Fuzzy peaches. Alright, I know that Kristie just posted a peach recipe – Kolaches. Which, may I add, were delightful. I ate them non-stop at her house. Summer is long since over in this part of the world…. but  last weekend the farmer’s markets still had the odd container of peaches kicking around. So, last time I was at the market I couldn’t help myself but buy the last peaches of 2009 and turn them into a tart. Sometimes I feel guilty eating fruit in the winter here. Maybe because I know that it’s been trucked here from some warm part of the world and I’m not really supposed to be eating it. Especially on weeks like this… Actually, I think the high today is only 10º with a chance of snow tomorrow…  if I recall correctly, the weatherman may have used the words “tap into an Arctic airmass resulting in plunging temperatures and conditions”- Pardon? It’s October. Is the Arctic airmass really necessary at this time of year? I didn’t think so. I’m going to eat fruit anyway. As we all know, my hubby does not like sweets. He also included pie into this category. In reality, this pie was really just a pile of peaches wrapped in dough and baked. I don’t consider this tart to be in the “sweets” family at all! It’s just a bunch of fruit. He still refused to eat it so I pawned this dish off on my parents. My dad, who is a pie connesuir, gobbled this up in a hurry. This recipe is so easy, especially when you use a food processor. The filling can likely have any fruit subbed in. The original recipes calls for plums, but I used peaches and it turned out fantastic. Rustic Peach Tart (From Moosewood Restaurant New Classics, however, they used plums) Makes one-10 inch pie, serves 8 For Crust: 1 1/3 cups unbleached white flour 2 tbsp sugar 1/2 tsp salt 3/4 cup chilled, unsalted butter 1/4 cup chilled cream cheese 2 tsp fresh lemon juice 2 tbsp ice water For Filling: 1 1/2 pounds peaches 2/3 cup sugar 3 tbsp cornstarch

Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Butter 10-inch pie plate, or a rimmed baking sheet. In a food processor, mix flour, sugar, and salt. Cut butter and cream cheese into 1-inch pieces and incorporate by pulsing in the food processor until the are the size of peas. Mix in the lemon juice and ice water until the mixture begins to form a dough. Shape the dough into a ball, flatten into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to roll out. Cut the peaches in half and remove pits. Slice peaches into 1/2-inch thick wedges to make about 5 cups of prepared fruit. Place wedges in a medium bowl and sift the sugar and cornstarch over them. Set aside. Lightly flour a clean dry surface, a rolling pin and the chilled dough. Roll the dough from the center out into a 14-inch circle. Lift and rotate it from time to time to prevent sticking, dusting with more flour as needed. If the dough seems too soft, or sticky, refrigerate for about 10 minutes. Transfer the dough to the prepared pie place or baking sheet. Pour the peaches into the center. Fold the dough to make a border. Bake for 15 minutes. Then reduce over temperature to 350º and continue to bake for 30-60 minutes (*mine took 70 minutes), until the crust is browned and the juices bubble up. Remove form the oven and let cool on a rack for 30 minutes. Serve while still warm.

Yup, kolaches. The peaches were meant to be a part of a breakfast bun. Have you heard of the them? Well, unfortunately for me, I have never had the pleasure…up until now. So do you want the good news first or the bad? Good news? Alright, these rolls are wonderfully delicious,  highly addictive and very versatile.  Not only can they be filled with peaches, but sausages, eggs, poppy seeds, cheese and even  pineapples! I could literally eat kolaches everyday for the rest of my life and be happy. Now for the bad news – they require a lot of work and planning. The dough has to rise, be deflated, refrigerated, then put out to rise all over again.  Now I understand, this is all pretty standard when it comes to making dough, but there are so many  things that could go wrong that it’s bound to drive me crazy.

My first attempt failed miserably due to the yeast and the fact that I did something to kill it along the way.  I am still not quite sure what the culprit was that caused my dough to fail. Maybe, the temperature in my house was too low to make the dough rise, or maybe the water that dissolve the yeast was too hot. Who knows. All I can say is that my second attempt was much better (thank goodness, cuz I think I would have lost it having used 17 cups of flours already, UGH) Apparently, I need to move down to Texas to get my fill Kolaches, as I am told they’re in abundance at the local bakeries. But I will say this, I will definitely make the effort to make kolaches if I have guests staying over or coming for breakfast. They will definitely impress!

Peach Kolaches (From: the Pastry Queen, Rebecca Rather) Dough 2 cups milk 1 (1/4 ounce) package active dry yeast 1/2 cup lukewarm water (110 to 115 degrees) 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter 2 large eggs 2 teaspoons salt 8 1/2 cups all purpose flour Peach Filling 2 cups pitted, chopped fresh peaches 1 cup good quality jam Streusel Topping 1/2 cup all purpose flour 1/2 cup sugar 3 tablespoons chilled, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces.

To make the dough: Warm the milk in a medium saucepan set over medium heat until it begins to steam and form a skin; do not boil. Cool for 10 to 15 minutes until registers 100 to 115 degrees on a candy thermometer. Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm water and let sit until foamy, about 5 minutes. Melt the butter in the microwave or a small saucepan over medium heat. Remove from the heat and let cool for 5 minutes.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, salt, and melted butter. Add the cooled milk and the yeast mixture. Gradually add the flour to the batter, 2 cups at a time. Use your hands or a wooden spoon to mix the flour with the wet ingredients. Keep adding the flour until it is completely  incorporated and the dough begins to hold together. Use a light touch; don’t pound or overwork the dough or you’ll get tough kolaches. The dough will be sticky, moist and light.

Lightly grease a large bowl with vegetable oil. Transfer the dough to the bowl, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and let it rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in size. 1 to 2 hours approximately (a dent should remain when the dough is touched lightly). Leaving the dough in the bowl, punch it down until it deflates (1 to 2 punches with your fists will do). Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight.

Grease a 12 x 17 inch baking sheet with butter or cooking spray. With lightly oiled fingertips, shape the dough into 2 1/2 inch diameter balls, about the size of a small lime. Arrange the balls evenly on the baking sheet, 3 across and 6 down.

To make the filling: In a small bowl, combine the chopped peach with the peach jam.

To fill the kolaches, use your thumb or finger to make a generous indentation in the middle of each dough ball, being sure not to pierce the bottom of the dough. Mound about 1 heaping tablespoonful of peach filling in the indentation. Cover the rolls with a clean tea towel and let the rolls rise in a warm, draft-free place until almost double in size, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

To make the streusel topping: Use your hands or a food processor fitted with a metal blade to mix the flour, sugar, and butter until crumbly. Scatter the topping over the kolaches just before baking.

Bake the kolaches until lightly browned on top. 25 to 30 minutes.

Cool the kolaches for 20 minutes before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature.

To me, cookies are perfect.

To remedy this, I made a post-it note reminding me to document the cookies (I love post-it notes, they are magical and somehow keep me organized even when they are randomly scattered all over my computer monitor). Lucky for me, some brown speckled bananas gave me the opportunity to share one of my new favourite cookie recipes, compliments of Martha Stewart.

Actually, in all honesty the bananas just helped me choose the cookie recipe. The actual desire to make cookies stemmed from a disastrous attempt at making Kolaches. The dough for the Kolache was a complete failure and I was enraged after putting all that effort into trying making it work. Ugh. It makes me ill thinking about it. But don’t you worry, I am gearing up for round two tomorrow morning. So lookout Kolache, I am coming for you! Anyways, in light of my failure, I was craving a fast, easy baking recipe that would ultimately end with comfort food in my belly.

Banana-Walnut Chocolate-Chunk cookies are the cure to heal all woes. They are soft, chewy, sweet, salty and delicious all rolled into a round disc of dough. The first time I made these delicious blobs of cookie, they were gone in a matter of minutes and today was no different. I took my pictures and then they disappeared, but I am sure I will find them in a few days when I can’t fit into my jeans at all! Ha! Just kidding…but not really.

Seriously though, these cookies are not to be missed. So bust out your cookie pans and then we can all go shopping for new pants together.

Banana-Walnut Chocolate-Chunk Cookies (From: Martha Stewart’s Cookies, pg 170) 1 cup all-purpose flour ½ cup whole wheat flour 1 teaspoon coarse salt ½ teaspoon baking soda ¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted, room temperature butter ½ cup granulated sugar ½ cup packed light brown sugar 1 large egg 1 ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract ½ cup mashed ripe banana (about 1 large banana) 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats 8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped into ¼-inch chucks (I just used semi-sweet chocolate chips) ½ cup coarsely chopped walnuts (about 2 ounces), toasted (I did NOT toast the walnuts) Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Whisk together both flours, salt, and baking soda in a bowl. Put butter and both sugars into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to low. Add egg and vanilla; mix until combined. Mix in banana. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Stir in oats and chocolate chunks, and walnuts. Using a 1 ½ inch ice cream scoop, drop dough onto baking sheets lined with parachment paper, spacing about 2 inches apart. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until golden brown and just set, 12 to 13 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks for 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire rack; let cool completely. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Puffy balls of sugar. I’ve got a thing for marshmallows. I like to eat them right out of the bag – unroasted. As a matter of fact, sometimes I dip them into the peanut butter jar as a snack. Marshmallows are also a camping staple. When we get to our campsite and realize that we’ve forgotten them, we panic to find the closest town or gas station where marshmallows might be available for purchase. What can I say, I need my s’mores. Ever since I visited my lovely, lovely friend in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Lauren, I’ve been wanting to make s’mores brownies. From what I recall of the lovely dessert she made us, it involved chocolate, marshmallows and caramel that was so hard and chewy it nearly pulled our teeth out. It was how I imagine a dentist in Candyland would remove your teeth. With desserts that just gently tugged them out – genius!! Good new that everyone kept their teeth that night in Nanaimo. This dessert is dedicated to Lauren!

When I made this recipe, I had a bit of an incident. I’m proud to say that between the two of us who write this blog, I’m the first one to actually post something under the Mishaps category title. Usually, when Kristie and I bake together kitchen drama ensues. We like to forget to add sugar or have magical overflowing cake pans. This time I managed to mess it up all on my own! Aren’t you proud?

The marshmallow topping that belongs on this brownie is what made me wish I had a fire extinguisher in the house. After I neatly lined up all the marshmallows on top, I briefly turned my back on the closed oven door. When I smelled smoke, I opened the oven door to an inferno of burning marshmallows which had become one hot, flaming, sugary, mass in my oven. I shrieked and tried to blow it out which only angered the roaring blaze so I quickly closed the door. I thought, “ovens are built for that kind of stuff… the fire is contained in there!” then I realized that may have been a poor choice. I put on the oven mitts and attempted to remove the fiery meteor from the oven so I could extinguish the flames. Once I pulled it out of the depths of hell, the fire was quickly out. Phew!

I did manage to rescue the brownie from it’s burnt fate. I carefully scraped off the top layer to reveal the warm marshmallows underneath. It was delightful!

S’mores Brownies Crust 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted 1 1/2 cups crushed graham cracker crumbs 2 tablespoons sugar Pinch fine salt Brownie 1/2 cup unsalted butter 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped 1 cup packed light brown sugar 3/4 cup white sugar 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 1/2 teaspoon fine salt 4 large cold eggs 1 cup all-purpose flour Topping 4 cups large marshmallows

For the crust: Preheat oven to 325ºF. Line an 8 by-8-inch square baking pan with foil so it hangs over the edges by about 1 inch. Lightly grease foil.

For the crust: Stir the butter together with the crumbs, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Press the crumb mixture evenly over the bottom of the pan. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.

For the brownie: While graham crust is baking, make the brownie. Melt the butter and chocolate using a double boiler. Put the butter and chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Bring a saucepan filled with 1 inch or so of water to a boil then reduce to a simmer; set the bowl on the pan without touching the water. Stir occasionally until melted then remove from heat. Stir the light brown and white sugars, vanilla and salt into the melted chocolate. Add the eggs and beat vigorously to make a thick and glossy batter. Add the flour and stir until just incorporated.

Pour batter into the prepared pan, on top of the hot graham crust. Bake until the top is crispy and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out mostly clean, with a few crumbs, about 45 to 50 minutes.

For the topping: Remove from the oven and carefully position a rack about 6 inches from the broiler and preheat on low. Layer marshmallows across the top and toast under the broiler until golden, (keep an eye on it, it can go quick), about 1 minute. **This is where mine completely fell apart… don’t turn your back for a second or take your eyes of the marshmallows! Usually, I leave the oven door open a crack so I can spy on the food that is broiling.

Cool on a rack, gently removing the brownies from the pan using the aluminum flaps. Carefully separate any marshmallow from the foil and fold away. Cut into 12 (2-inch) squares.

Despite this dessert’s terrible name, I have actually been making this recipe for quite some time. My recipe has no particular origin, except that it has been filed in my Mom’s recipe box since I can remember on an old piece of  lined paper.  For me, the appeal for making the dessert comes from the simple ingredients and how quickly it can be assembled. The only real baking required is for the base and even that’s essentially a butter crust with nuts. Easy peasy.

There is even a little fun involved when making the layers. Well, that is if you are like me and enjoy blending and stirring or this case shaking your ingredients together. I know, it’s not the most prestigious culinary tool in the kitchen, but my Jell-O pudding shaker is great! Obviously, it only serves one purpose and that is to create pudding from instant packages, but I love it just the same. I walk around my kitchen shaking it up and down and sometimes I even throw some dance moves in with it – if you are lucky ;) However, I must confess, there have been some instances. Yeah, once, twice, three times, I got a little too involved in the shaking and lost my grip, which promptly  resulted in me spilling pudding everywhere. I am a tad clumsy, just in case you were wondering.

In the end, this is just a great recipe. It is one of the dessert that makes you stalk your refrigerator.  You will be continually pulling out the pan, cutting little slivers out thinking that just a little more won’t hurt and then suddenly the whole thing is gone. Yeah, it’s that good.

Sex In A Pan

Crust 2 cups flour 1 1/2 cups pecans or walnuts, crushed 1/2 cup butter (1 stick), cut into 8 pieces 1/2 cup margarine Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Crush nuts the in a food processor. Then add the remaining ingredients into the crushed nuts. Pulse the mixture in the food processor until well combined.

Spread the mixture into a 9 x 13 pan and bake for 30 minutes.

Let the crust cool completely.

Topping 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature (regular or low fat) 2 cups cool whip, divided (regular or low fat) 1 cup icing sugar 2 cup milk 1 small package of instant chocolate pudding 1 ounce semi-sweet chocolate

Combine the softened cream cheese, 1/2 cup cool whip and icing sugar together in a food processor or with a mixer until creamy. Pour the cream cheese mixture evenly over the cooled crust.

Prepare the instant pudding with the milk according to the directions provided on the box. Once the pudding is fully combined, pour over the cream cheese layer and refrigerate for 20 minutes to allow the pudding to completely set.

When the pudding has set, spread the remaining cool whip over the chocolate pudding layer. Use the chocolate square (1 ounce) to create chocolate shavings and sprinkle over the cool whip layer.

Refrigerate for 2 to 4 hours, then cut into squares.

Enjoy!! Note: You can add more cool whip to the top layer. It is completely at your discretion, just keep the required 1/2 cup of cool whip the same when mixing the cream cheese layer. No extra cool whip should be added to this portion of the recipe.

My uncle was up from Calgary visiting and I felt the need to make something that wasn’t just plain ‘ol banana cream pie. I scoured the internet for hours and then I stumbled upon Joy the Baker’s wonderful Peanut Butter Banana Cream Pie and I was inspired! Much like Kristie, I eat peanut butter by the spoonful and thought that there could be nothing more delightful than a banana cream pie with peanut butter! This turned out delightful. The banana custard was light and fluffly and so smooth. While the taste of peanut butter was just strong enough to not over power the chocolate or banana. Enjoy!

Chocolate, Peanut Butter, Banana Cream Pie

makes one 10-inch pie

Crust 2  cups graham cracker crumbs 4 tablespoons sugar 3/4 cup margarine or butter, melted

Chocolate Layer 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, melted

Peanut butter layer 1 cup of smooth peanut butter

Banana filling Layer 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1/4 cup cornstarch 1/4 teaspoon salt 4 large egg yolks 2 cups whole milk 2 Tablespoons cold unsalted butter 3 ripe bananas, thinly sliced

For the crust: Stir the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted margarine together in a medium bowl until all of the dry ingredients are uniformly moist. Pour the crumbs into the pie plate and pat the crumbs are  Turn the ingredients into a 9-inch pie pan and pat with your fingers to create an even layer of crumbs of the bottom and up the sides of the pie pan.

Put the pan in the freezer while you preheat the oven. Preheat the oven to 350ºF/250ºC.  Bake for 10-12 minutes. Set aside to cool.

For chocolate layer: Set up a double boiler and bring water to boil, then reduce to a simmer. Place 4 oz. of chocolate into the double boiler, stirring with a spatula often. Once the chocolate is melted, pour into the baked graham cracker crust and spread with spatula. Place into the refrigerator (or freezer) to cool and harden.

For peanut butter layer: Once the chocolate is harden, spread the peanut butter over the chocolate.

For banana filling: Combine granulated sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a bowl. Add egg yolks, and whisk until smooth. Bring milk to a simmer in a saucepan over medium heat. Add 1/2 cup milk to yolk mixture slowly, whisking constantly. On medium-low heat, pour sugar and egg mixture into saucepan with hot milk, and cook, whisking constantly, until mixture begins to bubble and is very thick. This took 3 minutes for me, however, the recipe recommends 6 minutes.  Watch carefully so as not to burn it and whisk continuously. Cornstarch will cause it to thicken fairly quickly.

Once the mixture is thick, pour it  through a large-mesh sieve into a bowl. Add butter, and stir until melted. Fold in bananas. Pour into crust. Place plastic wrap directly on surface of filling to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate for 2 hours.

I love pie.

I know Jenn has already posted her Sour Cherry Slab Pie (which is very wonderful), so I chose Nick Malgeieri’s Sour Cherry Crumble recipe. Sort of, a combo between a crumble and a pie. You get the wonderful pie type crust with the delicious topping a of typical crumble and in my opinion that is one combination that can’t go wrong. The original recipe is actually made with blueberries, however in Nick’s book the Modern Baker, he offers a sour cherry variation which I have included below. This pie was very simple to make (which is always nice) with standard directions and ingredients. The only hard, no, more like torturous part was waiting until the pie cool to room temperature so I could eat it. I tried to distract myself from the pie by talking on the phone, but all I could hear was blah, blah, blah and the voice in my head saying – I just want pie in my mouth. Gimme. But apparently, if this pie is cut before it has cooled completely then it will be a disaster. So luckily, I was able to hold off long enough to cut the pie in perfect form! However, I do recommend serving this pie with a dollop of whipped cream or ice cream, it blends wonderfully with the tartness of the cherries. So if you have any sour cherries, line your kitchen with plastic and get pitting, cuz this pie is well worth it. YUM! Sour Cherry Crumble (From the Modern Baker, Nick Malgieri) (Makes one 9-inch, (23cm) pie, about 8 generous servings) Crumble Topping 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour (leveled off) 1 teaspoon baking powder ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon ½ cup light brown sugar, firmly packed (I used dark brown) 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted Sour Cherry Filling 2 ¼ pounds (1kg) sour cherries, rinsed, dried, stemmed and pitted ¼ cup granulated sugar 4 tablespoons cornstarch 2 tablespoons water ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon 3 tablespoons cold butter, cut into 10 pieces 1, 9-inch single pie crust, unbaked, made from Sweet Tart Dough (Recipe included below) Set a rack on the lowest level of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees First, prepare the crumble topping. Combine the flour, baking powder, and cinnamon in a bowl and stir well to mix. Stir the brown sugar into the melted butter and then scrape It into the flour mixture. Use a rubber spatula to fold in the butter so that all the flour is evenly moistened. Set aside while preparing the filling. For the filling, put 1 cup of the sour cherries and all the sugar in a medium saucepan. Set the pan over low heat and stir often to bruise the berries so they release their juices as the mixture heats up and their juices dissolve the sugar. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the berry mixture is boiling. While the berry mixture is coming to a boil, whisk the cornstarch and water together in a small bowl. Stir in a bout ½ cup of the berry juices, and then pour the cornstarch mixture into the billing juices, stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon or heatproof spatula. Cook, stirring constantly, until the juices thicken, return to a boil, and become clear. Put the remaining berries in a large bowl with the nutmeg. Use a large rubber spatula to fold in the thickened juices. Fold in the butter and scrape the filling into the prepared pie crust. Use your fingertips to break the crumble into ¼ or ½ inch crumbs. Scatter the crumbs evenly over the filling. Bake the pie until the crust and crumbs are well coloured and baked through and the filling is gently bubbling, about 40 minutes. Cool the pie on a rack and serve it a room temperature. Serving: Make sure the pie has cooled completely or it will be impossible to serve intact wedges. Cut the pie at the table and use a triangular pie spatula to lift out the wedges. If you have some vanilla ice cream lying around, this is the time to use it. Storage: Keep this pie at room temperature on the day it is baked. Cover it with foil to keep beyond the first day.

Sweet Tart Dough (Makes one 10-11 inch tart crust or one 9-inch pie crust) 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour ¼ cup sugar 1 teaspoon baking powder ½ teaspoon salt 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) cold, unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces 1 large egg 1 large egg yolk 1 tablespoon water Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Pulse several times to mix. Add the butter and pulse repeatedly until the butter is finely mixed into the dry ingredients – you do not want any visible pieces of butter. Add the egg, egg yolk, and water. Pulse repeatedly until the dough forms a ball. Invert the food processor bowl over a floured work surface to turn out the dough. Carefully, remove the blade and transfer any dough on it to the work surface. Form the dough into a disk about ½ inch (1 cm) thick. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate it. Storage: Keep the dough refrigerated for up to 3 days before using it.

Now, trying something new for a special dinner is generally not recommended. We think back to all the times when something that was supposed to be amazing failed miserably. Once upon a time, Jenn thought it would be wise to attempt a Pad Thai – it was an epic failure. She couldn’t eat it and resorted to cereal for dinner. Kristie attempted some sort of olive based pasta dish that ended with her and her husband ready to puke. The smell of olives filled the house which in turn caused  unified gag-reflexing motions. Thankfully, this Poppyseed Papparadelle was completely different – it was amazing! At first glance,  this recipe might be overlooked with the laundry list of ingredients, including red wine (which we promptly finished off), but every item compliments each other perfectly. This dish should not be missed – it has the ‘Jam‘ seal of approval!

Poppyseed Papparadelle (From: Rebar – Modern Food Cookbook, by Audrey Alsterberg & Wanda Urbanowicz)

1 tablespoon butter 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 large yellow onion, diced 2 teaspoons salt 8 garlic cloves, minced 1 teaspoon red chile flakes 1 teaspoon dried dill weed 2 tablespoons Hungarian paprika 2 1/2 lb button mushrooms 3 red peppers, 1/2 dice 1 1/2 cups red wine, Merlot 1 teaspoon cracked pepper 2 tablespoons soy sauce 1 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar 1/4 cup chopped parsley 1/4 cup chopped dill 1 lb. papparadelle noodles 1/4 cup butter, softened 1 tablespoon poppyseeds Sour cream or creme fraiche Heat the butter and olive oil in a wide-bottom pot over medium heat. Add onion and 1/2 teaspoon salt; saute until the onion is soft and golden. Add garlic, chile flakes, dill and paprika; saute 5 more minutes. Turn up the heat and add the mushrooms and remaining salt, Stir and cover. When the mushroom juices being to cook off, stir in the peppers and deglaze the pan with wine. Let the wine reduce for a few minutes, then stir in soy sauce, balsamic vinegar and half of the chopped herbs. SImmer partially covered for 30 minutes. Add all by 2 tablespoons of the remaining herbs to the ragout just before serving. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water. Prepare the poppyseed butter by mixing the butter and seeds together thoroughly. Strain the pasta and toss with poppyseed butter. Serve noodles topped with ragout, a dollop of sour cream and sprinkle with the reserved herbs.

Chocolate cake without a reason. Genius. I managed to miss every one of my family member’s birthdays this summer with the exception of my dad. My sister’s birthday was in July along with my grandpa’s. My mom and grandma both have August birthday days.  The next birthday is in October and as far as I’m concerned that’s about 30 days too long to wait for a cake.

With out of town work, and plenty of camping trips behind me, I missed everyone’s birthdays. This is highly upsetting for me, as there is always copious amounts of delicious food and home made cake.

I thought I would give a different recipe a try since I’m not baking for a special occasion. I wanted something that had simple ingredients – something I would already have in my kitchen and wouldn’t require a trip to the grocery store. I cruised cookbooks and websites for awhile until I stumbled upon this one at 1 family. friendly. food. They mentioned they also wanted a simple cake that was easy and fast to whip up. It’s +30ºC today and I wanted to avoid the 5 minute bike ride. I’m sure had I ridden my bike to pick up the heavy cream that this recipe calls for it – would have curdled in the heat on the 5 minute ride it takes to get home. Alas, I made a few changes. The cake recipe itself remains 95% the same while I used my own/my mom’s recipe for the icing.

Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Icing For a 9 1/2 to 10-inch circular pan or 8-inch square pan Cake: 1 cup sugar 4 eggs, room temperature 1 cup sweetened cocoa powder 1 cup all-purpose flour 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup 1% skim milk 1/2 cup canola oil 1 teaspoon vanilla Icing: 3 1/2 cups icing sugar 1/2 cup butter 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 4 tablespoons water 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

For cake: Preheat oven to 360 F (180 C) degrees. Grease the pan. Whisk the eggs with the sugar using a mixer, until light in color and fluffy.In a bowl, sift the flour, cocoa powder, coffee.

On low speed, add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture. Add the liquids and continue to beat until incorporated. Finish mixing by hand with a spatula. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 45-60 minutes. Let cool in the pan 15 minutes and then release from pan (run a knife around the edge first). Turn out onto a cooling rack, with the bottom as the new top of the cake. Let it cool completely before icing.

For icing: In a bowl, combine icing sugar and butter. On the lowest setting, mix the sugar and butter until combined. Add cocoa and vanilla extract, blend. Add the water as you need it, depending on the consistency of icing you would like. Use a knife and slather it on.

Notes: I made several adaptations to the recipe on 1 family. friendly. food. Nurit’s original recipe calls for heavy cream instead of milk, and self rising flour instead of all-purpose flour. If you choose to use self-rising flour, please omit the baking powder and salt. The original also calls for a chocolate ganache on top and I went for frosting instead.

Peanut Butter.

I am always on the lookout for a great PB recipe to fuel my addiction and I guarantee this will be only one of many PB recipes to come. Looking back, I fully, but affectionately blame my mother for my obsession. When I was little she would make me open-faced, PB sandwiches with a heart and my first initial drawn in the butter. Man, I looked forward to having those sandwiches.  But now I am all grown up and a PB sandwich doesn’t satisfy my craving like it use to, so when I stumbled on Martha Stewart’s Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars, I was elated.

These bars build on the classic American sandwich so perfectly; you may not want the actual sandwich again. There is so much peanut butter goodness that you will need a large glass of milk to wash it down. Although, be warned that because these delicious treats are so sweet and thick, that some people (sadly, not me) may find it hard to eat the suggested size of 1 ½ x 2 inches in one sitting. So I cut the bars into smaller pieces (approx. 1 x1 inch) which made for plenty of leftovers.  The recipe also suggests a shelf life of 3 days at room temperature in an air-tight container, but I froze the leftover cookies and they were just as tasty after letting them thaw in the refrigerator over night.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars (Martha Stewart’s Cookies, pg. 59) 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan 1 ½ cups sugar 2 large eggs 2 ½ cups smooth peanut butter 1 ½ salt 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1 ½ cups strawberry jam, or other flavour 1 cup salted peanuts (5 ounces), roughly chopped

Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter a 9 x 13 inch baking pan, and line the bottom with parchment paper. Butter the parchment, dust with flour, and tap out excess.

Place butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. With mixer running, add eggs and peanut butter; beat until combined, about 2 minutes. Whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder. Add to the butter mixture, and beat on low speed until combined. Add vanilla.

Transfer two-thirds of mixture to the prepared pan; spread evenly with an offset spatula. Using offset spatula, spread jam on top of peanut butter mixture. Crumble remaining third of peanut butter mixture on top of the jam. Sprinkle evenly with peanuts.

Bake until golden, 45 to 60 minutes, rotating halfway through. Tent loosely with foil if the bars are getting too dark. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Run knife around edges and refrigerate, 1 to 2 hours. Cut into about thirty-six bars (about 1 ½ x 2 inches). Cookies can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature up to 3 days.