Hooray for pretzels, fresh from the oven. Hooray.
Even if you’re no expert at twisting them into perfect pretzel bows–and you’ll see from the pictures that I am no expert–the flavor and texture will not suffer. You may have to tell your guests what you’re serving, though.
Filed under snacks
Fresh bread doesn’t stay fresh long, but it doesn’t need to go to waste. Why not make breadcrumbs?
Filed under basics
I recently went blueberry picking and returned with 25 pounds of my favorite fruit. A bit daunting, even for this blueberry lover. So into the freezer they had to go.
This is a very simple process, and it keeps the blueberries in great condition. It makes me wonder what happens to the commercially frozen blueberries that makes them look so mangled.
Filed under preserving
This dinner had no business being so tasty. It was just a vehicle for using up some food–chicken that had been marinating for over a day, homemade fresh salsa, a chunk of brie. But this was good enough to make again on purpose.
Filed under dinner
I am thankful for long summer days, baseball, and chocolate espresso brownies. Especially these chocolate espresso brownies.
Many people have mixed feelings about Mark Bittman, but I sometimes turn to him for simple, classic recipes. I also like that he offers suggestions for altering recipes–in fact, the addition of espresso in this recipe is one of his “Eight Simple Ideas for Brownies” in How to Cook Everything.
Filed under dessert
Focaccia is a perfect project for a day that you need to spend at home. The total amount of time you spend working with the dough isn’t too bad, but you do need to give it frequent attention. Start at least 7 hours before you’d like to take the bread out of the oven.
Filed under lunch
July has sent me running from the kitchen. Almost. It’s awfully hot here in Washington, DC, so what could be better than a cool salad covered in fresh heirloom tomatoes and homemade dressing. Not much, it turns out. Here’s my take on Emeril’s recipe.
Filed under Uncategorized
I’m a little old for a coming-of-age story, but my quest for the perfect blueberry muffin recipe resulted in a big leap toward full-fledged adulthood for this 26-year-old. This was the first time I actively cast off a treasured family recipe in search of something better.
I hadn’t been able to find that old recipe in my book, so of course I only came to crave those muffins more. When, last month, I finally got that recipe from my mother, I was terribly disappointed. The muffins were delicious right out of the oven, but turned dry just hours later.
I complained to my father, who said that he had developed the perfect recipe. I eagerly tried it, but found it to be very ordinary (though a big improvement over the old muffins).
And then I did something I had never done before: I found a recipe that put the family recipe to shame, and I became a real adult. Or something.
King Arthur Flour saved the day with a pure stroke of genius: a 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract. Unbelievable.
Filed under breakfast
