Posts tagged ‘food’
Donuts, the dessert you eat for breakfast, have been on my mind since I heard about a place in Wichita, KS that makes unique flavors like salted caramel, orange cream cake, oatmeal cookie, and maple bacon. Passing through on a weekend vacation to Oklahoma City with my sister gave me the perfect opportunity to pick up a dozen for the road.
As you can see by the photograph we had no trouble at all sampling 12 different donuts in two days.
Donuts, like pizza, cookies, cheeseburgers and other circular shaped foods, come in such varieties that the design and color of the food is almost as exciting as the taste.
(clever segue, eh?)
I thought so. Above is one of my newer paintings – another featuring stenciled shapes with embellished patterns and textures. I’m really enjoying the lighter feeling these recent paintings have shown and all that can be done with a a simple shape and overlapping colors.
Looking at this painting now really has me thinking about what other objects (food or otherwise) are circle shaped…bowl of soup, cup of coffee…what is your favorite circle shaped item?
If you have had a one-on-one conversation with me in the last week or so chances are you’ve heard me going on about my new bread-making obsession. I’ve probably even pulled out my phone to show you the latest pictures like a proud new parent.
Making my own bread has always eluded me due to my lack of understanding how yeast, kneading, punching, and proofing all work. Thanks to the Magical Inspiration Land (also known as Pinterest) I found a recipe for home made bread that works for me because there is very little work involved.
For the last week or so I have been able to make a small loaf of bread that feeds my little family all day long. New day? New bread. No problem.
It’s a sick obsession my husband will be first to admit. Each morning I get up and turn the oven on almost as hot as it will go (you know, perfect for summer) and then I pat and pull my little baby (er… loaf) into shape and let it rest for a while before it can go inside the steamy hot oven.
When it comes out I turn it over and pat its bottom – making sure it sounds airy. Then it sits on the counter and if I’m lucky it makes some crackly noises. I love those sounds. My house smells amazing in the morning. And I float around the house smiling silently screaming, “I made BREAD! Good crispy chewy flavorful tasty BREAD!”
Not only is my bread delicious on its own but we’re learning to love all the great things that become even greater thanks to it’s ability to hold food. Nutella on home made bread? It’s god’s gift to snacking.
There’s only one problem.
But it’s nothing a little extra exercise and some darn good shape wear won’t fix.
Last night at my family’s favorite Thai restaurant (That’s Thai Orchid in Mission for you local folks) we were waiting for food and discussing the best foods we ever had. I told the story of my Levain Bakery chocolate chip cookie (and how it was so beyond heavenly I couldn’t eat it all so I tossed it in a trash can in Central Park, I know crazy). 
Today is Saturday – my day off for food, shopping, painting, and other general home making tasks including baking something. I decided on oatmeal dark chocolate chip cookies with walnuts. And I spent every moment considering temperatures and textures to create the most “like” Levain I could do. I think the ratio of 1:1:1 (butter, sugar, brown sugar) plus a chilled dough made the magic happen.
I know this will seem like a train of thought from Crazyville but as I mentioned I have been painting and above you can see the nearly finished 8×10 watercolor painting (yet untitled). Before I got on my butter sugar ratio kick I began this artwork thinking about balance, color, and contrast. I think those three elements are the main elements that make my paintings work. I think I’ve been working a lot towards finding a balance in my artwork – not to mention within an often hectic life.
Speaking of ratios and life. I just have to share this clip from one of the greatest shows of all time. I hope it makes you laugh as much as I do. Poor Horatio…
Opening Day for the Farmer’s Market in my neighborhood. Behold my locally grown organic garlic. If you count Nebraska as local when you live in Kansas. I count it. I love the market. I forgot how great it smells! I forgot how friendly and helpful most of the vendors are. I did not forget how beautiful all the food looks all stacked up together shiny and plump.
All my favorites were there….the Tamale guy, the bakery people, all the older farm couples and these sweet farm families. I love paying children money; they count it so meticulously. I bought a big bouquet of flowers mainly because the lady selling them looked lonely and I normally walk to the market and would not carry home something so bulky. Today a rain threat (and general post Friday night lazy-ness) led me to drive the car.
I bought sage because it looked pretty. I bought rosemary because it was sitting next to the sage. I plan to try and plant these babies but for now they sit in the box. They may become soup or something later. I have no idea. I gave up on making a meal plan before going to the farmer’s market. The beauty of the market is you never know what will grab you. So I buy what looks good from people who seem nice. Call me crazy but I think that’s an excellent way to eat.
I’m a spinach freak-a-zoid. I always have it in the fridge because it’s my favorite salad base. I have read a gazillion recipes for spinach this or that but they all call for frozen chopped spinach….which frankly is very unappetizing. But I was having guests for dinner and I wanted to make a vegetarian dish for my guests. Lasagna was the solution. And never having made a vegetarian lasagna (or any lasagna) I wanted a trusted recipe and chose to follow an old wedding gift that keeps on giving – Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook 2006 edition. These are the highlights.
Grated cheese…is there anything better? I never like to buy the already grated bag stuff. It seems like it has a funny powder all over it. I like to grate my own…makes me feel all prairie-like.
Nothing beats holiday stress like dicing the hell out of an onion. A big onion. Choppity chop chop….choppity chop chop (to the tune of your favorite Christmas song if you like). Try it. You’ll see.
Okay let’s cut to the chase. I made a big thick square lasagna with lots of cheese. I think the thing weighed about 15lbs when I put it in the oven. It was a juicy hot mess but delicious if I do say so myself.
What do you like to make for holiday main dishes? I still need to decide on a Christmas dinner menu.
As an art teacher the Day of the Dead Hispanic tradition is on my radar as one of those things that is probably really interesting and something I should teach students about. “Last Minute Lauren” over here didn’t quite get her act together in time. But I learned a few things that I might work into next year’s plans. For one, the tradition of the Days of the Dead (there are actually three) is all about celebrating loved ones who have died in a completely open, positive, festive, fun kind of way. It’s everything I was ever told about death flipped on it’s head.
I don’t talk about death easily. I don’t know what to say when someone brings it up, and my natural inclination when it does come up is to just kind of shrug and nod or hug and just kind of be somber and quiet – I would call it respectful. But I am getting my head around this Dia de los Muertos (Days of the Dead) thing and thinking of death differently and hopefully will handle this part of life better. Grief happens. Death is everywhere in many forms and everyone is grieving the loss of someone, something, some idea, some dream….
Another thing I learned is that there is a very special food item associated with Dia de los Muertos. Like Thanksgiving’s turkey, or Christmas cookies, Pan de Muerto is “Bread of the Dead” and it’s very sweet. Bread + sweet = something I wanna make. Now.
So I did and followed this recipe. But I don’t recommend it because although my bread came out okay (my skull and bones evaporated) I found the recipe hard to follow. So do your own research if you’re interested in making Pan de Muerto for your Celebration of Dead Loved Ones.
Oh and one more thing. Happy Halloween!
Took the kid to Whole Foods to pick up some dinner ingredients on the fly. I found this crustacean in the produce aisle. Freaky huh? Turns out it is some genetically formed hybrid of broccoli and cauliflower – and that is based on about 30 seconds of internet research I did. It could all be baloney. But the thing tasted a lot like cauliflower with slightly more flavor. I just chopped and boiled it. Served it up. Nobody complained. I think this veggie is a little too style over substance – or maybe I should have just been more creative when I cooked it. It is gorgeous after all! It’s like staring at a optical illusion. Can’t take eyes off…..
Curious, what’s the freakiest thing you ever served up? I’ve never eaten anything with eyes still attached. And don’t plan to…
Labor Day Weekend. A joy of three days off I have not appreciated near as much as now that I am a full time working stiff. But a dark cloud is looming. My little dog has a hurt knee that will require a 1300 dollar band aid. My car has a faulty gear shifter that will likely cost at least an arm if not a leg. So what do we do when we are a little anxious about the awful part of being a financially independent grown up? We eat, of course. Eat well.
While my little boo girl was getting her x rays on her knee I popped over to the farmers market and grabbed some “barbie-sized” orange tomatoes. They are like candy. I can put back a box of these faster than I can a box of junior mints. And you know how much I like junior mints. In the spirit of trying something new I also got some kale – a leafy green I have heard good things about. I heard you can steam it, soup it, salad it, but what I really got excited about was making baked kale chips with olive oil and salt – which were described as being as addictive as potato chips. Say no more…
After 15 minutes in a moderate oven these kinky leaves turn extremely crispy, flaky, and as gross as it sounds the only way I can describe what I shoved in my mouth by the handful is like what fish food texture is – only it didn’t taste like fish food smells. I’ve never eaten fish food. That I can recall. Regardless. Totally worth the 2 bucks I paid for gobs of kale. Yum. But what’s with all this vegetable goodness? Can I get a sweet thing in here? It’s Saturday after all…
After reading about Natasha’s Mulberry and Mott bakery for months now on this or that food blog I decided it was time to hop into our other car with no A/C in the 90 degree heat and have a little treat. I walked in, ordered an iced coffee (as if that’s what I came for -ha!) and asked for a suggestion about what flavor of French macaroon to try. We agreed strawberry would be the best choice since strawberries are going out of season soon. What I imagined a macaroon is like (a ball rolled in coconut in a can at my great-grandmother’s apartment) was nothing like the soft and sweet creamy fresh amazingness I enjoyed two feet from the front door of the place.
It was a good day for new foods. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll become inspired to do some new paintings. Stay tuned.
I found a little piece of heaven right in my neighborhood. In downtown Overland Park there’s a little place called Clock Tower Bakery and Cafe. So what elevates this place to heavenly status? Delicious food of course. But more than that; if you’re a weirdo like me and enjoy a bit of chef voyeurism this is your place. The seating choices are traditional style at the front with lots of windows and passers by OR along the edge of the bakery where you can watch by windows the chefs preparing the food. I’d rather watch food get made than people walk by. But that’s me. I tried to slyly snap this photo but my husband informed me that she totally saw me take this picture and I may have embarrassed her. I should have asked. But I often act without permission. It’s my shy side playing pretend rebel. Regardless – here is a photo no one needs permission to take. It’s my vanilla espresso cupcake and it was delightfully soft and sweet. And the other half is in my fridge….gotta go!
Since 4th of July when I found it at my Grandmother’s house, I have been diligently reading The United States Regional Cook Book by Ruth Berozheimer. This edition was published in 1947, it belonged to my father’s mother and he wasn’t born until 1952. This cookbook pushes all my nostalgic culinary do-it-yourself buttons. It smells old. It looks old. It’s incredibly handy; easy to flip through pages and it’s built dictionary style with those little black cut out finger tabs on the sides. Thick, dense, delicious.
My grandmother’s name is written inside. I love this book – even if the recipes are nearly impossible. I think it is historically hugely interesting. It preseves old recipes and shares a lot about the way people thought about food 70 plus years ago. It’s no “Betty Crocker” book that is teaching you how to be Mrs. Perfect Homemaker. This book’s purpose seems to be to school you on the various recipe traditions of the U.S. melting pot.
And it’s funny.First of all the photographs for foods are hilariously unappetizing yet so fancifully prepared. Would you eat that mint green soup with brown bits floating in the top? You might if it were served in a chic white square bowl with natural light all foodgawker style. Also, a lot of the titles are in a language I don’t understand. So thankfully, Ruth has provided parenthetical explanations. This one below is my particular favorite:
So have I cooked anything yet from this book? Nope. I might. But really, I enjoy reading this book. It’s truly interesting. My grandmother’s parents came from a full blooded Swedish immigrant family. I’m particularly fond of the chapter on Scandinavian cooking. There’s nothing marked in the book. I have no idea if she ever used it. I don’t care.
It’s just good reading. Perfect thing to pick up while I curl up in bed while visions of home made Quick Calas (A Creole Breakfast Treat) dance in my head. And if Creole is not what I’m in the mood for I can choose from these other regional cuisines: New England, Southern, Pennsylvania Dutch, Michigan Dutch, Mississippi Valley, Wisconsin Dutch, Minnesota Scandinavian, Southwestern, Western, and the catch all Cosmopolitan America Cook Book. It’s several cook books in one. If you find it in a thrift store or in one of those boxes your relatives leave for you dust it off and enjoy.
