Cure for a bad day

Caramel-apple cupcake from Dozen and coffee.

molasses cookies

It's getting chilly out. I've had to pull out my sweaters and scarves and started thinking about apple cider and butternut squash soup. I also start thinking about spiced baked goods around this time of year. I made these cookies for our october student AIGA meeting.

They're a great, basic cookie, and remind me a lot of my nana's "molasses tongues" cookies (although not quite that good, I don't know how she does it.) These also come together really quickly and easily. Take a few minutes' break from classes/projects and bake some cookies! It will make you happier.





Note: I doubled this batch and used about a half-cup less butter than the recipe called for, and the cookies turned out fine. Also, I used half white sugar and half brown sugar.

Molasses Cookies
reprinted from Framed

• 3/4 cup melted butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1 egg
• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon each of ground cloves, ginger and salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• Extra sugar for rolling

1. Combine butter, sugar, molasses and egg in large mixing bowl
2. Combine flour, baking soda and spices in medium bowl
3. Add flour mixture to butter mixture and stir until well combined
4. Put in refrigerator until dough has hardened.
5. Scoop out dough (I find an ice cream scoop works well for this) and roll into 1 inch balls
6. Roll balls in sugar and place on cookie sheet, well-spaced apart
7. Press down slightly on cookie dough with the bottom of a glass or jar
8. Bake for 8-10 minutes in a 375 degree oven. Cool on rack.

butternut squash and spinach risotto.

You'll have to excuse the gross picture above, I couldn't get an attractive shot of this risotto. You can check out the nice picture of beautiful roasted squash below to make up for it. Nonetheless, it was probably the best thing I've cooked/eaten in a while (ah, college..) and was definitely a welcome comfort food and got me thinking about autumn.



I think one of the few times that I am truly happy is when I'm sauteeing onions and garlic in olive oil with a glass of wine nearby. Oh, you say that most people's idea of relaxing doesn't involve standing over a hot stove? So weird.

I adapted the recipe from this recipe here. I'll reprint with the changes I made included.


Butternut squash risotto

3-4 cups vegetable broth (I used Rapunzel vegetable boullion and added smoked paprika)
1 small butternut squash
a couple handfuls of washed baby spinach
some olive oil
about a tablespoon of butter
1 medium onion, diced
1 small shallot, diced
salt and pepper
1 cup Arborio rice
1/4 cup dry white wine
a handful of finely grated parmesan cheese
nutmeg (freshly grated if possible)

Halve the squash lengthwise and cut into rings. Arrange on a cookie sheet and season with salt. Roast in a 450 degree oven until soft and golden brown, about 40-50 minutes. When it's cooled a bit, remove the skin and cut into small cubes.

Bring the broth to a simmer in a medium saucepan. Reduce the heat to low and keep the broth hot.

In a large frying pan (one with high sides would work nicely) saute onion and shallot until glassy. Add the rice and stir, allowing the rice to toast and become translucent. Throw in a splash of white wine.

Add a small amount of the cubed squash and stir until a puree forms, then add about a cup of stock. Stir continuously, and add more broth in small increments (about half a cup or so) as the rice absorbs the broth. You want most of the broth to be absorbed before you add more stock.

When you are down to the last few ladles full of broth, throw in a large handful of parmesan, the cubed squash (you want to have chunks in the finished risotto) and stir in more broth. Add spinach just before all the broth is absorbed. Season with salt and pepper, nutmeg, and remove from heat when the last of the broth is absorbed.

Serve with more freshly grated parmesan.

Pickled Beets

I've been interested in making pickles lately, and my current obsession is pickled beets. Beets always seem to be the "unpopular kid" of vegetables, always getting made fun of (I'm thinking of The Office here.) The truth is, beets are awesome. They're quite healthy, they have a natural sweetness, and come with the all the fun of pretending you're violently chopping up some sort of body parts with that bright red color (I don't know, handling cooked ones feels like I'm handling some sort of internal organs)

Pickled Beets

some beets (I used three really big ones)
1 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
about a tablespoon of caraway seeds

Boil washed beets in salted water until soft enough to stick a fork in them easily, about 30-45 minutes. Meanwhile, bring sugar and vinegar to a boil in a saucepan until sugar is dissolved. Add caraway seeds.
When finished cooking, dip the beets in an ice bath and then work off the skins with your hands, they should slip off easily. Put the beets in a canning jar and fill with enough vinegar mixture to cover the beets. Keep in fridge for about 24 hours before serving any.

Bonus: put peeled hard boiled eggs in the pickling liquid with the beets for red pickled eggs.

Grilled Chipotle Tomatoes

We need to have a word about these tomatoes.

These have to be the best thing I've ever eaten that came off of a grill. As a vegetarian, I can't get too excited about grilled meats, but I do get excited about smoky, spicy grilled vegetables.

I made these with my parents last week while visiting home. They may look a bit messy or gross from the picture above, but it's easy to forgive them.

Start off with however many tomatoes you'd want (we used plum tomatoes—they're meatier), sliced in half. Squeeze out the tomato gel and salt each open side. Stack cut side down on a plate to drain for 20 minutes or so.

In the meantime, mix an amount of creme fraiche (maybe about a half a cup?) with a diced chipotle pepper and some adobo sauce. You can pick up the canned chipotles and just freeze the rest in small portions for later use. Use your judgement, these can get really spicy.

Grill the tomatoes, cut side down, until they begin to turn black, then flip over and fill the cavity with some of the chipotle sauce. Keep on the grill until they look bubbly and soft.

I had these for dinner with my mom and dad last week, served on grilled slices of italian bread that's been drizzled with olive oil and scraped with garlic. You could put the tomato on the bread and mush it up since they're already very soft from the roasting. They don't taste at all like raw tomatoes (which is a good thing, in my opinion) and they are all you need for a light summer meal.

Recipe originally from Bobby Flay.

Rosemary Shortbread

I'm back from the west coast, and after a long red-eye flight I jumped right into baking and cooking during my week visiting home.

I had a rosemary shortbread cookie last week at a coffee shop in Berkeley (I think it was called 1 2 3 local? It was really nice.) My mom and I gave it a shot here using fresh rosemary from the garden.

It's amazing what the rosemary flavor and aroma does to complement shortbread. This would be great with a cup of black tea. It was also really easy to make.

Recipe originally from Gourmet Magazine.

Best Sandwich

So this is what this blog has become. Sandwiches. Anyway, this one was really good.

Toasted grainy bread, scrambled egg, cheddar cheese, chipotle salsa, avocado, and cilantro.