FoodFash

Adventure Begins in the Kitchen

The Brown Nosed Baker

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I talk about baking a lot, a lot.  Probably too much among friends, most definitely too much at work.  But baking every day, and seeing my coworkers five-sevenths of the days, makes baking conversations at work inevitable.  And after five-sevenths of nine months (that’s how long I’ve been in Austin) of talking to my boss about baked goods, he finally asked me to bake him something.  Sort of.

Last week as I plopped down at my desk with a tumbler full of the darkest, blackest coffee ever, I noticed an envelope on my typically paperless desk.  Confused, I opened the envelope and read the nicest, most sincere work-related thank you card I had ever received.  It’s the thank you’s that are unprompted by a favor completed or a deadline met that mean the most, which is why this particular note meant a ton to me.

Beneath the note was a Cook’s Illustrated magazine.  “Carter, did you only give me this note and magazine because you want me to bake something?”, I asked.  Knowing I like to give people a hard time, he jokingly responded that the pumpkin cake on the cover would be nice.

This cake should have been, would have been, a surprise had I been able to keep this present a secret.  But the morning after I bought all of the ingredients I couldn’t help myself and blurted out that the cake was on its way.  Still I think this cake will be a surprise as it is so, so beautiful.  And judging from all of the batter I consumed tonight, this pumpkin roll cake will surely be equally as delicious!

An Early Friendsgiving

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Oh how I put Cooking Planit through the ultimate test!  Prior to last night, I had only used this kitchen app to make a single dish.  And typically, I have the bulk of a meal prepared before guests arrive.  But last night…  I invited Ginnean and Juliette (FoodFash Junior in the making) over for dinner and a slumber party.  I left it up to Cooking Planit to keep me on track preparing multiple dishes while in the company of a good friend and her little munchkin.

Ninety-nine percent of the time, I’m out of this world organized.  But give me a little outside distraction, like say company, and I lose things, drop things, maybe even burn things.  Give me a lot of distraction, like the most adorable baby ever, and who knows what could happen.

This is where Cooking Planit had the opportunity to save my world, and it did.  This app allowed me to make an entire meal AND spend time with my current company.  I could chat with Ginnean while following each step, because I didn’t have to think about what came next.  And I could clean up dishes chase Juliette around the house when there was dead time before the next step.

The Menu:

Quinoa with Butternut Squash & Pine Nuts

Pomegranate Kale

Sweet Potato Hash

Cranberry Sauce (made earlier in the day)

Homemade Bread (made earlier in the day)

We filled our plates with modern-day Thanksgiving sides, filled up our glasses with red, red wine, and sat on the back porch enjoying the almost-fall-feeling weather.  Since Ginnean and I both favored the quinoa with butternut squash and pine nuts it acted as the main dish.  And the pomegranate kale and sweet potato hash did a wonderful job acting as supporting sides.  We even paired the leftover hash with an egg the next morning for a mighty delicious start to our day!

Dinosaur Kale & White Bean Stew

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How is it November already?  Better yet, how did November sneak up so quickly yet it takes forever for weekends to arrive?  I suppose we’ll never know the answer to that.  But in the meantime, we can certainly make cozy soup, slurp it slowly, and pretend that the weekend is already here.

Dinosaur Kale & White Bean Stew (adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

1 bunch dinosaur kale, washed, stemmed, and chopped (no need to remove the ribs)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
2 celery stalks, ends removed and chopped
5 shallots, sliced
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 cup sauvignon blanc
2 15-ounce cans white beans, drained and rinsed
4 cups mushroom broth
1 cup crushed tomatoes
Salt and black pepper
3 fresh thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf

In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium heat.  Add carrots, celery, shallots and garlic and saute for 15 minutes.  Stir in wine and cook for 10 minutes.  Add beans, broth, tomatoes, salt, pepper, thyme and bay leaf and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove thyme and bay leaf.  Add kale and cook for 5 minutes more.

After eating the first bite this soup, it became apparent that tart wine, crunchy greens, a mushroom/tomato base, and soft white beans are an amazing combination.  And then I made it a little more amazing by topping with a few giant shrimp.

FoodFash Mom

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FoodFash Mom is in Austin!  I left work a bit early to pick her up from the airport.  We lounged on the couch for a sec, changed into some comfy shoes, and walked on over to Whole Foods.  We have a weekend of eating ahead of us and I wanted to make sure we had at least one feel-good meal in us before the festivities begin.

I texted her early this morning asking if she was in the mood for spaghetti squash with turkey meatballs and homemade sauce.  She responded with a “sure!”.  And, like any normal person would, I assumed that meant she was excited.  I later found out that “sure!” was an exemplary display of mom poker face.

“This is actually really good, Kris!”, is what came out of her mouth as she was eating.  Umm what do you mean this is acutally really good?  Were you expecting it to be really bad?  Have we been apart too long for you to remember that I get the kitchen and the kitchen gets me?  It turns out, the few experiences she’s had with spaghetti squash hadn’t been that impressive (phew!).  She noted the goodness a few more times and went back for seconds.  And I did too because it was, in fact, really good.

FoodFash Turkey Meatballs

1 lb ground turkey

1/2 cup chopped onions

1/2 cup shredded zucchini

1/4 cup finely chopped Italian parsley

1 egg

salt to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a medium sized bowl, use your hands to mix ground turkey, onions, zucchini, parsley, and salt together.  Add the egg and mix some more.  Roll one inch balls and place on a greased cookie sheet.  Bake for 20 minutes or until meat is all the way cooked through.