Sniffles and Such

It seems Peter and I are both feeling under the weather. This may or may not have something to do with the fact that we rather foolishly took a day trip to Muir Woods a few days ago. When it was cold. When it was windy. When it was raining cats, dogs, and various other domesticated animals. When it was hailing. Hailing! What were we thinking?!

Well, it was beautiful...

If not a little...flooded.

I suppose I should just come out and admit, then, that neither of us has felt up to much of anything. This includes the hours it takes to set up and shoot a delicious stop-motion. For that, I apologize.

However, I would like to share with you a non-food-related stop-motion I shot a few months ago. At this point, I was just starting to mess around with the medium (not that I've progressed much further past that). The lighting is pretty abysmal, but it was so much fun to make that I'm proud of it nonetheless.

Please enjoy "West Side Storyboard"

Lemon Pound Cake with Blueberry Sauce

Oh, wow.

I've got to say, I have been looking forward to making Joy the Baker's Lemon Drenched Lemon Cake for a few days now. Everything seems to have come together to make it so. The day before she put up her lovely post full of quick bread recipes, I received my very first loaf pan. Yay! The last time we went to the farmer's market, there were these beautiful lemons just sitting there looking at me. They were so lovely, we brought two of them home with us. Then, yesterday, Peter and I hiked up and over to the nearest Trader Joe's (my first time there) and found blueberries. Blueberries!

How could I possibly ignore signs like these? I couldn't. And thus, our dessert for the next few days was born.

Now, Joy the Baker's recipe included both the lemon loaf and a good-lookin' lemon syrup for the bread to soak on up. Since we had blueberries already chilling out in the fridge, I went with a Martha Stewart recipe for blueberry syrup. Once we've plowed our way through this particular batch, Peter and I may just have to try it with the original lemon drenching.

Below are simplified versions of the two recipes I used. For the full versions, please check out the links to the originals.

Lemon Cake

from Joy the Baker, who adapted it from Dorie Greenspan

Get the full version here

1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

1 1/6 c. granulated sugar

3/4 tsp vanilla extract

3 large eggs

1/3 c. heavy cream

zest of one lemon

8 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch loaf pan.

In a small bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt.

In a large bowl mix the granulated sugar and lemon zest together with your fingers. Whisk the eggs into the sugar until incorporated. Whisk in vanilla extract, then the heavy cream.

Carefully stir flour mixture into sugar mixture, stirring until batter is smooth. Fold in the melted butter in several additions.

Pour batter into prepared loaf pan, place the pan on an insulated baking sheet, and put into the preheated oven. Bake for 55-60 minutes, checking the cakes at 30 minutes.

Let cool and remove from pan before adding blueberry syrup. There are different directions for Joy's lemon syrup, so I strongly suggest looking up her recipe on her site.

Warm Blueberry Sauce

from Martha Stewart

Get the full version here

2 tsp unsalted butter

1 pint blueberries, washed with any stems removed

1/4 c. granulated sugar

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add blueberries and sugar.

Cook over medium heat until blueberries release juices, stirring constantly (about 2 minutes).

Let cool slightly, then pour over lemon loaf.

Feel free to lick your plate clean. :)

Holy Sweet Potatoes!

Dear My Favorite Farmer's Market Vendor,

Please never stop growing and selling your sweet potatoes. I realize there are extenuating circumstances to take into account. Something about the seasonality of crops and whatnot. But I just can't seem to get enough of those sweet potatoes. Don't get me wrong, your other produce is exceptional, but those orange gems of tuber-y goodness have converted me forever. On top of that, they have inspired a now staple recipe in our household. Baked Sweet Potato Fries. Um, yum.

So thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Love,

Erin Sue

Seriously though, those bad boys are wonderful hot out of the oven and dipped in Ranch. Or sneaked off the baking sheet while waiting for them to cool. Not that I've done that. At regular intervals because the smell is just so lovely. No siree.

Please try them. In any shape or form you'd like, really. Spice them to make your taste buds happy. It'll be great! So great, I hope, that you'll forgive the poor quality of my first "chop motion" video. I'm still working out the details of almost every aspect. Pardon my mistakes.

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Adapted from Ina Garten's Baked Sweet Potato "Fries," Back to Basics

2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and halved lengthwise

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 tsp chili powder

1 tsp onion salt

1/2 tsp coarse ground black pepper (I used garlic pepper)

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 tsp brown sugar

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F.

Cut the halved sweet potatoes into spears (the thinner you cut them, the crispier the outside will be). At this point, I usually halve them again. This way, they crisp up better, and I end up with a larger number of fries.

Drop those beautiful spears in ice water, and let them sit for about 20 minutes.

Once time's up, pat dry and move spears to a

good-sized bowl.

Add olive oil, chili powder, onion salt, black pepper, sea salt, and brown sugar straight into the bowl with the spears. Toss everything together until the sweet potatoes are evenly coated.

Spread the spears out in a single layer on a greased, foil-covered baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, flip the sweet potatoes with a spatula and bake again for another 5-10 minutes.

I dare you to let them cool even a little bit before inhaling them all!

Tenants, Meet Kitchen

Once upon a time there was a kitchen.

Not very interesting, I know, but stick with me.

While it was neither the largest nor the most beautiful kitchen, it had potential. It had spunk, gosh darn it. It just needed people who could appreciate it for what it was. People with imagination, you know? People with...lower expectations...and a desire to cook regardless of cramped quarters and minimal counter space.

Enter a young couple, the new tenants.




Peter, a design student working on his second degree.
Likes: Cars, Tex-Mex, noodles, and cars. And his dog Moose. Dislikes: Mushy foods, eye boogers, and when the UPS man stops but doesn't leave anything.







Erin, a displaced Austinite recently out of college and looking for her purpose in life. Likes: Baking, snail mail, kitchen gadgets, and pretending to be a photographer/filmmaker. Also warm socks. Dislikes: Clutter, horror flicks, and arguing about politics.


It was like a scene from a movie. An incredibly boring movie about a kitchen and a couple's first apartment. But as soon as the dishes filled the shelves, the various gadgets found homes and the drawers were full of utensils, it actually felt like "their" kitchen. Sure the refrigerator, dishwasher and pan cupboard were so close together they didn't open all the way. And so what if the oven vent flung bits of aluminum at unsuspecting cooks if left running for more than twenty seconds. It gave the place character. And some pretty wonderful stories to tell friends and family back home. Everybody wins.

I hope that paints an accurate picture of our relationship with food preparation in our household. That being said, Peter and I have differing levels of tolerance for this particular section of the apartment. His philosophy: the easier the meal, the quicker he can clear out of there. I seem to have developed a fonder attitude to our kitchen's little eccentricities. This means the bulk of the cooking has happily fallen to me. To be perfectly honest, I would cheerfully take this on even if our kitchen was Peter's favorite room in the apartment. You'd better believe I'd fight him for it.

I have also recently discovered how much I enjoy stop-motion videos. Seriously, have you seen these things? So cool! So, to make it fun (well, even more fun), we're going to combine the two. Stop-motion cooking: where the food prepares itself!

I've got to tell you, I'm pretty nervous about the amount of work this project might require. But we'll get through it, right? You and me? We'll support each other. Even when you find out just how amateur my videos are.

It's a deal.