Heat has happened here.
Sun sure’s scorching.
Temperature topped triples today.
It’s #*$%ing hot out.
Which probably explains why I’ve been craving frosty milkshakes like it’s my J-O-B. Cold, cold milkshakes in a festival of fun flavors.
Mexican Mocha Milkshakes (And Alotta Alliteration)
May 13, 2013 | 16 Comments
Brown Butter Chocoflan & Social Media
April 25, 2013 | 19 Comments
If you stop by here with any regularity, you know that I generally like to keep things a little silly.
Life can be challenging.
Putting a healthy, thoughtful meal on the table for your family each and every day can be challenging.
Which is why I think it’s so important to make time for laughter as often as possible.
But, quite obviously, life is not always chuckles and cupcakes. And one thing that has been sticking to the back of my brain lately is some serious stuff about social media.
We all do it, right?
We post on walls, we send out tweets, we pin on boards. We stumble. We tumble.
It’s like legwarmers coming back into style: everyone is wearing legwarmers now. Everyone! So you have to wear legwarmers too, right?
But what if you’re not entirely comfortable wearing legwarmers?
What if legwarmers leave you feeling exposed? You’re showing so much more of yourself than you would ever want to, but everyone’s still blissfully wearing those legwarmers. So you keep yours on. You’re not even entirely comfortable telling other people about your dislike of these legwarmers…
In Skillets: Butter Nut Streusel Cake
April 15, 2013 | 17 Comments
Confession time: I love skillets.
I love cooking in skillets.
I love baking in skillets.
I love broiling in skillets.
I love wearing skillets as dangly earrings on date nights.
Really? No. Maybe? Only every third one.
The truth is that even before I got serious about cooking, I was always intrigued by meals that can be assembled and prepared using just one pan. Specifically, cast iron skillets, because they are so inexpensive, so versatile, and such efficient conductors of heat; they are the very best multi-tasking kitchen tool I’ve personally ever encountered.
And since my cast iron skillet has been such a solid player in my kitchen happenings over the years, I’m returning the favor with a week-long skilletpalooza in the form of recipes and posts each day featuring dishes, both savory and sweet, that can be cooked in just one skillet.
Today’s skillet-tastic recipe is one that is truly near and dear: sweet skillet cakes are, in my opinion, the eighth wonder of the modern world, and this one is no exception.
I should back up and talk just a bit about how I care for my cast iron skillet.
We all probably know that cast iron should be seasoned, not scrubbed, right? I season early and often, and actually subscribe to a rule similar to that on cooking with wine: I only season my cast iron skillet with high quality oil with which I would cook or bake. Why? Because it has been my experience that cast iron absorbs the flavor of seasoning oil, which is why I wouldn’t want to season and ‘flavor’ my favorite skillet with the taste of an oil or fat that is, for lack of a better word, gross. Once I have seasoned my skillet, I will let it dry and set it aside in a cool, dry area for the next time I’m ready to use it.
I should also note that seasoning is not the same thing as greasing or preparing your skillet, as is called for in this recipe. When I make this cake or one like it, I may choose to season my pan with oil first, but I will then take the additional step of greasing my pan with whatever fat works best with my recipe, in this case butter.
Onwards to the cake.
Vegan Bean & Potato Picadillo
April 10, 2013 | 13 Comments
Beans really are a kind of magical fruit, aren’t they?
Yes, magical in that way, silly goose! But since most of us aren’t 10 year old boys, we’re going to talk about the other ways that beans are magical today.
Like how they’re filling!
Like how they’re fibrous!
Like how they’re dee-licious!
And how they make a wonderful substitute for meat!
Loaded Carrot Cupcakes
April 2, 2013 | 25 Comments
Loaded. Loaded, I tell you!
I think there are two camps when it comes to carrot cake: (1) Just stick with the carrots. (2) Throw lots of other stuff in the mix and go absolutely nuts with it.
I’m a go absolutely nuts with it person. For sure.
Which is why these cupcakes are loaded. Loaded I tell you!
Let’s get into it.
Walnut & Flax Frosted Cupcakes
March 6, 2013 | 19 Comments
I know what you’re thinking…
Uh, M.? Didn’t you forget something?
Don’t you want to be dipping these cupcakes in some sort of candy coating?
Dunking in ganache and finishing with a generous shellacking of sprinkles?
Alley-ooping into a bath of sugar and glazing with serious case of regret, early-stage cavities, and extra poundage??
Nope. That’s next week’s post.
Seriously, all of the above have their own special place in both my heart and the canon of modern dessert artistry, but after a weekend of vacationing and indulging with A., I wanted to dial things back just a bit – does that ever happen to you?
I mean, I didn’t want to relinquish my death grip on the sugar bowl – that’s just crazy talking crazy talk. But, thankfully for my teeth and my waistline, I actually found myself craving wholesome sweets that are still satisfying but maybe just a little bit less guilt-inducing.
Dig? Dig.
Most people don’t think of walnuts when they think of southwestern food, but the reality is that they are a part of this desert’s culinary landscape. I like them for their less aggressive flavor, and I love them paired with flax here for all kinds of satisfying crunch.
But, again, we’re not engaging in any crazy talking crazy talk: there’s heaps of fluffy, canela-spiked cream cheese frosting to go on top of these lovelies.
I mean, seriously, we have our standards, don’t we?
Of course we do. Which is why we’ll be returning to our regularly scheduled candy-coated, chocolate-dipped, streusel-slathered programming in no time.
Walnut & Flax Frosted Cupcakes
For the cupcakes:
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 c. flax meal
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. light brown sugar, tightly packed
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 c. buttermilk
1 c. whole walnuts
For the frosting:
3 c. whipped cream cheese, at room temperature
1 c. powdered sugar
1/2 c whole milk
1 tsp. canela, ground (ground cinnamon may be substituted)
Chef’s Note: This frosting recipe yields quite a bit – I really wanted to top these cupcakes as generously as possible. The recipe can easily be halved, however, and the cupcakes topped less liberally if you prefer.
Preheat oven to 350°.
Line 15 of the cups of 2 standard (12-cup) muffin tins with paper liners. Set aside.
To prepare the cupcakes, whisk the flour, flax meal, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl and set aside.
Spread the walnuts in an even layer on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 5-7 minutes or until golden brown and fragrant. Set aside to cool slightly. Once cool enough to handle, rough chop and set aside.
Meanwhile, cream the sugar and oil together in a large bowl. Mix in the vanilla extract and then the eggs, one at a time. Gradually mix in the dry ingredients, alternating with the buttermilk. Fold in the walnut pieces. Fill each prepared muffin cup approximately halfway full with batter (I used a 3-tablespoon scoop here, just to keep things even) and bake for 20-22 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the center of one comes out clean. Set cupcakes aside to cool before frosting.
To prepare the frosting, place the cream cheese, powdered sugar, milk and ground cinnamon together in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix on low speed just to combine. Once blended, adjust the mixer speed to high and whip until light and fluffy, approximately 2-3 minutes. Remove and frost cooled cupcakes generously. Serve immediately or store in a covered container for up to 4 days.
YIELD: approximately 15 frosted cupcakes
One-Bowl Glazed Vanilla Cake
February 6, 2013 | 24 Comments
Sports, sports, sport-ity sports… this past weekend I watched you, live and in person, on Saturday. Then I watched you, live and in color, on Sunday.
And since hockey season is back in full effect, I’ll likely be watching you every night this week.
We must be in love!
Watching you live was the business of fun in the sun with friends, cheering on record-setting greatness, and returning home perfumed by the lovely aroma of eau de hot dog. Watching you on TV was, well, you know what it was: commercials to the left, commercials to the right, and a performance by Beyoncé so stellar that it apparently took down several electrical grids.
I think there may have been some football involved, too…
In order to combat all of this sports juice in which I’m currently covered, I decided that I needed to make a light and lovely little vanilla cake. Spend my week hanging out with a dessert that’s a little more Baby Spice to the Sporty Spice that was this past weekend.
(I will never stop expressing myself through ’90s references. And you can’t make me!)
Frosted Chocolate Spice Muffins
December 16, 2012 | 8 Comments
Ah, chocolate. You really are a celebrity at this time of year, aren’t you? No need to be humble, you know it’s true.
Something just feels right about enjoying chocolate when there’s a chill in the air.
Something just feels right about enjoying chocolate when you’re surrounded by friends and family with whom you can share.
Something just feels right about enjoying chocolate when you can simply promise to work it off in the New Year.
I especially like chocolate when it’s flavoring a delectable bread or cake, which should then be topped with some sort of creamy frosting, preferably also favored with chocolate.
So, you know, these Chocolate Spice Muffins are pretty much made for me. What a coincidence!
Sunken Streusel Apple Cake
November 5, 2012 | 12 Comments
The other day I was watching a mainstream morning news program that will remain nameless (OK, fine, its name begins with a ‘T’ and ends in an ‘oday’).
The anchors were working with an ‘Idea Specialist’, who was sharing her thoughts on how to pass the time should you find yourself temporarily without power.
Aside from my feelings on someone referring to themselves as an ‘Idea Specialist’ and the fact that the very audience to whom she was speaking was notably, you know, WITHOUT THE POWER TO SEE HER, I found myself transfixed by the suggestions that were being tossed around: Turn each room in your house into a different vacation destination! Speak in code! Do everything backwards and act like you like it!
While I am willing to do everything backwards, I’m just not sure that I love the part about being told that I need to like it…
But I kept listening, because, as with so many things on TV these days, I just can’t look away.
And then I realized: I want to be an Idea Specialist, too! I want to travel the land slinging my sweet intellectual gems! I want to share my ideas with the world via Matt Lauer and Al Roker!
How can I get started?
I guess I’ll need some, uh, ideas…
Frosted Carrot Ancho Snack Cake
September 11, 2012 | 29 Comments
Something of interest came up in our household the other day, something that you may already be aware of. This family learned, for the first time, about the Thundershirt. Maybe you’ve heard of these?
Thundershirts are tight little tees for your pup, the idea being that gentle pressure on the canine bod will sooth any jangled nerves he/she may be experiencing due to, say, a passing thunderstorm.
And being a canine household, as well as a person who is always fascinated by infomercials and their associated products, Thundershirts got me thinking.
I started thinking that maybe it would be nice to have Thundershirts for more than just dogs.
Like, wouldn’t it be nice to have Thundershirts for husbands?
I don’t have any children yet, but I think that, when I do, I would like to have a kid-sized Thundershirt handy in the case of any emergency tantrums.
I would like to have our presidential candidates wear Thundershirts during their debates. And I would request that Thundershirts be made available to Real Housewives across the land.
Seriously, Thundershirts are looking more and more like the solution to so many problems!
