If Baking Was Like Dating

Hi, I'm peanut butter frosting.  Some dig my flavor, and most can't live without me.  I'm sweet and salty, and oh so creamy.  But I'm looking for a better half.  I've tried vanilla, but when we're together its flavor is so cloying.  I crave a dynamic taste to really make me swirl and enjoy life at the top.  If you're fresh, and cool, I'd love to top off your evening with my charm.

Well, hello there.  I think I have the flavor you crave.  I'm very rich, too.  Many icings say I'm the only cake for them, but I just "choc" that up to frosting's high opinion of itself.  Aren't all the flavors the same - thinking it's all about being at the top?  Just why, then - when we're together - are we called a cupcake?  I don't see the words frosting or icing in there.  If you're whipped up in a frenzy, and want a place to settle down, then I'm your mate.  I add depth of flavor to anyone who can pay me a compliment.  Might that be you?

Hubba, hubba.  Look who's at the party.  Everyone's talking about how these two met up - on this blog.  It's where all the ingredients for love are totally sweet on each other!

We know what's for dessert, but who's paying the tab?

Whoopie!

Look what I did.  It was the kids' first Friday of the school year.  If it's Friday, during the school year, it's SnacKlub.  Each kid brings home whomever they like (11 kids in my little house this past week), and I have a new treat waiting for them all.  I can't believe it, but this is our third year of SnacKlub!  Where does the time go?
So, for this year's first SnacKlub, the treat was: Banana Caramel Whoopie Pies.  Here's the link from a fave blog of mine, Annie's Eats.  I have a lot of faves, I know.  These were easy as, well, pie!  I used a different filling.  I whipped together 2 sticks of softened butter, with 12 oz of softened cream cheese.  Then I added, a little at a time, 4 and a half cups of powdered sugar.  Finally, I whipped in Annie's caramel sauce - the half cup she calls for.  Now, when making the caramel sauce (I did it the day before), just watch that sugar.  As soon as it's amber-colored, you should turn off the heat, even if there are little flecks of unmelted sugar.  I'm telling you, if you really stir it until there are no more flecks, you'll burn the sugar, and then your caramel sauce will lose that desired, deep sweetness, and you'll have to make believe you wanted it that way by calling it burnt sugar sauce.  And who wants to make believe?  Get real, and make these.  The sweetness of the banana comes right to the edges of the "cookie" halves and almost crunches on your teeth.  That, mixed with the cream cheese filling - oh my dear, I'm faint with love.
Enjoy.

Let's Jam

How do you turn these beauties . . .

. . . into this pot of gold?

Of course I will share.  Too delicious not to.

Put 1 and 1/3 cups of sugar in a pot (An enameled cast iron, like this one - my fave Le Creuset pot - is good.).  Add 1/4 cup of water.  Bring to a boil, and as it bubbles, look for it to turn clear.  Once you see this clear syrup-y stage, add the fresh apricots - which you've halved, and pitted.  You'll need about 2 lbs of apricots (before pitting).  Stir occasionally, and sort of mush them with your spatula or spoon.  I don't recommend using a wood spoon, as the hot sugar liquid will pull flavor from it.  I used a silicone spatula.  Keep stirring and smooshing over a low flame for about 30 - 45 minutes.  The last 5 minutes of simmering, add 2 tbps of lemon juice.  Let cool for a few minutes before placing into your canning jars.  I filled 3 half-pint-size jars full to the rim, and a half of one for me.  Just for me!

If you can't make this, sell your kitchen.

We're all looking for easy, fresh, and healthful.  And why are we so amazed when we find it?  Are we still not over Julia Child?  Do we think cooking dinner means using every dish and pot in the cabinets?  No, no, no.  Easy lives and breathes.  Easy is waiting for us to stop running up and down the aisles in Trader Joe's and Stop and Shop - on the SAME day!  Easy does not think very highly of reduced sauces, or braised anything.  Easy is this dish.

Now, close your eyes, and recite the ingredients.  You've just seen them.  You can do it.  Eggs, basil, cherry tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella.  Oh - and I poured a little half and half on top, to keep the eggs from burning.  That is it my friends. 

Spray some Pam in the pan, then tumble your cubed cheese in there, along with the basil chiffonade, and the halved tomatoes.  Now, make some "wells" for the eggs (I made 8, and used a 9x13 pan), and crack them in there.  Pour about a half cup of half and half on top, sprinkle with kosher salt and pepper, and put in a 350-degree oven for about 15 mins.  Then put under the broiler for about 3 minutes. 

You're welcome.

The Pickle Post

In our farm share last week, is it any surprise that we got over a dozen cucumbers?  Of course not.  This is their season.  And I was waiting.  I wanted a whole lotta cukes, because I had plans.  Pickles!  So easy, and so give-able (you know I'm a food pusher).  Plus, pickles are a great way to pucker up to the heat of the summer.  You can't sweat when you eat a pickle.  If it's sour enough, all your pores will pucker! 

Here's what I did:

Quarter your cukes, and slice them so they'll fit in your Bell jars (I got a dozen for $12 at my local hardware store).  In each jar (Guess how many you can fill with your quartered cukes - I filled 6 pint-sized jars with about 10 cukes.), place a few sprigs of fresh dill, and one fat garlic clove, sliced.  In a medium saucepan, bring to a boil the following: 2 cups of cider vinegar, 1 1/4 cup water, 2 tbsp sugar, 1 tbsp kosher salt.  Boil for 2 mins.  Pour the hot liquid right on top of your cukes all tucked in tightly their jars.  Fill each jar to the tippy top.  Seal.  Cool on the counter for about a half hour, then refrigerate for at least 24 hours before crunching. 

Full Swing

Yellow plums and juicy, sweet cherries were among the shares we got this week. 

Zucchini, squash, and eggplant.  I immediately grilled these and then served them cold with grilled chicken, later in the day.  The beets, I cut up like matchsticks and added to salad.  Yum.

These beans, above and below, were delicious lightly steamed.  After cooking though, the purple ones were no longer purple!  They looked the same as the green ones.  So strange. 

Can't resist the pesto.  I took all the basil we got and made a batch.  So good, in every way.

Iced Coffee, Redux

If you start your morning with this,

it's going to be a great day - guaranteed. 

I learned a little about making amazing iced coffee.  How?  My friend Lisi posted this on her blog, and so I followed her link and went here.  Follow the instructions, and you will have the perfect coffee with which to make the best summertime treat ever.  Even my 10-year-old daughter clamors for this.  No more watered-down, diluted coffee taste for me.  The sweetened condensed milk should not be omitted.  Go for it.  This is possibly one of the best finds ever. 

Enjoy!