Buttermilk ice cream base with peaches sauteed in whiskey, brown sugar and vanilla, and graham cracker crumbles
Ice cream season
April 21st, 2012
Bean cake
April 18th, 2012
You know those recipes where people sneak extra veggies into unexpected places? Like black beans in brownies or spice cookies with sweet potatoes?
Well, this one from Joy the Baker has WHITE BEANS in a bundt cake! It’s pretty good. I didn’t want to fuss with the meringue frosting suggested in the original recipe, so instead I mixed shortening, butter, sugar, vanilla and milk and called it a day.
What’s the downside of putting beans in a cake? Your husband may justify eating large portions by arguing that it counts as “protein” and “fiber.”
Spring in the city
April 8th, 2012
Every spring, without fail, I see plants begin to bloom and nature taking its course, and I have the same thought: I should have plants! I should totally grow something!
By the end of the summer, I’ve managed to kill all manner of plants: tomatoes in buckets, herbs on the windowsill, flowers planted in hanging baskets, ferns on the back porch… I’ve killed some cacti along the way, too.
You know where this is going, right?
It’s spring in Chicago (earlier and lovelier than any spring yet in my five years here), and things are blossoming everywhere. That tree-that-smells-like-ass-but-looks-pretty bloomed really early, and I passed a grove of them every day on my way to work. Tulips were sprouting (and beautiful) weeks before Easter. There’s a lovely bush down the street from me that has fragrant white clusters dangling, and I catch floral whiffs every time I pass while walking the muppet-dog.
The thought appeared again: PLANTS! This year, I will keep them alive!
What can I say? I’m an eternal optimist about my own gardening skills. The Hubbs and I had a rare day off together and explored the local garden shop, where I selected a few victims: tiny succulents too irresistible to leave alone.
The Hubbs is in charge of watering them, to minimize the chance of my murderous past resurfacing. Wish those little guys luck! They’ll need it in this house.
Plants from Sprout Home
Pots/jars/planters scavenged from our basement storage unit
Don’t mess with…
February 25th, 2012
Texas. The Lone Star State. Birthplace of the Alamo, lots of longhorn cattle, cacti and armadillo. But also: the home of Rothko Chapel, Tex-Mex food, Blue Bell ice cream, and Skinny’s Ballroom.
What better way to reunite with college roommates than with good food, beer, music and exploration in Houston and Austin (home of one of the largest colleges in the U.S., University of Texas)?
Gratuitous cat photos
January 22nd, 2012
I should probably apologize for posting photos of my cat. Because, hi? Cat photos? What kind of intellectual am I? Also, it’s really solidifying (EVEN more!) my status as an old lady inside.
But you know, she’s a good-lookin’ cat. She really is. Handsome. Camera-ready.
For a long time, I told myself that I wasn’t a cat person. But I can’t resist her charms.
Moonrise Kingdom
January 15th, 2012“What kind of bird are you?”
(Trailer on YouTube here, if that embedded video isn’t working for you.)
Joanie’s recipe book: Muzzy’s chili sauce
January 14th, 2012
This is the third in a series of recipes shared by my grandmother Joanie.
My great-grandmother (my grandfather’s mom) was known as Muzzy. Her full name was Orpha Marie Campbell Wilder, and I think her peers knew her as Marie. But when she had her first grandkids, they struggled with saying “Grandmother” — and thus “Muzzy” became her name. Today, I’m sharing her chili sauce recipe, a relish-like blend of spices and veggies that will make your kitchen fragrant and your meals flavored with Midwestern comfort. The photo above is Muzzy as a young woman. Look at her, rocking the skinny tie with a skirt!
First snowfall cookies
January 1st, 2012
I could see a dusting of snow on my deck as I put together these sweets, so I’ve re-dubbed them “first snowfall cookies.” It was, after all, the first powder of 2012. The recipe calls them Lemony Cream Cheese Cookies, and I can enthusiastically recommend them. They’re what you’d get if you managed to get the flavor of cheesecake into portable cookie form.
Happy New Year!
January 1st, 2012
We had a silly, glowing, bubbly night. Let’s hope all of that carries into 2012.
Thankful*
November 27th, 2011
… for friends crowded around cafe tables, with full bellies, laughter and pie. My family may be hundreds of miles away, and I miss them on the holidays, but I take comfort knowing I have wonderful people nearby to call my friends.
… for baked apples stuffed with brown sugar, pecans, and butter, and topped with a dollop of Greek yogurt. If you find yourself tired of just eating apples plain (there’s only so many crunchy, tart apples I can eat in a week), this would be a good breakfast, snack or dessert. I cored a couple honeycrisps, stuffed the middle with a bunch of stuff and baked until the apples were soft. I topped with a yogurt and scraped the syrupy, nutty overflow from the bottom of the pan as a little extra flavor.
… for four-day weekends. Ah, leisure! Time enough to shop and bake, work out, write, read and watch “Storage Wars” (cough, now available on Netflix). And time to blog, too. Happy Sunday! I think I deserve a few more hours of reality television before my week begins.
*Sure, I’m late to the game with this theme. Sue me.
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