...and mine!

My mom likes to shop early.

So, you see, I'm doing her a favor.

Dear Santa (aka Mom & Dad),

{Mighty Leaf Tea Stainless Steel Tea Top Travel Mug $15. I saw this in a gift set today at Cost Plus with 8 tea bags and the mug for $19. So cool!}

{Set of 5 assorted reusable grocery bags made with vintage fabrics $35. Ahh, so cute! I'd probably use them for everything but groceries!}

{Black Wing Corkscrew $10.95}

{Recycled glass wine glasses $7.95. I love the greeny tint of recycled glassware, and the vintage feel of these.}

{Recycled glassware double old fashioned $4.95}

{Recycled pint glasses $12 each}

{Twixit clip combo pack $5.50. Don't tell any who sells, but I have found much of the Pampered Chef to be a bit disappointing. Not these chip clips, though. I forgot about an open bag of tortilla chips once for 3 months, and they were still crunchy! That's actually kinda scary...}

{Kamiak 2006 Cellar Select Red Wine. Will someone PLEASE find more of this for me? PLEASE???}

Holiday shopping- the Etsy edition.

So it just dawned on me that in two weeks exactly we will be eating our Thanksgiving feast, and then the radio will be playing Christmas music (if it hasn't been already), and then we will blink and the time frame for shipping online gift orders is going to be passed! Aaaaugh!

Anyway, a few kitchen ideas from Etsy, most under $25. I know I appreciate something hand made so much more than mass produced merchandise. One of a kind gifts can be really special. Even better if these inspired you to make something on your own.

{Vintage parfait set $36. Seriously, how cute are these? I am about to buy them myself}

{Hand thrown travel mug with lid $22. There's something I love about pottery, and I'm really impressed if this was made with a water tight seal. That takes precision, folks.}

{Modern hot pad $10. Can't go on Etsy without finding a cute, hand made pot holder.}

{Large gingerbread boy cookie cutter $6.95. I've never seen such a fat little gingerbread man. It made me giggle!}

{Beautiful pedestal dessert/cake plate $25.}

{Snazzy zebra and polka dot apron $16.99.}

A story and a recipe

My new brother in law, George, grew up on a Greek island- Crete, to be exact. His idea of winter is largely what mine was for the first 18 years of my life growing up in Los Angeles. That is, perhaps cool enough to wear long sleeve top at night time. Another interesting fact about George is that he is fluent in 4 languages. I only say this to let you know that when I talk about his funny mishaps with the English language, it's not to make fun of his intelligence...for Heaven's sake, I can barely get basic French!

As I said, George's English is fantastic, but we've found that although he knows certain words, the exact usage of said word can be a bit tricky. This combined with the fact that George has never lived anywhere cold has created a funny discussion around what the word "cozy" means. We have tried to explain it to him as a pleasant situation; something warm that makes you happy inside. He then later responds to that with an observation like, "Look at that cute squirrel! How cozy!"

"No no, George." We say.

But really, how do you explain cozy when it's such a...feeling? I've even tried to describe it with pictures of things that, to me, are cozy:

{my all time favorite Christmas album}

{a thick sweater}

{hot tea}

{snuggling with Toby in my down comforter}

{hanging out with my family and watching sports on a holiday}

{a weekend retreat to a cabin during the winter}

{a spice colored, soft, snuggly blanket}

Still, no amount of describing things can invoke a feeling.

Until...a few days ago when we took Toby for a walk. The sun had just gone down, it was chilly outside and silvery gray. We walked for a long while until we were freezing, and then went back to our house. When we walked through the door, we were greeted with golden light, jazz on the radio and the aroma of bean soup wafting through the door.

George said, "Oooh! This is so nice!"

"No, George," I said, "This is cozy!"

White Bean and Kale Soup

2 cups finely chopped kale

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 large cloves garlic

2-3 cups cooked white beans

1 ½ cups stock

1 cup water

1 tablespoon tomato paste

4 fresh sage leaves

1 teaspoon sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Freshly grate pecorino cheese

Wash kale and remove the stems from the leaves. Roll up kale leaves and cut into thin ribbons. Set aside

In a 4 quart soup pot, heat olive oil and sauté the garlic briefly over medium heat. Add about half of the cooked beans and the stock. Puree the rest of the beans and water in a blender along with the tomato paste and sage Stir the pureed beans into the soup. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Mix in kale and simmer until wilted (about 10 minutes). Add the lemon juice and enough water to make the soup a desirable thick consistency. Taste for salt and pepper and adjust seasonings. Serve the soup topped with pecorino.

Being Lavished Upon

I have yet to convince my husband of this idea, but I am a firm believer in the "Birthday Week." That is, rather than just celebrating your birthday and feeling special for a day, take that happy feeling and turn it into a week. Now, this doesn't mean having a party and getting presents every night like Hanukah or anything. I just try to do something each day, no matter how small, that makes me happy. It could be anything from a latte from my favorite cafe' to a walk through a beautiful park.

Keeping that in mind, it's not even my birthday yet, and already I feel like I have been lavished upon by my friends and family. I have been taken to Salumi for lunch, to the Harvest Vine for brunch, and been baked a delicious home made apple crisp (by a friend who doesn't like to bake, mind you). Tomorrow (my actual birthday), I am being taken out to lunch, then for dinner my sister is making me a meal of my choosing (I asked for lamb burgers and home made yam fries, by the way). Wednesday I am being taken to afternoon tea at the Queen Mary Tea Room, and then finally Saturday we are going to Kell's Irish pub for an actual birthday get together of dinner and drinks and music.

Also, even before my actual birthday I have been given some incredibly thoughtful gifts. One friend gave me my favorite chocolate bar, and blew me away by tracking down and buying saomao- the fruit that I had in Cambodia and loved. Another gave me a delicious gourmet cupcake.

Do ya think people know I love food?

But you know something I love more than food?....PEOPLE! As fun as all these shared meals, gifts, and festivities are, I feel sooo blessed to have all these people who love me enough to take time out of their days and busy schedules to spend time and celebrate with me during my Birthday Week.

Here's to a week of fun!

It Doesn't Take Much...

...to make me happy.

Just an amazingly beautiful, 70 degree fall day in November.

A pumpkin muffin from one of the best bakeries in the country.

And a perfectly made eggnog latte from a family owned cafe'.

Top it off with a hot bath at the end of the day and I am one happy camper!

That's all.

(Oh, and a new pair of boots doesn't hurt, either!)

Learning to Love Your Veggies

Recently two articles from the New York Times about eating your vegetables came out. The first here was about the health benefits of veggies and how it's still not enough to inspire people to eat them. The second was in response to the 600 emails they received with tips on getting yourself and your family on the veggie train.

Happy reading!

$22.50

That's what we agreed a nice bistro could charge for the meal I made tonight:

Cod Croquettes, Sweet Pepper Gravy, and Mashed Potatoes With Spinach. It does make it quite difficult to find places to eat out at when I know that I could make just as a good a meal or better at home.

Anyway, it was wonderfully delicious, surprisingly quick, and a complete meal in and of itself. Also, it made a lovely presentation.* The most shocking part of all was that the entire thing came from Rachel Ray's 30 Minute Meals....I know, can you believe it?

*Except for the fact that the red pepper gravy looks a little like throw-up to me....

Ooooh, dear, did I ruin that for you?

Happy Halloween!

I hope you have a wonderful day full of good food and festivities. Crunch in leaves, meet your neighbors, and enjoy cozying up with hot chocolate after going out.

Me? I will be going to an early evening get together and then later on curling up on the couch with my family for a best ever pizza-wine-musicals night. On the schedule is Bordeaux, Pagliacci, and (in honor of Halloween weirdness) "The Rocky Horror Picture Show."

Enjoy!

If theres one thing I learned.

At pastry school, like most schools I'm sure, we learned our trade by taking our projects apart into separate components. Also, like mastering other talents, my trade can be broken down into a few basic skills that are repeated. Once one understands these elements, the idea of baking and creating amazing pastries is much less daunting.

Is that confusing? Let me give you an example: Boston cream pie is my husband's favorite cake. It consists of layers of vanilla cake, vanilla pastry cream, whipped cream, and chocolate ganache. Each of these ingredients can be combined differently and slightly altered to make other delicious desserts:

Vanilla pastry cream = vanilla pudding or cream puff filling

Whipped cream = easy topping for pie, fruit, or hot chocolate

Chocolate ganache = chocolate truffles or tart filling

Vanilla cake = the base for marble cake, strawberry shortcake, pineapple upsidedown cake, etc...

My point is this- everything gets used and reused to make endless varieties of desserts. Not only is this economical, but it's time saving in a kitchen.

For this very reason I love this cookie recipe from Southern Living that I got from a friend. It starts with the "Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie," which alone is good enough. To make it even better, it has variations that start with the same basic cookie dough which include anything from peanut butter to oatmeal raisin.

Last night when I baked some, I split the raw dough in half. To part I added basic chocolate chips, and the other I put in coconut and white chocolate.

You don't have to stick to only the suggestions in this recipe, either. Try using your own ideas!

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 (12-ounce) package semisweet chocolate morsels

Preparation

Beat butter and sugars at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla, beating until blended.

Combine flour, soda, and salt in a small bowl; gradually add to butter mixture, beating well. Stir in morsels. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto lightly greased baking sheets.

Bake at 350° for 8 to 14 minutes or until desired degree of doneness. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip Cookies: Decrease salt to 1/2 teaspoon. Add 1 cup creamy peanut butter with butter and sugars. Increase flour to 2 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons. Proceed as directed. (Dough will look a little moist.)

Oatmeal-Raisin Chocolate Chip Cookies: Reduce flour to 2 cups. Add 1 cup uncooked quick-cooking oats to dry ingredients and 1 cup raisins with morsels. Proceed as directed.

Pecan-Chocolate Chip Cookies: Add 1 1/2 cups chopped, toasted pecans with morsels. Proceed as directed.

Almond-Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies: Reduce morsels to 1 cup. Add 1/2 cup slivered toasted almonds and 1 cup almond toffee bits. Proceed as directed.

Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies: Substitute 1 (12-ounce) package dark chocolate morsels for semisweet chocolate morsels. Proceed as directed.

Chunky Cherry-Double Chip Cookies: Microwave 1 tablespoon water and 1/2 cup dried cherries in a glass bowl at HIGH 30 seconds, stirring once. Let stand 10 minutes. Substitute 1 (12-ounce) package semisweet chocolate chunks for morsels. Add 1 cup white chocolate morsels, 1/3 cup slivered toasted almonds, and cherries with chocolate chunks. Proceed as directed.

Coconut-Macadamia Chunk Cookies: Substitute 1 (12-ounce) package semisweet chocolate chunks for morsels. Add 1 cup white chocolate morsels, 1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut, and 1/2 cup macadamia nuts with chocolate chunks. Proceed as directed.

Seriously?!?

I have a Mr. Coffee 4-Cup Programmable Coffee Maker:

It's $19.99

I need a Mr. Coffe 4-Cup replacement carafe (to replace the one that I broke):

It's $15.23 plus shipping.....

SERIOUSLY?!?

The first of the season, and a season of firsts!

The transition between summer and fall this year was an odd one. September was fairly warm and green, and then I went to Cambodia, where it was HOT and tropical (in fact, I couldn't remember being that hot in a long time). When I returned, it was frigid and the trees in front of my house were bright red! Rather than easing into fall, I kind of felt like I was blasted into a new season. I am jet lagged, but everyone else is thinking about Halloween and spiced cider....oh, well. Might as well ride the wave, right?

Enter my first pumpkin pie of the season.

Now, I do get tired of pumpkin pie after a while, but there's nothing like those first few silky bites that fill your mouth and head with the smells and spices of fall.

Speaking of firsts....MY GREEK BROTHER IN LAW IS FINALLY HERE!!!! I admit, I am guilty of complaining about many things about our US of A. But when it comes down to it (and I was harshly reminded of this in Cambodia), we live in a great country with great traditions and great opportunities. And when I called up George and invited him and my sister over for pumpkin pie, he thought I was inviting them over for a savory dinner. He has never had pumpkin pie! Nor has he had Thanksgiving, or driven on a freeway, or many things in between! It has been so much fun to re-experience and appreciate things through his Greek eyes. What a great reminder of things to be thankful for in the month leading up to my favorite holiday!

Back from the Bodge

So sorry about the 3 weeks of nothingness. It just so happens that I have spent the better part of the month of October in Cambodia. While this wasn't necessarily a culinary trip, I can't help but view the world through food goggles....and I got some pretty good shots.

Although we had a busy schedule learning about the history and politics of Cambodia, helping out our friends, and visiting the slum villages (where the government has forced thousands of families to move into so that they could develop the valuable city land), we managed to eke in some foodie time.

{We had several delicious home cooked meals}

{As well as some great restaurant food. This entire meal cost less than $10}

One day, we went with a Khmai woman to a traditional market. I have to admit, with my high reverence for food it was a bit difficult for me to see that some of the most dirty, malodorous places in the cities are these markets. It didn't, however, take the natural beauty away from the local produce.

{veggies}

{duck eggs}

{friends at the market}

{asian pears, dragonfruit, oranges}

{limes}

As long as one avoided the road side stands (a warning we heeded), the food there was pretty fantastic, fresh, and interesting.

{saomao aka rambutan aka sweet hairy lychee things}

Cats morphing into croissants

You may be getting tired of these nonsensical posts, but I just can't help it. Not when The Daily Wh.at has a post like this:

"If someone ever asks you to describe the Internet to them in four words look them straight in the eye and say 'cats morphing into croissants. The Internet is cats morphing into croissants.' Then walk away."

And since this is a pastry chef/ culinary school/ baking/ foodie blog, I shall leave you with a recipe. And since I am not patient enough to make croissants at home, here is a fantastic and fun (fantastically fun!) beignet recipe to make. Mmmmm....

Suddenly it all makes sense...and chicken salad

By now, I'm sure anyone who spends any amount of time on the internets and email has stumbled across this web phenomena:

Yes, I mean the "LOL Cat," who is the mascot and founder of icanhascheezburger.com

This cat, and that entire sense of humor, have never gripped me. Photos of cats and dogs with bad spelling and poor grammar? "Why is that supposed to be funny?" I thought, until just the other day when I was fixing this amazingly low fat and high protein chicken salad recipe. My so-adorable-we-wonder-if-he-is-indeed-actually-a-dog Yorkie, Toby, was standing next to me waiting to bum a chicken scrap (or five) and I managed to snap this picture on my phone:

When I looked at that pathetic photo, I could almost hear the little guy saying in my head...

"I can has chickin?"

And it all made sense.

I still don't die laughing like other people, and I doubt I'll ever subscribe to the website. However, the more I think about it, the more I think the creators of that first viral photo were on to something.

Married to the Baker

Hello, I thought I would take this opportunity to stow away an entry on this blog. It's something I've been thinking about for quite a while, but just didn't get around to it.

You see, I have been reading my wife's entries in this blog for the past few years and like you have enjoyed reading about her forays into all different types of dishes and deserts. However, I thought you all wouldn't mind a break, and hopefully a bit of humor...

So what is it like being married to a baker and general food lover? Well, here is what Naka's adventures in cooking have meant to me:

Culinary School:

The baking assignments in school always resulted in a box full of pastries, bread, cookies, fill in the blank coming home on one or more nights each week. This seemed great at first, but after gaining 20 lbs. I decided that taking the "assignments" to work to share was the best strategy.

Planting a Garden:

Great idea, and aesthetically pleasing. What is less understood is how physically taxing it is to get all of the soil for a 2' by 8' from a local hardware store into our trunk and then out and up the hill to our back yard.

Baking for things like wedding showers and brunches:

This usually produces reject baking items or scraps that a spouse can munch on. However, the prime stuff is left in plain sight to tempt you while at the same time you know you can't have any of the good stuff. Bittersweet :)

Experimenting with new recipes

9 times out of 10, this is pure goodness. Being able to come home to a variety of dinners keeps a hungry spouse like me happy. I also like variety in food and enjoy almost every type of food, so this is a real benefit.

Having a wife understand what good food is and wanting to buy the best quality:

Special cheeses
Organic, free range, grass fed, etc.

=EXPENSIVE

Well, that's it for me. Enjoy the blog...

Hot Buttered Toast

For a few weeks I have been meaning to blog about toast. I was just about to write about it, when I noticed that Molly from Orangette had beat me to it. But I want you to know, toast was my own idea...if toast could be anyone's idea. I think that's the think about toast.

Who is the pig in the picture you ask? Why, that's Mercy Watson. You see, I have a little friend* who loves to read Mercy Watson books. Mercy is a porcine wonder who lives at 14 Deckawoo Drive and loves stacks of hot buttered toast.** She gets in to all kinds of mischief and trouble, but unfailingly seems to find a way to resolve each situation by sitting around the table with friends and eating hot buttered toast. Sometimes I will read the books to my friend before he takes a nap. Every time I then go downstairs and fix myself some hot buttered toast.

I will say it again- hot buttered toast. Now, you tell me if you can read that phrase over and over again and not begin to crave the crispy, golden, savory flavor. Oh, you can spread jam on it if you like. It is your toast after all. I, however, like it plain in the afternoon with some sweetened black tea...and guess where I'm going right now....

*He's 3, and today happens to be his birthday, which is why I was thinking about it in the first place.

** Can you tell I 've read these a lot?