Hungry Times Two

It’s officially eight weeks into the “Stay Home, Stay Safe” directive here in Asheville, NC, and today I had the most epic day of mishaps thus far. In North Carolina, Governor Roy Cooper and state officials tout the three Ws as “flattening the curve” practices. I’d like to propose a fourth, inspired by the opening line of most of actor Leslie Jordan’s Instagram posts . “Well, shit.” That’s my motto. Casual, to the point, and very much over it all. (This being said, I am aware of my privilege to work from home and remain inconvenienced thus far, and I send much love and respect to those who cannot.) Ouch First I woke up with a sore neck. What could I have done? I quit doing half-assed yoga weeks ago! Then I remembered last night I washed a particularly gritty bag of romaine lettuce using my salad spinner. I recall thinking at the time, "This is why I don’t use this Ikea spinner that often. This thing is stubborn and churns like a cement mixer.” I must have over-aggres...

I'm renewing our segment "We've Got It Made," in which we highlight our joint ventures in the kitchen. HTT is in the house, baby. After sitting on the recipes from the awesome Mrs. Wheelbarrow class on Easter Desserts for nearly a month, I up and went to the grocery store this a.m. to ensure I had all the ingredients to make a pretty pretty pavlova . Since I won't be here for Easter, I thought it would be nice to make it anyway.

Blogging sucks. Blogging is the best thing ever. I hate blogging. I live to blog. Welcome to my mind, in which I debate why I haven't posted more often here lately. Blame my ever-increasing disinterest in cooking -- I had the "mehs" this winter, but damn if it isn't sunny outside and spring is almost here and well, I miss writing and having good tasty things to write about. So... I'm presently reeling from a dyno-MITE class with Mrs. Wheelbarrow : Easter Desserts rocked my world, and the worlds of friends A & S, who were so smart to join me today to learn how to rock a coconut cake, tishpishti , and a pavlova.  Let the record show I'm heading out in 20 min. on the greenway to burn off what I'm about to describe:

This one's for my Grandmother Carrie, who died last Friday at age 93. My grandmother wasn't flashy or overly free with her affections, but she was a woman of strong faith and well, she baked one hell of a pound cake. It's not just any ol' pound cake - it's a Cold Oven cake, made by putting the cake pan in a non-preheated oven to bake. I'm in the process of tracking her recipe down from one of my cousins, so for now, here's a similar one that you might find enjoyable. It makes for one of the most moist cakes I know of and results in a nice crust on top, too. She didn't add flavorings like almond or chocolate, but I am sure you could if you wanted that little something extra. I find that would be like gilding the lily, however. Sometimes a simple pound cake can do so much - it brought our family a lot of joy and pleasure to rave over during holidays and special occasions, and now, it's a legacy - a token of a woman who's left us, but is still in o...

Or is it just my warm Rosemary Walnut Loaves? Yep, I've tried my hand at baking bread, and it looks like I successfully completed my mission! Exhibit A: Before the oven Exhibit B: After the oven A recipe from Cooking Light , it's something one really should take the time to read the entire way through before one proceeds. I scanned the ingredients list and began at 2pm today, while had I read the recipe, I would have known I'd stand in my kitchen four hours later , slicing the bread. A couple of things: Bread takes time, effort, and patience. I know this now. The latter is always my downfall, so this was practice for me. BIG practice. There's the rising of the yeast. Then adding the flour and the rest of the ingredients and letting it rise more. Then kneading - despite the stickiness of the dough, you have to knead it for 10 minutes - that's forever in Erin Time, but just right in Bread Time. I punched it, I poked it, I wrangled with it, and scattered the stubborn ...

As promised, Philadelphia. Two words: Cheese steaks. That's how our co-foodies on the trip prefaced our Philly trip. It was our ultimate goal, the Holy Grail of Good Eats, if you will. Drive an hour and a half for a sandwich? Oh hell, why not ? Turns out, there's MUCH more to the City of Brotherly Love than just tasty beef smothered in cheese. Let me just spell it out for you below. First, yes, the cheese steaks. Scott's dad, a fan of the Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives , found a place, Cosmi's , in South Philly on 8th that he thought we should try. It seemed like a great idea, as we'd heard the big boys of Pat's and Geno's on dueling corners at Ninth Street and Passyunk Avenue are overrated. Those joints are strictly for tourists. Just by looking at the Cosmi's exterior, it seemed like a solid choice. No fancy lights, signs, or huge crowds extending out the door - just two long tables with chairs for "dine-out" seating. We en...

"Uh, death please? No, cake, cake." If you haven't seen Eddie Izzard's Dressed to Kill, well, I'm kinda envious, because I'd like to go back to when I saw it for the first time. British male transvestite comedian = good times, I promise you. Sooooo ...tea and cake. It's about to happen here at our house because I have this baking in the oven at the moment. I have to use up my apples, though I know they last a while in cold storage, my Virgo OCD tendencies say food needs to be eaten when fresh. I wanted to make this apple loaf cake from Tennessee Locavore as it looked so healthy - applesauce, whole wheat pastry flour, less sugar, etc. - but I didn't have any nuts or cranberries and after my canning extravaganza last night, I was not about to make my applesauce from scratch. Thus the easy way out with the cooks.com recipe. Maybe for a lazy day when my pantry's fully stocked? I'm now officially out of canola oil and flour!

Once I thought I should maybe convert to Tumblr as it seemed like the cool blogging thing to do, then I realized I can get a little wordy now and then and Tumblr isn't exactly great for long form diatribes on the evils of Little Debbie snack cakes or the awful crab we had in Chinatown. So. No Tumblr , but that doesn't mean I can't give you teensy little blog posts on random stuff, as always. Today I present to you the little bites of this and that floating around in my mind. A - There are pretty pumpkins growing in my 'hoods communal garden, and I think roasted pumpkin seeds need to be on the agenda. It is October, the best of the autumnal months, n'est pas? B - I have an urge to make my own energy/granola bars, as my energy has been flagging now for a while and I like bars of all kinds (not just the drinky - drinky speakeasy kind, but these ). A recipe I have at home looks simple enough - we shall soon see! C - Soups. Though yesterday's weather of the 8...

This should really a postscript to my post from September 14, the day o' my good husband's 32 nd year of birth, but sometimes it's hard to post photos as events are occurring and then time flies by, and any who ..... Behold the cake I baked for that special day: Those pellet/poop-like things forming the numbers are Ocean Spray Craisins . How resourceful/ scatological am I?!? The recipe comes from my new- ish cookbook The Healthy Hedonist - the Naked Carrot Cake. It contains the oh-so-nutritious oat flour plus four cups of grated carrots ( Oy . That was a lot of tedious grating, let me tell you), and other stuff that makes cake so awesome - vanilla, brown sugar, eggs, spices of nutmeg, cinnamon , all spice, etc. Only I didn't want it to be so nekkid , cause frosting, when done well and not all grocery-store lard- ish , is marvelous, mmmkay ? SO, I doctored it up with The Joy of Cooking' s Cream Cheese Frosting , and substituted the lower-in-fat and hard-to-pron...

I love the vegetable zucchini - its green color, the firm flesh, the way it can easily be cut into strips, discs, shredded, etc. But, I get tired of eating it in stir fry, and my recent zucchini patties turned out mushy and gross, and deep fried zucchini just isn't the proper treatment for such a lovely vegetable - leave that mess to mozzarella or *this is So Southern of me* pickles. Thus, what does one do with zucchini when you have a crisper drawer full and wishes to fulfill? This. For Breakfast or Brunch. Or This . For dessert, or Lunch. (Alright, no Dr. Seuss am I.) If sweets aren't your thing, do this: use a veg peeler to carve the zucchini into strips. Make a sauce of a teaspoon of sesame oil, rice vinegar, a couple shakes of crushed red pepper, a little sprinkle of brown sugar, and a dash of lime juice. Crush some roasted peanuts and chop a little cilantro (or mint, or Thai basil), and sprinkle over the zucchini "noodles" and sauce it up. This is a crude appro...

Like, duh, it's a given - anywhere we go, Scott and I will seek out the food and drink opportunities to the hilt. Our recent adventure in Colorado did not disappoint in that regard. Whether you're coming off the hiking trail and need recharging, trying to escape the magnifying-glass sharp sunshine, or ready to quench your thirst, you won't run out of options in Boulder. What did we like best? Here's our top 5. 1) Celestial Seasonings - a different kind of brew. Yep, CO is known for its beer but as an Anglophile, Scott is a big tea drinker, and as for me, well, I like it to cool me down in the summer, to warm me up in the winter (or at my office, where the frigid A/C is always on full blast), and to calm me when my emotions need a little tea party break. Luckily, the Celestial Seasonings factory in Boulder beckoned and we didn't resist its charms in the slightest. With three family members, we signed up for the tour - receiving packets of Sleepytime blend as our ...

HTT had quite the holiday weekend, food-wise , and info is coming soon on that, so stay tuned! In the meantime, give it up for this man at Moishes Kosher Bakery , serving up some ridiculously tasty rugalah . Photo courtesy of Amy Blaszyk My friend and co-worker Amy did a whirlwind trip to NYC over the weekend and brought back some goodies to share. They were like buttah ! (Amy recently did a story for WAMU on the Twitter/food truck phenomenon around DC - check it out!) Mazel Tov , y'all.

Presenting my new favorite kitchen item - a North Carolina-shaped cookie/biscuit/ carb cutter gifted to me by my dear pal Shelby. Shelby found this at a shop in D.C.'s Eastern Market called Hill's Kitchen. Isn't it awesome? To commemorate its total awesomeness, I used it to make Cheese Bannocks, a Scottish recipe I found on the back of an Arrowhead Mills oat flour package given to us by a friend who cleaned out their pantry while moving out of their DC apartment. (Yes, what a random explaination that was.) Cheese bannocks are like a heartier version of the ubiquitous Southern wedding/funeral/church refreshments known as Cheese Straws. They are yummy. Want to make them? Here's how. Bannocks de Fromage 1 cup oats 1 cup oat flour 1/4 tsp salt 1/4 tsp mustard powder 1/4 cup softened butter 1 cup of grated sharp cheddar cheese 1/2 c...

Today is National Strawberry Shortcake* Day! Go out and get you some!!! *The food, not the '80s cartoon character.

Our Shout Out this week is a sad one: Carol Fay Ellison, known to many in Nashville and those who just love a good hot, flaky biscuit, died on Monday . Her biscuits made those who ate them just flat-out happy. On one of our first visits to the Loveless, we came in late for dinner, about an hour before the place closed down. After we finished our meal, our waiter said "Y'all want some biscuits to take home? We're just gonna have to toss them out otherwise." We never turn away free biscuits. Especially Carol Fay's. We took them home and toasted them up the next morning for breakfast. A couple months before Scott and I left Nashville, we were in a Wal-Mart (forgive us, but we had to go) purchasing a vacuum, and we spotted Carol Fay in one of the aisles, pushing her cart, smiling and laughing with her shopping companions. I felt a little better about being in Wal-Mart, knowing the Biscuit Lady was there too. I hope there's a biscuit heaven, Miss Carol Fay. If ...

My granola, that is. Yep, I'm just one step away from throwing on a batik sarong, renewing my subscription to Mother Jones, and getting in on the nearest drum circle I can find. Granola gets a bad rap, I think. It's a word used to describe the more liberal, earth- lovin ' folk, but I just think it's crunchy and tasty with yogurt or as cereal. I plan on breakfastin ' it up with this granola in the morning, accompanied by sliced banana and milk. The recipe I used is great, but it didn't result in big clusters of granola, which you might find in the $5 bags at Whole Foods and other places. It's still crunchy, just separated instead of chunky. I think a lot of granola recipes call for butter and this one uses oil instead. Often granola is considered a "health food" but when you examine the nutrition info on commercial granola, you'll see a fat gram count that is sooooooo far out, man. In other baking-related news, last weekend Scott and I attend...