My Own Sweet Thyme

Frozen Holiday Terrine

2009-12-23T01:16:00.000-08:00

Simplicity.

That word has a special meaning at this time of year. As Christmas Day approaches simplicity is something I seem to physically crave.

It's not that I don't enjoy complexity. December often begins that way with boxes of decorations to be rediscovered and arranged, a calender bursting with obligations and opportunities, and recipes that are long and challenging.

Eager to plunge into the magic of the season I often begin the month with energy and resolve determined to bring order and meaning to all of these threads, and even hoping to weave them into something brilliant.

By mid-December, however, my enthusiasm is often in need of rehabilitation, and by Christmas I have often pared things down to the essentials. After a month of navigating complex relationships as I try to balance hopes and desires with real needs I find myself craving the simple things: a breath of fresh air, the joy of brightly colored lights, the familiar melody of Silent Night and the knowing smiles of my dearest friends.

In this season of complex tastes it is nice to be able to turn to something simple and fresh, something that sings in clear unwavering tones. This dessert does that beautifully. It is based on simple notes: Tart, cold, bright, pretty. Easy to make and to enjoy this Frozen Holiday Terrine is a breath of fresh air and a perfect finish to a festive holiday meal.

Frozen Holiday Terrine

1 pint raspberry sherbet or sorbet
1 pint lime sherbet or sorbet
1 pint strawberry sherbet or sorbet
whole fresh cranberries, for garnish
mint leaves, for garnish

Set out the containers of sherbet until soft enough to work with.

Meanwhile, line a loaf pan with plastic wrap, leaving at least 3 inches of overhang on all sides.

Spoon the raspberry sherbet into the bottom of the pan, smoothing it to fill the pan evenly. Use only enough to fill no more than the bottom 1/3 of the pan. Return any unused raspberry sherbet to the freezer.

Repeat with the next two layers, evenly smoothing the lime sherbet over the raspberry to cover it and fill the next 1/3 of the pan, and then smoothing the strawberry sherbet over all.

Cover the top of the pan with the ends of the plastic wrap, adding another piece if needed. Place the loaf pan in the freezer for several hours to freeze solid.

To serve:

Remove from the freezer. Peel back the plastic wrap from the top and invert the pan so that the terrine rests on a cutting board.

Using a sharp thin bladed knife, carefully cut ¾ - 1 inch slices of the molded sherbet. (It may help to warm the knife under hot water, then wipe dry with a paper towel, before cutting.)

Place the sliced sherbet on a serving plate. Garnish with fresh whole cranberries (rolled in a little sugar if you like) and a mint leaf or sprig. Serve as is or with small cookies.

Note: To soften slightly and add a little sparkle, splash with a tablespoon of champagne just before serving.

Enjoy!

Gingerbread Pancakes

2009-12-21T14:13:00.000-08:00

I had big plans for the season this year, I really did. I tested holiday recipes and took pictures. I have a list of lovely recipes I’d like to post, and I will, but it will have to be in my own sweet time. It just isn’t going to happen before Christmas, at least not this year.

At this point in the season my big plans have been downsized and I am trying to focus on accomplishing what is necessary. In the process I am feeling busy and behind. Still this is a season of grace and wonder and moments of irresistable charm have a way of interjecting themselves here and there.

I have to think that was why, on a weekend with a long list of to-dos, I managed to sleep an hour or so later than usual and then to push away a mountain of shoulds long enough to indulge in a blissful gray morning that just screamed for pancakes.

After finishing my first cup of coffee, which my husband had kindly made, instead of running to the mall, wrapping gifts, baking Christmas cookies, or finishing the laundry I made my way into the kitchen and came up with a recipe for Gingerbread Pancakes. It is a merger of several recipes I found taped in my old recipe collection binder. Spicy but not too rich, these were just the thing for a late December morning.

I still have a long list of things to do, but the things that need to get done will get done. Meanwhile, a few moments in the kitchen with flour and spices can be a great investment. As I began cooking my husband suggested I make Gingerbread Men shaped pancakes to post about. Then he buttered the cookie cutters for me and offered ideas on how to free the pancakes from the molds more effectively. We had fun and did something new together that I will remember. Had I been on task or more committed to my schedule it wouldn't have happened.

I'm not feeling all that eloquent today. At this point I am a little stressed about the expectations of the season like anyone. Still I do want to offer that it's the little things that often matter in the end, the unexpected opportunities that come from those moments when we are jarringly unfocused. So, in the midst of accomplishing those items on your to-do list, I encourage you to look around and capture the wonder of the season and, if at all possible, make time for pancakes.

Gingerbread Pancakes

1¼ cups flour

¾ cup of whole wheat pastry flour (substitute regular flour, if desired)

1 Tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1½ teaspoons cinnamon
1½ teaspoons ginger
1½ teaspoons nutmeg
¼ teaspoon cloves
3 eggs, lightly beaten
¼ cup oil
¼ cup molasses (substitute brown sugar, if desired)
1½ cups milk (I used a 12 oz can of evaporated skim milk)
¼ cup strong brewed coffee

In a large bowl thoroughly combine the flour, whole wheat pastry flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves.

In a medium bowl combine the eggs, oil, molasses, milk and brewed coffee.

Form a well in the middle of the dry ingredients. Pour the egg mixture into the well and stir until smooth.

Pour ¼ to ½ cup batter (depending on size of pancake desired) onto heated and lightly greased griddle (A drop of water should skip and sizzle when the griddle is hot.)

Cook until top surface is bubbly and edges are dry. Turn and cook until golden. Remove pancake to a warm plate and repeat.

Serve with warm applesauce, syrup or honey. Garnish with fresh fruit, if desired.

To make shaped pancakes there are three choices:

1. Coat the edges of a metal cookie cutter with butter. Set the cookie cutter, sharp side down, on a hot griddle. Pour pancake batter inside the cutter. When the pancake has browned on the bottom flip the pancake with the cookie cutter. Using a butter knife loosen any stuck edges gently and let the pancake fall to the bottom of the cutter to cook the other side.

(Note: This can be tricky. The cookie cutter is likely not to be evenly flat so batter will creep out under the edge. This will make it more of a challenge to loosen the pancake when it is flipped, and cause more fiddling with the butter knife to get the pancake fully and evenly cooked. I held the cookie cutter down with one hand, wearing an oven mitt, while I poured in the batter with the other. Still it leaked a little but the edges tuned out nicely. The less small details in the cookie cutter the better i.e. Christmas tree and bell shapes work better than gingerbread man shapes).

2. Buy fancy pancake shaping gadgets like these heart shaped pancake molds.

3. Make a pancake large enough to overlap the cookie cutter then simply cut out shapes once the pancake is done.

Serve and enjoy!

Petite Cheesecakes with Cookie Crusts

2009-12-18T10:32:00.000-08:00

I recently came across a small discovery in the kitchen that made me smile.

First, I found an old recipe for Petite Cheesecakes. It is taped to a page of notebook paper in a homemade cookbook I put together when I was first married. The recipe is neatly written out in calligraphy and photocopied. I don’t remember where it came from and I’m pretty sure I have never tried it before.

I can see why I kept it. Simple and straightforward, it promises cheesecakes without the mystery of hot water baths or spring-form pans. These are as simple as any cupcake and sound delicious.

The recipe as written calls for seven simple ingredients, including the crust, and could easily be cut to six. Most of the six are ingredients many people are likely to have on hand, especially at the holidays: eggs, sugar, vanilla, cream cheese and sour cream. Add to that a box of store bought cookies and you have what you need to make a fabulous dessert or party treat for most any occasion.

It was great to find that old recipe. Still, that alone wasn't the discovery I mentioned. One of the things I like about this recipe is that it calls for a simple store bought cookie to be placed in a cupcake liner for the crust. The original recipe uses a vanilla wafer, and so did I, on my first try. The problem is, the Nilla Wafers I buy are smaller than the bottom of a standard cupcake liner. While the crust was still there and worked fine I wanted a crust across the entire bottom of the cheesecakes.

Next I tried Trader Joe’s Ultimate Vanilla Wafers. They are bigger around and have an even thickness and so they worked well as an alternative. The thing is, I didn’t love the texture. So I dug through my cabinets and found a few other types of store bought cookies to try. I used Triple Ginger Snaps from Trader Joe’s and liked the flavor and color though they were also a little too small.

And then I tried an Oreo cookie. Did you know that an Oreo cookies fits perfectly into the bottom of a cupcake liner? How cool is that... at least when you are making cupcake sized cheesecakes and looking for the perfect cookie crust? The Oreos I had that day were inverted, Golden Uh-Oh's with Chocolate Creme filling. They made a great cheesecake crust and I even found that, peeled of the liner and turned upside-down, the cookie sometimes looks pristinely attached and makes a great novelty.

That little discovery sparked lots of ideas for smile-worthy Petite Cheesecakes:

Golden Oreos with vanilla cheesecake drizzled with caramel syrup or Dulce de Leche.

Mint Oreos topped with mint flavored cheesecake or chocolate cheesecake, drizzled with chocolate syrup or topped with Andes Chocolate Mint Nuggets.

Plain Oreos with vanilla cheesecake and a chocolate drizzle on top with mini-chips or chopped Oreos to garnish.

etc.......

So have fun. These are easy, pretty and appeal to the child in everyone!

Petite Oreo Cheesecakes

20 - 30 vanilla wafer, Oreos or other cookies

16 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon almond extract (or flavor of your choice)

8 ounces sour cream (or nonfat Greek yogurt)
3 Tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners. Place one cookie in the bottom of each liner.

In a medium mixing bowl beat together the cream cheese and 2/3 cup sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, and then the vanilla or other flavoring extract, continuing to beat until the mixture is well blended.

Spoon the cream cheese mixture into the cupcake liners, filling three-quarters full.

Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, blend sour cream or nonfat Greek yogurt, 3 Tablespoons sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract.

When cheesecakes have cooled for 20 minutes, frost them with the sour cream mixture. Return cheesecakes to oven for 5 minutes.

Remove and garnish with chopped cookie bits, Andes mint chips, mini chocolate chips or other garnish. Allow cheesecakes to cool and add a drizzle of melted mint chips, chocolate or white chocolate as desired.

Serve as is, or plated.

To plate for an elegant little dessert, skip the garnish and remove cheesecakes from their liners. Drizzle a small dessert plate with chocolate, caramel or other sauce. Place cheesecake on drizzled plate and add more drizzle over the top as desired. If you used an Oreo or other notable cookie on the bottom you might want to turn the cheesecake upside-down when plating.

Note: You can make a chocolate cheesecake version by adding 4 ounces of melted bittersweet chocolate chips to the cheesecake batter and 2 ounces of melted bittersweet chocolate chips to the topping mixture. Or mix and match.

Serve and enjoy!

Cranberry Pecan Cookies - Three Ways

2009-12-14T23:19:00.000-08:00

Cookie Swap Memories

Last year, while we were snowed in during the weeks before Christmas, my good friend Alanna from Kitchen Parade called. She wanted to check on the ingredients in a recipe from a cookie swap I hosted many years ago. The recipe was for a drop cookie made with cranberries and nuts.

Cookies with fruit in them are generally not my favorites. Instead I gravitate toward the rich and buttery, cookies flavored with nuts and brown sugar, something chocolaty or fragrant with spices. Still, somehow I remembered the cookies she was asking about, though I had never tried making them myself. I went to my files, pulled out the one marked “Cookie Swap Brunch” and started thumbing through the recipes. Sure enough, there it was, a recipe for Cranberry Pecan Drops.

Bright Surprises

That week I did a lot of baking using whatever I happened to have on hand before the storm. It was pleasant in the kitchen with the snow outside and my oven warm and productive. With my family home and my youngest son’s friends coming and going as they slid from house to house, I had tasters for whatever came out of the oven.

I baked some of our favorites: Ginger Cookie Sticks, Russian Teacakes and of course I made some of Aunt Hen’s Peanut Butter Fudge. I was ready to try something different and now those Cranberry Pecan Drops were on my mind. Though I wasn’t sure I would like them I did happen to have all of the ingredients I needed to make them. I decided to give them a try.

I can't say these are the prettiest Christmas cookies ever but the red flecks of cranberry do give them a festive appeal without any additional steps for icing or garnishing. All in all they were easy to make; just mix, drop and bake.

Still, the best part of making these cookies was how surprisingly wonderful they tasted! Despite the quantity of sugar, the fresh cranberries give these cookies a bright tartness that is a welcome contrast to the spicy richness of many of the other treats on my holiday cookie plate. I loved Alanna’s idea to use orange juice concentrate instead of regular orange juice. That added even more punch to the fruity tang.

Cranberry Pecan Drops

½ cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
¾ cup brown sugar
¼ cup milk
2 Tablespoons orange juice concentrate
1 egg
3 cups flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
2 ½ cups cranberries, coarsely chopped
1 cup chopped pecans

In a medium bowl mix together the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine butter, sugar and brown sugar.. Add milk, orange juice concentrate and the egg, blending well. Mix in dry ingredients, cranberries and nuts.

Drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheets. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 – 15 minutes, or until done.

Cool on a wire rack.

Leaving Well Enough Alone

Seldom one to leave well enough alone, I decided to make these cookies again this year but with a twist. Enchanted by the beautiful case of holiday sweets at my favorite Starbucks I began to wonder if their Cranberry Bliss Bars were anything like these Cranberry Pecan Drops. I ‘ve never tasted the Starbucks version but I really liked the festive look of their cream cheese frosting sprinkled with tiny bits of dried cranberries.

Gazing at those pretty bars behind the glass I decided to adapt the cranberry cookies I rediscovered last year to a bar cookie I could dress up in a similar way. I made the dough just as in the original recipe but stirred in a cup of white chocolate chips. Then I spread the dough in a 9 x 13 inch pan, baked it and let it cool before topping it with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting.

Cranberry Pecan Bars with White Chocolate and Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

Prepare cookie dough for Cranberry Pecan Cookies as directed above.

Add 1 cup white chocolate chips, stirring just until combined.

Spread dough in a greased 9 x 13 pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 – 30 minutes, or until done.

Remove from oven and place on a wire rack until cool.

Spread Orange Cream Cheese Frosting over cooled Cranberry Pecan Bars. sprinkle with 2 Tablespoons chopped dried cranberry bits.

When frosting has set, cut bars into squares or triangles to serve.

Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

4 ounces cream cheese
1 Tablespoon orange juice concentrate
½ teaspoon vanilla
2 ½ cups powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons dried cranberries, minced

In a medium bowl, mix together the cream cheese, orange juice concentrate and vanilla until smooth.

Add the powdered sugar gradually and mix at high speed until the sugar is incorporated and the icing is smooth and fluffy.

The result was very pretty and the bars got good reviews from tasters. To my tastes, however, they turned out to be overly sweet and while the flavor of the fresh cranberries was still bright and tangy it was no longer the predominant impression left by the cookie. The white chocolate morsels and the cream cheese frosting looked pretty and tasted good but caused the cookies to forfeit their sharp tangy edge.

Simply Cranberry Pecan Bars

On the other hand, making this cookie as a bar cookie did work out well. It was easier than dropping the cookies on a cookie sheet and, even cut into plain squares, these were at least as pretty as the drop cookie version.

So here’s my plan for next time:

Prepare the dough as directed for Cranberry Pecan Drops (without the white chocolate chips I added to the bar cookies above.)

Spread the batter in a 13 x 9 inch pan and bake at 350 degrees for 25 - 30 minutes, or until done.

Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.

After the bars have been baked and cooled, drizzle them lightly with melted white chocolate chips and scatter minced bits of dried cranberries on top.

Even easier, if time is short I will skip the frosting and drizzle altogether and simply dust the bars with a little powdered sugar just before serving.

Sometimes I think I make things overly complicated. Really this is just one simple recipe with a few possible variations. However you decide to dress these cranberry pecan cookies they are sure to add a fresh festive note to your holiday celebration.

Pfefferneusse (Peppernuts)

2009-12-07T15:23:00.000-08:00

This recipe, another nod to my fascination with miniatures, was discovered by my oldest son when he was in high school. He has always enjoyed cooking and when he was younger he could often be found near the bookshelf thumbing through my cookbooks. This recipe for Peppernuts must have caught his eye.

One December afternoon my son pulled a cookbook from the shelf and told me he was going to make Christmas cookies. He sounded like he knew what he was doing so I stepped out of his way as he got out the flour, sugar and various spices. He mixed and rolled and before long a warm holiday fragrance was wafting through the house and he was sharing bites of these wonderful little gems.

We have eaten Peppernuts many times since. Easy to make, wonderfully fragrant and delicious, these have become a holiday favorite at our house. What’s more, the recipe itself, especially when called Pfeffernuesse, hints at tradition and alludes to our German heritage. Though there is no anise in this cookie, as in most traditional Pfefferneusse recipes, that is a plus in my book as I have never cared for licorice flavors. Instead these little nuggets are full of the festive scents of cinnamon and ginger along with a smidge of black pepper and cardamon to add some exotic interest.

When I make these little Peppernuts I double the quantity of ground spices in the original recipe and add some clear sugar crystals for sparkle and crunch. Try these little bite-sized cookies and enjoy the flavor and fragrane of the season.

Pfefferneusse (Peppernuts)
adapted from Better Homes and Gardens “Cookies, Cookies, Cookies”

1/3 cup molasses
¼ cup butter
2 cups flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ cup packed brown sugar
1½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cardamon
½ teaspoon ground allspice
¼ teaspoon ground pepper
1 egg, beaten
coarse decorator’s sugar, if desired

Combine molasses and butter in a large saucepan. Over low heat, stir until the butter melts. Remove pan from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature.

Thoroughly combine flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, cardamon, allspice and pepper in a large mixing bowl.

Stir egg into cooled molasses mixture. Add dry ingredients stirring just until combined.

Cover the dough and refrigerate approximately 1 hour, or until dough is easy to handle.

Divide dough into twelve equal pieces. Roll each piece on a lightly floured surface into a rope 10-inches long. Roll each rope in coarse decorator’s sugar, if desired. Cut these ropes into ½-inch lengths. Scatter the pieces on ungreased cookie sheets leaving approximately 1 inch between each.

Bake at 350 degrees 10 – 12 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned on the bottom. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

Share and enjoy!

Pomegranate Goat Cheese Gems

2009-11-30T13:06:00.000-08:00

What is it about miniatures that people find so fascinating?

It seems that most people are inclined to believe that good things do come in small packages. I’m no exception. I have always loved little tea sets, miniature perfume bottles, and my daughter’s Polly Pockets. Miniatures fuel our imagination, make us feel strong and powerful, and draw out our most tender inclinations as we appreciate and admire these tiny treasures.

With food it is the same. I remember my delight when I first discovered baby corn in a Chinese stir fry. I enjoy the convenience of tiny grape tomatoes and, more recently, kiwi berries that are just like tiny kiwis but without the fuzz.

Another natural food miniature is the pomegranate. A beautiful shade of garnet on the outside, a single whole pomegranate is a treasure box filled with dozens of richly succulent jewels of fruit. Each brightly translucent flesh-covered seed, or aril, is a diminutive indulgence. Pomegranate seeds are so decorative and delicious that I have spent a lot of time experimenting with them this autumn, trying to discover their secrets as I pair these flecks of jewel toned tartness with any number of flavors both sweet and savory. Finally I settled on a combination that best represents my discoveries of the season.

In keeping with my fascination for miniatures I baked savory mini tarts of goat cheese and Greek yogurt. Then I topped them with a light dusting of nutmeg and crowned them with a spoonful of pomegranate arils drenched in Spiced Pomegranate Molasses. Delicate, sweet and savory, with a complex note of spices, these little finger foods deliver a luscious abundance of flavor in one pretty little bite-sized gem.

Spiced Pomegranate Molasses

1 cup pomegranate juice (I used POM Wonderful)
3 - 4 Tablespoons honey (according to taste)
½ vanilla bean
½ inch slice of fresh ginger root
5 cardamon pods
10 pink (or white) peppercorns
1 small Serrano (or jalapeno) pepper, whole
1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Combine juice, honey, vanilla bean, ginger, cardamon, peppercorns, and Serrano pepper in a small saucepan. Simmer slowly until reduced liquid to between ¼ and ½ cup of molasses, approximately 30 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.

Strain the molasses. Discard the ginger root, cardamon pods, peppercorns and Serrano pepper. Stir in the balsamic vinegar. Split the vanilla bean and scrape the seeds back into the mixture, stirring until well blended. Discard the remaining vanilla bean pod.

Store the Spiced Pomegranate Molasses in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Pomegranate Goat Cheese Gems

Nonstick cooking spray
fine dry bread crumbs
8 ounces goat cheese – chèvre
5 ounces plain non-fat Greek yogurt
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 Tablespoons shallots, finely minced
1 Tablespoon butter

ground nutmeg
2 Tablespoons Spiced Pomegranate Molasses (recipe above)
3/4 cup fresh pomegranate seeds
snipped fresh parsley leaves, for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray a nonstick 24-count mini muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray until well coated. Sprinkle each mini muffin cup with fine dry bread crumbs tilting and tapping until the crumbs thoroughly cover the bottoms and sides of the pan. Set aside.

Melt butter in a small saucepan. Add shallots and sauté until soft and beginning to brown. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a small mixing bowl, beat the goat cheese, yogurt, and egg until smooth and well combined. Add the sautéed shallots and stir to incorporate.

Spoon the cheese mixture evenly into the prepared mini muffin cups. Tap the pan on the counter top to distribute the batter evenly.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until the tarts are set.

Remove from oven and place the pan on a wire rack to cool.

When cool, remove mini tarts from the pan. (You may need to carefully run a knife around the outer edge of the tarts and tap the pan on the bottom to remove.)

Dust the top of each cooled Goat Cheese Gem with a faint sprinkle of ground nutmeg.

Stir together 2 Tablespoons of the Spiced Pomegranate Molasses and the fresh pomegranate seeds, or arils, until they are well coated.

Top each tart with a small spoonful of the coated pomegranate seeds. Garnish with snipped fresh parsley.

Serve and enjoy!

Walk & Knock

2009-11-27T09:36:00.000-08:00

Seasons of Abundance

Ahhh! Cooks around the country breathe a satisfied sigh of relief. Another Thanksgiving is under our belts…. in more ways than one. Thankful for our blessings we have feasted and now take a moment to smile before sliding into the next season of giving.

This Thanksgiving my family gathered and enjoyed a traditional holiday meal. Our time together was a reminder of how much we have been given and how richly God has blessed our lives. Though the economy has been better and the future seems less certain than it did in times past we have eaten well this week and been blessed with the warmth and presence of friends and family. Our house and most especially our kitchen seem to be overflowing with the abundance of the season.

As we nibble on leftovers and scramble for the last slices of pie my mind races ahead to preparations for the holidays soon to come. There are Christmas and New Year’s plans to make. There are special dinners to be prepared, appetizers and party fare to be shared, cookies to be baked and gifts to be made. As we finish the Thanksgiving leftovers I am also mindful that we need to clean things up and make room for what comes next.

Looking through my cabinets there is an extra can of this and an extra bag of that, things I picked up on sale or items I bought but didn't get around to using. I am reminded of Jesus with the loaves and fishes. After all had eaten their fill, the scraps were gathered and there were twelve baskets full. Sometimes I wonder what to do with it all. Abundance brings challenges of its own.

Every Penny and Pound

In Clark County Washington the local service organizations come together just after Thanksgiving to offer residents a special opportunity to share some of that seasonal abundance. This event generates a lot of excitement in the community. Volunteers of all ages and abilities are encouraged to get together on the first Saturday in December for a project that strives to fill area food banks to overflowing. This community effort is known as Walk & Knock. Last year it collected over 140 tons of food and $35,000 in cash donations used to purchase additional food. All of this was accomplished by volunteers. Walk & Knock is 100% privately funded. Every penny and pound of food collected goes to feed needy individuals in Clark County.

My family has been participating in this food drive for years now. I clean out my post-Thanksgiving pantry carefully bagging any item I didn’t use for Thanksgiving, haven’t used in the past six months or can’t remember why I bought and offer it to those who can make good use of it, community members who are having a hard time making ends meet in this economy, people who need to know that someone cares.

Knock and the Door...

My family also volunteers to pick up food door to door and bring it back to the collection site. Last year I tagged along camera in hand:

First, volunteers assemble at designated sites.

Coffee and sweet rolls are provided for those who feel short on breakfast.

Collection groups are organized.

Maps are handed out and strategies developed.

Volunteers spread throughout the community to collect food.

Bags are collected at every door.

Where there are no bags volunteers are encouraged to knock and ask.

Food collected is brought back to the collection point to be sorted and boxed.

A cup of hot chili is prepared and served to hungry volunteers.

Volunteers disperse, satisfied with a job well done.

This year's Walk & Knock food drive will be held on Saturday, December 5, 2009. If you live in Clark County, WA take advantage of this opportunity to clean out your pantry and get your kitchen cabinets in order before the holiday cooking and baking begins. Pick up a few extra items if you can, like tuna fish or peanut butter, and set it all out on your front porch early that Saturday morning.

Once your bag is out (collection begins at 9am) grab your coat, hat and gloves and join your neighbors and other great people in our community at one of the staging sites to help out. Have some coffee. Join a collection team. Have a conversation. Make a friend. You will go home full, knowing the generosity of the human heart and taking with you the first gift of the season, a certain knowledge that it is better to give than to receive.

Cranberry Cheesecake Spread

2009-11-23T07:31:00.000-08:00

Every year I find myself buying fresh cranberries and making some sort of cranberry relish though, I must know by now, beyond a curious taste or two no one is going to eat it. It’s not that they don’t like it really. It’s just that everyone seems to know what they do like for Thanksgiving and that’s what they concentrate on eating.

When it comes to cranberries what my family craves is jellied cranberry sauce from a can. They like it in the shape of the can, with the little can marks on the side. It goes in a certain old glass dish that has been in my family as long as I can remember and is served with a pierced silver tomato server that goes with my mother’s set of silver flatware, the one she bought when she went to work, before she got married. That’s just the way it is around here.

Personally, while that was the way cranberries were served as I was growing up I never liked them that way. I scarcely ever even tasted the jellied sauce we had each Thanksgiving though I did think it was pretty and admired the dish and the serving spoon.

So now I buy fresh cranberries and enjoy the discovery of taste combinations and textures each year knowing that even I will make other choices from the bounty of our table when it gets right down to enjoying the Thanksgiving meal. Along the way I have grown to love the fresh tartness of cranberries and have come to believe that a cranberry is a terrible thing to waste. That’s why, this year, I tried to think of a new way to actually use that fresh cranberry sauce.

What I came up with was an appetizer to serve while family and guests are waiting for the Thanksgiving feast to be served, or in the weeks before or after Thanksgiving when the flavors of the season are most welcome. This is not a new flavor combination by any means but it is a variation on the cranberry cream cheese combinations my attention has been drawn to this year. This recipe is for a small, crustless, slightly sweet cheesecake made with traditional cream cheese and non-fat Greek Yogurt. The batter is marbled with the cranberry relish of your choice. I used the Bourbon Vanilla Cranberry Relish I discovered last year, but you could use Cathy’s Cranberry Tangerine Chutney or another cranberry relish from your own list of favorites. To that I added an optional scattering of toasted pecans.

Once the cheesecake spread has cooked and cooled it is topped with the remaining cranberry relish and more nuts if desired. Then garnish and serve with gingersnaps, vanilla wafers, sugar cookies or crackers for a pretty holiday appetizer or light dessert.

Cranberry Cheesecake Spread

1 Tablespoon butter
3 Tablespoons graham cracker crumbs
8 oz package cream cheese
5 oz container non-fat Greek yogurt
1 egg
¼ cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Bourbon Vanilla Cranberry Relish ( or other Cranberry Relish of your choice)
½ cup pecan pieces, toasted

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Use 1 Tablespoon butter to generously grease the bottom and sides of a 6-inch spring form pan. Add the graham cracker crumbs, tilting and tapping until the crumbs thoroughly cover the bottom and sides of the pan. Set aside.

In a small mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the yogurt and egg, beating until well combined. Add the brown sugar and vanilla. Continue mixing until smooth.

Pour filling mixture into the prepared pan.

Randomly drop 1/3 cup of the cranberry sauce on top of the cheesecake batter with a tablespoon. Tap the pan on the counter top to settle the batter. Insert a butter knife straight down into the batter, not quite touching the bottom of the pan, and drag it back and forth at 1 to 2 inch intervals, front to back then side to side. Repeat as necessary to achieve a marbled effect in the batter.

Bake at 375 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until done.

Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.

Loosely cover and refrigerate until completely cooled, several hours or overnight.

Remove sides of spring form pan. Settle cheesecake onto a serving plate.

Before serving top with remaining cranberry relish and pecans.

Serve with ginger snaps, vanilla wafers, shortbread cookies or crackers.

Enjoy!

Southern Style Green Beans

2009-11-21T11:51:00.000-08:00

Kitchen Confessions

After I got married and moved across the country my Aunt Hen confessed, “When you were still at home I got so sick of green beans.” Of course there was no denying that it was my fault. Green beans were my favorite vegetable and I would eat them every night if she would cook them for me. More often than she probably should have, she did.

Cooking in my own kitchen I continued to eat a lot of green beans. When I first began to cook for myself I was happy enough to eat them straight from a can and warmed slightly. In time I learned how much I like fresh green beans in salads or cooked crisp tender with a simple dressing. I also discovered that frozen green beans are delicious steamed with a dash of sesame oil or soy sauce.

In time I discovered lots of different ways to enjoy green beans. What I couldn’t seem to reproduce was the wonderful flavor of my Aunt Hen’s Southern Style Green Beans, flavored with down-home ingredients and cooked slow until they were permeated with the essence of those seasonings.

Simply a Matter of Time

Really what I think it comes down to is a matter of time. The ingredients are simple enough: green beans (canned or fresh), bacon grease and/or ham scraps, a little onion and ground pepper and maybe a spoonful of sugar. Then you cook them and cook them and.... longer than I used to have the patience for, about 2 hours for canned green beans and up to four hours for fresh. So put them on early, before you start preparing anything else and then let them slowly simmer on the back of the stove while you work.

While these green beans cook slow and for a long, long time, they are simple and undemanding to prepare. Still, you should be warned: they are nothing special to look at. They can be dressed up in a pretty bowl for special occasions but whether they are or not they are still well appreciated, in an understated way, at my family's table. As plates are filled everyone will take a serving and leftovers will be hard to come by.

At my house these Southern Style Green Beans are a constant and can be found at every holiday meal: Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, Easter, and Derby Day. While they may not be the star of the table they are well loved and their presence is both expected and enjoyed. They remain one of my very favorite comfort foods. While they do take their time getting ready, the wonderful old-fashioned southern style flavor is worth it ....

and, believe me, they go with everything!

Southern Green Beans
Adapted from “We Make You Kindly Welcome: Recipes From the Trustee’s House Daily Fare” at the Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, Kentucky

4 15-ounce cans cut green beans
½ teaspoon sugar
1 Tablespoon bacon grease
2 Tablespoons minced onion
1 Tablespoon ham scraps (if you have them)
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper (or to taste)

Mix together in a large pot and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat to low. Slow-simmer uncovered, adding liquid if necessary, for two hours or until dinner is served.

This recipe can also be used with 2½ to 3 pounds of fresh green beans cleaned and cut into 1 to 2 inch pieces. Cover beans with water. Add other ingredients, and salt to taste, then cook slowly until very tender, approximately 4 hours.

Serve and enjoy!

Chocolate Hazelnut Cheesecake Spread

2009-11-16T11:54:00.000-08:00

Is it possible for chocolate to be out of season?

Chocolate has become such a common favorite it is hard to think so. Yet late in the summer, when the temperature soars, I find myself using it sparingly. Maybe I add some chocolate chips here and there but densely rich desserts get replaced by something lighter at that time of year and chocolate is relegated to being offered in small doses.

Then in the autumn, when I begin to crave heartier main dishes to ward of the gathering chill, chocolate seems to disappear from the menu altogether. There are, of course, chocolaty Halloween candies that I sometimes grab for between meal snacks but chocolate seems absent from most of my thoughts about autumn cuisine. It gets overlooked in favor of rustic apple pies, pumpkin flavored quick-breads, tart cranberry dips, nutty bar cookies and gingerbread cakes. Rich texture and crunchy fillings seem to be the stars of dessert menus as crisp air and rich colors grace our landscapes.

These wonderful fall flavors can be tricky though. Not everyone likes the strong flavors and distinctive textures of the season. Personally I have never cared for the texture of pumpkin pie. My children avoid cranberries that aren’t smoothed into a gelatinous sauce and then they only eat them for Thanksgiving dinner. In many ways chocolate is a safer bet, especially when you are the guest and are bringing a dessert or party food to share with people whose tastes you are unsure of. Chocolate, it seems, is almost universally appreciated.

So how can we dress chocolate for the season? This recipe gives it just a spark of spice and texture. It can be dressed casually as a spread for crunchy purchased gingersnaps, even passing on the praline in the ganache if time is short. Or it can be dressed up as a small plated dessert, settled on a swirl of chocolate sauce and adorned with bits of candied hazelnuts or with additional coffee hazelnut truffles. In either case this cheesecake highlights the elegant versatility of chocolate while also offering a hint of some of our favorite flavors of the season.

Chocolate Hazelnut Cheesecake Spread

Praline:
1 Tablespoon coffee liqueur
¼ teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon espresso powder
½ cup hazelnuts, chopped and lightly toasted
6 Tablespoons sugar
2 Tablespoons water
1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt

Filling:
1 Tablespoon butter
3 Tablespoons of chocolate wafer crumbs
8 oz package cream cheese
5 oz container non-fat Greek yogurt
1 egg
¼ cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 oz dark chocolate, melted

Ganache:
½ cup heavy whipping cream
2 teaspoons coffee liqueur , if desired
½ teaspoon espresso powder
8 oz bittersweet chocolate chips, or other dark chocolate broken into bits

1. Prepare the praline:
Note:The hazelnut praline can be prepared up to several days in advance. If time is short, or if you prefer no candied nuts in your cheesecake, then feel free to skip this step and to leave the candied hazelnut bits out of the ganache.

Lightly oil or butter a 12-inch square of aluminum foil. Set aside.

In a small bowl mix together 1 Tablespoon coffee liqueur, ¼ teaspoon ginger and 1 teaspoon espresso powder. Microwave on high for 15 seconds and stir to dissolve the espresso powder. Stir in the hazelnuts, mixing until well coated. Set aside.

In a small saucepan, stir together 6 Tablespoons sugar and 2 Tablespoons water. Cook over medium high heat, stirring occasionally, until the mixture begins to turns a light golden color (approximately 4 minutes).

Stir in the hazelnuts and cook until coated and golden brown, (approximately 1 minute).

Remove from heat and immediately pour onto the prepared foil, sprinkling the sea salt evenly over the candy and spreading the candy with a spoon as thinly as possible.

Let set until completely cool.

Break into pieces. Set aside a few attractive fragments for garnish and a few whole nuts. Place the rest in a food processor and process until the biggest pieces are small bits.

2. Prepare the filling:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Use 1 Tablespoon butter to generously grease the bottom and sides of a 6-inch spring form pan. Add the chocolate wafer crumbs, tilting and tapping until the crumbs thoroughly cover the bottom and sides of the pan. Set aside.

In a small mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the yogurt and egg, beating until well combined. Add ¼ cup sugar, vanilla and the 2 ounces of melted dark chocolate. Continue mixing until smooth.

Pour filling mixture into the prepared pan.

Set aside.

3. Prepare the ganache:

Scald the cream over low heat in a small saucepan until hot but not boiling. (Small bubbles should form around the edge of the pan).

Stir in 2 teaspoons of coffee liqueur, if desired, and ½ teaspoon of espresso powder. Remove from heat.

Pour mixture over the chocolate chips and allow it to sit for a few minutes until the chocolate is very soft. Stir until smooth.

Stir in the processed candied hazelnut bits.

Randomly drop 1/3 cup of the ganache on top of the Chocolate Cheesecake batter with a tablespoon. Tap the pan on the counter top to settle the batter. Insert a butter knife straight down into the batter, not quite touching the bottom of the pan, and drag it back and forth at 1 to 2 inch intervals front to back then side to side. Repeat as necessary to achieve a marbled effect in the batter.

Bake at 375 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until done.

Cool on wire rack.

Loosely cover and refrigerate until completely cooled, several hours or overnight.

Cover and store remaining ganache in the refrigerator.

4. Assemble Chocolate Hazelnut Cheesecake Spread:

Remove sides of spring form pan. Settle cheesecake onto a serving plate.

Rewarm the remaining ganache in the top of a double boiler or carefully microwave on high, at 15 second intervals, stirring each time until soft.

Pour 1/3 cup or so of the ganache on top of the cheesecake smoothing to the edges and allowing it to drizzle down the sides slightly, if desired. Garnish with reserved pieces of Hazelnut Praline.

Serve Chocolate Hazelnut Cheesecake Spread with ginger cookies, sugar cookies, chocolate wafers or sweet crackers. Or cut the cheesecake into slices and serve plated on a swirl of chocolate sauce or Chocolate Hazelnut Ganache and garnish with Hazelnut Praline pieces.

Note: Use any leftover ganache to make Chocolate Hazelnut Truffles by shaping into teaspoon sized balls and rolling them in a mixture of 1 Tablespoon cocoa powder and 1 teaspoon espresso powder.

The Perfect Thanksgiving Turkey

2009-11-12T10:12:00.000-08:00

The Controversy

I’ve heard it all, especially when it comes to cooking a turkey for Thanksgiving dinner. I have never been impressed by the high overhead of the very latest trends including deep fat frying and brining. I don't worry about ordering our turkey fresh, organic or free range and I am not interested in serving Tofurky. The issues and ideas involved are interesting but they don't make it to the top of my list of priorities at this time of year.

That does not, however, mean that I am immune to the controversy. I remember the great Thanksgiving debate as I was growing up. My aunt and my dad each had their own opinions as to which brand of frozen turkey was the best and whether or not it should be “self-basting.” My aunt was a brand name kind of lady and she wanted nothing but a self-basting Butterball. My dad was less particular and he was the one who cooked Thanksgiving dinner every year. He tried all of the brands, usually buying the one that was the best value and, while he was known for cooking a variety of wild game, he never ventured beyond the realm of frozen turkeys for our Thanksgiving dinner.

About a week before Thanksgiving he would bring home a frozen bird, the largest he could find. Then it would thaw in the refrigerator until Thanksgiving Eve. That evening we would gather in the kitchen to ready the turkey and do all of the chopping for my dad’s famous plain bread stuffing. We would cube the bread and toast it if needed. Then we chopped the onions and celery and gathered what we would need for the relish tray before taking a coffee break and discussing the plan for the next day's preparations.

Nudging it to Perfection

The next morning Dad would get up early and put together his plain bread stuffing. Then he filled the turkey and nestled it in the oven to roast. After that he watched it carefully, basting it every hour or so, nudging it to a perfect finish around noon.

I always woke on Thanksgiving morning to that iconic scent of turkey roasting in the kitchen. As my dad readied the rest of the meal we watched parades on TV until our guests began to arrive. Then much ceremony was made of making the gravy in our big cast iron skillet after my grandmother arrived with the Pumpkin Pies. It was a delight to the senses. Finally the turkey was taken from the oven, browned and crispy, ready to be carved with the beautiful carving set from my mother's silver flatware.

It was always perfect no matter how the turkey actually turned out. Sometimes the meat was juicy and sometimes a little dry. Sometimes it cooked on schedule and sometimes it was slow. Whatever the details the turkey was a beautiful centerpiece to our celebration, reminding us through all of our senses, that we had reason to be truly thankful. And Dad always found a turkey that was large enough to provide ample leftovers to keep reminding us into the week to come, in soups and sandwiches for school lunches. It really wasn’t the quality of the turkey or the method of cooking that mattered so much as the holiday and the drama and the guests, those parades and the warm conversation wafting in from the kitchen and surrounding me with tradition and fond memories and belonging.

The Next 28 Years

When I got married and moved away from home I continued to buy a frozen turkey for Thanksgiving and was prepared to get up early to roast the bird for a noon time meal but my new husband had different family traditions. In his family they had cooked the turkey in a oven roasting bag as long as he could remember. He did remember the first time when his dad was sure it would melt all over the turkey in an unappealing mess. All the same his mother persisted and triumphantly cooked the turkey in a fraction of the time required to roast it as my father did. My husband encouraged me to try it his way assuring me that the turkey would be juicier and quite delicious.

I complied with his wishes. Why not? The turkey turned out fine. It wasn't golden brown all over with crispy skin and a beautiful presentation but it still smelled wonderful and it still produced leftovers for those sandwiches I loved and it still framed the meal just fine. Fine enough, in fact, that I continued to cook our Thanksgiving turkey in an oven roasting bag for the next 28 years.

How Things Change

Then, last year, something happened. I got an extra turkey for free from the supermarket. This was not the first time I ever had an extra frozen turkey but it was the first time I totally ignored it for most of the following year. I just wasn't desperate for the freezer space until a few weeks ago when the guys went on a frozen pizza buying spree. Suddenly my freezer was awkwardly overcrowded so I decided it was time to figure out what to do with the bird.

It was a plain store brand turkey of about 16 pounds. There was nothing special about it. It had been frozen with a little temperature probe in it and had been sitting in my home freezer for a year. Something about it reminded me of those Thanksgivings long ago and I decided to forgo the oven roasting bag and roast it old school, much like Dad would have done.

After it thawed in the refrigerator, I prepared the turkey, placed it on a rack in a roasting pan and tucked it into the oven. Several hours passed as I went about my business until that wonderful smell of Thanksgiving began wafting through the house. Then I began to check once in a while to see if the probe had popped to tell me it was done.

Checking, I couldn't help but be impressed by how beautiful it was! What had I been doing all these years cooking a moist but anemic turkey? But the proof is in the pudding or, in the case of turkey, in the breast meat which is often dry. Finally it was done. I took pictures, then carved it and took a taste. The breast was wonderfully herb scented and moist. I've never had better.

Thanksgiving Advice

I know that not every turkey will be like that. Like relatives and friends, some are tough or temperamental, some are laid back and forgiving, but that is more about the individual turkey than the brand or technique you employ, whether the turkey is fresh or frozen, brined or basted, cooked in a deep fryer or an oven bag. Still this turkey, a store brand frozen turkey thawed and simply roasted, was perhaps the best turkey I have ever cooked. It’s skin was crispy, its meat tender, juicy and flavorful.

So my advice this Thanksgiving is to keep it simple... and relax. All will be well. Serve the dishes your family cherishes and eat them with joy as you offer thanks for the special blessings you have gathered around your table.

Herb Roasted Turkey

1 whole turkey, fresh or thawed
1 fresh lemon or orange, halved
salt
freshly ground black pepper
Several large sprigs of fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme, sage, parsley)
1-2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, peeled and quartered
2-3 ribs of celery, roughly chopped

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Empty the contents of both cavities, removing the neck, giblets and whatever else you find in there. Wash the turkey with cold water, if needed, and pat it dry with paper towels.

Rub one half of the lemon or orange over the turkey, inside and out. Season the cavity with salt and pepper. Squeeze the juice from the other half of the lemon or orange inside the turkey and tuck the rind inside the cavity, along with the onion, celery and several large sprigs of fresh herbs.

Settle the turkey on a rack in a large roasting pan. My turkey came with a gizmo that allows you to easily tuck the legs into place. Without that you can tie the legs together with string, if you like. Then scatter more coarsley chopped herbs over the turkey and lay a few sprigs on top to crisp in the oven.

Place the turkey in the middle of the oven to roast for several hours, until the little plastic thermometer pops up or until a meat thermometer placed in the thickest portion of the thigh reads 180 degrees. For a 16 pound turkey this will take approximately 2 1/2 – 3 1/2 hours.

When the thermometer indicates it is time, remove the turkey from the oven. Tent it loosely with aluminum foil and allow it to rest for 15 to 20 minutes.

Serve and enjoy!

Smokey Blue Cheesecake

2009-11-06T08:04:00.000-08:00

Pacific Northwest Blues

Last spring I saw a fabulous performance by King Louis and Sweet Baby James along with Linda Hornbuckle and Janice Scroggins at the Joyce Garver Theater in Camas. It was a great experience. I was reminded of the fact that we are blessed with a wealth of talented blues artists here in the Pacific Northwest.

It is not only performing artists that express the blues with award winning talent in this part of the country. We also have artists and photographers with a gift for expressing the blue notes of our experience with soulful skill and enthusiasm. Our experience of life’s more pungent notes is something that can be conveyed at a creamery too, and even in the kitchen.

At Rogue Creamery in Central Point, Oregon they have a gift for focusing flavor notes from around the world with naturally occurring molds that reflect the unique terroir of the Pacific Northwest. Add to that the innovative touch of smoking the blue cheese over hazelnut shells and you have a beautifully complex cheese that plays a sharp tang against a hint of darkly sweet nuttiness. This cure imparts a sultry smokiness to the rich voicing of Rogue's Smokey Blue.

This season Camas's Joyce Garver Theater has been closed and the Performing Arts Series that brought us King Louis and Sweet Baby James last season has lost its long standing venue. The school district that tore down an elementary school this year and replaced it with a newer, more modern building and is preparing to update its existing stadium with one that is bigger and better, does not want to spend the money to update this well-loved community asset. It's too bad. Yet standing in the shadow of sweet notes remembered and hope denied, when life deals us a taste of its sharper edge, what can we do? Try singing the blues!

Smokey Blue Improvisation

This composition came from the recipe collection at Rogue Creamery's Cheese Shop just off I-5 in Central Point, Oregon. They offer quite a variety of recipes but the most intriguing was for this Blue Cheese Cheesecake.

On the drive home I found myself trying to work out the chords and pair it with just the right topping to enhance the impact. The recipe itself suggests pairing it with a Fig Rum Raisin Dessert Sauce or with a Port Wine Sauce. Both sound interesting but I couldn't find the dessert sauce or fresh figs and I wanted to try a fruit topping rather than the port wine reduction. Finally I decided to bend it in another direction by combining the earthy complexity of this unusual dessert with the drama of a Hazelnut Pear Flambé topping.

The result was rather unusual but interesting and worthwhile. Some bites of cheesecake have more of a blue cheese bite than others, offering a sharp salty flavor that contrasts the smooth creaminess of the more traditional cheesecake on top. The pear sauce provides a lovely sweet-spicy counterpoint and the hazelnuts add a touch of resistant crunch.

Smokey Blue Cheesecake
adapted from a recipe distributed at Rogue Creamery

¾ cup graham cracker crumbs
¼ cup finely ground hazelnuts
2 Tablespoons melted butter
2 Tablespoons granulated sugar

1½ 8-oz pkg’s cream cheese (12 oz total)
4 oz Greek style plain nonfat yogurt
3 medium eggs
¼ cup sugar
½ Tablespoon lemon juice
2-3 oz Smokey Blue or Crater Lake Blue cheese, crumbled

Let cream cheese, yogurt, eggs and blue cheese come to room temperature.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease the bottom of a 6" springform pan. Combine graham cracker crumbs, ground hazelnuts and 2 Tablespoons of sugar in a small bowl. Stir with a fork until well blended. Add the 2 Tablespoons of melted butter until combined.

Press the crumb mixture evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Bake 5-10 minutes or until golden brown.

Crumble 2-3 oz of blue cheese evenly over the bottom of the warm crust.

Beat cream cheese until soft; add sugar, yogurt, slowly add eggs one at a time. Beat until combined. Add lemon juice. Pour mixture into the pan. Bake for approximately 45 to 50 minutes, or until cheesecake is just set, and beginning to get slightly golden around the edge.

Let cool for 2-4 hours, or refrigerate overnight before serving for best results.

Top with Hazelnut Pear Flambé.

Serve and enjoy!

Hazelnut Pear Flambé

2009-11-02T20:04:00.000-08:00

These shorter days of autumn mean less variety at the fruit stand. Once again the produce bins are filled with apples and pears. In muted shades of red, green and yellow, pears subtly complement the rounder shape, glossier color even the crisp texuture of seasonal apples. Yet all the while pears gently hint at a quiet complexity and sophistication apples can only dream of.

I have always found pears fascinating though, I must admit, I only started cooking with them recently when I suddenly seemed to get the hang of ripening them at home and figuring out when they were ready to use. After poaching pears and roasting pears last year, I recently found even more great hints on choosing and ripening pears at Sizzleworks. So, when I was recently unable to find the suggested ingredients for a cheesecake topping, the first thing I thought of as a substitute was pears.

It didn't hurt that I also found this wonderful recipe on an old newspaper clipping from the Oregonian. I saved it because of its combination of simplicity and drama as well as its inspiration to combine Asian spices and Northwest pears and hazelnuts. I was also intrigued by the step that called for setting it aflame! I've always wanted to master a flaming dessert and add it to my repertoire.

Of course, the flambé step here is optional. If you don't have the time or interest for the drama this recipe will still taste terrific. It can even be made ahead, if desired, to cut down on last minute preparation. I must say though, especially if you like to entertain as you cook, the flambé step adds a lot of interest at serving time.

This dessert sauce fits into a number of different seasons gracefully depending on what it tops, ice cream or cheesecake, gingerbread or pancakes. It’s uniquely spiced fruit and earthy crunch lend Northwest flair to a variety of simple but elegant desserts.

Hazelnut Pear Flambé
adapted from FOODday where it was attributed to "Martin Yan Quick and Easy"

1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
2 pears, peeled, cored and sliced
1/4 cup light rum
1/4 - 1/2 cup hazelnuts

Place a frying pan on the stovetop over medium heat. When hot, add the butter, brown sugar and five-spice powder. Stir to combine. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves.

Increase heat to high. Add the hazelnuts and pears to the sugar mixture and cook until the pear is tender, approximately 2 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat. Pour the rum over the mixture. Be sure you are not standing over the pan, that the pan is not under an exhaust fan, and that it is clear of any flammable items, then CAREFULLY set the rum aflame. Return the pan to the stovetop and continue cooking for another 2 minutes.

Spoon the Hazelnut Pear topping over cheesecake, gingerbread, pancakes or coconut ice cream.

Serve and enjoy!

Cocktail Eyeballs and Sakétinis

2009-10-28T05:00:00.000-07:00

I really don't do a lot to celebrate Halloween. I hardly ever dress up or go to a party. Usually I just stay at home and hand out candy to the ghouls and boys that ring my doorbell dressed in their cute little costumes. Then I answer it some more as the older kids come by in makeshift costumes taking the rest of the candy off my hands so I don't end up eating it all myself.

Sometimes I watch a Halloween movie though that is generally on the tame side too. No absurdly gory movies for me. I prefer classics like "Dracula" or "Young Frankenstein", possibly "The Birds," or even an old episode or two of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."

Last year I was on my own with my husband out of town and my son out with friends. The waves of trick-or-treaters at my door were intermittent and I was fairly bored. What to do? Like any good food blogger I pulled out a recipe I had just discovered on the Internet and tried to recreate it.

This is a fairly easy recipe but has tremendous impact. I think it was the fuzzy little root of the radish, intact and looking all quivery, that convinced me to try it. I am not all that fond of radishes and green olives are not my favorite garnish but all the same these are totally edible and so worthwhile for a Halloween party or even for an evening at home. These are definitely worthy of a smile, or a grimace, as a garnish for Martinis, Sakétinis, or Bloody Marys. They can also be frozen individually in ice cubes and served in a clear beverage. Or just serve them as is. Arranged on a serving dish and drizzled with a red sauce these are very eye catching.

Cocktail Eyeballs
I think I first saw them at Show Me Vegan

2 bunches of fresh radishes
1 jar small green pimiento stuffed olives

Carefully wash the radishes in cold water and pat dry.

Using a vegetable peeler or small paring knife create stripes by carefully peeling a radish from top to root, leaving small streaks of red between the peeled stripes of white, and being careful to leave the root intact.

Slice away approximately 1/3 of the stem end of the radish. Using the coring tip of a vegetable peeler scoop out the interior of the radish, being careful not to break the sides.

Push one pimiento stuffed green olive into the cavity you created. The olive should fit snugly and protrude above the surface of the radish less than half way with the pimiento stuffed end facing outward.

Slice away the protruding end of the olive so that it is flush with the radish.

Use as a garnish for Sakétinis or other Halloween cocktails.

Or arrange stuffed radishes in a serving dish and drizzle with cocktail sauce or a red salad dressing (I used Pomegranate Dressing), enough to pool slightly in the bottom of the dish. Serve with toothpicks.

Sakétini
From “the sakétini” booklet distributed by Saké One

2 oz. Momokawa Silver or other dry Saké
1 oz. vodka or gin

Shake with ice and strain into a martini glass. Garnish with lime curl, olives or other festive garnish.

Pumpkin Spice Latte Muffins with POMx Iced Coffee

2009-10-24T11:25:00.000-07:00

Iced Coffee from POM Wonderful?

The folks at POM Wonderful recently sent me another great product to try: their new POMx Iced Coffee. I got bottles in two flavors, Café au Lait and Chocolate. When it first arrived I have to admit I was curious. What would it taste like? Would it have some hint of fruitiness?

The answer is no. As Pom says itself, in an ad with googly-eyed talking sheep, “that would just be weird.”

While these coffee drinks are made by POM Wonderful, the pomegranate juice people, and while it has all of those great nutritional benefits found in pomegranate juice, those benefits come from “a super-pure, super-concentrated, 100% natural blend of polyphenal antioxidants” rather than pomegranate juice itself. This concentrate contains all of the benefits of an 8 ounce bottle of pomegranate juice…. except the exotic flavor. Instead POMx iced coffee, especially the Café au Lait flavor, actually tastes like, well, an iced coffee drink.

For me that’s a good thing. Because of the antioxidant boost in these POMx beverages I would buy them over other brands of bottled coffee drinks given a choice. And from the energy drink angle, well coffee is my energy drink of choice so that works too.

Choc-ola Remembered

I will have to say I found the chocolate flavor interesting too. I suppose, in the world of coffee drinks, it is similar to a mocha. Oddly though, what came to my mind when I first tasted the chocolate flavored POMx Iced Coffee was a chocolate beverage I remember fondly from my childhood: Choc-ola. (Does anyone else remember those?)

Choc-ola came in a glass bottle, like many other soft drinks of its day, and had to be shaken to fully mix the chocolate you could see at the bottom of the bottle. Icy cold on a summer’s day, they were fantastic. Sometimes they were available in coke machines of that era and if I could find one I would choose it over Coca-Cola every time.

Chocolate Flavored Drink Weirdness

What's more, I have this indelible memory from sometime before I was six years old of buying a Choc-ola at a roadside souvenir stand in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, and giving it to a big black bear that was chained beside the building. He sat up on his hind legs and promptly downed the whole thing.

Does the Pomx Chocolate flavor iced coffee taste like that? Well something brought Choc-ola to mind when I tasted it. Maybe it was a weird association between the bear and the sheep. Or maybe there was some similarity in the silky smooth chocolate flavor that reminded me of that retro soft drink I favored of as a child. Actually I think both flavors of the POMx Iced Coffee were really good.

....and Muffins

What else can you do with these drinks? I got to thinking that what other coffee drinks might have over the POMx Iced Coffee is a seasonal spin. I also started thinking, as I drank my Café au Lait, that what I was missing here was a muffin. After a little recipe tampering I came up with these tasty Pumpkin Spice Latte Muffins. This recipe is adapted from my recipe for Java Monkey Muffins. It includes some pumpkin that was leftover in my refrigerator, a bottle of Pomx Café au Lait flavored iced coffee (you can substitute coffee and milk if you prefer) and some pumpkin pie spice. Then they are topped with an espresso/pumpkin pie spice glaze that really gives it that pumpkin latte flavor.

These muffins are soft and luscious, low in fat and sugar (at least before the topping) and are made with wholesome oatmeal and mashed pumpkin, not to mention the added nutritional boost of the POMx antioxidant concentrate. Tasty, nutritious and maybe just a little bit weird, these muffins make a terrific, and seasonally sensitive, breakfast treat.

Give them a try to add an energy boost to your morning and a little seasonal stimulation to your table.

Pumpkin Spice Latte Muffins

1 cup old fashioned oats, uncooked
1 cup POMx Café au Lait Iced Coffee (or ½ cup coffee + 1 teaspoon espresso powder + ½ cup milk)
2 egg whites, lightly beaten
2 Tablespoons butter, melted
½ cup pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup flour
3 Tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly spray 12 muffin cups with cooking spray.

Mix oats and coffee drink in a medium bowl. Let stand 10 minutes.

Add egg whites, butter, pumpkin and vanilla mixing until well blended.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pumpkin pie spice in a large bowl and mix well.

Stir dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture, just until moistened.

Fill muffin cups nearly full. Bake 20-25 minutes at 400 degrees or until golden brown. Cool muffins in tins on a wire rack. After 5 minutes remove from pan. Drizzle with Pumpkin Spice Latte Glaze.

Yield: 12 muffins

Pumpkin Spice Latte Glaze

1 teaspoon espresso powder
½ -1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 ½ Tablespoons hot water
¼ teaspoon vanilla
1 cup confectioners’ sugar

Dissolve the espresso powder in the hot water. Add ¼ teaspoon vanilla and mix gently.

In a small bowl, mix 1 Tablespoon of the espresso mixture into the confectioners’ sugar. Add more of the espresso mixture, one teaspoon at a time, until it is a nice consistency for a glaze.

When thoroughly mixed drizzle from a spoon over cooled muffins, or put the glaze in a quart sized ziplock bag, seal the bag, snip of ¼ inch of a lower corner, and squeeze the glaze in a random pattern over the muffins.

Serve and enjoy!

Homemade Apple Butter

2009-10-20T09:23:00.000-07:00

More Than a Recipe

Apple Butter is one of those recipes that is about so much more than the apples. What makes my ears perk up at the mention of Apple Butter has little to do with the flavor of autumn or with preserving the harvest. It is not about an interest in canning. That is something I have never tried. It’s not even about having a low fat spread to smear on hot biscuits or toast. While these are all good reasons to pursue the ultimate recipe for Apple Butter they are not mine. What causes me to smile at the thought of Apple Butter is my great great uncle Hal.

Uncle Hal

Uncle Hal grew up in the rural hills of southern Indiana over a century ago. His father died when he was young and his education was spotty after the fourth grade. From that point on he was needed at home to work the farm. Even so he was a keen observer. He had a quick wit and he told a good story.

Despite his lack of formal education Uncle Hal was inspired by his daughters to write a memoir. What he wrote for them was a beautiful legacy. He penned 162 handwritten pages. Reading them for the first time I was mesmerized by the vivid pictures his words evoked. I could see the dapper young man riding the streetcar in Louisville wearing a new suit of clothes. I matched that image to the portrait I found in a family album of this handsome young man coming of age a century ago.

Uncle Hal had a beautiful way of describing the landscapes of his life. Whether the streets of Louisville, the farmland of Wisconsin or Minnesota where he eventually settled, or the gently rolling knobs of Indiana, his boyhood home, he drew a picture in his careful handwriting of the wonder and humor and providential nature of the world he knew.

The Last Harvest of the Year

And that brings me back to Apple Butter. One of Uncle Hal’s most beautiful portraits described the harvest season in southern Indiana when he was a boy.

He wrote:

The apple harvest was another occasion for busy, happy excitement. It came in October when the corn was in the shock and summer’s work was almost finished. The apple harvest was the last harvest of the year and we had ample time to enjoy it. It was lots of work too but it was the kind of work that is more like fun, especially to an eight year old boy. The apples had to be picked and brought in; then came the job of peeling them and taking out the cores. The neighbors usually helped. Apple peelings were quite common and something of a social event. Anyone who wished to get the job done and have a lot of fun at the same time would invite as many neighbors – usually in the evening – as the house would accommodate and a great deal could be accomplished in one evening. Preparations took about two days.

With the kettle in place and wood stacked nearby, we would roll out of bed before daylight and get the fire going and Mother would come with apples. From there on the procedure was the same as with peach butter, Mother adding more apples from time to time as the apples boiled down. We changed about, each one taking a turn with the stirrer. Sugar and cinnamon were added when the apple butter was brown and thick and the fire was allowed to burn out. Apple butter took longer to make than peach butter, due to the higher juice content of the apples. Sometimes night would fall before the job was finished. Remember, my dear girls, that we made apple butter in October when the days were shorter than they were in the peach season.

I wish I could give you a clear picture of the apple harvest in Southern Indiana when I was a “kid”. I wish you could see those beautiful October days when the autumn colors were on the trees and Indian Summer came and spread its lavender mantle over the good earth. I wish you could see the sun going down in a sea of lavender and gold and a spiral of wood smoke rising from a small fire and disappearing in the purple twilight. If you look closely, you may see a boy stirring apple butter in a farmyard and a Mother coming out of the house to see if all is well. If I could make the picture as clear to you as it is to me I’m sure it would remain in your memories as long as it has in mine.

Sweet Surprises

Since reading Uncle Hal's story I have become fascinated by recipes for Apple Butter. Personally I am not a huge fan of jams, jellies and other preserves since they are often too sweet for my taste. I prefer most fruit fresh, if possible, and with very little sugar added. But, as I said, Apple Butter is about so much more than the apples. It's about history and family. It's about what's wholesome and homemade. It's about making the most of the abundance God has blessed us with here and now.

I have continued to collect recipes and search fro a less-sweet version of Apple Butter. Considering those recipes I have learned that sugar has a preservative quality that adds shelf life to canned fruits. I think that's the main reason most traditional Apple Butter recipes call for far more sugar than I find palatable. Yet, in the past few years I have found that Apple Butter can be made with much less sugar and stored in ways that weren't available to my great great grandmother and Uncle Hal a century ago. Today Apple Butter can be stored for several weeks in the refrigerator, or longer in the freezer, without much concern for the amount of sugar added.

New Ideas

Finally, last year I found a post about Apple Butter that really appealed to me. Lelo in NoPo wrote about a wonderful, forgiving way to make Apple Butter in a slow cooker. Lelo fills a slow cooker with apples then lets them cook overnight. By morning the fragrance of apples will be wafting through the house greeting you as you begin to stir and tugging on your sleeve, urging you to get out of bed and make pancakes for breakfast. Just puree the apples using a stick blender, add a little ground cinnamon and you have fresh flavorful homemade applesauce to serve with those pancakes.

After Breakfast, add sweetener to your own taste. Set the lid of the slow cooker ajar and let the apples continue to cook, stirring occasionally for the rest of the day, or until the apple mixture reaches a thick buttery consistency. What you have now is Homemade Apple Butter made by a process that is so simple and rewarding it just might turn into a new family tradition.

A Sensory Indulgence

This apple butter is a wonderful treat on cool autumn days! As it cooks I think of Uncle Hal's sea of lavender and gold in the purple twilight. I can almost see the smoke rising from his small wood fire as I breathe in the fragrance of the apples and spices cooking down in my slow cooker. The aroma alone is worth the small amount of effort it takes to prepare this recipe. Better yet the resulting Apple Butter can be spread on biscuits, toast, cornbread, even a saltine cracker, or it can be added to a variety of recipes for cakes or muffins. Though this recipe makes only a few jars of apple butter rather than the 30 gallon copper kettle full that my great great grandmother canned during the autumns a century ago, it is enough for our tastes and circumstances and worth far more in the places it is able to take me than in the contribution it makes to my pantry.

This recipe, using Lelo’s method, includes a taste of real maple syrup and a little ground cardamon and allspice to supplement the traditional ground cinnamon. The resulting Apple Butter is mildly sweet but still lets the crisp tartness of the apple flavor shine through.

Homemade Apple Butter

6 - 8 pounds of apples (enough to fill the bowl of your slow cooker)
½ cup water
½ - 1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ cup maple syrup
½ to 1 cup sugar (I used brown)
¼ teaspoon cardamon
¼ teaspoon allspice

The juice and zest of one small lemon

Before Going to Bed:

Fill a slow cooker with apples that have been peeled, cored and sliced.

Pour ½ cup water over the apples.

Cover and let cook on low overnight.

(Mix the batter for Overnight Pancakes, if desired, and store in the refrigerator)

In the Morning:

Add ½ teaspoon cinnamon to the apples.

Using a stick blender, blend the cooked apples until smooth.

Now you have applesauce. Fill a bowl with enough to serve your family as a sidedish with pancakes for breakfast.

(Make pancakes using the prepared batter for Overnight Pancakes or try Swedish Pancakes or Wheat Germ Griddle Cakes if you prefer.)

After Breakfast:

Leave the remainder of the blended apples in the slow cooker. Stir in the maple syrup, sugar, cardamon and allspice, lemon juice and zest. Add more cinnamon and/or sugar to taste. Prop the lid open or set it ajar so that steam will escape.

Every hour or so stir the apple mixture scraping down the sides of the slow cooker well each time.

Continue for most of the day, until the apples have thickened to a buttery paste, or until they reach the consistency you are looking for.

Store the finished Apple Butter in clean glass jars or in freezer containers. The Apple Butter should keep several weeks in the refrigerator and several months in the freezer.

Enjoy!

Roasted Delicata Squash

2009-10-16T23:49:00.000-07:00

One of the things I love most about fall is that it is so abundantly pretty. When the autumn sky is blue it is so exquisitely stark it feels almost fragile as if it might crack open. The light falls bluer and the sky is a perfect backdrop for looking up at spiderwebs and crimson tinged golden leaves barely hanging from thinning branches as they let go to ride the wind. In time the ground is covered with shades of bronze, mustard, russet, and vermillion. The gargantuan leaves of pumpkin vines wither revealing fields dotted with festive globes in shades of orange. Apples, gourds and squash are stacked high at the grocery with decorations for our kitchen and holiday tables.

I love to look through the piles of winter squash reading the clever names on the stickers: Butternut, Acorn, Ambercup, Carnival, Kabocha, Turban and, my favorite, Delicata. These winter staples are beautiful arranged in piles with Indian corn and fall leaves. There is a practical appeal in the fact that they are edible but how to cook with them can be a mystery.

For years I barely used the squash I decorated with in the fall. They were hard to cut and I wasn’t sure how to cook them. But then I realized how good they were. Finding the flesh of some varieties to be as creamy as mashed potatoes and so slightly sweet and satisfying I began to simply roast them in the oven until they were easily pierced with a fork.

Last week I went to the grocery to pick up a few more Delicata squash from the produce isle. Picking through for the prettiest shapes and colors I gathered my favorites in my arm. Before I got out of the store several people stopped to ask me what I planned to do with them. It seems I'm not the only one who has wondered how to use these beautiful winter squash. So here’s what I told them...

Roasted Delicata Squash

Wash the squash and cut it in half lengthwise with a sharp knife.

Scrape the seeds and fiber out with a spoon. (Wash and separate the seeds from the fiber and reserve them to roast if you desire.)

Lay the squash cut side down on a baking sheet.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 – 30 minutes or until the squash is tender when pricked with a fork. (Or if you have something else in the oven at a different temperature roast the squash at that temperature adjusting the time accordingly.)

Remove from the oven.

Serve and enjoy!

Note: This is a simple cooking method but I find the Delicata squash is sweet and flavorful enough that it needs no dressing up. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and some herbs if you like. Top with a smidgeon of butter and brown sugar if you want something sweeter. Really though, it is delicious as is.

Roasting Herbs: I do like to add sprigs of fresh herbs to the roasting pan. If you have fresh herbs growing in the garden, or left over from another use, this is a great way to release their fragrance and make the kitchen smell wonderful. I especially like to add rosemary, thyme and sage to the roasting pan. When the pan is removed from the oven and the herbs have cooled, they can easily be crumbled onto your squash or other dishes. Or simply discard and enjoy the lingering aroma.

Roasting Squash Seeds: To roast squash seeds toss with a little oil and your choice of seasoning. You can use herbs or spices or simply salt.( I shook the seeds from my Delicata squash in a Ziploc baggie, along with a teaspoon or two of olive oil and a teaspoon of madras hot curry powder.) Spread them on a pan and roast along with the squash, stirring every 10 minutes or so until they begin to brown. If roasting separately, try a low temperature, approximately 250 degrees.

Spider Cupcakes

2009-10-13T15:31:00.000-07:00

I seem to have a fascination with spiders. I can't say I like them. In fact as a girl I was terrified of them. I would lie awake at night worrying that one would crawl up the side of my bed in the darkness and bite me while I slept.

As an adult I could no longer afford to be squeamish. It did me no good to stand on a chair and scream when I saw a spider as I found that was a reaction that came naturally to others in my household too. Now it was my turn to get a paper towel or broom and dispose of the offending creature.

Over time we have come to a sort of truce, spiders and me. Outdoor spiders I work around and leave alone to do their own thing. Indoor spiders still have to go but I toss them outside if I can, depending on a few factors like size, resemblance to poisonous spiders I have just seen pictures of on the internet and whether or not anyone is standing on a chair and screaming.

These days I might even say I find spiders intriguing. I am amazed by their webs, so perfectly intricate and defined by glistening jewels of dew in the morning light. The garden spiders that spin them are often bold and beautiful while other smaller outdoor spiders are pale and delicate, almost fragile, crawling among the flowers. I have done several portraits of both kinds of spiders for Pixel Pearls. I enjoy capturing and working with the image of spiders I find in the garden.

These days I decorate with spiders for Halloween. I have one that hangs from the front door and drops when the door is opened only to climb back to the top of his web with eyes flashing. This year I even made spiders the theme of my Halloween cake. These cupcakes make a fun addition to a Halloween party and they aren't too complicated, especially if you enjoy working with chocolate.

Spider Cupcakes

Bake cupcakes using your favorite recipe. (I used muffins I had baked for another use. That was not the best idea since the muffins were dense and it was difficult to push the pretzel legs into them. I recommend a cake with a finer and moister consistency like Midnight Chocolate Cake or a boxed cake mix.)

When the cupcakes are ready make the legs.

Spider Legs
(enough for 3 cupcakes)

48 matchstick pretzels
24 chocolate chips (I use Ghirardelli 60% cacao bittersweet chocolate chips because they are a little wider and flatter than some other brands.
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Arrange the matchstick pretzels on a parchment lined baking sheet in groups with two pretzels forming a V and one chocolate chip balanced on top where they join.

Carefully place baking sheet in preheated 350 degree oven for 5 minutes or until chips begin to melt over the joint. Remove from oven and adjust chocolate that has not covered the joining of the pretzels with a butter knife (not your finger. Ouch!)

Melt the 1/2 cup of chocolate in the microwave or a double boiler and scrape it into a decorating bag with a writing tip attached, or into a ziplock bag with ¼ inch of the lower corner clipped off, or just drizzle the chocolate over the pretzels in a random design, being careful to get most of the chocolate on the pretzels.

Place the baking sheet with the spider legs on it in the refrigerator until ready to use.

While the legs are setting make the frosting. I used my favorite Modified Mexican Hot Chocolate Frosting because I had some left over from another project. I rewhipped the leftover frosting and added more cocoa powder and a little powdered black food coloring to get a deep brown color.

I like this frosting but the cream cheese can make it tricky to work with so if you are new to cake decorating it might be easier to use a standard Buttercream Icing recipe like this one from Wilton. If you make white buttercream icing you can set some aside for fangs or to make into other decorator colors. If you want to make fangs like I did, using white candy melts or white chocolate (See the note at the bottom), then go ahead and make Chocolate Buttercream Icing to begin with. These Wilton recipes are optimal for cake decorating.

Once the frosting is ready fill a pastry bag fitted with a #233 ( used for grass or hair) decorating tip, or use a Ziploc freezer bag with the lower corner snipped off and fit with a coupler and the decorating tip. I recommend using a gallon sized Ziploc bag as it is easier to work with than the smaller one I used here.

Set a cupcake on a serving plate or foil covered cardboard circle that is at least 8 inches in diameter. Begin frosting the cupcake using the #233 decorating tip at the base and work your way up the side. When the sides are covered in frosting set the decorating bag aside.

Remove the chocolate pretzel spider legs from the refrigerator. Using a skewer make eight holes around the edge of the cupcake, angling in toward the center, just above the frosting line. Carefully lift eight of the spider legs from the parchment paper and insert them into the cupcake where it was pierced with the skewer. Position the legs so that the chocolate coating faces the front on both sides.

Now finish frosting the top of the cupcake with the decorating tip. The cupcake should look fuzzy. (Don't be too particular since fanged spiders are bound to have bad hair issues.)

Position two Mini M&Ms, Reese's Pieces, other candies, dots of colored frosting, or these great edible googly eyes on the spider's face for eyes.

Put a bit of reserved white frosting (if you have it) in a small Ziploc bag and snip off a small piece of a lower corner. Using the bag, pipe fangs into position on the spider.

Share with family and friends. Enjoy!

Note: If you have no white frosting you can make fangs by melting a small amount of candy melts or white chocolate in the microwave or a double boiler. When smooth, place the white candy in a Ziploc bag and trim a small bit from a lower corner. Pipe fangs onto a small piece of parchment paper or wax paper. Place in the refrigerator for a few minutes. When firm, peel the fangs from the paper and position them on the spider. If this part sounds like a lot of bother, skip the fangs. The spider will look good anyway.

Maple Huckleberry Loaf

2009-10-09T16:04:00.000-07:00

The kitchen is a great place to spend time when autumn arrives. Cooler days often find me there baking. When the temperature drops it is nice to turn the oven on and find new ways to use the fall produce decorating my countertops.

I found this beautiful quick bread/coffee cake recipe at 101 Cookbooks. It has a wonderfully crumbly crust layer, full of crunchy nuts and the flavor of maple sugar. Here I used the rest of my huckleberries according to the recipe as posted. The only change I made for my first attempt was to use hazelnuts instead of pecans in the crumb for a wholly northwest take on this wholesome huckleberry creation. The huckleberries were gathered at nearby Mt. St. Helen’s. The hazelnuts are a product of the Pacific Northwest as well.

This recipe turned out to be fantastic, a really nice change of pace from my normal repertoire of fall quick breads. It is made with whole wheat pastry flour and real maple syrup. What really intrigued me and begged me to try the recipe ws the addition of fresh chopped rosemary and thyme. I would have never thought to include those herbs in a quick bread studded with fresh fruit but reading the recipe this earthy combination of ingredients struck me as an inspired synergy of fall flavors.

The outcome was even better than expected, a beautiful crumb topped loaf that disappeared quickly. The hint of savory herbs gives a subtle depth to the powerful top notes of rich maple sweetness and the tart wildness of fresh huckleberries. I will be making this again. In fact I already have, in several different harvest flavored variations.

Maple Huckleberry Loaf
adapted slightly from "Maple Huckleberry Coffee Cake" at 101 Cookbooks

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
¼ cup rolled oats
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped
¼ teaspoon fresh rosemary, chopped
4 Tablespoons butter, room temperature
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 large egg
zest of one lemon
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup buttermilk
1 1/3 cups fresh berries

Crumb Topping:
½ cup whole wheat pastry flour
4 Tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
1/3 cup maple sugar (or brown sugar)
¼ teaspoon fresh thyme
½ cup chopped hazelnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-inch loaf pan and set aside.

In a medium bowl thoroughly combine the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt, thyme and rosemary. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter with an electric mixer until fluffy. Gradually add the maple syrup while beating. Continue mixing until well incorporated. Add the egg, lemon zest and vanilla. Continue beating until well mixed.

Stir in the flour mixture a little at a time, alternating with the buttermilk. Mix until barely combined.

Fold in 1 cup of the huckleberries.

Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan and set aside.

To prepare the crumb topping:

Combine the flour, sugar and thyme thoroughly in a medium bowl. Cut in the chunks of butter using a pastry cutter, until the mixture resembles course crumbs. (Or place topping ingredients in a food processor and pulse 20 to 30 times, or until quite crumbly.) Stir in the chopped hazelnuts.

Scatter 2/3 of the crumb topping over the batter in the loaf pan. Add the remaining 1/3 cup of huckleberries evenly across the topping, then cover with the remaining 1/3 of the crumb mixture. Press the topping down onto the batter lightly, using your fingertips.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 -55 minutes, or until golden on top and the loaf tests done using a toothpick or when it springs back when pressed lightly with a fingertip. Remove to cool on a wire rack for 5-10 minutes. Remove from pan and let the loaf rest on the wire rack until completely cooled.

Variations: I made several loaves in mini loaf pans. The pan size reduced the baking time needed only a little. I think mine took about 40 minutes to bake but pan sizes and materials vary so start checking sooner and bake until the loaf tests done.

If huckleberries are hard to find try using frozen or fresh berries as a substitution. Blueberries are the closest choice but what about cranberries?

Maple Apple Loaf

Omit the lemon zest. Reduce the amount of maple syrup to 1/4 cup and add 1/2 cup apple butter or appplesauce to the wet ingredients along with the egg. Use 1 1/3 cups diced peeled apple chunks in place of the huckleberries.

Maple Pumpkin Loaf

Omit the lemon zest and add 1 cup of mashed pumpkin or squash (I used canned pumpkin), to the wet ingredients along with the egg. You might also like to add 1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice.

Enjoy!

Huckleberry Thyme Sauce

2009-10-06T14:21:00.000-07:00

Last week at the farmer’s market I found something extra special – huckleberries. These tiny tasty berries are my idea of wonderful. Their dark rich flavor is related to, but a little more intense and tart than, the generous juicy sweetness of my favorite summer blueberries.

Reading about huckleberries I learned that there has been a bumper crop this season growing along trails at upper elevations in the Cascade mountains. If you have the opportunity to collect or buy huckleberries don’t miss out. They are a sumptuous treat that slip easily into early fall menus.

I used some of the huckleberries I bought at the market last week in a wonderful huckleberry sauce. This sauce is quite similar to the Summer Berry Basil Sauce I use in a variety of simple desserts. Where it varies is that instead of basil I pair the wild tartness of the huckleberries with the earthy notes of thyme and nutmeg while adding a little balsamic vinegar and red wine.

As an accompaniment to an entree, like Herb Roasted Chicken, Huckleberry Thyme Sauce adds complexity and interest to an ordinary fall dinner. As a topping for meringue cookies, maple walnut ice cream or fresh ripe fruit it adds earthy sweetness and dramatic fall color to a simple light dessert.

A perfectly ripe peach half topped with Huckleberry Thyme Sauce, sweetened whipped cream, a sprinkle of maple sugar and a sprig of fresh thyme

Huckleberry Thyme Sauce

approximately 2 cups huckleberries
2 Tablespoons honey
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
2 four-inch sprigs fresh thyme
3 Tablespoons red wine
1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar

In a small saucepan stir together half of the huckleberries, honey, lemon juice, nutmeg, cinnamon, thyme sprigs, red wine and vinegar.

Cook gently, over medium heat, stirring constantly, about 3 minutes, or until berries have softened and released their juice. With the back of a spoon squash some of the berries against the side of the pan while cooking.

Remove from heat. With a spoon, remove the thyme sprigs and discard.

Stir in the rest of the fresh huckleberries.

Serve with roast chicken or pork, or spooned over fresh peaches, pears, meringue cookies or ice cream.

Farmers Market Inspirations

2009-10-01T08:31:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the last day of the 2009 Camas Farmer's Market. It has been a great year, tasting delicious food, listening to good music, visiting with friends and talking to vendors on Wednesday afternoons. I have been inspired this season by tips and techniques I picked up at the cooking demonstrations and by the enthusiasm of vendors and shoppers over some great discoveries.

One discovery was this beautiful flatbread creation from Truly Scrumptious, a boutique bakery based in Camas. As you can see, this flatbread is topped with an appealing combination of caramelized red onion, gorgonzola cheese, sliced figs, rosemary and crushed red pepper. I have tasted similar combinations before without being all that impressed but this flatbread was extraordinary.

Maybe it is the change of seasons that make these earthy flavors so appealing to me this week. Or maybe it is the balance of quantities and seasoning as the savory flecks of rosemary and red pepper, along with the caramelized onion, ground the tension between the sweet figs and the tangy cheese. Whatever it is, I found this lovely combination of flavor and texture inspiring. If you can find fresh figs this is definitely worth trying at home.

Another great find at the market were these wild huckleberries gathered on Mt. St. Helen's. I had never even eaten a huckleberry before. Tasting one yesterday was a thrill and a revelation. When I got home and looked them up I discovered that the huckleberry is a relative of the blueberry. It grows only in the wild and at high elevation. I learned that it is a favorite fall treat of hikers and grizzly bears and is another unique culinary asset of the Pacific Northwest. Now that I have a small stash of my own I look forward to finding a great way to use them in the coming week.

It's been a fantastic season at the Camas Farmer's Market. I'm already looking forward to what it will bring next year!

Fresh Tomato Scallop

2009-09-29T17:28:00.000-07:00

I discovered this fantastic recipe many years ago. It was the photo that caught my eye but the directions that sold me. While it looked like a gorgeous side dish baked as a casserole it was really made from fresh sliced tomatoes, minimally cooked in the microwave and topped with some tasty crumbs. Fast, simple and delicious, relying mostly on the fabulous flavor of tomatoes fresh from the vine, this recipe is one I turn to again and again during tomato harvest season.

The original recipe called for white wine Worcestershire sauce. I remember it being very good but when I ran out of my last bottle I found that it was no longer available. I have substituted regular Worcestershire sauce since then but now I am thinking it might be worthwhile to try mixing ½ Tablespoon of white wine, if you have any open, with ½ Tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce. Try that if you like but mostly try this recipe. It is a great way to accent the taste of fresh tomatoes with an appealing presentation.

Fresh Tomato Scallop
from the August 1989 issue of "Better Homes and Gardens" magazine

2 Tablespoons sliced green onion
1 Tablespoon butter
1/3 cup fine dry bread crumbs
2 Tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
2 Tablespoons chopped toasted pecans
5 medium tomatoes
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Combine the green onions and butter in a glass measuring cup and microwave on high for one minute, or until the onions are crisp tender. Add crumbs, cheese and pecans. Stir to combine. Set aside.

Peel the tomatoes, if desired. Cut tomatoes into 1/2 inch slices.

In an 8 inch round microwavable quiche dish or pie plate, arrange the slices in a spiral. Sprinkle with the Worcestershire sauce. Microwave on high for 1 - 2 minutes, or until almost heated through.

Sprinkle crumb mixture over the top and microwave on high, another 30 to 60 seconds.

Serve and enjoy!

Walnut Pesto

2009-09-23T14:04:00.000-07:00

This has been the best summer yet in my backyard garden. I have grown nice gardens before but when we moved to the Pacific Northwest, over a decade ago, I found myself facing a whole new set of gardening challenges. One was the location of the backyard garden. It is bordered by a fence on one side and is crowded by a tree on the other. Though I try to keep the tree trimmed the garden still struggles for enough sunlight. Another challenge has been adapting to the cycles of this climate. We live in a region of microclimates and fine tuning our planting has required a number of adjustments too.

Finally, this summer things have gone very well. I had tomatoes on several vines. Better yet, the flavor of the little yellow tomatoes that thrived on one of them has been exceptional. Few of them ever make it into the house. My husband and I simple eat them off the vine in the garden. There is no better treat than a perfectly ripe tomato warm from the sun and fresh off the vine. Popping one in my mouth and biting into it is bliss.

This year we also had a couple of very productive zucchini plants. As simple as it is to grow zucchini I have not had the best of luck with zucchini vines in my garden here. This year has been different and I have been blessed by that age-old cliche of too many zucchini. I have been roasting them and shredding them and freezing them, but more on that later.

And then there was this huge mystery vine that took over half of the back yard. It turned out that it produced little yellow gourds on a vine that seemed better suited to pumpkins or watermelon.

Among these successes and delights, what I have been most thrilled with in my garden this summer (besides the bunny who hangs around a lot and only nibbles on a few of my least favorite herbs) is the basil and parsley. My basil plants have grown tall and lush with thick smooth leaves. I can see them from my kitchen windown. I have harvested the luscious fragrant leaves for bruschetta and Summer Berry Basil Sauce and salads and it keeps growing beautifully. I have lemon basil, sweet basil, and at least three varieties with names I'm not sure of.

Finally I felt that it was time to really harvest this beautiful herb and make some pesto. I cut back my plants carefully, I cut, and cut and when I finally got back to the kitchen I had a huge basket full of basil. When rinsed and separated I had eight cups of firmly packed leaves. I was amazed! In years past I have been lucky to harvest a twig or two of basil in my backyard.

Getting down to business I pulled out a pesto recipe that I discovered back in Dallas where my basil and parsley grew with abandon. There I made large batches of this pesto and preserved it to use through the winter by freezing it in mini muffin tins. I filled each muffin cup 2/3 full then placed the tin in the freezer until the mixture was firm. When solid I transferred the frozen circles of pesto to a Ziploc freezer bag.

For a quick side dish just boil pasta according to package directions. Take one circle of pesto from the freezer for each serving and defrost it slightly in the microwave. Add the pesto to the drained pasta along with toasted walnut pieces and Parmesan cheese.

Walnut Pesto
from an old magazine clipping

¾ cup packed fresh basil leaves
¼ cup packed parsley sprigs
¼ cup walnut pieces
1 large clove garlic, coarsely chopped
3 tablespoons light olive oil
¼ teaspoon salt

1 lb bow tie or other pasta
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
½ cup toasted walnut pieces

In the container of an electric blender or food processor, combine basil, parsley, untoasted walnut pieces, garlic, olive oil and salt. Blend or process until nearly smooth, turning on and off and scraping the sides of the container as needed.

Cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain.

Toss hot pasta with pesto sauce and Parmesan cheese. Top with toasted walnuts and more Parmesan cheese, if desired.

Or add shaved parmesan, toasted nuts, pitted olives, and sliced bell peppers to make a pasta salad that tastes great served warm or cold.

Serve and enjoy!

Pesto is also good spread across Boboli pizza crusts or slices of French bread and sprinkled with Parmesan or mozzerella cheese. Add a few white beans if you like, some sliced tomato and/or basil sprigs and bake till the cheese softens and the bread is toasty. It makes great snacks or appetizers.

Pan Roasted Corn and Tomato Salad

2009-09-20T12:54:00.000-07:00

Some of the old recipes, the ones I remember fondly from when I was a child, are hard to come by. Recipes for Squash Pancakes, Southern Green Beans, Cooked Kale or Collard Greens and Fried Corn, the stuff we ate as weeknight fare, don’t show up in any of my old cookbooks. If you turn to the vegetable section in those you will find mostly casseroles: Broccoli Cheese Casserole, Green Bean Casserole, Squash Casserole, even Eggplant Casserole. Those were company style vegetables, recipes calling for lots of butter, cheese, cracker crumbs and, almost always, Campbell’s soup.

Those casserole recipes don’t appeal to me much these days. What I crave is the comfort of old fashioned home cooking without an excessive amount of added fat. salt and artificial ingredients. I want vegetables like we ate fresh from the garden on a daily basis.

Take, for example, a simple skillet of Fried Corn. I remember my aunt cutting the corn from the cob and how I was enchanted with the way the kernels stuck together in clusters. I remember that the frying browned the corn a little, but did she add onion? How much pepper and bacon grease were added to the skillet? No matter how I adjust these basic ingredients I can’t seem to match the flavor I remember. Nor do I know how to update the recipe to a more modern tasting version of Fried Corn that still hits on at least some of the flavor notes that set off my nostalgic comfort food endorphins.

In a great stroke of good luck, while catching up on my blog reading, I found a post at Eat. Drink. Think. about Mark Bitman’s recipe for Pan Roasted Corn and Tomato Salad. Reading through it I had to smile! This recipe's title made me think of succulent fresh corn, heat seared and simply dressed. Imagine my surprise when I recognized in it the makings of the Fried Corn from my childhood, updated.

Of course my aunt never added avocado, chile peppers or lime juice to her Fried Corn, but this recipe for Pan Roasted Corn and Tomato Salad does make use of one staple from her kitchen; it uses a fair amount of bacon grease to season the corn. Since I just can’t seem to get the seasoning right for a basic pan of plain old Fried Corn I decided to give this slightly more embellished version a try.

Am I ever glad I did! It turned out to be wonderfully full-flavored but not too fussy. Good hot or at room temperature, the taste is fabulous and in there somewhere there is enough of a hint of the real thing from my childhood to bring a wistful smile to my lips. This is what we called good eating! Give it a try. I think you will like it as much as I do.

Pan Roasted Corn and Tomato Salad
from Mark Bittman (via Eat. Drink. Think.)

¼ lb. bacon, diced
¼ - ½ cup red onion, chopped
4 large ears of corn, cut from the cob (2 to 3 cups)
1 or 2 small chile peppers, seeded and minced
Juice of 1 lime
2 cups tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 avocado, pitted, peeled and chopped
salt and black pepper
½ cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat until it begins to brown.

Add the onions and cook until they begin to soften, approximately 5 minutes.

Add the corn and chile peppers. Continue cooking, stirring frequently, until the corn begins to brown, approximately 5 more minutes.

In a large bowl mix together the lime juice, tomatoes, avocado and corn mixture. Season to taste with salt and pepper and stir in cilantro.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Enjoy!

Gelato Affogato

2009-09-17T08:12:00.000-07:00

The Power of Suggestion

It’s been done. Yes, I know, its been done. Earlier this summer I saw Ina Garten on The Today Show with Al Roker making Affogato sundaes while Al was slipping a little extra Tia Maria into his. And then I opened the August issue of "Martha Stewart Living" and sure enough it also sported a recipe card for Gelato Affogato.

The next thing I knew I was eating a small scoop of Snoqualmie’s Espresso Chip ice cream and I found myself spooning hot coffee from my cup over the top. I always liked my ice cream soft and melty so it made sense, you know? And, wow, was it delicious! It was even better than I had imagined as I spooned the softening edge of the ice cream scoop into my mouth with the coffee that ran across it. No wonder everyone is doing it. It was a pleasing combination of extremes, cold and hot but not too cold or too hot anymore, in tandem, sort of like a backward overview of our weather here in the Portland area over the past month or so. When averaged it is a very amiable and balanced mixture of the elements but, along the way, I have enjoyed that distincitve taste of both extremes.

Having that small taste of what an Affogato is all about I was sold. In my view it is the perfect way to end a late summer meal. I can picture the sun beginning to set, the cool evening air beginning to settle and brushing against my skin as I dig into the hot and cool spots of this luscious dessert. And there are so many possibilities my imagination just took off.

So Many Possibilities

I could make mine with a scoop or two of espresso chip gourmet ice cream from Snoqualmie in my café au lait bowls. Over that I’d pour ¼ to ½ cup of espresso. That would be simple and great on its own. No fuss, no bother.

Snoqualmie also makes gelato. Doesn’t a scoop of Coconut Rum gelato, the kind I used in my Butter Rum Ice Cream Cupcakes earlier this summer, drenched in espresso, with a dash of dark rum and a drizzle of caramel topping sound delicious?

Or I could serve my favorite Villa Dolce Vanilla Gelato in china bowls with a small glass of Amaretto or Kahlua and a demitasse cup full of hot espresso, as Martha Stewart suggests on her website. Then my guests could assemble their desserts on the spot, pouring the espresso and the liqueur over the gelato just before tasting that first exquisite bite. This would allow for the optimum contrast of hot and cold and would make an elegant presentation.

Or I could make mine Barefoot Contessa style, just like on The Today Show, with a scoop each of hazelnut and vanilla gelato topped with a pour of hot fresh espresso straight from the pot and a splash or two of Kahlua or Tia Maria from the bottle. Pass some whipped cream and top with crushed chocolate covered espresso beans.

Actually I think this is the perfect end to a casual meal with friends in any season. The cold of the ice cream makes it a perfect choice for summer entertaining and the hot espresso makes it an appealing way to end a meal in cooler seasons. The cold and the hot marry in sweet affection, mellowing into a rich complementary understanding. The espresso warms the gelato while adding a terrifically dense layer of bold flavor. The gelato cools and sweetens the coffee as it melts and mixes lending a complexity to the taste and a creaminess to the texture. This celebration of opposites is too simple and too special not to leave your guests with a warm sense of satisfied refreshment.

PS - If you don’t want to try this at home why not order one out? Di Tazza, my favorite little gelato and coffee stop, serves Gelato Affogato, though they don’t list it on their menu. I ordered mine with Amaretto gelato and whipped cream. It was exquisite! I highly recommend running out to get one right now before the gelato case is closed for the season.