Mak & Murph Together at Last

Commence countdown as the Mak and Murph families in total will be dining, dashing, and devouring excellent grub together in just over a week. Fabulous lives people and it is on its way.

Dissapointment.

As I am sure you have noticed, faithful readers, I have been MIA. This is due to some fabulous traveling (and eating) that has occurred in the past few weeks. Expect a photo montage soon.

However, tonight I am home, back to the grind and on my own, so I decide to try for some homemade cream of broccoli soup as I am fresh off of In Defense of Food which encourages "mostly plants," and having lovingly par-boiled and frozen some vendor surplus broccoli this summer. I pull out the trusty How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman and set to work.

DISASTER. My soup is thin, tasteless (unless you count that awful overcooked broccoli taste as something worthy of note), and even worse - there is TONS OF IT. Currently I have nasty broccoli puree in three containers and one pot and am at a loss as to whether I should freeze it and at a later date try to resurrect the mess, or if I should just wash my hands of it and toss it.

Also, please note I blame only myself. Too much stock - too much broccoli, not enough starch. Mark Bittman, you're still my go to guy, your French bread and peanut butter pasta sustain me (don't tell Michael Pollan, he'll tell me to eat more vegetables.)

Anyhow, it looks as if I will be hitting the dishes with little spring in my step. At least I have Nutella to look froward too.

The Humble Loaf

Female food bloggers seem to be obsessed with banana bread. Molly Wizenberg of Orangette has more than four recipes on her blog, and then another woman at Obsessed With Baking (where I found the recipe) has run various tests on various recipes, complete with commentary and photos revealing the differences between using melted butter and unmelted. What is it about this humble loaf that keeps us coming back time and time again for more?

I don't want to go into a gender related discourse about why women seem to be jumping up and down slightly higher than the men are in celebration of this little delicacy, because I know men who make fantastic banana bread, cake, muffins and more (ie. My Dad!), but this is the observation I made while scouring the Internet for the Silver Palate Banana Bread recipe. Truth is, banana bread is extremely versatile. She can serve as a light dessert, when enriched with butter and sugar; she can dress down to a hearty whole wheat for breakfast or a snack; she can elegantly wear chocolate chips, nuts, coconut, and candied ginger, to name a few, or a thick coat of cream cheese frosting when she wants to get fancy.

I really love banana bread, just ask Fabienne, my tree-planting accomplice of four years. I loved this bread before going tree-planting, but after her loyal accompaniment (that of Fab's and the bread's) through all those years of slogging through mud and up and down hills, the bond is bound. Not to mention the fact that Fab had to witness and listen to my countless updates on how the banana bread was, or how much I'd eaten, or how much I just wanted a slice. In the morning I'd wake up groaning, sore, cold, uncomfortable, but would faithfully get dressed, pull on my boots, and walk to the mess tent where a delicious loaf of banana bread, a cup of coffee and Fab, full of life and stories, were waiting for me. Not a bad life I'd say. In fact, it's those mornings I miss the most.


This morning, I woke up to find the first snow dusting across the city. I kinda squealed with fright and excitement: I'm going to have to shovel my steps for the first time in my life! Oh Montreal, you and your seasons; I love you so much for it. But the real excitement came at breakfast. Last night I baked, for the second time this week, the perfect loaf of banana bread. Toasted, buttered, paired with fluffy scrambled eggs and a mug of tea, she's the perfect morning companion for reading the paper, or the new cookbook Ros gave me The Best International Recipe Cookbook, which is real winner by the way and a great introduction to cooking from around the world.

So without further ado, here she is:

Banana Bread

as adapted from the Silver Palate

I reduced the amount of butter to 1/4 c and the sugar to 1/2 C. I also added 1/2 C of coconut, and this time, 1/2 C of chocolate chips. She has a moist, tight crumb, and enough sweetness to satisfy; a nice mix between a hearty loaf and a cakey one. This means that I can eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner and only feel a little off after the 6th slice. Not bad if you ask me. It's very easy to make, without needing lots of special ingredients.

1/4 C butter (room temperature or melted)
1/2 C sugar
2 eggs
3 large ripe bananas
1 tsp vanilla
1 C whole wheat flour
1 C white flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 C unsweetened coconut
1/2 C chocolate chips or walnuts

- Preheat the oven to 350 F.
- Grease a 9X5X3 loaf pan.
- If using room temperature butter, cream together with sugar. If using melted butter, mix together with sugar.
- Add eggs and vanilla.
- Mash up the bananas in a separate bowl using a fork or a potato masher and add to butter and sugar mixture.
- In a separate bowl whisk together all the dry ingredients except the chocolate chips.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet gradually, stirring the batter as you add the flour.
- Before the dough is completely blended, add the chocolate chips. This way you'll avoid over mixing the dough.
- When the dough has just come together, it's alright if some streaks of flour are still present, pour the batter into the loaf pan.
- The baking time may vary. I have a really thick, dark, non-stick loaf pan that cooks the loaf quite a bit faster than a regular aluminum one would. So my loaf takes about 45 minutes. However, the suggested baking time is for 1 hour. To avoid over or under cooking, check the loaf after 40 minutes. Push lightly on the top and if it springs back quickly under your finger there's a good chance she's almost done. Test further by inserting a clean sharp knife into the center. It should come out clean. Other indications of doneness are, a well-browned top and when the sides of the loaf start to come away from the sides of the pan.

- Don't forget, this recipe could easily be used for muffins. I imagine it'd make from 6-8 muffins made in regular sized muffin tins. But don't forget to reduce the cooking time to about 25 minutes, same temperature.

- murph

Triple Coconut Cream Pie

Tommy Douglas has changed my life. He's changed my sister's life and my parents' lives too. Our knowing he exists, like many culinary related things, is thanks to the Maki family. Without them, I'm not sure my family's legacy of good eats would be so strong. I forget the context, but one wintry evening, John (Kelsey's Dad) pulled out Tommy D's cookbook, The Seattle Kitchen, and gave it to us as a present. Since, we've made countless recipes from the book and bought his other one called Tom's Big Dinners. I can only recall one semi-failure when my Dad made baked trout with apple rings; the trout wasn't very good, so dinner wasn't very good, and Dad was kinda sad. But it really wasn't his fault, plus, success and deliciousness wouldn't be so good if they happened all the time.

Katherine and I have this phenomenal on-going dream where we move to Seattle, live in a tiny over-priced apartment near Pike Street Market looking out onto the harbour. We'd work in one of Tommy D's six restaurants, side by side, getting yelled at by the chef, furiously peeling potatoes, washing dishes with suds up to our ears, and stagger home very late at night, only to get up in the morning, groggily drink copious amounts of thick black Seattle coffee, get some exercise and do it all over again. It'd be amazing and probably very sweaty, dirty and frustrating. At least we'd have each other. Because you see, the other on-going dream is to open a restaurant, and we're going to need some training at some point about what this whole thing is about. We'll get there.

One of the first desserts I remember my sister making many years ago when she was probably 13 or 14, is the Triple Coconut Cream Pie. Her comments next to the recipe in the cookbook read: a bit rich... She wasn't exaggerating. A best-seller twelve years in a row at the restaurant (as of when the cookbook was written in 2001), there's coconut in the crust, in the pastry cream and on the top; not a pie for the weak-minded. After eating Katherine's pie, I rolled out of my chair onto the floor holding my stomach, groaning first of course with pleasure and then from the serious dairy overload. But I survived to tell the tale and ate it again last winter when the Makis and the Murphys went to Lola for an epic feast. (More stomach holding and groaning insued. Oh my phenomenal tendency to over eat!) Then finally, I rubbed my hands together, pulled up my socks, dressed to impress and made the pie. Ros and Ben were coming for dinner, and I wanted to impress. He didn't let me down; Tommy D never fails to impress. And despite the fact that pastry crust mystifies me every time, it turned out quite delicious, producing terrific comments from Ben's side of the table: pas real! oh, this is pas real!


Triple Coconut Cream Pie

As adapted from Tommy Douglas' Seattle Kitchen

I am not going to give you the 411 on Pastry Making. Despite all my reading about the mysterious, necessary procedures, I still don't really know what I'm doing. I have already given one recipe here for Max's mother's recipe, and it's really terrific, almost fool-proof, but since, my dad has modified it and I've lost track of which recipe I'm making. So I followed Tommy D's directions exactly, and well, the crust was fine. I knew it could have been more tender, but I have horrifically high expectations and we can't have everything.

This is definitely a time consuming recipe, so save it for those moments when everything else has gone totally wrong and you need some serious respite from this crazy demanding world, or when some super-excellent friends are going to grace you with their presence and you want to impress the hell out of them, ie., Ros and Ben. Thank you guys for being so incredibly wonderful! So here you go Ros, you can make pastry too, promise.

Coconut Pie Shell

You pre-bake the shell before filling it with the pastry cream.

1 C plus 2 TBS all-purpose flour
1/2 C unsweetened, shredded coconut
1/2 C (1 stick) cold, unsalted butter
2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp kosher salt, or sea salt
1/3 C ice water, or more as needed

- Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl.
- Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until pea-sized.
- Add the ice water gradually, flicking the dough with a fork so you don't over mix. This dough is on the drier side, so don't add too much water, but you still need to add enough just until it looks like it'll barely hold together (I needed about a TBS more). All this caused me great doubt, and much worrying, but with faith I persevered. Gather the dough into a ball (it will be crumbly), place it onto some Seran Wrap and form it into a disk. Completely cover it and refrigerate for at least an hour. It can be made the night before.

- When you're ready to bake the pie, get out a 9-inch pie dish.
- Roll out the dough on a floured surface, turning the dough clockwise after ever roll so you form an even round disk, until it's about 1/8 inch thick. (If it seems like it's not going to work, just exercise some serious patience and be gentle.)
- Transfer the dough by rolling it around the rolling pin and laying it very gently into the pie dish. Help the dough to reach the bottom by lifting it up at the edges and pressing it into the dish with your fingers. Try not to stretch it.
- Trim the outside edges so you have about an inch hanging over. Tuck the excess dough under itself and crimp the edges.
- Freeze the shell again for one hour. This is supposed to help prevent shrinkage in the oven. I think it helped, but who knows.
- After an hour, preheat the oven to 400 F.
- Place a sheet of aluminum foil inside the shell. Fill it with dried beans and bake the shell for 20-25 minutes.
- Take the pie shell out of the oven, remove the beans and cook for 10 minutes more, or until the bottom begins to brown.
- Let it cool before adding the filling.


The Coconut Pastry Cream

This will need a couple of hours to cool down.

2 C milk
2 C unsweetened coconut
1 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise
2 large eggs
1/2 C plus 2 TBS sugar
3 TBS all-purpose flour
1/4 (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softned

- Combine the milk and coconut in a medium saucepan.
- Split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape the seeds from it. Add the seeds and the whole pod to the pot.
- Bring to an ALMOST boil on med-high. STIR FREQUENTLY. Otherwise, your milk is going to burn. Another way to do this is in a double boiler.
- Meanwhile, in another bowl, mix together the eggs, sugar and flour. When the milk is hot enough, add about 1/3 C to the egg mixture to warm them up. You don't want the eggs to curdle when you add them to the milk and coconut mixture.
- Add the warmed egg to the milk and whisk until the pastry cream starts to thicken. It should be hot enough so that when you stop stirring, it will kinda blurp and bubble. But it's very important to stir, otherwise it'll burn. This'll take about 5-7 minutes.
- When it's very thick, take it off the heat, remove the vanilla bean and stir in the butter. Place the pastry cream into a bowl over another bowl of cold water to cool it down. I made it the night before, so I just left it on the counter and stirred it around a couple of times before putting it into the fridge.

NOTE: Before you refrigerate the pastry cream, place some Seran Wrap directly onto the surface. This will prevent a film from forming.

- When the pie shell and the pastry cream have cooled, scrape the pastry cream into the shell, smoothing it out to make an even layer.
- Garnish with whip cream, large-flaked toasted coconut and white chocolate curls. (Recipe for whip cream follows.)

Sweetned Whipped Cream

1 1/2 C whipping cream (35 %)
1 tsp vanilla
1 TBS sugar

- Whip the cream until it forms soft peaks, add the vanilla and the sugar and beat a few more times.

* I always whip cream by hand, and as long as you use a metal bowl and big light strokes, it should take about 5 minutes. However, if you try stirring it, or just swishing the whisk around, it will take forever. So, use a lifting motion and hop to it.

- Put the whipped cream on top of the pastry cream and sprinkle on the large flakes of toasted coconut (you can find this at the grocery store, or if not, at the health food store) and white chocolate curls*.

* These curls can easily be made from a block of white chocolate using a vegetable peeler. I couldn't find a block of chocolate easily, so I bought some curls...I know, next time I'll make them myself.

The pie will keep at least four days in the fridge. I had to send some home with Ros and Ben because I didn't want to eat more than half a pie all by myself. Even though I made it on Wednesday, it was still delicious Saturday night after a meal of chickpea curry, broccoli and sweet potatoes. But I'd say four days is the max amount of time you'd want to keep it.


- murph

Slides of Chicago

Secondary only to networking in Chicago, was eating. The following are a brief excerpt of my dining exploits, which involved the lovely troupe of women with whom I traveled. They did not fully understand my zeal for meal planning (or food photography) but they played along.

1. Sally and I share a bacon burger at Epic Burger. Cops eat lunch here, I don't think there is a higher recommendation than that.
2. Baklava at the Artist's Cafe. A wonderful spot for people watching.
3. Bacon waffle with two eggs over easy at Yolk. We tried to go back on a Saturday and the wait was an hour (we passed, but weeped a little inside).
4. A Portillos polish. I walked for twenty minutes, after having a very strong drink, with a friend for this hot dog. We needed the hot dog (and the walk).
5. Scallop paella at Cafe Iberico. Sally ordered in Spanish and we drank Sangria while oggling the handsome waiter.

What's In The Fridge?

When I go to people's houses, I love taking a little sneak peak into the fridge. It's quite telling about their quirky habits, guilty pleasures and plain old taste. Do they eat packaged or processed? Organic or not? Fresh vegetables? Do they looovvee peanut butter? Sausage? Bacon? Cheese? Are they condiment hoarders? Is it empty? Too full? Do they even know what's in there? Don't worry, I won't make all my judgments based on the contents of your fridge, just half. And we'll look at mine for starters, so you can judge me first if you wish.

This week I caught a cold, a really nasty five-day-cold that is still in residence. I tried to rest, and I was, for me, but I had to go to the store because I had to eat, and I had to do laundry and sweep this dusty place. Needless to say, I wasn't flat on my back with my feet up like I am today. That's right, I took the day off work and slept for two extra hours. I still feel like hell, but I'm glad I don't have to go anywhere. I didn't have tons of energy to take pictures of my food while eating it, so now I'm going to tell you about what's left in the fridge. Even though most things are wrapped up in plastic, there are some good things hiding in there, because I did cook, and I did eat, well.

On the top-most shelf there are eight eggs next to two merguez lamb sausages waiting to be cooked. A row below at left is a block of peccorino romano cheese (more salty than parmesan) next to the almost finished jar of Katherine's golden apricot jam, a carton of soy milk, a small nip of real parmesan and a lamb garlic sausage that I haven't opened yet. Hiding behind all of that are some sad, forgotten black olives. Moving down a row is a bucket of rather strong tasting green olives which I love to eat chopped on a slice of bread with cream cheese. Next is a quinoa salad of canned salmon and roasted almonds with a sesame and rice vinegar dressing, followed by a massive container of lentil soup and more quinoa. Hiding behind must be my half round of blue cheese and block of emmanthal. The bottom row has a container of deliciously spiced, roasted sweet potatoes and parsnips, next to half an uncooked sweet potato and another parsnip, a bag of broccoli and a bag of green beans and a bag of carrots. On the door there are among other things, mayonnaise, mustard, ground flax seeds, some special ground chilli pepper that has to be refrigerated, ground cherry jam, cream cheese, fish sauce, chilli sauce, butter, and some almond butter.

Judy's Spicy Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Parsnips


I love parsnips and I love sweet potatoes. Roasted they're even better. I threw this together while watching All About My Mother, by Pedro Almodovar (well I paused the movie while I put them in the oven). They'd be perfect alongside a huge pile of steaming kale and grilled pork tenderloin, or my quinoa salad.....

The roasted tomato heat of the aleppo pepper (yes the special one that needs refrigerating!) and powdered ginger really spice these root veggies up, while the humble sweet potato softens the palate with her caramelized sugary flesh. Add an apple and you're laughing.

2 large sweet potatoes
3 parsnips
1 big fat cooking apple
1 TBS aleppo pepper (or more to taste)*
1 tsp ground ginger (or fresh chopped would be terrific)
a couple pinches of dried rosemary, or more if you have fresh around
enough olive oil to coat all the vegetables
rock salt and fresh ground pepper

-Preheat the oven to 400 F.
- Cut up the sweet potatoes and parsnips into same sized pieces and place into a large roasting pan.
- Cut up the apple, add to pan**
- Coat with a couple glugs of olive oil.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Add aleppo pepper, ginger and rosemary.
- Give the whole thing a good stir to evenly distribute the spices and slid 'er into the oven for about 45 minutes, or until the veggies are soft.

- I didn't try it, but I can't help thinking an added TBS of maple syrup would be KILLER.

- Don't have any pork tenderloin, kale or quinoa salad? Make up a peanut sauce, soak some rice noodles, fry up some tofu, steam some broccoli and wow, there's a good little meal.

* If you don't have the aleppo pepper you could use regular chilli powder or chilli flakes. The aleppo has a low humming heat, and a deep roasted tomato flavour that makes it less sharp than the average chilli powder you can buy. It's really super berther, so give it a shot if you can.

**About the apple: it will cook much faster than the vegetables. I added it at the beginning and it coated the veggies with a nice, sweet sauce, but you could add it about 15 minutes before the rest are done to have firmer pieces.


I think I'm going to go and have some more for my lunch.

- Murph

And I Came Bearing Cinnamon Rolls

They're really the epitome of delicious. I simply cannot resist them, or an opportunity to make them, especially for other people. I went to Ros and Ben's apartment for brunch this morning, gloriously warm for November, and brought some cinnamon rolls. Another Molly Wizenberg success, they have just enough butter and sugar to make them pillowy soft, but not enough to make the old stomach groan. You can, in fact, eat multiple ones, drink enough coffee, have a delicious "western-style" omlette (expertly made by Ben) and come out dancing. The real cincher is the cream cheese icing (no skimpy affair) which leaves you reaching our your knife for more and more and more. So while the sun poured through the open back door of their colourful apartment and stretched its lazy self onto the floor, we sat ourselves down and had one of the laziest, work-free Sundays in what feels like forever.

Cinnamon Rolls
as adapted from Molly Wizenberg

Makes enough to fill a 9 X 12 pan.

I always use instant yeast. It's less fussy and saves a bit of time. However, it's still important that your ingredients are WARM, but definitely not hot. Too much heat will kill the yeast.

* Kelsey asked me in the comments box if I made these the night before or the morning of. I made them the night before, but waited to bake them in the morning. You can let the dough rise, form the rolls and put them into a pan before you go to bed. Refrigerate the pan over night and in the morning, take them out an hour or so before cooking, or put them into a warm oven (but not too warm! Just so it's nice and cozy) and then preheat the oven and bake. I let mine rise a bit before baking, but they were still cold when they went into the oven and they puffed up great. Despite how cold it is in the fridge, they will continue to rise.

Dough

1 C milk
3 Tbs unsalted butter
3 1/2 C flour (and some more)
1/2 C sugar
1 large egg
2 1/4 tsp instant yeast
1 tsp salt

- Melt the butter in a skillet while warming up the milk. Do this slowly so that the milk doesn't get too hot, but so that the butter melts.
- In a bowl combine 1 C flour, the sugar, the yeast, the egg, the salt and the milk and butter mixture. Mix rapidly to combine.
- Add the rest of the flour and more if the dough is too sticky.
- Knead on the counter until smooth and elastic - about 5 minutes.
- Let rise in a warm place for 2 hours

Filling

3/4 C brown sugar
2 Tbs ground cinnamon
1/4 C melted unsalted butter

- Mix together sugar and cinnamon in a bowl.
- Melt butter.
- When your dough has doubled in size, roll it out until you have a big rectangle. You can make smaller buns if you roll it out thinner, or larger ones if you leave it thicker. Mine were on the smaller size, but were perfect because then you can eat more!
- Spread the melted butter onto the rolled out dough.
- Sprinkle on the cinnamon/sugar mixture.
- Carefully roll up the dough lengthwise and cut into desired sizes (about 1 3/4 - 2 inches thick)
- Place into 9 X 12 pan, or divide into two 9 X 9 square pans.
- Let rise 45 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Bake for 30-40 minutes or until brown on top. You might need to rotate the pan half way through.

Glaze

4 ounces cream cheese (1/2 a block of philadelphia)
1 C powdered sugar
1/4 C butter
1/2 tsp vanilla

- Make sure your butter and cream cheese are soft, or room temperature, and mix all ingredients together.

- When the rolls are ready, find someone to make some tasty eggs the way you like 'em, or make them yourself, fix your breakfast beverage of choice, turn on some funky tunes, and sink your teeth in. These are real heart warmers.

-murph

Spaghetti Sauce

My mother was an hour late for their first spaghetti dinner. She drove down the highway in the wrong direction long enough to start questioning her whereabouts, eventually turned around, and successfully arrived at Dad's door. Although I imagine her tardiness hindered his confidence some what, he didn't miss a beat, serving wine in earthenware goblets, heaping his homemade sauce onto noodles, and playing the fourth movement (the adagietto) of Mahler's 5th symphony. A man who cooks is a man who impresses, and Sal was smitten. As was he, I'm sure, by her energy that fills a room, huge smile and paranormal drive.

As children we have no access to our parent's deep history; it is incomprehensible territory. But if I've learned anything from these two, it's that perseverance in matters of the heart and eating together are incredibly important. I can't help but feel the influence of these values, and will surely put them to good use when embarking on my own romantic endeavors, or try to. However, different I am, and magical fate has a tendency to play a role in such situations, making sure we're okay and headed down the right path, despite what everyone says. So patiently wait I will for the moment when another fellow world conqueror comes along, and we manage to look not only at each other, but in the same direction.


Spaghetti sauce was the backbone of week-night meals growing up. A meal to eat after a road-trip, an epic day on the ski slopes, a hysterical fight, a day in the life... Even if you have to buy mediocre ingredients, spaghetti sauce will always be good; it must be the love you make it with. I've watched both my parents make this sauce a gazillion times, and Sal always says: Brown the onions and the meat first! That's what gives it flavour.

Last night I sequentially listened to every Radiohead album I own and made spaghetti courtesy of Jamie Oliver, who bakes his sauce instead of simmering it. Kelsey's family enlightened mine to his existence one Christmas, and the following summer my parents gave me one of his books for my birthday. Countless terrific meals have followed, and yesterday's was no exception. Plus, in the company of my dear friend Rosalind and a delicious bottle of red wine, which resulted in a lot of fast talking and general hysterics, what more could you need?

chocolate mousse to end it all.....



Spaghetti Sauce

as adapted from Jamie Oliver

For 4 eaters

10 slices of bacon, diced
1 handful of fresh rosemary - or a tsp + a bit, dried
olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, pressed or finely chopped
1 lb ground beef (or you could grind your own chuck steak!) I used ground bison.
1 glass good red wine (that you're going to drink with dinner)
1 tsp oregano
1 14 oz can of tomatoes
1 5.5 oz can tomatoe paste (or he suggests a small jar of sundried tomatoes, yum!)
sea salt and fresh ground pepper
1 1b spaghetti (or enough for whoever's eating)
2 handfuls of grated parmesan or peccorino for a saltier taste

Preheat oven to 325*

- In an oven-proof casserole (or in a frying pan and make the transfer afterwards) fry up the bacon, rosemary, onion and garlic in olive oil until slightly crispy and brown.
- Add the ground meat and cook until brown.
- Add the wine, reduce a bit.
- Add the tomatoes and the tomato paste.
- Season to taste.
- Put the lid on, or cover with wax paper or aluminum foil, and slide the dish into the oven for an hour and a half.

- 20 minutes before you take the sauce out of the oven, start boiling water for the pasta. When it's boiling, add lots of salt, and a bit of olive oil. Cook pasta how you like it, drain, and dish up! I went the granola route and made whole wheat pasta, it was delicious.

- Ros opted for something lean and something green, so I cooked broccoli, but a salad would be an equally nice touch.

* Jamie suggests you cook it at 350, but I found that was too hot and because when I took it out of the oven my sauce was bubbling to bursting.

AND THEN!


"Cheeky Chocolate Mousse"

As adapted from Jamie Oliver

For two people and a bit

This is not your "traditional" chocolate mousse recipe where the eggs are cooked with the chocolate to achieve a custard, and the egg-whites folded in at the end, but it's SO EASY. I made this recipe in 15 minutes, and Ros really loved it, well, so did I, who am I kidding.

Jamie suggests serving this mousse with his Sesame Seed Toffee Snaps, which I didn't make, but I kinda wish I had. A glass of port had to do...

I also halved the recipe, so you can double this to make enough for four.

4 oz GOOD chocolate (Just do yourself a favour and don't skimp. I used a 71 % bar of Coca Camino dark chocolate, which is not the highest of the highest quality, but it's organic, fair-trade etc., and pretty darn good)
2 1/2 TBS butter
1 C heavy cream
1 large egg
1 TBS port (Jamie suggests Amaretto, and you could use whatever else tickles your fancy)
1 TBS honey

- Melt butter and chocolate over low heat. I used a non-stick frying pan, but a stainless steel bowl over boiling water would be ideal. If you stir it frequently, there'll be no problem with skipping the double boiler method, just make sure you do this over a medium-low heat. Take the pan off the heat when the chocolate and butter have melted together.
- Whisk up the egg, honey and port vigorously until it's foamy.
- Whip up the cream until soft peaks form, not too stiff.
- Slowly whisk the egg into the chocolate. Slowly being the key word because the chocolate might still be very warm and you don't want the egg to curdle. It won't though if you let your chocolate cool, even for five minutes.
- Fold chocolate mixture into the whip cream using light stirring strokes to keep in as much air as possible.
- Pour into small jars, or various cups, little bowls, or into one big bowl and refridgerate for two hours before serving. If you use one big bowl you'll need almost 4 hours hours, or overnight to achieve the right texture.


- murph

Dates (the fruit, not the act people) are SO in right now.

As you know, this time last week I made an abundance of baked products for a bake sale. There are two in particular that I would like to comment on.

1. Date Filled Windows.
These little ditty's came out of a Farm Journal's Cookie recipe book that Matt gave me for my Birthday last year. Published in 1971 it features truly riotous copy such as "Keep your cookie jar filled with these for a good hostess reputation" or "a favorite of men." BUT patriarchy aside, their are some damn good cookies in this volume.

Due to an abundance of dates left over from a presentation on Islam, I decided to make "Date Windows." Like any "window" cookie you make a dough, roll it out, create two circular cookies and then cut a shape out of one. You place filling on the uncut circle, place the cut circle on top and press the two together. Thanks to my mama, I had some darling fall themed cookie cutters with which to create these windows. So my date window cookies featured apple, pumpkin and leaf shaped windows.

Here is what shocked me. THESE SUCKERS SOLD LIKE HOT CAKES. I sold out of Date Windows in 20 minutes, and then had perfect (if I do say so myself) chocolate chip cookies and Snickerdoodles a al SmittenKitchen sit for another 3 hours. And I don't think it was just their charm. People were all about the dates, and the nostalgia of this kind of cookie.

Date Windows
adapted from Farm Journal's Homemade Cookies (1971, p. 159)
*The adaptation here is that I use self-rising flour. I find that self-rising flour for standard cookie recipes works great, cuts down on a little measuring and provides a softer cookie. If you're a purist, the original calls for 2 1/2 cups flour, 1/4 tsp. baking soda, and 1/2 tsp. salt.

For the Filling:
2 cups finely cut or ground dates
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup water
1 tsp. lemon or orange zest

For the Cookie:
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 cups self-rising flour

Mix shortening, sugar and sugar until combined. Add eggs and whisk until light and pale yellow colored. Stir in vanilla and incorporate thoroughly. Blend flour into mixture. Dump dough out onto a square of cling wrap, wrap up dough and chill for at least an hour, but can be chilled overnight.

In the mean time prepare filling. Combine dates, water and sugar in a saucepan. Cook slowly over medium heat until mixture thickens. When thick, stir in zest and let cool. This can easily be stored in the refrigerator over night or for several days.

When dough is chilled, flour a surface and rolling pin. Roll dough out very thin, about 1/16th of an inch. Using a cookie cutter or a glass, cut out circles from dough. Place half the circles on a greased cookie sheet. Spoon a generous tsp. full of date mixture into the center of these circles. Cut out a shape with a cookie cutter or smaller glass from the remaining circles. Gently place these on the date covered circles, and seal the edges by pressing down firmly with your finger tips.

Bake in a 400 degree oven until cookies are just barely browned. Allow to cool on cookie sheet. Share with folks who are classy and appreciate dates (the fruit! the fruit.).

2. Cardamom
I also made a number of cardamom rolls for the bake sale. Now, these did not sell quite as well - but that is because people are afraid of what is different (an excuse? maybe.) Needless to say I ended up with an abundance of left over rolls - and Matt and I have been slowly making our way through them. My favorite new method of cardamom roll consumption? Heating the roll in the microwave for about 20sec, and then gingerly tearing it open to stuff a piece of hard salami inside. Delicious. Perfect breakfast. I think the Finns would be proud.

Cardamom Rolls
Adapted from Beatrice A. Ojakangas The Finnish Cookbook (1989, p. 34).
Makes at least 2 1/2 dozen

For the dough:
1 package active dry yeast (or 1/2 tbsp).
2 cups milk, lukewarm
1 cup white sugar
7-8 Cardamom pods, crushed (you can use already ground - but the flavor is not quite the same)
4 eggs, beaten
8-9 cups white flour
1/2 cup butter

Mix the milk, sugar, salt, cardamom, eggs and 1 cup flour to make a thin batter. In a separate bowl stir the yeast into 2 cups of flour. Add the milk batter to the yeast and flour and incorporate thoroughly. Add two more cups of flour and continuing working in until the dough is smooth and glassy. Add the melted butter and incorporate entirely.

Then, continue adding flour until the dough becomes to difficult to stir. At this point dump dough out onto a floured surface and kneed until smooth and only barely sticky. You can continue adding flour if necessary. When dough holds it's shape well (without "oozing" or spreading) place in a greased (can be greased with canola oil, butter, etc.) bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. When dough has doubled, punch down and let rise again.

After second rise, form your rolls. Pull small knobs of dough and shape into round balls by rolling between your palms. Placed on a greased baking sheet and cover with clean towel. Let rise until doubled (about 20 minutes). If desired, brush with egg. Bake in 400 degree oven for 25 - 30 minutes. When rolls come out they should easily bounce back when pressed on. This dough is EASY to over bake which causes it to dry out, so be careful.

Let rolls cool completely and then keep in a bread box or airtight bag.

Butternut Squash Soup with Caramelized Onions, Rosemary, Goat Cheese and Bacon

From the time I was very small my need for punctuality has caused great anxiety, and still does today, although I feel things have greatly improved. Who can say for sure where it comes from? Most people I am close with are not timely individuals, my family included. Perhaps it's thanks to my grandfather on my mom's side who was a general in the US Air force? His capacity to be precise and punctual is something worth seeing. Whenever we go out for dinner he puts his suit on and parades around the front of the house, frequently announcing in a terrifically booming voice Are you ready yet? It's time to go! Which is met with much frantic grumbling and scurrying about as everyone else tries to catch up. Truth is though, he's just early.

For the past five years, it's as if I've been living in a windstorm of Jude and her madness over time. Madness about getting things done, about being the best, about loving, about not loving, about trying to conquer the world in a day and achieving everything I could and more. It's made me really ill, to be honest, this racing, this frenzy. No, I haven't been in and out of the hospital etc., it's been more of the old western maladie: anxiety over mere existence and losing what we wanted to keep forever. Oh dear. But when you hurry hurry hurry so that you won't miss out, or when you squeeze squeeze squeeze so that you won't lose what you have, it will surely end, as I have unfortunately (and very fortunately!) found out, in tears and madness.

It's because I fear the end of things. It's because I love this place so much, this life, this world, and I don't ever want it to go away. Oh but it will go away! I know. And the only way to be happy while it's slowly going is to know that it is, and that things will change, for better and for worse.
I've spent a lot of time fretting about not having enough time. At the old wise age of 23, I appear to have found a sort of thread of rationality somewhere in the depths of my dramatic exuberant mind, and I know time is tick tick ticking away, but it doesn't seem to bother me as much. When it does, I don't slip so hard and crash to the ground, I just kinda stumble, and then take off running again. I still get up every day and kinda do a little fist pump, a little skip and a hop, ready to tackle mountains of sometimes unachievable tasks; I still plan my days, make lists, worry, grumble, cry etc., but this is drive and this is living and there is a lightness, a warmth, and an ease of acceptance that wasn't there before. It just doesn't feel so heavy, and I'm glad, because with so little time, why and how could we spend so much time worrying about it all?

But how in the heck does this relate to soup?! Well, I was thinking about this while I made the soup and while I wandered around today, going to the library, translating some for work, riding my bicycle. And how I cook with much more patience these days, how I don't look at the clock, how I don't panic about overcooking things (ahem, most of the time). It's like I've let Time have his way with me a little, like I've let him lead.

I've been creating this soup in my head for four days and excitedly planning when and how I was going to make it. Finally tonight I did, listening to Dvorak's New World Symphony super loud, and man, she was a tasty little one.

Butternut Squash Soup with Caramelized Onions, Rosemary, Goat Cheese and Bacon

Makes lots!

3 C chicken stock
1 big butternut squash (about four cups of squash I'd say)
1 massive white onion
1 1/2 C apple juice (or cider)
some rosemary (about 2 TBS)
8 strips of bacon
a small round of goat cheese
salt and pepper

- Preheat oven to 375 degrees C
- Cut the squash in half and place it face down on a baking sheet. Bake until soft (about an hour).
- Cut the onion in half and then into very thin slices. Put the sliced onion into a skillet with butter and olive oil. Fry over medium heat until soft and golden (about 1 hour). Set aside.
- Chop up the bacon into small bits. Fry them in the onion pan. Set aside.
- Chop up the rosemary. Set aside.
- Reduce the 1 1/2 C apple juice to half in the same skillet, so you collect all the good left over charred bits from the bacon and the onion.
- When the squash is done, remove the skin and add the flesh to the stock, already in a pot.
- Add 3/4 of the onions.
- Add the reduced apple juice.
- Blend with a hand blender, or a food processor.
- Taste.
- Add rosemary and some salt and pepper.
- Dish up the soup into bowls, add a dollop of reserved caramelized onion, cover with goat cheese and a handful of bacon. Let the cheese melt for a couple minutes, and then eat.

On the side, I recommend the following Spiced Cranberry Chutney on buttered biscuits or a loaf of homemade bread!

Spiced Cranberry Chutney
As adapted from Lucy Waverman

We made this for Thanksgiving and it was really TO DIE FOR on those sweet potato biscuits. Holy! Plus it cooks itself, which is terrific, and it's not too spendy.

1 green apple, peeled, cored and diced (about 1 cup)
½ cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon maple syrup
½ cup cider vinegar
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon chili flakes
3 cups fresh or frozen cranberries (375-ml package)

Place all ingredients in a medium pot over medium-low heat. Bring to a boil and let simmer gently for 10-12 minutes or until apples are soft and some of the cranberries have popped.

PS I bought some sausages to go along with everything, but I wasn't so hungry, so I kept them for another day. However, if you have more mouths to feed, or some protein hungry monsters on your hands, some sausages would be a welcomed addition, I'm sure. Maybe accompanied by a spinach salad with a honey mustard vinaigrette, dried cranberries and walnuts on the side? Delicious. Also, I have this feeling that putting the chutney into the soup would be quite sublime.

Enjoy dear friends and readers, enjoy.

When in doubt, add jam.

Oh my. The muffins did not turn out. I woke up optimistic, however a little fuzzy from lack of sleep and one or two many gin and tonics, but ready to give it my best shot. I knew the batter was too soupy! And I knew that because I didn't have the right amount of baking powder, something bad would happen. But because I've made some progress in the anxiety/worry department over the outcome of my cooking projects and life in general, I didn't really think much of it. I even wrote in a good morning email to Alix saying, oh yeah the muffins, the batter was way too soupy, but I'm sure it'll be fine. No, they're not fine, they're pretty awful. Because when you add more baking soda to compensate for the lack of baking powder, your muffins taste salty and like soda bread. If I wanted soda bread, I would've made some. And I am not an advocate of waste, but the pan on the left may not survive when I try and take the muffins out of the pan. So I've salvaged what I can, dumped a tablespoon of Katherine's apricot jam on top, made an incredibly strong cup of tea, and turned on the Beatles album Let It Be so the day has still managed to start with a bang.

An Old Favourite: Chicken Marbella

Today it snowed. Not a lot mind you, but enough to remind us that he is indeed still coming. However, I plan to welcome Sir Winter with wide open arms. Thanks to my incredibly stimulating retail job at the outdoors store, I have outfitted myself for 75 % off and will have little to complain about when those glacial winds come tearing across the city. Plus, I'm going to perfect my skating technique, buy a stick and become an expert hockey player. Nothing better than roaring across the ice on skates!

This fall I have become obsessed with the art of cooking chicken. It's a terrific sort of meat, one that can be used for a multitude of delicious recipes, from roasted and salt-rubbed with herbs, to one elegantly stuffed with chestnuts, mushrooms, thyme and cream, and to a rich broth made from the bones: the essential base for a killer winter soup. The rents cooked too many roast chickens with potatoes while we were growing up, and my sister Katherine developed a violent aversion to the bird. But now she appears to be coming round. Why would they torture us like that? It's damn easy, super satisfying, and a sure way to always have a good source of protein around for a couple of days, not to mention the reliable cup of soup stock in the freezer, ready to pour into thick gravies or to braise winter greens with.

Chicken Marbella was our go-to recipe from the Silver Palate Cookbook and probably a saving grace for my parents as they balanced symphony concerts with the chaos of two little girls at home. Originally a deli and food store that opened up on Manhattan's Upper West Side, the Silver Palate wanted to facilitate good eats and people who didn't have time to cook themselves. It has since become a cook book and one that I have spent many a breakfast reading. However, beware, the revised editions aren't quite the same. Our "need" for "healthier" dishes resulted in the reduction of cream and butter in many of the recipes. But, older editions are still available and the carrot and banana cakes are to-die-for. There are also great meal ideas, a terrific brunch section and quotes from Alice in Wonderland.

I've been wanting to cook this dish for a long time and finally searched the recipe on the Internet (a clearly well-loved recipe by everyone), bought myself a whole chicken, bought the olives, prunes, and capers, (the rest of the ingredients were in the cupboard) and set to work. I did not plan to have company and although this never deters me from making things, it's kind of hilarious to find myself alone at the table grinning, chewing, tasting, lip-smacking, swinging my legs and laughing about how DELICIOUS my meal is. So, I jumped at the chance to invite two friends I have hardly seen over the last five years. Both people I know from my first year at McGill, they appeared back in Montreal around the same time, and I must say, it's terrific to have become reacquainted with such fine folks.

Chicken Marbella
As adapted from our loyal cooks at the Silver Palate

Most recipes for chicken require a slightly longer cooking time than is required. This can be avoided by checking the chicken after 40-45 minutes of cooking. The chicken is done when an instant read thermometer is inserted into the thigh and reads 165 deg F. Or, what I usually do is pierce the thigh and then push on the meat to release the juices: if they run clear, you're ready to go. And then due to some (small) level of paranoia, I usually cut into the breast to make sure she's not drying out or too pink. I find people shy away from cooking meat because they don't know how to. But there are simple guidelines to follow and once known, they relieve a lot of the pressure. I suggest you put on some John Lennon, in particular the album Walls and Bridges (which I've been head-bopping around to for the past 24 hours) and do a little of this and a little of that, keep your head about you, and love that chicken to a delectably, eatable state.

1 1.5 kg chicken
one huge clove of garlic, or a couple smaller ones
1 TBS dried oregano
coarse salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
1/8 C red wine vinegar
1/8 C olive oil
a generous handful of prunes
a generous handful of pitted green olives
1/8 C capers with a bit of juice
2 bay leaves
1/4 C brown sugar
1/4 C white wine (or red)
1 TBS fresh parsely

- Cut up the chicken
- Place in a large 9 X 12 baking dish
- In a separate bowl, mix together the garlic, oregano, salt, pepper, red wine vinegar, olive oil, prunes, olives capers and bay leaves. Mix well and pour over the chicken. Cover and refridgerate.
- An hour before you want to eat, preheat the oven to 350 F and sprinkle the chicken with the sugar, add the wine and fresh parsely. Uncover the chicken and slide the pan into the oven.
- Baste frequently throughout the cooking (every fifteen minutes or so). I did this by turning the chicken with tongs. I am NOT YET the proud owner of pastry brushes. Some day, some day.

* If you take the chicken out a couple hours before you cook it, it will warm up to room temperature and cook faster.
* I cooked my chicken for about 45-50 minutes in total.

And then someone said, these are the best prunes I've ever tasted.... They really were very good.

-murph

Opperation Bake Sale

My Graduate Student Club (for lack of a better term) decided to a bake sale to raise money for our travel costs. At the bottom of the totem pole you MUST GO TO CONFERENCES OR YOU'LL NEVER GET A JOB (it sounds just like that), but there is no departmental money to pay for it and you make next to nothing, thus, bake sale.

Many of my less food inclined colleagues decided to give me money so that I could bake on thier behalf - something I of course was delighted to do. So for the next two days my Kitchen is going to turn into a bakery extraordinare, but right now I am roasting pork. Then bake.

Here is the game plan:
2 batches chocolate chip cookies
2 batches snicker doodles
Puffed Rice Treats (no oven!)
"Window" Cookies
Date Bars
Jars filled with homemade hot cocoa mix
Cardamom Rolls
Foccacia Bread

GET EXCITED.

Thanks for the Cookies

Someone brought cookies to my house last night! Thank you Kelsey, your recipe rules!

They would have, of course, been totally gourmet if I had used 72 % Valrona chips, or whatever it is that everyone is always announcing we HAVE to put into our cookies, but you know, it was nice to use Hershy's milk chocolate Chipits - they were perfect.

All of you, I recommend you stop what you're doing, buy some chocolate chips - of whatever "grade" you feel is necessary - make these very classic, very delicious and very soul-soothing cookies. They certainly pulled me out of my worry and stress over assignments. I putzed around the kitchen, turned on Sarah Vaughan, used way too many bowls, dumped flour everywhere and had a pretty nice time.

- murph

Thanksgiving!!!! (Canadian, that is...)

The afternoon did not start out well. I blame exhaustion and an upset stomach. After blubbering for a while, I phoned my very patient and loving sister, said hi to my dad, and gladly welcomed Alix when she arrived at 4:00, ready to start cooking. Alix, however, was late. Turns out her world also fell to pieces, and tears were shed. Ah the joys of being emotionally volatile. But it only took a cup of tea and a piece of gingerbread to set us enthusiastically back on track: we had, you see, a pretty killer menu ahead of us, inspired by some of our favourite foodies.

Although we weren't cooking for an army, just four in fact (Alix's dear Oscar and his friend Glauco), we split the task up. It was really fun to plan the meal together, prepare a bit on our own, and then come together for the big bang on the day of. Despite mutual tears for different reasons, we produced a nourishing and delicious meal, created with very few misshapes, and one heck of a lot of love.


A close friend and former teacher gave Alix an ORIGINAL copy of Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. For the past two weeks she's been pouring over it at breakfast, lunch and dinner, learning about how to read foaming butter and luckily for us, how to roast a chicken. And roast a chicken is what we did. More precisely: Julia's Roasted Chicken Tarragon with Mushroom Port Stuffing. Accompanied by of course, the delicious sauce made at the end from all the juices, reduced down with more tarragon and more port. Roasted in my newly acquired, but second-hand dutch oven, the chicken was fall-off-the-bone succulent, perfectly seasoned and perfectly cooked. The mushroom stuffing was something to be giddy and grin into the plate about, and the sauce! Need I say another word?

[The long orange thing holding the chicken together is Alix's silicone contraption for trussing the chicken. Brilliant eh? Needle included.]

I scoured the Internet (well, mostly Molly's website, I must admit) for Thanksgiving specialties I would like to make. I've never made an entire feast by myself; the years spent away from home I was either invited to a meal, or in a country where they didn't know what Thanksgiving was. My family has traditions, but we often vary what we do, so I took the liberty to find some new delicacies to prepare. Recently introduced by Alix to Lucy Waverman, a Canadian food writer, I made her Spiced Cranberry Chutney, Molly's Sweet-Potato Biscuits, and her Hashed Brussels Sprouts with Poppy Seeds and Lemon. When I was mixing up the biscuits, which you add mashed sweet-potato to, I was worried: the dough was too moist, there was too much butter, oh no, oh no, oh no. But after they reached the 15 minute mark in the oven, I saw they were going to perform just fine. Being more moist than normal biscuits, they need to cook longer. And Holy Molly. They were rich, buttery, with that warm flavour of sweet-potato. Everyone had seconds.The cranberry chutney was spiced up with chili pepper, ginger, cardamom and smoothed out with an apple. It was cheap and easy to make, and stupendous on top of the biscuits. Although the Brussels sprouts weren't my favourite way I've eaten them, they were pretty darn good and a fresh green medium for the rest of the meal.

We knew we wanted pumpkin pie. Alix found a Lucy Waverman recipe on the Internet for Pecan Pumpkin Pie; yes that's right, a marriage of our two favourite holiday pies. Oh my! It was heavenly: chopped pecans in the sweeter-than-normal filling, and creamy pumpkin, topped with candied pecans, dolloped with more whip cream than appropriate. And she did a damn fine job with the pastry as well.
And then we all sat back, bellies full, refilled our wine glasses, had a bit more pie, a bit more whipped cream and sighed. What a wonderful way to start in a new home.


PS Here's a shout out to my mother for equipping me with beautiful table cloths, place mats, napkins, and dishes. You have taught me well, and it turns out that I do care about those sorts of things! And, everyone commented on how beautiful the table looked, rustic, but still, beautiful.

Suggestions?

Dear eaters,

I am throwing a party on Friday, in which I will provide my guests with an antipasto plate (consisting mostly of pickles, you're shocked I know), and then copious amounts of pasta which can be dressed in homemade pesto, Alfredo, and/or Bolognese. (Do we need a traditional tomato? I don't think so...thoughts?)

I would like to serve dessert, but have not hit on a good idea yet. I don't want to over extend myself here...so I am looking for something perhaps along the trifle line, but I feel like tiramisue might be a bit much.

In addition I would like to incorporate a pear-ginger syrup I made earlier this summer. My thoughts are perhaps to make an almond cake and that douse it in the syrup and serve it with cream. But I would like input.

Faithfully yours,
Makifish.

Crumbs 4 (and Cookies).

• The difference a good baking sheet makes is astounding. A cookie recipe that I have pretty much perfected (if I do say so myself) is about, oh, A MILLION TIMES better when cooked on an excellent baking sheet rather than my crappy one. Thank you professor who let's me babysit and hijack your children for cooking projects/home for glorious baking sheet and other amenities.
• Goal: Career that pays enough for me to afford LeCruset cookware, but not so much that everyone around me knows what LeCruset cookware is.
• There is a famous Texas chef who shall remain nameless, that I officially dislike. This chef's food is wonderful - but their recipes - lies! Whenever I cook one of their recipes, it NEVER comes out as it is described. Thus, poo, poo, I'm finished with you. I will probably still eat at your restaurant thought, because I am weak.
• I made a moderately misshapen epi loaf the other night (further attempts are warranted). Matt came home, looked at, and said, "Why can't you make normal sandwich bread." Resisting the urge to beat him with the lovely stick of French bread which I had slaved over, I promised to also make sandwich bread in the future. This is called compromise. The epi was delicious however. Just saying.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

3/4 cup butter
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup honey
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 and 1/4 cup chocolate chips

Sift flour, baking soda and salt - or use two cups self rising flour. Melt butter. Let cool until warm to the touch. Whisk sugars and honey into melted butter. When uniform, whisk in egg and extra egg yolk. Whisk until uniform, thick, and shiny. Fold in flour mixture, until just combined. Fold in chips. Place teaspoon sized lumps on a greased baking sheet. Bake in a 325 degree oven for 8 minutes, or until cookie is entirely puffy and no longer shiny (anywhere!). Remove from oven and let cool on the cookie sheet. Enjoy. Hide from boyfriends, children or other exuberant eaters, or they will be gone immediately.

Jude makes Jam

Montreal is blustery and cold. Her sweat inducing summer days are long gone; her thick leafy trees are turning burnt orange and shriveling up brown. People are riding their bikes wearing ear-mitts, scarves, gloves, and heaven forbid even toques! Yes, fall is upon us. Luckily, before summer skipped and slipped so quickly away, like she has a habit of doing, I bottled her tight in jars, safe now until a winter afternoon, when the snow's blowing all around, the kettle's whistling and fresh scones are coming out of the oven. Then I'll pop the lid off one of my jars and inhale the sweet citrus apple gold smell of ground cherry jam, or as we say here in Quebec, cerries-de-terre.


I'd never tried them until I moved to Montreal, nor had I heard of them. Apparently, they do grow out West, but not as prolifically as they do in Eastern Canada where they flourish in the hot summer sun and are often referred to as weeds (similar to the humble, but prolific, western blackberry). Someone at work brought me ground cherry jam that his mother made and I only had a little spoonful, but this juicy orange berry whose relation to the Chinese lantern family is recognizable by its delicate papery skin, produces une confiture sublime. That one spoonful was like eating warm late-summer sun and Meyer lemons and yellow plums all at once. When they started appearing at the market, in huge baskets, I admit, I was intimidated, but knew it was a necessary project.
A few weeks ago, after completing the major, more pressing tasks of my move, and with fall swirling across the city, I quickened my steps and hastened to the market to buy an enormous basket of ground cherries (we're talking more than 16 cups of berries people) determined to make some preserves that would last. I always think it's against my nature to preserve - it takes patience and much waiting for things to reduce, or boil, or sterilize, and I do love the intensity of sauteing, or frantic chopping, or quick minute sauces. But to my surprise, with a little help of Katherine's recommended super duper low-sugar, all-natural, universal do-everything pectin, I managed to produce delicious results.

Because of my schedule, I'm not home in the evenings very much, and in the day I race around the city (rather enthusiastically I might add) taking care of business. So it was in the hours after 10:oo pm that I made the jam. It took me several days to take the skins off all the berries, wash them, mash them, and make them into the aforementioned breakfast-ready delight.

I have no recipe to leave you because you can find it inside a box of Pamona's Universal Pectin, or here, and I really think it's worth using. I am not a fan of syrupy jam, call me particular (and you won't be wrong), but I like jam that can hold it's own. My sister makes the most delicious, unctuous jams I've ever tasted. They're sweet enough so that you put it on toast by the spoonful, but not so sweet you feel the crash and burn of a sugar high, and they don't sadly slip or drip off your fluffy buttermilk biscuit. It only takes a Saturday and a batch of muffins for my family to devour a whole jar! And she, uses Pamona's Pectin. I have finally found a natural foods store in Montreal that carries this brand, but before I did, she had to send me some. It was with those boxes that I made some damn terrific jam.

Great Gosh and Galore! Granola Bars!

My days are long. I often leave the house early and come home after 9 PM. Long live academia and the pursuit of excellence! And because I have a strong opposition to paying for food when I could make it for the half the price and better at home, I have to pack a selection of treats to get me through the day. I don't always bring two meals, lunch and dinner, but one for sure. However, I worry more about the in between moments. It's a bad situation to find yourself slumping and drooping among the stacks on the fifth floor at the library into the I'm so hungry I can't function and my eyes are crossing and I wish I had a granola bar or something! mode.

I've been bringing little jars filled with raisins, almonds and chocolate chips. That really does the trick, but then while perusing the Smitten Kitchen's website, I found these tasty little buggers, among other enthusiastically concocted recipes for all occasions.

Granola Bars

adapted from "the Smitten Kitchen"

In order to get a really firm, substantial bar, you need to pack the mixture into the pan so they stick together. Even then, mine were a little on the tender side. These need to cool for 3-4 hours before you cut them. That way they have enough chance to harden. I left mine over night and cut them in the morning. Deb recommends keeping them in the freezer, and I followed her advice, but I left some on the counter in a plastic container and they can hold their ground. So put a couple in your lunch, take your break outside, watch this spectacularly fascinating world go by and enjoy the last few warm days before the leaves begin to really fall.

This recipe makes 12 big bars. It is a SNACK after all.

2 C rolled oats
1 C chopped nuts
1 C shredded coconut (unsweetened)
1/2 C sesame seeds
2/3 C honey
2/3 C peanut butter
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 C chopped dried fruit (I used cranberries and apricots, small luxury items I know)

- preheat the oven to 350
- put oats, nuts, coconut and sesame seeds on a large baking sheet with sides and roast until golden and fragrant
- pour this mixture into a bowl, add honey, peanut butter, vanilla, salt and fruit. It's important to add the honey and peanut butter on top of the warm oats so that it melts a little and will mix together well.
- PRESS into a WELL GREASED 9X12 pan (or whatever you have around) and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown on top.

* These are the first bars I've ever made and they held together pretty well. One pan was crumblier than the other, so I ate the crumbly bits with yogurt for breakfast. But I'd claim them a success.

* I've also heard that using condensed milk is a great way to help them stick together. For another day I suppose!

- murph

I've Just Gotta Say

Jif natural peanut butter is wonderful. No, they are not paying me - but if they'd like to, I will gladly accept.

For whatever reason Matt and I decided we could splurge on brand name peanut butter this month (vs. the store brand). And damn. I'd forgotten just how good it could be.