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It did not take long for all the Thanksgiving leftovers to disappear, and now the fridge looks so bare. The one thing I have left is cranberry relish. I thought about putting it in the freezer, but the freezer is pretty full after a summer and fall of putting food up, what to do?
I used my Topsy-Turvy Jam Cake recipe and substituted cranberry relish for the jam. Really good! Great for breakfast.
How do you use up leftover cranberries?
If you have ever visited Seattle you have probably eaten in one of Tom Douglas' restaurants. They are everywhere, and some of the best food around. There is an endless supply of stories about him helping his employees start restaurants of their own, and he holds outdoor salmon cookouts to benefit the homeless during the summer. He is the recipient of James Beard's Outstanding Restauranteur which means the rest of the cooking world has taken note of his accomplishments. Whenever Youngest Daughter is choosing a place to eat for a celebration (straight A's or a birthday) she chooses Serious Pie. Serious Pie is some of the best pizza on the planet and I am grateful that I had the chance to eat it before the whole Celiac thing. Next door to that restaurant is the Dahlia Bakery. Oh my.
Seattle Kitchen might be my most used cookbook and I was pretty excited to learn about The Dahlia Bakery Cookbook, Sweetness In Seattle. This book is a wonder! Almost 400 pages of good food. It is not all about the sweet stuff, there are savory baked goods as well. The chapter list gives a hint of what is in store:
english muffin love, english muffins and breakfast sandwiches
the dahlia doughnut, dahlia doughnuts and monkey bread
good morning!, morning pastries
jump-start your day, more breakfast and brunch recipes
a cookie in each hand
heavenly pies, pies, rustic pies, crisps
tarts that tempt, pastry tarts and the apple dumpling
let them eat cake, cakes and cupcakes
creamy goodness, pudding, pastry cream, eclairs
scooped, ice cream and ice cream sandwiches
tomato soup and grilled cheese
a bowl full of jelly, jams and jellies
The book begins with Tom's musings on indulgence. His parents Wedgewood gas stove, his own Kitchen Aid mixer, a daily eclair. He sums it all up with one great paragraph.
"Thanks for indulging in the purchase of this book. Your passion for food, how it's made, where it came from, who grew it, and, most of all, the traditions and lore of why it's on your table can be infectious. Pass it on to your friends and family. Don't be that one who loses the recipe card file for lack of effort. Be the one who shows up on Christmas morning with home-canned brandied cherries for gifts rather than the manufactured crap. Be the one at the office water cooler telling your coworkers about the new hot bakery or restaurant down the street that is kicking serious ass. Turn your three meals a day from "I don't have time to cook" to "I can't wait for dinner!" Indulge yourself."
Such passion is infectious. To help you turn your desire to make a good meal into an actual good meal, the book is full of step by step instructions. Not just the normal step by step, but serious detail. The recipe for English Muffins is five pages long, not because making them is difficult, but because knowing what to expect at every step insures your success. That sort of care and attention is part of every recipe.
If a recipe calls for Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting the page number is listed right there in the ingredients list. Same thing goes if a technique is required, the page number is right there, no need to flip to the index or thumb through side bars.
This book really is a wonder and something every cook should have on their shelf. The Peanut Butter Cookies take longer to make than other cookies because of the whipped peanut butter filling, but they are worth the effort. You can find the recipe along with a nice video here.
The Dahlia Bakery Cookbook is full of great recipes that include all the techniques needed to recreate the meal. Certain to please those who have been cooking for years as well as people who have just begun to "stand facing the stove". A book that will forever be a part of my collection and one I look forward to giving to everyone I know who loves good food.
The time for holiday cookie baking is upon us and a couple weeks ago a very entertaining book arrived at my house.
The Daily Cookie: 365 Tempting Treats For The Sweetest Year Of Your Life by Anna Ginsberg is the kind of cookbook that I love because you have the opportunity to learn something new on every page. The book includes 365 recipes, one for every date on the calendar. It is how the recipes are arranged that make this book brilliant. Along side instructions for tasty treats is a paragraph about an event that happened that day, or something that makes that day special. For instance, March 30 is the day the first Starbucks opened and the cookie for that day is Espresso Toffee Bars. On March 31st you have Island Cookies, as that is the day the United States took possession of the Danish West Indies and renamed them the Virgin Islands. And on February 27, International Polar Bear Day, you get Snowballs.
In addition to being filled with good things to eat, the book is quite the conversation starter. I had it sitting out on election night and as people came over they picked up the book and immediately flipped to their birthday to see their special cookie. Very fun.
Youngest Daughter is a baker, and it is not unusual to find her standing in the kitchen wanting to bake something but looking for suggestions. With this book she will never be without a good idea for something to slide into the oven. She is going to love this book!
Elvis Presley's birthday is January 8th and I have permission to share that recipe with you, Peanut Butter Banana Bacon Cookies. Put on Viva Las Vegas and get baking.
I have been feeling the Sciatica twinge the past few days which means I need to make some time for spinning. It has been months since my wheel has seen any action and I hope I have not forgotten how to make it work. This morning I did some pre-drafting of a beautiful fiber.
The fiber is from Wooly Wonka and I have no idea of the content, although I think the colorway is Fish Eye. I will be aiming for a DK weight to use in the making of mittens.
Speaking of mittens, I finished one!
Cloisenée from the Yarn Harlot. I knit the cuff four times! First time I could not figure out the k4b, sometimes (OK, often) I make things more difficult than they need to be. Once I figured it out I began again, only the fabric was too loose so I went down a needle size, still too loose. I began again and dropped all the way down to a size 4, I am using Cascade 220, before getting a nice fabric. Once that was done the mitten knit up quickly. I had planned to add this pair to the mitten box. When we get enough snow for playing, there are never enough mittens. But Oldest Daughter fawned over the colors, so I think I will set them aside for Hanukkah.
Speaking of Wooly Wonka, I need to renew my yarn club. For the past few years they have offered Shakespeare in Lace clubs, one for lace shawls and one for smaller projects like socks and scarves. After a few years of knitting shawls I accepted that I really do not need another shawl. I have so many shawls that I knit them and do not block them so they sit on the shelf. The smaller projects have been perfect for me, I am always up for a pair of socks and the yarn is so gorgeous it makes any project look wonderful. Next year the theme will shift to Heroines, Anne of Green Gables, Eowyn of Lord of the Rinds, Irene Adler... Impossible to resist. Pay all at once or do the installment plan. Would make a very special holiday gift!
The random number generator has spoken and the number is 9. Comment #9 belongs to Anne. Congratulations!!! I have sent Anne an email and soon a copy of Lidia's Favorite Recipes will be on it's way to her. Anne's comment is very sweet.
My grandfather was Sicilian. His grandmother came over with his mother when they were 33 and 16, respectively. And my great-great-grandmother's meatballs and sauce are IT. I could eat those every day of the year and die happy. My gramp's mom taught my grandmother (who was Scotch-Irish and an awesome cook) to make them so her "poor boy wouldn't starve" after he got married. :) Not likely.
Last night I made Minestrone using Lidia's recipe and it was SO good. If you are looking to liven up your cookbook shelf, this one is a keeper.
Lidia Matticchio Bastianich is a prolific cookbook author and television chef. She also owns a restaurant and lectures about Italian food all over the USA. To top it all off, she has a website full of good food, Lidia's Italy. It is a safe bet that someone with those kind of chops has a very good recipe box.
The book has 100 recipes broken up by course. Appetizers, Salads and Soups, Sandwiches and Pizza, Primi-Pastas, Polentas, and Risottos, Sauces, Sides and Vegetables, Seafood, Poultry and Meats, and Desserts. Many beautiful photos accompany the text.
Reading through the recipes I find the instructions to be straight forward. Instructions include Lidia's own words of wisdom and helpful hints to guide you through each recipe, making this a book suitable for cooks of all levels. I can not wait to try,
Straw and Hay,
and the aforementioned Baked Polenta Layered with Mushroom Ragù.
Then there is Chocolate Biscotti Pudding, oh my.
A perfect book to keep on your shelf for inspiration when making your dinner menus, as well as a great gift for the cooks on your holiday list. Who doesn't love soul-satisfying food?
Knopf has offered to give one of these books to my readers. To enter, leave a comment telling us about your favorite Italian food. Comment before midnight, Thursday Novemeber 8th and I will post the winner on Friday. Good luck and I can't wait to read your comments.
Knitting has happened. Actually I have been on a bit of a jag lately. I made a pair of socks for Husband. He slid them on and headed to work before I could take a photo. I finished that pink sweater and will take pictures as soon as it has been blocked, and I made a pair of socks for Youngest Son. Once I had finished the gusset I began to get nervous. The more I knit the worse it became. By the time I was nearing the toe I was trying to tell myself that it would be OK, that I could finish the toe with a different yarn, that it would only be two weeks until I could get to a yarn shop, that I would not lose the desire to finish the socks during those two weeks...
After the first sock was finished I had less than one yard of yarn left! It was a pretty joyful moment, realizing I had made it to the end. I walked around the house and held up my victory to all who would listen. They pretended to care and it was nice. Then it was time for the second sock. The knitting of the second sock was more nerve racking than the first because I knew if I knit just two more rounds on the second sock than I did on the first, there would not be enough yarn.
But I pressed ahead, taking bourbon for courage as I neared the end of the foot.
Socks!
They are indeed the same size, and I did not run out of yarn.
I had exactly four yards leftover. Now that was a close one!
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