Summer Vacation Week 4

Blueberry picking, and the subsequent Blueberry Rhubarb Crisp!

Snowstorm

The excitement was palpable. The panic was rising. Anticipation set in as Northern Virginians looked forward to the first "snowstorm" of the season: a light snow for a few hours that resulted in an inch of cover on the ground. Schools were closed early, the federal government told employees they could leave, my co-workers were worried about their cars getting stuck, and I just sat back, amused. After it was all said and done, the tips of the grass were still showing!

If anything, the snow has made things feel a little bit more Christmas-y around here. Holiday lights look so much prettier with a little bit of snow! In honor of my first Virginia snowstorm, I spent a good portion of yesterday baking cookies to commemorate the occasion.

Rather than make the usual sugar cutout, I used my friend Amanda's recipe. With a recommendation like that, I figured I couldn't go wrong. The unexpected citrus flavor really makes the cookie stand out. They ultimately served as my ticket into a cookie exchange party. I tasted over 10 varieties, and still think mine were the best. And still think Virginians' reaction to snow is funny.

Clear skies are predicted for the week, and I am officially on vacation, so the plan is to get out of the kitchen, out of the house, and to use my free time to continue exploring my new hometown.

It Is Official

Fall has arrived in Northern Virginia. You can't really tell by looking outside, but there's a chill in the air. Finally.
I celebrated by baking an apple crisp, after finding a great deal on less-than-perfect looking Golden Delicious apples at the market. Who cares what they look like when they just get chopped up and baked into a delicious, aromatic treat? The combination of the baked apples, spices, and vanilla ice cream worked their magic, evoking the warmth and coziness of a perfect fall evening. Finally.

Right at Home

I knew it was just a matter of time before I fell into my old habits in my new surroundings, and fall I did. Last weekend, early Sunday morning, I tagged along as a new, like-minded friend ventured into the countryside to go raspberry picking. She introduced me to her favorite orchard and we wasted no time getting to work. After a light rain, everywhere was glistening. The raspberry fields seemed to stretch on for miles.

The aisles between bushes were wide, the berries were plentiful, and the conversation was good.

I felt right at home.

When I got home, I couldn't wait to put the fruits of my labor to work. After scouring through my cookbooks, I decided on a simple cake. No fuss, no muss. Just a beautiful way to showcase the best of the orchard. It was simply delicious.

Raspberry Buttermilk Cake

Gourmet, June 2009

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened

2/3 cup plus 1 1/2 Tbsp sugar, divided

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 large egg

1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk

1 cup fresh raspberries

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F with rack in middle. Butter and flour a 9-inch round cake pan.

2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

3. Beat butter and 2/3 cup sugar with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes, then beat in vanilla. Add egg and beat well.

4. At low speed, mix in flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour, and mixing until just combined.

5. Spoon batter into cake pan, smoothing top. Scatter raspberries evenly over top and sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 Tbsp sugar.

6. Bake until cake is golden and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack and cool to warm, 10 to 15 minutes more. Invert onto a plate.

Sentimental Journey

Not surprisingly, now that I've made the decision to leave my home, sentimentality is setting in. I have just over one week left in my house, and I've started to note the last time I'll do things. For example, I picked a bouquet of hydrangeas last night and thought to myself, "that's probably the last time I'll pick a bouquet of hydrangeas from my front yard."

And how pretty they look on my [almost] barren mantel! When the time comes for another garden, hydrangeas will be one of the first flowers planted, along with peonies.

Another favorite thing I did for the last time in my house this week was bake. My neighbor gave me a monster of a zucchini, (the length of my forearm!) which I could not let go to waste. I dug out my favorite zucchini bread recipe and got to work.

Zucchini-Oat Bread

Nonstick cooking spray

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup rolled oats

1 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

3 eggs

1 cup applesauce

1/4 cup butter, melted

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups shredded, unpeeled zucchini

1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

3/4 cup raisins

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan with cooking spray; set aside. Combine 1 tablespoon of the sugar and 1/4 teaspoon of the cinnamon; set aside. Combine flour, oats, baking powder, salt, baking soda, and remaining cinnamon; set aside. In a large mixing bowl beat eggs with electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes or until foamy. Add remaining sugar, the applesauce, butter, and vanilla. Gradually add the flour mixture, beating on low speed just until combined. Stir in zucchini, nuts, and raisins. Spoon into prepared pan. Sprinkle with sugar-cinnamon mixture.

2. Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan. Cool completely on rack.

My baking dishes are all packed away now, and the zucchini bread has been doled out to friends and neighbors. Leaving my home is going to be one of the hardest things I've ever done -- despite my best efforts to remain detached and unemotional -- but also an exciting step in a new direction. And someday, I'm certain, I will live in another sweet little house with a pretty little garden and counter space galore!

A Cherry on Top

After a stretch of unbearably hot and humid weather, (my least favorite) a little reprieve finally came on Saturday, forcing me outside to enjoy the much more pleasant temperature and sunshine. My mom and I made a trip to the Bidwell Farmers Market in Buffalo, where we enjoyed the colorful array of fruit, flowers and veggies.

The show-stopper?

Beautiful, bright, shiny, red cherries! Gorgeous enough to look at, even better to eat. Later on my mom and I put the cherries to use and made our first clafouti.

Custardy, creamy goodness just perfect for showcasing the best of the market. With a light dusting of confectioner's sugar, it was almost as pretty as the cherries themselves.

My Favorite Excursion

Finding myself with some free time and a gorgeous, sunny afternoon, I decided to make the most of my Saturday by taking a trip to one of my favorite places: Hurd Orchards. The love affair began three years ago when I happened upon this little gem looking to pick strawberries. It's an idyllic place where you can pick your own fruit, poke around their little shop, or attend a luncheon. This time I was there to pick blueberries, but first took a gander around the market.

Feeling inspired by all the red, white, and blue, I set off to the blueberry patch to pick myself a bucket of blueberries.

Hello cuties!

It was the perfect day to be out in the field with the beautiful sunshine, lovely breeze and ripe blueberries. The ladies at Hurd told me it was an especially great year for blueberries because of all the rain we've had, and I have to agree. They are delicious! Perfect for my patriotic dessert.

Blueberry Rhubarb Crisp with Pistachio Crust, served warm with vanilla ice cream. Yummy! Happy 4th of July!

This Reminds Me

Yesterday I spent part of the last day of my favorite month doing one of my favorite things: baking. Nothing fancy... just your basic chocolate chip cookie.

Doing so made me think of my grandmother, who always baked chocolate chip cookies in anticipation of anyone coming to visit her. If we timed it just right, the chocolate chips would still be soft upon our arrival at her house.

Aside from cookies, the other thing that always reminds me of my grandmother is rhubarb sauce. I've enjoyed it countless times, but have never attempted to make it. So when I visited for her 92nd birthday a couple weeks ago, I asked her to teach me to make rhubarb sauce. I tromped through her backyard in the rain to cut the rhubarb stalks that are still growing in her garden, cleaned them off, chopped them up and proceeded like this:

Me: So what's next?

Grandma: Boil the rhubarb.

Me: How?

Grandma: With water.

Me: How much?

Grandma: Enough.

Me: How much is enough?

Grandma: You know.

Me: For how long?

Grandma: Long enough.

Me: Then what?

Grandma: Mix in sugar.

Me: How much sugar?

Grandma: Enough.

Her recipe for rhubarb sauce is all just trial and error -- or years of experience -- but watching her make it, I can try to sum up the recipe.

Grandma's Rhubarb Sauce

Rhubarb, cleaned and chopped into 1/2-inch pieces

Granulated sugar

Water

Place rhubarb in a pot with enough water to just cover, (adjust for thicker or thinner sauce). Boil for approximately 20 minutes, or until rhubarb breaks down easily. Immediately mix with sugar until it is the desired sweetness.

To give you an idea, this is the amount of rhubarb I used and my grandmother added about 1/2 cup of sugar. I like my rhubarb sauce on its own, but I'm sure it would taste fantastic over vanilla ice cream.

Taste of June

I always associate the month of June with many of my favorite things: strawberries, peonies, pearls, the end of another school year, my grandmother whose birthday is Flag Day, and the official beginning of summer. But nothing is more reminiscent of June than strawberry rhubarb crisp, my most favorite dessert to make and eat. I've always liked strawberries. And I've always liked rhubarb.

Three years ago, I was in New England for a friend's wedding having dinner here. It was a cozy little restaurant in a quaint little town, very unassuming and very inviting. There was a moment during dinner when I watched dessert being delivered to the next table, and knew I had to try what it was I had my eye on: strawberry rhubarb crisp. When the waiter brought mine out of the kitchen, I was in heaven. The buttery crisp topping, combined with the sweet strawberries, tart rhubarb and melting vanilla ice cream made for a delicious combination. It was one of my most memorable restaurant experiences, and since then, I've been trying to perfect my own crisp using the restaurant's recipe as a guide.

(Yes, I emailed the chef after I got home and he was nice enough to share his recipe with me).

The colors are just beautiful, all mixed in together with sugar. I got my ingredients during my trip to the public market, in anticipation of company coming to visit.

It comes out of the oven piping hot, ready to be paired with vanilla bean ice cream.

Can't you just taste it? The taste of summer-right-around-the-corner?

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

1 cup white sugar

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3 cups sliced fresh strawberries

3 cups diced rhubarb

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup butter

1 cup rolled oats

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup toasted almonds, sliced

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine and macerate white sugar, 3 tablespoons flour, strawberries, and rhubarb until sugar dissolves. Place the mixture in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Mix 1 1/2 cups flour, brown sugar, butter, oats, and almonds until crumbly. Sprinkle topping over strawberry and rhubarb mixture. Bake 45 minutes, or until topping has color and juices are bubbly and run clear. Top with vanilla ice cream.

Pick-Me-Up

A little mid-week energy boost to combat the dreary weather and allergy sniffles:

Ultimate Irresistible Granola*

6 cups rolled oats

1 cup sliced almonds

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup chopped pecans

1 cup sesame seeds

1 cup wheat germ

2 cups shredded coconut (I used unsweetened)

1 cup unsalted sunflower seeds

1/2 cup canola oil

1/3 cup maple syrup

1 cup honey

4 tablespoons brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup golden raisins

1 cup dried cranberries

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, stir together the oats, almonds, walnuts, pecans, sesame seeds, wheat germ, coconut and sunflower seeds. In a small pan over medium heat, stir together the oil, syrup, honey, sugar, salt and cinnamon. Cook and stir until blended. Pour over the oat mixture, and stir to coat evenly. Spread out in an even layer on two cookie sheets.

3. Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until the oats and nuts are toasted. Immediately after it comes out of the oven, stir in the raisins and dried cranberries. Let stand until cooled, and stir again to break up any large clusters.

*I made modifications to the original recipe based on others' reviews.

Remember the Bon Appétit recipe I made not too long ago, (fettuccine with peas, asparagus and pancetta)? I received some surprise mail regarding that post:

"Hi, Anna.

We loved seeing your blog post on cooking our May cover recipe.

We've added your blog link to our website and look forward to seeing more from you!"

Yep, it's there. Check out the original post and you'll see the link to yours truly, right on the Bon Appétit website!! I've been discovered, by the industry's top notch publication, mind you!! [insert delightful squealing here] I haven't quit my day job yet, but I've got my sights set on a future in magazines. My Little Sweet Nest = my ticket to the big time!

Cookies for Santa (and other special people)

Christmas in my household is a fairly simple affair: minimal decorating, gift giving, party going, shopping and traveling. Not because I don't love the holiday. I just choose to focus on a few things rather than all of those things. It makes life so much easier this time of year, and I certainly do not miss the 'hustle and bustle' of the Christmas season.

So, while I avoided the mall and forewent the tree, I spent time in the kitchen baking cookies. The same cookies I baked last year. And the year before. Not because they are traditional Christmas cookies, but because they are pretty to look at and lovely to taste (in my opinion!). And make beautiful, homemade gifts for some very special people.

I started with these cookies, then moved onto these. I ordered peanut butter balls from here. I adapted a recipe and coined the cookies 'Chocolate-Mint Snowcaps' (see below for the recipe). And lastly tried a new recipe this year after some inspiration from a friend.

After only a couple headaches, the cookies came out great.

And some people are going to be very happy.

Chocolate-Mint Snowcaps

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled

1/2 cup chocolate mint chips

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, for coating

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. With an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg until well combined; mix in cooled chocolate. With mixer on low speed, gradually add dry ingredients. Mix chips in by hand. Flatten dough into a disk; wrap in plastic. Freeze until firm, about 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place confectioners' sugar in a bowl; working in batches, roll balls in sugar twice.

Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until cookies have spread and coating is cracked, 12-14 minutes; cookies will be soft to the touch.

Sunday at the Rents'

Today started out promising: a warmer-than-average forecast for November in Western New York, the Buffalo Bills fresh off a bye week, and plans to make an extravagant lasagna dinner for my dad's belated 65th birthday present. Yep. I planned to make a lasagna for the big 6-5. This, because my dad is next to impossible to shop for.

Anyways, the day had this grey, overcast sky hanging around, so it didn't matter that it was in the fifties. It was still ugly. The Buffalo Bills couldn't hold onto their initial lead in their game against Tennessee. Ughhh. And the lasagna never actually materialized. Some poor planning, coupled with a very persuasive mother, convinced me that it would be better to hold off on the lasagna until my brother and sister-in-law visit for Thanksgiving. So dad is going to have to wait a while longer for that special birthday dinner!

The day, however, was not a complete bust. Using this recipe, my mom fixed me a scrumptious breakfast. At least someone was able to pull something off today!

Thanks mom! It was the perfect combination of light (around the edges) and dense (in the middle). It was the highlight of my Sunday.

Treats for Tricks

Halloween is not my favorite holiday -- particularly not this year, as I sit nursing a cold and look out the window at the blustery, grey day -- but I figure somebody around here should enjoy it. So rather than carve a pumpkin and don a costume, I mustered up all the energy I had to bake Frances some treats of her very own. Modified from a recipe found on allrecipes.com, these biscuits are a hit with my little pumpkin.

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup margarine
1 cup boiling water
3/4 cup cornmeal
2 teaspoons white sugar
2 teaspoons beef bouillon granules
1/2 cup milk
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 egg, beaten
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine rolled oats, margarine, and boiling water. Let stand 10 minutes. Grease cookie sheets.
2. Thoroughly stir in cornmeal, sugar, bouillon, milk, Cheddar cheese, and egg. Mix in flour, 1 cup at a time, until a stiff dough has formed.
3. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface, mixing in additional flour as necessary until dough is smooth and no longer sticky. Roll or pat out dough to 1/2" thickness. Cut with cookie cutter and place 1 inch apart onto the prepared cookie sheets.
4. Bake 35 to 45 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown. Cool before serving. Store in a loosely covered container.


These bats are the perfect size for Frances.


Equal parts spooky and fun.


Almost too cute to eat.



Happy Halloween! Hope you enjoy your treats as much as Frances enjoys hers!