Move Over Dough Boy

Last weeks post inspired me to revisit an old favorite from the Simply in Season cookbook. I realize that so far all of my posts indulge the carbohydrate lover in me (at least most of the grains are whole - nutrition major guilt coming out?). Regardless, I'm in a baking groove and I think I'll just go with it.

Top 5

Happy Sunday (day after World Nutella Day: http://www.nutelladay.com/)!

English Muffins with a Twist!

What perfect timing! We got a decent accumulation of snow last night and the consensus around these parts this morning was to stay home and bask in the peace of this snow day.  It also happens that today was the day that I wanted to try out my sourdough English muffin recipe. And since there was a foot of snow outside, I figured that staying in and baking was in order (xc skiing and birthday dinner with Em Hill at Soup Spoon are also on the list!).  Oh, and I'm also working on my IRB training renewal today (has it really been two years already?!).

The process for this sourdough started a week ago on 1/26. I mixed up the starter (flour, water, yeast, honey) and set it out on the counter to ferment. Every morning I stirred it up to mix in the liquid that had separated. By the fifth day, the mixture had taken on an almost sweet, yeasty, beer like smell.  I figured this was a good sign.

The Perfect Pancake

From Sunday, January 30, 2011

Last week's recipe yielded 6 delicious (and a bit gooey) cardamom scented pancakes. Over the course of the week I realized how handy leftover pancakes really are. I took a pancake with me to work every morning, tossed it in our office toaster oven, and had a hearty homemade breakfast on campus by 8 am.  Perfect. So I decided that this week I would make pancakes again, A LOT of pancakes.  Considering the time investment of making the mother load batch, I decided to stick to a tried and true recipe, one that I knew would not disappoint.

The first time I made this recipe, I was living on a farm in northern Minnesota. The mornings were early and cold - and we had plenty of winter squash on hand. So, naturally I started experimenting with winter squash recipes: winter squash ravioli, winter squash soup, winter squash bars, and the list goes on.  This creation is one of my favorites from that fall.

Also, on a side note, I used the immersion blender that dad and Beth got me for Christmas for the first time today. I LOVE it!  Perfect for puréeing squash. 

When it's 3° F out, there's only one thing to do: MAKE PANCAKES!

From Sunday, January 23, 2011.

Well, I didn't get to breakfast for dinner this week but I suppose breakfast for breakfast is a close second. After spending the past 5 days transcribing interviews for my thesis to the point of finger cramping and typing failure, I decided that it was time to reward myself.  I was super excited to see a plethora of pancake recipes last week in Mark Bittman's NYT post:  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/19/dining/19mini.html. What got me in even more of a pancake craving frenzy was that there was a recipe for cardamom pancakes!  Cardamom, my friends, is one of my two all time favorite spices (the other one is cumin). Call me a food nerd, geek, foodie, whatever, but, spices make me inexplicably happy.

After receiving some valuable input from Miriam, cherry pie baker extrodinaire, I decided to alter the recipe and use cherries instead of apricots and to use a bit of almond extract instead of the nuts.  

Diagnosis: Delicious (and a bit gooey)!

Getting Started

Hi friends! I've decided to take the plunge and start this thing up. After a short hiatus from my usual kitchen adventures last fall, I've returned and I'm documenting my comeback. I've been posting some of my recent recipes to facebook and I've decided that this page might be a more friendly format. I hope this blog inspires you to get into the kitchen and dive into some cooking adventures of your own!


My first few posts are repeats from my recent facebook notes.  More to come shortly.