ETA: You can read about how I made the royal icing decorations here and see where I used the rest of them here.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Valentine's Cupcakes
I tell you, I'm exhausted. It's only Tuesday morning and already it's a hell of week. Between dealing with car issues and meeting with clients, I feel like my brainpower has already been sapped for the next few days. So I'm not going to say too much about these cupcakes - I'll just post the pictures. We can all appreciate a little eye candy, right?
ETA: You can read about how I made the royal icing decorations here and see where I used the rest of them here.
ETA: You can read about how I made the royal icing decorations here and see where I used the rest of them here.
Monday, February 16, 2009
LOST Birthday Cake
Wow, what a hectic weekend! I'm getting a late start today because, after bidding our guests adieu, Dan and I had to deal with some car maintainence stuff this morning. I finally got some time to upload photos and write, but my computer is being PAINFULLY slow - and it's huffing and puffing and making all sorts of strange noises. I fear the end is near for this reliable old hunk of metal. I'm just hoping it can hold out long enough for me to save the money for a new one.
Anyway, yesterday was Dan's twenty-ninth birthday, and per his request, I made a cake based on Lost, our favorite TV show. If you don't know the show this cake must look very strange. I drew on the extensive mythology of the show and made a collage design using some of the most iconic images - the smoke monster, the polar bear, and the lock-down hieroglyphs. There's also the beach, of course, with "Happy Birthday Dan!" written as a message in the sand, and the numbers (4-8-15-16-23-42) hiding in the waves. The whole thing is framed by jungle foliage. I made the leaves in advance with royal icing, but otherwise, everything you see is buttercream. Since this weekend was just packed for us, I did something very out of character and used a cake mix; and to stick with the theme, I made it banana-flavored by adding a box of banana pudding to a plain white cake mix. I sprinkled a little bit of cinnamon-sugar on the beach to give it a more sand-like texture.
Anyway, yesterday was Dan's twenty-ninth birthday, and per his request, I made a cake based on Lost, our favorite TV show. If you don't know the show this cake must look very strange. I drew on the extensive mythology of the show and made a collage design using some of the most iconic images - the smoke monster, the polar bear, and the lock-down hieroglyphs. There's also the beach, of course, with "Happy Birthday Dan!" written as a message in the sand, and the numbers (4-8-15-16-23-42) hiding in the waves. The whole thing is framed by jungle foliage. I made the leaves in advance with royal icing, but otherwise, everything you see is buttercream. Since this weekend was just packed for us, I did something very out of character and used a cake mix; and to stick with the theme, I made it banana-flavored by adding a box of banana pudding to a plain white cake mix. I sprinkled a little bit of cinnamon-sugar on the beach to give it a more sand-like texture.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Valentine's Cookies
As promised, here are some pictures of the cookies I made this week. Rolled sugar cookies (using this recipe) with vanilla glaze, royal icing motifs, and piped buttercream. I had so much fun making these! I need to do this more. Enough blather - I'll let the pictures do the talking.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
P.S. To see more of my cookie photos, click here.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
P.S. To see more of my cookie photos, click here.
An Easy Lunch
Since I posted royal icing yesterday and will post cookie photos tomorrow, I thought I'd post something a bit healthier today. This is a recent lunch: cheese ravioli with broccoli, chicken, and pesto. The broccoli and chicken were left over from the previous night's dinner. I say left over, but actually, I intentionally steamed extra broccoli and grilled extra chicken so we could have some for lunch. I used one cube of frozen pesto (made from fresh basil last summer) and added some grated cheese. The ravioli was a steal, as our grocery store recently had a buy one, get TWO free special, so we stocked up. I try not to eat a lot of pasta, but we both enjoy ravioli and since it cooks up so quickly, it is nice to have on hand.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
What I Am Doing This Week
Man, this week is crazy! No Salad Days today. Usually we have a salad entree on Tuesdays but yesterday I didn't drink enough water during my workout and I ended up with a whopper of a dehydration headache, so we got takeout from the Chinese place down the block. (It's actually in a gas station, but it's the best Chinese around - true, that's not saying much, but some Chinese students at the med school told me that it's the best and that's where they all order from.)
This week is the busiest one of my month (I hope). In addition to work, I'm making Dan's birthday present (he turns 29 on Sunday), I took on three major baking projects, I turned it my film notes today, and our weekend is packed with plans already - no downtime for us.
If you're wondering what film notes are, let me tell you: the single best thing about living in the Upper Valley for me is the Dartmouth Film Society. They project over two hundred films per year and if you're on directorate, like I am, every single one of them is FREE. Directorate is the board that decides on the program for each term. To stay on directorate, each term you have to attend at least five meetings (did I mention that the meetings include free dinner?) and write one set of notes, which are distributed at the screenings in the larger theater. I got on the directorate my first term of freshman year and convinced Dan to join a few years later. When we moved back to the area, our directorate status immediately reactivated, so we've been enjoying free films and cinephilic camaraderie every since. This week, I wrote the notes for G.W. Pabst's Pandora's Box, a silent Weimar masterpiece starring Louise Brooks.
And about those three baking projects - the first (cookies) is almost done, the second (cupcakes) will take place on Friday and Saturday, and the third - no idea, but it has to be done by Sunday evening because it's Dan's birthday cake. All three will make use of a new technique for me: royal icing motifs. I've used royal icing for assembling a gingerbread house, but since I had some meringue powder on hand, I wanted to try making decorative royal icing shapes in advance for later application to cakes and cookies. Here are the results:
Fun, right? Some of the hearts and squiggles and things are now on sugar cookies which are only awaiting some final buttercream touches; the rest are going to be used on Valentine cupcakes that I'm bringing to a brunch on Saturday. The green leaves are mostly for Dan's birthday cake; he requested a Lost theme (it's our favorite TV show), and I don't know exactly what I'm doing yet, but I know it has to involve lots and lots of jungle foliage. Hence the leaves.
I know some bakers consider royal icing to be inedible because it's too hard, but I actually really like the crunch and the tangy taste. What do you think? Do you pick off royal icing decorations or just eat them?
I'll post pictures of all these projects as I finish them. Now I'm off to complete the cookies!
This week is the busiest one of my month (I hope). In addition to work, I'm making Dan's birthday present (he turns 29 on Sunday), I took on three major baking projects, I turned it my film notes today, and our weekend is packed with plans already - no downtime for us.
If you're wondering what film notes are, let me tell you: the single best thing about living in the Upper Valley for me is the Dartmouth Film Society. They project over two hundred films per year and if you're on directorate, like I am, every single one of them is FREE. Directorate is the board that decides on the program for each term. To stay on directorate, each term you have to attend at least five meetings (did I mention that the meetings include free dinner?) and write one set of notes, which are distributed at the screenings in the larger theater. I got on the directorate my first term of freshman year and convinced Dan to join a few years later. When we moved back to the area, our directorate status immediately reactivated, so we've been enjoying free films and cinephilic camaraderie every since. This week, I wrote the notes for G.W. Pabst's Pandora's Box, a silent Weimar masterpiece starring Louise Brooks.
And about those three baking projects - the first (cookies) is almost done, the second (cupcakes) will take place on Friday and Saturday, and the third - no idea, but it has to be done by Sunday evening because it's Dan's birthday cake. All three will make use of a new technique for me: royal icing motifs. I've used royal icing for assembling a gingerbread house, but since I had some meringue powder on hand, I wanted to try making decorative royal icing shapes in advance for later application to cakes and cookies. Here are the results:
Fun, right? Some of the hearts and squiggles and things are now on sugar cookies which are only awaiting some final buttercream touches; the rest are going to be used on Valentine cupcakes that I'm bringing to a brunch on Saturday. The green leaves are mostly for Dan's birthday cake; he requested a Lost theme (it's our favorite TV show), and I don't know exactly what I'm doing yet, but I know it has to involve lots and lots of jungle foliage. Hence the leaves.
I know some bakers consider royal icing to be inedible because it's too hard, but I actually really like the crunch and the tangy taste. What do you think? Do you pick off royal icing decorations or just eat them?
I'll post pictures of all these projects as I finish them. Now I'm off to complete the cookies!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Food News Roundup
With the economy as it is, thrifty eating is a hot topic and I come across articles about it every day. Here are a few links that you might find interesting:
--The "food stamp challenge" has been done by bloggers, journalists, and politicians before; CNN's Sean Callebs is doing it this month and is documenting his experience on the "Living on Food Stamps" blog. (Side note: "food stamps" is an outdated phrase, but one we are all used to; the program is now called Supplementary Nutrition Assistance Program - SNAP - and uses debit cards, not stamps.) Callebs is going with the budget of $176 per month, the maximum a single person can qualify for where he lives. It's interesting and worth a read; I'll be following it throughout.
--This is old news, but Rebecca Blood (whose lentils and rice recipe I've referenced multiple times) spent a month eating according to the USDA's Thrifty Food Plan (on which SNAP allotments are based). That works out to $320.80 per month for Rebecca and her husband. But Rebecca added a twist: she wanted to continue eating primarily local and organic, and she insisted on a daily glass of wine with dinner. Start here and follow her journey through one month of thrifty eating; it's fascinating and inspiring.
--If you read her intro post, you'll see that Rebecca acknowledges that she has some advantages in eating thrifty: she's educated about nutrition, she has time to prepare food from scratch, and she has access to fresh and local goods. This article from a USDA report on the economics of food discusses some of the challenges that low-income Americans face in eating balanced, healthy diets.
--Speaking of access, a group of farmers and sustainability groups are banding together to increase access to locally-grown foods in my home state of Maine. Plans include cooperative storage space, a website for easy ordering, and a GPS-guided delivery system. They hope to have it all ready to go next year.
--The "food stamp challenge" has been done by bloggers, journalists, and politicians before; CNN's Sean Callebs is doing it this month and is documenting his experience on the "Living on Food Stamps" blog. (Side note: "food stamps" is an outdated phrase, but one we are all used to; the program is now called Supplementary Nutrition Assistance Program - SNAP - and uses debit cards, not stamps.) Callebs is going with the budget of $176 per month, the maximum a single person can qualify for where he lives. It's interesting and worth a read; I'll be following it throughout.
--This is old news, but Rebecca Blood (whose lentils and rice recipe I've referenced multiple times) spent a month eating according to the USDA's Thrifty Food Plan (on which SNAP allotments are based). That works out to $320.80 per month for Rebecca and her husband. But Rebecca added a twist: she wanted to continue eating primarily local and organic, and she insisted on a daily glass of wine with dinner. Start here and follow her journey through one month of thrifty eating; it's fascinating and inspiring.
--If you read her intro post, you'll see that Rebecca acknowledges that she has some advantages in eating thrifty: she's educated about nutrition, she has time to prepare food from scratch, and she has access to fresh and local goods. This article from a USDA report on the economics of food discusses some of the challenges that low-income Americans face in eating balanced, healthy diets.
--Speaking of access, a group of farmers and sustainability groups are banding together to increase access to locally-grown foods in my home state of Maine. Plans include cooperative storage space, a website for easy ordering, and a GPS-guided delivery system. They hope to have it all ready to go next year.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Winter CSA - February
No pretty produce shots this time. I haven't had time yet to scrub and sort the veggies, and I wanted to take a picture before we start using it up (in fact, I grabbed a beet and a carrot for tonight's salad immediately after taking this pic). Plus, a more rustic view might be good for a change. After all, this is how we receive it: tumbled together and covered with dirt. The summer deliveries are usually cleaner but the winter veggies are stored in dirt-filled bins at the farm.
I mentioned recently that it's time to sign up for 2009 CSAs. This goes for most winter CSAs as well. While we are certainly signing up for another summer share, we've decided to pass on the winter share. The first month was amazing, but the rest of them have been like this (only with cabbage). We haven't made the best use of our share and have thrown out more gone-by produce than I care to admit. The sad fact is, I just can't handle so many root vegetables. (My Scandinavian and Irish ancestors are now rolling over in their graves.)
Where we live, nothing else is available locally in the winter, so other than the fresh lettuce for our salads and the occasionally indulgence of imported fruit, we've been relying on frozen vegetables. Some are summer share surplus that we froze for exactly this purpose; others are bags that we've purchased at our local grocery store. Frozen seems to work well for us. While I feel bad about the food we've wasted from the winter CSA, we've learned an important lesson - a winter CSA is just not for us. (Now, I'd be singing a different tune if we lived in say, California, and a winter share included fresh citrus and greens - but alas, we live in a land of thrice-weekly blizzards.)
So the plan for this year is to sign up for our summer share - once again, a small share from Luna Bleu Farm - and to take the money that would go for a winter share and designate it for farmer's market purchases. That way, when our favorites like kale and spinach are in abundance, we can buy a lot and immediately freeze it for winter use.
I mentioned recently that it's time to sign up for 2009 CSAs. This goes for most winter CSAs as well. While we are certainly signing up for another summer share, we've decided to pass on the winter share. The first month was amazing, but the rest of them have been like this (only with cabbage). We haven't made the best use of our share and have thrown out more gone-by produce than I care to admit. The sad fact is, I just can't handle so many root vegetables. (My Scandinavian and Irish ancestors are now rolling over in their graves.)
Where we live, nothing else is available locally in the winter, so other than the fresh lettuce for our salads and the occasionally indulgence of imported fruit, we've been relying on frozen vegetables. Some are summer share surplus that we froze for exactly this purpose; others are bags that we've purchased at our local grocery store. Frozen seems to work well for us. While I feel bad about the food we've wasted from the winter CSA, we've learned an important lesson - a winter CSA is just not for us. (Now, I'd be singing a different tune if we lived in say, California, and a winter share included fresh citrus and greens - but alas, we live in a land of thrice-weekly blizzards.)
So the plan for this year is to sign up for our summer share - once again, a small share from Luna Bleu Farm - and to take the money that would go for a winter share and designate it for farmer's market purchases. That way, when our favorites like kale and spinach are in abundance, we can buy a lot and immediately freeze it for winter use.
Friday, February 6, 2009
The Special Project
Here it is - my first ever video blog post! Join me as I make okonomiyaki, a Japanese savory supper pancake that is simpler than it sounds. This was a first for me - I'm much more comfortable operating a camera or manning an edit bay than I am on screen. But it was fun and I'll probably do it again. And I'd love to hear your thoughts - good or bad. Do you like cooking videos? Would you like to see more? What improvements would you make?
Enjoy, and have a great weekend!
Cooking with Sarah: Okonomiyaki from Daniel Maxell Crosby on Vimeo.
Enjoy, and have a great weekend!
Cooking with Sarah: Okonomiyaki from Daniel Maxell Crosby on Vimeo.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Another bread shot
This time as toast. It's still not a great shot, but I wasn't planning on posting about this bread yet. Might as well, though. I made the sourdough honey wheat bread from the Panera cookbook, but I added a cup of my own multigrain blend. I based the blend on this one from the King Arthur store; by shopping the bulk bins at the Coop, I was able to make the same blend for about half the price (and I could leave out the poppy seeds - for me, they don't really add anything other than the potential for embarrassment when they get stuck in my teeth). I also used King Arthur's white whole wheat flour, which I can get from the Coop bulk bins for $.59 a pound (more than 40% off the normal retail price).
Dan loved the bread; while I thought it was tasty, I'm not completely satisfied with it. It was very, very dense, and I'm not sure whether that's due to too much kneading or not enough rising time. It did make great toast, as pictured above; I had some breakfast the other morning alongside a bowl of nonfat plain yogurt with a touch of blackberry jam and some canned peaches.
One batch of dough makes two loaves; I put the other half in the freezer (before the first rise, per the cookbook directions) and will probably bake it tomorrow. I'm going to keep experimenting with this recipe and others until I find the perfect balance. One thing I am satisfied with: the price. I can make my own bread for about $1.00 a loaf, which is a good deal better than the $4.oo or $5.oo that I would pay for the artisan bread that I love. Also, multigrain sourdough, my bread of choice, is hard to find in this area; a lot of bakeries only make it once a week or periodically as a monthly/seasonal special.
Dan loved the bread; while I thought it was tasty, I'm not completely satisfied with it. It was very, very dense, and I'm not sure whether that's due to too much kneading or not enough rising time. It did make great toast, as pictured above; I had some breakfast the other morning alongside a bowl of nonfat plain yogurt with a touch of blackberry jam and some canned peaches.
One batch of dough makes two loaves; I put the other half in the freezer (before the first rise, per the cookbook directions) and will probably bake it tomorrow. I'm going to keep experimenting with this recipe and others until I find the perfect balance. One thing I am satisfied with: the price. I can make my own bread for about $1.00 a loaf, which is a good deal better than the $4.oo or $5.oo that I would pay for the artisan bread that I love. Also, multigrain sourdough, my bread of choice, is hard to find in this area; a lot of bakeries only make it once a week or periodically as a monthly/seasonal special.
Salad Days: The Ploughman's
I'm running a little behind this week. The special project that I've been talking about for the past couple weeks will finally be posted here TOMORROW, so hopefully that will make up for it.
Anyway, on to this week's salad. I had big plans for this week. These plans involved corn, sauteed with scallions and garlic, and an avocado, and a salsa dressing. I was excited about this salad. It was almost finished, too, when I popped a piece of avocado in my mouth - and promptly spit it back out again. I'm not sure why, but it was horribly bitter, and the awful taste lingered for a long time.
Without the avocado, I had nothing - it was to be the centerpiece of this salad. But we still needed to eat. Luckily, I had baked some fresh bread that day (my first ever loaf from scratch - a 7-grain sourdough boule), and that had actually turned out pretty well. So I quickly added some cucumbers to the prepared lettuce to make a simple side salad, and shifted the focus of our dinner to an old favorite from our time in the UK - the ploughman's lunch. The ploughman's, a staple of British pubs, is simply bread and cheese, usually served with some sort of pickle relish and some greens on the side. Depending on how fancy the pub is, you might get a token shred of wilted lettuce or a full, fresh salad, and either one hunk of cheese or a nice assortment. All we had on hand was some sharp Vermont cheddar, but that was good enough, especially paired with the homemade bread.
This meal was just another reminder that in the kitchen, as elsewhere in life, things don't always go according to plan - but they usually turn out okay.
Anyway, on to this week's salad. I had big plans for this week. These plans involved corn, sauteed with scallions and garlic, and an avocado, and a salsa dressing. I was excited about this salad. It was almost finished, too, when I popped a piece of avocado in my mouth - and promptly spit it back out again. I'm not sure why, but it was horribly bitter, and the awful taste lingered for a long time.
Without the avocado, I had nothing - it was to be the centerpiece of this salad. But we still needed to eat. Luckily, I had baked some fresh bread that day (my first ever loaf from scratch - a 7-grain sourdough boule), and that had actually turned out pretty well. So I quickly added some cucumbers to the prepared lettuce to make a simple side salad, and shifted the focus of our dinner to an old favorite from our time in the UK - the ploughman's lunch. The ploughman's, a staple of British pubs, is simply bread and cheese, usually served with some sort of pickle relish and some greens on the side. Depending on how fancy the pub is, you might get a token shred of wilted lettuce or a full, fresh salad, and either one hunk of cheese or a nice assortment. All we had on hand was some sharp Vermont cheddar, but that was good enough, especially paired with the homemade bread.
This meal was just another reminder that in the kitchen, as elsewhere in life, things don't always go according to plan - but they usually turn out okay.
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