my fresh berry birthday tart.

What a lucky girl I am.

We headed down to Medford earlier this month to attend Andy's 10 year high school reunion (!) and do a little birthday celebrating.

My friend Jess is a pastry chef, as I have mentioned before, and she made me a fantastic fresh berry tart. I don't usually say this, but O.M.G.

Who gets from-scratch cupcakes and a berry tart all in one week? Again, I'm lucky.

We also went wine tasting, and visited a new tasting room out in the Applegate that was seriously amazing. It was probably one of the best places I've been to, as far as atmosphere and friendliness of the staff. We will definitely be recommending Fiasco to our friends and visiting again when we go back down. Soon.

Try making this tart with all the late-summer berry bounty!

Fresh Mixed Berry Tart

Serves 8.

Adapted from Williams-Sonoma

Pastry:

1 1/2 cups flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/8 tsp. salt

8 Tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1 egg yok, beaten with 2 Tbsp. heavy cream

Vanilla Pastry Cream:

3 Tbsp. granulated sugar

1 Tbsp. flour

1 Tbsp. cornstarch

2 egg yolks

2/3 cup milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

4 cups mixed berries (she used blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries)

powdered sugar for dusting (optional)

Directions:

Position rack in lower oven, preheat to 425 F.

In a food processor or bowl, combine flour, sugar, and salt and pulse or combine with fork/pastry blender to mix. It should resemble a coarse meal. Add yolk mixture until dough holds together when squeezed. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface and knead a few times into a ball. Shape into 5" disk, wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 mins.

While the dough is chilling, make pastry cream: Beat sugar, flour, cornstarch and egg yolks on medium speed with a mixer for 2-3 mins until thick.

Combine milk and vanilla in a saucepan over medium heat and bring to simmer. While stirring, add half of the milk into the just-blended sugar mixture until combined. Then, pour the sugar mixture back into the pan with the remainder of the milk and increase to medium-low heat. Cook, while whisking constantly, until mixture thickens and bubbles, 1-2 mins. Scrape sides and corners while whisking to prevent scorching.

Pour pastry cream into clean bowl and cover surface with parchment paper. Let cook to room temp, then refrigerate for 1 hour.

On a floured surface, roll out dough into 11-inch round. Transfer into 9-inch tart dish and trim edges. Line pastry with parchment paper, fill with pie weights, rice or beans and bake for 5 minutes. Reduce the oven temp to 350. Remove pie weights and paper, and poke holes in bottom of crust. Bake until crust is golden, 15-20 minutes more. Cool for 1 hour.

To serve, spoon pastry cream into crust and arrange berries on top to your liking. Dust with powdered sugar if desired.

new uses for old things.

I love the "new uses for old things" feature in Real Simple magazine.

This month's were great!

use a marshmallow as frosting...

and a bundt pan as a roaster...

clever!

Recipes to try:

Roasted Chicken with Gravy from the Nourishing Gourmet

or

The Search Results of "roast chicken" at Epicurious.com.

and

Any recipe on Cupcake Bakeshop. And for those of us (me) who don't take the time to follow recipes things correctly, read her post on tips and tricks to baking cupcakes. Then make the chocolate cupcakes and try out the marshmallow trick!

kitchen morning.

I'm in the kitchen this morning, getting ready for a coast trip kicking off on Thursday. We're heading down to Brookings to celebrate Andy's grandma Jean's 80th birthday, but since it is so far from Portland we're going to break it up into two trips. I somehow secured a very sweet last-minute beachside camping spot in Charleston, so we'll camp on Thursday night and finish the trip on Friday.

We're also going to stop at Kookoolan Farms in Yamhill to pick up some milk for the weekend - we don't want to have to go all the way out to Eagle Creek and then back the other direction to the coast....so we'll make a stop along the way to a new and exciting place! We're so addicted.

My activities this morning included :

Getting lentils soaked for Kimi's Simple Lentil Salad

Soaking spelt flour for Kimi's Spiced Blueberry Coconut Muffins

Mixed up a new sourdough starter, very sadly mine died a while ago.

Soaking chicken livers in spiced rum for Chicken Liver Pâté.

Booking a place to stay in Cambridge. Should we stay near Christ's Pieces or by Butt Green?

In all this self-imposed busy-ness, I also really miss my little sister today.

summer hide-and-seek.

What's up with this weather?

All I want to do is sit on a shaded porch in the middle of the afternoon and drink herbal lemonade, as made by Jennie on her Straight from the Farm blog. She's got so many good ideas.

But I can't make this until it gets over 75 degrees for 5 days. Otherwise it just feels wrong, like listening to Christmas music in July (you know who you are).

So I wait.

But you...you just go ahead and find the recipe here. I'm sure it's over 75 wherever you're at...right?

(Copyright Jennie, Straight from the Farm)

did I mention?

Did I mention we ate food at the rehearsal dinner?

fresh jalapeno poppers with cream cheese and bacon...

handheld potato halves...

lemon cake with strawberry jam filling...

chocolate cheesecake cupcakes...

and I had one of all three, of course.

Jalapeno Poppers

Jalapenos, baby red and yellow peppers; halved with seeds cleaned out

Full-fat cream cheese

Bacon (nitrate-free, preferably)

Spread inside of halved peppers with cream cheese.

Slice bacon to cover pepper half, secure with toothpicks.

Bake for 15 minutes, maybe with a little broil at the end.

Remove toothpicks and serve.

Handheld Baked Potatoes

Yukon gold potatoes, already baked and halved

with the middle scooped out (but not too much)

Grated cheese

Bacon, cooked and chopped into bits

Sour cream

Black pepper

Sprinkle insides of scooped out potatoes with bacon and cheese, bake until cheese is melted.

Spoon sour cream into middle and top with pepper.

Serve warm.

waffles + ice cream.

A great last-minute dessert idea:

Picked up two sugar waffles from Waffle Window on Hawthorne...

Cashed in my coupon for a free pint of Ben & Jerry's from the Pint for a Pint Blood Drive...

And voila!

Takes the ice cream sandwich to a whole new level.

Mojito Slaw

We attended our friends' Cinco de Mayo party on Saturday night (So, Ocho de Mayo?) and had a great time enjoying the rare semi-warm spring evening in Portland with a sunset that wasn't hidden by grey clouds.

We spent most of the evening playing Kubb, the addictive outdoor game that is otherwise known as "Viking Chess". I'll do a post on it sometime. In fact, we played it well after sunset, so our host got the ingenious idea of bringing out a floor lamp connected by an extension cord. We could have played all night!

But I'm actually going to focus on slaw. Mojito slaw, to be exact. I've had a resurgence of love for coleslaw and have been really amused by Smitten Kitchen's slaw obsession. I had a 1/2 head of cabbage in the fridge left over from making sauerkraut (I'll do a post on that, too) and found this great slaw recipe that fit the "mexican food" criteria and was easy to make. While I did not ultimately find the recipe of SK's website, I'm going to try out some of her slaw recipes this summer for sure.

Mojito Cole Slaw

From Papawow!

• 1/2 a large cabbage, chopped into thin shreds
• 1 large carrot grated or shredded in a food processor
• 1/2 a jicama, julienne
• 1 cup yogurt
• 4 tablespoons of mint, chiffonade
• juice of 1/2 a lime
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• the zest of 1 lime
• 1/4 teaspoon celery salt

Directions:

Make the dressing first by adding the yogurt, salt, pepper, mint, lime juice, lime zest, and celery salt in a bowl. Mix the cabbage, jimaca, and carrot together in a large bowl. Then, incorporate the dressing and the cabbage mixture well. Keep refrigerated.

I leave you with pinata pictures.

spring break part three (jam-filled cupcakes with tangelo glaze)

We got together with our Meddy friends for American Idol night that also included steak, green beans, bread, and these little beauties. Only they weren't so little.

One of my dearest friends, Jessi, is a pastry chef. She makes amazing treats and beautiful cakes. If you're in the Rogue Valley, you should call her next time you need a cake. You really should.

These jam-filled delights are from Martha Stewart's cupcake book. There is a version of the recipe on Martha's site that you can visit HERE. These are covered in a tangelo-glaze.

Ahhhhhh...

oh so good chicken.

One of the perks of marrying into this family has been the plethora of good casserole recipes. We weren't a casserole family growing up, so I have a special appreciation for them because I wasn't inundated with tuna-noodle or any sort of neon-red sauce hamburger helper. There was a period when we did have a variation of chicken every night for approximately 365 days in a row, but that's a different story.

But not being used to them or pre-conditioned to automatically think "casserole" when I think of an affordable and dense dinner means I don't make them very much. Andy's favorite, the one that wins me Wife of the Year, is called Oh So Good Chicken.

I remember when I first had it, and truly, the first words that came out of my mouth when I took the first bite were, "Oh so good!" I didn't have the recipe for the first few years of marriage, and now that I have it, I feel more prepared to fulfill my wedding vows - the one that said, "I promise not to make you eat tuna or chili..."

True story, those were part of our vows. The man had honestly only been eating those two foods for quite a while leading up to our wedding and I somehow felt it was important enough to stand before God and Man and ensure him that I would be different.

Unfortunately, there is Trader Joe's chili and special non-chunk light tuna in the pantry. Fortunately, he either doesn't remember that I vowed against it, or he's looking the other way because he still really likes it.

I'll just keep him distracted with a dish of Oh So Good Chicken.

A Kimmelshue Family Recipe

4 Tbsp. Olive Oil

1/4 c. sliced green onions

1 c. sliced mushrooms

1-4 oz. can green chiles, diced

1 1/2 c. mild salsa or picante (or hot!)

12 oz. chopped cooked chicken

2 to 2 1/4 c. cooked rice

6 Tbsp. sour cream (or more, to taste)

4 oz. grated cheddar

paprika

Heat oil, saute mushrooms and onions. Stir in green chiles and salsa. Let simmer together for a few minutes. In a bowl, combine chicken, rice, sour cream, and half the cheese. Stir in simmered sauce, mix all together. Spoon into 8x8 casserole dish, season with paprika to taste and the remainder of cheese. Bake at 350 until cheese is bubbly on top and browned, 30 - 45 minutes.

tiger rolls!

Tiff of For The Love of Paisley makes the most delicious homemade tiger rolls! She formulated the approximate recipe in her head, but it really is a recipe of taste preferences. The last batch we made was less spicy; the batch tonight had more Sambal Olek and had a little more zing, which I like.

Making tiger rolls is so easy and quick - a great last-minute entertaining or appetizer idea. Just make sure you serve them when they're still hot.

Tiger Rolls

Supplies:

Eggroll wrappers

Oil for frying

1 scallion

Mix the filling to taste, beginning with:

1 block cream cheese

1/2 tsp. Sambal Olek

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup. chopped crab (opt.)

Assembling the wrappers:

Spoon about 1-2 tablespoons of filling onto the middle of the wrapper laid out in a diamond shape. Using a small bowl of warm water to dip your fingers in, run them along the edges of the wrapper, folding the side edges in and then the top and bottom. Using a wet finger, seal the wrapper seam so the fillings don't spill out.

Heat oil until it pops when water is flicked in. Place the filled wrappers in the oil and fry until brown, turning once. Garnish with scallions and dip in sweet chili sauce.

german pancakes. JamJam!

A fun morning breakfast with good friends Jess and Tiff! We used Smitten Kitchen's german pancake recipe. Maple yogurt drizzled over the top with powdered sugar, fruit salad and coffee. Jess took pictures with her amazing Canon that makes us have jealous feelings.

We decided that Tiff should develop recipes, Jess should photograph them, and I will write about them. Because trust me, this is only one of the many delicious things we have made that have gone undocumented. Dream team!

sourdough sketch.

Do you think the forks look similar? Maybe not. It's OK. I'll get better!

I took a non-credit drawing workshop class at PCC put on by Jill Goodell and I spent three hours shading a pomegranate the size of a volleyball. She said, "Well, I am just so impressed that you took on such a huge project!" Code: Who do you think you are, Picasso?

She led a great class and one of the best tidbits of advice she gave us was to draw during normal daytime activities - like breakfast. Hence the fork.

What I am eating on the above plate is a new staple that I have incorporated permanently into our diet: The Sourdough Starter.

I made a jar of starter at a DIY fair in November and, miraculously, it is still alive! My first attempt met with failure. About two years ago, I made a big batch of starter and mixed it into a big mason jar on the counter, covering it with cheesecloth and leaving it to do its work. I felt so domestic! About an hour later, I heard a weird sound coming from the kitchen. I assumed that it was the dishwasher and promptly forgot about it.

A while later, I heard the sound again. Curious, I walked into the kitchen and there was the starter, which was bubbling out of the cheesecloth and had covered the counter in a gooey floury mess, even dropping onto the floor. In my excitement I had made too much and covered it too tightly. Sorry, Sally!

But this starter has been much more of a success and has become a great pal in the kitchen. Starters are so fun - you can subtly change the flavor, the amount, and use different things to feed it with depending on what you have on hand.

I found that my sourdough pancake recipe and starter feeder most similarly resembles Kimi Harris' at The Nourishing Gourmet, so rather than type out another recipe that is pretty much duplicating hers, I'll send you to her site: Sourdough Pancake Recipe .

Interested? Sarah from Sarah's Musings also has a great "'Definitive' Guide to Sourdough" that is helpful and entertaining.

Happy Fermenting!

My crockpot hates me.

It's official.

My crockpot hates me. Or I hate it, rather. Doesn't matter - the bottom line is that it's just not working out between us.

It's been a rocky relationship from the get-go.

When I had my first experience with the crock pot, which I had eagerly registered for in a cheery red color and received at my bridal shower, I decided to make chicken and broccoli.

Do not, under any circumstances, put broccoli in a crock pot, especially not for 8 hours. My friend was laughing about it the other day and said, "Your house smelled for the rest of the time that you lived there!" - - putrified broccoli. Strike 1.

Then, I decided to cook a whole chicken in it, like mom used to do. I imagined it simmering away while I was at work, so juicy and tender with the carrots and the onions, etc...you know, like mom used to make! Lo and behold, when I opened the lid after I got home from work, there was no chicken left! It had disintegrated into a pile of herby mush. Strike 2.

Today, I had some butternut squash and a recipe for crockpot butternut squash soup. Woke up early, cut the apples, made the bouquet garni full of cloves and coriander, and came home to a very pleasant smell. Blended it up and poured myself a bowl. Ick. Just plain not good. Strike 3.

You're out.

Anyone need a crock pot?

cranberry upside down cake

Cranberries and those who sell them to us are really good at peer pressure. When winter rolls around, red and cheery bags of crans show up on grocery store shelves...and they make you feel like you *have* to buy a bag and do *something* with it, even if it just be cranberry sauce that nobody really eats.

This year was going to be different! Cranberries are not only delicious, but chock full of antioxidants and detoxification properties. Granted, the sugar content of cranberry desserts may nullify the good properties, but doesn't it feel good to think about all that while eating a big piece of perfectly spicy cranberry cake with homemade vanilla whipped cream? Let me tell you - it does! I took the cake to a Christmas party and it was well received.

I have a great holiday baking Everyday Food magazine that I've used for the past few years. You can also find the recipe online.

If you have a bag of crans lying around (although they freeze well!), I'd suggest giving this cake a try.

Cranberry Upside Down Cake

From Martha Stewart's Everyday Food Magazine

• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice
• 1 3/4 cups cranberries
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup milk
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Rub the bottom and sides of an 8-inch round cake pan with butter. In a small bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup sugar with the cinnamon and allspice. Sprinkle mixture evenly over bottom of pan; arrange cranberries in a single layer on top.
• With an electric mixer, cream remaining 6 tablespoons butter and 1/2 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla; beat until well combined. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture to butter mixture in three batches, alternating with the milk, until well combined.
• Spoon batter over cranberries in pan, and smooth top. Place pan on a baking sheet; bake cake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Run a knife around edge of cake; invert onto a platter.

p.s. - Thanks, michael! This video made my day so I just had to share it!

simple spiced coffee & some stiff upper lip.

We usually go out to breakfast on Saturday mornings but this past Saturday morning we stayed home and made breakfast instead. Sourdough waffles (from a starter I've managed to keep alive, more about that another day) and spiced coffee.

Trader Joe's featured their own brand of holiday spiced coffee that they had on sample a while ago, and it was so good that I went back for seconds, although it is hard to maneuver a shopping cart down teeny aisles in a crowded store while sipping a hot beverage from a dixie cup.

We made our own version using the french press.

What you'll need :

French press (or drip!)

Fresh coffee beans

1 - 2 tsp. cinnamon, 3-5 whole cloves, and a few red & white peppercorns

Grind up the spices with your coffee and brew how you like it. You can adjust the spice level according to your preferences after you make the first pot.

Well thank you, I will.

by Claire Owen Illustration

bread and toast

One big reason to look forward to this time of year is all the delicious loafs and breads that come piping hot out of toasty ovens. Mmmm. Martha's slideshow about quick breads made my mouth water. I especially want to try the Chocolate Marble Cake with Ganache, picture below. Breads also make great gifts, IF they make it out of the house!

The new Christmas issue of Toast UK's catalog is also out. I want everything in this spendy, artsy little catalog. I decided to treat myself and purchase an ornament that was only 4 pounds, but I went to checkout and the minimum shipping cost is 25 pounds! That's almost 50 dollars! No Toast ornament for me this year.

gluten-free meatballs.

Meatballs are surely chameleons. You can add so many different flavors and spices that no meatball need ever be the same. Here's my version, which I add to or subtract from every time. They're also gluten-free.

1/2 lb. ground beef

1 egg, gently mixed

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/3 heaping cup gluten-free bread crumbs

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp thyme

1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated

Salt and Pepper

Mix all ingredients together by hand, shape into balls and cook over medium-low heat in olive oil. Finish off the meatballs by simmering in tomato sauce, and serve over brown rice spaghetti to keep this meal gluten-free. I served with a salad made up of baby romaine and lamb's lettuce.

Pumpkin Spice Cake with Cinnamon Glaze

I love pumpkin. A little more than the average person, I do believe. I did a pumpkin post last fall, where I made pumpkin muffins and pancakes (FAIL) and pumpkin chili (WIN), and a pumpkin cheesecake (DRAW). This recipe is from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine's special christmas baking issue from last year, and instead of using the honey frosting, which does look delicious, I used the cinnamon glaze recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. So. Good.

(From Martha Stewart's Everyday Food)

I spun off the cake a little, and also the frosting. So it technically isn't the same cake. Here is Martha's original recipe, including the Honey Frosting.

CAKE:

2 1/2 cups flour

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice

2 large eggs

1 cup sugar (cut from 1 1/2)

1 can pumpkin puree

6 Tbsp butter + 2 Tbsp. coconut oil, melted

Preheat oven to 350. Mix wet ingredients and dry ingredients separately, adding dry to pumpkin mixture and mix until smooth. Pour into 9 in. greased (coconut oil or butter) pan, bake for 45-50 mins or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool, glaze or ice.

Cinnamon Icing, from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, which I used as a "glaze".

1/2 cup confectioners sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

1 Tbsp. milk

2 Tbsp. butter or coconut oil (or margarine as the book suggests, ick!), melted

Whisk together, keeping at room temp. until ready to use. Drizzle over cake.

apple pressin' and a comforting cider recipe

We went on a little getaway with our good friends up to Puget Sound, where we attended their traditional family cider-making party. It was such a great experience, it felt fall-ish and harvest-y and like we were taking part in the deep roots of the Pacific Northwest.

Every person had a job; whether it was loading the apples, washing the apple, sorting the apples, cutting the apples, pressing the apples, or scooping up the cider and filling milk jugs through cheesecloth. It was a great social time, plus the potluck afterwards was one of the best that I had EVER been to. Especially the apple champagne, which someone had taken the apple juice from last year's pressing and added champagne culture, letting it ferment throughout the year. So crisp and bubbly!

Bottling the good stuff

Custom apple presses

1700 pounds of organic Washington apples

The end result

View from the cabin

The cabin - it was everything I hoped it would be!

The next Tuesday, a group of friends met up to go through the corn maze on Sauvie Island; one of our friend's sisters actually lives full time on the farm and allowed us to heat up cider on her stove after we had completed the course. Friend Josh found this recipe for mulled cider and it is seriously delicious!

• 6 cups apple cider
• 1/4 cup real maple syrup
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 6 whole cloves
• 6 whole allspice berries
• 1 orange peel, cut into strips (We used slices)
• 1 lemon peel, cut into strips (We used slices)
• 
  
• Pour the apple cider and maple syrup into a large stainless steel saucepan.Place the cinnamon sticks, cloves, allspice berries, orange peel and lemon peel in the center of a washed square of cheesecloth; fold up the sides of the cheesecloth to enclose the bundle, then tie it up with a length of kitchen string. Drop the spice bundle into the cider mixture.Place the saucepan over moderate heat for 5 to 10 minutes, or until the cider is very hot but not boiling.Remove the cider from the heat and discard the spice bundle. Ladle the cider into big cups or mugs.

From: allrecipes.com

The Pie of those Sheep-Herding Folk.

Fall is here. I know this because when I walk outside, I can smell it. I also know this because our house is still without heat and there is a distinct chill inside. We have always kept our living spaces cold because we're cheap and usually poor, but this time is different because we don't even have the option of heat available to us.

On a different note, someday it's my dream to have a little bit of property where I can raise some sheep. They are so multi-purpose! They are really cute, their wool is warm and soft, they taste good, and I think you can make really good cheese out of their milk. Naturally, the people who raise and "herd" the sheep must be lovely people, too, right? Of course, because they are also the bless-ed folk behind one of the coziest meals on the menu.

Shepherd's Pie, from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food. (With a corny twist)

1 pound ground beef

1 medium onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 tsp thyme

2 Tbsp. ketchup

1 Tbsp. flour

10 oz. (or your preference) frozen veggies. (We used frozen sweet corn and fresh mushrooms)

Coarse salt and ground pepper

3 cups mashed potatoes (this was 3 russet potatoes for us, boiled and smashed with butter)

1. Preheat oven to 425. Cook meat for 4-5 mins, add onion and garlic and cook until soft and onions are transparent, 4-5 mins.

2. Add thyme, ketchup and flour; stir until combined. Add about 1/2 c. water and vegetables, cook until warm and the whole liquid has thickened. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Place mixture in baking dish. Spread potatoes evenly over mixture. Bake for 10-15 mins, adding cheese on top if you'd like. We only had parmesan cheese so I just sprinkled a little over the top. Serve hot with another steamed and buttered veg, like broccoli or green beans.

*What was our corny twist? I sliced up ready-made polenta and made a bottom crust for our pie, spooning the meat mixture over the top. It was delicious.