Lickin' Good

So, I don't have a pic of the fab Caesar salad I made last night because we ate it too fast. The recipe is from my friend Amanda's husband, and it is excellent. And even I licked my bowl clean. Happily, it was accompanied by my all time fave beer (aside from Guinness, of course)—Buffalo Bill's Brewery Pumpkin Ale. It's already at QFC, so I snapped some up pronto.

My daughter is clever and knows me so well, "Mama, can we make Gruffalo Crumble?" (If you've not read The Gruffalo, check it out at the library!) Anyway, I had to make that "recipe" up. I used fresh apricots that we had (he has orange eyes) and purple blackberries (purple spikes on his back) and one tart apple (he was supposedly surly, right?). I used the crisp recipe from the original Moosewood Cookbook as a base, and it turned out wonderfully.

And, this morning, I made the Cappuccino Hazelnut Scones recipe from The Baker's Apprentice (sequel to Bread Alone, by Judith Ryan Hendricks, both of which are great and recommended to me by Jerrie), although I altered it for the non-coffee guy in our house, and made Maple Pecan Scones. They are hands down the BEST scones I've ever had. This recipe will be a keeper. There are indeed 6 Tbs of butter in it and 3/4 c. cream, but you divide it into either 8 or 16 servings, so it's really not that big a deal. I've got another recipe for scones that uses 12 Tbs. of butter and cream and buttermilk, and they don't come close to the texture and excellence of this recipe, and they're "lighter" relatively speaking!

So, the recipes:

Godwin Garlicky Caesar Salad Dressing

4 (or more to taste) cloves of freshly pressed (or chopped) garlic
3/4 cup light mayo (olive oil mayo is great)
2 Tbs. grated parmesan cheese
2 Tbs. lemon juice
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. Dijon mustard

Mix and serve with romaine leaves, grated parmesan, crouton and chicken if you like. Makes 6-8 servings.
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Gruffalo Crumble (adapted from Moosewood's Fruit Crisp)

Five chopped fresh apricots
2 pints fresh blackberries
1 peeled and chopped tart apple
1/3 cup sugar

Topping:
1 c rolled oats
1 c flour
3 Tbs. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
dash of nutmeg and allspice or cardamom
1/4 tsp. salt
5 Tbs. melted butter

Preheat oven to 375. Mix fruit and sugar in 8x8 pan. Mix topping ingredients and pat down firmly on top of fruit. Bake 35 mins or until fruit is bubbling up around the edges and topping is browned.

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Maple Pecan Scones (adapted from Cappuccino Hazelnut Scones from The Baker's Apprentice)

2 c. unbleached flour
1/3 c. sugar
1 Tbs. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
6 Tbs. unsalted butter cut into small cubes (very cold)
3/4 c. toasted and coarsely chopped pecans (or hazelnuts if doing original recipe)
1 1/2 Tbs. Maple extract (or 2 Tbs. instant espresso powder if making CappHaze Scones)
3/4 c. cream
1 large egg, beaten
Cream and sugar for glaze

Line a heavy baking sheet with parchment paper, and preheat oven to 400-degrees F. Toast chopped nuts (in a loaf pan) while you are chopping fridged butter, then put butter in small bowl and put in freezer while you whisk the dry ingredients together. Next, cut the butter into the dry stuff with a pastry blender, two knives or your fingers until the largest pieces are the size of peas. Then in a small bowl, beat the egg, and add the cream and maple (or espresso powder) and mix. Add the cream mixture to the butter mixture and mix with a fork until nearly combined, then gather into a moist shaggy ball and put on prepared pan and flatten into a circle that's 1- to 1 1/2-inches thick. Score the circle into eight wedges with a very sharp knife. Brush with cream and sprinkle with a little sugar, then bake for about 20 mins. (deep golden color and toothpick in center should remove clean). Remove from oven, cool for five mins, cut along score lines, then brush with a little more cream (mixed with a little sugar) - about 2 Tbs. of cream and 1 tsp. sugar only. Let cool an additional 5 minutes then serve. (Can be frozen and then baked without thawing; just allow 5-10 extra minutes of baking time.)

Pete's Beets

Thanks to Pete for these gorgeous beets from his garden, and to Jamie & John who delivered them. I gave them a wash, a peel, and mandolined them up (I always use the guard now... learned my lesson), and Erik HAD to "help" I also sliced his apple with the mandolin. He was a safe little apprentice too. We shook the beets in a Ziploc with olive oil and S&P, then roasted at 425-degrees F for about 20-ish minutes... or maybe less. The time it took to put the baked macaroni and cheese together and get it in the oven for about 10 mins, and sautee the shrimp in a little butter and a lot of garlic. Delish. And fitting since today felt very Autumnal.

Tempura Squash Blossoms

Just Tempura batter mix from the grocery, and assorted pumpkin, zucchini and other squash blossoms from our garden. They were delicious. I didn't stuff them, just dipped and fried in some peanut and canola oil. They were surprisingly sweet and very tasty. Erik declared them "dee-li-sus!"

Pink. Really, really pink.

Well, she did ask for a "pink castle cake" now didn't she?

Four high tower turrets, two guard towers with turrets (that's 14 ice cream cones and a lot of white and pink chocolate), two Ding Dongs, two 9x13 funfetti cakes, strawberry filling, one 9x9 chocolate coconut cake, one Windmill cookie, two Dove chocolates, Tink talking with a dragon, a horse and three knights in armor (with flags!), one catapult, a lot of sprinkles, strawberry Whoppers and M&Ms. And a lot of very pink butter cream frosting (I forgot how little food color paste you need to tint frosting).

Oh, and three smiley-star candles!

Happy 3rd Birthday to our very fickle, clever, lovable and surly little "threenager" (yes, I made that word up, but I swear three is like the prequel to adolescence)! We love you more than your cake was pink. And boy, was it pink. Really, really pink!

Mad's Birthday Madeleines

Birthday prep has begun... and, as Lora says, it's great that at our house you can quite often eat fresh-baked cookies at 1:00 am (or some other vaguely inappropriate hour when most folks are asleep)!!

Banna Madd-ees (AKA Banana Madeleines)

Summer Gold

Dark Chocolate Mmm... Madeleines

At Long Last!

Ever since Madeline was born I've thought "I should get some Madeleine tins and learn to bake Madeleines." And today, I finally did. Luckily I waited long enough to discover Tartelette's blog filled with glorious desserts and many amazing French ones (she being French and all). Anyway, she has several great Madeleine recipes, and I chose to start with the Lemon recipe that was an adaptation of her grandmothers. I adapted it further by using two lemons worth of zest and more juice in the icing (not all Madeleines are iced, but these are). They are amazing. Lemony and delicious, moist and light. Yum. Luckily, I bought smaller-than-typical Madeleine pans because I ate four. Three cookies is a serving in our house, but Joel had four too (he may be eating more as I write this...) Erik inhaled two, and would've eaten more if I hadn't intervened. Mad ate one (she was engrossed in Mulan).

I'll have to try out the chocolate recipe next, and the cinnamon one too... we'll (of course) be serving Madeleines at Madeline's birthday party as well.

Lemon Madeleines (Adapted slightly from Tartelette's recipe):

Makes 16 (or 24 if you've got the smaller-sized tins)

2 eggs
80 gr all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
80 gr granulated sugar
80 gr unsalted butter, melted and cooled
pinch of salt
3 Tb lemon juice
zest of one lemon (I did two lemons worth of zest)
1/2 lemon (for squirting after they are baked)

Glaze:
2 cups powdered sugar
3Tb lemon juice (I added 4 Tbs.)
1 tsp lemon zest

Preheat your oven to 400F. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, sugar, pinch of salt. Separate the egg whites from the yolks, and whisk in the yolk to the flour mixture. The mixture will appear quite thick, do not feel like you have to whisk in all in thoroughly. In a separate bowl whisk the egg whites until foamy, and add a small amount first them to the egg yolk/flour mixture and whisk vigourously with a whisk to break the flour/yolk lumpy mass. Fold in the rest of the whites with a spatula. Add the lemon juice, zest, and butter. Whisk the batter until everything is incorporated and smooth. Drop one tablespoon or so into the madeleine molds, depending on their size. Do not fill them to the rim though.

Bake for 8 minutes or until golden brown. As soon as they come out of the oven, squirt the half lemon over the madeleines and let cool completely before proceeding with the glaze.
For the glaze: mix the powdered sugar, lemon juice and zest together until you get semi thick consistency. Add more lemon juice if needed. Dip each madeleine in the glaze and set them on a wire rack over a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Pizza! Pizza!

The only sort of pizza that Madeline likes... I suspect that someday she'll be a real pizza fan though.

Cardboard Pizza

3 empty cereal boxes worth of cardboard, opened flat
1 salad plate for tracing circles
1 Sharpie for tracing with
1 pair of scissors to cut out circles
5 or more crayons and/or markers for toppings or peeled crayon wrappers for "pepperonis" as Mad decided would make the best pizza

Should amuse most toddlers for anywhere from 15-45 minutes, or until it gets really sunny outside and they need to go play in the wading pool and make mud cakes!

Edible Scoopables...

Handy that I planned to make my own wedding cake years ago, so I have large pans for scooping fun... Flax seeds are so great for scooping, pouring and sifting. They feel neat, the kids love them, and if they happen to eat them... they're actually good for them too!

I Love The Swiss Chards!

So, tonight I cooked up come of our recent farm-collected greens (rainbow chard, totsoi and some red mustard) with a little turkey kielbasa for dinner (washed, chopped and sauteed in a little olive oil and butter 1 tbs. each, crushed garlic, lemon pepper, sliced light kielbasa and a little low-sodium chicken stock to simmer). M was interested in the "salami," but eyed the greens suspiciously. When I tasted mine and deemed them delicious, she looked over at a box on the edge of the table and pointed to some words on the side, "Mama, it said right here that I should not put that stuff in my mouth." Oh, yeah, really? I replied. Well, it's delicious, you should try it. "I don't like it." says M. How do you know, huh? Sam I Am, Green Eggs and Ham - it might be your new favorite thing. Try one bite. And, so she did. "Wow! I love it! It tastes salty. Yum!" (she loves salty things and the kielbasa did indeed make it taste salty). When Joel came home she said, "Papa, I LOVE the Swiss Chards! They are salty and buttery and delicious in my rumble tummy!"
E tasted a bite, but after that was quite clever about avoiding any greens completely, including flicking them off his fingers. Ah, well. I'll just have to chop the next batch up and bake it into some quiche... Bwahahahaaha!!

And, in other news... M ate our first golden raspberry today. There are a lot more on the canes ready to ripen. Come on sun!

Better Than Birthday Cake

Cherries and Cream and Lest Zest roses from Jamie and John for my birthday in May... they're blooming beautifully now!

Waffles In A Can

So, when I saw this new product on the shelf near the eggs, I was intrigued. And, reading the ingredients, it really is just stuff that you'd put in batter yourself. So, why not give it a try? It's in a spray can like ReddiWhip whipped cream, and you just plug in your waffle iron, shake up the can, and spray on the iron. Cook as usual. Rinse off the top and put the can back in the fridge. It was three breakfasts for the four of us (we only do one waffle a piece though, the kids have 1/2 each).

Anyway, how was it you ask? Pretty decent. This isn't going to be my preferred method for waffles, but if you were going camping, or wanted something fast and easy for fresh (vs. frozen) waffles on weekday mornings, this is pretty good. I mean, add some good syrup, and your golden, right?

The down side was that they were not very "fluffy" — or rather they turned out pretty flat. Spraying the iron each time made them pretty crisp on the outside and they stayed that way for awhile, but if not, they got soft quickly as they cooled. So, the verdict: I missed the wonderful flavor of something more (vanilla, malted waffles, etc.) and the loft of really good homemade waffles, but for what this is... waffles in a can... it was good. And, the convenience factor was high just before and after our vacation. I'd buy it again, if it was on sale.

Happy (Early) Father's Day!!

We did an early Dad's Day celebration dinner this evening at our house. Among other things, my dad will be in Japan next weekend.

Madeline helped me try this recipe from my 1968 Betty Crocker Boys & Girls Cookbook. We discovered that you need to fridge the batter before scooping onto the nuts on the cookie sheet (otherwise they spread out too much while baking). They're pretty tasty. And cute.

Brownie Slowpokes

Pecan halves
Brownie batter (from your favorite recipe or box)
Chocolate frosting (your fave recipe or the kind in the tub)

Arrange three pecan halves (for each slowpoke) in a "Y" shape on a greased cookie sheet. Do the entire sheet, then scoop chilled brownie batter into the center of each poke (with about a teaspoon of batter). Bake at 350-degrees F until done (I didn't really time them... oops). Cool. Pipe frosting on or just frost with a knife. Enjoy!