What does summer taste like? I can not make up my mind because there are so many amazing flavors that culminate during the warmest months of the year. Whenever I’m asked about what foods I would take with me to a desert island to live off of for the rest of my life (you know the one, and usually there is a maximum of three, but I’ve pushed it to five) I respond with: heirloom tomatoes (in season), peaches/nectarines (also in season), fresh baked bread, cheese (a huge variety), and Thai food (all of it). I know it’s cheating a bit, but this is just how it would have to be! Especially the tomatoes and peaches being in season. One of the worst things that can happen is when you bite into a mealy peach or tomato. Yuck! It is sooo disappointing. Yet when you bite into a fresh and ready one, maybe even warmed by the sun, there is nothing on this earth like it.
Summer is a time when I try to take advantage of all this fresh produce. Not only do I store it away by freezing and canning, but also storing the memories of the warm sun, summer air, and fresh orchard aromas for those short, dark, rainy, winter days when it feels like summer never even happened!
One of my absolute favorite summer desserts–and it translates into autumn really well too–is the cobbler and/or crisp. Easy to make, and even easier to eat (a lot of), I love the simplicity of the flavors and how there are really only a few ingredients needed to make an incredible dish. When a dish or even an entire meal has only a few ingredients, I’d say five or six is enough, it tastes better. Not only because you know exactly what went into it, but the flavors still have a small life of their own, shining as their own subtle taste and creating a simple but beautiful chorus together in a meal. I love listening to Lynn Rosetto-Casper’s The Splendid Table, and something she talks about quite frequently is the simplicity in good foods. Her specialty is Italian food, which she revels in the fact that two, three, or four ingredients (very fresh and very good ingredients) are all one needs to make a fantastic dish. And I believe she is right! I try to follow this rule in my own kitchen when it comes to cooking; baking can be a bit different as there are more complicated pastries. However, I’ve been finding more and more simple dessert recipes (the Olive Oil Cake, for example, one bowl, 8 ingredients, not a ton for a cake:) and love them.
My latest go to for inspiration has been The Art of Simple Food, Alice Water’s new book. I’ve mentioned her before in my post about her Pots de Creme and I find myself continuously coming back to her simple and straightforward, but also technically complete style. What I mean by technically complete is that her experience with flavors and many years of cooking translates through her recipes, both in format and language. She even writes out her recipes in a way that you can read through it as you go along (although it is always a good idea to peruse a recipe in its entirety before you begin) and not miss a step. I opened the index and found a recipe for Peach Crisp.
And of course, her Peach Cobbler was amazing. With only six ingredients plus the fruit, I knew it would be a surefire win. And oh did it win…my heart that is. I used a mixture of white and yellow peaches, more yellows than whites (as I prefer them, they have more flavor I think). They are the first of the season and I can’t wait to get out and pick a few myself this year! Maybe next weekend 
.
Peach Crisp, Alice Waters
4 pounds ripe peaches
Dip the peaches in boiling water for 10-15 seconds, then slip off the skins. Cut the peaches in half, remove the pits, and cut into 1/3 inch thick slices. There should be about 7 cups fruit. Taste and toss with:
1 tablespoon sugar (only if needed, I didn’t need any this time around)
1 1/2 tablespoon flour
Pile the fruit into a 2-quart baking dish and top with:
3 cups Crisp Topping
Bake in a 375 degree F oven for 40-55 minutes (rotate once or twice while baking for even browning) or until the crisp topping are golden brown and the fruit is bubbling in the dish.
Crisp Topping
–Due to a nut allergy here in my household, I substituted the nuts with oats and it made for a great and hearty texture!–
Toast in a 375 degree F oven for 6 minutes:
2/3 cup nuts (pecans, walnuts, or almonds) — to substitute with oats, use the same amount and you don’t have to toast them–
Put the chopped nuts or oats into a bowl and add:
1 1/4 cup flour
6 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4-1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Mix well, then add:
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
Work the butter into the mixture with your fingers. Work until the mixture comes together and has a crumbly, but not sandy, texture. Chill until ready to use. Crisp topping can be made ahead and refrigerated for a week or so, or frozen for 2 months.
I hope everybody has a chance to go fruit picking sometime this summer! It is one of my favorite things to do, really. Enjoy!
I like cake, sometimes I sometimes even dream about it. I do not put more importance on cake than any other sweet, but it does have a special place in my heart. I used to be intimidated by the cake, it’s fickleness in how it would turn out used to stop me short of letting myself make one. It’s different from the cookie where the butter, eggs, and milk need to be a room temperature where as cookies are best when the dough is kept cold (or even refrigerated for a few days prior to baking). Not to get too scientific on you, (but this stuff fascinates me!) cold butter has a shape, even if it is ‘creamed’ into the batter. The tiny shapes of the butter allow for more air flow and tiny pockets for breathing, giving your cookies life and softness. If the butter is warm, the fats do not take a shape, rather they are more blob-like and don’t allow for the necessary air flow to get through the cookie. The cake, however, needs that blob-like consistency because there are other ingredients which help form and give the cake that lightness we all love (like milk, egg whites, and usually a little more baking powder than a cookie).
My good friend Leela (who is also a very talented cook, photographer, writer, teacher…well, she pretty much does everything! and has a great blog to boot:) is getting married in a week! She is getting a box of these cupcakes for some good ol’ fashioned comfort food before she flies off and becomes a Mrs! I am so happy for her and D. They are both such wonderful and talented individuals, their marriage will only strengthen their awesomeness and make this world an even better place .
Vanilla Bean Buttermilk Cupcakes
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
¼ cup butter, room temperature
1 large egg
1 vanilla bean, cut lengthwise and tiny vanilla beans extracted out with your thumb nail
1 cup buttermilk
Preheat oven to 350F. Place liners in a 12 cup muffin tin.
In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until it looks creamy. Beat in the egg and the vanilla and almond extracts until mixture is smooth. Add half of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir until almost combined. Add buttermilk and stir, again, until almost combined. Add the rest of the flour and stir until all ingredients are mixed in.
Divide batter evenly into muffin cups.
*optional: add one raspberry, strawberry, blueberry (whatever berry you fancy!) to the top of each cupcake before you put it in the oven. It will sink to the middle and will become a nice surprise when you take a bite from it when they are done!
Bake for 18-20 minutes at 350F, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. When they are done and slightly cooled, I dabbed a tiny bit of honey on each cupcake top to keep the single raspberry on top to stick. Then dust a little powdered sugar on top for a wonderfully, light, and fragrant summer cupcake!
Makes 12 cupcakes
Cheers!
The summer solstice has been in full effect bringing a wave of energy and lots of things happening with it. That’s why it was so wonderful to be able to hang out, cook, and eat with a big group of friends a few nights ago. Leif Hedendal was back in town so he, my friend Lauren (the big bread baker!) and myself hosted a small gathering of peeps and food. Held at Lauren’s house right in the heart of the Mississippi neighborhood, we wanted to eat outside in the lovely June evening air. So we pulled most of her tables from around the house together on her breezy side porch to seat everyone. It was pretty magical, course after course was brought out of Leif’s wonderful food and there was ample good conversation, company, and wine to be had as well.
Leif made a farrow, snap pea, herb, and hazelnut salad, red lentil soup, grilled up a bunch of fresh veggies like garlic-scapes, zucchini, and asparagus, a cherry clafoutis, and we had a team effort making the chocolate truffles. Lauren made fresh bread and two versions of homemade butter with different salts: one a more smokey salt, the other a flaky sea salt. This meal was like a breather amidst a busy storm. It just reestablished how important it is for me to pause and enjoy things in the moment and there isn’t a better way to do that than through food.
Cherry Clafoutis
I made a apricot honey cake that was delicious. It had that rustic flavor that comes with what fresh fruit and a little whole wheat in baking bring. It was something I imagined a farm wife in Provence would serve her hungry family with a dollop of lavender whipped cream. The honey infused with the apricots as they sank to the bottom of the cake while baking (like an upside down cake), making a beautiful caramel-like layer along the bottom and a shimmering honey glaze on the top of the cake. It was the perfect June dessert!
Honey Apricot Cake (inspired by Molly Wizenberg)
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour or ground pistacios
1 cup unbleached flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup whole milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
5-7 ripe apricots, washed, halved, and pitted
local honey
Set an oven rack to the middle position, and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9 inch round pan.
If you use pistachios, use a food processor to finely ground them. To test if they are fine enough, take a pinch between your fingers; if they feel too course, keep going, but if they feel fine, like sand, they’re ready.
Otherwise, in a bowl, add the 3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour, regular flour, baking powder, nutmeg, and salt, and pulse once or twice to mix.
In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and vanilla, beating well after each addition. Add the flour mixture in three batches, alternating with the milk, mixing at low speed to just combine. Do not over mix.
Using a spatula, pour and spread the batter into the prepared pan. Arrange the halved apricots cut side up on the top of the batter. Using your finger, dollop some honey in the center of each apricot half. Bake until a toothpick comes out of the center clean, about 35-40 minutes. The apricots will have sunk into the batter, but don’t worry: they will reveal themselves like little presents in each slice! Serve with a dollop of lavender whipped cream either warm or room temp.
Bon Appetit!
It’s nice to take some time after a chapter in life has been finished, think for a bit, maybe reflect on what was learned and tuck away those experiences in our ever growing personal guidebook to life. But sometimes life does not allot that good, solid chunk of time for, well, anything! But alas, life must go on and I must go with it, finding time where I may and fitting in bits of reflection and thought where I can. Today was one of those days. After spending the morning at work, I decided I was going to go to my local farmer’s stand, see what was fresh, and make a gallette. I needed time to think, to breath, the kitchen as my refuge. I spotted some beautiful, aromatic peaches and round, plump blueberries looking like they were going to burst at any second. I must have those! I thought speculatively. On a whim, I also bought some fresh cream to make butter. I’ve never done it, why not try it today?
As the delicate aroma of peaches wafted up towards me, I started to think about all the possibilities swirling around me like bumble bees. Where do I go from here? Chop, chop, chop. I decided the peaches needed a little spice so I grabbed a chunk of ginger from my fridge and grated some into the bowl. I was immediately satisfied with my choice to do so, the spicy, fragrant, sweet smell permeated my senses like a sincere thank you.
Listen to your gut, was all I heard. It’s a common phrase that I hear myself say to myself quite a lot. But today, it hit me like a brick. Listen to my gut. Huh. Good idea, I thought, as I covered the top with the blueberries. Good idea. And then the ideas started bubbling up from my subconscious, things I had fleetingly thought about before but hadn’t given myself, or those thoughts, time to come to a boil. It’s amazing what giving yourself a little space will do, or even having some fun while you’re at it!
I am thinking about starting some small, in-home cooking lessons with a twist and short video podcasts linking food, life, memory, and ourselves to a dish or meal. I’ve got to get these ideas off the burner and into a dish to serve! Until next time!
Bon Appetit!
Peach, Blueberry, and Ginger Gallette
The dough:
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
12 tablespoons butter (I used a butter/earth balance mixture about 80:20)
1/4-1/2 ice cold water
In a bowl, place dry ingredients, then sliced cold butter. Mix with your hands until well incorporated. Add a little of the cold water at a time until the dough makes a round ball and there is none left on the sides of the bowl. Cover and refrigerate for about 15-20 minutes.
The fruit:
Meanwhile, slice the peaches. I kept the skins on but you can opt to peel them off too. In a large bowl, toss with about 3-4 tablespoons brown sugar, 1-2 teaspoons fresh grated ginger.
Roll out the dough on a floured surface. Transfer to a pizza stone or baking pan. Arrange the fruit slices starting with the outside circle, working your way in until the center of the gallette is covered. Leave about 2-3 inches of dough around the sides so you can fold them up around the fruit. Sprinkle blueberries at random across the top. Pinch the creases so all the juices stay inside the gallette during baking. Bake at 375 for about an hour.
Butter
Get a high quality, organic cream like heavy whipping cream. There is one of two ways you can do this:
1) Shake the hell out of it! Yes, that’s right. Put it in a mason jar with ample room and have fun. Shake it for about 20-30 mins, make it a game with your kids, pass it to your friends, make your spouse give it a shake. It’s actually really fun and funny to watch! You’ll notice the butter start to form, but keep shaking. It will all clump together then you will be left with some amazing buttermilk (this is nothing like the buttermilk we get at the grocery stores! It’s incredible). Save the buttermilk for pancakes in the morning by pouring it off. Shake it some more and when you are satisfied with the butter’s chunkiness, keeping it in the jar, run some cold water over it until the water runs mostly clear, clearing out the excess/left over buttermilk. This will preserve it for a few days longer. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and/or waxed paper. It’s delish!
2) Use your stand mixer by whipping the cream until it becomes butter. Pour off the buttermilk and save it, then put the butter into a jar and run cold water over it to take away the excess buttermilk, until the water runs clean. Voilà! Butter!
This weekend we made a trip up to explore Seattle and it’s surroundings. One of the first things we did was take the ferry out to Vashon Island. This one-stoplight wonder of a place charmed the socks off of me. Our first stop was the Vashon Island Growers Market (held every Saturday). There we found delicious treats like this fresh frittata with chard and lotus blossoms. We found it at the Sun Island Farm booth, run by a lovely family with the dad making frittatas and the mom and kids running the “front”.
Another booth I stopped at was Barbara’s Chocolates. I was lured over because, well, there were baked goods there. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find these delectable little chocolates that were divine. Barbara told me she makes them fresh in her production kitchen and decorates them right on Vashon!
We then wandered over to the islands Tea House. The owner told me that when she serves people tea in a proper teacup, they act differently, as opposed to a mug or a little Japanese cup. She said they become a bit calmer and definitely quieter as they sip their tea out of a dainty teacup. How interesting! I’ve wondered about that myself…
Vashon surprised me! I honestly didn’t know what to expect when we went there (initially to check out some of Andrew’s old haunts and the abandoned K2 complex) but am so happy we did. I love impromptu connections, stories, and exchanges that happen; the warm and grounded people on Vashon were truly fantastic.
(From the Vashon Growers Market, we wandered into town where the islands one stoplight resides. I noticed some great signage that happened to belong to one of the islands art galleries, Valise. I chatted with one of the owners who was extremely warm and helpful and gave us tips about some other great places to see.)
(A great malt shop I was told! but this is the sign is the only thing left of it!)
Sometimes I swear chocolate has magical powers. And I mean this in the most matter of fact ways. Yes, there have been studies which prove the chemical reactions that happen in people when they eat chocolate, but that is the last thing I am thinking (or feeling) about when I have a chocolate craving.
Chocolate, in it’s purest form, is something of a treat for me. I use chocolate as a compliment in many things I make. However, something solidly chocolate is not usually on my baking rounds. But ever since making this cake a few months back, it has become my turn-to, catch-all, never-fail chocolate recipe.
I first read about this cake in Molly Wizenberg’s book, A Homemade Life. The cake is called Winning Hearts and Minds Cake, and boy does it ever. Not only does it win hearts and minds, but bodies and souls as well. It is easy to make and perfect to freeze; it is dense, rich, and amazing. It has won me over in totality not just as a woman who appreciates good chocolate but as a baker and a person with a busy schedule.
Tomorrow I am going to be needing to win over some hearts and minds at my oral defense. I couldn’t think of a better ritual to prepare myself for such an event, thus making this cake. Sometimes it is imperative to woo oneself before one tries to woo others; what I mean is if I don’t feel great, my audience certainly won’t feel great after the presentation either. And this cake makes me feel fantastic. (I wish I could serve it at the defense…that would be amazing!) Alas, I can not, but must speak for 30-40 minutes about my work, my journey into eating design, the how, what, and why I am doing what I am doing, get questioned and finally graded on my efforts. Public speaking has always made me nervous! But this time around, I am feeling more ready than ever. This is such a great opportunity for me to share and celebrate in what I have done in the past few years, explain to people and bring them in, giving them entry and maybe even excite them about it .
Well I accomplished the first step by winning over my heart and mind (and made a chocolate cake to go with it). Tomorrow it’s time for step two: winning theirs (sans the chocolate cake). Wish me luck!!
The Winning Hearts and Minds Chocolate Cake, Molly Wizenburg
7 ounces (200 grams) best-quality dark chocolate
7 ounces (200 grams) unsalted European-style butter (the high-butterfat kind, such as Lurpak or Beurre d’Isigny), cut into ½-inch cubes
1 1/3 cup (250 grams) granulated sugar
5 large eggs
1 Tbs unbleached all-purpose flour
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit, and butter an 8-inch round cake pan. Line the base of the pan with parchment, and butter the parchment too.
Finely chop the chocolate (a serrated bread knife does an outstanding job of this) and melt it gently with the butter in a double boiler or in the microwave, stirring regularly to combine. Add the sugar to the chocolate-butter mixture, stirring well, and set aside to cool for a few moments. Then add the eggs one by one, stirring well after each addition, and then add the flour. The batter should be smooth, dark, and utterly gorgeous.
Pour batter into the buttered cake pan and bake for approximately 25 minutes, or until the center of the cake looks set and the top is shiny and a bit crackly-looking. (I usually set the timer for 20 minutes initially, and then I check the cake every two minutes thereafter until it’s done. At 20 minutes, it’s usually quite jiggly in the center. You’ll know it’s done when it jiggles only slightly, if at all.) Let the cake cool in its pan on a rack for 10 minutes; then carefully turn the cake out of the pan and revert it, so that the crackly side is facing upward. Allow to cool completely. The cake will deflate slightly as it cools.
Serve in wedges at room temperature with a loose dollop of ever-so-slightly sweetened whipped cream.
Today is a good day. It is the first day I’ve been able to make something in the kitchen in over a week! And after several weeks of what seemed an endless list of things to finish, I am finally seeing the light at the end of the (MFA) tunnel.
So I decided to make something exceedingly springy, borderlining on a summer dish– Berry Napoleons. It has been especially wet and cold (45 degrees F!) here in Portland the last few days and I am more ready than ever for some sunshine. This morning, while being teased by the sun peeking out through the clouds, I started wondering if I could conjure sunlight through everyday activities such as baking or cooking. With absolute optimism, I rode my bike to the local grocery and bought 2 pounds of fresh strawberries, too many black berries, creme fraiche, and some phyllo dough. Sun, berries, sun, berries…became my mantra as I rode home, opened my bag to an intoxicating smell of strawberries, turned on the oven, and got to work.
What became the end result was a delightful spring dessert, colorful, fresh, and full of surprises. I made a blackberry compote to drizzle over the layers of berries and crispy sweet pyhllo dough. A smattering of creme fraiche whipped with a little sugar rounded out the acidity of the berries, complimenting their sweetness and elevating their flavor. It reminded me of another dish I usually make this time of year where I mash fresh strawberries and a splash of heavy cream with a fork in a deep plate and let sit out on the kitchen counter for a few hours. This lets the flavors intermingle and makes your entire kitchen smell like a fresh strawberry patch! That might have to be next on my list of things to make…
And the sun finally did come out, for over an hour, and that’s bliss for most pacific northwesterners this time of year:).
Berry Napoleon
8 sheets frozen phyllo dough, thawed
3-4 tablespoons melted butter or canola oil
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1-1/2 cups fresh blackberries
3 tablespoons orange juice
1/4 teaspoon finely shredded orange peel
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons cold water
2 cups mixed fresh berries, such as blueberries, blackberries, red raspberries, and/or sliced strawberries
1 teaspoon water
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. On a non-greased baking sheet, place the first piece of phyllo dough and brush melted butter on top, place another sheet of phyllo dough on top, brush with melted butter, and sprinkle with brown sugar. Continue this until 8-10 sheets of dough have been used. Cut the dough into pieces on the pan, slicing about 6 times cross wise and 2-3 times length wise, it will make somewhere around 18 rectangle size pieces. Bake for 10-12 minutes. It’s really nice when it gets crispy. It becomes an exceptionally light, sweet cracker.
In a medium size sauce pan, place blackberries, orange zest and juice. Bring to a boil, then simmer on low heat for 10-15 minutes until the berries are broken apart and very juicy. Pour the contents from the pan through a metal strainer, using the back of a spoon to squeeze out the rest of the juices from the pulp. Place back in pan. In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch and water, mix well, and add to the blackberry juice on low heat. Whisk well until it thickens. Turn off heat.
Take a piece of the sweet, crispy phyllo and place at the bottom of a dish. Heap on top cut berries. Drizzle some of the blackberry sauce over the berries, add a small dollop of creme fraiche, and either top the berries with another piece of phyllo or stick one coming out the side of the dish (like I did, I just didn’t want to miss looking at the beautiful colors of the berries!) and enjoy!
Last week, I was talking with a local chef in town about a project we are thinking about doing (more on that later!). As we were discussing different possibilities for this project, I realized how interesting it was because we were both approaching the project from different angles. And this is exactly why I get so excited about Eating Design, because with each project and each person I collaborate with, not only am I learning more about the world of food, but I am learning more about people, working as a team, and becoming part of different ways to find solutions. It is so neat!
While I am simultaneously working on future projects, I have been consumed with practicing for my oral defense and making sure install goes according to plan. And as an experienced worrier, I have decided to try to take a different path. I find that when I worry and anxiety gets a hold of me, instead of being productive and getting things done, I stop in my tracks not getting anything done! It’s truly an exercise of the mind to know you’ve done all you can to assure things go smoothly and let them happen as they will (or as they’ve been set up to happen with all that careful planning). Worrying, ultimately, will not make anything happen. At least this has been true in my case.
So in combining these different aspects of my life, I decided to make lemon bars. The tart is the bittersweet ending I am going through with my MFA and all the preparation needed to be done, and the sweet is this new path I’ve found and will continue to blaze because it excites and energizes me even thinking about it! These lemon bars came out fantastic too. I actually ate way too many, giving myself a huge sugar crash and heart burn from the acid of the fresh lemon, ha! But that’s how good they were. Usually I am satisfied with a few bites, a slice, or a serving of something I make (until a few hours later of course), but this time around, I ate about four or five right off the bat. Tart, sweet, with a crumbly, buttery shortbread crust, these lemon bars will do you right (or wrong, if you eat too many!).
Cheers!
CRUST:
1/2 cup (1 stick) (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup (25 grams) confectioner’s (powdered or icing) sugar
1 cup (140 grams) all purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
FILLING:
1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
1/3 cup (80 ml) fresh lemon juice (approximately two large lemons)
1 tablespoon (5 grams) grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
2 tablespoons (25 grams) all purpose flour
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Grease with butter (or use a cooking spray) a 8 x 8 inch (20 x 28 cm) pan.
FOR CRUST: In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the flour and salt and beat until the dough just comes together. Press into the bottom of your greased pan and bake for about 20 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool while you make the filling.
FOR FILLING: In your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the sugar and eggs until nice and smooth. Add the lemon juice and zest and stir to combine. Fold in the flour. Pour the filling over the shortbread crust and bake for about 20 minutes, or until the filling is set. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.
To serve: Cut into squares or triangles and dust with powdered sugar. These are best eaten the day they are made but can be covered and stored in the refrigerator for a day or two.
Yield: 16 – 2 inch (5 cm) squares
For the past few months, I have found myself cooking and baking more frequently at Andrew’s than my own place. There are many reasons for this: his place is very central, located downtown he lives about three blocks from the main building of my school and where I do my screen printing projects; I live with five people (including myself) in a huge old 1920′s house in a great neighborhood in NE Portland, however it’s a few miles bike ride from most places I need to be; and sharing a kitchen (that is most of the time pretty messy just because of the sheer numbers using it) with five people can be a bit of a trial. I tried not to let it get to me, but when I started doing a few baking projects at Andrew’s, I realized how much easier it was when I did not have to clean the kitchen before and after I did a project. Sweet! Plus, sharing my baking treasures with him is so much better and much more fun than with anyone else! He’s a good taste tester .
This brings me to the ergonomics of baking in his kitchen. It is not much bigger than a postage stamp and I work with only two utensils: a wide metal bowl and a wooden spoon. Most of the time, I find myself “creaming” the butter and sugar together with my hands, getting really messy and kneading the batter together (super fun!). I didn’t even think twice about what I was doing until one day I was telling my friend Chelsea about it. She laughed and said, you’ve got to write about that! And the more I thought about it, the more I realized how strange it is these days for any cook or baker to have only a few tools they use in the kitchen. I mean, kitchen utensils are addicting! (don’t let me near a Sur La Table or William Sonoma!) I am sure many of you have plenty of gadgets and tools around our kitchens that lay dormant for most of the year, if not for years. But we may find ourselves going back to our same favorite bowl, spatula, and pan to cook and bake with endlessly. I know I do, despite having many odds and ends around the kitchen. I do own a hot pink (yes, that’s right, it’s hot pink!) kitchen aide mixer that I am just waiting for the motor to burn out one of these days from it’s overuse! However, it has gotten a good break for a while. I foresee some quality bonding time with my mixer in the near future. Perhaps after my oral defense! A baking flurry will be in the midst .
I made banana bread again. This is a great recipe! Especially when you need something comforting while you are practicing for your oral defense…
Cheers!
In honor of Pietopia coming and some amazing looking rhubarb I found at the farmer’s market this weekend, I’ve made my first pie of the year: Rhubarb Custard Pie. This is an old recipe (from someone who says that they’ve been making it for over 100 years in their family! I’d say that’s pretty tried and true) and it turned out amazing! The softness of the custard is such a lovely compliment to the tartness of the rhubarb; it becomes like a light and sweet blanket that envelops and rounds out the sharp tartness…oh, it’s just good! I highly recommend making this pie.
It reminded me of a pie I made last year for the Pietopia Blog. It too was a rhubarb pie, but I called it The Pie of Unemployment. Like last year at this time, the place I had been working part time closed and I was out of what was supposed to be my summer job. Now, with graduation in a few weeks I find myself in a similar spot. I am so excited to be completing my Masters degree! However, there is that ever looming weight of looking for and procuring employment that has kept me from 100% enjoying this accomplishment. So in the spirit of pietopia, my current status of unemployed, and seriously looking for jobs, I made this Rhubarb Custard Pie. Last year I wrote about rhubarb:
Rhubarb on its own has that acidic taste that makes your mouth pucker and you feel it in the back of your throat. It is a lingering taste as well as a memorable one. The way the flavor gives a physical reaction due to the potency of its distinct taste and then lingers on your palate reminded me of how feeling nervous can not only linger but pose its own physical issues as well. I also thought it interesting the duality of Rhubarb’s use as a medicine and a poison. The scare factor is certainly there, but it is also an interesting parallel to the duality of feelings as well. Feelings, like medicine, can put you on the path to health, spur you on to healthier ways of approaching life, and help find the insight necessary to cure yourself. On the other hand, feelings when ignored, disregarded, or taken in overwhelming doses, can act as a poison.
Bittersweet, poisonous, and medicinal, Rhubarb embodies all the components and feelings for me of being unemployed. Excited that I have more time for my own projects, scared that I won’t be able to pay rent, and a healthy nervousness that spurs me on to stay in the job game culminated into the taste of a Rhubarb pie.
A year later, I would still have to agree. Last year I did find a summer job (which held me over until my teaching assistantship began in the fall) not long after I made that pie. I am hoping something similar will happen with this pie. It’s amazing what can happen when you just put something out to the universe and see what returns. Maybe an interview or a phone call or two will be coming my way (I did send out some resumes!) and this pie helped manifest those . Who knows!
And it’s a great recipe, I hope you enjoy!
Pie Crust (this is my very favorite and never fail pie crust!)
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup earth balance
1/4 cup sweet cream butter
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons ice cold water (a little more is needed sometimes)
Cut the butter, earth balance, vinegar, and water into the flour until it is nice and crumbly. Put into the fridge for about half hour to make cold again. Then split in half, roll out first half and place in pie plate, save the second half for the top pie crust.
Rhubarb Custard Pie
1 1/2 pounds fresh rhubarb, cut into 1/4 pieces
1/2 cup sugar
(place cut rhubarb into prepared pie pan with crust ]and pour 1/2 cup sugar on top)
1 cup whole milk
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
sprinkle of cinnamon
Whisk together milk, eggs, and sugar, pour on top of pie, sprinkle cinnamon on top, close with top crust and bake at 350 for 45 mins to an hour. Enjoy!
