Monthly Archives: July 2012

vintage finds and other treasures

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I have a confession to make: this blog is not only a platform for me to explore new recipes and ingredients but I also use it as an excuse to hoard pretty plates and serving pieces and table linens.  True story.  Many weekends I can be found scouring estate sales and antique stores seeking out anything I think might make a nice background for food.  Case in point: the above starter collection of milk glass pieces atop a lovely tablecloth my mom found at an antique store.

When I came across these handkerchiefs at an estate sale last year I had to have them.  I wasn’t sure at the time how I would use them but they were so pretty and the woman who collected them had the same first initial as me so I took that as a sign from the heavens that they needed to come home with me.  So they did.

I’ve been fortunate to also have been handed down some very lovely things from family members which makes them more special.  You might think the sifter above is good as just an antique prop but no, I actually use it for its original intended purpose.  It’s way bigger easier to clean than the ones they manufacture today.  And I am also a sucker for old metal baking pans when I see them at estate sales– they were made so much sturdier back in the day!

A friend who knows I collect linens passed the embroidered peacock runner to me.  Love it.

I don’t exactly know what I am going to do with the glass domes I have been collecting but I know they will come in handy some day.  Thinking I will serve cupcakes in them.  Nothing like old glass milk bottles either.

A friend convinced me to buy the cake topper at an estate sale even though it made me kind of sad to think about the couple who it originally belonged to.  I like to think that they’d be happy knowing that I will put it to good use so someday I will.  I’m also a sucker for glasses and other formats for vintage advertising.

I like tablecloths with flowers on them.  So pretty!

The dishes above are my greatest find yet.  I went to a barn sale in the country not far from where I live in Wisconsin and this older gentleman who looked like he stepped straight out of an episode of American Pickers  sold me four boxes of these dishes for $4.  Four dollars!  I now have service for about 20 people though have mostly been too scared to use them because I am afraid I will break them.  Considering that they resided in a barn for years unscathed I probably shouldn’t be too worried…

Not all great things are vintage.  The majority of the above pieces came from a friend who has great taste and decided I could use a few more colorful pieces for the blog.  Love them (and her)!  Anthropologie, West Elm, and Fishs Eddy are great resources.

zucchini brownies, gluten-free and almost vegan

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A coworker of mine has been very generous with sharing her garden with me this summer and lately she has had an abundance of zucchini.  Apart from zucchini bread I have only ever had zucchini in savory dishes so when she mentioned to me that she had recently eaten a delicious brownie made with zucchini I was intrigued and did a little interweb research.  The best-looking recipe I came across also happened to be gluten-free and refined-sugar-free.  What?!  Since I have been getting myself out of bed at 5 in the morning three days a week lately for a bootcamp class both of these things appealed to me so as not to undo all the good I’ve been doing.

Now, normally “healthy” and “baked goods” are not words that should be used together in a phrase but in this case it works.  And the brownies were so easy to make!  Four simple steps.  Anyone can handle that!

In place of sugar the recipe called for raw honey and instead of flour there was almond butter.  I happen to love almond butter and generally keep it in stock when I want a break from peanut butter so already had some on hand.

The results were moist brownies with a hint of cinnamon and nutmeg.  If you want a rich, dense, chocolate-y brownie, look elsewhere, but if you want a sweet treat that actually isn’t that bad for you health-wise, this is your dish.  I think it may inspire me to sneak vegetables into sweet baked goods again…

Flourless Zucchini Brownies (recipe found at http://fastpaleo.com/zucchini-brownies/)

  • 1 cup of almond butter
  • 1 1/2 cup of grated or chopped zucchini (I used food processor)
  • 1/3 cup of raw honey
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp of vanilla
  • 1 tsp of baking soda
  • 1 tsp of cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp of nutmeg
  • 1 cup of dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine all the ingredients into a large bowl and mix everything together.

Pour into a greased 9×9 baking pan.

Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

clips version of a blog post

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Do you remember the special episodes of Golden Girls where Blanche and Dorothy and Rose would sit around the kitchen table and reminisce about the good old times while clips of old episodes would play?  They were the networks way of stalling I think, and they were always kind of a cheat because what you got was maybe 4 minutes of new material and 20 minutes of bits of episodes you’d already seen.  This post is my version of that.  It’s been so hot lately that I haven’t been doing much cooking or baking and the one thing I did make last weekend turned out just okay, not great, and I only share the really great stuff with you.  I wouldn’t lead you astray with something merely good.  So here are some suggestions for things from posts of the past that might be a good idea for you to try now that we are full-on in summer.

How about an olive oil basil cornmeal cake with balsamic strawberry sauce?  I promise it’s easier to make than the length of its name makes it seem.

It’s totally blueberry season now, so how about blueberry cobbler?  This version is quite possibly the best cobbler I’ve ever had in my entire life.  That good.

Remember when I made those blueberry and cherry hand pies?  I sure do.  The finished product wasn’t the most beautiful looking thing I’d ever laid eyes on, but man did they taste good.  And what’s not to love about a pie that you can hold in your hand?  Cute!

Iced tea is always refreshing in the summer, but Thai iced tea is even better.

Espresso chocolate chip ice cream might also be a good idea right now.  A really good idea.

I’ll be back soon with a proper new “episode,” I promise.

the best part about chocolate chip cookies

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I have a friend, let’s call her Cheri* (*not her real name), who has a serious cookie dough problem.  The kind of problem where she buys cookie dough from the freezer section in the grocery store just to munch on.  Raw.  I understand the appeal, I mean, who doesn’t like to lick the beaters clean while baking?  But they always warn you about that raw egg thing… and no one wants to risk salmonella.  So when I found a recipe on one of my favorite blogs for cookie dough that is made without eggs and is meant to be eaten raw I knew just who to make it for.

The original recipe went one step further than I have here and dipped the cookie dough balls in melted chocolate for a Buckeye effect but my cookie-dough-eating-friend is a bit of a purist and prefers them sans melted chocolate.  It’s very good that way but if you’re more into the salty-sweet thing than overly sweet stuff, this is the way forward.  Trust me on this.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls (adapted from recipe from www.joythebaker.com)

  • 1 stick (1/2 cup or 4 ounces) unsalted butter at room temperature
  • 1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoons salt
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/3 cup Greek yogurt
  • 1 cup semi-sweet mini chocolate chips

In the bowl of a stand mixer fit with a paddle attachment cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about three minutes in the machine.  Beat in yogurt along with the vanilla extract and stir to combine.

Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.  Add all at once to the butter and sugar mixture and stir until incorporated.  Fold in chocolate chips.

Scoop large spoonfuls or ice cream scoops onto a  waxed paper lined cookie sheet.  Place in the freezer overnight or until frozen, at least three hours.  Serve cold from the freezer.

4th of July: Strawberry Buttermilk Ice Cream

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It has been way too hot to bake lately and I haven’t been doing a whole lot of cooking either.  Trying to conserve energy– both my own and that of the electricity in my apartment.  I don’t have central air and my little window unit only does the trick for about a third of the apartment and the kitchen is not in that third.  No matter.  I decided it was a good excuse to buy myself a new ice cream maker (as if one needs a good excuse!).  The freezer bowl on my old one started leaking blue fluid everywhere which I’m guessing is not a good thing at all.  It had to go.

I bought some lovely strawberries at the market last weekend and they looked and smelled like strawberries ought to and while I generally think that ice cream should always involve chocolate in one form or another I have occasionally been known to choose strawberry as an alternative flavor.  It just sounded refreshing in this heat.

And man was that a wise decision.  I could have slurped up the batter when it was more like a thick strawberry milk and skipped the freezing step where it turned into ice cream.  It’s that good.  The addition of buttermilk really melds nicely with the strawberries– makes it  little richer.

I hope everyone enjoys their July 4th and manages to avoid the heat!  It’s going to be a sticky one today…

Strawberry Buttermilk Ice Cream

  • 3 cups strawberries, cleaned, stemmed, and sliced
  • 1 ¼ cups sugar
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 5 large egg yolks
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • ¼ cup buttermilk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

In a small bowl combine the strawberries, ½ cup of sugar, and lemon juice.  Stir gently and then set aside for 30 minutes to 2 hours to let berries macerate.  Strain the berries, reserving juices.  Mash or puree half the berries.

Meanwhile, combine egg yolks and remaining ¾ cup of sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat at medium-high speed until very thick and pale yellow, 3 to 5 minutes.

In a medium saucepan, heat milk and whisk in egg-yolk mixture over low heat.  Stir constantly, until mixture has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Remove from heat and immediately stir in heavy cream.  Pass mixture through a strainer into a medium mixing bowl set in an ice bath until chilled, stirring from time to time.  Stir in vanilla, buttermilk, and juice from strawberries along with the mashed strawberries, then freeze in an ice-cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions.  Five minutes before mixing is complete add the reserved strawberry slices and let mix in completely.  Transfer to plastic container to store.