Somehow, with all the food and food learning this blog has produced, my favorite thing has been learning how to copycat things that one could normally buy at the store. It’s like a specialized hobby within the more general hobby of baking and cooking. Maybe it’s lazy, because I’m taking someone else’s idea and just trying to figure out the details, but the end result is the same: I get to make my favorite things at home, which means I get to eat them at the peak of freshness. Continue reading →
Pin Itsummer things + a wee book review.
This is not where we’re staying, by the way: I’m pretty sure some totally unsavory things go on at these beach shacks, but I’ve always liked the look of them. It’s random post time, people; a virtual postcard, if you will, to show you some of the things we’ve been doing. Continue reading →
mediterranean egg sandwich + slow-roasted tomatoes: a panera bread copycat.
Two recipes! I thought about throwing the slow roasted tomatoes into a separate post, but I didn’t want to drag things out too much; you already have a separate post for the ciabatta part of this anyway, if you’re interested in making it yourself.
I will not make you do that; this is more about the sandwich and the filling than it is the bread, so I’m not going to beat you over the head and tell you that you need to spend what basically amounts to a week (if you don’t have a sourdough starter already going) to make the bread part of this recipe. I spent too long during my Fear of Yeast years shying away from recipes involving bread-making. Do you have a favorite ciabatta? Great. go get some and I’m betting it will be perfectly lovely for this. Continue reading →
Pin Itsourdough ciabatta.
There is something to be said for people who rush to your aid even though they have never met you in person. A few weeks back, I had been attempting (and failing, in various and really disgusting ways) to make a successful sourdough starter. By the second or third attempt, I was convinced the entire thing wasn’t for me. What was I doing wrong here? Bread starters are supposed to smell all luscious and warm hearthy; mine smelled like I poured beer over some yellow cake and abandoned it in the sink for a few weeks. I’m not going to lie; I may have cried a little bit. Because here I thought I had gotten over the yeast part of things (where nothing ever rose correctly), but now it seemed as though the universe was telling me that the gates were locked on anything sourdough-related.
But I love sourdough breads the best.
Pin Itsweet cherry + rosemary focaccia.
One more for the road, people; I’m writing this post and then launching myself face-first into my suitcase so I can get packed and ready for our flight this Monday. Well that, and a few dozen other odds and ends I need to tie up, but that’s okay: once we’re all in Florida, it’ll be vacation, and vacation food to go with.
Bread and I have been having a little bit of a moment recently, and I’ve been trying to figure out why. It’s just never happened to me before in a summer setting: typically, I get all bread-crazy in the winter. Perhaps this year it’s because I’ve learned how to actually make it versus trying to do so and dissolving in a pile of tears when it inevitably fails. I suppose that makes the entire process more fun for everyone. Continue reading →
Pin Itcucumber guacamole.
I’ve been eating this nonstop for a few weeks now, and it occurred to me that many of you may like it as much as I do. ‘Tis the season to dive headlong into as many avocados as you can find, because they are buttery and scrumptious, and oh so good for you. Even their fat is good for you. Avocados are fabulous, but let’s be honest; the have quite a few calories, and sometimes you just don’t want to care about that. Continue reading →
Pin Itan open letter to nigella lawson.
Dear Ms. Nigella Lawson:
I’m making one of your always-stunning cakes today – the old-fashioned chocolate one from Feast, which is my all-time favorite – and I can’t help but think about you while I do it.
No one, I imagine, likes their personal life to become fodder for public consumption. Well, I suppose some people revel in it, but those aren’t the kind of people I enjoy. You don’t seem to be one of those people at all, and thank goodness for that. It must make your current situation that much more intolerable, egregious, and overwhelming than it already is, if that is even possible. You remain silent about it; I can only assume you’re doing that out of respect for your own privacy and that if your children, and I commend you for that. The only opinions which matters right now, and the only hearts you should be concerned with protecting are those. Continue reading →
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stalking = so much fun.