December 30, 2010: Pomegranate Balsamic Tofu & Bulgar Pilaf with Caramelized Onions
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, and lots of snacking in between; God, I love to eat.
Hours spent cooking feel like minutes (that is, when I'm not rushed).
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, and lots of snacking in between; God, I love to eat.
Hours spent cooking feel like minutes (that is, when I'm not rushed).
December 28, 2010: Champagne Poppy Seed Muffins
When I woke up this morning, I knew I wanted to bake muffins for my mother, and I had a strange urge to put champagne in them (we had a bottle left over from Sunday), so that's just what I did!
Before today, I had never had a muffin like this; with Poppy Seeds, Fresh Orange Juice, Ginger, Buttermilk, and Champagne! Light and fluffy with a bit of crispiness and a lot of POP! These muffins are the perfect muffin for New Year's Day.
I couldn't wait until 2011 to open the bubbly, and bake some incredible muffins, it had to happen today.
Oh, and I didn't just stop at muffins, with the extra batter I made my version of a tea cake.
Read more...
Nana's Sweet Potato Pie
>> December 26, 2010 –
sweet potato,
sweets
I'm enjoying myself at home in the Suwanee suburbs just north of Atlanta. I haven't left our town once since my arrival, and I'm okay with that.
Christmas was spectacular! It was my first white Christmas ever! (Can you believe we got over an inch of snow in Atlanta?) It was also probably the calmest Christmas we've ever had. My dad came over, and stayed for hours, entertaining us with his wit, intelligence, and amble energy. He taught me his "new technique" for cooking Collard Greens, and gave me a few cooking tips. The man's a great cook.
Nana made the sweetest Sweet Potato Pies!
On the 23rd she made the first of many, but realized too late that all of her pie tins are at my Mom's house, so she decided to bake the pie in a square Pyrex dish. Then she realized she only had one sweet potato, because earlier in the day I had stuck in and stolen them all : )
So this pie turned out square and as thin as a pancake. Nana wasn't very proud of it, but I loved it! I was immediately excited by the uniqueness of the pie. Then came my first bite; I felt the love amongst the flaky sweet crust and perfectly textured filling. She has no recipe for this pie, but rather adds a little of this and a little of that, until perfection is achieved. Nobody can make a Sweet Potato Pie like my Nana can!
On Christmas Eve Nana made a few more pies, and I watched and took notes so that I'll be able to make a pie as good as hers. She, of course, made a special square pie just for me!
This morning as soon as I got out of the bed my heart guided me to the kitchen for some of that pie. Every morsel tastes like heaven. The crust is from a boxed mix but, my God, it's good. The pie's filling is sweet in a subtle way, not too far from the the sweet potato's natural sweetness. The canned Evaporated Milk gives it the creamiest and lightest texture.
I only eat Sweet Potato pie during the holidays, and the rest of the year I think about how much I love it.
December 22, 2010: Dark Chocolate Loaf
Hello, I'm Jenné and I love dark chocolate. I always keep a few good chocolate bars in the pantry, and at least every evening, I have a piece or two before going to bed. Sure, chocolate has caffeine, but it relaxes me, and puts me in a mellow mood.
Right now there is a Dark Chocolate Loaf baking in my mother's day old oven. There are 23 minutes left on the kitchen timer, and the sweet smell of chocolate and sugar wafts through the house. I'm listening to Nat King Cole's Christmas for Kids: From One to Ninety-two; it feels like Christmas.
Read more...
December 14, 2010: Vegan Pumpkin Cupcakes
It's almost Christmas time. It's cold outside, we've got a teeny Christmas tree in our living room, and I'm in the mood for Christmas music.
Last night was the last of a 12 week consciousness changing class that I've been taking at church. It's because of that class, and the incredible support of the group, that I have chosen to focus more on my blog, and really let my passion for food propel my life to new heights. It's a beautiful thing to just do what you love.
Read more...
December 6, 2010: Persimmon Cornbread
We received the first snow of the season today in New York City. When I opened my curtains this morning, it wasn't snowing yet, but I knew it would be falling soon. They're just soft flurries, barely visible, but sometime even the tiniest amount of snow can melt my heart.
When I noticed the snow I was in the kitchen working on Persimmon Cornbread.
Thank you God for persimmons, and for cornmeal, and cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger, and all the other warming spices too.
Persimmons are in season, and my boss enjoys sending us home with a couple at a time. I absolutely love their sugary sweetness and gooey flesh.
Read more...
December 1, 2010: Guinness Stout Ginger Pear Cake
>> December 1, 2010 –
bundt,
ginger cake,
guinness stout,
holiday,
pear
Well, when I was a freshmen in college I baked one to bring to a Forth of July party. It was my first cake so I used a boxed cake mix, probably Duncan Hines, and it was vanilla with vanilla store bought icing. Everyone loved it : )
When I think of great cake, I think of my Nana's Pound Cake; decadent yet light and silky. Her secret ingredient isn't glamorous, yet it adds an incredible amount of sophistication to a box of cake mix. I hope she doesn't mind me disclosing the fact that her cake originated in a box. Nana learned to cook and bake out of necessity. Eventually it became her passion, but when she decided to marry at sixteen she had zero experience in the kitchen.
I guess Nana didn't have time to bake from scratch, so she used what was easy (and boxed), and added her creativity to transform the ordinary.
Read more...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
