Month: May 2012

Dorie’s Cheese Souffle

My first cheese souffle

Whew. The last two weeks, nay, the past month has been crazy nuts. We have been BUSY. There’s been traveling, and hiking, and visiting with friends and family. There’s been working and more working. There has been stress, but thankfully, there has also been plenty of laughter to alleviate some of it, and there has also been some darn good food here and there along the way.

Like this souffle. I made this weeks ago, right before things got hectic, and I’ve been waiting, sometimes less than patiently, to share it with you. If you’ve ever thought of making a souffle, and pushed the idea aside thinking it’s too hard, think again. I, too, left my souffle dreams unfulfilled because I thought I wasn’t up to the task. They have a reputation as demanding and persnickety, and I’m not always good with persnickety. But this was surprisingly easy. And wow, delightful. It made an ordinary Sunday night dinner feel so special.
Continue reading Dorie’s Cheese Souffle

2012, Week Twenty

Whew, week twenty. Week twenty was…hard. Thankfully, it ended with a three days in Santa Cruz, one of my favorite places on earth. The trip was relaxing and fun and full of nostalgia, laughter, and insane amounts of natural beauty. Just what I needed.

I’ll share my (many) Santa Cruz photos in a separate post. But here are some images from my week, and from Santa Cruz.

Last Sunday, May 13, we were driving back from a family weekend in Upland. My memories of driving from the Bay Area to Southern California were far more pleasant than my recent experiences have been. It is a LONG drive. But it was totally worth it to have brunch with my parents and aunts and uncles on Mother’s Day. No pictures, though. Oops.

Roasted Chicken Dinner
May 14 – I did make a roast chicken dinner on Monday night. Because I’m super traditional like that.
Continue reading 2012, Week Twenty

Busy Bee

work work work

It would be pretty swell if I could spend my days cooking and baking, and writing and sharing it all here on this blog. Alas, food blogger is not my full time profession. And sometimes life gets in the way of me doing the things I really want to do. This week I’ve been so inspired to be in the kitchen, but life is getting in the way. This week is particularly nutso, and this weekend will be the second weekend in a row that we’re heading out of town (and away from my kitchen).

All this is to offer apologies for my absence, and sincere promises for some sweet treats and savory wonders coming next week. I might also have some great pictures to share of one of my favorite places on earth, as we’re heading to Santa Cruz this weekend for a little getaway/business trip.

To tide you over, here are a few things that have been inspiring the crap out of me this week:

Now that I’ve successfully produced my first souffle, I can’t wait to try another. Eggs on Sunday’s cheese, leek, and herb souffle is on the list.

I have been obsessing on New Orleans lately. Joy the Baker’s pictorial travelogue just took that up a notch.

These beautiful photos from The Yellow House, and the Marge Piercy poem selected to accompany them, are a great reminder for me to slow down and focus on the small, beautiful, and productive moments of my life.

Love & Lemon’s Green Enchiladas with Cashew Cream have to happen. I am counting down the days until I have time to make this happen.

Also, Joy the Baker’s chamomile cupcakes have inspired me to create a cookie in their image. I cannot stop daydreaming about these cookies that haven’t even been baked yet. The thought of them is keeping me going.

If you’ve never heard of Ernest Callenbach, I recommend you pick up a copy of his book,Ecotopia. It might be a little dated, but it was a life-changing book for me when I read it 15 years ago. Callenbach passed away last month, and Mark Bittman’s touching memorial is a reminder to me to focus on what really matters, and to always be hopeful that we can bring about change.

I hope your days are a little less manic than mine right now. Amidst the craziness, there are pockets of joyful things to look forward to: Dinner tonight with my brother, the aforementioned weekend in Santa Cruz, and those cookies. I’ll be back soon, and in the meantime, I’m sure the internet has no shortage of things to keep you occupied and inspired.

2012, Week Nineteen

We had a full and busy week that ended with a loooong drive down to San Bernardino county and back for a big fun family gathering. It made me so grateful to live here, to be able to attend things like graduations, to be able to see my mom on Mothers’ Day, to be able to be part of regular family life again, and to be able to get to know my aunts and uncles now, as adults. The traveling, and the hectic pace of the week leading up to the travel, do mean that I am tired.

Sadly, it also means that I missed three days of photos. I stupidly neglected to take any pictures during our trip, which makes me so sad. I am not that great at capturing images for posterity. At least I have a ton of awesome memories. And the week leading up to our mini-break was full and beautiful.

My first cheese souffle
May 6 – I made a cheese souffle! I was so nervous about this one, as I’ve heard that souffles are hard, and I’ve never worked with whipped egg whites before. But it was spectacular, and it turned out perfectly. Of course, I have to thank Dorie Greenspan for an excellent recipe. I’ll post my version here soon, promise.
Continue reading 2012, Week Nineteen

Oat and Apple Crisp

Apple Crisp

Fruit crisps are the best desserts. Effortless to put together, sweet, buttery, with layers of textures, and totally guilt free of course, because, duh, fruit. (Ok, I guess that last part isn’t entirely true, but the rest of it is so good that you really shouldn’t feel guilty.) If you’re not sure how you feel about baking, I’d recommend starting with a fruit crisp. You don’t have to get the measurements exactly right, there is room for variation, you can use seasonal fruit, or just fruit that you like, and the amount of work required is minimal. Peeling the apples was the hardest part of this process.
Continue reading Oat and Apple Crisp

2012, Week Eighteen

This week, Sean and I celebrated one year of living in California together. It’s been a tremendous year: I feel like I’m home again, after too many years away. I’ve been able to see my family more times this year than in the previous three combined. And Sean and I are happily settling into our quiet domesticity.

Our anniversary celebration was put on hold for a few days, as Sean was in Boston for work. Kind of ironic. But we toasted to each other, and to our excellent year together, on Saturday night. We even opened a special bottle of wine, one we had been saving for just this occasion.

My week alone wasn’t too bad, though. It started off with my very first perfect poached egg.

Poached Egg on whole grain toast
Apr 29 – I’ve been trying to poach eggs, and failing, for years now. But last Sunday morning I tried a new method: I cracked the egg into a ramekin that held a splash of vinegar, and let it sit in the vinegar while I brought the water to a boil. The vinegar held the white together, and the egg didn’t taste of vinegar at all. Success!
Continue reading 2012, Week Eighteen

Cooking for Cinco de Mayo

I grew up in Southern California, so Mexican food is like comfort food to me. Burritos are a staple in my life. Enchiladas are an endless canvas for inspiration, and my chicken enchiladas are a dish I am perhaps overly proud of. I survived on large pots of beans during my poor college years. And this weekend, well. Cinco de Mayo might not be a particularly important holiday in Mexico, but in California, Cinco de Mayo means its time for Mexican food. And, if you’re lucky, a Mariachi band.

If you’re looking for something fun to make tomorrow to celebrate the awesomeness of Mexican food (that’s what that holiday is about, right?), here’s a round up of my favorite Mexican food recipes.

Starting with enchiladas:

Sweet Potato Black Bean Enchiladas
These Sweet Potato Black Bean Enchiladas are a great riff on a classic.
Continue reading Cooking for Cinco de Mayo

Classic Curried Chicken Salad

Curried Chicken Salad

This week Sean is out of town, and I am eating like a total single lady. By that I mean on the couch, surrounded by magazines and watching How I Met Your Mother. By that I also mean I’m eating super easy salads, for which most of the prep work was done Sunday night. This Curried Chicken Salad is a perfect example a of single lady dinner. It took me about 15 minutes to throw together, it’s simple and summery, and its served in endive leaves, for goodness sake.

I love Curried Chicken Salad because it is totally classic, but still a little unexpected. It’s easy, but seems kind of decadent. It can be varied in endless ways, or kept simple and basic. I had originally intended to eat this chicken salad wrapped in lettuce leaves, but I couldn’t find any with that good cup shape. However, the endive was perfect: It added just the right amount of bitter crunch. This salad is also great wrapped in a soft whole wheat or green spinach-y tortilla.
Continue reading Classic Curried Chicken Salad