Author: Annie

Weekend Finds 9:21:13

September 22, 2013February 5, 2017

This weekend’s finds (and many of my finds lately) seem to be about learning. What’s the best way to load the dishwasher? Where can I take an online class about sauces? What about the best caesar salad? I’m finding lately that instead of thinking my ways (though tried and true) are best, I am more open to trying others’ recommendations.

1. Dishwasher loading

Weekend Finds // Serious Crust by Annie Fassler — Dishwasher loading tips? Yes, thanks.

This find is mostly dedicated to my mother, who my sisters and I always made fun of for being less than stellar at loading the dishwasher. But there’s always more to learn. For example, who knew to stagger your large and small plates? The rest of Chow’s YouTube channel is filled with videos of tips, etc.

2. Craftsy

Online classes are always kind of a gamble. You never know if it’s going to be worth what you’re paying for it. But the classes on Craftsy look pretty nice. You get downloadable recipes, and you can come back to revisit the material anytime.

3. A Fancy-Ass Caesar Salad

I always judge a restaurant by their caesar salad (let me just say, I really like the caesar-esque salad at my new place of work). And I always wish I made caesar salad more often myself, but I can never quite get that fancy feel. A Cozy Kitchen’s new post teaches how to make your own dressing, croutons, etc. to make the perfect salad.

4. Color Pop Cutting Boards

Apparently I’m on a cutting board kick lately. Last week it was pyrography, this week it’s color pop. I think it’s just because I love the idea of personalizing your belongings, making your kitchen (and your home, and your life) completely unique and 100% yours. This idea from A Beautiful Mess is a cute way to add color and tie in colors from your kitchen/home.

5. Chomp

Chomp is a new little food journal. Each issue (this is just the first one) will feature interviews with and recipes by 3 Portland chefs, plus a game of 20 questions. The first issue features Nong Poonsukwattana, Pascal Sauton, and John Gorham.

Blackberry Coffeecake

September 18, 2013February 5, 2017

I do hope I’m getting you this blackberry coffeecake recipe before it’s absolutely impossible to find blackberries. Please don’t hate me if I’m not.

I’m feeling really torn about summer’s departure and fall’s arrival. I know earlier I said I was excited, but now that it’s happening, and there’s that chill in the air, and there have been a few days of drizzle, I find myself kind of having to mentally prepare myself for the gray that comes and stays for months and months and months. I like the chill, and I can’t wait to wear sweaters and drink tea and cook the food that comes with fall… but I don’t know. It doesn’t have that same carefreeness that summer has.

But I’ll live. This recipe came from my having leftover blackberries, and just really wanting to make coffeecake. I woke up one morning, Jonah was still in bed, the roommates were out of town, and I snuck downstairs and made a coffeecake (adapted from Tide and Thyme) on a Sunday morning. It was a lovely peaceful way to spend the morning. And everyone likes coffeecake. Everyone.

Blackberry Coffeecake

Ingredients

Crumb Topping

½ cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp lemon zest
4 tbsp. (2 oz.) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1/2 cup sliced almonds

Blackberry Cake

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
3 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups fresh blackberries

Instructions

Crumb Topping

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 10-inch springform pan (which, by the way, I’m convinced might be the greatest things ever, if you grease it enough). Make the crumb topping by combining all of the ingredients except the almonds in a bowl and mixing it up to combine. It should be kind of crumbly. You can also add some oats if you’d like. Set the topping aside.

Blackberry Cake

In a large mixing bowl (perhaps maybe the bowl of an electric mixer), combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and soda, and salt. In a separate mixing bowl, use a whisk to mix together the eggs, sour cream, and vanilla. Make kind of a well in the middle of the dry ingredients, pour in the wet, and stir it up just until it’s evenly combined and there are no flour patches or streaks. Pour the batter into the prepared springform pan and make sure it’s evenly distributed. Place the blackberries gently on top, making sure they are evenly distributed (wow, can’t get enough of that phrase, huh?) and covering the top of the batter. Now sprinkle the crumb topping on top of the blackberries, and then top with the sliced almonds.

Bake the coffeecake until the top looks all perfectly golden brown, and it passes the clean toothpick/knife test, 40-50 minutes. Put the pan on a cooling rack, and let it cool for ~20 minutes, or as long as you can wait. Run a knife around the edge before removing the sides of the springform. Slice it up and serve with coffee or tea, and maybe a bowl of fruit.

Weekend Finds 9:15:13

September 15, 2013February 5, 2017

With my new job taking up my weekends, I’m having a bit of a hard time getting these weekly roundups to you on Friday But I am going to try harder! That being said, I’m going to start calling them Weekend Finds instead of Friday Finds, so hopefully I feel less guilty writing them on Sunday night.

1. Homemade Milano Cookies

Friday Finds // Serious Crust by Annie Fassler — Homemade Milano Cookies by The Live In Kitchen

When I was younger, my mother loved Milano cookies. We would occasionally have a bag of them in the pantry, and after dinner I would sneak in and eat one… or two… or three. They are probably my favorite cookies for dipping in coffee and tea. This homemade version looks absolutely beautiful.

2. Zucchini overload

These days, there are those whose gardens are overflowing with gigantic zucchini, and after the 10th batch of zucchini bread, wish they could think of something else to do. Here are 10 other ideas.

3. Squash blossom quesadillas with tomatillo salsa

Speaking of zucchini, if you’ve still got any blossoms left, or some small fruits attached to the blossom, I would certainly jump on this quesadilla train immediately.

4. Personalized Pyrography Cutting Boards

As soon as I saw this, I was dying over how beautiful and simple it was to make your own personalized wood-burned cutting board. If I have my way, I know what everyone I know will be getting for Chrismakkah. Also, pyrography is an awesome word.

5. Pluot and Poppy Yogurt Bowl

I am consistently pleasantly surprised at the unique flavor combinations over on 101 cookbooks. She combines foods in a really wonderful way, and this pluot and poppy yogurt bowl is no different. And her photos are so beautiful. Now I just need to go pick up some pluots.

Corn Salad

September 12, 2013February 5, 2017

Guys, it’s September, and I have a few summer recipes, like this corn salad, to get to you before the season slips from our fingers. At this point, it feels like summer might never end in Portland – it cooled off a bit last week, and this week hit a high of about 98 degrees (get it? like the band? ok. I’ll stop.). But this weekend, it’s supposed to rain, and the temperature is supposed to drop, and I am feeling strangely ready for that to happen.

I usually mourn the end of summer, but lately I have been craving heartier dishes and squash, specifically butternut and acorn. I’ll take peaches and tomatoes, but the hankering for those fall dishes is starting to nag at me.

But while it’s hot and there are still things like corn and nectarines, you should eat things like this corn salad. Inspired by a few different recipes, this is one of those dishes that uses corn as a base, but you can really toss in whatever you have around. Quickly cube and cook up some zucchini and throw it in, or add in some chopped tomatoes (seed them first), or chop up some basil. Here’s what I used.

Corn Salad

Serves 4

Ingredients

3 ears corn, lightly cooked (boiled), and kernels cut from the cob
2 nectarines, cubed
1 bell pepper, cubed
1 jalapeño, seeded, chopped
1-2 limes, juiced (start with one, see how you like it)
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
Salt and pepper

Instructions

Combine ingredients in a bowl, stir it up, add more of anything you like, and eat with friends as the hot day starts to cool off, preferably accompanied by grilled chicken or fish or something like that, as well as some cold beers.