whisk&wander

Holy crap.

2012-01-24T20:30:00.000-08:00

time flies when you are having fun! has it really been 7 months? man, well, I am slowly starting to get my groove back, here. (2 kids later..) I hope to be posting more really soon. and by soon I mean, in less than 7 more months. I have had to take a little hiatus. having kids is keeping me really busy and when I do find downtime, you will find me with my wine, propped on the couch, or sleeping. I hope to be back soon!

2011-06-21T21:32:00.000-07:00

Lemon Muffins.

Recently, we enlisted a birdie to come and take our son's binkies to a better place. For that, it has taken some time for him to forgive us and a week later, he is still asking for it at bedtime. (breaks my heart just a little bit) But, I told him that if he could do it, I would make him cupcakes. He loves lemon. loves it. eats it raw most times, so I decided to make him a basic Lemon Muffin. I also had to redeem myself from a Lemon Cake debacle from the day before, Fathers Day, in which I created the biggest flop of a cake. (Martha Stewart Everyday, in part, to thank for that.) In case you are wondering, her recipe for Simple Lemon cake sounds dandy, using whole lemons in the batter, similar to a shaker pie, but the results were terrible. not sure what happened, and I hope its not just me losing my touch. can I blame her just this once?

For this recipe, I just wanted a basic lemon muffin. no frills, but lemony. I took the sugar and perfumed it with lemon zest, and then I also added some juice. I added some honey yogurt (full fat Greek Gods goodness) and think next time, I would use a lemon yogurt (like Chobani) I finished them with a little lemon and powdered sugar glaze. Instead of butter, I used walnut oil, and I think next time I might try using coconut oil. (my new fave oil to bake with)

Lemon Muffins

1/2 cup yogurt, I used honey Greek Gods

3 Tabl oil, I used walnut

2 Tabl Lemon juice

1 egg

1 1/2 cup flour

3/4 cup sugar

2 teas baking powder

1/4 teas salt

1 Tabl lemon zest

lemon juice and powdered sugar to glaze.

zest one lemon and add to sugar in a bowl. with hands rub the sugar and zest until moistened.

whisk together zest/sugar, egg and yogurt. add oil and whisk to combine. add lemon juice. stir. add dry ingredients and stir to combine.

bake at 350, 15 to 20 minutes. yields around 8 muffins.

2011-05-23T21:24:00.000-07:00

Vegan! Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies.

I feel like a broken record here, cookies, banana bread, cookies, banana bread. but, there is a cookie out there that is so delish, and its actually vegan. (gasp!) I buy them all the time and devour the bag within a day. I still cant believe that its getting easier to find vegan goodies out there. I am such a butter in my cookies girl, and these just might turn me into a vegan. well, maybe not. but, they are that good. They are peanut butter chocolate chip cookies from Uncle Eddies and I think, I think that I may have just recreated them. Aside from the crumbly mess that was the cookie dough, once you can form the cookies and get them to stick on the cookie sheet, they actually bake well and dont fall apart into a crumbly mess upon consumption. these are gooood.

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup chunky peanut butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/3 cup walnut oil

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup chocolate chips

just throw everything in a bowl and mix. I also added the hippy version of m&m's, sundrops, instead of chocolate chips.

bake at 350 for 12 minutes.

should make about 2 dozen...less if you are a snitcher of cookie dough like me.

2011-03-27T20:38:00.000-07:00

Coconut Chocolate Chip Banana Bread.

Z had his way with a banana or two today, rendering them unfit for normal peeled consumption. so, what an excuse to make some bread! My good friend Rachel had mentioned a recipe recently, so I thought I would try it out. I ended up not having a few of the ingredients on hand, so I tweaked it a bit to use up some things that I did have on hand, and what I got was something really tasty. I used coconut oil in place of shortening, brown sugar in place of regular and a mixture of sour cream and heavy cream in place of buttermilk. yummy fatty goodness. and a really really moist bread. The batter tasted of coconut and banana, but the baked product has just a hint of coconut. I think next time, I might add a little shredded coconut to bring that flavor around a bit more. and, there will be a next time. yum-o.

Coconut Chocolate Chip Banana Bread.

3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup melted coconut oil, unrefined. (I got mine at Whole Foods, the 365 brand.)
2/3 cup sour cream
1/3 cup heavy cream

2 bananas
2 teaspoons vanilla

2.5 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup chocolate chips

In a bowl, whisk together the first 5 ingredients, then add mashed banana and vanilla. Then add the dry ingredients, combined. Be sure to just stir until combined, not overmixing is key. then, add the chocolate chips. divide batter between 2 greased loaf pans and bake at 350 for about 45 to 55 minutes, depending on your oven!

2011-03-22T15:23:00.000-07:00

Apricot and Raisin Oatcakes.

I suppose I should be napping right now. But, I have to tell you about these. I am not sure how I even thought of these things, but it must have been while I was nursing at 2 in the morning. things just pop into my head, random things. and, the other day, it must have been these oatcakes from my youth. I just remember eating these after a hard swim workout when my mom would take me to the bakery in town. Of course, this must have been after my chocolate croissant days, possibly in my high school years when I was an awkward teenager concerned a little more about what I ate, and carbs were all the rage.

These are dense and not all that flavorful. sound good right? well, they actually are, which is kind of crazy. SO, the other day, I was inspired to try and make some at home.

They are lightly sweet, and the more dried fruit you pack into them, the better.

Apricot and Raisin Oatcakes

3 cups oats, ground in cuisinart

2 c flour

1/4 teas baking powder

1/3 cup yogurt

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup honey

1 teas vanilla

1 egg white

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup apricots, dried, and diced.

mix first three ingredients, set aside. mix 2nd five ingredients. pour into dry mix and combine. add raisins and apricots and mix. it may to be mixed by hand, it gets fairly stiff.

form 2 dozen hockey puck sized patties. bake 325 for 20 minutes.

2011-03-10T21:02:00.000-08:00

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Pull Apart Bread

but first, some ramblings..

I have decided that it is time to get back into baking more bread. It has been 6 months since I baked a yeasted bread, and I love making bread. Life with kids has dominated my days and I am ready to give myself a little something that I enjoy. I also really miss this blog. So, I have a new goal, to bake something new every week. just one thing. And, hopefully, I will have blog worthy results most days and will be posting more here. I love being a mom, but sometimes I just miss my old self too. and, I hope to get a little of that back. Jointly, I also hope to start running again. My goal is to train for a half marathon, but not quite sure of that reality just yet...but, I need to commit, as it it less than 4 months away and, I havent run in at least a year and a half.

holy cow, did I really just write that?

now, on to the bread..

It was good. past tense. We pretty much decimated the whole thing during the course of the day. I made a whole wheat dough, let it rise and then rolled it out flat. I then brushed it with melted butter, sprinkled cinnamon sugar on it and then folded it onto itself. I then cut it into slivers and lined them up horizontally in a bread pan, baked it and yum.

idea from Joy the Baker, adapted from Beth's Basic Bread Book.

My version, I cut back on the butter and sugar and used the whole wheat dough in place of a white dough. what you get is not a bread that is sticky gooey, but a bread scented with cinnamon and caramelized here and there.

1/2 cup warm water

1 Tabl dry yeast

1/2 cup warm milk (not hotter than 115!)

3 Tabl brown sugar

1 1/2 Tabl melted butter

1 1/2 teas salt

1 egg

1 1/4 cup wheat flour

2 cups white flour

2 Tabl melted butter

1/2 cup sugar

1 teas cinnamon

dissolve the yeast in the warm water, add the sugar, melted butter and milk. stir. whisk the egg and add to the yeast mixture. combine the flours and add to the liquid mixture. stir till the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. add the salt. knead dough on counter with just as little flour as you need. let dough rise 1 hours. punch down. let rise 1 hour more. punch down. roll out into a rectangle. brush with melted butter. sprinkle cinnamon over the top. fold the dough in half and cut into strips. depending on the length, and size of your pan, cut those strips in half. layer vertically in bread pan that is brushed with melted butter. let rise 45 minutes. bake 375, about 40 minutes, until fairly brown on top.

2011-02-20T21:17:00.000-08:00

Another really good cookie.

I know, how boring, right? how many cookies can I make before it gets old? well, I have to say, these days, the one bowl cookie dough is about all I can muster. Especially with my 2 year old helper bee. he loves to stir, and to use a heavy hand with the sprinkles. Anything more elaborate than a cookie and he likely loses interest. so, we keep it simple around here for now. and good, we keep it good.

These cookies, I have made like 5 times in a row. I have made them crunchy and chewy and my last adaptation to the recipe was to use all whole wheat flour in place of white. and, they are still damn good. so good that I baked 12 and then proceeded to eat the other dozen in cookie dough form before they could even hit the baking sheet.

Try them. if you like peanut butter and chocolate, you might be hooked.

adapted from the Brown Eyed Baker.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies.

1/2 cup butter

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup peanut butter, chunky

1 egg

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup oats

1 teas baking soda

1/4 teas salt

1 cup chocolate chips

Mix dry ingredients, set aside. soften butter and whisk it with the sugars, vanilla and pb. add egg and whisk until creamy. add dry ingredients. then chocolate chips. bake 350 for 10-15 minutes, depending on how you like em. about 12 min for chewy and 15 plus for crunchy.

devour.

2011-02-13T17:30:00.000-08:00

I still love you, I do.

So so sorry that I have left this blog completely unattended! The last days of pregnancy and now a newborn in the house has left me a without any time or much energy. I have been baking, of the one bowl variety, throw in all the ingredients and mix. mostly quick breads and cookies. the cookie I will share with you here, I promise. Its so good I keep making it over and over.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip. Its my new fave. until then, Happy Heart Day to you.

2010-10-04T20:39:00.000-07:00

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies.

I want a cookie, damn it.

For the last week, I have been debating whether to make these healthy cookies. I havent gotten around to it and in the meantime made some pretty healthy muffins instead. Said muffins aren't disappearing like I envisioned. It certainly doesn't help that there are 12 of them and T is out of town. Z likes them and I do too, but they just arent the 'stuffing-your-face' type.

That said, they are still staring me in the face, but I want a cookie.

Not any cookie will do. Its gotta be chocolate chip, and its gotta have oats in it.

I have been doing pretty good lately, not eating so many sweets. really. only a few chocolate chips in peanut butter each night. or, a pumpkin cookie. But, last night, I had a pint of ice cream in my freezer. my favorite BJ flavor, chocolate mint cookie. and, I had more than a few bites. and, I think it helped me sleep. so, the spiral downward begins.

where is that cookie.

So, I made these.

these were oatmeal and chocolate chip made with a little spice and a little bit of wheat flour, just to kid myself.

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup oats

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup wheat flour

1/2 teas baking powder

1/2 teas baking soda

1/2 teas salt

1/2 teas cinnamon

1/8 teas nutmeg

1 cup chocolate chips.

no, I didnt plan for all the measurements to be in 1/2 or 1. but, what an easy recipe to remember!

cream butter and sugars. add vanilla and egg, cream. premix and then add the dry ingredients. add the chocolate chips.

bake at 350 around 12 minutes. longer if you like em crunchier. makes just shy of 2 dozen.

2010-09-26T20:27:00.000-07:00

Apple Bread.

First Pumpkin and now Apples? It must be Fall. I have written a little bit about the Crusty Loaf style Apple Bread in the past, how it was the last bread out of the oven on any given day and it sold like hotcakes. We could barely frost it in time as the customers whisked the loaves out the front door.

Sometimes, I feel nostalgia for that place. Still. Even after 10 years. There was something about working there that I am not sure I will ever replace. I think it was the time in my life, the people I worked with and how everyday I really loved going to work, messing with the doughs, smelling the smells. I just loved it. I dont think I have loved any other job quite as much. I truly am a baker at heart. Even while doing desserts in other restaurants following my stint at the bakery, it just never satisfied me as much as working among all the doughs. I was always thrown off by the plating of desserts and presentation. All I wanted to do was produce the goods, hands in the batter, elbows in the dough. Now that I have been away from the whole work scene for over 2 years, it really has given me time to reflect on what I really enjoy doing and what I hope to do next. I hope to see myself in a bakery again someday. Someday.

Today, I made some Apple Bread. I have posted about it before, but this time, I will hand over a recipe too. This makes a nicely perfumed apple bread perfect toasted with a little butter and honey. Just lightly sweetened by the apples tossed with a little cinnamon sugar, the dough is chopped to pieces instead of shaped into the perfect loaf. So, this is a fun recipe to do with the kiddos. Of course, my kiddo is yucked out these days by anything overly sticky, so he just watched as I chopped the apples into the dough. and then, he told me to wash my hands. (despite this, I still have hopes that he too, will be a future baker)

Apple Bread.

adapted from the Bernard Claytons Book of Breads.

3 1/4 cup flour

2 1/4 teas dry yeast

1 1/2 teas salt

1/4 cup milk

1 cup warm water

2 Tabl butter, melted and slightly cooled

Apples:

1 cup chopped apples, I used granny smith

1 egg

1/4 cup pecans, chopped

3 T brown sugar

1 1/2 teas cinnamon

put water, milk, melted butter and yeast in a bowl to bloom yeast. add flour by the cup and mix to combine. when the last of the flour is added, stir to develop the dough for a few minutes. it should be sticky but clear the sides of the bowl somewhat while stirring. add the salt and stir a couple more minutes to combine.

let rise for an hour.

in the meantime, toss the apples with the sugar and cinnamon.

dust a cutting board with flour, lightly and pour the dough, patting it into a rectangle. (see pics below) then, add the beaten egg to the apples, mix, and pour the apples onto the dough. fold the dough over the apples from either side and with a bench scraper or large knife, go ballistic on the dough. (not sure how better to describe this.) chop until it no longer resembles dough, but a big mess. (see pics)

scoop dough into a 8 by 4 inch loaf pan that has been greased and let rise for 45 minutes.

preheat oven to 375, and bake for 45 minutes.

Dough, just waiting patiently for the apples.

Hello, Apple and cinnamon sugar goodness.

Chop, Chop, Chop..

Look at me now!

2010-09-25T14:06:00.000-07:00

More Pumpkin, coming at ya.

I am not sick of it yet.

this time, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.

I have tried numerous times to make a pumpkin chocolate chip cookie that is chewy. and, each time, I end up with something cakey. this time was no different, but I just accepted the results, and damn, they were pretty good. So, if you like Pumpkin, chocolate and a cakey cookie, this is yours.

1 cup flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teas baking soda

1/4 teas salt

1/2 teas cinnamon

1 egg

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 walnut oil

1/2 cup pumpkin

1/2 teas vanilla

1/2 cup chocolate chips.

mix the dry ingredients together, set aside.

whisk the egg and sugar, pumpkin and vanilla. drizzle in oil and whisk to combine well.

add the dry ingredients and combine with a spatula. dont over mix! add the chocolate chips and mix to combine.

scoop by the heaping tablespoon, I got about 15 cookys.

bake at 350, 8-12 minutes. I would check them after 8, turn if needed. these took my new oven 8 minutes to bake convection style, but a conventional oven might need longer.

2010-09-17T15:55:00.000-07:00

Pumpkin Bread...
and we are back up and cooking with convection!

I find it hard to believe that in 5 years and some 185 posts, that I have never written about one of my favorite things. I love this time of year for many reasons. I actually do enjoy the rain sometimes. especially the smell it brings this time of year as it mixes with the scent of the falling leaves. kind of a musty tree and dying leaves smell? I love the smell of firewood, even though it is still not THAT cold just yet. some though think it is, so there is a little bit of that smell in the air too. and, I love love love squash and pumpkin anything. take a look here.

But, I just cant believe that I have never written about pumpkin bread. I love this stuff. This is something I will gladly buy at Starbucks in July. But, come September and October, I make it myself.

But, have you read about the great pumpkin shortage? I must have blocked it out of my mind. I guess last year was so wet, that the farms in the midwest that normally produce most of the US canned pumpkin supply, lost much of their pumpkin crops. leaving most stores barren of pumpkin and only 6 cans in the whole Libbys factory inventory.

So, when I went to the store yesterday, I was kind of bummed to see that indeed, there was no pumpkin on the shelf. BUT, there was butternut squash. just so you know, it makes just about as mean a pumpkin bread. So, I bought two cans, just in case.

Supposedly, this year has been a better one, so we should be seeing more pumpkin on our shelves just in time for fall.

In the meantime, make this bread.
or this one. (looks like I was lying a little bit. I have made a variation of this bread in the past..)
both breads adapted from the Bread Bible by Beth Hensperger.

1 c sugar
1/2 c plus 2 Tabl brown sugar, packed
14.5 oz can of butternut squash or pumpkin
2 eggs
1 cup walnut oil
(I have also used canola, and even a half canola/olive oil mix with success)

2 1/3 c flour
1 1/2 teas baking soda
1/2 teas salt
3/4 teas cloves
3/4 teas cinnamon

preheat oven to 350. grease a loaf pan. I used a 9 x5x 3 pan.
mix the sugars, squash, eggs and oil. whisk to blend thoroughly.
in a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients.
add the dry to the wet and whisk to combine.

pour into loaf pan and bake for 50 min. chances are the bread wont be finished, but I like to set the alarm just in case, then reset it for shorter increments. all in all, it takes just over an hour to an hour and 15 to bake.

On another note, welcome the family, new and wonderful oven!

* I also made this same recipe a few days later into muffins with a struesal-ly topping. yum!

here is the topping recipe:

1 cup flour

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 teas cinnamon

1/4 teas salt

6 Tablspoons Butter

combine dry ingredients, crumble in butter and mix until it resembles a coarse meal.

2010-09-04T20:34:00.000-07:00

Fatty pancakes. oh so good.

I like to make Pancakes for Z at least once a week.

I had an extra bit of cream and egg yolks from some cake baking a while back and found the perfect place to put them. I call them fatty pancakes because they contain just that: butter, cream and egg yolks. and, surprise surprise? They were really good.

I thought I would share the recipe with you.

adapted from the King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion, but just slightly altered..

2 cups flour

2 Tablspoons sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 yolks

1 1/4 cup heavy cream

1 1/4 cups Greek Yogurt 0% (original recipe does call for buttermilk)

2 Tablespoons butter, melted

1/3 cup milk

whisk dry ingredients in a med bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together wet ingredients. add the wet to dry and mix to combine. try not to overmix.

make your pancakes, and dont forget the butter and honey! mmmmm, good.

2010-08-28T20:39:00.000-07:00

Oh Fudge.

Fudge isn't just for the holidays anymore, at least not in my kitchen where we still are without a functioning oven. But, the burners still work, so thank goodness for that. I have spent the last month eating peanut butter and chocolate chips.

Which is pretty good.

But, I miss the baking, and I have been trying to come up with things to make without an oven. no bake cheesecake? no bake cookies?

so far, I have made cookie dough and that's about it. I guess I made some ice cream too. but, that is a separate post entirely. I just felt like 'baking' something.

So, I broke down and made some sweet sweet fudge.

I don't make fudge alot. and, it was good, but for me to post it here, it might need a little tweaking. I used the ol' Marshmallow creme, chocolate chip, evap milk, butter combo with a healthy dose of sugar. It was good, but I think next time, and I can't believe I am going to say this, but, next time, I might even add nuts. I am normally NOT a nut in fudge/brownies/cookies/banana bread person. unless its oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and the nut is a nicely toasted pecan. (long live the Crusty Loaf for turning me onto that one.) But, I think my fudge could have used a little savory. It was all too sweet. And, I think next time I would use a really dark chocolate instead of both semi sweet and milk chocolate chips...

My hope though is that next time isn't until the Holidays roll around, and that much before then, like next week, I will be baking up some nice muffins, in a new working oven.

we are close. just crossing fingers.

and toes.

2010-08-15T16:08:00.000-07:00

the land of sopapillas.

As I sit here in my 90 degree house, the last day before T goes back to work after a 6 week hiatus, I reflect back on the last weekend spent with my best girlfriends in the world. It was the first time I had left my 2 year old son for more than 6 hours. I was gone for 3 days. It was hard, of course, to be away from my little family, but I so needed a little refresher. I have no childcare and my husband normally travels during the week. So, having him around for 6 weeks was like a vacation for me too. I was able to steal away and do yoga during the week, get a pedicure and dinner with a friend, go shopping here and there, go to Trader joes solo...all things I used to take for granted. And, last weekend, at the close of T's vacation time, I was able to get on a plane with nothing more than my dear friend, a carry on(!), some smutty magazines and my big bag of peanut m&m's. Let me tell you, it was a little piece of heaven and yet something else I always took for granted.

C and I landed 3 hours later in the land of New Mexico. the land of chilis, the land of sopapillas. the land of 3 blissful days spent with my 3 best friends in the world.

I loved Santa Fe. We just walked around, ate some delicious food, saw some art, went to a really nice spa, and of course, ate some sopapillas. It was a little piece of heaven, a weekend I will never forget.

I am incredibly blessed to have such dear dear friends.

2010-08-13T16:12:00.000-07:00

My latest craving.

And no, I dont just eat peanut m&m's and spoonfuls of peanut butter dipped in a bag of chocolate chips.

A few months ago, I was in the midst of morning sickness and I ate something that tasted so so wonderful. I was at the Zoo on a warm late Spring day and had met a friend there who had run into another friend. We all ended up sitting on the lawn while the kiddos actually stuck around us, and we had a little picnic. My friends friend whipped out this tupperware of rice and some nori looking things and proceeded to wrap the nori around the rice for a nice treat. It wasn't just your everyday nori though. This stuff had some special name that at the moment I cannot recall. It was nori, but it was toasted and brushed with sesame oil and salted. I was practically drooling it tasted so good. and, it was so incredibly simple and also somewhat healthy. After this, I was on a quest to find it. She usually got it at a Korean market about 15 miles North, but I was able to find it a little closer at another Asian market. (the source of my bubble tea cravings last time around) Funny, I actually refrained from the Bubble Tea and made a Beeline for the seaweed aisle this time.

What is so great is that I actually was in Trader Joes a month later and they had the exact same thing! I was elated to say the least. And, at the moment, I am debating a drive over there just so I can fill my cart with the stuff. At Trader Joes, it comes in a little green package labeled, "roasted seaweed snack."

What I have been doing lately is boiling up some sticky rice, cutting some slivers of avocado and then just putting some of each in the middle of the seaweed. I love it because the texture is great. the salty seaweed kind of crackles with the sticky rice and sweet avocado in between. Maybe its just my darn hormones, but it is a really tasty treat. and, much easier than making sushi.

Now, if I could only have some raw Ahi.

2010-08-11T13:16:00.000-07:00

Chilled Tomatillo and Tomato Soup.

Since I am flying without an oven these days, I am trying to cook with out really cooking. I guess this is the time of year I would prefer, as it tends to be warm, well, sometimes, in Seattle. I found out yesterday that this summer in Seattle has been the cloudiest on record, since they began recording in 1951.

But today, it is perfect. And, if those tomatoes are popping up in your yard as they are in mine, this might be a good thing to make.

I took a recipe for a Tomatillo Soup featured in Sunset this month and put my own spin on it. I added tomatoes, and instead of using fresh tomatillos, which the market didnt even have more than a handful of, I opted for the canned variety. I omitted some things here and there and added more of things too. and, this is what I came up with. I was quite pleased with it.

and, if you make it, make enough for leftovers. it was even better today at lunch.

Chilled Tomatillo and Tomato Soup.

(adapted from Sunset Magazine)

14 oz tomatillos. (2 12 oz cans-yields about this much in actual tomatillo)

1 pint red cherry tomatoes

1/2 white onion

1 c chicken broth

1/2 clove garlic

1/2 an English Cuke (the really long ones, seedless)

1 Tablespoon lime juice

1/4 c salsa verde

2 Tablespoons cilantro

1 avocado, diced

1 pint yellow tomatoes

Drain the tomatillos. Halve the tomatoes. Chop the white onion, garlic and cuke. Put in Processor or blender with the other ingredients except the avocado and the yellow tomatoes. whiz until blended and of the preferred texture. add salt and pepper to taste. then, Halve the yellow tomatoes and dice the Avocado and stir this in too. Chill until nice and cold.

2010-07-19T21:09:00.000-07:00

An Ode to a tree.

I can't believe that I have tears in my eyes as I write this. I mean, it's just a tree right? or is it? In a matter of days, on my birthday to be exact, this beautiful tree will be ripped from the border between ours and our neighbor's yard. This tree is one of the reasons our back yard feels a bit like a sanctuary. I love the shade it has provided. I love the sound the leaves make when the wind blows through them. I love the privacy it provides from the ugly apartments behind us. I love laying on the grass and looking up through its many branches as the light filters in from high above. I guess you could say that I am heartbroken.

2010-07-06T13:51:00.000-07:00

Damn good Peanut Butter Cookies.

I bought a jar of peanut butter that I didnt particularly like, but instead of just tossing it, I decided to make these cookies. I had forgotten about these gems, and remembered them as I was also trying to come up with a treat for a friends daughter who is gluten and dairy intolerant, who had jsut broken her elbow. ouch. I first discovered these in Gourmet or some other magazine a while back, and was intrigued by the fact that they were so easy to make and only had a handful of ingredients. even better now, with less time to bake. any recipe that I can do one handed while holding a curious 28 pound toddler is a keeper.

you MUST try these.
and, if you like your cookies chewy like me, you should definitely underbake them just slightly.

1 cup chunky peanut butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
4 oz chocolate chips (if you are dairy intolerant, make sure the bag says "Parve,"meaning Kosher, or dairy free. I used the Trader Joes chips)

mix all ingredients except the chips until smooth. add the chips. mound by the Tablespoon onto a siplat or an ungreased cookie sheet. Should make just over a dozen cookies. Bake at 350 for 7 minutes, turn the tray, then bake for about 7 minutes more. check on them before the 14 min mark to see how they are. when they look puffy, but just slightly under, pull 'em.

I took these to a playgroup and so wish I could have had a camera to capture the chocolate all over the faces of the kiddos. they are messy, but delish.

2010-07-06T11:39:00.000-07:00

Strawberry Shortcake.

Finally, some summer weather around here. Have been doing a little more baking around these parts now that I am in the second trimester bliss. energy and appetite restored. it feels good. and after a loooooooooooooong gray spring and june, the forcast calls for sun all week. lets hope it sticks around. SO, now that I am in the mood, its time to bake with those damn good strawberries I have been wolfing down for the last couple weeks.

I had a gripe with strawberry shortcake that I wanted to clear up. When visiting with my parents, I wanted to show them that even though I am 2 years out of the kitchen, that I can still make a dessert. so, I made some shortcake. I made biscuits and topped them with macerated berries and a dollop of softly whipped creme. Trouble was, I hated how the shortcakes turned out. Then, I realized, strawberry shortcake can also be made with a nice sponge cake. no need to use heavy biscuits when you can use a light cake that does its part to soak up all those nice berry juices. I suppose I just needed a different and more fluffy biscuit recipe, but instead of trying to perfect it, I went a whole different direction. This time, I whipped up a lemon butter cake, soaked it with a lemon simple syrup and then doused it with my macerated berries. I let it sit for the afternoon to give the cake time to soak up all the berry goodness. Then, when it was eatin' time, I whipped up the creme and spread it over the top of the cake. Now, this is more like the shortcake I was craving the first time around.

2010-06-24T15:23:00.000-07:00

good timing.

I admit, I must have known something was going to come between me and the south beach diet when I decided to embark on it. It was so not me. restricting myself from food? who? so, I was kind of relieved when I found out 2 days later that I was in fact, pregnant. A perfect out for the SBD!!! I could now eat whatever I wanted right? So, this explains my hiatus from posting. I soon after, entered into a 3 month period where nothing tasted good, and the things that did, well, you wouldn't want to know. But, I have rounded a corner and finally feel like eating and have the energy to actually cook again. So, here is hoping that I can just find the time to get back on here and do some blogging. (baby wakes) gotta run!

2010-04-06T13:01:00.000-07:00

eh, I have my doubts.

I have never dieted in my life. I eat sensibly most of the time, but I admit to having a major sweet tooth too. I guess I have always been so active that my indulgences have always succumbed to a 2 hour swim practice or an hour run. But, I have slipped a little bit. For the last 20 months after Z was born, I have been finding every excuse not to run, and also every excuse to indulge my sweet tooth. No wonder I cant shake the last of my baby weight, right? I think that feeding Z lunch and eating the leftovers off his tray doesnt help matters either. I went through my closet the other day and was so bummed that half of my jeans from 'before Z' still sit gathering dust in the back of my closet. really, a year and a half later. This combined with the fact that a friend of mine, just 6 months after giving birth, is looking healthy and as trim as ever. I can no longer use the baby thing as a reason for my 10 pounds. no more. I asked my friend how she did it and she said that 6 years ago, she was told about the South Beach Diet. She went on it to lose weight for her wedding, and ever since then, it has changed her life. It changed the way she thought about food, lessened her cravings and as I found out yesterday when I told her that I didnt think I could live without sweets, it introduced her to Splenda. Now, I am a purist when it comes to sugar, always have been. I hate the idea of replacing sugar with anything. I bake, and sugar does wonderful things to baked goods that using Splenda just cant compete with.

browning for instance.

I found something funny on the Splenda website that just made me want to laugh, and cry:

"In the baking process, sugar caramelizes to produce the familiar golden brown color of baked goods. Baked goods made with little or no sugar do not brown like recipes made with sugar. To help achieve a more golden brown color when baking with SPLENDA® Granulated Sweetener, lightly spray the batter or dough with cooking spray just before placing in the oven"

Seriously? why would anyone want to do this? yuk.

anyway, despite my doubts, I bought the stuff.

For the first 2 weeks, the SBD has you following a strict phase to weed out your cravings for sweets and carbs. I have a really hard time believing that this will actually happen, but I am trying it. So far, I have gone a day and a half without eating any sugar whatsoever and no bread, pastries or donuts. no carbs of any kind. this just goes against my makeup. To add insult to injury, you cant even eat fruit for the first 2 weeks. so, I ask, what the heck do you eat...yeah, I know, meat, eggs, veggies and cheese...but, whats for dessert? I have been dying for something sweet, hence my reluctant Splenda purchase. I bought sugar free fudgcicles (so-so), sugar free jello (have yet to try it) and just now, I made a 'lovely' dessert of ricotta, splenda, cocoa powder and vanilla. It is supposed to resemble tiramisu, but I would like to think of it more as 'what-the-fu-tira-ma-who?' I can see it already, I may be able to adapt to eating less carb and sugar, but to give up what I love completely for the likes of this (below) is just. not. going. to. happen. ever.

But, I will carry on. The first 2 weeks is the hardest, and from then on the diet actually resembles what I would eat normally, if I was eating sensibly all the time. If. This is my goal, I guess, to eat more sensibly and smartly. To indulge my cravings, but not nearly as often as I do now. I do think that this is possible. It has to be, because I will never stop baking with sugar. never. ever.

2010-03-30T11:46:00.000-07:00

Parsley Pesto.

I am one of those people who forgoes buying a whole tree of parsley when the recipe calls for one sprig. I hate to think of the extra going to waste in my crisper. I almost always, up until now, have forgotten about it until it pretty much grows a pair of legs to up and walk out of the fridge. so, many times, I just decide to do without that little extra flavor in my soup or my pasta. bad I know, you would think that after years of working in kitchens, that I would be savvier about using up ingredients in creative ways. but, I guess the last 20 months of motherhood have erased some of my previous know how.

but, the other day, I finally started thinking again. Pesto isnt just limited to basil and I know this. as I stared at the wilting parsley and cilantro slowly dying in my crisper, I nearly kicked myself for forgetting about a very basic and simple way to use this stuff up. Funny, because I have had abundance of basil in the past; which turned me into a pesto making machine all summer. (this was back in Ithaca, where basil actually grows with wild abandon..unlike here in the NW, where it doesnt really) and, I know that I have made a cilantro pesto or two in my life. not quite sure how this all had escaped me.

oh yeah, its that motherhood thing. can I blame this again?

Anyway, so I had some extra parsley and some cilantro.

and, some pecans in my freezer.

and a little bit of parm cheese, and a little bit of garlic and olive oil.

and, with a little whirl of the cuisinart, a pretty tasty pesto was born.

2010-03-22T20:32:00.000-07:00

I spend quite a bit of time at Woodland Park Zoo, and I am a big fan. Of course, I have a special place in my heart for the place having once had the opportunity to volunteer there within the Australasia exhibit. but, that is a whole different story, one that I have already blogged about here.

The zoo membership is all of 40$ for a year of me and my son. 40$!!! Really, this is the best deal in town. I go there at least once a week, if not more. I love living nearby too. instead of just walking to a park, I can just walk to the zoo and let Z run around without feeling like we have to get our moneys worth and see everything. Many times when we visit, we see maybe one or two animals before he loses interest and wants to just wander around. On many occasions, I have noticed that we seem to hit the zoo when the animals are away, or inside, but today, EVERYONE was out. it was really great. even the elusive ones like the snow leopard and grey wolf to name a few, were out enjoying the sunshine. and, today, Z let me see more of the animals, and as a result, I was able to get some fun pictures! I am writing more and more about food on whisk&wander lately, but I also want to focus a little bit on our wanderings, and since the zoo is a huge part of our life here, I wanted to share it.

2010-03-21T21:13:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I went to Specialties and couldn't walk out of there without buying one of their wheat germ chocolate chip cookies. I bought 2 actually. I have been wanting to recreate these gems for a while and so I was conducting a little taste research.

yeah, taste research.

I like the ring to that.

what makes these cookies so good is the amount of butter or shortening that is in them, and the nutty flavor of the wheat germ, a hint of cinnamon, little chocolate chunks scattered throughout. their texture is a little on the cakey side, with a little chewy and a little crispness on the outer edges.

I tend to like my chocolate chip cookies on the either crisp-chewy or the really crunchy side. I am not really a cakey cookie gal, but who am I kidding? I wouldnt actually turn any chocolate chip cookie down.

Today, I set out to recreate these puppies. take one.

the result.

a good first attempt! I do think that I could have used more butter to mimic the cafe's cookie, but I was actually happy with my lower calorie version. with a little less fat, it wasnt quite as moist, but I definitely thought the flavor was there, not to mention those healthful ingredients!

here is the recipe:

note: I have since made batch number 2 which doesnt quite resemble the cookies above, but I felt it yielded a tastier and moister, yet a little flatter result. I have increased the butter 2 oz and lessened the egg by one.

6 oz butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 eggs
1/4 teas vanilla
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup wheat flour, fine
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/4 teas cinnamon
1/4 cup oats
1/2 teas salt
1/4 teas baking powder
3/4 cup chocolate, chopped

cream sugar and butter. add eggs and vanilla and cream until fluffly. mix dry ingredients and set aside. add dry ingredients to wet, stir to combine. add chocolate and stir to combine. bake at 350 12-15 minutes.

2010-03-17T20:46:00.000-07:00

Happy St Patty!

So, last year, I whipped up a batch of Soda Bread, as I do every year, and I wrote about it here. I also posted a recipe adapted from a cookbook that I use often. This year, I did soda bread two ways. Yesterday, I decided to venture out from my normal white loaf and do a more healthful wheat variety. This was not a raging success, but it wasnt bad either. it was just a far cry from my favorite soda bread of all time, from the ol' Crusty Loaf Bakery..rest her soul. it got me thinking, why dont I make that today, my all time favorite, instead of trying every other recipe out there. The thing about the ol CL recipe is that is sort of got lost in the shuffle. but, luckily, I can still remember portions of it and all the ingredients and ratios, so I was able to recreate it. thank goodness for all the repetition of making it weekly. thank goodness for that.

and, in the spirit of St pattys, I had to add a little green!

as promised, here is my recipe:

3 3/4 cups flour
2 Tabl corn starch
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teas baking soda
1 1/2 teas cream tartar
1 1/2 teas salt
2 Tabl butter
2 cups buttermilk (more or less..)

combine all the dry ingredients. add the butter and rub the mixture until the butter is incorporated and it resembles a more coarse mixture, yet uniform. add the buttermilk and stir just to combine. scoop it out onto table and knead barely, just make it hold its shape. you really want a sticky dough, barely handled. bake at 375 for 35-40 minutes until golden. this makes 2 loaves at about 20 oz each.

2010-03-11T14:06:00.000-08:00

Whole Wheat Challah French Toast.

Challah is really good on the first day, pretty good on the second day, and so-so on the third day. In our house, we got through about half before day three hit. I always seem to forget these things when I bake bread. I love it, but we just dont go through it fast enough. and, in the case of WWchallah, this was no different. I was seconds from just tossing it, and then, i sort of kicked myself. Z has been on a morning-cake roll, be it pancakes, crepes or waffles for breakfast lately, and I guess I just overlooked the obvious. french toast. being a pastry person, I tend to think of all the dessert options first..like bread pudding, bread pudding, bread pudding..and then I think of all the dinner options, crostini, bruschetta, panzanella, ribolita..and I am not sure that challah really suits the bill there.

and, I am a little embarrassed to admit, I dont think that I have really ever made french toast. really? its just not something I think to do often for some reason. until now. this morning, I mixed up some milk, eggs, a touch of sugar, cinnamon and salt and then I soaked the bread in it until it was good and ready. (about 10 minutes.)

come to think of it, I was probably inspired by the donut I ate yesterday..

anyway, it really is amazing how you can take a piece of stale bread and create something really delicious.

french toast, welcome to our house.

2010-03-05T21:05:00.000-08:00

Challah Day.

Challah is an eggy, light and slightly sweet bread. It differs slightly from Brioche in that it usually contains more eggs and less butter. What contributes to the light airy texture is also the type of flour used. In Challah, traditionally, it is white flour which is able to create more gluten thus creating a lighter and airy structure to the bread.

Today when I set out to make Challah, I didnt realize that I was pretty much out of white flour. So began a little experimenting and what I got in the end was actually a decent loaf of bread! In place of most of the white flour, I used a fine milled whole wheat flour and a touch of oat flour.

The end result was good, maybe not as fluffy in texture, but definitely not heavy and dense like wheat breads can get. and, the flavor was good and not too different from a Challah made with all white flour.

recipe to come..

2010-02-15T09:35:00.000-08:00

A New Years Resolution on Valentines Day.
I have known this for awhile, but just realized yesterday, that I have almost given up two things that used to be a huge part of my life before baby. These are things that helped to make up who I am as a person, things that I enjoy, things that keep me sane and help me breathe. One, of course, is baking. the other, which I am still trying desparately to bring back into my life, is running. Since we have been away since around the new year and now are back, I am jumping on to this NY resolution thing a bit late, but I am really going to try and make more of an effort to bring both back. for me. Not that I dont absolutely love being a mom. I do. I just need to start doing things for me too. I feel like I have lost a part of myself. I want it back. I want to get my heartrate up. I want to sweat. I want to burn my hands pulling bread from the oven. (well, not really, but..) I have been introduced to this new part of my life, but a piece of me yearns for a little bit of the old part as well.

so, that said, I did a little baking yesterday.

Being Valentines Day and all, I couldn't resist.

While in London, I bought all the ingredients for making crumpets. We had them often, and I had almost forgotten they existed until we arrived in London. A cross between a yeasted bread and a soda raised bread, crumpets are cooked like pancakes after they have risen. then, you either let them cool then toast them, or as we did yesterday, eat them straight off the griddle. I recommend the latter. with a little honey, they transported us back to London, if only for a few minutes.

T really likes lemon, and instead of making his all time favorite lemon tart from the Cafe Juanita days, I opted for a more simpler lemon buttermilk pudding cake. super easy to make, and how cool, the cake separates into 2 layers while baking. a pudding like layer on the bottom, with a light cake layer on top. not too heavy and actually not terribly bad for you either.

there, some baking under my belt. now, I just need to get those running shoes back on.

By request, here is the crumpet recipe: adapted and slightly altered from The Bread Bible by Rose Beranbaum

1 cup plus 1.5 Tabl flour

1/2 c milk

1/4 c water

1 teas dry yeast

1/2 teas sugar

1/2 teas salt

1/4 teas baking soda

put flour, yeast, sugar, salt in mixer and stir to combine. then, add water and milk that has been scalded then cooled to room temp. mix the dough for 5 min on medium. then, let the dough rise until doubled, about an hour. when ready, add the baking soda dissolved in 2 T water. stir it in then let it rise 30 minutes. in the meantime, prep your rings by brushing with butter and preheat your griddle or frying pan over low heat.

set rings in the pan and scoop the batter into them, 2/3 full. cook for 10 minutes on low, then, when the tops have lost their sheen, flip them over. and continue cooking until browned on the bottom.

2010-02-08T01:26:00.000-08:00

The Coolest Retro Sale Ever.

I have Amy to thank for telling me about this sale. It was put on by a costume warehouse, and there was a ton of old and crazy stuff there. I had a field day, but I imagine if I was really into dressing retro, it would have been absolute heaven. But, I did manage to find a few things. I found a leather coat that fits a little snug, but I just couldnt walk away from it. (leather can be stretched, right?) You basically pick a bag, 20pounds for Small, 50pounds for Large and fill it with whatever will fit. I ended up with a couple things for Z, a blazer for Q and my leather jacket. It was incredible to walk around and see all this stuff though. old military jackets, crazy hats, school uniform blazers..clothes, hats, jackets from every era, 40s up through the 90's.

It was a little overwhelming, rifling through all the boxes..and, it was difficult to try anything on. people were crammed into corners with their loot, sorting through it, trying things on however they could.

But, it was alot of fun.

2010-01-31T13:59:00.000-08:00

A day at the Markets.

Columbia Street Market. looking out from a shop to the flower market outside.

mmmmm, fudge.

Spitalfields Market.

This weekend was great. My wonderful husband basically gave me free reign to go explore by myself, so he could have some QT with our son, and so Momma could have some much needed time to herself. wow, I finally feel like I am in London. I was able to get around without the worry of carrying the stroller up and down stairs to the Tube, leisurely browse shops and markets, walk with coffee in hand through crowded markets without worrying about how I would get the stroller through throngs of people or that I would spill my hot beverage on Z, myself or a stranger. I was able to got into small shops, crowded with people, and also the shops up flights of stairs. I have to say, it was really nice. Not that I dont love every moment that Z, T and I have been exploring together, but today, a fire was lit under my a**. Getting out and really seeing London made me realize while seeking out all the playgrounds in our near vicinity is fine and fun for Z, there is this HUGE city that is begging to be explored. and, damnit, we have 10 days left, so moving forward, we are going to get out and see more. I am less afraid of tube travel and am trying to seek out places with an easy tube journey, one in which I can get off and just walk a little further if need be. the line nearest our house actually covers a good park of London East to West without the need to transfer, or with minimal transfer, so that is nice. and, today, I have decided that I am in awe of the Tube. I know, just days ago, I was feeling quite the opposite. It is incredible, really. London is a huge city and I went from our front door across the length of the whole city and to a great Flower Market in 30 minutes. the underground is really amazing, and I actually really enjoy the whole process of getting places.

Today, I went to the Columbia Flower Market in an area on the Eastern Edge of the city. the street was packed with people and cute cute shops, and of course, flowers. When I reached the edge, I kept walking, thinking that I could just catch the Brick Lane...and, of course, I got lost. (my handy iphone map was not working. curse.) but, resourceful me, I hopped on a bus that took me to another market, and I was really pround of myself, that I actually took the bus in the right direction. of course, I did stand at the bus stop for about 20 minutes trying to figure out the map. I walked through Spitalfields, which was kind of a nice mix of food, cool crafty stuff, nick nacks and knock offs. I could do without the last two, but there were some cool things and of course, I had to cap my day off with a little sweet treat.

2010-01-28T03:44:00.000-08:00

Ho-Hum-Hummingbird.

I have seen their well known cupcake book on the shelves back home, so when I stumbled across Hummingbird Bakery on Portobello Rd, I thought for sure I would have to go in. This was the second or third time, actually, that I had passed it. Each subsequent time, I just kept walking. It is a tiny space, with a line out the door, and I have a tot in a stroller. I have to weigh this all out in my head before I venture into tight spaces. So, I walked right by a couple times and finally, the other day, as I walked by, it was nearly empty. I walked by, then turned around, peeked in, and decided that I could go for a cupcake and a cappuccino. They are all the rage right?

Well, aside from the more than polite service, I was not blown away by the cupcake. Maybe it was an off day, or maybe I made the wrong choice, even though I was told by the gal behind the counter that Red Velvet was the crowd pleaser. What I found was a dry cupcake with an overly sweet icing. Ho hum. Of course, dry or not, Z and I polished it off no problem, but it definitely left much to be desired.

2010-01-24T01:59:00.000-08:00

All in the name of Adventure.

The other day, Z and I ventured to an outer area of London to visit a friend and her daughter. She kindly offered to pick me up from the train station if it was pouring, as she lives a 10 or so minute walk from there. I figured that we would be covered, literally and figuratively, since I had a newly purchased umbrella and a rain cover for Z’s stroller. And, the rain was intermittent. When I got off the train, the rain started up a little heavier, so I bundled up and started down the road. When I got to where I should have taken a right turn, I instead took a right to cross the street and continued walking on the same street. Later, after I realized that I had walked 20 minutes in the wrong direction, I was confused that the street sign for the street I wanted, faced parallel to the street I was currently on. Usually this means you are on the street the sign reads. Not in this case. The street I needed to be on was perpendicular to the sign. In short, I took a wrong turn. The rain was heavier now. The only thing that saved me from walking even further in the wrong direction was my iphone. The GPS. Not sure why I didn’t view it earlier. Must have been my confidence in that darn street sign. In any case, I was glad I looked at the map when I did, because I was getting wet and Z was not happy with me at all. We finally did make it to our destination, and although an hour late, Z and I were met at the door with hot tea, some hearty chili and the familiar face of an old friend. Definitely made the trek worth while. and, next time, remind me to forgo the rainy walk for a nice car ride instead..

2010-01-21T12:07:00.000-08:00

Just a few pictures from my day.

The clouds do part here in London!

some goodies that crossed my path today.

2010-01-18T12:01:00.000-08:00

A two posts in one kinda day.

I have a computer that doesnt pick up a wireless signal for some reason, so it has taken me a couple days to get a cable..blah, blah, blah. While I was away, I was writing, and now I will post my last couple blogs..

Shopping at Sainsburys.

We are staying just on the edge of Notting Hill and Ladbroke Grove. Funny, our rental stated the house as being in Notting Hill which is known as an affluent area. We are just outside this area. It is definite much less affluent and much more diverse.

My big adventure on Friday was taking Z to the local grocery store, Sainsburys. I thought Fred Meyer or Target was a madhouse on Sundays, this place trumps both, and it was only Friday morning. Sainsburys is a large grocery store, with a little clothing, electronics and dinnerware in the mix. I steered straight for the food, as this was the bulk of the store and I knew that I would be sucked in for quite some time, and wow. I suppose it wasn’t much bigger than our local Safeway, but I was so absorbed into it all; the brands, the products, the people around me. It was incredibly diverse. All of it. Supposedly, this area is a large Indian/Middle Eastern/Moroccan population, and there was a whole aisle or two of Indian/Middle Eastern foods. Of course, there was also practically a whole aisle of Marmite and yet another aisle of canned Baked Beans (with Franks, without Franks, take your pick..) And the people, I was blown away by how many different cultures of people were around me. I suppose I have been shopping at Whole Foods too long, and where I live in Seattle is not exactly the most diverse area, but this is something that I really like about London. It seems to be such a Westernized city, but so many of its people are from so many other areas of the world. I suppose you get this to a certain extent in other larger cities in the US, but I know in Seattle, I find that I keep to the areas near to my house, areas that are familiar. I am hoping this experience will push me to explore more of Seattle upon our return!

Tooting along on the Tube.

Yesterday, 8 out of the 12 Tube lines were either closed completely, or partly closed. Supposedly, this happens on the weekends, and, come next weekend, we will be finding other ways of getting around, or we will get creative about where we venture to. On Saturday, it was pouring and we walked to the nearest station to where we are staying. It is about 12 minutes. Of course, when we arrived, the gate was locked and we were left standing there, like ‘well, shit what do we do now?’ I have always thought that being in a city with a subway makes getting around so easy and efficient, but this weekend proved to me otherwise. Getting around is like a puzzle. Lets say you need to get from A to B. Easy, you take the W line to the T line and then transfer to the F line. Only, the W line is closed and the T line is partially closed from point C to B, so you need to find the P line to connect with the Q line to connect to the F line.. and man, what a pain in my arse! Not to mention, the tube stations are less than stroller/wheelchair friendly, so poor T had to carry Z up and down and up and down the stairs. (still not sure how to tackle this one on my upcoming adventures solo with Z) On Saturday, we finally gave up and hailed a cab to the area with the Science Museums and Harrods. Yesterday, we again attempted the Tube with our handy iphone Tube Status apps this time. Because our closest station was closed, we walked 25 minutes to the next nearest, hopped on one train, and transferred to another, then walked some more. But, today was a beautiful day. So, even though it took us over an hour to get across town, we ended up seeing a great Sunday market at Brick Lane. If T wasn’t with me, I might have meandered the stalls a little more. Some great food. I had Turkish. T had Chinese. A sunny day. And to make things even better, Z was perfectly content just sitting in his stroller. Shocking, as he is usually squirming after 45 minutes. All the excitement of getting from A to B must have been quite entertaining for him!

2010-01-12T09:42:00.000-08:00

Good day London!

I am back!

Traveling with a 1 1/2 year old is not easy, but we were blessed yesterday to have a full day of plane travel without any major meltdowns, blowouts etc. It was just tiring, having a kid who wanted to run the aisles and not sit still for 10 out of the 12 hours. But, all that said, we made it. and, at the moment, I sit with my tea and my bag of goodies from Marks & Spencer, and my sleeping baby, and it feels good.

Walking around today, I am already getting excited to eat my way through London, babystyle. No, not like the glamorous do, but like me, on a budget, with baby-on-the-go. London is a great place to do this, I am already beginning to see. So many ‘fast’ food places that are actually healthy and offer up good things, the food halls and the markets, I cannot wait!

So stay tuned!

2009-11-14T10:20:00.000-08:00

There is life beyond peanut butter!

Being a first time mom, I am taking all precautions when it comes to food allergies. I come from a family of peanut butter eaters, was raised on Skippy and jelly sandwiches, with no allergies to speak of, but I am still wanting to wait a little longer before introducing peanut butter to my son.

When I was working as a Pastry Chef, I would make other nut butters for use in desserts and ice creams, so when I came across a bag a walnuts in my cupboard that had been overlooked time and time again, I decided to put them to use. I have said before that I am not a big fan of raw nuts in baked goods, but toast any nut and I will eat them by the handful.

(and, maybe only in the case of pecans, I will put them in my cookies)

I have been giving Z almond butter to sub for peanut butter, and I have to say, it is boring! I dont think the almonds are roasted, so it just lacks in flavor. I am kind of kicking myself for not thinking of this sooner, but why not just make nut butters? it really is super easy...and, you can tailor it to your tastes.

So, I took my bag of walnuts and toasted them. then, throw them in the food processor with a little salt and honey. process until the nuts release their oils to make a smooth and not too thick butter. and voila.

the best thing is, Z cant get enough of it, and walnuts are healthier than peanuts, so who even needs peanut butter?

2009-10-28T13:09:00.000-07:00

Easy does it. Cornmeal Pumpkin Bread.

There is a blog life after this Gratitude Challenge, I promise. And, to prove it to you, my handful of dedicated readers who I am sure are tiring of seeing another post about how grateful I am for this and this and that, I want to let you in on something good that I made the other day. Cornmeal Pumpkin Bread. In my pantry these days are bare pickins’, so when I saw that I only had ¾ cup of flour and about 20 cups of cornmeal, I decided to stray a little bit from my favorite Pumpkin Bread recipe.

I love recipes these days that I can whip together in no time flat, without messing with my behemoth mixer and 10 different bowls. I have a hard enough time staying up on the house work, especially this week with a sick little guy in the house. I have been trying to use up misc ingredients that are lying around too, like that half butternut squash in the fridge that Z wont eat, and that almost empty can of pumpkin left from the other days coucous stew. Perfect. Many times I find that I need to get to the store for something, but today, everything just fell into place, out of my cupboards and into the baking pan. I love when that happens. Like I said, easy pleases me.

I wasn’t sure what would happen when I replaced much of the flour for cornmeal, but I was really pleasantly surprised. The same pumpkin flavor and a little earthiness and nice texture imparted by the cornmeal. This recipe may have just become my new favorite pumpkin bread.

Cornmeal Pumpkin Bread

2/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup plus 2 Tablespoons brown sugar

1 ¼ cup pumpkin or butternut squash puree (or a mix of both, as I did)

1 large egg

1/3 cup oil. I used canola, but an olive or nut oil might be interesting too.

¾ cup plus 2 Tablespoons flour

1/3 cup plus 2 Tablespoons cornmeal, fine.

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/3 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon cloves

½ teaspoon cinnamon

350, grease a 9 in square pan, or a loaf pan.

Beat together sugars, pumpkin and egg. Drizzle in oil and beat to combine.

In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients and then add them into the wet. Use a spatula to combine, taking care not to overmix. Pour into pan and bake for between 45-50 minutes,

depending on your pan.

2009-10-27T13:38:00.000-07:00

Day 12. Gratitude Challenge. Today, make the effort to live life with a positive outlook. Restrain from criticizing the people around you. Dare to see the glass half full. Listen more than you speak. Give freely of yourself. Practice kindness at every opportunity.

Ooooh, this is a tough task, especially today. Today, after I just had my 'morning' coffee at 1pm.. Today, after not really sleeping at all last night..Today, after tending to a feverish child who at 1:20 just went down for his first nap. (4 hours later than usual)

Today. Starting now.

I see the glass is half full. Today, I am hoping that Z is rouding the corner on this illness, whatever it is. His fever is down, so I am hoping that it will stay that way. Today, he is napping, finally. I should be napping. Today, I am giving myself freely and solely to him. Even more so than I do on any other day. It is all about him today. I am selfless today. Resisting the urge to get out and do something just for me. there is always tomorrow, right?

2009-10-23T14:41:00.000-07:00

Day 11.

Try to see the world through the eyes of a child. Think about the things you take for granted on a daily basis, and then express gratitude for everything down to the basic necessities that sustain your current life.

My inner child this morning:

‘Oooh what a treat! Coffee! and strawberry jam on toast. I love homemade strawberry jam on toast. And butter. After breakfast, Z and I played in the front room and I turned on our indoor xmas lights. (they hang all year round) It was such a rainy and dark morning. The lights and the way they warmed the room made me feel all cozy. I love holiday lights. Then, when Z slept, I sat cozy with Toonses on my lap and watched some TV that I missed out on last night. The Office makes me laugh.

Frank and Beansss.

Then, when Z woke, we decided to take a walk outside in the wind and look at all the fallen leaves and puddles. I love all the colors!! Yellow, red, orange. Fall is such a wonderful time of year. We made a loop around the neighborhood and I stopped for a mocha. A hot beverage outside on a windy Fall day always makes me smile too. (especially when there is a heart poured in the foam) Then, we had some lunch and played some more in our cozy house. And now, quiet me time. I love quiet me time.’

As cooped up as I may feel on days like this and in the current H1N1 scare, I do appreciate a nice cozy house and a nice walk around the neighborhood with my son, to whom everything is new and interesting. Its funny, I think that maybe we need to get some new toys to sustain us through the winter, and then we go outside and he is content to play with rocks and leaves and puddles. As far as he is concerned, we have everything he could possibly want. I think that I need to adopt this mode of thought. Instead of just buying more things to add to our evergrowing pile of things, I just need to get a little more creative, right?

Today, I am grateful for Nature. for rocks, and leaves and puddles after a rain.

2009-10-20T14:24:00.000-07:00

Day 10. Gratitude Challenge.

Pick one of your five senses to focus on today. Take note of how many gifts come to you via that single port of entry. Write about this experience.

(instead, I had to focus on each..)

The smell of fall in the air. The smell of Lighthouse Roasting coffee. The smell of salt air, when the breeze from the sound carries over this way.

The sound of Izaak babbling. The sound of Izaak squealing with delight. The sound of a quiet house. The sound of coffee brewing.

The taste of that first sip of coffee, no matter how early it is. The first taste of squash this time of year. The taste of hearty fall stews. The taste of ‘The Greek Gods’ fig yogurt. (delish)

The sight of changing leaves on the trees. The sight of Izaak sleeping. The sight of Izaak barreling towards me arms outstretching and smiling. The sight of Izaak hugging 2 of his cute girl friends. The sight of the sun breaking through dark grey clouds.

The feel of warm blankets. The feel of sleep overtaking me. The feel of a hot shower. The feel of Izaak sleeping in my arms.

2009-10-18T15:14:00.000-07:00

Day 8 and 9. A 2 in one kind of day.

Day 8. Send thank you notes to five people who deserve a little recognition.

Stamped and Sealed, but I couldn’t stop at just 5!

Day 9. Enjoy the people around you. Take a moment to appreciate their unique talents, abilities and personalities.

Yesterday, it was so rainy that we were housebound for most of the day. By the time 3 pm rolled around, we were so stir crazy that we decided to walk the mall instead of spend another second in the house. So, we put on our Saturday best and headed out into the downpour. I had forgotten as we sat buckled and ready to go, that I needed to change out my frayed wipers for the new replacements that sat in the back of the car. So, T being the wonderful husband struggled with these wipers for 20 minutes in the rain, only to find that I had bought the wrong size. And, instead of just making do with our sort of functional wiper, he had already taken it completely of the blade, so we were rendered stuck. And the rain still dumped. So we wouldn’t get drenched in our attempt to reenter the house, T decided to run in and grab an umbrella to escort me and Z in. Is that chivalrous or what? Only, I had lent Carrie my ‘big ass screen door’ key and hadn’t gotten it back yet. So, we were locked out. hmm. Feeling lamo that I had to call my poor friend who had just had foot surgery and get someone from her household to come to our house to drop off our key, lucky for us, Ted came to our rescue. We might still be sitting in our car.

So, I take this moment to enjoy the people who were around me yesterday: My husband who got completely drenched in his attempt to fix my wipers and to Ted, who stepped in to get us back into our dry house. And, of course, to Z, who was as patient as can be.

2009-10-15T12:41:00.000-07:00

Day 7 Gratitude Challenge.

A hiatus, and I am back. where was I? Well, on Day 6, I wrapped up with my broken and since repaired iphone, escaped to Kauai for a week of heaven, and now, I am back.

Take a picture of one thing, person, place or specific moment that makes you feel grateful. Share it with your social network.

I picked this photo because it shows a couple things that I am grateful for at this moment. I am grateful to Kauai for being Kauai. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to go there and spending time with loved ones, and I am grateful for this little guy, who had a blast as well.

2009-10-04T11:03:00.000-07:00

Day 6. Gratitude Challenge.

Take a few minutes to call someone you haven’t talked to in a while. Tell them how much you appreciate them.

So, I have to tell you a funny story for why I cant do this challenge today. I broke my iphone singing to it. really. I just uploaded my newest iphone app called “I am T-pain” and after hours of recording my hit single, my phone decided it had had enough. Almost like windows shattering I guess, but this time, my phone just froze. Today, I have to go to the Apple store and admit what I was doing. Do you think the warrantee covers this?

I am currently debating whether to post my song to the whole blogosphere. not sure I am ready for the stardom just yet though.

So, today, while I am not grateful that my phone is not working, I am grateful for the Apple store, whom I hope will send me home singing.....do, do, do, dooooo, doo, do.

2009-10-03T09:39:00.000-07:00

Day 5: Gratitude Challenge.

all right, I am caught up now.

Take five minutes to write about how grateful you are for all of the wonderful things that you currently have in your life. Don’t long for what you don’t possess—instead, take stock of all the blessings you already enjoy.

I feel like this is a little redundant. But, here goes.

Even though I should run more, I am grateful that I have my health, and the ability to be active. I am also grateful that my family has their health too. I am grateful for my genes. My grandma is 98 and is as sharp as ever. I am grateful for that.

I am grateful to have a roof over my head. So many times, I catch myself cursing about how small our kitchen is, or how much I want to repaint the house, or how I hate our upstairs bathroom. Right now, I am warm and dry and my son and husband are here with me. I am grateful for that.

I am grateful to have such a great relationship with my family. I always look forward to spending time with them.

I have great friends too and a wonderful husband, I feel lucky.

I am grateful to live in a place that is safe. I don’t have to live in fear. It is hard to fathom living in any area torn by war. I am grateful for our freedom.

And, now, we are out of coffee. I love that I can just walk around the corner and grab a latte. I am grateful for that.

2009-10-03T09:22:00.000-07:00

Day 4, Gratitude Challenge.

Write a short message of thanks for some of the “negative” things in your life.

Oops, looks like this was yesterdays post, and my new T-pain app for the iphone stole all my free time last night. (I did get some singing time in and record a hit single, so there is that)

Dear Crappy boyfriend in college,

The thought of you still makes me cringe. How terrible is that? Of course, I have moved on and am not one to hold a grudge, I don’t think, but you were really a piece of work. I should have gotten rid of you for good when my best friends caught you in the stall of the dorm bathroom with another girl. (and, you weren’t just using the toilet for which it was intended)..or, for the time you angered me so much I threw a bottle through my dorm room window. (you brought out the absolute worst in me) or, for the time you got so drunk, you got out of bed and proceeded to pee on my wall. You thought it was the toilet, or so you told me. (cringe) I could go on and on and on. I was a sucker for taking you back. But, that said, I actually learned from you. You were the worst, the bottom of the barrel, and from you I could only go up right? You taught me to respect myself. I am worthy of more, of someone who would treat me as I deserve to be treated. Thanks for opening my eyes to this. I sometimes think about what life would be like if we were still together. I cringe and then I thank my lucky stars.

hope you have grown up,

Sara

2009-10-01T20:04:00.000-07:00

Day 3, Gratitude Challenge.
Write about something you feel grateful for in your life today.

845am: I am grateful that I was able to sleep from 10pm-4am without interruption. I am grateful for strong coffee, a warm house and homemade strawberry jam with peanut butter on toast. I am grateful that at the moment, Z seems to be enjoying ‘naptime,’ playing in his crib.

..To be continued..

915: I am grateful that Z finally fell asleep without assistance and is getting better about doing so everyday. (even with all the noise next door)

..To be continued..

100pm: I am grateful that Z had a nice time at The Little Gym. I am grateful that I had a delicious avocado and some good leftover pizza for lunch. I am grateful that, Z, at the moment, seems to again be enjoying ‘naptime,’ playing in his crib.

..To be continued..

115: I am grateful that Z appears to have fallen asleep, unassisted, again. I am grateful to be packing for a trip to Kauai and feel fortunate that I can take these trips. I am also grateful that in the middle of the day, I can sit and watch a movie while Izaak naps. (now, where is that remote??)

To be continued.

730pm: is again grateful that Z went to sleep with no fuss. And now, I am grateful to be about to take a nice long shower and to enjoy a quiet house with my glass of wine.

(I still haven’t found my remote.)

Good night..

2009-09-30T15:25:00.000-07:00

For the next 3 weeks, more or less, I am giving up my whisk&wander blog to this challenge. (poor blog has been sitting idle anyway...)

Ok, I think I am in. this gratitude challenge thing, that is. As I have been sitting here listening to the banging, ripping and pounding that has been taking away my precious quiet time this last week, I have grown bitter. bitter that my sons naps are all messed up, bitter that our neighbors have taken away a chunk of our view of the Space Needle, bitter that all I see out my kitchen window now, aside from the neighbor naked in his bathroom, is someone elses house. not the sliver of sky and light that once flitered through. bitter. for such stupid reasons, right? When I sit back and look at the big picture, I have so much to be grateful for, and I think it is time to bring some of this gratitude to the table. I am going to combine days 1 and 2 of this challenge into one post.

(Day 1, why am I doing this?)
I hope to gain a renewed sense of what is really important in life. and to give thanks for what I am really grateful for. I am hoping to spend the next 21 days dwelling on the positive, not stewing over the negative. Maybe it will help me change the way I think.

(Day 2, use the alphabet as a format to list from A-Z, things I am thankful for today)

So, here goes.

A- Avocados. I eat a lot of these. I might just be able to live on them. a good avocado makes me want to sing.. tra la la.

B- Blue Skies. we have had a lot of these lately. trying to cherish each one, as winter approaches.

C- Coffee. It was a toss up between this and Chocolate Chip Cookies. tough, but I must have coffee daily. the cookies, I probably shouldn't have daily. and, see below.

D- Dough. I have spent much of my adult working life with my hands in some sort of dough. I love the feel and smell of bread dough and snitching cookie dough makes me happy.

E- Ergo Carrier. Oh man, this thing has saved my life and my back. talk about getting your moneys worth.

F- Family. I am so grateful to have such a loving and wonderful family.

G- Great friends. they have seen me at my best and worst.. someday we will all live on the same street, right?

H-my hubby. The most loyal, wonderful, caring and supportive guy.

I- Izaak. I am in love again..

J-Jeans, the more comfy the better.

K-Kauai, one of my favorite places ever. I am grateful to be able to spend time there every year.

L-Lighthouse Roasters, perks up my day..

M- Manzanita Beach, another of my favorite places ever. I look forward to being here for Thanksgiving with my family for many years to come.

N-naptime and nighttime, that is, nighttime when all is quiet.

O-The Ocean. anywhere. someday, I will live closer to it, somewhere.

P-Paseo, the messiest sandwiches = the best sandwiches. and the scent of caramelizing onions is to die for.

Q- Quinny and his emails. crack me up. such a bright and sweet nephew and wonderful cousin to Z.

R- Red Wine, for nights like these. (and days too!) what time is Happy Hour again?

S- Seattle, so grateful for UW luring me up here. I will never forget the day that I first set foot here. It was sunny.

T- Toonses the Cat, my first baby. sweet sweet guy. been through the last 11 years with him by my side.

U- Unagi..love that sushi. used to hate this stuff, and now I dont get enough of it.

V- Vampires, for keeping me entertained this summer and getting me back into reading more regularly again. (its hard to focus on anything these days.)

W- White Noise, for letting my boy sleep without me biting my nails at every little sound.

X- Xyz, fitting into my pants with zippers once again. Well, sort of but not really. everyday, trying to embrace my postpregnancy body.

Y- You, for making it through reading my A-Z, however boring they may be.

Z- zoo, an easy outing within walking distance from my house. love it.

stay tuned!

2009-08-21T09:51:00.000-07:00

All Star.

I got my first pair of Converse when I was 12. They were high tops. And they were off white. They were the brakes for me as I sat on my skateboard and careened down the big hill that leads from my parents house. I used to marvel at how hot my heels got by the time I hit the bottom of the hill. The rubber wore thinner and thinner with each ride.

When I was 16, I had a pair of black low tops. My boyfriend had the same ones. I wore these everywhere. And he wore his too. He was the 'alternative' rock guy, the one that introduced me to Primus, the Chili Peppers and Phish. At the time, these bands were still somewhat alternative, as were black low top Converse. I felt cool. The following year, he would take me to the Haight for my graduation gift, a pair of white Doc Marten boots.

In College, after the days of the Doc Martens and the nose ring, I went mainstream with a white pair of Jack Purcells.

Now, I have a pair of brown Converse slides, you know, the ones that look like they lost their laces? I have worn these to death, the soles are practically worn through, and they still keep ticking. These are my go-to shoe, often worn without socks. Not long after I got these, I bought another pair, a pair of brown one stars. For some reason, these still sit pristine in my closet. As if I would be cheating on the slides to break them out before its time.

And yesterday, in keeping with tradition..or in starting a new tradition, I bought my son his first pair.

2009-07-21T21:30:00.000-07:00

A gelato inspired by fudgsicles..

As a kid, I used to love Jello Pudding Pops. remember them? I have always thought it would be fun to recreate those, and this comes close.. I had some good homemade fudgsicles at a friends house last week. She shared the recipe with me and instead of creating the popsicle, I decided to take it in a different direction and spin it as a gelato. What I got was the most wonderfully textured and delish cold treat. I don't normally love to use corn syrup, but I do think that it lends its hand to the stretchy-like texture of this gelato.. I call it gelato, as it has no cream, just evaporated milk! I was going to add some cherries, but I got lazy. and wouldn't you know, I have no cherry pitter amongst my arsenal of baking tools.

Next time...

Fudgsicle Gelato.
This was adapted from somewhere, cant think of where at the moment.

3/4 c evaporated milk
1/2 cup corn syrup
1 cup water
3 Tabl brown sugar
1/2 c unsweetened cocoa
1/4 teas salt
1 teas vanilla
1 Tabl butter, unsalted

heat all ingredients but the vanilla and butter in over low heat to dissolve the sugar, cocoa and corn syrup. remove from heat and add the vanilla and butter. let cool at room temp. when cooled, add to ice cream maker and spin away....

2009-06-26T08:59:00.001-07:00

To say that I liked Michael Jackson while growing up is an understatement. I was obsessed with him. I used to day dream while looking outside my fourth grade classroom window, while kicking in swim practice, while laying in bed at night, that I was riding on the Pirates of Caribbean with him. Supposedly, he had this very ride recreated for him at Neverland. (not sure if this is true, but a little girl can dream right?) It was just the two of us in a boat, gliding through the calm water. For some reason, this was my dream.

I remember in that same 4th grade classroom, hiding my absolute favorite and tattered issue of ‘Dynamite’ magazine, with MJ gracing the cover, in my desk. Every few minutes, I would open my desk and peek inside, just to make sure he was still with me. And then I would smile. This didn’t go unnoticed. Ms. Winer caught me one day, and I remember how humiliated I was when she opened my desk and pulled out the magazine, waving it around and asking, “Sara, what is this? Do you want to share it with the rest of the class?” Flushing bright red, I was speechless. But, inside I was screaming, “NO, he is MINE.” She took him away from me, for home period at least.

I remember meeting a childhood friend for the first time at a park. Awkward that we were thrust together to play without ever having seen each other before, the first words out of my mouth were, “do you like Michael Jackson?” When she replied that she did, I knew that a longtime friendship had been born.

I remember being so envious of Monica, who showed up to school for Halloween, wearing a replica of Michael’s famous red leather jacket and glove. It was the icing on her Halloween costume. I was a Michael Jackson monster, complete with afro mask and all.

And, I remember when Thriller came out. I remember sitting for hours and hours, listening to the whole record over and over until I knew all the songs and all the words to all the songs. I did this with every record and tape I bought. I had to know the words. But, this was different. I loved every song and would just sit and listen to the album, singing along to the lyrics printed on the inside sleeve, gazing longingly at the picture of him, sprawled out holding tightly onto a Tiger. I wanted to be that Tiger.

I remember the many times, driving in the well aged, rust colored 280Z with my mom, when Thriller would come on the radio. I would ask to adjust the volume, and then I would sing at the top of my lungs. Every word. I knew every single word.

These are the memories that I have of Michael Jackson, before all the allegations, the surgeries, the baby dangling. While I was aware of these things, they never tarnished my image of him. He was my idol, my childhood hero, my crush. And, today, I am crushed.

2009-05-31T14:55:00.000-07:00

A Cool Strawberry treat. Ooh Ah.

When I think of Frozen Yogurt, it reminds me of all those times in high school where we jumped in the convertible bug and headed to the Yogurt Stop. I think my diet at the time consisted of frozen yogurt, rice with soy sauce, Diet Coke, cookies from SAGA (the cafeteria) and bagels from Bagelworks (best place ever). Ah, Carbs.

Frozen Yogurt was such a fad back then, and now it has made its resurgence more than ever with the NEW wave of frozen yogurt. This time, it is being made with REAL yogurt. Go figure.

I have been itching to make ice cream since it has been over a year since I was creating many of the flavors for Poco Carretto. Spinning gelatos was one of my favorite things to do, and oh how I miss my daily spoonfuls. Now that Seattle is having some summerlike weather, I decided to celebrate it by churning up some frozen yogurt for myself. Funny, I have the best intentions when I set out to cook or bake anything these days. It is difficult to follow through when a 10 month old is threatening to pull down your gaucho pants. This week, that same 10 month old had his first cold. So, what started out as the beginnings of a lovely strawberry frozen yogurt during his lengthy morning nap, ended up as a yogurt ice by evening when I decided to speed up the process..chilling the liquid mixture for “just a few minutes,” in the freezer, while I put him to bed. What started as "a few minutes" turned into an hour, and when I came to rescue my yogurt, it was no longer liquid, but a nice sold mass.

Ah, Crap.

I would have thawed and respun it to try to recreate the texture that I wanted and that it was supposed to be, but the yogurt was already in that metal core. This would have meant that I needed to thaw the whole core, then refreeze it..further delaying the time in which the frozen yogurt would actually reach my mouth. Yikes. So, I threw in the towel, sucked it up, got a spoon and dug in anyway. What I discovered was that even though this wasn’t the frozen yogurt I had in mind, it was a nice refreshing and icy treat, especially nice on a muggy Seattle night.

Strawberry Frozen Yogurt or Frozen Yogurt Ice (whichever you choose, or whichever chooses you..)

Adapted from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

1 pound fresh Strawberries (good ones)
2/3 cups sugar
1 cup plain whole fat yogurt. (I used the European Style yogurt from Trader Joes)
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt

Quarter and macerate the Strawberries with the sugar ans salt. Let sit for an hour. Puree berries and mix in with yogurt and lemon juice. Chill in fridge for an hour. heh, or throw in the freezer if you want an icy texture. To make it like a granita, give it a stir every 30 minutes to create a jagged snow cone-like texture. You can even pour it into popsicle molds. But, if you want more of an actual ice cream texture, consult your ice cream maker.

2009-05-17T11:16:00.000-07:00

Hummus at homeus.

It has been a fun and messy road, introducing solid foods to Baby Z. A few weeks back, I introduced hummus. He loves it, like most things so far, to my delight.
I started with a basic chickpea hummus and since then I have gotten quite creative…white bean, mixed bean, lentil…all with pleasing results. Making it at home results in a far superior product than any store will carry. For some reason, I am always disappointed with store bought hummus (with the exception of one), and now I will never go back to buying it again.

A basic Hummus consists of cooked beans, tahini, garlic, lemon and salt. I noticed that a lot of recipes add a bunch of oil, but I think the tahini lends the fat to the dip, so all it really needs is a little drizzle of good oil over the top. I add a little water when I puree sometimes, especially for Z who needs things a little less sticcccccky.

Lentil Hummus.

2 cups cooked lentils
½ cup tahini
3 cloves garlic
¼-1/3 cup lemon juice
1-2 teaspoons salt
2-4 Tablespoons water
Drizzle of olive oil over the top..

I included a range for most of the ingredients, as everyone has different tastes, and hummus is extremely versatile. Just stick everything but the water in the Cuisinart and whiz. Add water as needed. This is a good basic recipe that you can try using different beans, and adding more herbs to as well.

2009-05-12T16:22:00.000-07:00

Super Low Maintenance Ginger Biscotti...

My life as of late doesn’t feel super low maintenance, so it’s nice to a have a biscotti recipe that is. I am talking, one bowl, no mixer required. They are actually low fat too, something that I usually don’t seek, (as I look down at my left over baby belly), even though maybe I should. I happened across a version of this recipe when I was in Kauai with my parents and Z in February. I enjoy baking for my parents, and in particular, they like my biscotti, so I decided to plop babe down to watch some Sesame Street and whip these up super quick. And super quick, they are. I had some challenges there, in the humidity that is Kauai, and my dough was super wet. But, in my haste and being all caught up in the moment of being low maintenance, I just plopped the dough on the cookie sheet and threw it, not too literally, into the oven. What emerged was a surprise. I thought that without butter or oil, these things would not be too edible. Hey, what do I know? I just love fat in my baked goods. I was so pleasantly surprised with the flavor of the ginger and the lovely crunchy texture. Perfect for dunking in that cup of Kona coffee. Sigh. Today, in grey Seattle, as I made these same cookies…(a late Mothers Day gift, Mom!)...I wasn’t at all surprised that the dough was much less wet, yet they yielded the same crisp and lightly fragranced cookie…and, once again, I am transported to the lanai, sipping my Kona coffee, biscotti in hand.

SLMG Biscotti.

½ cup crystallized ginger, chopped
1 cup flour
½ cup sugar
2 teaspoons fresh grated ginger
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 egg
1 egg white

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl with whisk. Set aside. Mix eggs together separately to combine then pour into flour mixture. Fold eggs into flour, using hands if you knead to help incorporate it. take care not to overmix. Add crystallized ginger just to combine. Lightly flour counter and roll dough into a log. Place on nonstick cookie sheet, or silpat and bake at 350, for 20 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool slightly, then cut into biscotti into ½ cookies. Bake again, for about 10 minutes more, until nicely golden. Makes about 1 ½ dozen.

2009-04-05T12:56:00.000-07:00

Australasia, revisted.

It is easy now to look back on my previous life and how things have changed so much in the last 9 months. Hard to believe that it has been almost a year since I hung up my apron and walked out of the kitchen of Café Juanita, a year since I made, daily, 5# Focaccia, 10# of Potato Bread, enough gelato to fill my home freezer, and desserts to keep me satisfied for days and days and months.
Harder yet to believe, is that for me, there was life even before my previous life as a Baker and Pastry Chef, a life in which I was a recently graduated science major from UW, a life just after I hung up my cap, goggles and swimsuit, my sole identity for the 18 years prior. I call this period of my life the lost years. I think, looking back, that it was the time in my life in which I was really the most unhappy..when I really had no idea what to do next. I had just finished living the greatest 4 years of my life, and here I was, graduated, no longer a swimmer, with no job prospects and a dwindling support system of friends still living in Seattle.

It was 1996 and I moved out of the college house that I shared with my best friends in the world and into a foreign house, with two good friends that hadn’t left Seattle once college ended. We lived in Ballard, which at the time, hadn’t yet experienced the resurgence of cool. Back in ’96, it was kind of dead, its main street still bearing the look of an era long bygone. I used to spend my days in the coffee shops, writing letters to old friends (back before email was a mainstay..) and trying to figure out my next move. Ironically, I remember there was a bakery around the corner from our house, one that, now, has become the beating heart of Ballard as far as French Pastries are concerned.

I graduated with a Zoology degree and had dreams of becoming a Veterinarian, but given a less than stellar performance in Organic Chemistry and Physics, I just wasn’t sure whether I could hack it. So, I applied for an internship at the Woodland Park Zoo and thought maybe I could intern alongside the resident Vet.

The Zoo is one of the hardest places to find an actual paying job, so I started where anyone would, as a volunteer. I was assigned to the Australasia exhibit, which housed the Snow Leopards, the Tree Kangaroos, the Wallaroos, the Laughing Kookaburra, the Potaroo
(Pota-who? you ask?) and the Mountain Parrot.

As a Vonlunteer in Australasia, a few things were certain: I could never tend to the Snow Leopards by myself, for obvious reasons…I could clean the female Tree Kangaroo’s cage, but not the neighboring male, who was known to throw his poop in your direction and, I had to watch my back when cleaning the Emu’s pen, as they tend to like chasing humans.

As you can imagine, I was assigned to the most menial and labor intensive of duties…and, the least glamorous. Not feeling too comfortable in my skin as it was, this was somewhat embarrassing at times when people would walk by the exhibits only to see me cleaning up after the Parrot who kept throwing his newly prepped and placed food on the ground and pooping in the area of the cage that I had just hosed and scrubbed. I was the poop lady. I spent most of my days cleaning the pens and, when I was through, I spent the rest of my time, filling wheelbarrows with hay to lay in the Wallaroo’s exhibit. Sometimes, when the keepers felt sorry for me, they would give me something different to do, like lining the Leopards (empty!) pen with cat nip and other sensory treats hidden in pine cones. One time, I remember blowing Emu eggs and scrambling the innards into a nice omelet. So good. And by the way, Emu eggs are huge and a beautiful green color.

My morning would begin with a walk through the Zoo at sunrise, with coffee in hand. Not a terrible way to start the day. I would walk past all my ‘friends’ and say hello. The Hippos’s, The Meerkats and The Pallas Cat all happened to be on my way to Australasia. Then, upon arrival, I would spend a couple hours weighing poop in baggies before my afternoon of cleaning poop in the pens. Weighing poop you ask? Why yes, I was helping in some experiment in which I had to weigh the poop of the tree kangaroo, daily. To this day, I am still not quite sure what that was all about.

I laugh when I look back on my days at the zoo. I had kind of a love hate relationship with the place. I have the utmost respect for the keepers. Probably one of the most difficult jobs out there. I didn’t really love all the cleaning, and the poop, but I did love seeing all the animals on a daily basis.

Now, with Baby, I have rekindled my relationship with the Wallaroos, this time from the other side of the fence, looking in.

2009-03-17T21:56:00.000-07:00

Irish Sod-y Bread.

Everytime I make Irish Soda Bread, I am flooded with memories of St. Patricks Day at the Bakery. It was such a crazy affair, pages and pages of handscrawled special orders, counting and recounting all loaves accounted for, mixing and shaping and baking as fast as we could. I remember the order of Buttermilk that we would receive the day prior; it took up every inch of our reach in fridge. The bags and bags of flour, the pounds and pounds of butter. And I remember pulling an all nighter, starting our bake at midnight the night before just so nothing unforeseen could surprise us the next day. A missed order. Late Menu Planners. One year, I remember coming up with the idea to dye the bread green. Not the best idea, our wooden workbenches were dyed green for weeks, and so, too, were our everyday loaves of honey white, sourdough..

During the normal week, we would only offer Soda Bread of Saturdays, and it was these mornings that we could barely keep up with the customers that filled the front lobby. We almost always ran out of Soda Bread, and each week, we would up the par. Not sure why we didn’t just offer it more times during the week. We had so many breads that we did daily, and the Soda Bread pretty much trumped them all.

There is something nice about Soda Bread. In a bakery where yeast was king, this bread was the quickest to throw together. In a pinch, you could just make more…not the case with the 12 other breads that spent their days rising in buckets and garbage pails strewn about.
Soda Bread is probably the easiest bread to make too. No need to have any kneading know how, this bread shines with a light touch and its craggily imperfect top.

Today, in honor of St. Patricks Day, I decided to step back in time and make some Soda Bread. Normally, I am a purest when it comes to this bread, (just flour, butter, sugar, baking soda, salt and buttermilk) but today, I decided to add a little pizzazz, some whiskey soaked raisins. I wont mention that I didn’t have any Irish Whiskey on hand and had to go with Bourbon instead….no, I didn’t just say that, in case you are Irish. I was pretty happy with the result. The Raisins added an additional depth of flavor, which was a really nice complement to my Guinness and Beef Stew. (thanks Carrie!)

Recipe: adapted from the Bread Bible.

1 cup raisins
1/2 cup whiskey
2 oz butter
2 cups flour
3 Tabl sugar
1 teas baking soda
3/4 teas salt
3/4 (give or take a little) cup buttermilk

soak raisins in rum for 30 minutes, at least. or up to overnight..drain and reserve the whiskey for another use...(or drink it!)
mix together dry ingredients and rub the butter into the flour mix until resembles a coarse meal. add the raisins and toss. add buttermilk and mix just to incorporate. shape into a round, slash an X with a knife, about 1/2 inch deep, and bake on a lined sheetpan for 40 minutes at 375.

2009-02-18T20:05:00.000-08:00

I am back!!

Today is the start of a new era. For the last 7 months, I have pined for cooking and baking, have yearned to write my weekly blog entries in Whisk and Wander, and we have traveled, which usually warrants a few entries and some photos. but life has changed so much in the last 7 months, that I have been tired, not rested and frankly, not too motivated to do much of anything aside from caring and doting over my baby boy.

But, the tides are changing. I have finally figured out how to get my son to fall asleep on his own. I feel like my world is opening up again, especially my free time in the evenings. So what do I do, a week after I started ‘sleep training’ him and am getting a little more rest myself? First, I have a celebratory beer and then, I cook. (tonight, its coconut curry with halibut) For the first time in several months, I have felt the urge and the energy to get back in the kitchen. Not to say that I haven’t done any cooking…but, I know, I know, potstickers and edamame don’t count now do they?

My first blog back was going to be a re-creation of the famous French Macaroon cookies that we had from Laduree in Paris. But, I admit, I am rusty and they were not blog worthy, believe me. The extent of my baking as of late has been easy stuff like scones and chocolate chip cookies.

I have been an avid walker since Z was born, and often, my walks take me into a café for a halfway point coffee and a cookie. I have been to quite a few cafes around, so I have made it my quest to find the best and worst chocolate chip cookies out there. (not really, but as a frequent buyer and eater of CCC’s, I find that I am getting duped…but am still spending the money on these things anyway..) I hate to sound like a CCC snob, but there are some doozys out there…

If I had to describe my perfect CCC, it would have a slight crunch on the outer edges and give way to a chewy interior. And, unless they are toasted pecans, I hate nuts in my cookies…and brownies and banana bread.

Place #1: This place is known for its coffee, which is roasted in small batches in house…and I love their coffee, think they make the best lattes in Seattle, but their baked goods are….pretty mediocre. Their scones are almost always underdone and their cookies are always falling apart. Whenever I ask for one, the poor barista cant seem to grab just one from the case. Most times, I get a broken one, and part of an extra one, which is nice….if only they didn’t taste so much like bananas.

Place #2: This place is known for its grilled sandwiches and soups and they serve a decent latte, but again, their baked goods are ALWAYS doughy…. ‘the baker is afraid of the oven’, doughy. But, I admit, I have been known to like an underdone cookie now and again. Not bad, I like the chewy factor…but, recently, I saw the owners walk in with a huge tub of ‘Otis Spunkmeyer’ cookie dough…so, this kind of changed everything for me…

Place #3: This place is known for its Asian inspired pastries and they all actually look delicious, but for some reason, I order a CCC instead. Their cookies are the worst texture, dry and sort of chewy, in a stale way…and, they have walnuts. Yuk. I know that they make most of their things from scratch, so I am surprised that the baker pulls these out of the oven, takes a bite, and thinks they are heaven. They are not. (bonus minus point in my book since the walnuts were rancid in my last cookie...)

Place #4: I wasn’t going to get a CCC here, but I didn’t have cash and they only accepted debit cards with 5$ or more, so I gave in. They are a Cuban coffee shop and I think are known more for there unique atmosphere and coffee than their baked goods, but I have to say that I actually liked the cookie. I wasn’t expecting much, as it was wrapped in plastic, which usually says to me.. “Day Old..” and, did I mention that it was 2.00$ ? geez…But, a Double bonus, it had chocolate chips AND m&m’s…no nuts and although it was a dense cookie, it had a good dense yet chewy texture.

I am a baker by trade, so I have to be critcal when trying out these places. But, of course, I have been to most more than once, and I have again and again ordered the same cookie, so they are hardly inedible, but I am still on the search for the best, and I guess not having found it so far keeps me baking my own at home..

2009-01-07T18:37:00.001-08:00

Wow, has it been 3 months? geez, I promise to post soon. A recent trip to Paris and London has me thinking of Macaroons, Crepes, Croque Monsieur...things I look forward to recreating...
stay tuned...

2008-10-15T15:47:00.000-07:00

Morning Glory, in all its glory. before and after.

I remember when I first had a Morning Glory muffin, about 25 years ago. I remember thinking that it couldn’t possibly be any good since it didn’t contain any chocolate chunks or cream cheese filling. Was I wrong. Where it lacked chocolate and cream cheese, it made up for with carrots, pineapple, raisins and coconut. To a 9 year old, it just about knocked my Vans off. My mom used to make these often, and then one day possibly after counting the calories they contained, she just stopped. Quite deceiving, they tote all the healthful ingredients, along with a healthy dose of fat. Oh well. I think that 20 years went by before I had another one, at a local and well known bakery in town. (I wont name names) Until this day, I always felt like with the Morning Glory, you can at least feel like you are eating something healthful, but this one was different, it was all too greasy. Yuk. So, it has been 5 years and while looking to clean out fridge and freezer, I came across all the ingredients…old shredded coconut..frozen pineapple..carrots..a stray apple..lost macadamia nuts..raisins..beckoning to me from behind the roasted chicken and the bag of ice,
‘mmm..remember the days..morning glory..’

I gave into their pleas, and I did what they asked.

I debated cutting back on the butter and oil, remembered my brownie fiasco, and thought the hell with it, I am going to go full force….and I was not disappointed.

2008-09-02T20:54:00.000-07:00

Fun with Raisins, part 1.

What do you do when you have 4 pounds of puny, dried out raisins from Costco? (besides calling Sunmaid and complaining?)

You make Raisin Lekvar, that’s what!
What is Lekvar you ask? It is a fruit butter typically made from prunes or dried apricots, mainly used in European pastries…

I decided to try it out in the swirl of cinnamon raisin bread. Instead of having a bread just flecked with raisins, I ended up with a swirl of raisin-y jam like goodness. Fresh out of the oven with a little butter and cinnamon sugar, it truly was divine…

Stay tuned for part 2...

2008-08-17T14:04:00.000-07:00

Please excuse my long hiatus from Whisk and Wander, as I have been fully consumed with motherhood and am just starting to figure out how to juggle the little guy with one arm and make cookies with the other...I hope to post more regularly from now on as I find both the free moment and the inspiration.

(baby in sling, cookies in the making...)

Back in the saddle…or trying.

Now that I am not working, every outing, whether a walk or an errand, I find that I need to have a treat in the form of an iced latte, bubble tea or Matcha Tea latte. I feel I deserve it, after all, I was able to motivate and successfully get out of the house with baby in tow. Don’t I get some kind of reward? In a way, it is those little things that I look forward to now. Going for a walk and knowing that a Matcha Tea latte awaits me after the first mile and a half, or going to the baby store in search for silicone binkies and knowing that, conveniently, the bubble tea place is around the corner, or just going to drop the mail in the mailbox outside of Lighthouse Roasters, and knowing that the best iced latte awaits me there. (even though I have a perfectly capable mailbox of my own at home, not to mention coffeemaker..)

Last week, I decided to fund my habits further by buying a cup attachment for my stroller, just for my lattes…how convenient is that?

When I step back and look at just how many coffee, iced tea lattes and bubble teas I consume a week, I try to justify it with the fact that I am not buying myself any clothes right now (trying to lose that extra 20 lbs..) and we are not eating out often..unless you count the quick runs to Paseo for Cuban goodness, or Herfeys for some greasy goodness and a shake..(yes, still trying to lose 20 lbs..)

I do have pangs of guilt though whenever I plunk down my debit card on these not so necessary items. (necessary items: diapers and wipes AND diapers and wipes..)

So, once again, I have taken to trying to duplicate my favorite drinks in the comforts of my own home. This time I have tackled the Matcha Latte with pretty good success. I actually think it surpasses the Starbucks version, which usually comes laden with way too much ice and nasty melon syrup, not to mention Matcha powder stuck to the bottom in undissolved chunks. Yum. You would think that a place like Starbucks would figure that out?

What I did was use one of those Japanese tea stirrers to dissolve the matcha in the milk, and then a cocktail shaker to create a somewhat frothy drink. I have to say that I was pretty happy with the result. Next time I walk, I will just have to take my own homemade matcha latte with me..after all, isnt it all about the journey and not the destination?

Matcha Tea Latte

6 oz good milk
1.5 teaspoons matcha tea powder
1.5 teaspoons simple syrup

In cocktail shaker, mix all together with bamboo whisk and let sit for a moment to dissolve matcha completely, add ice, shake and pour...

2008-06-26T16:52:00.000-07:00

Refresher.

Now that it is feeling a bit like summer here, after what I like to call a long ‘Juneuary’, I am feeling like a nice cool beer, a frosty Caprihana and a nice glass of chilled white wine. In reality, I still can have none of these. But, I came across a lovely refresher in a cool book that my mom gave me, one that was nominated for a James Beard award, very deservingly. It is called Super Natural Cooking by Heidi Swanson, and in it, she does what I have been striving to do lately; cooking more using whole grains. Not only is it a beautiful book, but it is quite informative too. She finds uses for the more obscure flours…mesquite chocolate chip cookies anyone? I have yet to try these using the mesquite flour, but I am intrigued.

In the book, she has a recipe for a drink called Aqua Jamaica. Sounds refreshing doesn’t it? It is made from Hibiscus Blossoms, which, randomly, I had in my tea cabinet, a little sugar and water. It was quite refreshing with a little sparkling water and lime.

If you have a hard time finding Hibiscus Blossoms, try Trader Joe’s Raspberry Infusion Tea. My second batch was made using this instead, and you will see that the tea actually contains hibiscus as well as raspberry..so, there you go!

To make:
Bring to boil 2 cups water and 3 Tablespoons sugar and pour over 4 tea bags. Let steep for 5 minutes. Then, add 2 more cups of cool water and chill. When ready, fill a glass with ice, pour tea to fill 2/3 and then top off with sparkling water and a couple lime wedges. Add sugar to taste.

2008-06-14T20:01:00.000-07:00

The brownie not worthy of its name. (i.e. another dud)

I am not sure what I am thinking with this one. I think it started with my desire to play around with whole grains in my baking adventures, and secondly, the fact that I am 35 weeks pregnant and feeling large…not to mention an evil mirror and lighting experience I had last night in the bathroom at the Salish Lodge. (think posterior + cottage cheese)

My oven, after being kaput for 2 weeks, is now fixed, so you guessed it..the baking must go on.

While I have a few pretty tasty brownie recipes, I decided for some insane reason to make a low fat brownie tonight. I am kicking myself already, and they haven’t even emerged from the oven yet, in all of their non gooey, non chocolaty badness. I tasted the batter; something that I try not to do in pregnancy, given the raw egg thing and all…but, I couldn’t resist tonight when I noticed the extremely pale hue of my brownie batter. It was then that I had my doubts. Then I tasted it. Think of a batter, that tastes not even remotely resemblant of chocolate, then add that flavor of whole wheat which is great in breads, not so great in brownie batter.

People, it wasn’t good.

I should have known. Really. I mean, how many times do you see a dessert recipe that says “low fat,” and it actually tastes good? Well, I am sure that it happens every once in a while, but let me tell you as someone who spends most of her time baking with real butter and eggs….it happens not often enough. And, STILL, I went along with this recipe. Wishful thinking I guess..

So, to mildly defeat the purpose of the low fat brownie, I added a heaping cup of Green and Blacks Hot Chocolate Mix, which is essentially chocolate and sugar…so, here comes the fat, back into my brownies and onto my posterior. I am not even sure that this will salvage the mess that I may have just made…but, I am waiting, somewhat un-eagerly to find out….

30 minutes later…

Well, they don’t smell too bad…but…

It looks more like a cake, and not quite the fudgy, chocolaty brownies that I normally make…

10 minutes later…

Oh boy, I really hit it on this one. I think that this is the absolute worst dessert that I have ever made. It is that bad. How can the Bob’s Red Mill Whole Grain Baking Book publish this recipe and feel good about it? Yuk, yuk, yuk.

To think that I was so, so close to making a full fat oatmeal cookie instead, and now I have a pile of tough, chewy, not chocolaty at all, ‘if-you-can-even-call-it-a-brownie’ brownie….such a shame.

This is no brownie of mine, no brownie at all.

2008-05-21T16:11:00.000-07:00

Chocolate Croissant, take 2.

I have been having a hard time finding a decent chocolate croissant around here. And maybe I just haven’t looked hard enough, because I know that there are plenty of good bakeries around. Instead of venturing out and risking disappointment yet again, I decided to take the matter into my own hands. If you are the most truly dedicated reader, you might be saying… “hey, you already did this post back in March 2007..” But, when I look back on photos of my earlier attempt at making the chocolate croissant, (well, I cheated and used puff pastry instead) I have to laugh since my ‘croissant’ was pretty much like the ones that I find I am complaining about…not enough chocolate for my pregnant cravings of today. This is going to change.

Making croissants is a lengthy process, so the dough that I am starting this morning, will have to wait to be devoured in the form of a tasty croissant, tomorrow morning. Yes, it is a labor of love, but I am willing to wait 24 hours. Now, I have all the time in the world, time in which I am determined to perfect these things, if nothing else. I may not have the nursery up and ready in time for baby, but I will have myself a damn good chocolate croissant. Hey, since I am officially not working, I gotta keep my hands in the dough, right?

--24 hours later---

Ah, ha. Mission accomplished. I am pretty happy with this attempt. I even had some willing friends test them out.. I think that if I did anything different, I would use bittersweet chocolate instead of the milk chocolate…next time.

And, just so you know, there will be a next time.

2008-04-25T18:59:00.000-07:00

Not to change the gist of my blog entries, but I couldnt resist. The other day on my way to work, I saw the most ridiculous thing, or shall I say, things. These were dangling off of one of those mini subaru trucks. Obviously, the guy driving had some inferiority issues about having a mini truck, and not one of those MAXI S-1000050 Fords.

what next?

2008-04-06T11:26:00.000-07:00

Another Sweet Craving.

I have really been craving the breakfast pastries lately, and this morning I just had to have a scone.

Every once in a while, I try to bake a scone that is reminiscent of a ginger biscuit from one of my favorite Seattle bakeries, Café Besalu. Numerous times over the holidays, I have made them, and now, while transitioning out of my job, I find that I have some extra time on my hands to make them every once in a while for my co-workers. There is something special about Café Besalu’s biscuit, a melt in your mouth quality that I am convinced may come from the flour that they use, not just the butter, or the barely touched dough.

This morning, instead of trying once again to recreate the ginger goodness, I went in a different direction with some ingredients I had on hand. The recipe I had been eyeing called for buttermilk, but I used a cream top whole milk yogurt instead, which worked out quite lovely. I threw in some plumped cranberries, raisins and a dash of cinnamon. If only I had an orange, I would have zested it to add a little brightness. The result was quite a handsome looking scone, so handsome that it trumps my less perky looking, yet supertender ginger scones.

..hmmm, looks like ginger might need a new look.

2008-03-16T18:25:00.000-07:00

Bread of Chocolate.

I am craving a chocolate roll from my old bakery days, when we would pull them fresh from the oven, studded with chocolate chips, lightly sweetened and perfumed with cocoa. It was a nice treat, when you were feeling a little indulgent, but it wasn’t such a guilty indulgence. The dough was somewhat lean, with only a few eggs to fatten her up..along with a little chocolate. Of my arsenal of bakery recipes, this one failed to make it out alive, when the bakery doors shut forever back in 2001. And since then, for some reason, I never really thought twice about it.

(so many things to bake, so little time I guess..)

I think that my bread and chocolate craving began a week ago, when I went to seek out my favorite pastry of all time, the chocolate croissant. I was envisioning the chocolate croissant of my youth, one I have surely mentioned in the past. You know, the flaky one, brimming with chocolate on the inside, and then dipped in chocolate on the outside? Well, I was heavily disappointed when I went to bite into my bready croissant, and I found about one chocolate chip’s worth of chocolate on the inside. Come again? (I have since made my gripe clear to the bakery in question on Yelp.com) How dare you call it a chocolate croissant? If I wanted a chocolate chip, I would eaten one, AND I would have saved myself $4.00….not to mention the heartache.

Back to my bread...This one isn't quite what I remember, but with a shmear of peanut butter, anything tastes divine..

2008-02-25T15:04:00.000-08:00

By gosh, I am going to go out on a limb here and say that I think Spring is in the air, sort of.

For over a week now in Seattle, it has actually been sunny. Today, on my walk, I actually could see Spring bulbs bursting through the soil, and I could smell the flowers. There were even some buds on the cherry trees, my favorite sign that Spring has sprung.

In my kitchen, I am feeling happy and springlike too, although I still don't have much fruit to work with at this time of year. I am over pears and apples... So, I decided to take a turn with Lemons. Bright. Yellow. Sunny. Lemons.

I have been eyeing a recipe for a Shaker Lemon Tart....

A Shaker Lemon Tart is one in which the whole lemon is used, minus the ends and seeds. I was intrugued by this, since one of my favorite things to make at work in the Winter months is Marmalade. I figured that this tart would end up being like gooey sweet Lemon Marmalade, nestled in a flaky pastry. A little sunshine. and it was.

2008-02-18T16:47:00.000-08:00

Update:

I baked off the cookie dough from my previous post and the result wasn't half bad. Not my favorite cookies in the world, but, still tasty enough for a pregnant lady to consume one or two or three... and, to my delight, the banana flavor was a little less pronouned. (I, of course, have nothing against bananas, but there is a time and place for them, and oatmeal chocolate chip cookies ain't one of them...)

2008-02-10T22:05:00.000-08:00

Give the lady her dough.

I love chocolate chip cookies. And, what I almost love more is chocolate chip cookie dough. So, it pained me greatly last week when I whipped up a batch of oatmeal chocolate chip raisin cookies, and I couldn’t even take a bite of the sweet buttery, vanilla and cinnamon scented batter. It was a little bit of torture, since I am the type who usually sets out to make cookies and am already sick from dough-overdose by the time they come hot out of the oven.

Tonight, I really wanted some cookie dough so I decided to make a one that even I could enjoy.
In the past, I have played around with Vegan recipes, so I decided to come up with a cookie dough recipe in which I use a banana to substitute for the eggs. This works pretty well in cookies, the only downfall being that your chocolate chip dough is now heavily perfumed with banana…making it not quite the same…but, still edible by my standards.

Here is what I came up with:

Chocolate Chunk and Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

4 oz butter
¾ cup brown sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 small banana
¾ cup flour
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
¾ cup oats
4 oz dark chocolate, in chunks
2 oz raisins

Cream the butter and sugar, add the banana and vanilla and cream till fluffy. Add the flour, salt, cinnamon and baking powder(just in case you decide to bake them after all) and mix to combine. Add the raisins and chocolate and mix. Devour.

* note: I have yet to bake these so, no promises there. Maybe tomorrow.

**** Update! I have been a chocolate chip cookie fiend lately and so I made some cookie dough at work to turn into Cookie Dough Gelato. This time, I just took out the eggs from a basic chocolate chip cookie recipe, and added just a touch of milk instead. the dough was pretty much identical in taste to a normal batch with eggs, and better yet, I was able to indulge :) I didnt attempt to bake these, but instead, I just folded chunks of the dough into my finished gelato. yum.

2008-01-28T16:11:00.001-08:00

Sushi.

Being pregnant and having cravings for Sushi has left me feeling a bit conflicted. When I felt the urge, I used to just pop into Whole Foods for my quick Sushi fix, but now, I am feeling a little more paranoid than usual, and I am just not sure that the premade, sitting on the shelf, raw fish sushi is my smartest option. (even from Whole Foods!) It really bums me out, and I admit, I have bought the cooked fish variety but, even then, I felt like maybe I should avoid the premade foods section all together. (I have been reading too many pregnancy books, I know..)

Lately, now that I have my appetite back, I have been craving sushi a lot. Believe me, I am more than happy to be past the “baked potatoes only” stage.

I was feeling quite motivated last night and when the craving hit while shopping at Whole Foods, I passed right through the premade Sushi land and headed to the rice and Nori aisle instead. I decided to make my very own sushi, albeit a boring avocado and cucumber roll, but still, it was sushi.

This is definitely something I will do again..it was quite fun. (I was actually giddy, I was so excited) and easy too! (and it cost a heck of a lot less!)

2008-01-28T15:40:00.000-08:00

The Move.

I feel like it happened so fast. One day we just started packing casually, the next, I come home to an empty house, cardboard boxes and bubble wrap. I guess this pregnancy thing got me out of all the hard moving, which took place all day while I was at work. Instead, I spent my time packing, unpacking and cleaning. T and I make a pretty good team. In the span on 2 days, we went from not all the way packed, to packed, moved out, moved in, and about 90% unpacked. Phew. And, now, I am exhausted and can definitely feel those pregnancy pinches in my slowly expanding hips.

It is funny to move into a new house, it is almost like opening presents on Christmas morning. Unpacking boxes, trying to find a place for everything…playing house with your furniture and trying to see which way is the best. It reminds me of when I was young, and my room was my very own creative palate. When I needed a change, I would move around my furniture, placing my bed at a different angle, my dresser against a different wall, and I remember feeling like it was a new room. It was exciting again. When that became old and I had exhausted all the possibilities (I think that there were two..) I would add a new hunk to my collage on my back-of-the-door cork board, or I would cement glow in the dark stars all over my ceiling. I remember looking at those stars for hours at night, starting so intensely that they would begin to orbit around each other.

On the Saturday that we moved in, the big Packers and Seahawks game was on, and our new neighbor was having a game watching session with some buddies. I know this is because for some reason, he owns no window coverings at all. I remember thinking that he must be a bachelor or just an exhibitionist. While I was in the kitchen unpacking, I kept noticing a light go on in a little room across the way. I would notice because it was dark in that part of the house, so it was obvious when the light would go on. After a couple times seeing this light go on and off, I realized that I was looking into this guy’s bathroom, with a partially clouded window. I said ‘partially’. So, I could tell when the neighbor and his buddies needed to relieve themselves, AND, whether they were standing, or, ahem, sitting. After about the third time, I felt the need to dig out a curtain rod and curtain of my own, just so I could grant them a little bit of privacy…

A couple weeks and a new roof later, and we are feeling much more settled. It is interesting how I have been noticing things more as a homeowner, whether it is the loose doorknob, the way the hardwood floors are a bit uneven in one place or the fact that our lovely vintage oven doesn’t fit half of my baking sheets..Never did I think twice about these things before, and now, I am thinking, “oh geez, at some point WE need to fix that…and that…and maybe paint this…"

All in all though, our house is like our new creative palate and instead of just changing the furniture around when we need a change, we can actually move a wall or a doorway…for this, we will keep you posted..

2007-12-25T12:08:00.000-08:00

Ho, Ho, Ho…

I can’t remember the last time I wasn’t with my family for the holiday, unless you count the time years back when my parents had traveled to Bali and M dragged me to the Midnight Mass from hell. I won’t go into details, but let’s just say the mass was less about fa-la-la Christmas and Carols and more about the homophobic beliefs of Father T. We couldn’t get out of there fast enough, and after a 20 year hiatus from the Catholic Church, I vowed that I would never go back. Suffice it to say, Christmas for me is about family and friends and sharing thanks for having such wonderful people in my life.

I have fond memories of the holidays growing up. In our house, it meant making about 15 different types of Christmas cookies. Let me see, there were the Yummy Caramel Bars and Seven Layer Bars, (my faves) the Dream Bars, the Mexican Wedding Cakes, the Buckeyes, the cookies with the chocolate in the middle, the basic sugar cookie with green and red sugar…I cant forget the FUDGE…oh man. My mind blanks, but there had to have been more. When we made cookies, we would store them in tins in the freezer and for months following, we would dive into the freezer at odd times throughout the day for a sweet treat. At night after a grueling swim practice, I would cozy up next to the lit Christmas tree with the fire cracklin’ in the fire place and my Yummy Caramel Bar in hand. I remember thinking; life doesn’t get much better than this. There was something about it all. The lights, the scent of the Christmas tree, (in the years between the plastic models) the fireplace, family, and my own Yummy Caramel Bar, plucked from the tin in the freezer.

This year, while our family is gathering to celebrate after the New Year, I am a little nostalgic being away from them on Christmas Eve and Christmas day. We have so many traditions that have emerged over the years. From our eve of movie going and Indian food, to opening one gift, to the Christmas morning of taking 5 hours to cycle through the gifts under the tree..everyone opening just one per round. I need a little bit of the family Christmas here this year. I failed to put up lights or even get a tree and I am fighting a cold and feeling crappy.. but I can still make the house smell of sugar and maybe even have that cracklin’ fire in the fireplace.

2007-12-04T18:26:00.000-08:00

Apologies!

I am sorry that I have been neglecting you W&W. I have quite the project in the works and it seems to be consuming my body and mind! I hope to unveil it soon ;)

2007-11-11T16:48:00.000-08:00

Japan Part 3.

Food.

Early Morning at the Tsukiji Market.

Mystery Flavor..

Super Cute Sweets.

Okonomiyake.

I cant believe that it has taken me the longest to write about the food in Japan. For me, eating is one of my favorite things, so eating in Japan was one of my favorite memories of being in Japan.

On our first evening, jet lagged and all, we were wandering through Ginza around 4:30pm looking for a place that was open for dinner. You know, early bird special? We didn’t have too much luck with that, unless we wanted café fare via Tullys or Starbucks… so, we wandered into this cute little place tucked away down some stairs behind a wooden façade. The menu was in Japanese, with no pictures, so we figured, well, they must have sushi, right? The woman was a bit surprised to see us, Americans, walking in for dinner at 4:30, but she seated us anyway. We were the first to arrive apparently. We tried to get some English out of her, as far as the menu was concerned. She didn’t know much, and for this she bowed and apologized profusely. But, she did keep repeating, “horse” as she pointed to the different options on the menu. We would ask, “sushi?” and she would say, “ah, yes, Horse.” We would say, noodles? And she, “ah, yes, with Horse.”
Oh boy. I have too many fond memories of horses…
In the end, I think that we managed to order Udon noodles without the horse, but I am still not so sure what we ended up eating that night.

From this adventure, I learned that the Japanese restaurants seem to specialize in one thing. sushi, bento, udon, okonomiyake..or horse. And, you cant just wander into any restaurant and assume that they will have sushi, or udon noodles. What they serve is many variations of bento, or many different kinds of udon noodles..or, in the case of our first outing, many kinds of dishes prepared solely with horse.

What was really great about dining out in Japan, was that many restaurants didn’t have English menus, but they did have a hefty display case out front that showcased their menu in plastic food parts. (I have to say, I was curious to visit the factory store that makes all these plastic food items..) Many times, we would have to usher the server outside and point to the dish that we wanted, or if the menu was in Japanese with only a few pictures, we would end up ordering something that was photographed, just so we had some idea of what might be ending up on our table.

Some of my most memorable meals had to be the Okonomiyake. Something that I would never have known existed, if it hadn’t been for my mom who went on an Okonomiyake cooking kick after visiting Japan last year. It starts with either a thin pancake of batter or of noodles, and then it is filled with cabbage, meat, green onions, ginger and topped with an egg. It is cooked on a flat top in front of you, smothered with plum sauce, then pushed over to your end of the grill, where you eat it right off the hot surface. In Hiroshima, we happened upon a “village” of Okonomiyake restaurants, upstairs in a small non descript building. It was basically a floor of little open bars, each with a flat top grill, around which you sit, and they cook for you. Yum.

Of course, I can’t not talk about the sushi and the Tsukiji market, because that was a highlight and a place that T had been telling me about for 2 years. It was pretty remarkable. A few mornings, we would get up really early and just wander around the perimeter, where the shops were already open. There were these small bars along the outside, where I experienced raw fish over steamed rice for breakfast, for the first time…and, I loved it. I cant think of a healthier way to start the day, really. (we went back there the next morning for sushi at 6am..)

Of course, being a dessert person, I did some sampling of the local sweets. I have to say, while the dessert pastries are beautifully packaged, they weren’t my favorite. They make a lot of paste-like fillings encased in this chewy-anise flavored dough, that I just couldn’t bring myself to love. I tried, I did. But, I was very impressed with the bakerys there. The Japanese have adopted the Euro style bakery and have added their own twist. While I didn’t love the bean paste in the rubbery dough, I did love it in a sugar dusted filled donut, and I did love the purple taro filled sweet buns, complete with a purple sugary glaze. Oh man, they can certainly bake the breakfast pastries…

And, I cannot forget the soft serve. They served it everywhere, mostly along the touristed sights. It was the perfect snack after a morning tour of a temple and a lot of walking. They mainly served Green Tea, to my delight, but I also sampled Milk flavor, and passed up a jet black flavor. I am still not sure what it was but the picture that advertised it, made it look like it was made from charcoal. Can this be?

I could go on and on, for the food was so delicious, and the vending machines were dizzying and numerous, but this entry needs to end so that my next entry can begin.

2007-11-04T09:41:00.001-08:00

Harajuku girl
Originally uploaded by Jonas B

Japan Part 2

Style.

One thing that was prevalent across Japan was the amazing sense of style. I found myself many times embarrassed to be donning the same Old Navy shirt, the same clunky red shoes, and the same fluorescent rain shell..yet again. I guess these are the breaks when you are traveling around for 3 weeks living out of your carry on. I was conscious of the style quotient in Japan before we left, so I made an effort to do a little shopping and bought some stylish walking shoes, and some pants other than my staple Levi Jeans, but I think that it is impossible to blend in here, regardless of the steps you take to look somewhat stylish.

On the first day, I pulled out my brand new stylish and comfy walking shoes and found myself cursing under my breath and limping from large blisters within the first hour. Note to self: break in shoes, especially those to be worn without socks. Another note: band-aids don’t stick, but moleskin does. I spent the rest of the trip trying to find the equivalent of moleskin, which I was successful in doing, and it really saved my a** because we walked a lot. A lot.

Women in Tokyo are so stylish and seem to wear anything well. The fad of the moment, while the weather was still somewhat warm, but Fall closing in, was shorts or skirts and high black boots, with a wooly ski hat. I found it somewhat humorous at first, I mean, why wear a ski hat and shorts when you could just put some pants on? Well, that is me…boring and practical me. After a day or so, I started thinking that it was actually kind of cute. All the layering, suspender-skirts, the long sweaters, the shorts, the boots.
And, then, there are the Japanese men. I saw more hair-do’s on the young men than the women. The young men really do it up, I mean, really. I think that they must go through more styling products than the women. It is so different. You see men walking in groups of three or four, checking out the girls, and they each have a different doo going on… puffy, slicked back, mullet-style…you name it.

Halfway through our visit to Tokyo, I decided that I wanted to dress like a Tokyo woman. So, after a long day of walking, I ventured into a cool shop. After grabbing a few things off the hangers, I motioned to the salesperson that I wanted to try them on. Instead of just pointing my way to the room, the woman, took my clothes from me, took everything off the hangers, folded everything nicely and laid everything out in the dressing room for me. When I went to step into the room, with my shoes on, I learned that you don’t do that here. You are to take your shoes off and leave them at the door of the room. The only problem here was that we had been walking all day. I am sure that you can imagine what that might mean in a pair of shoes worn without socks…walking all day, every day? Needless to say, I was horrified that I had to take the shoes off and leave them for all to whiff. So, I tried to mask the stench by placing them face down, cradling each other, and I made my way into the dressing room. As if I wasn’t already embarrassed, the saleswoman came over, and grabbed my shoes to re-arrange them just so, and in the process, she began coughing…presumably from the smell. Then, she started talking to her co-worker and giggling… I was so mortified that I snuck my way out of the dressing room and out the door. (everything was too small anyway..) After this, I was a bit intimidated to repeat the experience. Interesting though, when I did end up trying on more clothes, I found, not surprisingly, that clothes don’t fit the same here. particularly pants. They are made for a shorter more petite woman, and the hems are sewn very differently. Shucks, because there were some cute pants…

On the second to last day of our trip, I remembered that my boss was throwing a Halloween party. I cant believe that I went the whole trip, when I could have been gathering costume pieces along the way. Throughout our travels, we saw many stores toting the young style of the day, which was a lot like the retro-80’s look. On that day in Kyoto, I remembered some styles that we had seen in Tokyo, in the Harajuku district. Harajuku is where all the young kids hang out and on Sundays, many gather along a certain bridge, dressed to the nines. There are a few different styles: punk, goth, kawaii (which means cute, dressed babylike), decora (which means decked out in accessories) and cosplay (which means dressing like an anime character). With all of the creative dress here, I realized that my costume was staring me in the face. So, on our last day, I braved the shops once again, this time with my less offensive shoes…

2007-10-29T21:02:00.000-07:00

Stay Tuned for Japan Part 2. In the meantime, enjoy this video...

Shibuya Crosswalks.

This is a video of the craziest intersection of people.
When all crosswalks say walk, there are hoardes of people waiting to cross...in every direction.

2007-10-25T17:36:00.000-07:00

Japan. Part 1.

Skip to my loo.

There is so much more to Japan than the just their amazing toilets, but I have to dedicate some of my blog to them for they continually made me smile throughout the trip. For those of you who think that a toilet is just a toilet, is just a toilet, I have some news for you.

Yes, there were plenty of bathrooms that utilized the ‘Japanese’ style of toilet..which really is not much more than a hole in the ground, with a rail in front of it to hold onto. For this, I learned the hard way, the first few times, when I didn’t roll up the bottom of my pant legs, and they fell to the ground..which usually isn’t the squeakiest of clean surfaces. (keep in mind, it is harder for women to aim..)

But, walk into a stall with a ‘western’ style toilet, and the experience is almost like a trip to the spa. First, I ventured to sit on a few of these toilets, (with the liner of course) because I couldn’t resist the heated seat. You can actually adjust the controls with just how heated you want your seat…and your toilet seat.

Then, for a little more privacy for those embarrassing public restroom moments, you have the option to cover up those noises, with the sound of running water and birds chirping. Some toilets do this automatically when you sit down, so a lot of times, when you walk into a full bathroom, you hear the sounds of nature and a rushing river…not the sounds that you might expect to hear. Just like a trip to the spa…How relaxing is that?

Then, there are the bidet and washing options which I never partook in, but I was curious about, so one night at the hotel while standing over the toilet, I pressed a button with a spray logo on it. Some sort of spigot came out and literally sprayed me in the face with water, as I stood peering into the toilet like an idiot. It then proceeding to spray the ceiling and the mirror across the room. Quite the cleanse, I would think, if you were actually sitting on the toilet. I certainly hope it wasn’t water from the toilet bowl..

Many of these toilets gave me the sense that I was operating some pretty complex machinery. Most have a control panel on the side with many buttons to push…almost as if I could push a button and buy a can of milk tea, or push a button and a hand would extend out and massage my back. I imagine for the Japanese, the masters of invention, that this is just a matter of time.

2007-10-23T18:25:00.000-07:00

My Feet in Japan.

While I repair myself from our travels home, I will begin my Japan coverage with some photos....

In Tokyo.

On top of a beautiful sewer grate. Each city had their own special pattern.

Soaked. The wettest day, in Kyoto.

In Hakone.

2007-10-18T03:37:00.000-07:00

Stay Tuned......

soon to come...Tales from Japan:

how much I love Japanese toilets
how I am mortified at trying on clothing after a day of walking in stinky shoes..and more!!

2007-09-28T21:08:00.000-07:00

Bubble Tea is SO yesterday. Today, it is all about the Iced Matcha Latte..

I was heartbroken the other day when I decided to walk 2 miles to the U district to treat myself to a Bubble Tea at my favorite place. I had a frequent drinker card, and they even knew me there. During my last visit, I think that they actually perfected my drink. My usual was the black milk tea, and last time I told them to make it a little less sweet but to give me more tapioca. It was so perfect.
Unfortunately, my perfect bubble tea experience would be my last..at least for a while until I get over the shock of walking up to the doorway of "Gossip Tea" and seeing a hand scrawled sign on the door. "Closed-Sorry"

Closed? Sorry? That's it?

I peered into the windows to see my boba haven in complete disarray with the chairs piled up in a corner, the counters pulled out and signs in the windows claiming that the next best thing (a Chinese bakery) would be "coming soon."

So, in my shock, I did what I had to do. I went to the next best bubble tea place, up the street. I dont know, my drink was so sweet, the pearls not quite perfect, and hardly any ice. All in all, just not the boba experience that I had grown to love.

SO boba, I am moving on. Officially, you and I are through. (for now at least)

I have a new love. Certainly not as sweet nor as chewy. I have entered the milk tea phase of the matcha tea lattes. So far, I have only ventured with the iced version, but so far, I have been quite pleased. I am even somewhat impressed with Starbucks version, minus the nasty melon syrup they add. I am not quite sure why they would tamper with something that is good on its own.
Less is more, right? Although, I guess if they had tapioca pearls, that might be a different story..

2007-09-19T20:41:00.000-07:00

To New York City, we go.

Oh, New York City.. you fed me well. I think I am still full. And. I think I love you. I love your endless energy, your endless noise, and your endless options for a good meal. I love your people too. People who, unlike Seattlelites, actually stop to ask why we are standing on the sidewalk outside of the James Beard House at 11:30 pm, looking happy, relieved and exhausted, with our 6 humongous igloo coolers, waiting for 3 separate cabs to transport us back to our hotel.

“Is there any beer in there?”

“Wow, you have been here all day. We saw you arrive at 8:30 this morning. What’s with all the igloos? ”

Contrary to what I always thought about New Yorkers, they actually do notice you, and contrary to many Seattlelites, they actually do care. This is shocking to see, in a city that moves a mile a minute.

We arrived early on Thursday morning, via the red eye and upon our arrival to the hotel, only one room was available, the smaller of the two. So, the four of us: my boss, her 3 year old son and my coworker, plunked down our 6 igloos, our 6 suitcases and ourselves, squeezed into 2 tiny beds and ordered room service. Then, we slept. I could already tell that we would bond this weekend, given that we were so cozily cramped and napping together in this tiny NYC hotel room.

In Seattle at the airport, our trip began with quite the excitement, so we were somewhat relieved to have actually arrived with all our things in one piece, minus the box of chicken stock that was haphazardly stuffed into the outer pouch of my checked bag, now burst and dripping all over my unmentionables as I heaved it off the baggage carousel in Newark.

It turns out; the airline has a policy that you can’t check anything over 70 pounds, at all. And so, our igloos that were packed so tightly and with such forethought, had to be all rearranged. We were “those people,” the ones that cause all the congestion in the check in lines. The ones you huff and roll your eyes at. Frantically, we had to unbungee and rearrange our items so that each of the 6 coolers weighed less than 70 pounds. This meant, pulling that tin of olive oil out, putting it in Stu’s bag, pulling that bottle of Barolo out, and putting it in my suitcase. It meant switching around the bags that we were going to check. So much was going on, that we lost track of what was in our checked luggage and what had been transferred to our carry ons. So, it wasn’t at all shocking when we walked through the security line, two of us without incident and the third sparking a haz-mat emergency call and a crowd of 10 TSA officials, gathering around the x-ray screen. It dawned on me that I had stuffed a bag of flour into Stu’s bag, so I thought for certain that that was what the hubbub was about. Upon searching, they unveiled our 10 pound tin of olive oil, and whoops…all of Stu’s kitchen knives. This must have been the highlight of the day for TSA. One official even told us so. I can imagine that it gets boring there, repeatedly busting people for having 4 oz of lotion instead of 2.5.
So, ours was quite the find. I mean, who else would try to get through security so blatantly, with a gallon of liquid and a bag of knives?

And so we napped, and then we ate a nice meal at 11 Madison Park, and then we napped again. That night we ordered room service and planned our attack for the next days prep in the James Beard kitchen. I was nervous because I was the one that had the most work to do the next day. I was to make all the bread and crackers, two kinds of hand dipped truffles and an extra large batch of Panna Cotta. I do this most days at the restaurant, but usually, I make it in batches of 12, not batches of 65. with all that gelatin to contend with, I was a little nervous that something would glitch, and that my dessert, my whole reason for being invited to cook with at the Beard house with my boss and coworker, would either be a puddle of sweet cream, or a jello brick. So, the next day, I was sure to have some coffee. Then, I was careful, so so careful. Prepping was such a breeze that we even had time to break for a nice leisurely lunch at the Fatty Crab. http://www.fattycrab.com/ Who couldn’t love a place that serves a beer called “Porkslap” with a photo of two pigs slapping their belly’s together? We reconvened back in the kitchen after lunch and began getting ready for our dinner. The evening went so smoothly, and the guests seemed rather pleased with all the food, and my dessert turned out well too. Phew! I have the admit that I was a little worried when I pulled the tray from the fridge and H. let me know that she was worried the Panna Cottas weren’t set up enough. But she did say that she wanted them very softly set, and that is exactly how they jiggled on the plate. Ah Relief.

Celebration was in order, so we cleaned up at the hotel and headed back out to Momofuku Ssam Bar. http://www.momofuku.com/ Oh man, this place was so delicious. It is such an experience to eat out with someone who really knows food and knows just what to order. Who would have thought that pig’s head would be so delicious that we would order a second helping? Really, it was that good. We ate and toasted with some sake, and I sank happily into my chair.

The next morning, we had an 11:30 reservation at Per Se. I think that I went to bed around 3:30, so time to get up came a bit early and I wasn’t quite sure I was ready to start the day off with more wine. But, my worries diminished pretty quickly after the first glass of bubbly and a toast. It was here where we spent the next 5 hours. Eating. At this table. Oh man. So so wonderful. So much food. So many courses. I think that I counted about 20. After the first 5 courses, I knew that I might be in trouble when I was already starting to fill up and the server told us that ‘now the real meal begins..’ so much great food and wine was had that day, but a few standouts included the signature “oysters and pearls” which consisted of tapioca pearls (my fave and a recurring thing in my meals in NY) and oysters in a buttery, custardy union with caviar on top. Oh man, it was so very good. I think that the most interesting dish was the foie gras and peanut butter and jelly terrine. This was something served to the men at the table while the women enjoyed a less whimsical preparation served with a selection of about 15 different salts. The desserts consisted of the signature “coffee and doughnuts” which was a coffee semifreddo, with milk foam and doughnuts on the side. I remember doing this dessert in culinary school, along with a few others in the French Laundry cookbook. My teacher for the plated desserts portion of our course was the thinking behind that dessert, for he was the pastry chef at French Laundry back in those days. This dessert was quite delicious, the semifreddo had the creamiest texture…one I hope to duplicate on a menu someday soon. After the multiple dessert courses, they had the nerve to bring out more. Truffles, 15 different kinds for us to choose from. And, then, more. Nougat, cookies, caramels…oh stop. Now.

As the sun was beginning to slightly dim in the sky, we exited Per Se. So full. So grateful for this experience, the whole of it. Being here in NYC and experiencing all the great food and representing my restaurant at the James Beard House was so amazing. I was actually moved to tears when I called my parents to leave a message about the trip. Everything about the weekend was so memorable. NYC is so memorable.

2007-09-04T21:00:00.000-07:00

Kauai Dreamin'

me and Min lookin' good, circa 1987.....

(I am the one that looks like a boy, in pink shades...)

It is hard to believe that my first family trip to Kauai was more than 20 years ago. I remember that my sisters and I competed daily to see who could out tan the other, sun worshipping for 8 hours a day, and at that time only wearing SPF 6 sunscreen..(which my parents were still using up until a few years ago :)) I remember thinking how much I would impress my schoolmates when I returned home to the new school year, donning my new bronzed look. I remember bringing along my grandparents, who nearly burned down our hotel room when they put a rice cake in the toaster, and I remember learning how “Barking Sands” beach got that name, when my sisters and I had to cross a mile of hot sand back to the car without our shoes. I remember my parents taking us down sugar cane lined roads to show us their 'secret beach', which is Shipwreck Beach, now on the Hyatt Kauai grounds. And, I will never forget the time when I got myself and my sisters in trouble. Then, just an impressionable 15, lured by the ultra-coolness of the local surfers and their lascivious ways.

Since then, I have been back numerous times; Kauai is like a second home to me. I have gone alone, tried to surf the “good” waves and gotten pummeled by the coral and called names by the locals. Alone, I have explored the quiet side of the island and gotten my Land Cruiser stuck in the sand. I have seen my older sister marry there, and I invited my husband along, a couple of times, when we were newly dating. Some say that I was jumping the gun. 3 years later we would return to the same place, and he would propose to me, down on one knee in the sand. A year ago this week, T and I returned again with family and friends in tow, to exchange our own vows. This year, I went back, this time with my sisters, mom and nephew. A girls trip, with boy. I love that he is only 2 years old, but like his mom, grandma and aunties, he is drawn to the pounding waves and the waters edge. He too, is lured by the ocean.

When I think of Kauai, I mimic the same sentiment as my mom, as we drive down the road from town to shore, with the perfumed breeze, the rainbow trees and the blue sparkling waters near. She says with an inhale and a sigh, “I love this place.”

I too, love this place.

2007-08-10T18:09:00.000-07:00

Time is a changing.

If you were to ask me what the most valuable tool for my use in the kitchen is, you might be surprised at my answer. It’s not the whisk, the namesake of my blog, the mixer or the cuisinart..nor is it the zester, the rubber spatula or my candy thermometer. Don’t get me wrong, these things are pretty handy day to day…and, really, I couldn’t live without any one of them, but the one thing that really keeps me ticking..literally, is my handy timer. I actually have a pretty good internal clock. One that, every morning, wakes me at 6:09, a minute before my alarm clock goes off. In the kitchen, it comes in handy though, to have that back up nagging voice. I admit, at times, when I hear the beeping, I think to myself before I go searching each oven, “now what did I set that for again?” My trusty timer has saved many cookies from the brink, and it has reminded me when I have crumbles bubbling and crème brulee’s cooking slow and low. So, yesterday, when I stood in the kitchen and the timer starting beeping at me and counting upwards at a large clip, I was a little alarmed. (I hadn’t set it to do that or even touched it for that matter) At first I figured it was the resident restaurant ghost playing tricks on me, but when I thought about it, I realized that my timer was trying to tell me something else. He was tired and he was full of grime and oil from being dropped into the fryer (his trusty magnets have worn..thank goodness the fryer wasn’t on.) He had nagged me for 6 long years, with only 1 battery change, and, he wasn’t going to take it anymore, even if I gave him a fresh battery and wiped his parts free of oil and grime. That was it.
So, today, I retired Taylor Timer, and I reminisced about the good times and bad, through the kitchens of Greystone, Ithaca and back to Seattle. I think of all the millions of things we produced, me and him, together.

2007-07-26T22:59:00.000-07:00

Initiation

10 years ago, on the second day of work at one of my first restaurant jobs ever, I cut my finger. I was hired as a prep cook, pretty much the bottom of the food chain, and I had minimal experience. I was 23 years old and I wanted to be a chef and I had to start somewhere. So there I was, chopping potatoes for the clam chowder…with a long serrated knife.
(not the optimal tool for this job)

I was nervous that day, walking into the kitchen, the only female in a sea of testosterone, tattoos and death metal. My immediate superior was a guy named Adam, who I learned that day, was into S&M and Satan.

Did I mention that I was nervous? I really wanted to show these seasoned pros that I could chop and dice as quick as the rest of ‘em, so I was trying my hardest to go go go. Then, it slipped. My knife. Across the flesh of my left thumb. My first thought, besides, ‘shit’…was, ‘can I let this go undetected, slip away to the first aid kit and reappear as if nothing happened?’ It was too late. I think my gasp and my quick instinct to run to the hand sink gave me away, not to mention the blood on my cutting board.

When I found the courage to take the pressure off my thumb and look at it, I was shocked at what I saw. A deep cut, really deep, queasy-deep. A crowd of cooks slowly surrounded me and confirmed my findings..yeah, it was deep.
4 stitches later and bound up with gauze, I returned to work. Instantly, on my second day of work where just that morning, I had been essentially anonymous, I was now a celebrity in that kitchen, the butt of all ‘rubber knife’ jokes.

Yesterday, I found myself initiated once again. Even though I have been with my current job for a few years, the most suffering I encounter on a weekly basis is a burn here, a burn there. I rarely cut myself. I will admit that I am not the best when it comes to sharpening my knives, so I am used to the slightly dull feel of them, day after day. Yesterday, I decided that it was time though, to sharpen my knives..and so I did. All day I was pretty impressed with my honing job, pretty impressed that I could actually get my knife THAT sharp. Wow.

It is funny because I was pretty much finished for the day, and I realized that I still needed to steep some cream overnight with fresh ginger. It was kind of an afterthought, so I quickly grabbed my knife and started chopping. It happened so fast. So clean. So sharp. As I had done 10 years earlier, I headed briskly towards the hand sink, thought ‘shit,’ and wondered whether I could be nonchalant about the whole thing. I looked at my finger, and again was shocked at what I saw…or, what I didn’t see…what came out of my mouth next was a bit surreal. I asked my coworker to look on my cutting board to see if my fingertip was still sitting where I left it. Her scream followed by ‘eww!, eww!, eww!’ was all I needed to know. I would be heading to the hospital that afternoon.

Before yesterday, I hadn’t heard the many battle stories of those before me, who had severed their fingertips. But, today, when I headed into work, thick gauze bandage and all, my co workers came out of the woodwork showing me their ‘amputation’ scars, proudly telling me how they too, had cut off their finger tips once, even twice. I feel as if I have been initiated once again. 10 years ago, I was welcomed into the kitchen with stitches, and now, 10 years later and a little more seasoned, perhaps I have reached a new level?
Or, perhaps I have just another good war story to tell..

2007-07-18T21:35:00.000-07:00

Best thing since Bubble Tea.

When the weather heats up, I find myself craving a nice iced latte or a ‘Tall Espresso Frappuccino blended beverage’ (as they refer to it at Starbucks) after work; that is, if I have already had my allotted Bubble Tea for the week. I have tried not to make this a daily thing, as it adds up, and really, do I need all that extra caffeine, huh? do I, do I???

A few weeks ago, I came across an article in the New York Times about the New Orleans iced coffee. Typically, when coffee is brewed in the normal way, with hot water, there is a bitter flavor that accompanies it, most likely as a result of the hot water releasing the coffee beans bitter components. (similar to how tannins are released from Black Tea if steeped too long) The New Orleans style of brewing is called cold brewing, where the coffee is ground, soaked in cold water for 12-24 hours, then strained, leaving you a more concentrated coffee, with a sweeter flavor, not a bitter one.

I was intrigued so I tried this out last week, and let me say that this coffee is really tasty. So tasty, that I may have kicked my store-bought-iced-beverage habit for the summer. I was really surprised how much cold brewing actually changes the flavor of the coffee. The flavor was surprisingly sweet, untarnished by any bitter undertones.

You MUST try this!!

New Orleans Iced Coffee

8 oz freshly ground coffee (your favorite robust blend)
5 cups cold water

Mix the coffee and the water together to just combine it then let it sit covered in the fridge for 12-24 hours.
Then, pour the mixture into a fine sieve or through a permanent coffee filter. Let the mixture drain for a few hours. You will have about a 3-4 cups of coffee concentrate.

Then, fill a glass with ice, add ½ cup milk and ½ cup of coffee. (I like this ratio, although the traditional ratio is ¼ cup coffee, ¾ cup milk)

Sit on your porch and enjoy!

2007-07-17T23:09:00.000-07:00

Sin City.

Ah, Vegas. Isnt this place hell on earth at 110 degrees? When I first arrived and walked out to the 100 person long cab line in the sweltering heat, the thought did cross my mind. Then, I was assigned to my cabbie who was generously pumping the AC and the bass. It seemed appropriate, ‘Chicago’ was playing. It was a cheesy tune with all the horns and whatnot, and the back speakers nearly blew out. I almost laughed at loud. I was in Vegas. Cheese city. My Cabbie looked like a well tanned transplant from some ocean paradise on the Florida Pan handle, and apparently he had had too many beans in his burrito at lunch.
Luckily, my destination on the strip was only a short drive away..

If you have never been to Vegas, it is like nothing I have ever seen, ever. This place is intriguing to visit, but almost a little repulsing at the same time. I am not a big gambler, but I do like to eat, and the shopping is kind of fun. So, we did plenty of walking. It was so hot that we ended up walking through the casinos, which is quite the clever ploy on their part, clever indeed. Suck the people into the cool depths, and get them spending. The hotels all have their themes, which is quite amusing and pretty fascinating. Where do you want to go? Paris, Venice perhaps? Each themed hotel has its own little shopping area to mimic the real thing; whether it is a cobbled street in Paris, or the Grand Canal, complete with gondola rides. It is Disneyland for adults. And, the construction is never ending. We must have passed at least 3 projects in the works: a new shopping center, just down the street from two other shopping centers, and what do you know, another casino and resort.

It is so hot during the day that the city really comes alive at night. This is when the scenesters come out, and apparently La Lohan too. We took the more adult approach to nights in Vegas and instead of hitting the Pure nightclub or the beach at Tao (on top of a hotel, I guess), we hit the Cirque du Soleil shows…twice. I had never seen one, ever, so the first night we took in a show called “Ka.” It was amazing, but not as amazing as the highlight of my trip, the “Love” show. This is a Cirque show dedicated to the songs of the Beatles, and I am a huge Beatles and John Lennon fan. Have been since I was 5. One of my first music memories is listening to John Lennon’s ‘Double Fantasy’ record with my oldest friend, singing our hearts out. It brings me such good memories, and seeing this show made my trip. It was that excellent.
So, I highly recommend it, ok?

All in all, I’ll be honest. I don’t love Vegas, but it fascinates me nonetheless. It may take 5 more years, but I imagine that I will be back.

2007-07-02T17:04:00.000-07:00

Just a quick shout out..

if you havent tried these yet, try these now. they are quite delicious..

The Brother of the Booty are quite delicious too..

(Unfortunately, my other favorite, the 'wheat free Chaos' has since been 'retired'....)

2007-07-01T23:51:00.000-07:00

For the love of Mayonnaise.

The first of July and this summertime weather have given me a bit of a hankering for potato salad lately. Randomly this week as well, the love and loath of Mayonnaise became a topic in two completely separate conversations of mine. Random I know, especially since I was not the one to bring up the M word in either discussion.

(In case you are curious, the heated discussions were all about hating mayonnaise (crazy), mayo not being the preferred glue of choice in salads (crazy) and a t-shirt purchased by a friend stating “I hate Mayonnaise”)

I, on the other hand, have some good memories of Mayo.

Mayo is around when there is leftover turkey at Thanksgiving. When I get lazy and don’t feel like making a sammy, I just dip my turkey into the stuff, straight up. (Don’t worry Mom; I don’t dip into the jar anymore)

Mayo is there with the cranberry sauce and mustard to stick my turkey sammy together, when I do get around to making it.

Mayo is the glue for many divine sandwich fillings. Egg salad, yum. Chicken salad, yum yum. And tuna salad…probably my least favorite, but I wouldn’t turn it away still.

I even remember a time when my mom used to make guacamole with mayo. Umm, can you say, yum?

Mayonnaise is there for dipping your artichoke leaves and hearts in…yes, right next to the melted butter.

Did I mention dipping French Fries in Mayo? (it’s a Canadian thing, eh?)

It was one of my first experiences as a prep cook at a local alehouse that I have my most fond mayonnaise memories…well, not really the fondest, but it is still a memory. Back in those days, making potato salad meant boiling 50 pounds of potatoes in a large steam kettle, cutting every last one into quartered segments, then, my favorite part…pouring all the potatoes into a huge plastic bin, putting on kitchen gloves and adding gallons of jiggley mayonnaise to the bin along with all the other key ingredients that make up a very American style potato salad. Then, the fun part. I would literally swim up to my shoulders in the potato salad, using my hands and most of my arm, because really, how else do you mix 50 pounds of potatoes with gallons of mayonnaise? This was truly humbling for me, especially when the guy I had a crush on at the time would walk by the kitchen and spot me in all my glamour, covered in Mayo.

Luckily, I escaped from this experience with my love of Mayo unharmed, but I have begun to appreciate Mayonnaise of another kind.

The Homemade kind.
This is not something I do often, but if you haven’t tried homemade Mayo, I suggest you start. Mayonnaise is basically an emulsion of egg yolks and oil with a touch of zing from vinegar, mustard or lemon. The type of oil used is what carries the flavor through, so imagine all the possibilities...

Walnut oil..truffle oil? Hmmm, I think this calls for a future blog entry, but for now, I should get back to my 'Best Foods' style potato salad.

For those requests for a recipe, this is what I do...

boil some red potatoes, cool and cut them up. then, toss them with a little vinegar, mayo, salt and pepper. then, add your fixings...for example, hard boiled egg, celery, radish, pickle, green onion...the potato salad is quite versatile that way!!

2007-06-17T17:23:00.000-07:00

A dud.

A huge part of baking is improvising and testing out recipes, fine tuning the good ones into excellent ones and just crossing the bad ones off your list. I had some plums in the house from my produce delivery, and like apricots, I just don’t eat plums raw. It is that same thing as with apricots, the tart skin that gets me every time. I am starting to think that maybe I just don’t like tart. So, I found a recipe from this great book with a beautiful and delicious looking photo of a plum cake. It looked like a coffeecake, and the plums were juicy and oozy..almost caramel like. I decided to bake it for T’s arrival home this week.

I started to wonder if the baking goddesses were hinting at something when I discovered a LARGE spider crawling out from underneath the pages of my recipe book only to disappear into the endless wicker of my desk chair. (Three days later, and I think that he is still there) Then, the moment after I committed myself to baking the cake, I realized that I didn’t have any regular sugar in the house. (for which I subbed brown sugar) Then, when I went to melt the last of my butter, all perfectly measured out, it blew up into a fat bomb all over my microwave, giving me less than the amount that I needed. (for which I subbed olive oil)

I just wasn’t feeling it, the love, the rhythm, the good feelings when you know that you are making something that kicks a**. It was more of a ho-hum feeling. A ‘Gee, I hope this doesn’t taste terrible’ feeling. It just wasn’t looking good.

So, I shouldn’t have been at all surprised, when I pulled the cake, hot from the oven, cut myself and big wedge, and ho-hum.

It was ho-hum boring.

I suppose that it could have nothing to do with the recipe, from which I had completely strayed, but I feel hesitant to waste the time on it again, when I know that there are much better recipes in my note book, tried and true.

the cake, 4 days later. I finally threw it out.

2007-06-11T16:23:00.000-07:00

Sugar. I love you. I hate you.

Quick and painless.

It is amazing that before I visited the dentist for my ‘quick and painless’ procedure this morning, I actually had planned on getting a coffee afterwards, visiting Trader Joes and wandering around my old hood of Queen Anne before I made my way to my hair appointment later in the afternoon. It sounds like a nice morning, yes? Unfortunately, my quick procedure turned into an excruciatingly painful one, as I left the office on the brink of tears, managed to make it to Trader Joes, all the while fighting back the sobbing and screams as I threw the most random of articles into my shopping basket. Hours later, now that I think about it, I’m not sure I even remember what I bought, the logic behind my purchases, or why I even thought that going to Trader Joes was a good idea in the first place. I decided halfway through my shopping trip that I just really wasn’t up to my usual browsing, something I normally delight in. I just wanted to get the hell out of the store, lock myself in the safety of my car, and scream. So that is what I did. I almost literally put my shopping basket down mid aisle, and I vacated. My throbbing and face numbing tooth pain was caused by the cold cement underneath my new crown settling in snugly next to my sad little tooth underneath. It wasn’t unlike the time; I believe it was two crowns ago, when I had the most excruciating tooth pain, from the misalignment of the crown, which had been riding too high. I remember those painful nights like it was yesterday, T running to the store in the middle of the night and popping the max dosage of Aleve throughout the long weekend until I was able to get into the dentist so he could fix his mistake.
(I chose this dentist long ago, while walking past the sign on his window that claimed he was Queen Anne’s Gentle Dentist.)

Have I mentioned that I have bad teeth?

Today’s crown makes lucky number 7.

Of course, it didn’t just start with the crowns. As a youth, there were the Apple Jacks, Diet Coke, Sweet Tarts and Laffy Taffy. And, then, there were the dreaded Christmas time dental visits to Dr. Brugos. (pre See’s Candy Christmas morning binge) Just the gift I always want for Christmas, a filling or two or..five… but, at least one for each year of my youth and one for each year of my adolescence… until there were no more teeth left to fill and the mighty "Crown" made its debut. While sitting in the dentists chair at the young age of 20, in preparation for 4 fillings, I remember thinking with horror that by the time I reached 30, I might not have any teeth left, only crowns. I told my dentist this, and I remember that he just laughed. Not a comforting laugh that says “oh c’mon that’s not true,” but the laugh that says “mo’ money baby, mo’ money.” Thank goodness this is not true. I am 32 going on 33 and I am happy to say I still have my front teeth (phew!) and a few 20 year old silver fillings that will soon crack to make way for yet another mighty Crown.

I have many dreams about my teeth and I am always waking up feeling relief. I particularly like the dream in which all my teeth just fall out. Isn’t that nice? Or, what about the dream where my front teeth have magically been replaced by gold caps with diamond bling? Please tell me that this is not in my future.

When I think back on years past of dental visits, I can’t remember my first filling, (too long ago and too painful a memory) but I certainly remember my first Crown. I remember the big needle numbing my tongue, nose and eyes and, I remember Dr. Brugos spraying bitterly cold air right on my nerve (sans Novocain), to dry off the tooth in preparation for laying the crown. That was at least 12 years ago, and I still remember that pain so clearly. The yelp, the tears, and the question, “oh, I am sorry, is that sensitive?”

I think that it is particularly suiting that given my dental history, (don’t worry, my hygiene is always top notch) that I would have anything to do with Sugar on a daily basis. I suppose there is a reason why I carry my toothbrush to work, and on days like this, it resonates more than ever.

2007-06-01T21:32:00.000-07:00

Apricot.

I dont really love Apricots, plain, but ask me what my favorite jam is, and I would have to say, Apricot, of course..with Strawberry a close second.

Contradictory? yes.

I have an aversion to the Apricot's fuzzy skin.. and its tartness, it is just too much for my taste buds to handle. I am convinced that there are good Apricots out there, but I really feel like the magic of this fruit comes out after they are cooked, which is why I think that I love Apricot jam so.

This week, in my produce bin, I received more Apricots than I could handle, and since I still have my Rhubarb jam (see previous post), I decided that the perfect place for them would be transformed into a Roasted Apricot Sorbet.

Oh mamma, let me tell you, this left my tastebuds singing....in a good way.

Roasted Apricot Sorbet

3/4 c sugar
1/2 c water
22 oz apricots, pitted.
2 Tablspoons Lemon Juice
1/8 teaspoon almond extract
pinch salt

bring water and sugar to a boil, turn off and set aside.
roast apricots for an hour at 350.
puree apricots with simple syrup and add remaining ingredients.
chill and spin in ice cream maker.
devour.

2007-05-06T22:18:00.000-07:00

Rhubarb.

It is a bit of an awkward time of year, around now, fruit speaking. At work, we strive to use seasonal and locally grown produce for the most part, and right now there is a lull. All winter, I have borrowed citrus from California to grace the dessert menus. I have loved the citrus, but, as with other fruits and seasons, its time is almost up. I get antsy. I really want to start introducing cherries and strawberries on a menu that is feeling a little nut heavy these days.

There is one vegetable though, that I have grown particularly fond of in my recent days of berry and cherry yearning.

Rhubarb. The Pie Plant.

I have never really familiarized myself with it, until most recently while trying to introduce new elements to my desserts. As the citrus dwindles from the menu, Rhubarb has taken a firm hold a couple spots. In one form, baked under a hazelnut struesal topping, and in another, lightly poached with orange and vanilla, just enough to lightly sweeten, yet retain its vibrant color, slight crisp texture and tart flavor.

Today, I played with Rhubarb in another form.

With a bit of sugar and lemon zest, I cooked it down into its more concentrated state.

Jam.

2007-04-22T22:05:00.000-07:00

I love Boba.

For the last few weeks, I have had this craving for Boba (Bubble) Tea. I think that it started after I went into this tiny Chinese Handicrafts store in a mini strip mall that I pass daily on my way home from work. The sign outside, “Bubble Tea” sparked my curiosity. The first time that I tried it was down at Uwajimaya a few years ago. I remember thinking that while good, it was quite the surprise to take a sip through such a large straw and have these balls sucked up through it. I remember thinking it was something that could definitely grow on me, being that Tapioca was never my favorite thing as a kid. I did love that drinking a beverage also meant that you got to chew on something, which to me makes having an iced tea all the more exciting. I also remember being fascinated that there is a machine that actually seals the beverage on top, and in order to consume, you must poke your fat colorful straw through the plastic seal complete with an Asian cartoon. How fun is this?

We live fairly close to the U district, which is filled with ethnic food options and at least 5 bubble tea spots, so I decided to try them all out, when the urge hit..

The first place that I went into was fine, but while waiting for my drink, I chose to stand instead of sitting on their chairs that were filthy with what I will call “mystery stains”.

The second place was the best, and I had to laugh at the name of it, “Gossip.” I will definitely go back..

The third place was a bit of an interesting experience. It was called ‘WOW! Bubble Tea.’ Thinking that it was because, “WOW, this Bubble Tea rocks”, I went inside. While waiting for my Green Milk Tea, I took in the atmosphere. Being in the U district, the place was full of young students, giving it that after school youth group kind of feel. I actually felt old. Then, I looked over to a mural on the wall where it said, “WOW!” and underneath, it said, “Wonder Of Worship.”

Wait. What?

It was only then that I tuned into the Christian Rock being pumped out by the sound system and the accompanying cheesy video on the multiple screened large television in front of me that it dawned on me..

I think “WOW! Jesus Rocks…oh yeah, and Bubble Tea, too” is the more appropriate name for this place.. It was just so strange, the combination of Bubble Tea and Jesus. Who would have thought the two went hand in hand?

After consuming a record number of Bubble Teas this week, it dawned on me to look up the nutrition facts. A lot of these tea places use a non-dairy creamer mixed with powdered “tea” bases, I came to learn. I was a little discouraged too, to learn that each drink that I was getting had an upwards of 30 grams of fat! (don’t quote me on this, hopefully I am wrong) I watch what I eat for the most part, and I like to indulge like everyone else, but this was quite the shocker for me, especially because I have been consuming these like they are water.. I guess sometimes it is better not to know what goes into every little indulgence, but learning this made me want to create a similar drink experience at home.

I was able to find some tapioca at this new Asian Market nearby and I was so tempted to buy their “bubble tea mixes” but, I refrained for this was the whole reason I was here, to buy the Tapioca so I could make a refreshing and healthier alternative to the powdered Bubble Tea. What I came up with was definitely not quite as exciting as going out to get the tea, and, making Bubble Tea at home won’t quite take the place of this guilty pleasure of mine, but it wasn’t half bad!

Black Milk Tea with Tapioca Pearls, my way.

1 c milk heated and steeped with 2 tea bags. cooled.
½ c ice
2 Tablespoons Simple Syrup & ½ c prepared Tapioca Pearls

In a Cocktail Shaker, pour cool tea and ice. Close and shake. Place tapioca pearls in glass, pour tea over, and enjoy!

2007-04-16T08:34:00.000-07:00

Help Save The Chocolate!!

The future of the American Chocolate Industry could be uncertain. As of recently, the Grocer Manufacters of America with support of the Chocolate Manufacturers of America (and Hersheys) is vying to change Chocolate so that it can be produced more cheaply. (They argue that they are thinking "outside the box"...) Today, most high quality milk chocolate is made from cocoa liquor (the chocolate part), milk, sugar, vanilla and cocoa fat (naturally occurring in the cocoa bean). The powers that be are petitioning the FDA to relax the ingredient guidelines so that Vegetable Oils can replace the natural Cocoa fats. Doing this would change everything that you know and love about chocolate; the texture, the mouthfeel, the FLAVOR.

(Chocolate candy does exist where the cocoa fats are replaced with vegetable oils..many lower quality candies already do this, but they have to call the chocolate, "chocolate coating")

Sees and Guittard will most likely stick to the current FDA standards for chocolate, as I imagine will the smaller boutique chocolatiers, which is a sigh of relief; but, this doesnt make the petition to loosen the ingredient guidelines any less disturbing. It is amazing what measures those will take, compromising quality and integrity, in the name of saving a buck. Sick.

Express your outrage here: www.dontmesswithourchocolate.com

Did you know that the average American eats 12 pounds of chocolate per year?

2007-04-09T10:27:00.000-07:00

Why so Hot and Cross, Bun?

My memories of Easter aren’t of Jesus risen, they are of dying hard boiled eggs and finding hidden Easter baskets full of plastic grass and candy. As I got older, Easter became about eating. I remember in college, having dinners around Heidi’s Easter Tree (yes, there IS such a thing!), where everyone would cook something to feast on. We would clean house and play grown up, set the table with our mismatched plates, hand-me-down place settings and spotty silverware. Then, we would sit down to most random of random meals. Most likely we had a Ham, Karen’s homemade pot stickers, Heidi’s Deer Meat ‘Surprise!’ Casserole, Carrie’s famous Mac and Cheese, Garlic Bread from Safeway and maybe even a salad.. Of course, in these days, only the finest beverages were consumed as well.
Franzia boxed wine, 2 for 1 at Safeway.

This was long before I discovered my life’s work.

Working at the bakery is when I first really discovered Hot Cross Buns. Just the name has a certain comical ring to it.
I always picture a steaming angry bun.
We would bake these for days, to fill our special orders that were scribbled on pages of loose paper kept under the register. (Our sophisticated system) As hectic as they could be, I loved working the holidays. People were fired up and crazy..we were working at maximum speed, buns cooling on racks everywhere, buns being glazed, buns being baked, buns being packaged and labeled. Often around the holidays, I would have to pull a real bakers shift, and come in the late hours of the evening, just to be able to complete the next days work. (Normally, we baked during the day..)

But, I found it all so rewarding. As moody as people can get, they would usually crack a smile when given their bag of buns, still hot and not so cross.

2007-04-07T16:05:00.000-07:00

I havent forgotten about you dear old blog...
Easter musings to come.

For now, enjoy a photo of my version of the Italian Easter Dove Bread, Colomba Pasquale
..in loaf form!

Colomba Pasquale is a bread similar to a Panetone, but instead of being studded with raisins, this rich bread is scented with vanilla bean, orange zest and candied orange rind. The top is washed with an egg white, almond and sugar mixture.

2007-03-22T20:41:00.000-07:00

A Study in Croissant..

After last weeks post, are you surprised that I would follow up with a post about my favorite pastry of all time? I didnt have a chance to dip these in chocolate as I had planned, let alone let them cool completely before completely devouring.To think that I almost forgot about these while they were baking..phew, they were almost goners..

2007-03-12T22:43:00.000-07:00

1000 layers…

One of my favorite things pastry is the Croissant.

The Chocolate Croissant...dipped in chocolate, to be exact.

I have fond memories of heading to the bakery with my mom after morning swim practice, long ago, and picking out my breakfast. The first bite was always heaven…breaking through the shell of chocolate on the dipped end, through the crackling and buttery layers of pastry to the chocolate core in the center.

Heaven.

The magic of the Croissant, the Danish and Puff Pastry lies in the method. Butter is layered within the dough, creating a flakiness achieved by a series of folds and turns and rolling the dough thin. I have had this sense of awe surrounding ‘laminated doughs’, as they are called, since I was in school, almost 6 years ago. Our instructors instilled in us a strict preciseness about it all. The butter had to be the exact same temperature and texture as the dough surrounding it, and it was all time consuming. Each fold and turn was followed by a 30 minute rest in the fridge. We only briefly touched on these doughs while in school, so I feel as if I have yet to really perfect them.

What better time to start than today?

My first attempt was with Puff Pastry. Puff is the only laminated dough that isn’t a yeasted dough, so it is the least consuming to make, but it has the most lamination, creating nearly 1500 layers of butter and dough throughout, hence the name “mille feuilles,” which means “a thousand leaves.”

After what I deemed a pretty successful run, I decided to spruce things up a bit and make a caramelized banana upsidedown tart, and...

Breakfast is served...

2007-03-05T09:45:00.000-08:00

Waxing Poetic.

This weeks forecast...

MONDAY- mostly cloudy, a shower
TUESDAY- cloudy, then rain
WEDNESDAY- a couple of showers
THURSDAY- breezy and rainy
FRIDAY- a chance of rain

It must be fun to be a weathercaster here. Imagine you are told by your boss,

“hey ah, why don’t you mix it up a bit for the people. Instead of just printing, RAIN RAIN RAIN…jazz it up, give ‘em a little variety..”

I think my favorite description above is for today.

Mostly cloudy, a shower.

Sounds poetic, doesn’t it?

A haiku.

No chance of sun, none.
Mostly Cloudy, a shower.
Tomorrow, the same.