllic; unfortunately, I'm much more likely to be chugging green juice on the subway or speed eating yogurt and granola at my desk. Hardly the breakfast of champions. But that's all about to change. Now that it's fall and my morning commute is getting a little chillier, I find that I'm craving something a little heartier and more comforting in the morning.

These pumpkin muffins fit the bill: they're sweet, spicy and even good for you. But best of all, they don't cut into any of my precious sleeping time. I whip up a batch on the weekend, and grab one everyday on my way out the door. Comforting and seasonal, they would pair perfectly with a pumpkin spice latte...if only I had time to stop for one. Oh well, there's always tomorrow.

Pumpkin Muffins

Recipe by Ellie Krieger, Available via the Food Network

{twd} mini deep dish apple pies

2010-10-26T20:43:00.004-04:00

Confessions of a baking blogger: I've never made a proper double crusted pie before. I know. It's downright disgraceful. You should probably all storm my house and confiscate my pastry tools. But pie has always seemed so troublesome and so labor intensive. (If I'm going to put that much effort into anything, it had better involve chocolate). Besides, as a single, twenty-something New Yorker, there aren't many occasions in my daily life that seem well suited to a pie. Fancifully flavored ice creams? Sure. Alcohol infused cupcakes? You betcha. But an entire pie just never seemed to fit the bill. Until last Sunday night, when I got an email about a Baking Emergency (you know I've waiting pretty much my entire life for a Baking Emergency, right?) The email explained that our office was hosting a last minute potluck the next day in honor of a paralegal's twenty-fifth anniversary. An office potluck in Brooklyn? Sounds perfectly pie-appropriate to me. So I rolled up my sleeves, pulled out Baking From My Home to Yours and got to work on this week's Tuesdays With Dorie pick, All American All Delicious Apple Pie, chosen by Emily of Sandmuffin.

A couple of hours later, I stood surveying my kitchen. There was quite nearly nothing that wasn't dusted in a thin layer of snow white flour. But I had done it--I had made a pie. The only tricky part was rolling out the dough, and I found that even that was manageable with a little practice and a whole lot of flour (hence the kitchen white out). Other than that, I was shocked at how easy it was. But not nearly as shocked as I was when I arrived at the office on Monday morning and discovered that the potluck was actually the following week. That's right--I was an entire week early. Never fear--my buttery, flaky pie was consumed by my team at our weekly Monday meeting. Not what I would normally consider a pie-worthy event, but it made Monday much more delicious. So much more delicious that I whipped up these mini versions for dessert last night. If there is a pie-appropriate event in your future or if you just want to add a little sweetness to an otherwise ho-hum weekday, you can find the recipe here.

the grub street food festival

2010-10-19T14:21:00.003-04:00

On Saturday, I braved the wind and the crowds and headed down to Hester Street for New York Magazine's Food Festival.

The lines were long and the crowd was thick, but we came prepared with a plan of attack. First stop? A grilled cheese from The Smile to fuel the rest of the excursion. Topped with tomato jam and pickled onions, this was the perfect first course. I wish they would have gone a little heavier on the jam, but all in all it was rich, buttery and delicious.

After the grilled cheese it was time to divide and conquer. Our party of four split off into four different directions. The other three went in search of lobster rolls, patacon and ice cream sandwiches, while I went to procure us rice balls from the Arancini Brothers. I was almost to the front of the line and was debating the merits of roasted pumpkin with mascapone versus escarole with white bean when they announced that they were sold out and wouldn't have any fresh arancini for another 30 minutes.

Needless to say, I aborted that mission. There was just too much else to try! I didn't get a photo my next bite--a Lobster Roll from Luke's--because I wolfed it down too quickly. The Luke's Lobster roll was packed with sweet fresh lobster and very little mayo. Instead, I tasted butter. Mmmmm butter.

Once I was reunited with my friends, we sampled several of the offerings from Patacon Pisao. Below is a Cachapas, a sweet corn crepe filled with cheese, and a Patacon, a crispy plantain sandwich filled with chicken. I also tried a bite of a Tuqueno, which is a piece of white cheese wrapped in dough and fried.

I washed it all down with a Ginger Ale from P&H Soda (he's making a concord grape variety in the photo below).

And then it was on to the moment I'd been waiting for all day--dessert! Below are two ice cream sandwiches from Melt Bakery. The first is molasses cookies with pumpkin pie ice cream, and the second is pistachio baklava with pistachio ice cream. They were rock hard when we fist picked them up, but slowly thawed out into a delicious treat.

By this point in the day, the crowds had started to get to us. There were so many people chowing down that you really had to fight your way up and down the aisles. And there was also the small matter of being so full that I was completely incapable of eating another bite. So we called it a day, and I dragged myself home where I promptly fell into a food coma. All in all, it was a wonderful afternoon.

{twd} double apple bundt cake

2010-10-06T00:34:00.004-04:00

This week the Tuesdays with Dorie bakers whipped up this Double Apple Bundt Cake. Made with both apple butter and grated apples, the cake is sweet, dense, and packed with apple flavor. Oh, and instead of a lemon glaze, I topped my cake with some apple cider infused caramel sauce. Which may have something to do with the fact that more than half of it was eaten by the time I got around to taking pictures. It was the perfect cake to usher in fall. This week's choice comes from Lynne of Honey Muffin, and you can find the recipe here.