Double Win

Mr. Lime and I enjoyed a double header of new recipes from The Kitchn last night, Chilled Gazpacho Andaluz

and Zucchini Butter on a split baguette.

I highly recommend both. Two successful, new summer recipes that involve minimal, if any, stove time. Double win.

Not Great

Last night I tried making Ina Garten's Zucchini Pancakes from her Barefoot Contessa At Home book.


They weren't great. They were pretty bland actually. Which surprised me, as her recipes are generally so reliable. I think that, if I make these in the future, I'll add some garlic or maybe some red pepper flakes. I suppose that you could make larger pancakes and then roll them around a mixture of ricotta, feta and mint. Anyway, the lesson is, be prepared to dress this recipe up.

Staycation

Much though I wish I didn't have to use the word "staycation", that's exactly what I had over the past few days. And what I learned is that I'm not so bad at cleaning, chores, etc as I thought I was. I'm actually pretty great at it when I have the time. Unfortunately, I have to take days off to have the time.

So I did the big Spring clean, purged a ton of stuff that we don't use and cooked and crafted my little heart out. For example, I finished making this little mouse:



And found a home foe this Shaker tray:


And finished little Julian's socks:

I even baked muffins and refrigerator pickles (documentation to follow). Sigh. I need more days off.

Soaking Beans

So, this may sound a bit silly, but I've never cooked dried beans before. I've had a bag of great northern beans kicking around for a bit, so last night I measured out a cup of them to soak overnight, as an experiment. Except that I forgot about them this morning and skipped off to work without giving them a thought. Here they are last night:

I shudder to think what they'll look like when I get home. Apparently, they're losing their texture and structural integrity due to over soaking. Oh good.

On a brighter note, check out this apple shaped fireware that I picked up this weekend. I'm using it to store my garlic!

Believe the Hype

Yesterday, I tried two things that have been receiving a lot of attention on the blog-o-sphere lately. Malin+Goetz Cilantro Conditioner and La Tur Cheese. I'd been holding off because I felt that they couldn't possibly live up to the hype. I'm going on record officially as admitting that I was wrong. Brothers and sisters, believe in the conditioner and cheese!


First the conditioner... I only had to use about a quarter of the amount of conditioner that I usually use. (I have long hair.) And I could tell as I was rinsing it out that it had done something to my hair. Even soaking wet it felt noticeably softer and smoother. But my hair dried, I was amazed. My hair is thick, with a fairly rough texture, but this miraculous stuff made my hair feel soft and light as a baby's. I'm going to seek out the Peppermint Shampoo next.


And then the La Tur Cheese... Where to begin? I think that angels may have invented this cheese after humanity did something really, really good. I can come up with no other explanation for how amazing it is. Unfortunately, it probably undid all of my good work at the gym this week. But, honestly, it was worth it.

Little Sandwich Cookies

Lovely, lovely weekend. Spent some serious quality time with friends and finished up my application to the graduate playwriting program. I also indulged in a few of these beautiful little cookies from the Hi-Rise Bread Company.




They're basically a much improved, freshly made version of the Oreo. And, in a polite nod to their lineage, named "the little sandwich cookie".

Con Marmellata

On our honeymoon, BB had at least three biscotti con marmellata every day. So for Valentine's Day, I've decided to bake him some. I'm going to use a modified version of Ina Garten's Jam Thumbprint Cookies, sans coconut.


The ones we had in Italy were usually apricot or citrus, but I think I may go with raspberry. The color seems much more Valentine-appropriate.

I thought I'd put them in an airtight jar with a heart tag. Too cute? Just cute enough? It's so hard to tell.

Now for Breakfast: Dessert

BB and I picked up this crazy, amazing babka from Hi-Rise yesterday.


It was so good that I had a slice for dessert and then a slice for breakfast this morning. How many foods can you do that with?

Little House Cook Book

Great post over at the Kitchn about the Little House Cook Book.


I know! Why hadn't I hear of this before?!

Octopus Temptation

I saw this Octopus Rubber Stamp at Papersource yesterday and think it would make an adorable fabric for a child's room:


It's tough because I really want to create my own patterns for Erin's baby gifts, but this pre-made octopus is really tempting...

BB and I also went to Ittyo at Porter Exchange for lunch yesterday and they had octopus balls just like the ones in Osaka! Talk about octopus temptation...

Also, check out these Pewter Octopus Napkin Rings:

Dal/Dahl

Mark Bittman wrote a great piece for the Times today called Dal Five Ways, with five completely delicious looking recipes. I've embarrassed to admit that not only have I never tried dal (or dahl), but before today I didn't know what it was. And as I'm always on the lookout for versatile meatless recipes, I went into research mode and found even more dal recipes. Here are my top contenders:

Ginger and Spice Dahl

Yellow Split Pea Dahl Recipe with Potatoes and Coconut Milk

Thimble Dahl

I'm going to have to choose one of the eight contenders before I hit the grocery store this afternoon. The question is, how?

Cardamom Pear Crisp

I just bumped into the Sunday Suppers recipe for Cardamom Pear Crisp and am really excited to try it out.


Cardamom isn't a spice that I've ever paid much attention to. But ever since I tried Crema Cafe's cardamom-currant cookies, I've been intrigued by it.

Truffles and Spice

Had two hits on my hands this week with Ms. Ina Garten's Tagliarelle with Truffle Butter and the Chez Panisse Gingersnaps that have taken the blogosphere by storm.

*photo from the Kitchn

The beauty of the gingersnaps is that the recipe makes a log of dough that you keep in the freezer. So you can slice off a few cookies to bake whenever you feel like them.

And the tagliarelle with truffles was just ridiculously luxurious. I had a glass of champagne in a tall, elegant flute while I was cooking it and felt like some sort of kitchen celebrity.

Disappointing Latkes & an Epic Journey

BB is back! And to celebrate his return, we visited the Everybody Loves Latkes celebration in Harvard Square. I've waited for three years to go to this darn thing and it was terrible. I waited in the rain and was served a vegetable pakora, which I can have any old time, and a store bought frozen potato pancake. A very weak showing Harvard Square.


After the crushing latke disappointment, I was feeling a bit restless and picked up my copy of Ulysses. Each time I read it is a bit of an undertaking. It's generally not something I do lightly, but perhaps it should be. Because it is a pleasure to read for pleasure. Who knew? "If you treat it like a bubble, it acts like a bubble" proves itself true again.

One Crumble to Rule Them All

The Apple-Blackberry Crumble was delicious.

I wound up using Ina Garten's Old Fashioned Apple Crisp recipe, minus 1 tablespoon of lemon and plus 2 pints of glorious blackberries. Don't believe the reviews on the recipe site that claim the crisp is too tart. Those people must have a serious sweet tooth.


Although there were seven pies for fourteen people at BB's Mom's for Thanksgiving, my crumble went the fastest. This is me coming clean about my ugly competitive baking streak.

And, in other news, now I want to write a musical called Seven Pies for Fourteen People.

The Coffee is Back

While BB and I were home over Thanksgiving, we picked up our final round of wedding presents, that had been mailed to my Mom's house. And among them was the new coffee maker that we've been waiting for. Our old coffee maker passed away about a month ago and we've been suffering through the wretched brew from my old french press. (The french press is not at fault. BB and I both are just terrible with it. We never get the proportions right.)

Our new beauty had her inaugural run this morning and it was absolutely delightful. She's been given a place of honor on top of the refrigerator and BB has taken to polishing her like a Ferrari.


We also picked up a shower curtain that looks like this:


So the great bathroom renovation has begun! I think BB is just relieved that I didn't go with the zebra shower curtain.

Cook the Books: Wind in the Willows

Although a selection of glorious picnics, fry-ups and teas tantalize the reader throughout The Wind in the Willows, the meal that always stands out for me is the bubble-and-squeak that the jailer's daughter serves Mr. Toad.


"Now, cheer up, Toad,' she said, coaxingly, on entering, `and sit up and dry your eyes and be a sensible animal. And do try and eat a bit of dinner. See, I've brought you some of mine, hot from the oven!'

It was bubble-and-squeak, between two plates, and its fragrance filled the narrow cell. The penetrating smell of cabbage reached the nose of Toad as he lay prostrate in his misery on the floor, and gave him the idea for a moment that perhaps life was not such a blank and desperate thing as he had imagined." -Chapter 8

I should be very clear that what I'm about to suggest is in no way a proper bubble-and-squeak. In fact, bubble-and-squeak purists will likely be scandalized. In fact, they'll definitely be scandalized. Consider yourself warned.

I'm New York girl. At the age where most children beg for candy, I begged for noodle kugel. When most children were inhaling french fries, I was eating knishes. So when bubble-and-squeak was first explained to me as being a fried mixture of cabbage and potato by my Mother's very good friend (who hails from County Sligo), the image it conjured was distinctly... kosher.

I know in my head that what the jailer's daughter served Mr. Toad between two plates was probably not made with hot pink pickled cabbage, but you'll never convince my heart.

Lime Street's Catskills Bubble-and-Squeak
1 Cup Pickled Red Cabbage
1 Cup Mashed Potatoes, cold
5 Tbsp Olive Oil
2 Tbsp Flour
Salt and Pepper to taste
4 Tsp Sour Cream (optional)

1. Add chilled potatoes, cabbage, salt and pepper in a bowl and blend with your hands until the mixture is well combined.

2. Add the olive oil to a non-stick skillet and place over medium-high heat.

3. While the oil is heating, form the potato/cabbage mixture into four evenly sized patties and dust both sides of each patty with a small portion of flour.

4. Once the oil is shimmering, place the patties in the pan and cook for roughly five minutes on each side, until the onside of the patties are crisp and golden brown.

I enjoy my Catskill's Bubble-and-Squeak with a dollop of sour cream, but that's entirely your call. May it have the same restorative powers for you as it did for Mr. Toad!

BookLooks and Cook the Books

Bookish girl that I am, I've decided to introduce two new semi-regular features, BookLooks and Cook the Books. BookLooks, as you may have guessed, is a selection of items for your home and person, inspired by beloved books. Cook the Books is an exploration of recipes for standout food and beverages from those same books. They're intended to function in tandem and hopefully bring me a little closer to my childhood dream of being able to walk right into my books. (Kind of like Gumby and Pokey.)

Apple-Blackberry Crisp

We're heading to BB's home in Philly for Thanksgiving and I've been mulling over what to bring. We'll bring wine, flowers, etc, but I really feel that it's important to bring something homemade. And the magic words that keep springing to mind are apple-blackberry crisp. I've never actually made one before. Nor have I had apples and blackberries in the same dish. So I hope this isn't a trainwreck.


I think I'm going to tinker with recipes this weekend. I like the looks of this one and this one, but am actually most tempted by Ina Garten's Old Fashioned Apple Crisp recipe. I may just modify it by adding blackberries and a little more sugar.

I'm sure BB will be absolutely heartbroken about having to sample so many crisps, crumbles and buckles. What a trooper!

Chestnuts

The first night that BB & I were in Rome for our honeymoon, the temperature plummeted. And as we strolled through the city wearing just about every article of clothing we'd packed, we bought a paper cone of roasted chestnuts to keep our hands warmed. There's something about the smell of roasting chestnuts that makes me immediately feel festive. Maybe I equate it with holiday trips to New York as a child.



Maybe Rome wasn't actually more convivial for those four days, but it certainly felt that way. I think I'm going to try roasting chestnuts in the oven this week, to try to recapture some of that.