There is no silence quite like thThere is no silence quite like that of a power outage. The white noise and blue glow of our appliances wink out, so easily ignored until they are gone, and a strange almost foreign stillness seeps through the neighborhood. There is a minute, maybe two, when the only sounds to hear are the air outside and our own breath as we heave a collective sigh and prepare for the continuing darkness. Then, the gentle whir of a backup generator here and there restores some semblance of normalcy as the constant background of electricity resumes, however muted.at of a power outage. The white noise and blue glow of our appliances wink out, so easily ignored until they are gone, and a strange almost foreign stillness seeps through the neighborhood. There is a minute, maybe two, when the only sounds to hear are the air outside and our own breath as we heave a collective sigh and prepare for the continuing darkness. Then, the gentle whir of a backup generator here and there restores some semblance of normalcy as the constant background of electricity resumes, however muted.
Read MoreCandlemas
Candlemas is quiet midwinter day. Boisterous Beltane is about fertility and new life. Halloween by contrast is about death and the departed. Candlemas is about everything in between: family, hearth, home. It is Brigid's Day. Before she became a saint in the Catholic pantheon, Brigid was the goddess of domestic arts. In her time, my ancestors birthed the first of the new lambs around this time of the year and started preparing to break ground for the year's planting.
Read MoreDIY Pastrami
The cold, dark days of January seem well suited for some long-term cooking. We've been working on variations to the bread recipe posted earlier this month with increasing improvement with each loaf. We also decided to try our hand at a home-cured pastrami.
For this, you will need a sizable beef brisket, a good collection of spices, and several days to wait.
Read MoreThinking of Spring......
This is the year we put in our garden. We did a lot of work last year clearing out the overgrowth on our mostly wooded lot. When spring rolls around this year, we'll be ready to go. We're starting with a small herb garden in the back yard. Here is a photo of our model.
18-Hour Rise Artisan Bread
Last month my counterpart started baking bread again with the intention of crafting a variety of basic bread recipes that we could share. This is the first in what will hopefully become a series on different types of breads you can make at home.
This is a variation of the Sullivan Street Bakery's No-Knead Bread. This bread has a long, slow rise and is steamed while it is baked in a cast iron skillet or dutch oven, creating a loaf with a thick, chewy crust and a dense, slightly doughy flesh. It has a nice wheat flavor and keeps well when wrapped in freezer paper and left on the counter.
Read More2013: The Year in Review
2013 was another exciting year for us in the kitchen. We continued our exploration of cooking techniques, new and old, with delicious results. Here are our ten favorite posts from the last year.
Read MoreBœuf Bourguignon
My favorite fellow foodie from work was gracious enough to invite me to her annual holiday party again this year. The last time, I was in the throws of Last Minute Holiday Panic and ended up bringing a store-bought cake (ugh). This year, I wanted to make up for that by providing something extra special that she and her guests might not ever make for themselves. I solicited the support of my very chefy counterpart, and after some discussion, we agreed on that classic French holiday party favorite: Beef Bourguignon.
Read MoreHoliday Baking: Return of the Fruitcake
A few years back, I decided to learn how to make fruitcake. It is a holiday classic, and I strongly felt that it should be in my repertoire. I found a clever little recipe on Epicurious that called for only a couple of varieties of dried fruit, and I worked with it until i got it just right. At the request of my counterpart, I chose to give it a rest last year and pulled it from the cookie basket. And I heard about it. So, at the request of those regulars on the cookie lit, I brought it back this year.
Read MoreHoliday Baking: Butterscotch Brownies
The one no-fail, sure-fire, knock-it-out-of-the-ballpark cookie recipe I include in my cookie basket every year is my mother's butterscotch brownie recipe. I grew up eating these - not just during the holidays, but all year round. Friends, neighbors, and co-workers alike snarf these down with child-like abandon, and I know I would hear about it if I stopped including them.
Read MoreHoliday Baking: Spiced Apple Cookies
I like a little spice cookie and am always looking for new recipes to incorporate spice into my holiday cookie basket. I found this interesting recipe on Food52 from user Kelsey the Naptime Chef, who credits a neighbor for this recipe. It's a straight-forward recipe that results in a moist, cake-like cookie with a nice apple pie-like flavor as promised by the baker.
Read MoreHoliday Baking: Figgy Pudding Butter Cookies
Last year, I decided to try to incorporate fig into my holiday baking. It's one of those traditional holiday flavors, and many classic recipes can be found that feature dried fig. But, when it comes to incorporating figs into my annual holiday cookie basket, I've had little success. Last year I tried Anise Fig and Date pinwheels, a challenging recipe that I am not entirely sure ended up tasting the way it should. This year, I opted for what I hoped would result in a sweeter cookie with a more pronounced fig flavor - Figgy Pudding Butter Cookies from Food52.
Read MoreWeekday Coq au Vin
What I love most about winter is my counterpart invariably pulls out Le Gastronomique for a little old school comfort food. This week, he tried his had at that old classic Coq au Vin. As the name implies, this is basically chicken in a wine sauce. And it is a very old recipe with some accounts tracing it back to Julius Caesar in Gaul. A variant of the dish first appeared in print in 1864. Then, about 100 years later, Julia Child brought it to the U.S. in her seminal cookbook and featured it often on her cooking show.
Read MoreHoliday Baking: Old School Pumpkin Pie
I've never made a pumpkin pie. This is primarily because I've never had a pumpkin pie that I like as much as a good fruit pie. So, for the holidays, my counterpart gets what was traditional for my family growing up in close proximity to Wisconsin's cherry orchards - a nice tart cherry pie. Even on Thanksgiving.
Read MoreThe Importance of Mad Cake Skills
I don't think you can actually consider yourself well-versed in the kitchen and the culinary arts unless you can pull off a Special Occasion Cake. My counterpart and I have had a couple of opportunities to test his skill in this area. The first was last spring when our favorite couple got married in an intimate and touching celebration with their families.
Read MoreAll About the Gravy
Thanksgiving is about 10 days away, so it's time to get serious about cooking again. The nice thing about Thanksgiving is that it is really all about the meal - that opulent turkey dinner that most of us only muster this one day of the year. And because that turkey is really the cornerstone of the day, you want to bring your A game.
Read MoreSea Urchin Is Not for Everyone
I love food. I really do. I love trying new things and experiencing new flavors and textures. I love finding the limits of my palate and visiting that edge regularly. The first time I try a new food is like a little adventure that I embrace with eyes (and mouth) wide open, both feet forward, ready for whatever it brings. This is how I found myself on Friday night starting down a piece of sea urchin sushi.
Read MoreCounting Points, and Surviving the Holiday Buffet
Quite recently, I went in for my annual physical. There I was made to step on a scale and was then forced to acknowledge my actual weight and discuss the health ramifications. Now, it wasn't too bad. It's certainly been worse. But it wasn't actually good either. So I signed up for Weight Watchers' online program and have been counting Points ever since. And I've lost 10 pounds, affirming my belief that Weight Watchers still is the safest easiest way to lose weight.
Read MoreReview: "Julie and Julia"
Julia Child lived a most fascinating life. She was the wife of a diplomat and got to travel the world, eventually finding herself in Paris. She fell in love with the cuisine, and the rest is history. About a decade after her arrival in Paris, she was back in the US and preparing for the publication of her now-seminal cookbook "Mastering the Art of French Cooking". Shortly thereafter, Public Television gave her a cooking show, and she brought French cuisine into suburban kitchens across America.
Read MoreSunday Morning Banana Bread
Last week we purchased a beautiful bunch of bananas for the week and then promptly forgot about them, which means today they were perfect for banana bread. We had enough for two loaves - one for us and an extra for a grieving friend. Who doesn't feel a little better after a slice of home made banana bread?
Read MoreReflections on National Hunger Month
September is National Hunger Month, and many of us have been reflecting on the state of food availability in this country. While ironically this month Congress cut $40 million from the federal food stamps program, the CEO of Panera joined many others in attempting to live off the per-person food stamps allocation of about $4.50 a day. News about inaccuracies in expiration dates on perishable foods prompted the creation of a new venture in Massachusetts to round up these items, determine their actual remaining shelf life, and resell them at discount prices.
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