my signature chocolate chip cookies

Where to even begin...a lot has happened since my last post. I moved to North Carolina, married off both daughters and welcomed two grand daughters since then.  I have been cooking, working, traveling and acclimating to a new geography while loving the role of guh-guh (grandmother).
These cookies are my go to travel cookie...take to a meeting, bake for the family or maybe bake a stack to stash in my luggage for a family vacation.  It is pretty awesome to pull out a yummy chocolate chip cookie from your carry on mid-flight! This recipe is a riff on a recipe from a cookie compilation paperback cookbook originally printed in the 80's.  This cookie is pictured on the book cover.  It is literally the only recipe that I have ever made from this book!  Here we go.

big but not too big and yes crunchy not soft

nywff part 2....swiss chard ragu with white beans and tiny shell pasta

i learned to make this fantastic vegetarian dish at the new york wine and food festival, courtesy of chef mark ladner.  if i had seen this recipe in a cookbook  i honestly never would have tried it....i have had a tiny bit of chard on a lovely plate in a restaurant but never as the main attraction of a meal.  chard is so wonderful for you and is available now...so give this recipe a try...it is so hearty and yummy...i have made it at least 6 or 7 times .....it is seriously delicious!!! chef ladner served this with home made orchiette pasta. which we also had to try and make... needless to say i am still a novice with the orchiette.....homemade orchiette is an art and unfortunately i am not an artist....i had a hard time finding boxed orchiette locally and have substituted mini shells.

rustic ragu

recipe after the jump

cinnamon rolls from america's test kitchen

easy cinnamon rolls

saturday morning...getting ready to bake some scones and the little one requests cinnamon rolls :)  how can you say no?  of course you can't....you go to the fridge, the freezer, the pantry and dig around....what do you have that you can make into cinnamon rolls...no frozen puff pastry....have to go full blown...find that good america's test kitchen recipe...it has been years since i made these...but they really are easy and very delicious.  at first glance it might look long and complicated but it is pretty easy just go step by step.  the recipe warns these are best warm but hold reasonably well for 2 hours...well i did also make scones...so the 3 of us could not eat all of them for breakfast....karen had one before supper and there were two for breakfast the next day and they were still good! i made just a few modifications to the recipe...i used mascarpone cheese instead of cream cheese and added lemon zest and raisins...i love the crunchy puffed raisins in cinnamon rolls.

recipe after the jump

apricot, cranberry, almond scones with lemon glaze

scones....i love them....i am not sure tilly ever had a scone .....they were not in our family food repertoire....i don't think i ever tried one until i tasted one of karen's at breakfast one day...(karen is irish and scones are definitely in her repertoire) ..i traveled to Ireland with karen maybe 15 years ago and ordered scones there...WOW...do they do scones!!!!!   have you ever had a scone at one of the large national coffee shop chains in the US?  they are disappointing  to say the least....they aren't buttery or rich and they are tooooo sweet...i stopped bothering.  (they do have wonderful scones at balthazar in new york city!!! ) ina garten makes lovely scones but somehow they did not say EASY to me...until one day i saw tyler florence make these  ......... seriously i did not believe my eves.....how could they be that easy...i had envisioned rolling and cutting dough with biscuit cutters and lots of other complicated steps....these are ridiculously easy.....the basic recipe is tyler florence's that i have made countless times with fresh blueberries and they are wonderful...  combing through my new cookbook stack (thanks santa), i got some inspiration from  deb perelman's smitten kitchen cook book ....she specifically mentions experimenting with scones......so i took a tried and true recipe and messed with it....i used what i had...these were awesome!

i ate one before i took this picture!

recipe after the jump

death by chocolate pumpkin chocolate cheesecake

death by chocolate pumpkin cheesecake for thanksgiving dessert

This is from the Death by Chocolate cook book by Marcel Desaulneire.  He used to have a TV show...years ago....  My extended family moved to Williamsburg, Virginia about 15 years ago.  When I visited we always stopped for an awesome meal at Marcel's restaurant the Trellis. (sadly closed a few years ago) It was there that I bought the autographed copy of the cookbook.  Whenever I need something special that will wow the audience I pull something out of this book.   This is a double decker chocolate and pumpkin cheesecake. You make each cheesecake separately…the chocolate one is made in a spring form pan and it has the crust.  The pumpkin cheesecake…is baked in a regular cake pan without a crust then you put it on top.....and yes it is all topped off with chocolate ganache....wonderfully delicious and covers all cracked cheesecake issues....add the extra cookie crumbs on the sides to guild the lily...this is decadent and special...there are a lot of steps....none of them hard.

 recipe after the jump

nywff part 1 no knead bread and pizza dough from jim lahey

saturday morning i got up at 5 am....jumped in the car and headed to new york city to meet 3 friends and spend a wonderful day cooking and eating at the new york wine and food festival.  this year they held master classes for the first time....and...we managed to get tickets to a bread and pasta master class with jim lahey and mark ladner... it was held at the international culinary center on broadway.  i have seen the no knead bread recipe before....mark bittman wrote it up in the ny times...brit sent it to me last year....but every time i looked at it i thought...it can not possibly work.....it has to stick to the pot...it can not come out like bakery bread...well i saw jim lahey in person explain the fermentation process...he recommended to touch the dough as little as possible...i watched wide eyed as the dough slid out of the bowl like the sci fi movie the blob...and i can tell you it works like a charm....all it takes is time. 

ok, so i got up late on sunday morning...went to williams & sonoma bought a pizza stone and a peel...i stocked up on flour and set to work on the plan.  i found jim's pizza dough recipe in a recent bon appetit magazine on line and compared it back to the bread recipe.....same ingredients..so....i am thinking make a big batch of the pizza dough...split it after raising...because really, hubby and i can not eat 6 pizzas!  so here we go! recipe after the jump

braised glazed pork shoulder and fresh corn salad from 2 mark's

mark vetri's roast pork photo from bon appetit september 2012

mark bittman's tomato basil corn salad

summer is almost gone.....usually i am packing for a  two week vacation  this time of year, but this year we went in july instead.  being in new england in september is a great opportunity to take advantage of all that is ripe off the vine....tomatoes, corn....a fun time to try new recipes.  mark bittman's what to eat right now column last week titled "shuck and awe" inspired me to do something different with my favorite vegetable....not that steaming and serving with butter and kosher salt isn't fantastic ...it totally is..but.... well why not combine it with other flavors?  the tomato and basil salad with corn is a wonderful dish.  i have made it twice in 7 days! beyond wonderful.  this is a new favorite!  for saturday late lunch i decided to try mark vetri's (september bon appetit) slow roasted glazed pork shoulder.  it is definitely a weekend project because it requires some time...not so much work at all ....just time. (and surprisingly few ingredients.....  this recipe is so delicious.....aromatic....so comforting!  i can not think of enough adjectives....( and really i don't get italian from this flavor at all....just wonderfully subtle roasted pork and the cider vinegar glaze with brown sugar is the perfect note!  prepared to be licking your sticky fingers!  actually bailey had a rough day at home smelling the fantastic aroma of the pork roasting for 5 hours while we sat on the beach! go to the link for the salad...i steamed my corn first but mr. bittman went for raw....
recipe after the jump

eating around the gas lamps in San Diego

woo hoo look what they have in cali!

recently i traveled with my husband to san diego...he for work...me using airline miles...to work from the hotel room and try and have a little fun in the evening.  the weather never got out of the 60's...so much for relaxing by the pool on the weekend....only thing left to do when we both finished a long day of working was to poke around and find something decent to eat.....we stayed in the gas lamp district so plenty of tourist traps to pick from...but also some lovely, friendly people and really good food choices too.....(many of the friendly people i met were transplants from florida that were also freezing in the 60 degree weather......)

Dinner at the Merk Bistro the hostess was so friendly and genuine she talked us into eating there...and the food was so yummy we came back the next nite!
pictures and reviews after the jump

buttermilk bananna muffins from william sonoma

crunchy warm muffins for a cold april day

its a chilly april morning...happens to be april fools day....and the furnace decided to take a rest....it's a new furnace... i throw on an extra sweater, turn on the oven and look around for something to bake.......i have an unopened quart of buttermilk and a bowl of brown bananas .......so i start hunting for a quick recipe for some hearty muffins to use up what i have.  nothing turned up in the cook books so i did a quick search on google and found this William Sonoma recipe.  this recipe looked good but the reviews made it sound like they were a bit savory and not sweet enough so i decided to add a crumble topping.....they came out so good.....delicious.....the furnace guy showed up...fixed the furnace and i sent him out the door with a bag of warm muffins........

recipe after the jump:

baked challah french toast

ok you are thinking Another French Toast recipe????? well, all i have to say to that is this one is perfection.  brit and i keep tinkering with the recipes...using stuff we have in the pantry...this one was fast, not messy...super delicious and great as left overs right out of fridge.  challah bread from nyc, zested mandarin orange....and crunchy crumb topping...warm maple syrup..ahhhhhhh

best french toast bake ever....not super sweet just good

recipe after the jump

ina's italian wedding soup

chase away the "winter" blues with some hot soup

it is cold and stark outside....grey....the winter that wasn't still isn't spring.  i feel the need to make something warm and comforting....soup!  not just your basic soup but ina garten's italian wedding soup.  i did not grow up with this...not by a long shot....no real italians in the family....tilly did produce some yummy soups but nothing with meatballs...what could  possibly be yummier for dinner than meatballs made with sausage, tiny little pasta with veggies in steaming chicken broth?  enough said ...try this....this one is online at the link above and also in  my favorite ina cookbook back to basics.
recipe after the jump

nigella's brownies 2 ways part 2

nigella lawson's cream-cheese brownies

ok are you ready for part 2? these are my favorite...a little chocolate cheesecake action in a brownie pan.  the cream cheese flavor adds a nice twist on the sweet rich brownie.  i especially like these chilled. these are easy to make and come out looking like you are a super star...remember the parchment paper.  they pack up nicely wrapped in parchment and stuffed in a zip lock bag for travel. gooey chocolate cream cheese is exceptionally good.


recipe after the jump

nigella's brownies 2 ways part 1

there are lots and lots of ways to make brownies...i like them chocolaty, not too gooey always with pecans never walnuts...... sometimes with cream cheese in the middle... both of my favorite brownie recipes are from nigella lawson's how to be a domestic goddess cook book. ....both are wonderful and fairly easy to make.   big tip...get some parchment paper...it is the secret to great brownies.

first up the plain brownies...though there is nothing plain about these...there is so much butter and chocolate in here the pan is heavy...trust me they taste great....make them for someone you love or want to impress or thank...or even say you are sorry.....i promise they will do the trick.

just cut still a bit warm...goooey ooooooh 

recipe after the jump

vegas, virginia,......travels

my nephew's first hockey game....... the monster bag of cotton candy 

for various reasons i've had to do a lot of traveling lately....while traveling can be fun or miserable ...depending on where you are going and why......going somewhere is an opportunity to try new restaurants or indulge in some celebrated favorites.
let's start with vegas. this was my first visit....really the food is pretty much the only thing i liked in vegas....not being a gambler or smoker and even though i love to shop...it is not the best place to find a bargain.  we sampled payard pastries...YUM...bobby flay's mesa grill at ceasar's palace  specifically the yucatan chicken taco and iced tea with some kind of honey syrup, best iced tea ever.... highly recommended.

deconstructed taco's with a peanut bbq sauce so good

more after the jump

ina's sticky buns

sticky bun heaven

i have tried lots of ways to make the classic cinnamon raisin sticky buns.....the "popping fresh kind"  (not so good),  an american test kitchen recipe  that is also pretty good but takes a little bit more time and... you have to make the dough ....best i have tried by far is this easy sticky bun recipe.....from my favorite ina garten cookbook back to basics (buy it!) easy sticky buns......there are a lot of steps but all are easy and i think it would be super fun to get kids involved in making these...a great family activity or for the grown up cook a rewarding sunday morning treat......they are best warm but they usually don't hang around long enough to get cold anyway.
recipe after the jump

easy peasy pasta with ham and peas

christmas is over...the kids have gone back to jobs and school...the house is pretty much trashed with christmas clutter and bailey is depressed.  i needed a quick dinner to use up some of the mad surplus in the fridge and soothe the soul.  i made this with left over ham. it is warm, creamy and satisfying.  it takes about 15-20 minutes....it was the perfect recipe for the day!

yummy creamy and screaming hot

recipe after the jump

Christmas cookies; lemon brown sugar christmas doggies and such

the cookie recipe is already posted with the easter shapes on the blog....kelsey works her magic with the royal icing.......they are too beautiful to eat.....but trust me they taste really good.

bailey, butch and sport

martha's lemon brown sugar christmas doggies, ponies, hamsters (talbot) fa, la, la, la, la.............

 

Christmas cookies ginger cocoa crisps

ginger cocoa crisps

20 years ago brit got off the school bus with a baggie of cookies and an illustrated recipe.  she was really excited to tell me how they had made cookies in class and colored a picture of the finished cookie on the recipe.  she wanted to show me how to make them...so we made them together that year...and every year at Christmas......sappy and sentimental...yes but these are some awesome cookies!!!! *and perfect for little hands to help with...... chocolaty with just the right kick of ginger.
recipe after the jump

Christmas cookies lillian's almond cookies

this is one of the christmas cookies i remember watching my norwegian mother in law lillian bake....the recipe is hers.   it is simple but wonderfully delicious.  it took a little trial and error on my part since my copy of the recipe was kind of cryptic....i have made some mistakes.....any way this version works.   when i bring mixed platters of cookies to work or to friends inevitably these are the cookies that people ask about.  i have done some research and this combination of ingredients is rare among the various norwegian traditional cookies you can find.  they are crisp...buttery...nutty....goodness and fairly easy!

recipe after the jump

lillian's almond cookies

Thanksgiving favorites part 2 ciabatta stuffing

stuffing is one of the stars of the thanksgiving meal....i make my own ..... i don't put it in the bird and i don't grind up any of the giblets and sneak them in either......for many years i bought the bag of pepperidge farm seasoned stuffing and added all of my own veggies...then i  saw enough chefs on tv put so many different things in stuffing that i decided why not branch out...i love really good bread...so why not start out with great bread?   Giada De Laurentis made a stuffing with ciabatta bread that sounded really good to me...but I don't like chestnuts and parmesan cheese just doesn't say thanksgiving to me.  so i started with some of the basics in Giada's recipe and made some changes, ...replacing the chestnuts with apples. losing the parm and adding bacon..

kelsey made this beautiful pumpkin for the table decoration
 (hand carved and lit with battery operated lights. 

 recipe after the jump