Sopapilla Cheesecake: Two Ways

Food-snob alert: If you detest recipes that start with, “Take one tube of dough…”, avert your eyes.  This recipe is definitely not for you. It is full of refined sugars, chemical preservatives, saturated fat, and processed carbs.  It bears the name Sopapilla without having the slightest resemblance to the actual, authentic Mexican flatbread.  The food snob part of me is embarrassed to share this recipe.  The food lover in me can’t help it.  It’s just so freakin’ good.

It’s so good, in fact, that I’ve made it three times in a week.  So good, that the last time I made it, I fell into one of my common mental anguish moments while cooking something so tasty: Do I dare innovate, or leave it well enough alone? I can have an idea of how to make it better, but then I get worried that it won’t be as good as the tried-and-true original and I’ll be left still craving it.  So, instead of just sucking it up and trying something new, I do what any neurotic baker would do- make both and recruit my friends and family for a side-by-side taste test. Obviously. Continue reading

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Filed under Baking, Dessert

Cold Peanut Sesame Noodles

I heard somewhere that Memorial Day rates the highest of all days of the year for American meat consumption.  And judging from my family alone, I can’t say I’m surprised.  Last weekend, in a span of 3 short days, we had burgers, steaks, pork chops, smoked pork shoulder, beef brisket and grilled chicken.  Now, I love me some meat, and meat hot off the grill most of all, but it left us all feeling a bit, well… heavier, than when we started out.  I actually found myself craving tofu and lettuce when we got home.

Ok, that’s a lie.  But it was almost that serious.  Anyway, let’s just say that a vegetarian meal definitely wouldn’t do us any harm. Continue reading

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Filed under Pasta, Salad

Mini Chocolate Chip Cheesecakes

I was going to tell you about peanut noodles today.  But then I made these cheesecakes yesterday and today is all gloomy and gray, so I thought maybe you’d like something to make that would warm up your kitchen and make your whole house smell yummy and chocolatey.

So, I’m not going to write much of a blog post today.  Because when you have a post titled, “Mini chocolate chip cheesecakes,” is there really any need to say much else?  I don’t think so… it kind of speaks for itself.
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Filed under Baking, Dessert

Donut Cake

Yesterday, I made a cake that supposedly tastes like donuts.  Even at the time, I realized that if I wanted something that tasted like a donut, maybe I should just make donuts.  As it turns out, this cake wasn’t quite as donutty (word? no? oh well) as I’d hoped it would be.  It was… better. Continue reading

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Filed under Baking, Cake

Thyme-Roasted Grape and Ricotta Crostini

Since my maternity leave ended, I’ve been working from home, so I can also be at home with the baby.  Now, when we came up with this arrangement, I knew I’d be more than a little sad to not be in the office anymore, chatting with people, taking our little tea-time breaks everyday, deciding what we should do for lunch, etc.  But, I also told myself, on the plus side, that I could make myself delightful, simple little lunches a la Canal House.  In my fantasy, I’d work until 11:30, then whip up a light lunch of smoked salmon tea sandwiches and sorrel soup, or perhaps I’d flit down to the farmers market on Wednesdays and come up with a salad of local, organic produce.  Then, of course, I’d be back to work around noon and still have time to bake up a batch of ginger cranberry scones for an afternoon break. Oh, and in case you were wondering, my fantasy also included a child who sleeps for 22 hours a day, and spends the other 2 hours gurgling, smiling, cooing, and being generally delightful.

I think we can all see where this is headed.  Continue reading

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Filed under Appetizers, Snacks

Green Bean Salad with Fried Almonds

Where to begin… where to begin… there are so many great things about this salad, I don’t know where to start.

First, it as fennel in it. Raw fennel. And some of you may recall that I was pretty sure I hated fennel until I made this, when I decided that maybe I only hated raw fennel, because fennel baked in cream was probably one of the best things I’ve ever had. But now I’ve made this salad, and it turns out I don’t hate raw fennel either. So if I don’t hate cooked fennel and I don’t hate raw fennel… hey, I don’t hate fennel! I actually like it. If I can like fennel, that means you can, too! For some reason, this feels like a huge milestone for me.

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Filed under Gluten Free, Salad, Side Dish, Vegetables

Simple Asian Lettuce Wraps

You doubted me, didn’t you?  You thought maybe after moving, having a baby, and then going back to work that I just might forget about this little old blog.  Have a little faith, people!  Sure, it’s taken me a few weeks to get back into the saddle in the kitchen, and then a few more to make anything even worth sharing with you.  But, here I am. 

Granted, for a while, the recipes you see here might all fall into the category of “things you can cook with only one free hand.”  Or, “things you can eat hot… or cold, hours later, after the baby has finally gone to sleep.”  And the ever popular, “things you probably don’t even need a recipe for because they are so simple.”  If you hang in there with me for long enough, I’m sure at some point I’ll work my way back to the layer cakes of yesteryear, but for now, I’m all about simplicity. Continue reading

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Filed under Chicken, Gluten Free