Do you ever step back from something only to find patterns or themes emerge that you hadn’t expected? Like not seeing the forest for the trees, sometimes the patterns in my cooking don’t become obvious to me until I’m at the computer to give them virtual life here at BAH. And then I’m all, oh, what a coinkydink. Of course, the Universe being what it is, it’s not a coinkydink at all. It’s the Universe giving me an opportunity to compare and contrast. And Universe, may I gently remind you that those compare and contrast essays were my least favorite writing assignments in school? I’m just saying, maybe you could throw a little something different my way? For now, we’re going to work with what we’ve got and talk about Inspired Taste’s Apple Almond Coffee Cake. Continue reading “Apple Almond Coffee Cake”
Author: Wendi
TMI
I’m a bad typist. I remember taking typing in high school thinking that the class was a complete waste of my time. Why did Cecil County Public Schools think that I needed to know how to type? This was all back when computers as we know them today were insanely expensive. They weren’t in people’s homes and they certainly weren’t in schools. But the Board of Education said I had to take typing. So I did. I spent hours in Mr. Cleek’s classroom with typing drills – The quick brown fox jump over the lazy dog…or some such nonsense. Actually, I probably paid more attention to the boys in the class than to my IBM Selectric. So is it any wonder that I’m a typo queen? Continue reading “TMI”
Flashback Friday – Danke Schoene
The following originally appeared on 11/8/07 at Exit 51.
Danke Schoene
Thanksgiving is almost upon us. The one day of the year that we stop to consider all we are thankful for. Each of us makes the choice every day to either acknowledge or ignore the world around us. Personally, I’m just as guilty as anyone of not reflecting on a more regular basis. Work, home, bills, school, family, friends, war, sickness…life…we either allow it to consume us or strive to find balance. Continue reading “Flashback Friday – Danke Schoene”
Nigella’s Beef Stew
Back in the day, my system of rating recipes was pretty basic. I pulled a recipe out of the folder, made it, and if I liked it, I put a check mark on the page. The idea was that all these checked pages would promptly be filed away in my 3 ring binder and become my low tech recipe database. Or if I wasn’t completely sold on a recipe, I’d scribble some notes on the page, put it back in the folder, and make it again later. Sometimes my follow through was better than others.
As I’ve been weeding though my old recipes to make them to post here at BAH, my new high tech recipe database, I’ve been trying to reconcile the checks with the final dishes. And I can’t always figure out what I was thinking. Take Nigella’s Beef Stew. Continue reading “Nigella’s Beef Stew”
Bread Bible Biscuits
I blame my general biscuit obsession on the heavenly biscuits we dined on at the Loveless down in Nashville. That trip was something like four years ago and I’m still trying to find a biscuit that comes close to the perfection that they serve up. Light and airy, they practically melt in your mouth. When I saw that both Cook Wise and the Bread Bible had a recipe for Touch of Grace Biscuits, I hoped that at last my prayers had been answered. I thought that with a name like that, the Universe was trying to tell me that my search had ended. Continue reading “Bread Bible Biscuits”
Bread Bible Studies
So I’ve officially started my Bread Bible Studies. And I’ve specifically started with the easier recipes in the first chapter. Quick breads, biscuits, popovers, they seem like things that I should be able to achieve given my general level of kitchen competence. One thing I’ve noticed about Rose’s recipes is that I really need to read through them completely a few times before I start weighing, mixing, and baking. And I also need to pay attention to whether I’m working in cups, ounces, or grams. Because on more than one occasion I’ve discovered that even though I’m working in grams, I’m looking at the weights listed in ounces. And the two are definitely not the same. I don’t even want to imagine what the end result would be to using 5 grams of flour when I should be using 150 grams. Talk about a (Cinnamon Crumb) Surprise. Continue reading “Bread Bible Studies”
Food Memories – Mofongo
Christine of Christine Can Cook provided this Food Memory. She said, “Mofongo is a typical Puerto-Rican dish. It’s not something my family made growing up, it was more of a special dish to be had at restaurants and ordered for special occasions. It definitely isn’t an everyday meal- it can be super heavy and starchy and needs to be fried to enjoy the crispy textures. However, it’s one of my favorite meals and is extremely versatile. It can be done with stewed chicken, beef, vegetables, or as I made it here, with shrimp.” Continue reading “Food Memories – Mofongo”
Flashback Friday – What’s Cooking?
The following originally appeared on 11/5/07 at Exit 51.
What’s Cooking?
This past weekend saw more kitchen action as I hosted a small brunch. Not sure which I enjoyed more…the food or the time with friends. The combination of good food and good friends is always a winner.
We dined on:
Butternut Squash Soup
Mixed Green Salad with Carrot Ginger Soy Dressing (this is similar to the dressing that comes on your salad in a Japanese restaurant…yum)
Pie
The food was easy to pull together in advance. Try it yourself, you’ll see. Continue reading “Flashback Friday – What’s Cooking?”
Ragu
Would it surprise you if I said that for most of my life, I thought ragu meant the spaghetti sauce that came in the jar with the picture of a gondola? Tragic, I know. It’s a wonder that I have any kitchen skills after years of being exposed to high levels of prepackaged food radiation. I have since come to appreciate that a ragu is traditionally a sauce of ground beef, tomatoes, onions, celery, carrots, white wine, and seasoning. But I struggle with homemade pasta sauces, maybe because I’m so accustomed to eating the jarred stuff, after making a few modifications of course. So instead of trying to master a traditional ragu, I decided to give mushroom ragu a try. Continue reading “Ragu”
Retro Recipe Fail
I’ve encountered my first Retro Recipe fail. Don’t ask me how but I managed to fail at pancakes. How sad is that? Flour, milk, butter, baking powder, egg, and sugar. Should be easy, no? The recipe was easy but the results were gummy. After the first batch came off the griddle and I realized that things were a bit off, I added more milk to thin the sturdy batter out. Second batch went in the pan. Still gummy. More milk was added. Third batch? You guessed it, gummy.
At that point, I looked at The Mistah and asked if we had a Plan B. It took a while for him to suggest French Toast. I guess the moral of this story is to always have a backup plan. Because a lazy Sunday morning deserves a breakfast win.
Bon Appetit Hon 
