sloppy potatoes

the idea was to do a scalloped-potato-casserole-ish. i went overboard on the cheese and cream. of course i did. so there was plenty of cheese sauce for bread dipping. which was really nice.

sliced the potatoes thin and layered in a casserole with red onion, a blend of some shredded hard cheeses, salt and pepper. made about 6 layers and then poured cream over top. maybe don't pour as much as i did. baked for a while, covered. then baked for a while, uncovered.

did i mention that jenner is headed back into the slammer? this was a homecooked meal for her to eat at home before she heads back in for a while. the cancer is back and she is going to go through an experimental chemo for the next few months, billed as similar to that first month. then on for a bone marrow transplant. it is hard to switch gears, finding all this out when we thought she has been in remission, heading to the finishline. boo. so we also had steaks on the grill.

as long as i am cooking for all these people who i care about, i feel ok. it is hard to know what to do to help and i guess it feels helpful to know that i can make things feel better, taste better. it is really the worst because most of the time, i can only do this part and the rest just feels so big and complicated and hard and scary. and that is from my vantage point! i try to imagine where jenna is, what i can do for her- i definitely have some condition where i am focusing on the small tasks so that i can have a break from all the big stuff weighing on my heart. shopping and chopping and cooking and cleaning. i can't wait for the day when we wake up and its sunny and warm and our hearts are light and we just laugh and laugh. and we'll just eat cotton candy and funnel cakes.

roasted carrots

washed them and threw them on a sheet pan with a little oil, salt and pepper. at 375 till wrinkled. and the stalk bite tasted the most like raw carrot. interesting.

thanksgiving planning

sometimes i have some ideas- but maybe end up losing steam before i launch them into being.. but from now until the turkey holiday i'm gonna be moving on my latest idea:

started this past stay for jenner in l'hospital. for some reason, the wing that she is usually in was full. so she stayed in the bone marrow transplant wing. and i just so happened to take a bunch of soup up there that week. while i was in the communal kitchen of that wing, using the microwaver, i met a few really nice ladies who were eating cheerios and seemed pretty friendly with eachother. as cheerios is NOT my idea of dinner, i wanted to know if they were snacking/craving cheerios/eating their version of dinner. so we chatted a bit. i gave them some pumpkin bread. and it became pretty obvious that cheerios was dinner. ugh.

i can't even go into their stories about their children who are sick. it is too much and i start crying and can't see the screen for blogging. with more chatting, i re-realized that lots of the folks that have babies and kids going through something at children's are often not from cincinnati. we live right down the street, i think it takes about 3 minutes to get there. i can usually keep food hot from here to there. i go home at night and mostly, jenna gets to be at home. so many folks are living out of the hospital so that they can be with their kid! and they are from far away and nothing about it is their life. so heartbreaking.

i'm gonna try to get a nice big thanksgiving dinner up there for whoever in that place needs some comfort. details to come.

sunday night pasta

pasta tossed in a light alfredo sauce. optional toppings- bacon. chard (pretty pink stems and dark green leaves, both) done in garlic with peas. roasted asparagus. parmesan cheese.

and sunday night tea for watching mad men: slices of orange, honey, ginger, a few shakes of cardamom and cinnamon. in hot water.

chocolate truffles for fall!

a fall inspired sweet..

i made a chocolate ganache - equal parts dark chocolate and heavy whipping cream. folded in cranberry jelly and candied orange peel. chilled the mix until it hardened and scooped with a melon baller. chilled the ganache balls until they got firm and rolled them in melted dark chocolate.

cranberry orange truffles!

thai pumpkin soup

roasted and pureed pumpkin the same way as in the previous post. in the heavy bottomed pan, i sauteed a "thai" mirepoix- onion, shallots, garlic, ginger, lemongrass and jalapeno. deglazed the pan with a mix of fish sauce, honey, lime juice, chile paste and some rice vinegar. added 2 cans of coconut milk and let it all hang out for a bit. i pulled out the lemongrass chunks and pureed. added the pumpkin, seasoned with salt, pepper and basil. served with fresh cilantro and green onion.

*a note: most people don't love the flavor of fish sauce, as my family let me know. for me, that fish sauce flavor takes me back to walking through markets with buckets full of dried shrimp and all sorts of other dried fishes laid out in the hot heat. definitely a trigger for sensory and authentic memories. and probably the reason why i break out in hives around shrimp these days. maybe leave out the fish sauce or just use a few drops- the soup has good flavor without it.

pumpkin quick bread, the long way

this fall family recipe calls for canned pumpkin. and i had real live pumpkins. so i cut off the skin, scooped out the seeds, cut into chunks and roasted in the oven at 375 in a light toss of vegetable oil until soft and on the way to a delicious smelling carmelization.. then i pureed. the puree is so yummy on its own. i was making all those soups at the same time and couldn't help but think about pumpkin puree, coconut milk, lemongrass and ginger cooked together into soup...

this quick bread is super easy, and this is the big batch formula: in a big bowl- 5 1/4 c. ap flour, 4 1/2 c. sugar (that's why its GOOD, or use 2 1/4 c. honey and it still would be GOOD), 3 tsp. baking soda, 3 tsp. cinnamon, 1 1/2 tsp. salt, 1 1/2 tsp. nutmeg, 3/8 tsp. ground cloves- and i also added a nice big pinch of ground cardamom. then in a smaller bowl- 1 1/2 c. butter, 3 c. pumpkin puree, 3 beat up eggs, 1 c. water- and i added lemon zest. mix wet into dry and pour batter into greased bakery dish. bake at 350.

peas and beans

i am reading this book and all i want to eat is thick bean soup and dark rye bread. with a beer to drink.

this one has mirepoix veggies (carrots, celery, onions, garlic) all chopped to around pea size and softened in butter with some smoked ham. added stock, peas, white beans and some rosemary.

corn chowder

a favorite around here. i came home to all the ingredients and the cookbook turned to the recipe. hints.

render some chopped bacon in a soup pot. soften onions, bell peppers, garlic, jalapeno in the fat. add some flour to make it thick. add stock, cubed potatoes, corn. simmer till potatoes are soft. add a bit of cream. season. i like salt, pepper, paprika, red flakes.

this soup is good with some chives on top, maybe some cilantro. or cheddar cheese. could add shredded smokey chicken or pork for more of a stew...

pumpkin jellies

making new friends who know how to properly preserve things by canning is the best!

on the left- a savory jelly of white pumpkin, jalepeno, fennel, ginger, garlic, peppercorns, red flakes. cooked with sugar, salt and vinegar.

on the right- arrop. a spanish sauce. sweet pumpkin cooked in grape must. couldn't locate a recipe to work off of, but tried to imagine it goes like this: cooked concord grapes with a few cloves and cinnamon for the thick juice. cooked pumpkin in the juice and some red wine. added some citrus zest and juice and a touch of sugar to help it with getting syrupy.

a nice side effect: pumpkin seeds. toasted with oil and salt till you could smell them.

claire's cake

chocolate cake. caramel to soak the layers. caramel mousse between the layers. chocolate ganache on top. and i wrote on it!

caramel on corn

i was making a caramel tonight for a mousse for cake. everybody got crazy about needing to eat it, so we popped some corn and dumped the caramel on top. so good.

for the caramel.. i will try to be precise: 2 c. sugar, cover with water, maybe 1-1 1/2c. bring to a boil and let it cook till it starts to brown. try to let it get soooo close to burning up, the darker the color the better. add 2 tbsp. butter and whisk. it will bubble up, so be careful! add a cup of heavy whipping cream and 1 tsp. salt.

the rookwood

i been meaning to post a positive review about this place. we went up there for an early dinner on a sunday. the place has been made over since most of you have probably been there. the interior is kinda douchey, like bootsy's is having a trickle down effect- but the space will always be amazing as the former home of rookwood pottery. however, it very obvious that the bartender and the chef have a great idea of what they are going for.

i got a negroni, the first one i have seen offered in cincinnati. so lets make that the first one i have had in a year. it was delish. perfectly balanced. with a bitters-soaked pearl onion for garnish. nothing too over the top. just the right drink. i was blown away, actually. so i went and talked to the bartender, who keeps lots of fresh fruit on his bar, makes his own bitters. etc. hold me back!

for appetizer: goetta hanky pankys. anyone that knows the laumers knows that we have a special place for hanky pankys. little dark rye toasts with a scoop of a warm goetta cheese mixture. they served theirs with a relish of green peppers. good thinking!

we all enjoyed our sandwiches. they had great flavor, were on great bread, weren't too over the top- just the right things together. i think i'll go back again soon to see if they maintain the restraint of keeping things real. and to try another drink- a cocktail with my name on it! i'll report on the "sierra cobbler".

HEARTS & crafts

so y'all. i been thinking on this idea. it isn't a new one, but nobody has ever asked me to be in one, so i am going to make up my own. how about a holiday craft fair?

i am thinking about using this working title "HEARTS & crafts" because i like hearts. i never really thought that i was a heart kinda girl, but when it comes time to name stuff, i can't resist...

i work with carol and she makes ceramics. she wants to sell. i want to make truffles. you know, the chocolate kind. and maybe sell some other food treats for holiday gift giving. i would love to hear from other craft-/food-/art-ists who would be interested in combining forces to have this party near the end of november/beginning of december where we could sell/trade/give eachother cool stuff for the holiday gift season.

so far, there isn't a place, date, poster, facebook event page.. but lets get together and get that stuff going! i think it seems like one of the best ideas i have come up with lately and it would be a pretty fun time, don't you think?!

potato soup

two onions, 6 cloves of garlic, 3 ribs of celery, three carrots. all chopped medium and softened in butter. about 1/4 c. flour to pull everything together in a loose roux. about 6 c. water. 8 smallish potatoes, peeled and chopped medium. cooked together till potatoes were soft. added a bunch of salt, some pepper, some paprika and some dried basil. a little bit more water, to thin out the glue like consistency. then a cup of cold milk. crispy bacon on top, because today we were toying around with the idea of becoming vegetarians.

tomato soup and grilled cheese

i am slightly embarrassed that this was dinner the very next night, after that alfredo hardly even got a chance to get outta there... comfort food. tis the season.

i made a really amazing and simple chunky tomato bisque. in my heavy bottomed large frying pan, i sauteed two big yellow onions chopped rough and about 6 cloves of garlic chopped fine- in olive oil. deglazed with some old syrah. chopped 4 big tomatoes and those went in.

then for the secret weapon- this stuff called SCHIAVONE'S hot & spicy spaghetti sauce. i get it at IGA and i have no idea if it is sold at any other place in the world. it kinda looks like maybe it is one of those things IGA keeps around for some very old customer who loves it. but now i love it too.

stewed all that for a bit, cooked the tomatoes down and doused them with salt and pepper. added a box of stock, a pint of cream and heated. pureed, but not very obsessively, then heated again.

in the meantime, griddled some cheese sandwiches for dunkin.

pesto alfredo

special request for pasta with pesto alfredo. because it is cold outside and we all need some butter and cream for insulation.

in a thick bottomed pan, melted a stick of butter and one pint of cream. shaved in lots of parmesan and used a nice canned pesto. it was a LAST minute request! over low heat, reduced the sauce while cooking the pasta, roasting the zucchini, frying the prosciutto (good god!) and toasting the bread.

tossed cooked pasta in the sauce and i feel warmer already.