Best Christmas Kitchen Gifts

I tend to pick a theme when suggesting gift ideas, and apparently this year's was food. Or, food-related stuffs. I unwrapped books, a carving set, glassware, and tons of chocolates. Here are a few of my favorite things.

In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto. While Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma certainly carried a message, it attempted to present evidence rather than forcefully argue a point. 48 pages in, In Defense of Food proves to actually be quite the manifesto -- less research-heavy journalism, more crowd-rallying call to arms (or maybe a call to asparagus) against the vast western conspiracy of processed food-like products. It's a short book, and engaging, fairly repetitive and predictable, but still researched, informative, and convincing. In summary (right there on the cover): "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." Words to live by.

A small covered casserole dish, perfect for side dishes. I used it right away, for a crispy, buttery potatoes on Christmas night -- look for this in another post.

Giant glass canisters for flour, sugar, and ... ? I put these on my wish list, without quite realizing how huge they are. But they're perfect. One enormous tub of flour, one of sugar, and a third currently full of dog biscuits -- while this looks cute, I've discovered that sealed glass jars of meat-flavored treats get smelly when sitting in the sun. The contents may need to change.

Lots of Starbucks. While the 'bucks may not be my favorite coffee ever, I like the Christmas blend well enough. Very fortunate, since we've had about four pounds of it this season. Brian's mom threw in some instant, just in case. :)

Mysterious spinning vegetable chopper. I've never seen this item before, but Brian's mom labeled the gift tag one of her "most-used kitchen gadgets." It works with some kind of pulley, and as long as I don't sent the metal blades flying helicopter-style through the kitchen, the promise of fresh salsa is very exciting.

Stemless wine glasses. Sometimes it pays to ask for exactly what you want. The set my mom picked out are big (17 ounces), which makes them good for things other than wine. Water. Or eggnog. Or maybe something with coffee -- who wants Christmas blend? I've got four pounds!

White vegetable lasagna

Brian asked when we might start eating solid foods again, and I realized my winter soup binge had gone on too long.

I also had a box of sweet potatoes leftover from Thanksgiving, and this recipe used them all -- a good thing, since sweet potatoes do not generally excite me and they may otherwise have sat in the corner of the kitchen until Easter. This vegetable lasagna used them well: the very

lengthy baking time made them sweet and soft, and the texture worked perfectly in lasagna.

So I've never made lasagna before, and I'm not quite sure this counts: no meat or tomato sauce means this does not have traditional lasagna flavor. But true to lasagna form, it has a long recipe with many layers. Don't be daunted -- there's nothing difficult. Just be generous with seasoning, spices and flavorful ingredients (garlic and onion), and make sure you have everything before you start.

White vegetable lasagna

(adapted from another blogger, who adapted it from Cooking Light. I un-lightened it a bit.)

Ingredients for white sauce:

• 3 1/2 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced into ½ inch thick slices (I used the food processor -- messy looking slices, but it doesn't matter for this.)
• Cooking spray
• 2 cups milk
• 1 shallot, coarsely chopped
• 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 1/2 T flour
• 3/4 C grated Parmesan

Ingredients for the other layers:

• 1 T olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, diced
• 10oz fresh spinach
• 10 oz ricotta cheese (I used about 2/3 of a 15oz package)
• 2-3 oz fresh mozzarella, either purchased in pearl form or sliced very thin
• 9 no-boil lasagna noodles

Roast the sweet potato slices. This can be done earlier in the day, or even a day ahead. Preheat oven to 450°. Spray 2 - 3 large baking sheets with cooking spray and spread sweet potato slices in a thin layer. Season generously. Roast 20 minutes, turn, and roast another 20 minutes or until tender (about 40 minutes total). Turn the oven down to 375° (for final baking of lasagna).

Make the white sauce. Combine onion, milk, nutmeg, cinnamon, and bay leaf in a medium sauce pan and heat on medium heat, stirring constantly. Bring to a simmer, then remove from heat and let the sauce stand 15 minutes (this is when the flavors of onion + bay leaf infuse into the milk). Strain out solids and discard, saving the milk mixture. Return milk to the pan and whisk in flour. Season with salt and pepper (about 1/2 tsp each). Cook over medium, whisking, until sauce is thick, about 5 - 8 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in Parmesan.

Saute the spinach (can be completed while milk is resting for 15 minutes). In large pan, saute the garlic briefly in olive oil over medium heat. When softened, add a large handful of spinach -- enough to fill the pan -- and a big sprinkle of salt. Turn the spinach with kitchen tongs as it wilts. If not all the spinach will fit in the pan at once, remove the first batch to a plate when wilted, and add the second half.

Assemble your lasagna in layers: sauce, pasta, sauce, spinach, sweet potatoes, ricotta, pasta, sauce, spinach, sweet potatoes, ricotta, pasta, sauce, mozzarella. All layers should be thin, but take care to spread the sauce sparingly. Spray the interior of a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray. Spread a thin layer of sauce in the dish, and top with three lasagna noodles (overlapping slightly). Spread a thin layer of sauce on the noodles. Add a layer of spinach, then a layer of sweet potato, then a layer of ricotta -- you may need to crumble/smash the ricotta into bits and spread around, since it's not quite liquid enough to spread. Over ricotta, add a second layer of pasta, then sauce, then spinach, then sweet potatoes, then ricotta, then a final layers of pasta. Top it with the last layer of sauce, then spread your mozzarella over everything -- either dot the top with your pearls of mozzarella, or lay out very thin slices.

Spray a large piece of tinfoil with cooking spray, and tent over assembled dish. Bake at 375° for 30 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for another 20 minutes. Top should begin to brown just slightly. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

One last Christmas cookie: Bourbon Balls

These bourbon balls are a little messy but incredible easy: crush cookies, melt chocolate, mix and shape. No baking -- just be prepared for chocolate-and-bourbon-covered hands.

Rum or Bourbon Balls

• 1 C semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 C sugar
• 3 T light corn syrup
• 1/2 C dark rum or bourbon
• 2 1/2 C finely crushed vanilla wafer cookies (~ 10 ounces)
• 1 C finely chopped nuts
• 1/2 C sanding sugar

Melt chocolate chips, either in a double boiler or the microwave. (In the microwave, heat on high for about 2 minutes, stopping to stir every 30 seconds. Don't overheat! Remove from microwave when mostly melted, and stir to melt the rest.) Whisk corn syrup and regular sugar into the chocolate, then add bourbon.

Combine crushed vanilla wafers and nuts in a separate bowl, then add chocolate mixture and stir to blend well. Chill dough in fridge for at least half an hour.

Place remaining 1/2 cup of sugar in shallow bowl. For each cookie, roll 1 tablespoon of dough into a ball, then roll in sanding sugar to coat evenly. If sugar dissolves into cookies too much, roll in sugar a second time or dust with sugar.

You could also try rolling in powdered sugar (coating very generously) or finely crushed nuts, instead of sugar.

Bacon, bacon everywhere

A year or so ago, I tried to convince a couple ladies at work that bacon was trendy. They didn't buy it, but the evidence is now overwhelming: bacon is clearly the trendiest food since cupcakes.

A woman at work last week mentioned that a friend's party is bacon-themed. A little quick browsing online suggests this is not an uncommon option for grown-up birthdays. Planning your own bacon-themed party? Here are a few suggestions for the evening.

To get in perfect sparkling-fresh form for the party, don't just brush: floss with bacon.

Wondering what to wear? Perfect protection from grease spatters: a chic bacon apron.


Start the party with appetizers. Sure, you could offer the popular bacon-wrapped dates. But doesn't bacon-wrapped bacon just sound more ... bacony? (Below, from Cowgirl's Country Life.)


For the salad course: Bacon Cups and Bowls.

Take a break from pure bacon with Lentil and Bacon soup. (Note that with salty bacon in a recipe like this, using a low-sodium broth or stock is very important.)

Just drinks tonight? Opt for a bacon-oriented cocktail.

For large-scale bacon wrapping and draping: the Bacon Weave.

For the dessert course: Dean & Deluca bacon peanut brittle. Or a bacon chocolate bar. Or combine your foodie trends with a cupcake: choose from dark chocolate with bacon or French toast with bacon. (Below, from lifewithcake.com)


For the perfect sandwich of bacon-related leftovers: The Original Baconnaise (also check out bacon salt and baconnaise light -- I know when I'm craving mayo and cured meats together, I'm definitely hoping for something light).

And make sure to pay homage to the most famous man in Bacon: Sir Francis. The artist has no personal connection to nicely cured pork, but he did establish the Scientific Method -- something any hypothesizing and experimenting chef can appreciate. Francis Bacon's birthday is exactly one month away -- making today the perfect time to start party-planning.

A Little Trip To Fishs Eddy

Need the perfect platter, quaint cups, or monogrammed mug for a kitchenwares-loving friend? Direct your browser or Manhattan-based feet to Fishs Eddy, the independent retailer of all charming things dining and serving. The name comes from an upstate town.

These vintage flower storage jars were a housewarming present from Kelsey, who told me about the store. Storing leftovers isn't exactly a thrill, but selecting the best retro floral pattern to suit your stew or salad adds some variety.

Delicata Squash with Kale

Some people -- not naming any names here -- go a bit overboard with the Christmas treats: hot cocoa and eggnog lattes, Chex mix, and a month-long roller coaster of sugar rushes and crashes from cookies, cakes, and candy canes. Let's not even discuss Christmas cocktails.

This Delicata Squash with Kale and Cranberry Beans is an awesome alternative to another plate of gingerbread. Beans give protein and fiber, while kale provides more healthy benefits per calorie than almost any other food (according to worldshealthiestfoods.org) -- an excellent option for offsetting the empty calories of the holidays. And delicata, a winter squash, offers vitamins A and C, plus calcium and more fiber. Delicata is also super pretty, rich yellow and striped, so the finished dish looks and tastes delish.

I skipped the cranberry beans, but including them would make this a nice vegetarian offering at a big dinner. The rest of the recipe I followed closely, and there was nothing particularly tricky. The quantity of sauce looks skimpy, but it worked. If the kale doesn't wilt enough when you add the sauce, I'd pop in the microwave for a minute or two till it reaches the desired wiltiness.

• 1-2 delicata squashes (2lbs), halved, seeded and sliced into 1/2-inch thick half-circles
• 1 T + 1 tsp olive oil
• 2 T balsamic vinegar
• 2 tsp honey
• 5oz kale (about half a bunch), stems removed and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 large shallot, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 T red-wine vinegar (I had none, so subbed lemon juice for acid)
• 15 ounces cranberry beans, drained and rinsed (I omitted)

Toss squash half-circles with 1 tsp oil and roast at 400 degrees for 15 to 18 minutes.

Mix balsamic and honey. Brush some over the top of the squash (save the rest). Bake squash for another 5 minutes.

Put prepped kale in a large bowl. Heat 1 T oil over medium heat, and add shallot and garlic. Cook until soft, , then add red-wine vinegar and remaining vinegar-honey mixture. Bring to a boil, then immediately pour hot dressing over kale. Add salt, pepper, squash and beans. Cover with a lid or plastic wrap, and let stand for 5 minutes. Toss until kale wilts slightly. Serve warm or at room temperature.

The Ultimate Comfort Food

I have a confession that you most surely will not believe: I cannot cook a grilled cheese sandwich. Really, I'm not lying. While I liked to think of myself as a pretty decent cook, the most basic of all food preparations - the grilled cheese - still seems to elude me. Cheese, bread, and butter. What could go wrong. Well, I'll tell you what can go wrong -- a not just singed, but completely charred, burnt mess of a sandwich. My mom will attest. Growing up, she faithfully prepared those I-got-home-late-I-need-to-eat-NOW grilled cheesy goodness because she knew if she didn't, a whole loaf of bread and block of cheese may end up in the trash.

That is, until last night. Last night I decided to meet my fear of the grilled cheese sandwich head-on. Oh, yes, I would make the mother of all grilled cheeses. No Kraft Singles here folks.

The goods:
- In my opinion, any good grilled cheese starts with the bread - Macrina Bakery's Rustic Potato was my loaf of choice for the night - though next time I may try to use Essential Baking Company's Rosemary Diamante.
-And, any grilled cheese is only as good as the type/quality of cheese you use. I decided to use a Gruyere (brand uncertain) & Beecher's Smoked Cheddar (all sliced paper thin for maximum melting)
- Caramelized onions: Saute about 1/2 an onion in butter with a splash of olive oil, a pinch of brown sugar, and salt and pepper to taste for a good 10-15 minutes. Onions should be soft, drippy and delicious.
-Thinly sliced Roma tomatoes

You know the drill. Slather some butter on the bread, and layer the cheese, onions and tomatoes in order of preference. Now, here's where 27 years of failed grilled cheeses went wrong - the temperature. I always tried to cook mine too quickly and cranked up the heat. The result - burned bread, and cheese that never fully melts.

But not this time. This time, I turned my heat down low -- way low (probably too low now that I think about it, as it took the sandwiches about 20 min to cook!) You want the cheese and bread to cook SLOWLY together. Flip often so both sides get equal amounts of heat. Remove from skillet when the bread has turned a lovely golden brown.

Serve with with a bowl of delicious homemade tomato soup (recipe from Giada's Kitchen, New Italian Favorites) and you've got the ultimate comfort food for a wintry evening in.

Gingerbread Snowflakes

Winter and the holiday season snuck up on me this year -- I can't believe Christmas is next week.

We've sent the cards, hung the stocking and trimmed the tree. And, of course, we baked the cookies.

Melissa came over last Friday, with recipes and lots of chocolate for some fudgey chocolate cookies. I opted for gingerbread snowflakes from Martha Stewart. The recipe includes lots of spices -- ground ginger, clove, cinnamon plus the molasses. Compared with the minimal sprinkle of cinnamon or vanilla most recipes require, I love dumping in the rich-colored teaspoons of spice here.

The recipe was simple, but the dough was difficult to handle. After hours in the fridge, it was still not chilled enough to roll out. It went into the freezer for a while, but my Martha-recommended method of rolling the dough between two sheets of plastic wrap still left me with gobs of goopy dough.

So I scrapped the plastic-wrap method and covered my counter with flour, rolling and dusting and incorporating more until the dough had a reasonable texture. I know overworking the dough and adding too much flour are detrimental to cookie texture, but sometimes a baker must take risks.

The final results: a chewy and soft cookie, not the crunchy gingersnap I expected, and definitely not the tough, overworked cookie I fear. With some royal icing and sanding sugar, they look perfectly festive for the holidays. :)

Rustic kale soup

If there's one thing shih tzus love, it's food blogging. Buster, seen above, supervises all my efforts, and he was particularly excited about this rustic kale soup with a little beef, grains, and lots of vegetables. As a connoisseur of carrot and celery sticks, Buster knew a soup so packed with vegetables would be thoroughly satisfying and delicious.

I based this on the "White Bean Soup with Greens and Rice" from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything (from which I do cook everything), but I modified it quite a bit -- using the suggested variation with beef, leaving out the beans, and generally making it into a totally different soup. Here's a rough outline:

• 1/2 lb of kale, stems removed and chopped, leaves cut into bite-size squares
  
• Two carrots, chopped
  
• Two celery stalks, chopped
  
• One onion, diced
  
• 1/2 C dry quinoa
  
• 1/2 C dry brown rice
  
• 1/2 lb of beef, cut into very small bites
  
• 5 cups beef or vegetable stock, or water
  
• 1 tsp minced garlic

Sautee the onion, brown the beef, then add the rest of the ingredients and cover with water and simmer until the grains are thoroughly cooked and the vegetables are tender. You could be more precise and add the vegetables one at a time, but nothing in here is delicate enough to cause trouble if it cooks a few extra minutes.

The finished product was quite packed with ingredients, not much spare broth for them to swim around in, but everything seems super healthy -- perfect for the ultra cold weather we've had here recently.

Seeing Red

KitchenAid Artisan 5-Quart Stand Mixers $299.99 (regularly $349!)


Le Creuset 7-Piece Utensil Set with Enameled Stoneware Crock $69.95 (regularly $84!) or Just buy the crock by itself for $19.99
Cuisinart 1-1/2-Quart Automatic Ice Cream Makers $48.94 (regularly $90)


Crate and Barrel's Cardinal Placemat/Cotton Flame Napkin and Red Rim Dinnerware $13.95 - $54.95
Fran's Salted Caramel's $11.50-95.00

A Spoonful of Cuteness

OK, I know, I know...$92 for some measuring spoons?! Not a very smart or practical purchase. But really, what splurge ever is? Just look at how cute they are! I love the simplicity and variety of the bird shapes and am dying to hang these up in my new kitchen. The bottom baby spoons are a more reasonable $22, perfect for a unique shower gift.

Each piece is individually hand cast by a husband and wife team based out of Fall River, MA and are available at Beehive Kitchenware on Etsy or at their website www.beehivekitchenware.com.

Guest Blogger: Rosemary Parmesan Puffs

Growing up, there was really only 1 cook in the kitchen - my mom. My dad was sort of the pinch hitter, brought in off the bench for big events like Thanksgiving and Christmas to bake and carve the turkey and possibly mash a potato or two. He also whipped up some pretty mean Raggedy Ann birthday cakes for yours truly. However, in the past five or six years (much to my mom's surprise and delight) my dad has fast-tracked to foodie and chef extraordinaire. Though of course, like all modest and selfless fathers, he's the last to admit it, shrugging off our praises as "simply following the recipe". Well dad, I'm here to say, that you can follow the recipe and still be a horrible chef. Case in point: Not Always the Bread Winner.

My dad stumbled across this recipe while searching for Thanksgiving appetizers. The recipe is a simple and quick appetizer - perfect when you've got five other 1st and 2nd courses to prepare. The result of this recipe are, to quote the chef, "tiny cheesy gougeres that are delicious and kind of retro-Frenchy". I would just call the recipe absolutely delicious.

Rosemary Parmesan Puffs
Recipe from: Star Palate by Chef Kathy CaseyRecipe Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 22-25 minutes per batch
Yield: about 50 Puffs

Ingredients:
½ cup Water
½ cup Whole Milk
6 tablespoons Butter
1 tablespoon very finely chopped fresh Rosemary
½ teaspoon Salt
1 tablespoon minced Garlic
1 cup Flour
4 large Eggs
3/4 cup grated high-quality Parmesan Cheese

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bring water, milk, butter, rosemary, salt, and garlic to a boil over medium-high heat in a heavy medium-sized saucepan. All at once, add the flour and stir in quickly with a wooden spoon. Keep stirring-mixture will come away from the sides of the pan and become thick and stiff. Keep stirring and turning over for about 1 minute (you want to dry the mixture out a bit).

Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl and, with a handheld or standing mixer, mix on medium-high speed. Add 1 egg. As soon as egg is partially incorporated, increase mixer speed to high. Add remaining eggs ONE AT A TIME after each previous egg is well incorporated. Mixture should be smooth. Mix in the Parmesan.

Line baking sheets with parchment paper. You will need 2 or 3 baking sheets, or work in batches (if you don’t have parchment paper, lightly spray baking sheets with nonstick vegetable spray and watch the cheese puff bottoms closely to prevent over-browning). Drop mixture by heaping teaspoonfuls-they should be the size of large marbles-onto parchment; or you can pipe it from a large piping bag fitted with a large plain tip.

Bake on upper rack of oven for 22 to 25 minutes, or until puffs are golden. Serve warm. If you are short of baking sheets, have more balls ready on sheets of parchment. When a batch of puffs is done, remove the baking sheet from the oven, pull off the parchment filled with cooked puffs, and quickly add the next parchment sheet of puffs.

Chocolate-Ginger Brownies

It felt like a cookie-baking night, so I got out my Martha Stewart's Cookies to browse. The book looks small, but has a ton of recipes (some traditional, some new, most interesting and reliable) and a very helpful photo table of contents that makes searching for the perfect treat very easy.

 

When I saw the Chocolate-Ginger Brownies I was sold. Perhaps not quite a cookie, but close enough. And with ginger, cinnamon, ground clove, and nutmeg (lots extra, in my kitchen), it has some familiar wintery flavors. And, while brownies always take a disappointingly long time to bake, this recipe is super quick and simple and only dirties one pot. 

Pizza for a Cause

Four people brutally murdered. Four families torn apart just days after Thanksgiving and weeks before Christmas. There may not be anything anyone can do to lessen the grief and pain of these devastated families, but there is something small YOU can do to help.

Next Tuesday and Wednesday (December 8th and 9th), Papa John's pizza locations in King, Pierce and Kitsap counties will be donating 100% of their profits to the families of the four Lakewood police officers that were killed last week. To find a store location near you, please click here.

Now, Papa John's may not be my favorite pizza place in town, but this just brought it up a few points in my book -- not in taste, but in heart.

Help spread the word.

Thanksgiving traditions, and other interpretations

Thanksgiving is a day of tradition. This, of course, means everyone does it a little differently, and the differences make it interesting.

The first year I really enjoyed Thanksgiving was when my sister and I told both our sets of divorced parents that we'd attend the other family's festivities. Then, with all parents out of town, we went for thanksgiving Phad Thai (very exotic, in our early teenage years), then home to watch TV in our pajamas.

A few years later, I was studying in Berlin and all my friends went away for the weekend. So I retreated to the place that reminded me most of home: Starbucks. A very long evening with snow outside, my laptop and homework, and lattes with their slightly-off taste from the German milch. It sounds a little lonely, but I loved it.

While my Thanksgiving 2009 followed a more traditional pattern, I was still very interested to hear where friends found their turkey. Some highlights:

• In the grand spirit of avoiding family, a friend took her Australian boyfriend to Leavenworth. Presumably he cares more for faux Bavarian history than for pilgrims. To this Thanksgiving getaway idea, I raise my stein and say, "Prost!"
  
• A more traditionally-spirited co-worker flew to her family farm in Virgina, for a Thanksgiving feast with 60+ relatives. Facebook photos confirm that the farm is ridiculously picturesque: a perfect white house surrounded by orange trees and rolling hills. One more Normal Rockwell touch: despite the huge crowd, every table is covered in a pristine tablecloth and set with fine china and silver.
• A friend in NYC hosted a small party, but still purchased a 22-pound turkey -- that's 3 to 4 pounds of turkey per person. I was doubly shocked that her Manhattan kitchen would fit a bird this big. Her plan: lots of home-made stock and turkey in the freezer, for "delicious soup all winter!" (This, of course, made my 13-pound turkey feel like paltry rations for winter, so Brian and I went back to the store for another turkey -- purely for soup purposes. Thanks for the soup-inspiration, Kelsey.)
• Jill, always an enthusiastic dinner participant, was not to be outdone by Kelsey (note: this turkey competition is purely in my head, not intentional), and so hosted thanksgiving at home. For just her + boyfriend. The table for two had everything at my table for six, including all sides and the turkey. That's like 6 pounds of turkey per person, plus god-knows-how-many pounds of holiday starch and carbs. Congrats, Jill, for being the hostest with the mostest gluttonous, glutinous thanksgiving feast!

Countdown to Thanksgiving: one day!

Thanksgiving is tomorrow, so I have the day off work to make sure everything from the table to the turkey is ready. My To Do list includes cleaning, setting out my serving dishes to make sure I have everything covered, and prepping a few dishes that can be started in advance.  

My day-before cooking list:

• Prep the green bean casserole - trim and blanch the beans and fry the shallots
  
• Cut the sweet potatoes into wedges for bourbon sweet potatoes
  
• Trim and cut the brussels sprouts in half
• Start the dough for no-knead bread

All of my sides are coming from Everyday Food's excellent Thanksgiving spread. Two of the recipes I mentioned in a previous post as compromises between traditional and what I actually want to make and eat. The green bean casserole uses fresh ingredients, instead of everything from a can, and the sweet potatoes are baked with bourbon, but can still be topped with a dusting of marshmallows -- hopefully satiating everyone's needs for jet-puffed fluff.

Buster, a big fan of raw vegetables, thoroughly enjoyed his brussels sprout. 

The Cupcake That Takes 1st Place

I'm lucky to live with a boyfriend who works near Trophy Cupcakes, and today I was lucky to taste one of their newer seasonal flavors: a candied yam with marshmallow cupcake.

The sticky-soft, lightly toasted marshmallow frosting made Trophy's s'mores cupcake my original favorite, even if the rich chocolate + graham cracker cake was a bit overwhelming. This new combination beats everything, in my humble opinion: the divine frosting paired with a cupcake flavor that's sweet but not cloying -- like a slightly over-sugared muffin or breakfasty quick bread. 

So even though I haven't loved that ubiquitous sugar-drenched sweet potato thanksgiving favorite since I was very young, candied yam with marshmallow now has a place in my heart -- in the form of a cupcake. 

Autumn treats to make today, serve tomorrow

I love Mark Bittman's 101 lists for the NY Times, and his 101 Things To Prep In Advance (of Thanksgiving) has some interesting fall-food ideas for non-holidays as well. Particularly:

24. Combine a little cooked wild rice with much more cooked quinoa; sauté crumbled sweet Italian sausage with onion and fresh rosemary. Toss together. Bake in an oiled dish or use as stuffing.

48. Cut sweet potatoes into wedges; boil until tender. Drain and toss with olive oil. Wrap each with a prosciutto slice and a sage leaf, then roast until browned.

53. Steam cauliflower florets and toss with olive oil. Roast with peeled whole garlic cloves and chopped bacon at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Chopped parsley is a worthwhile addition.

64. Mushroom Bread Pudding: Put 6 cups of good bread (day-old is best) cut into 1-inch chunks into a buttered baking dish. Beat 4 eggs with 2 cups of milk and 1/2 cup grated Parmesan and pour over the bread. Sauté 4 cups of sliced mushrooms until tender with a teaspoon or two fresh thyme leaves and mix into the bread. Bake until just set, about 40 minutes.

73. Roast beets until tender, then peel and cut into chunks. Toss with olive oil, sherry vinegar, toasted chopped hazelnuts and crumbled blue cheese.

84. Sage Crackers: Pulse 1 cup flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 cup Parmesan and 4 tablespoons cold butter in a food processor. Add 1/4 cup cream and 1 tablespoon finely chopped sage. When just combined, roll as thinly as possible, score into squares, sprinkle with salt and bake at 400 degrees until golden. Let cool, then break into pieces.

92. Cranberry Truffles: Heat 1/2 cup simple syrup and 1/2 cup bourbon or water; add 2 cups dried cranberries and steep until soft, 10 to 15 minutes. Drain, reserving the liquid. Pulse the fruit in a food processor, adding just enough liquid so the mixture comes together. Roll spoonfuls of the cranberry filling into balls, then roll them in cocoa, mixed with pulverized nuts if you like.

Thanksgiving preparations: Mulled wine

I wanted a beverage that was fun and not too boozy for thanksgiving, so Megan at work suggested mulled wine. My mom suggested the crock pot, for keeping the wine consistently warm and leaving the stove free. 

I decided to practice my mulling today. Most recipes are similar, but I picked a German glühwine based on my very fond memories of studying in Berlin in winter -- glühwine is not a fancy drink, but something you find at kiosks on the street and in cheap boxes in the supermarket. 

I needed cloves and cinnamon sticks, and found them with the Mexican spices, among plastic baggies of peppers. These were less expensive than those I found in the larger spice section -- and since they're soaking in cheap wine, I'm not too worried if it's the very best cinnamon stick in the world.

For my practice round, I'm mulling one bottle of wine in my smaller crock pot -- one standard 750 ml bottle of wine is about 1 quart. Wine type doesn't seem to matter much, beyond something red and dry. Different sources online suggest burgundy and zinfandel.  

 

I considered buying some festive mugs for serving, but while I was looking for this crock pot I found a box of heavy goblets and glasses inherited from my grandmother. The style is a bit too elaborate for daily use (spent much time trying to find the right word), but I think they'll be fun for having family over. And I'm glad to finally have a chance to use them.

Cranberry vodka, part II

My cranberry vodka steeped for a week, and is now beautifully bottled. 

Last saturday: the ingredients. (Pardon the cheapo vodka -- it will be wrapped in cranberry and sugar soon.)

A pitcher of vodka, then a simple syrup with orange peel with cranberries.

 

This week: my original cranberries were too thoroughly macerated to use as pretty garnish, so I made a new little pot of sugary berries and distributed among the bottles.

After much (non-photogenic) straining and filtering to remove berry pulp, the pink booze went into the bottles. So pretty!

Popcorn secrets and lies

"Popcorn's Dark Secret" said the headline. 

Dark secret?! I thought. What have they been hiding? Child labor on popcorn farms? Popcorn as a cover for drug cartels?

Apparently the dark secret is that a tub of butter-laden, over-salted movie theater popcorn is full of fat and sodium. Um, not exactly a secret -- but the fact that some theaters advertised their popcorns as significantly fewer calories is a pretty dastardly lie.

My own popcorn secret is not so dark. I've used olive oil instead of butter for the past couple years, sprayed straight from my Crate and Barrel oil mister. It started as a health effort, but it's honestly just way easier than melting butter. You can evenly cover a big bowl with a tablespoons or two of oil without greasing up any extra dishes. It tastes just as good (IMO, and Brian doesn't seem to mind). And while it's not exactly a health food, it's definitely an improvement: the calories in olive oil are about the same as in butter, but the saturated fat is about one-fourth. 

If you want to avoid the sodium, try substituting another flavor for at least part of your salt. Pepper is easy (though, cartoonishly, it makes me sneeze). A ground spice like mustard, coriander, or nutmeg could be interesting. Some herbs, like dill, work well too, but they must be light enough to stick to the popped corn when you sprinkle it over. 

I think this is plenty of motivation for us to all have our own popcorn secrets.

Countdown to Turkey: one week!

Thanksgiving is only one week away. Yike!

Last year I kept a Google spreadsheet with the important Thanksgiving menu components, and notes for each: when to prep in advance, where I found the perfect-sounding recipe, recommendations for wine. If this sounds a little neurotic, consider The Great Thanksgiving Revolt that will ensue when you forget the pie.

Reviewing my orderly list and the number of questions I had about Turkey alone, I thought some Thanksgiving tips could be helpful. So I present to you:

Turkey FAQ!


How much turkey do I need?
One pound per person is standard. But you may want to 'size-up' for extra leftovers, and you may need to if you have a very small crowd like me (a 6 pound turkey? I might as well get a chicken). So I'm planning for a 10-12 pound turkey. Perhaps excessive, but this is the nation's most enthusiastically glutinous holiday.

When to buy? When to defrost?
A 12-pound turkey is not a last-minute venture. Most from the supermarket are frozen, and you need 24 hours of defrosting for each 5 pounds of bird. So my 12 pound turkey needs to defrost for two and a half days.

And remember food safety! Always defrost in the fridge to avoid that tepid-temperature danger zone. No one wants to be the chef in charge of the family's 2009 salmonella incident.

Defrost for three days?! Thanksgiving is tomorrow! How can I avoid serving birdsicle instead of beautiful golden roasted turkey?
You can defrost more quickly by putting the bird (still wrapped) in a giant pot of cold water in the sink, and changing the water every 30 minutes ... but is this how you want to spend your night before thanksgiving? No. Buy the turkey in advance, or find a fresh one (unfrozen).

Tom or Hen?
I do love gender topics, but in the case of thanksgiving turkeys gender only affects size. Toms (the man birds) are more than 16 pounds; hens are under 16 pounds. Feel free to discuss in the comments the oppression of these weight-obsessed lady birds.

Free range? Organic?
Will anyone notice the subtle difference in turkey flavor when their palates are coated with sweet potato and marshmallow? Probably not. I'm also generally skeptical of marketing that suggests a hen spent her days lounging around daisy-filled pastures, nibbling sweet grass and rose petals.

Nonetheless, the turkey is the centerpiece of the holiday and the rest of your meal components are pretty inexpensive. My family does not need a $60 turkey, but a little extra for something organic and/or free-range seems reasonable.

However, if you want something guaranteed juicy and thoroughly un-trendy, a salt-water-injected "brined" turkey from the supermarket bin may stay moist and plump. Or get the best of both worlds, and brine your own organic turkey.

How long to roast?
Roast at 325 degrees until a thermometer reads 170 degrees. Let it rest for 20 minutes before carving.

For an un-stuffed turkey over 10 pounds, roast about 15 minutes for each pound of turkey -- my 12-pound lady will need three hours. A smaller turkey should actually roast 20 minutes per pound. Also note that stuffing your turkey adds additional cooking time and presents food-safety risks in the form of bread crumbs steeped in raw bird blood. Mmmm.

What about my vegetarian loved-ones?
Make sure you have plenty of vegetarian sides, and no one will go hungry. If an otherwise meat-free recipe calls for beef or chicken stock, use vegetable. If only one family member will touch a tofurky, s/he can offer to bring one.

One more tip: Carve in the kitchen. Unless you're an expert at bird disassembly, keep the messy business of cutting up the carcass in the privacy of the kitchen. Present the evenly-sliced meat on a lovely platter, and no one will know you wrestled off the drumsticks with bare hands or dropped that wing on the floor.

Happy birthday to me! Dinner at Cafe Bizarro

Tuesday birthdays are not conducive to large parties, but I definitely don't want my special day ignored. After work and an entertaining drink at the UW Club (formerly the Faculty Club, now open to lowly staff as well), Brian and I went to Bizarro for dinner.

I picked Bizarro from Seattle's many restaurants because it's unpretentious, interesting, and has never failed to offer fantastic Italian. The decor is immediately striking , an overwhelming jumble of chandeliers, paintings, mismatched chairs and tables, and all sorts of large odds-and-ends dangling from the ceiling. It's a smallish space (maybe 12 tables?), and my first visit was spent preoccupied about whether I'd be impaled by a falling bicycle or candelabra if we had an earthquake. A sign near the entrance reads, "No one is "fine" with water."

So the decor sets a tone. But once you look beyond it (seemingly impossible at first glance, but trust me), the food stands out. The menu is varied but not overwhelming - a small array of pastas, including seasonal and special dishes.

Our picks last night are pictured above: clockwise from top right, crostini with wine-poached figs and gorgonzola, Brian's seasonal elk sugo, my saucy lasagna, and the empty remains of our bananas foster. All the dishes were excellent, with the possible exception of dessert: Brian liked it, but the taste reminded me overwhelmingly of instant oatmeal. The house cabernet sauvingnon was somewhere between OK and decent -- sweet and fruity, but not at all bold or interesting.

Compared to thai, pho, and other Asian options, Seattle has a pretty limited selection of Italian restaurants -- and nothing I can think of in a very budget price range. Bizarro entrees are $14-18, placing it conveniently between the cheap eats of most midweek dinners and the more fancy fare you'd normally reserve for night-out dinners.

In addition to the atmosphere and food, Bizarro offers one more thing you won't find anywhere else in the city (fortunately discovered on observing our neighbors, not through participation): on birthdays, the servers will present your cake while meowing happy birthday.