Oui, Chef

Blueberry Streusel Cake

 

I know this cake is a touch out of season but fact is we've been drowning in blueberries lately, so much so that I felt compelled to create this little beauty as a means to help work through our overstock.  

You see, Muppet's been on a bit of a blueberry bender as of late, begging for them at every turn.  Shocked by the fact that one of our kids was (no-kidding) ASKING for fresh fruit, and not wanting to blow a food-hero opportunity while actually buying something healthy for them, my wife and I each purchased mondo boxes of the lovelies last week.  As fate would have it, the day after we presented our young berry fiend with her fruit-booty she had upper braces slapped on her teeth and promptly lost her taste for just about everything....well, except maybe for chocolate.  Poor child.

Breakfast Cookies That Will Make Your Kids Think You've Gone Crazy!

 

 

Hey Dad, what's in the container on the counter?

Oh, those are some breakfast cookies I made today.

Say what?  Did you just say breakfast cookies?

Yeah, I thought they'd be great for a breakfast on the fly, they're sort of like a portable bowl of oatmeal.

Shut Up!

No really, they're loaded with grains and nuts and dried fruit, just like a bowl of oatmeal.

So you're telling me that tomorrow morning I can eat cookies for breakfast?

Uh...yeah, I guess that's what I'm saying.

SHUT UP!

Hey relax, will you.  

How come I never hear you get this excited when I offer you a bowl of oatmeal?

Oh....and stop saying shut up or I'm giving your cookies to Muppet!

Meatless Monday - Baked Eggs with Spinach, Artichokes and Leeks

 

I'm a huge Paul McCartney fan, in fact I'm a Beatles freak.  While I'm a touch too young to have seen the Beatles perform live, I've been fortunate enough to see Paul a few times over the years and I am so grateful to have had the chance.  As I sat the other day thinking of performers I REALLY want my kids to see before they retire (don't ask me why I was thinking this, but I was), Paul McCartney topped the list.  I mean, can you think of anyone (still alive) that has influenced the music we all listen to today in such a profound way?  Yeah....me neither.  I could go on for days about what it is about his songwriting and singing that moves me, but much of it you've probably heard before, or even feel yourself.  

Triple Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

 

Do you remember the post a few weeks ago about the favorite holiday cookie we baked this year, the incomparable Chewy Ginger Cookies ?  Well these little lovelies ran a close second in the race for Christmas cookie dominance, so I thought I'd share them with you today.  The good news is that they're not like a bûche de noel, or a gingerbread treat that seem totally out of place once the holidays have passed.  These sugar bombs are a welcome treat regardless of season.

Almost Teddies Apple Cake and an OXO Egg Beater Giveaway!

A few weeks back I had the good fortune to attend the Boston book launching party for the The Food52 Cookbook .  My friend Emily (fiveandspice for all you Food52ers) and her husband hosted a pot-luck gathering where each guest made a dish from the book to bring, it was great fun and a delicious afternoon.  As you might imagine from a gathering of such food fanatics, we brought way more food than we needed for the gang assembled.  In fact, as the afternoon wore on I started to get a little concerned that we had not properly paced ourselves and would be unable to have a go at the beautiful desserts decorating the sideboard in their dining room.

A lesser group would have called it a day I’m sure, what with the sheer volume of savory tarts, salads, dips, breads, and charcuterie that we all consumed.  Many would have slipped into a food coma and curled up in the corner for a little snooze, but not this stalwart group.  No, the siren’s song of cakes and cookies took care of that, and as we emptied the last bottle of wine, our hostess took her leave and retired to the kitchen to gather things for dessert.

Lemon-Poppy Pound Cake

This is the first recipe that Muppet and I have baked from the cookbook I bought her for her birthday this year.  The book is the first from one of our favorite local pastry chefs, the delightful Joanne Chang.  Joanne's book is named after her bakery, "Flour", and is a beautifully produced collection of many of the confections that have made her famous, and her bakeries Boston institutions.

I've had the good fortune to have met Joanne at a couple of Share Our Strength events (she is a huge supporter of the organization) and found her to be very warm and charming.  She was kind enough to inscribe the book for Muppet, so cooking from it was an extra special treat for our young baker.

And the Winner is......Chewy Ginger Cookies!

This is the year that my sibs and I finally cried uncle and decided to suspend holiday giving between our families.  We did this for a couple of reasons.  First, all of our kids are now teens and are basically impossible to shop for, preferring to receive cold-hard cash (large denominations, please) in lieu of any creative gift idea we stupid adults might arrive at on our own.  Second, we stupid adults are so fortunate as to have all that we need or want, and so the whole idea of braving the hordes of holiday shoppers to buy token offerings seemed a bit nutty to us all.  We decided instead (full credit given here to my brother) to arrange a cookie swap between our three families, with each sending the other 4-5 dozen cookies of various types.  

It was such a brilliant idea that I wish it were mine.

Raspberry Cheesecake

I learned a valuable lesson about meal planning over the Thanksgiving holiday.  In short, developing a plan for the turkey day dinner alone is not enough.....not by a long shot.  When 20+ people are expected, including 5 teen-aged boys, the least of our food planning worries was Thanksgiving dinner, it was the breakfasts, lunches, snack binges and dinners that rounded out the rest of our guest's time-in-residence that was our biggest challenge.

Pumpkin Ice Cream

Hot on the heels of our recent "Pumpkin Spiced Steel Cut Oats" success, I've been thinking of other ways to get pumpkin's goodness on our table without having to resort to making pumkin pie or pumpkin bread.  Not that I have anything against either one of these lovely confections, but a few in our clan struggle with the thick, custard texture of the pie, and the rest struggle to get even a whiff of pumpkin bread when we make it.

Why?

Because Trader Joe's Pumpkin Bread  is one of Muppet's all-time favorite foods, and unless you're standing with her at the stove when the bread emerges, you haven't got a chance.  The poor starved thing will either eat it all in one sitting, or more likely squirrel it away like a little rodent hiding nuts for another day.  I've tried to nanny-cam her to see where she hides them, but so far no joy.

Chard and Jarlsberg Soufflé

How many of you tremble at just the thought of making a soufflé?  

I know,  I know....I used to too.  

But you know what?  Of all the things in this world that you might legitimately fear, making a soufflé shouldn't be one of them.  Really.... all the stories you've heard about having to tip-toe around the oven, or the need to speak in whispers when a soufflé is baking are all ridiculous.  I'm not sure who started these nasty rumours, but I guarantee you that with just a little attention paid to timing, you too can deliver delicious and ethereally light soufflés to the table without breaking a sweat.