On packaging

Another of my on-going quests is the search for beautiful, simple packaging for food gifts. I have had mixed success with boxes, and much more success with paper and cellophane wrappers. What I would like to find are sturdy 2-piece brown boxes with tops that lift off that can be re-used, and vintage tins (I should really look for these on ebay) that come in multiple sizes and are not too expensive. I am going to go shopping after the holidays and look for these things on clearance. I would also like to find these same type of boxes for large, non-baked gifts. It would be great to have reusable boxes in particular, since I have a love for all paper products/ribbons, but can't bear the thought of the recipient tearing it haphazardly off the box and crumpling it up in the trash. My pocketbook doesn't appreciate this either, as pretty packaging can be pricey. For the past several years I have been using a large roll of tan paper and decorating with various ribbons, old holiday cards, yarn, whatever I can find that's inspiring. I loved the yarn look I did last year, but I got a couple of odd (can't she afford ribbon??) looks from a few people.

Christmas baking

I love the holidays for many reasons, but I would say that my amount of holiday cheer can be directly correlated to the amount of baked goods accumulating in our kitchen. Each year I vow not to go overboard as I have done in years past, and think that perhaps I made one too many cookie recipes. Last year I finally gave up, because nothing makes me happier than being in the kitchen in December covered with flour and surrounded by cookies in all stages of baking. I make some of the same cookies year after year, but I always mix old with new. I firmly believe that a holiday cookie has to be both extraordinarily pretty and over-the-top delicious; fulfilling both of these is a challenge. Many cookies are mostly one or the other, and many of those I bake fall into this category. Thus, I am always working towards the goal of a repertoire that fulfulls both. I should also note that I prefer my cookies to be sturdy, since we drive quite a distance to family over Christmas. I source recipes from all over, and alter as I see fit (my favorite sources are rather obvious). This year I made the following:



Indian Brittle (Gourmet )

Five-spice gingersnaps (Gourmet )

Glittering lemon sandwich cookies (Gourmet, December 2008)

Fruit and nut chocolate chunks (made with blueberries, cherries, pistachios, cashews and almonds, Gourmet )

Pistachio currant shortbread (NYTimes)

candy canes (Martha Stewart Living, December 2008)

chocolate truffles (raspberry, orange, sambuca and coffee)

peppermint marshmallows (Martha Stewart Living, December )

panettone (this is really Jon's forte; variation on several recipes after many years of experimentation)

fruitcake (Martha Stewart Baking)



Did I REALLY make all of this??? I guess so.......... More importantly, I would like to remember the things I didn't get to try this year: Chocolate Babka, torrone and chocolate-covered pear slices.

cranberries

I went to the grocery store recently with the intent of purchasing cranberries. They were not easy to find, and only located in a very small section of the produce cooler, and nearly buried by the overbearing greens next to them. Come Thanksgiving, I know that there will be a large display of cranberries, which will be there for a couple of weeks. However, I think cranberries are hugely underrated. I would be willing to bet that most people don’t buy fresh cranberries at Thanksgiving, chosing instead to simply grab a can of jelly as an afterthought. I love cranberry sauce in all forms, and it is a part of my mother's relish tray every year. I think cranberries should be a more common component of everyone's grocery cart; they are healthy and delicious in all forms. I have made several versions of cranberry sauce, including those classified as compote, relish and gelee, and none of them were terribly complicated, mostly involving either roasting or stewing the berries on the stovetop in combination with, or adding at the end, all forms of fruits, fresh, frozen and dried. They can be eaten on sandwiches, with yogurt, and as an accompaniment to all sorts of meats. A simple sweet bread or muffin is delicious, as well as pies, tarts and cakes. As a final note, who doesn't like a cosmo? This is my favorite recipe:

Roasted cranberry-orange sauce
1 12-ounce package fresh cranberries
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons Grand Marnier or other orange-flavored liqueur
1T. grated orange zest
2 oranges

Preheat oven to 325°F. Place cranberries in a baking dish. Sprinkle with sugar, followed by orange zest and juice. Cover with foil and bake until juices form and cranberries are very soft, ~1 hour. Remove from oven and mix in liqueur. Cover and refrigerate until cold. Segment oranges, and chop into coarse chunks; add before serving. Sauce lasts for several days in fridge.

grilled cheese sandwich

It’s late, you had a meeting at work, your husband is out of town, you keep putting off a trip to the grocery store, and you’re starving. You are relieved to finally get home and put your slippers on, and disinterested in a frozen dinner/lack the energy/time/desire to order take-out. You also want to eat something tasty for dinner. The solution is simple: a grilled cheese sandwich. All that is required is an end of a block from your cheese drawer, and a couple of slices of a good loaf of crusty bread. When I was younger my grilled cheese sandwich consisted of soft white pre-sliced bread from the IGA, buttered on both sides with a couple of slices of kraft cheese, along with Campbell’s tomato soup from the can. These days I mix my grilled cheese with roasted red pepper-tomato soup from the box, use whatever good melting cheese I have on hand and buy my loaf of bread from the bakery down the street. It's delicious - and fast!

too much food...

There is too much food in my fridge. I should start off by saying that of all the people I know, and all the refridgerators I've opened, my husband and I always have the most food. For the post part this includes couples and single people, but it also encludes families. Some people we know have more food in their pantry, so I am specifically referring to fresh food (I'll leave the coffin-style basement freezer full of frozen meat/vegetables/fruit for another discussion). I like to say this is because we cook a lot, and we eat mostly fresh food, as opposed to pre-packaged items, so we are simply healthy eaters. However, we are only 2 people, of normal size and appetite. We are not a family of 4, nor are either of us an elite athlete requiring a large amount of food just to sustain our weight/activity level. I try really hard to eat everything we buy, and not purchase in excess of what we can eat over a given period of time. However, inevitably, I revert back to my tendency to overstock.



We recently returned from a long vacation. At this time, we had hardly any fresh food. Luckily, we belong to a CSA and were set to receive our weekly load of vegetables in a few days, so we made a quick trip to the store and picked up the basic things, milk, eggs, dairy, some fruit which was on sale. After we received the vegetables, we made a grocery list accordingly. The next week went by, and we received another load of vegetables. We still had a few things leftover from the previous week, but we weren't doing too bad. We also go to a local farmer's market once a week to pick up some more things that weren't included in the bundle from the CSA. A couple trips to the apple orchard also occurred somewhere within this time frame. Since we are relatively new to the area, we are still trying to find the best orchard, so several trips were required, and apple picking is super easy (translation: LOTS of apples). This evolved slowly, ending in my husband leaving for a business trip, and the fridge loaded with tons of leftover meals, and too much produce. For the next week I have to eat/store somehow leftover turkey, squash soup, mashed potatoes, braised pork, half a loaf of sourdough, 3 bell peppers, handful of wax peppers, 2 huge bags of apples, steak, chicken thighs, french onion soup, head of lettuce, bunch of arugula, 1 eggplant, 2 tomatoes, 5 ears of corn, 2 bunches of basil, parsley, and who knows what else lurks in the fridge. My husband blames this on my sporadic procurement of a 12-lb. fresh turkey, but I feel that this is really just the tip of the iceberg. I am trying to work, but every time I open the fridge I can't stop thinking of how best to deal with all of this food, while minimizing waste. The only solution I can think of is to have a block party....

rice porridge with fruit compote

Here is a great fall/winter breakfast dish, which I just rediscovered. It's creamy, warm, not too sweet, and it smells amazing. Especially good with coffee on side (what isn't?).



ingredients:

4C. milk (I used 1%)
3/4C. rice (I used white long-grain variety)
pinch of salt
1/4t. cardamom
1/2t. cinnamon
2T. sugar
accompaniments: touch of butter, fruit compote of your choice (I used cherry-rhubarb)

Bring milk to a simmer. Add rice with a pinch of salt. Simmer, stirring frequently 30 minutes (note - this will stick to bottom of pan if not stirred often enough). Stir in sugar and spices, and serve with fruit compote and a touch of butter if you would like.

greens with garlic

I just made the most simple, amazing recipe from Gourmet (October, 2008), and it only had 2 major ingredients. I know a lot of people don't like greens (well, a lot of people don't like vegetables), but I am of the notion that they just have not eaten vegetables that have been prepared properly. For years I avoided cooking eggplant, despite that I loved it in restaurants, only to discover that salting it in advance of cooking makes a world of difference. Anyhow, the below noted recipe will be permanently added to my regular repertoire. It is a beautiful pile of jumbled greens.

Ingredients:
2 heads watercress or other greens, trimmed
6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1T. vegetable oil
1T. chicken stock
1/4t. salt

Prep all ingredients. Heat dry wok over moderate heat until hot. Add oil and garlic, stirring until garlic is golden brown. Add greens/salt and cook for 45 seconds, stirring constantly. Add chicken stock, stir until greens are coated. Serve in a big heap on plate.

apples

This is my second fall in New England, and I've just picked my first apples here.  To be honest, the orchard we chose was not the best.  The apples they grew were very good, macintosh and macoun, but there were only the 2 varieties, which I felt were somewhat standard.  We did buy a bunch, and I made what I believe was my best apple pie yet.  I decided to venture away from my usual all-butter pie crust, and made a recipe that included both shortening and butter.  I attribute most of my difficulties to the unfamiliarity/slight paranoia of trying the new recipe, but it definitely seemed more finicky than the all-butter crust.  It didn't roll out as well, and I kept having to patch the cracks by shoving the two sides together with my fingertips.  In the end it turned out fairly well.  The apple cut-out I put on top held its shape, and it browned nicely.  Aside from that, I'm not entirely sure what made it turn out so well.  I did use a variety of apples, some sweet and some tart, and the particular recipe I used called for lemon zest, which I've never used before.  The only lemon I had on hand was an oldish meyer lemon, but I think it may have added a distinctive touch. I also squeezed a few tablespoons of the meyer lemon juice on top, which the recipe didn't call for.  Either way, it was excellent, and I am going to have to test out my theories as to the reason. 

paris and macarons

I just returned from my first trip to Paris. Of the many wonderful things about the city, many of the most memorable were of my eating experiences. Coincidentally, a few days prior to departure, I received the latest issue of Gourmet, which was entirely devoted to Paris. Needless to say, the September 2008 issue is now among my most rumpled of all (which is saying a lot, considering the food drippings, folded corners and notes in my archive). A number of our restaurant choices came right out of the magazine, and all were excellent. We particularly loved Bistrot Paul Bert, which was our last meal. I will say that I was disappointed not to have eaten their Paris Brest, as I have heard raves about it, and it is one of my most favorite desserts.

I made it a point to sample as many macarons as reasonable (for a tourist), as they appeared to have them all over. The first and last ones (we had to return and taste the remaining flavors) we ate were from Pierre Herme. I have never eaten such an extraordinary cookie! There were certainly other good macarons, but the flavor combinations were incomparable. Now, of course, I need to make a batch of my own. After having tasted these, I now realize that something was not quite right in my previous efforts. I am going to start with something basic, and perhaps one day I can progress to chocolate-passion fruit.

On a similar note, I was just served macarons as dessert to a work-provided lunch. They looked generally pretty (several were cracked), in pink, gold, green and brown; the flavor, however, was lackluster. I suppose after tasting the world's best macarons, what could I really expect?

fall

This is my favorite time of year. Although every new year starts in January, in my mind fall has always felt like a new beginning. The leaves in New England have not started to fall yet, but the I can feel the transition approaching. It starts with a day here and there that feels fresh and cool, instead of hot and stale. I notice a few crunchy leaves floating around the sidewalks. And, of course, the days start to feel shorter, and the sun streaming into my window in the morning is fainter than before. That is the one part I hate, the shortening of days. In addition to the cooler weather, and the falling leaves, late summer-early fall is the best time of year at the farmer's market. There are still peaches, raspberries, beets, and apples and squash are starting to arrive. Most of all, I love the tomatoes. My favorite stand has prolific tomatoes, in shades of red, orange, yellow and green, all shapes and sizes. The best ones are the zebra striped, red or green, the little orange and yellow cherry tomatoes, the large dark reddish-purple, and orangish-yellow heirloom varieties. I also love to buy big bunches of basil to make pesto. The tomatoes are almost too pretty to eat, but as everyone knows this is the only time of year you can get tomatoes worth eating. So, get them while you can! Once it gets really cool out, I am planning a big pot of squash soup.......