"Last week I was shopping in Target, when I was struck by the odd juxtaposition of aisles hung with Halloween costumes and home decorations next to aisles twinkling with displays of Christmas lights. Christmas . . . already? I thought. It wasn't even Halloween yet, and I was already in a position to worry about whether I'd get my Christmas cards out on time.
Leaving Target, I swung by one of the large home-improvement stores, which I dread entering because my presence there almost always indicates that something in my house is broken. Or we are undertaking a project during the course of which something will be broken. In this case, I needed to replace a ceiling lamp whose switch mechanism had broken ~ not too bad ~ so I marched in with the confidence born of knowing exactly what I needed and where to find it. But I was stuck in my steps a few feet after entering. Both sides of the entryway were lined with Christmas decorations. A few feet after that, snowblowers sat, huge and menacing. It was nearly 65 degrees out and I'd yet to purchase my Halloween candy. What happened to November?"
On November 1, she gave thanks for heat, light, and hot water and resolved, for the rest of the month to give thanks not for "big-ticket items" but for the unsung blessings, the things she is grateful for but never really receive the shout-outs they deserve.
Now in 2009, Sandy has given thanks for music, cutlery, teachers and people who take time. It's a fascinating series, lyrical to read, some times amusing, always thoughtfu.
FOOD BLOGGERS ARE THANKFUL FOR ...
Appetite ~ Kale & Lentil Stew
"... [by] this time next week, I’ll be feeling bloated and completely disgusted with myself from my Thanksgiving gluttony, but at the same time, I’ll be thankful for my loving family, dear friends and you. I’m very thankful for this blog but it wouldn’t be nearly as fulfilling if it weren’t for you. Have a wonderful Holiday and thanks for reading!"
Julie Godar on BlogHer ~ Five Thanksgiving Dishes I'm Very Very Thankful For
"'Kayso, I got a little snarky yesterday with my 5 Dishes I Wouldn't Feed a Dog (but Do Eat to Be Polite on Thanksgiving). Today, the flip side: Thanksgiving foods I dream about as soon as the air turns crisp ..."
Cooking with Friends ~ Thankful for the Open Kitchen
"So as I hunt and gather this week for Thanksgiving, I am thankful that I will soon have a house full of people to help in whatever way they’d like, to appreciate the food, and to share in the joy of this holiday. Even the kids will be involved--they will roll dough with their Junior Sil-Pin rolling pins (just like mom’s but smaller), and of course taste test the cranberry sauce many times. Happy Thanksgiving to you! "
Tea & Cookies ~ How to Buy a Knife & Keep It Sharp
"But seriously, folks: get your knives sharpened before all the big holiday cooking fest. It’s something I am thankful for, every year."
And you?
What are you thankful for? How do you put 'thanks' into your Thanksgiving?
BlogHer food editor Alanna Kellogg is thankful for the World's Best Green Bean Casserole and someday, maybe, she'll even share why. This year, she'll make a double batch.
]]>Since 2007, Ree Drummond aka The Pioneer Woman has penned (pixeled?) the love story From High Heels to Tractor Wheels, the story of how Ree "went from spoiled city girl to domestic ranch wife in the blink of an eye" that now stretches to Confessions, Cooking, Photography, Home & Garden, Home Schooling and the brand-new community recipe site, Tasty Kitchen.
She wows us with cute punks and close-ups of cattle.
She connects to us with breezy, conversational style, like talking to our sisters, teasing and in tune.
Oh yeah. And she's got a cookbook, too, The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl.
Oh. And her cookbook just happens to have rocketed to the top of the NYTimes book list. And is #22 on Amazon's best-selling books today.
Oh. And she's doing a national book tour that has hundreds -- HUNDREDS -- showing up to stand in line for hours just for the chance to say hello in person, have a picture taken and get an autographed copy of Ree's cookbook.
(Take THAT, celebrity chefs.)
So maybe the real love story here is the affection shared by Ree and her readers? Just look what women bloggers say.
From Kansas City, My Cozy Booknook ~ Pioneer Woman in Person
"Last night I had the opportunity to go to an autograph signing of the Pioneer Woman's new cookbook. What?! You have never heard of the Pioneer Woman? Well, you simply must check out her website if you are unfamiliar with this blogging phenomenon. She is incredibly witty, offers great family-tested recipes (complete with step-by-step photo demonstrations), gives amazing photo shop tutorials (which I have yet to complete but have on my list to-do before I die), sponsors stupendous prize give-aways (like 5 qt KitchenAid mixers and Nikon 35mm cameras), homeschools 4 youngun's and assists her Marlboro Man on the cattle ranch in the middle of nowhere Oklahoma. I think she might be Super Woman in disguise!"
From Little Rock, The Good Life ~ Pioneer Woman Comes to Town!!!!
"Yippee I can hardly wait. Monday at 6:00 PM I will be in line to have my very own copy of "The Pioneer Woman Cooks" autographed by the first blogger I fell in love with. I was hooked on Pioneer Woman from the first bite of her lasagna....If you haven't tried it you really must. I love every recipe of PW's that I have made. I mean I can't say that about anyone else or any cookbook. And to think, I get to meet her tomorrow!!!!"
From Phoenix, Out of Debt Again ~ I Got to Meet Pioneer Woman Last Night
"I have been reading Pioneer Woman’s blog for over two years and when I saw that she was coming to Arizona I felt like I’d won a prize!! I sometimes don’t enter her contests because she has SOOOOO many faithful readers and so many thousands of comments. I have never been to a book signing in my life, but I knew I was going to this one!!"
From Salt Lake City, Food Finery ~ Pioneer Woman Visits Salt Lake City
"We were finally let into the gallery at 6:50PM and thrilled to be in the front row! The gallery was packed and busting at it's seams. Wall to wall women (with a few men sprinkled throughout) squeezing in as tightly as they could to hear this "accidental country girl" talk. Ree arrived and that room came alive! Women were whistling and screaming like mad! It was kind of funny but I am sure Ree is honored to have such a warm response from her readers. She spoke about 25 minutes, answered questions, told jokes, did impressions and entertained the crowd beautifully. She is a real jewel. She is sweet and confident but not in a self righteous, proud way... she is humble and gracious. I am in love with her cookbook (which made #1 on the New York Times Best seller's List! Woo-Hoo!... well deserved), I think she is a smart woman, a loving wife, a caring mother and a very down to earth fun person! I thoroughly enjoyed everything about her that night."
From Denver, Simply Undecided ~ Ree Drummond: Pioneer Woman
"From what I could hear from where I was at, Ree was soft spoken and very gracious. One woman posted she was just as sweet at 1am as she was at 7:30pm. She took lots of time with each person to sign their book, take pictures and visit with them. I can't imagine how exhausted she must have been last night."
And so the stories go, one after the other as Ree steps off the ranch into the community that embraces her like a long-lost friend.
My own favorite story about Ree is told by Lyn from the ever-so-insightful blog about living with and overcoming weight issues, Escape from Obesity. She'd just discovered The Pioneer Woman website.
December 15, 2008 "Today I surfed around and read various blogs, and I came across this one that I'd never seen before I sat and read this blog on and off today and I thought, "Wow. This woman really has a wonderful life. All the pictures are amazing. Look at her handsome, rugged husband who works hard and loves her and their children. What beautiful kids living such an idyllic life. And she is an amazing person with a near-perfect family and she isn't fat..." and I ended up getting upset. Jealous, maybe. I wanted that life!! I wanted to find a man who would sweep me off my feet and adore me, and make gorgeous babies with him, and watch him teach them how to live and enjoy life. I wanted to just be a mom and a wife and love my family out in the country somewhere, watching my kids grow up happy and raising them with their father. I wanted to grow old together with my best friend and laugh on the front porch together with grandbabies on our knees. I wanted it, and it is damned unfair that I got this life where I have been lonely and struggling most of the time, with men who broke my heart."
Read more about Acceptance
The very next day, Lyn updated her site again.
"Last night I slept fitfully, and this morning I woke up in a mental haze. I made my cup of tea and sat down to read my email, which I do every morning as I wake up. Through my bleary eyes I clicked to my mailbox, and the very first thing I saw was an email from.... Pioneer Woman! Yes, Ree from the Pioneer Woman blog which I mentioned yesterday dropped me a line! I was pretty surprised, but I guess she saw the links coming in from here and came over to see what was up. And let me just say, she sent me the nicest, most sincere email letting me know her life is *not perfect* and that she didn't want me to feel bad. She sent well wishes and really it was quite a nice personal email that put me in a much better frame of mind this morning. So although I already wrote her back and thanked her, I want to say it here, too: Thanks, Pioneer Woman. You're a class act!"
Read more about Forging Onward
And you?
And you, what's your favorite story about The Pioneer Woman? Have you met her on her book tour, have you cooked one of her recipes? Tell us all about it (or leave a link to a post or recipe) in the comments!
BlogHer food editor Alanna Kellogg loves that Ree calls the food blog community her 'crowd' and hopes that St. Louis and the St. Louis food bloggers give her a warm welcome tonight.
]]>Homemade? Ha. It seems that 'warming' a pie counts. So does buying frozen pies and baking them in the kitchen. Canned fruit counts. So does custard from a box. In four months, I've come across place after place that sells 'homemade' pie that isn't actually homemade. In four months, I've found only one slice worth eating, at an upscale spot in Jackson, Wyoming. The pastry chef was so thrilled that someone actually appreciated his pie, crust and filling both, he visited our table.
So I'm on a mission, challenging all cooks to make homemade pie, just once, between now and the end of the year. No time like the present, yes? so let's start with Thanksgiving pies, some of the easiest pies ever to make. Will you take the challenge?
I've collected some recipes especially geared to new pie bakers.
PIE CRUST
Homemade or store-bought? That's the first question and while I'm biased to homemade pie crust, not everyone's up for that. I've had great luck with Pillsbury pie crusts. They come two to a box in the refrigerated section and are all rolled out. I do have one tip to improve them, however. Let warm according to the instructions, then roll out the pie crust so the dough is a little thinner. It'll still be easy-easy to handle and you can slice off the excess (saving a few calories) and the crust will be thinner and much more edible. Some times I sprinkle a little sugar on the dough before rolling it out, that adds a little something too.
But. If the challenge is homemade pie, then the place to start is the crust. Does a no-roll crust count? You bet. A graham cracker crust? Sure, just make it at home!
My own advice? Watch for recipes that maybe don't look Martha Stewart-perfect because chances are, they're all-butter crusts and all-butter crusts are for tarts, not pies. (Yes, I know that reasonable people disagree on this point. Just remember, though, that I've been making a study of pie crust since age 16!) This means a crust that includes lard (yes, lard) or shortening or better still, a mix of shortening and butter both, shortening for tenderness and butter for flavor. Here are some homemade pastry recipe that caught my eye, especially for beginners, especially for nervous beginners who want to be pie-baking stars.
For the Love of Cooking ~ Pumpkin Pie with Homemade Crust
"I wanted to make homemade pie crust this year so I decided to use Ina Garten's pie crust recipe. She makes the best pastries and desserts so I knew her crust would be excellent. It was simple to make and took very little time. This pie turned out amazing. The crust was so flaky and delicious."
Joy the Baker ~ Easy No-Roll Pie Cruts
"I’ve come up with the pie crust recipe of your dreams. Seriously. Fluff the ingredients in a bowl, throw in some moisture, then press the dough directly into your pie pan. No chilling. No rolling. No stress. I’m looking out for you."
Andrea's Recipes ~ Whole Wheat Pie Dough
"The texture is quite different from the standard all-purpose flour pie dough, not light and flaky, a little hearty but not chewy. The baking powder offers a little lift to the crust and keeps it from being too heavy. The flavor is bold and unmistakably whole wheat, though the addition of orange juice and buttermilk powder softens the edgy flavor somewhat."
APPLE PIES
Rice and Spice ~ Apple-Gruyère Pie
"I borrowed the idea of grating Gruyère into the crust. ... the Gruyère is a stroke of genius. Imagine a perfectly flaky, tender pie crust flavored with the salty piquancy of Gruyère, like a cross between a pie crust and a gougère. Unlike the cheddar traditionally used in pie crusts, Gruyère doesn’t turn oily and leathery when melted and cooled, but instead takes the texture of the surrounding flour. The crust holds between your teeth for just a moment, then shatters delicately into the juicy apple filling. And those apples! So juicy and fresh, they tasted like they had been picked that morning."
Noble Pig ~ Upside Down Apple Pie
"This pie is absolutely fantastic and after the hubby and I ate our share, we both agreed we prefer this apple pie to regular apple pie any day. That shocked me, but it's that good. The flavor is out of control gooey, cinnamony and just overall out of this world. "
PUMPKIN PIES
The Bitten Word ~ Triple-Chocolate Pumpkin Pie
"This pie is a smooth, creamy treat. And the chocolate and flavors actually play off each other extremely well. The pumpkin taste doesn't compete, really. It just adds an amazing depth to the chocolate flavor -- almost an earthy, husky, semisweet taste that balances the chocolate and keeps it from being too sweet."
Bitchin Camero ~ Pumpkin Mascarpone Pie with Gingersnap Crust
And you?
And you, is homemade pie part of your Thanksgiving plan? Leave a recipe or a link to a recipe in the comments!
BlogHer food editor Alanna Kellogg provides details, tips and techniques (and photos!) to help cooks make homemade pies, starting with a flaky, tender pie crust.
]]>"All my life I've thought fruit cake, even my cake-baker mother's, was the nastiest food on the planet. It's dry, it's got GREEN pineapple in it, poisonous maraschino cherries ... , it's dry, it's tasteless, it's dry... well, you get the idea. You've all been tricked into taking a bite of the stuff at least once in your life. And I bet your swore off it too. ... When I started blogging I noticed that all the English bloggers got all excited and into Christmas Cake each October/November and spent the next couple of months "feeding", nurturing, and dreaming out loud of their Christmas cakes. I wondered what this wondrous stuff was. ... ... I always expected fruit cake to be 'cake' and to Americans, cake is light and fluffy. I think it should be called 'Fruit Bread' because, honestly, it's much more of a fruited bread in texture and density than it is a cake ... "
~ read more, plus get the recipe for Glenna's Fruit Bread
Call me a student of fruit cake although sadly, a woman still in search of "the one" recipe to call her own, as Glenna has.
Here are my own tips for making fruit cake, learned over the years.
Glenna and I share warm feelings about fruit cake with other food bloggers and these recipes are on my short list to try this year.
Tanna from My Kitchen in Half Cups uses her mother's recipe for Mom’s Cathedral Window Christmas Fruit Cake and feels nostalgic.
"I remembered my mother’s Christmas signature Cathedral Window Fruit Cake. In our family and friends circle, it was famous for converting fruit cake haters to lovers. ... It seems crazy simple to put together and mix except it is a huge amount of fruit and nuts to mix and I do it by hand to keep the fruit pretty. Healthy fruit, I think that would be stretching things with the amount of sugar here. But it is beyond good and the only fruit cake I’ll ever bake and eat joyfully even if I have a tear in my eye as I mix."
When Meeta from What's for Lunch, Honey? shared the recipe for her family's traditional fruit cake, she outlined its provenance, how it was handed from one woman (yes, woman) to another.
"This fruit cake is one of the recipes that was handed over to my mother by Tante Stephanie. The Dundee fruit cake was a kind of family jewel on Tante Stephanie's Scottish side of the family. Her grandmother, her mother and finally she herself prepared it during the Christmas season, each lady adding her own little touch to the cake. Tante Stephanie showed her true affection for my mother by handing the recipe over to her a year before she passed away. My mother in return paid respect to this great gift by preparing this incredible fruit cake each year in December. She too added her touch to the cake. A few years ago I inherited the recipe from my mother. She showed me how to prepare it and we had a great time in the kitchen talking about the great Tante Stephanie. I have been making this cake every year since then, adding my own note to the fruit cake."
LOOKING FOR A FRUITCAKE SHORTCUT?
A good place to start is with a fruitcake mix from King Arthur flour. Or you might try the fruitcake brownies (scroll down to the bottom of the post) from Dinner with Julie.
And you?
And you, what's your favorite way to make fruit cake? Leave a recipe or a link to a recipe in the comments!
BlogHer food editor Alanna Kellogg better stop obsessing about Thanksgiving menu ideas if she's going to get any fruit cake baked, pronto.
]]>BUTTERNUT SQUASH
Daily Unadventures in Cooking ~ Squash Risotto with Blue Cheese & Crispy Sage
"The crispy sage and the blue cheese melt into the risotto and combine really well with the sweetness of the roasted squash."
Rookie Cookie ~ Butternut Squash with Caramelized Onions & Pancetta
"Last winter, I had a pizza at Pizzeria 712 that was just like this pasta. Butternut squash, rosemary, caramelized onions and bacon. It was super delicious. Ever since then, I have wanted to make a pasta version of it and I pulled it off. In all honesty, this was better than the pizza."
dlyn ~ Butternut Squash Gratin
"There are so many ways to use winter squash, and I never get tired of looking for new ones. The fact that we still have about 40 winter squashes of various types is certainly an influence on my thinking, I’ll admit, but even if I had to buy them, I would still enjoy finding new ways to cook them. For one thing, they are very inexpensive right now, especially as an end of season bargain at Farmer’s Markets and local veggie stands."
BRUSSELS SPROUTS
StephenCooks ~ Shredded Brussels Sprouts with Fresh Herbs
"... this one is pretty much sprouts forward, with complementary onion, carrot, red pepper and fresh herbs to add depth to the flavor."
Gastro-Nomi ~ Green Apple, Brussels Sprouts & Pistachios
"If you were thinking "I want a salad that is fresh, crisp and all shades of green" this is the one for you. Think a crunch, a tang, and a nutty sweetness. It has autumn written all over it."
Nourishing Days ~ Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Pears & Thyme
"I think Brussels sprouts are one of those vegetables that a lot of people don’t like. Or at least they think they don’t like them. ... This is a wonderful fall dish that would be worthy even of a celebration table. And any recipe that can turn the disdained Brussels sprouts into something your husband goes back for thirds on is worth sharing, right?"
CAULIFLOWER
Simply Recipes ~ Pasta with Cauliflower
"It's outrageously good; I've been eating the leftovers for days, which just seem to get better as the flavors have more time to meld."
Lucullian Delights ~ Roasted Cauliflower & Potato Soup
"When I think soup, I get this fairytale vision of a huge iron pot hanging over a fire, lovingly stirred by a woman whose face is lit by the burning fire. A generous soup, that has been simmering for hours and filled with vegetables and maybe a bone here and there. It is such a romanticized view on soup making but I leave it like that. My own soup making is nothing near that vision but the love is there."
A Wee Bit of Cooking ~ Cumin-Roasted Cauliflower
"Nam nam nam. Need I say more?"
POTLUCK
TasteFood ~ Root Vegetable Purée
"As I puréed the steamed vegetables [sweet potatoes, rutabagas, parsnips & turnips], I envisioned doctoring it with all sorts of extra spices, a little grated cheese, maybe even some minced onion. But then I tasted the purée, and was blown away by its soft, sweet, nutty flavor. Mild and delicate, all it needed was salt and pepper and a dollop of sour cream to lighten its texture. For a little autumnal flourish, I topped the purée with fresh sage leaves before baking, so their woody flavor would lightly infuse the vegetables."
Phoo-D ~ Autumn Panzanella
"A big loaf of leftover sourdough inspired me to create an autumn riff on a traditional panzanella (Italian bread salad). I cubed the loaf of bread and then toasted it with a red onion and sweet potato to create the base of the salad. Toasted pepitas added a flavorful nutty crunch, while a big pile of grated Parmesan cheese melted around the warm bread cubes nicely."
Greedy Gourmet ~ Swedeaphobia Cure
"Pumpkins and apples are reigning at the moment but soon they will give way to chestnuts, Brussels sprouts, and array of root vegetables and let’s not forget the swede [rutabaga]. Why does everyone avoid it like the plague? It’s not the most attractive vegetable on this planet but it definitely beats the celeriac in the looks department."
And you?
And you, what's your favorite fall vegetable? Leave a recipe or a link to a recipe in the comments!
BlogHer food editor Alanna Kellogg isn't the 'veggie evangelist' for nothing. At the moment, she's wild for butternut squash, most recently Savory Bread Pudding with Butternut Squash, Chard & Cheddar.
]]>Homemade Soup! There's nothing more satisfying now that the evenings are dark (sooo dark!) and the nights are frosty. Fellow BlogHer editor Kalyn Denny has shared autumn soup recipes and crockpot soup recipes here on BlogHer.
Homemade Bread Learn to make whole-grain bread. Ask your local bakery if they will sell you just-ground whole-wheat flour. (I have great luck at a local Great Harvest.) Buy a big container of yeast at a warehouse store (much much cheaper than purchasing in the individual packets, think the price of Via versus a tub of ground coffee); share half with a friend and freeze the rest, it'll be good for a year or more. Make loaves, large rolls for sandwiches and small rolls for eating with soups and salads.
Plant Fall Bulbs If April showers bring May flowers, November planting brings April flowers. Now's the time to plant spring bulbs, crocus, daffodils, tulips and the like that will bloom come spring. Plant the bulbs in clumps of three or five or seven or nine, always an odd number. Do dig a little compost into the soil before planting. Crazy Sexy Life has plenty of ideas for winterizing your garden.
Honor a Veteran Veteran's Day is Wednesday, November 11. Find a way to honor your favorite veteran. Last year, Nicole from Pinch My Salt and whose husband is in the military, wrote, "Please take a moment to think about the men and women, husbands and wives, sons and daughters that are serving our country today, and those that have served in the past. I wish I could hug my veteran today, but he, like so many of them, doesn’t get to take this holiday."
Friday the 13th Spooky parties needn't be limited to Halloween. Turn bad luck into good luck with a party on Friday the 13th. Check for brain cupcakes could be dessert.
Make Your Own Movie For the least fussy -- but memorable -- Thanksgiving imaginable, on the Wednesday, buy some good bread and roasted turkey. Pack sandwiches and hot apple cider and take a long, long walk. Come home and settle in an overload of Thanksgiving movies like Planes, Trains & Automobiles or Pieces of April or Hannah & Her Sisters or the dark but cerebral The Ice Storm.
Forage No, not for food, but Thanksgiving table decorations. A day or so before Thanksgiving, head out into the great outdoors. Look for leaves, stones, branches and berries to bring home for the table. Alternatively, build your own cornucopia with a basket brimming with apples and pears, pumpkins and squash, red onions and purple-topped turnips. Insert a pillar candle inside a clear vase, fill with cranberries and acorns. There are many more natural table-decoration ideas at Simplified Bee.
Clean Out the Pantry Save up for Thanksgiving, holiday baking and Christmas meals by cleaning out the pantry and the freezer. If you can make a big plan to work them down, otherwise, just do what's working here: reach into the freezer/pantry, take whatever's on top, now cook with it.
Watch for Great Prices on Spices This is the time of year when groceries mark down the prices of spices so it's a good time to stock up. Do an inventory of your spice jars, see which ones are low and restock now.
Plan Ahead It's so easy to slide from Thanksgiving's fuss into Christmas' bustle without hardly a thought. More decorations! More cookies! More presents! More cards! More parties! More shopping! Instead, think about what's really important for you and your family, this year, then block out all else. Consider the book Unplug the Christmas Machine for inspiration.
And you?
And you, what's your favorite fun and healthy food activity this month? Leave an idea, a recipe or a link to a recipe in the comments!
More Ideas?
Food: Ten Healthy Fun Ideas for July
Food: Ten Healthy Fun Ideas for August
Food: Ten Healthy Fun Ideas for September
Food: Ten Healthy Fun Ideas for October
This November, just like last November, BlogHer food editor Alanna Kellogg is obsessed with Thankgiving, planning six different Thanksgiving menus and adding vegetarian entrées to Thanksgiving vegetable recipes.
]]>In part, Day of the Dead (or more accurately, 'Days' of the Dead, since both November 1 and November 2 can be marked) is celebratory because death is believed to be part of the natural circle of life. The belief is that dead souls can more easily visit the living on these days. So families flock to cemeteries to encourage the visits, bearing food and small gifts.
Food writer Cynthia Bertelsen writes:
"November 2 was the day that everyone packed up various mole sauces, tortillas, pozole, candied squash, pan de muertos made into human shapes, tamales, and fresh fruit, and picnicked on top of family graves after scrubbing off lichen, stains, bird droppings, and weeding around the graves. Putting fresh flowers and burning candles on the graves, seeing old friends attending the graves of their loved ones, sharing reminisces, and telling stories. To miss this annual ritual was simply unheard of. We couldn’t do anything else until late afternoon, once we’d visited the cemetery where the grandparents lay under thick slabs of cement, their fading photographs a testimony to the relative shortness and impermanence of earthly life."
Read more about Day of the Dead Food-Laden Altars from Gherkins & Tomatoes
Just this week, Mary from One Perfect Bite featured the most traditional food for Day of the Dead, the bread called Pan de Muerto, the 'bread of the dead'.
"The Aztecs believed that death was a portal to another existence. Oral tradition tells us that the request of the dead before burial is, "Give me bread and sugar to help me on my journey." The bread of the dead, pan de muerto, is made only for the Dia de los Muertos celebration. It is a sweet, egg-rich bread and it can be found throughout Mexico, though its form differs vastly from one region to the next. The bread is supposed to resemble a skull and it is adorned with bones and sometimes tear drops."
Read more about Bread of the Dead - Pan de Muerto at One Perfect Bite
Another traditional food for the Day of the Dead -- if 'sugar' is a food, that is -- is skulls made from sugar, colorful, playful and festive:
"Today's sugar skulls, angels, and other sugar figures were, in bygone years, made of wood and clay. Because wood and clay were so expensive and difficult to work with, artisans searched for materials that not only cost less but were easier to handle. Sugar proved to be ideal."
See photos of handmade sugar skulls at Mexico Cooks.
Heidi Swanson from 101 Cookbooks wrote about how the occasion is marked in the Mission District of San Francisco. Her post features two-layer skull cookies, her take on the traditional sugar skulls.
"This time of year is always my favorite for both cooking and taking pictures. I look forward to the squashes, pears, and apples flooding the markets almost as much as I look forward to the parades, processions, and celebrations that take place around Halloween and Dia de los Muertos. Dia de los Muertos is visually and spiritually stunning and I love to walk to the Mission district to see the procession and view the elaborate alters created in the neighborhood parks."
Get the recipe for Maya's Skull Cookies at 101 Cookbooks
Anne Lossing lives in Guatemala and blogs at Rain Forest Recipes. In 2008, she was gifted by neighbors with a platter of fiambre, a chilled salad traditional for the Day of the Dead.
"Today's dish is Fiambre ... a dish that is famous in Guatemala as the food to serve on November 1st, the Day of the Dead, when all and sundry pack up their gardening tools and paintbrushes, their new plastic flowers, their guitars and their kids and head off to the cemeteries to repair the past year's ravages and party a bit with the departed. ... As all different families brought food to the celebrations, they became mixed, eventually mixing them together to this all-encompassing salad. Ingredients usually include numerous cold cuts and sausages, pickled baby-corn and onion, beets, pacaya flower, string beans, radish, different cheeses, olives, chicken, and sometimes even brussels sprouts or shrimp ... It can take days to make, and like all good traditional dishes, fiambre varies from kitchen to kitchen."
Read more about fiambre at Rain Forest Recipes
And you?
And you, do you mark the Day of the Dead? Tell us your story in the comments!
BlogHer food editor Alanna Kellogg already keeps a private 'shrine' -- just a collection of small kitchen objects, really, in a kitchen window -- representing the many strong women who bless her life. This year, she intends to honor them further with Pan de Muerto, Bread of the Dead, to add to a small collection of celebration breads.
]]>So no surprise, there's a soft spot in my heart for homemade pudding, especially the old classics that require just two words to know exactly what they are: chocolate pudding, lemon pudding, banana and tapioca too. And rice pudding, of course. There may be a hundred ways to make each of these homemade puddings. But do yourself a favor and discover your own pair of pudding words that just might have your children someday remembering your standing at the stove. No apron required.
Recipes? Of course.
CHOCOLATE PUDDING
The Hungry Mouse ~ Sinfully Rich Chocolate Pudding
"When it’s warm, it’s really thick but has a more traditional pudding consistency. When it’s chilled, however…oh, oh, oh!…it almost approximates soft fudge. Or thick chocolate frosting. (Warning: A little goes a long way.)"
Baking Bites ~ Chocolate Mint Pudding
"This pudding is just a little bit of a twist on a simple chocolate pudding recipe ... it is less fussy than some pudding recipes - no tempering of eggs required - and has a slightly lighter texture than some very heavy puddings that load up on egg yolks. It still has a good chocolate flavor ..."
LEMON PUDDING
One Perfect Bite ~ Old-Fashioned Lemon Pudding
"Like most old recipes, this one is simple and quite straight forward. It is tart. ... This is a wonderful, inexpensive family dessert."
Spicy Chilly ~ Lemon Pudding
BANANA PUDDING
Honey & Jam ~ Banana Pudding
"... it doesn’t get any better than home made stove-top pudding. No instant pudding packets should be let near banana pudding, it's just not right. And it’s so easy to make it yourself, you really have no excuse."
My Wooden Spoon ~ Grandma's Homemade Banana Pudding
"This is one food that is requested from family members for me to bring to holiday get-togethers and any other time I can. It’s my grandmother’s recipe for Banana Pudding, from scratch!"
TAPIOCA PUDDING
My Everyday Kitchen ~ Coconut Tapioca Pudding
"...it is DELICIOUS!"
Simply Recipes ~ Tapioca Pudding
"... tapioca pudding is one of those comfort foods that conjures up happy childhood memories. It's actually really easy to make."
RICE PUDDING
Easy and Tasty Food ~ Caramel Rice Pudding in a Crockpot
"f you have leftover rice from Chinese take-out, this slow-cooker rice pudding is a great way to make a tasty, simple dessert."
The Naptime Chef ~ Chocolate Arborio Rice Pudding
"I decided to play with the flavors a little and give this otherwise tried-and-true dish a fresh makeover. Making this during my daughter's naptime was a cinch, especially since it stays well in the fridge for a few days."
Lucullian Delights ~ Rice Pudding with Turmeric & Almonds
"... had a vision of a turmeric rice pudding, intensely yellow and smooth and with a sweet turmeric taste. I used quite a lot of turmeric but you can reduce the amount in order to make the taste subtler if you want."
Healthy. Happy. Life. ~ Vegan Rice Pudding (brown rice & tofu)
"Rice Pudding often gets brushed off as being a bland, raisin-specked 'healthier' dessert. Well when it comes to my vegan Coco-Cinna-Nilla Rice Pudding only one of those is true: it's healthy. But it's also delicious."
And you?
And you, what's your favorite pudding? Leave a recipe or a link to a recipe in the comments!
BlogHer food editor Alanna Kellogg helped devour two batches of tapioca pudding this week (and yes, it's only Tuesday) but right this minute is pining for Light 'n' Easy Chocolate Pudding.
]]>One way I tell? By watching the number of used copies for sale on Amazon -- and the lowest price. The better the cookbook, the fewer the number of used copies for sale and the higher the price for used copies. It's a rough guide but watch it long enough (as I have been since about 2002) and you'll see the pattern. Books that lose their (ahem) flavor number in the hundreds for sale, often for a penny apiece, the cost of shipping alone.
So let's look at two top cookbooks from Deborah Madison and sample recipes from the food bloggers who love them.
VEGETARIAN COOKING FOR EVERYONE, first published in 1997, new copies about $26, used copies starting at $20. This may be a vegetarian cookbook but its promise is that yes, it works for everyone, that the recipes are appealing and substantial for vegetarians, carnivores and flexitarians alike.
A Mingling of Tastes reviewed Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone.
"The recipes offered here are fresh, seasonal, sometimes homey, like the Greens and Grits, and sometimes elegant enough to entertain with like the Dried Porcini and Fresh Mushroom Tart. Many of these meals can be put together quickly, but there are quite a few that involve multiple components, like the Beet and Tomato Ragout with Twice-Baked Goat Cheese Souffles and Baby Bok Choy, and require a bit more planning. I quite like this variety, as well as the fact that some of the recipes will challenge me in the kitchen and teach me new techniques."
The Garden of Eating also reviewed Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone.
"I am not a vegetarian ... However, Deborah Madison's cookbook, Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone is one of my all-time favorite cookbooks. There are a number of reasons why I love this cookbook: ... 1) This woman knows her vegetables, grains, fruits, cheeses, nuts, legumes, etc., etc. She is truly a great cook with a huge breadth of knowledge and it shines through on every page."
The Modern Apron found exactly the right technique for rolling Homemade Egg Pasta in Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone.
"... Deborah Madison came to my rescue. ... I must have checked four cookbooks for basic pasta making recipes, and they were all sources I was positive would have some kind of guidelines, but to no avail. Finally, drawing on the assumption that vegetarians would eat pasta and therefore a vegetarian cookbook could reasonably be expected to have a recipe for homemade pasta in it, I checked “Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone.” Bingo. ... In no time at all I was cranking out pasta like Sophia Loren."
LOCAL FLAVORS, first published in 2002, hardback new copies about $34, used copies starting at $9
Lisa Is Cooking took the chance to talk about Local Flavors when she published the recipe for Greens with Red Beans, Cilantro and Feta.
"Deborah Madison ... visited farmers’ markets all across the US, including Hawaii, to see the differences from place to place. The chapters are, for the most part, organized by season starting with early spring and proceeding through fall. So, the first chapter’s recipes highlight what you’re likely to find at markets at the beginning of the year. There are stories strewn about that tell of Madison’s visits to various markets and the farmers she met. She offers suggestions for substitutions for regional things that might not be found in all areas of the country or that become available at different times. The real goal of the book is to encourage support of local farmers, to explain the value of fresh, local food, and to inspire the home cook to make good and delicious use of locally grown food."
Almost Vegetarian ~ Roasted Peppers and Tomatoes Baked with Herbs and Capers
"This has got to be the most tempting vegetarian recipe I have tripped across in quite some time. And that is saying a lot when you take into account I browse at least one cookbook and all the food magazines I can get my hands on (including old ones) every week."
Je Mange le Ville relied on Local Flavors for the recipe for Corn Fritters with Aged Cheddar Sage.
"Local Flavors ... is a great cookbook to find inspiration from. Especially when you come back from a Farmers Market with a big bag full of farmers stuff."
MORE DEBORAH MADISON COOKBOOK FAVORITES
The Hungry Mouse is a fan of This Can’t Be Tofu!: 75 Recipes to Cook Something You Never Thought You Would – and Love Every Bite by Deborah Madison, including Crunchy Spring Rolls with Tofu Shiitake Mushrooms.
"No lie, it’s the only book about tofu that I own. I bought it years ago when I had a bunch of vegetarian friends and I had no idea how to feed them, and it’s just great."
MomathonBlog.com is a fan of What We Eat When We Eat Alone. Her own solitary food is a large bowl of cereal.
"When I am alone I love a LARGE bowl(s) of cereal. Breakfast, lunch, or dinner---cereal is my favorite."
Tea & Cookies is a fan of The Greens Cookbook including Sorrel Tart.
"I don’t usually post recipes taken from cookbooks, but as this recipe was given to Deborah Madison by Richard Olney, I figure I’m just passing it along as well. It’s really too good not to share."
Still Hungry?
More Deborah Madison Cookbooks
ABOUT COOKING THE BOOKS
Cooking the Books is an occasional series here on BlogHer featuring cookbooks and cookbook authors whose work stands the test of time. Featured earlier:
And you?
And you, what's your favorite Deborah Madison cookbook? Leave a recipe or a link to a recipe in the comments!
BlogHer food editor Alanna Kellogg hangs her head in shame that she's had Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone on hand for a year now and has yet to cook from it. Kitchen Parade's vegetarian and vegan recipes could surely be inspired.
]]>Here are six recipes for fruit butters -- quick, you'll want to make one of each!
APPLE BUTTER
Andrea Myers ~ Oven-Roasted Apple Sauce and Apple Butter
"The recipe is in two parts, so if you want to just make applesauce, simply stop after Part 1. Both the sauce and the butter start the same way, by tossing apple slices with apple cider, maple syrup, and cinnamon sticks in a large roasting pan, then baking for 30 to 45 minutes. The aroma of the cooking apples is intoxicating ..."
The Confused Homemaker ~ Apple Butter in a Crockpot
"Now for the spices. Spices are magical in Fall if you ask me. I cannot explain it, something about the mix of spices makes me think leaves falling & delicious food warming me from the inside out."
PEAR BUTTER
Farmgirl Fare ~ Homemade Low-Sugar Oven-made Pear Butter
"After going through umpteen pounds of pears ... I came to a couple of conclusions. The first is that pears just might be even more versatile than apples. The second is that homemade pear butter is one of the most wonderful things on the planet. It also happens to be extremely easy to make."
Simply Recipes ~ Pear Butter
"I've seen plenty of recipes for pear butter, but most of them look like apple butter to me, heavily spiced with cinnamon and cloves. Pears are more floral than apples. I wanted to see them with ginger, and nutmeg, and maybe some cardamom."
PUMPKIN BUTTER
Angies Pangies ~ Pumpkin Butter
"Now please don’t go running off and tell apple butter. But most importantly, please do not skip this recipe, it is simply to die for."
Smitten Kitchen ~ Pumpkin Butter
"Pumpkin butter is ridiculously easy to make, taking hours less than its tree-ripened cousin, mostly because you can start with puree from a can."
And you?
And you, what's your favorite fruit butter? Leave a recipe or a link to a recipe in the comments!
BlogHer food editor Alanna Kellogg is all dreamy about her sugar-free, sloooow-baked apple butter recipe.
]]>Fall salads? Winter salads? They require a little more thought, a little more planning. Molly Wizenberg explained the effect of change of seasons on her kitchen in a lyrical 2006 post:
"In my kitchen, every climatic change calls for its own signature salad: a sliced one for spring, with endive, cilantro, radishes, and feta; a cooling one for summer, with lime and garlic; and for winter, a festive red cabbage slaw. As for fall, it wants warm flavors, I think: a cool-weather green, some olives, pine nuts, and peppers, and a few homemade croutons rubbed with plenty of garlic." (Read more at Orangette.)
So what exactly makes a fall salad, well, a fall salad? Some ideas:
The ingredients you won't find in fall salads? Asparagus. Artichokes. Tomatoes. Cucumbers? Rare. Peppers? In late summer and early fall, less so now.
These fall salads caught my attention -- if you have a good one, be sure to add it to the comments!
Happy Herbivore ~ Raw Apple and Fennel Salad
"It’s a lovely Fall salad and great for anyone trying raw fennel root for the first time (ugh hem, me!)."
Supermarket Serenade ~ Apple, Fennel, Walnut and Pomegranate Salad with White Pepper Parmesan Vinaigrette
"At the risk of sounding too superlative this is the ultimate fall salad. The crispness of the apples combined with the anise flavor of the fennel is perfectly complemented by the tartness of the pomegranate. I recommend using Cortland apples because they stay white longer than most apples and they are a perfect texture for salads."
Vegan Feast Kitchen ~ Chard & Apple Salad with Maple-Braised Butternut Squash & Raspberry Balsamic Vinaigrette
"I wanted to use our chard and a nice local butternut squash that I had, and I needed a salad, so this is what I came up with. It was super-delicious and a big hit!"
Bon Vivant ~ Spiced Pumpkin Lentil Salad
"A bite of this gorgeous salad just screams ‘Fall is here!’ with the soft and thick cubes of pumpkin (or butternut squash, which I used), marrying with the tender bite of the lentils and a creamy, tangy after taste from the goat cheese. There is a slight heat from the paprika, just enough to balance out the cool arugula but not too much to overpower the palate."
The Kitchn ~ Rainbow Chard Salad with Raisins and Walnuts
"Chard's slight bitterness needs a little sweetness, so we shook up a dressing with orange juice, red wine, olive oil, and a touch of brown sugar and tossed it all with raisins and roasted walnuts, fresh from the oven. The warmth from the walnuts wilts the salad just enough, and the sweet, bitter, and toasty blend into a salad that delighted us with its fall colors and warm tastes."
More Than Burnt Toast ~ Orchard Apple Salad
"In my cupboard I had walnuts, apple cider vinegar, olive and grapeseed oils, Dijon mustard, dried rosemary and parsley, dried cranberries and blueberries. To use my friend Giz's words, "'he results were nothing short of magical."
And you?
And you, what's your favorite fall salad combination? Leave an idea -- or a recipe or a link to a recipe -- in the comments!
BlogHer food editor Alanna Kellogg favorite fall salad is her Wild Rice Salad.
]]>Straight out of the pumpkin, inspect a pumpkin seed and the first thing you'll encounter is the white-ish exterior hull. The hull is tough and fibrous, not inedible, but, well, chewy. Inside is the coveted kernel, pale green and full of nutrition. (Can't imagine that? Then consider the more familiar sunflower seed, with a tough outer hull protecting an inner kernel. Same thing.)
]]>Straight out of the pumpkin, inspect a pumpkin seed and the first thing you'll encounter is the white-ish exterior hull. The hull is tough and fibrous, not inedible, but, well, chewy. Inside is the coveted kernel, pale green and full of nutrition. (Can't imagine that? Then consider the more familiar sunflower seed, with a tough outer hull protecting an inner kernel. Same thing.)
In Mexican cooking, pumpkin seeds are called 'pepitas' [puh-PEE-tahs] and a Mexican market is a great source of prepared pumpkin seeds, both with their hulls on and my own favorite, just the kernels.
First up, you do want to try roasting pumpkin seeds.
Andrea's Recipes ~ Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
"We roast our seeds without preboiling, and our favorite flavors are cajun seasoning or curry powder and sea salt. Using spray oil was something new I tried this year, and I really like how it worked. Nice and neat, and not too oily."
But then, get creative.
An appetizer made with pumpkin seeds, perhaps?
101 Cookbooks ~ Broiled Goat Cheese with Pumpkin Seed Sauce
"The tanginess of the goat cheese works nicely with the bite of jalapeno, and strength of cilantro. It's a great party recipe, you can make it well ahead of time and bake it off at the last minute."
Seeds can be the basis of a main dish too.
Red Ramekin ~ New World Quinoa Salad
"... the pepitas: they add an amazingly delicious crunch to this salad ... they look so pretty, and add another dimension (in flavor and texture) to the dish. Enjoy!"
Baking and Books ~ Spaghetti Squash with Pumpkin Seed Pesto
"... this meal is surprisingly satisfying and delicious – who knew squash on squash could taste so good? In the absence of cheese, which is usually added to pestos, the pumpkin seeds add an earthy, nutty flavor that is nicely complimented by the sweetness of the basil. The spaghetti squash has both texture and a subtle flavor, just enough to enhance the pesto."
I love to tuck seeds into breads, adding texture, protein and variety.
Wild Yeast Blog ~ Pumpkin Seed Bread "This pumpkin seed bread is soft, although it contains 67% whole-grain flour, because it also has a fair amount of butter — very nice for sandwiches and toast."
The Passionate Cook ~ Sourdough Bread with Carrots, Linseeds & Pumpkin Seeds
"... works equally well as a round "free-style" loaf as well as baked in a loaf tin"
Oh right. And the sweet stuff, you knew we'd get to pumpkin seeds in baked goods, didn't you? Right!
Apple Pie, Patis & Pate ~ Pumpkin Seed Cream Scones
"Cream-based scones are as quick and easy as scones can get. This recipe requires nothing more than cream and any combination of dried fruits and nuts of your choice."
Alpine Berry ~ Poppy Pumpkin Seed Poppers
"I didn't quite know what to call these cookies. I started with a recipe for Russian tea cakes / Mexican wedding cookies, but filled them with a combination of toasted pumpkin seeds (aka pepitas) and poppy seeds. The name for these little treats came to me when the head honcho at work admitted that he couldn't stop popping them into his mouth."
And you?
And you, what's your favorite thing to do with pumpkin seeds? Leave a recipe or a link to a recipe in the comments!
BlogHer food editor Alanna Kellogg loves to top her family's Thanksgiving favorite Squash Puff with hulled and toasted pepitas.
]]>Ever since, sadness -- there's no other word -- has poured out as food bloggers mourn the magazine's passing.
~ read more at Veggie Girl, Gratitude for Gourmet
~ read more from Sarah Caron at Sarah's Cucina Bella, Goodbye, Gourmet
The Kitchen Sink Recipes ~ Bucatini Carbonara
"Inspired by this Gourmet (sniff) recipe."
Pinch ~ Gasp! Gourmet Bites the Big One
"Oh Gourmet! You were nearly 70 and I was just starting to love you!"
Is Conde Nast surprised at the reaction? "Please be advised that Gourmet magazine will cease publication after the November issue," reads the stark notice on Gourmet.com. Did Conde Nast think, you know, that we wouldn't notice?
In contrast, Ruth Reichl, Gourmet's editor since 1999 (and former New York Times restaurant critic, author and winner of four James Beard awards), who learned the news herself only the morning of the announcement, expresses herself warmly and openly. Two days after the news, she wrote on Twitter: "At Newark airport. Stopped to buy sandwich (no time to eat today), and the woman behind the counter said, 'I'm so sorry; this one's on me.'"
Other bloggers, especially those whose blogs are but one dimension in their writing careers, became thoughtfully assessed Gourmet's place in the food world.
~ read more from Kate Hopkins at Accidental Hedonist, The Loss of Gourmet Magazine
~ read more at MadSilence, RIP: Gourmet Magazine
~ read more from the ever-thoughtful and -eloquent Diana Kuan at Appetite for China Gourmet 1941 - 2009 - "Elitist", Intelligent, Loved
BlogHer ~ The Demise of Gourmet Magazine and the Rise of the Cooking Channel
"Gourmet wasn’t about being a food snob, it was about being a food lover."
~ read more from The Jew & The Carrot, The Demise of Gourmet Magazine, a Cultural Icon
~ read more from Beth Boyle Machlan at The Faster Times, Gourmet: The Magazine of Good Living Is Dead
Food blogger Rebekah Denn never thought she'd wrote Gourmet's obituary.
~ read more at Al Dente, The Sad, Sudden Death of Gourmet Magazine
And what's next, what comes AFTER Gourmet?
~ read more from Adriana Velez at Farm to Table, So Gourmet Is Closing, What Will Rise From Its Ashes?
What can we do, can Gourmet Magazine be saved?
Blogger Kylie Sachs, who calls herself an 'aspiring cook' though isn't a food blogger, grabbed the Twitter handle @SaveGourmet. She wrote:
~ read more from Kylie at Chapter XVII, Good Living, One Meal at a Time
Food blogger Julie O'Hara is hosting a food blog event and invites bloggers to 'celebrate' Gourmet by cooking a recipe from Gourmet magazine and posting it by October 15th, Get more information at A Mingling of Tastes, Blog Event: Let's Celebrate Gourmet.
And you?
And you, will Gourmet be missed? Leave a thought, a link to a favorite recipe from Gourmet, or what you're doing to support other food magazines, you know where, in the comments!
BlogHer food editor Alanna Kellogg remembers distinctly how her first issue of Gourmet in 1987 rocked her food sensibility, creating the early inklings of the 'fresh seasonal recipes for everyday healthful living and occasional indulgences' she now collects at Kitchen Parade, the food column her mom started in 1959.
]]>Poor Girl Gourmet ~ Ricotta Apple Cake with Cider-Maple Glaze
"... I'll be making this cake - perhaps two - to bring along to my brother-in-law's for the [family] celebration. It serves dual purpose, breakfast and dessert, and with twenty or so people packed into his house for three days, we'll eat our fair share of both."
The Repressed Pastry Chef ~ Fresh Apple Cake
"I highly recommend this cake. It comes together about as easily as can be… the cake is moist and flavorful and the apples add a delicious top layer that can only be described as 'the icing on the cake!'"
The Wednesday Chef ~ Teddie's Apple Cake
"It's got this wonderfully craggy top, all mountains and valleys of soft apples jutting upwards through the cake and slumping down gently into the crumb, and a faintly shattering crust. "
The Way the Cookie Crumbles ~ Applesauce Snack Cake
"You must make this cake. I try not to say that. I know everyone has their own preferences. Not everyone likes to bake. There is no shortage of apple cake recipes. But – You must make this cake."
Smitten Kitchen ~ Mom's Apple Cake
"The cake gets better the second day, when the apples juices seep further into the cake and I have seen the conviction of many a chocolate-obsessed/fruit dessert non-believers crumble upon trying a single slice of it. The apple cake, it’s some good stuff."
101 Cookbooks ~ Unfussy Apple Cake
"A big, floppy dollop of boozy, slightly sweet whipped cream takes this cake over the top."
Simply Recipes ~ Mrs Paxton's Raw Apple Cake
"You simply cannot go wrong with this raw apple cake. The ingredients of coconut and the apples ensure that the cake will be moist and flavorful."
Eliza Domestica ~ Apple Cake
"[My husband] would always go for chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting, but there was nothing else for me but [my mother-in-law's] apple cake. It’s rich, decadent and full of apples. I also love the brown sugar frosting called penuche, it is rich and complements the apple cake beautifully."
The Cookie Shop ~ Best Apple Cake of the Whole Wide World
"This cake is very moist and tender, and the cinnamon scent will take over your kitchen when it’s in the oven. The top, best part, gets this delicious and melt-in-your-mouth and beautiful and crumbly texture."
Desert Candy ~ Overnight Apple Cake
"If you've ever baked you know that yeast doughs are often left overnight, and that extra rest can give the dough or sponge magical lifting power. That idea of overnight magic is what attracted me to a little recipe for an apple cake: sliced apples are layered with some sugar and baked slowly overnight. In all honesty, I was sure it wouldn't work ... "
And you?
And you, what's your favorite apple cake recipe? Leave a recipe or a link to a recipe in the comments!
BlogHer food editor Alanna Kellogg fell in love with Nami-Nami's Non-Canadian Apple Cake and with Pille's permission, ate it up as Estonian Apple Cake.
]]>Fried Green Tomatoes! Watch the movie Fried Green Tomatoes, then cook some! Answer the question, Why do we eat green tomatoes in the fall and not in the summer? (Hint: the answer has something to do with the seasons. Not sure? The secret answer is at the bottom of this post.)
Cook Something Outdoors Okay, on a grill if need be but maybe a grill at a nearby park, or a state park. The point is, get out of the living room, get out of the house, get out of the neighborhood, get out of the city, GET OUT. Build a little fire, lighter fluid is allowed but if you have a magnifying glass on a sunny day, it does wonders. (We pack one in our outdoor cooking toolbox, for all the times we forget to bring along matches.) S'mores? That counts!
Via Who's heard about the new single-serving coffees from Starbucks? It's a buck a pop so 1000 times more expensive than home-brewed but 1/3 the cost of a latte. It's worth one expresso shot, just to see.
Celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving Does your sister-in-law insist on Thanksgiving at her house every year? That means SHE gets all the leftovers and we all know that the leftovers are the best part of Thanksgiving. Instead, celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving on Monday, October 12 -- but wait, don't hesitate to push it back a day or two to the weekend, many Canadians do too.
Michael Pollan for Kids Begin a conversation inside your own family about the pressing food issues of today. You might even pick up a copy of Michael Pollan's new book, The Omnivore's Dilemma for Kids: Secrets Behind What You Eat. Then visit the grocery store to survey the perimeter for 'whole foods' like fruits and vegetables, meats and dairy. Then check out the inside aisles to show how many foods are processed. Try to find whole foods in the inside aisles, like bins of oatmeal, frozen vegetables. How do we tell the difference between a 'whole food' and a processed food product?
Fruits & Vegetables are COOL Yes, they are! But in the U.S., beginning a year ago now, fruits and vegetables and some other foods are subject to COOL (Country of Origin Labels) legislation. So while you're at the grocery with the kids, or even on your own, check the produce aisle. Strawberries are long out of season in the U.S., where do the ones at the grocery store come from? What about the winter squash?
Pumpkin Seeds What to do with the seeds from your Halloween pumpkin? Make toasted pumpkin seeds, of course! I love the three ways to toast pumpkin seeds from Heidi Swanson at 101 Cookbooks.
It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown Oh I used to love this movie! Maybe you'll need a little treat to nibble on while watching? Maybe Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies, say, or Pumpkin Ice Cream.
But It's Still Apple Season, Too Have you ever made a homemade apple pie? Practice up now, before Thanksgiving and then you'll be a superstar. I also love the idea of these Apple Chips.
Pick a Cupboard, Any Cupboard Okay this one is less than fun but you'll just FEEL so much better. Empty a cupboard, clean it, then put back ONLY what you've used in the last year. Haven't used it? Good Will, the basement or hold a cupboard swap with a few neighbors.
And you?
And you, what's your favorite fun and healthy food activity this month? Leave an idea, a recipe or a link to a recipe in the comments!
More Ideas?
Food: Ten Healthy Fun Ideas for July
Food: Ten Healthy Fun Ideas for August
Food: Ten Healthy Fun Ideas for September
Oh right. Why do we eat green tomatoes in the fall and not the summer?
Upripe tomatoes are collected just before or just after the first freeze, when they have a particular sweetness and -- more than that -- we don't want them to go to waste. So Fried Green Tomatoes are a late-in-the-season specialty, not a first-of-the-season treat. So there!
This October, just like last October, BlogHer food editor Alanna Kellogg is addicted to Apple Butter made with apple cider (no sugar!) and cooked for a long, loooooong time.
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