{Ubiquitous Dish}: Pesto

Ubiquitous is a one of my favorite words, I like the way it puckers my lips to say it. But I had to look up the definition before starting this post: 

Ubiquitous: adjective; Present, appearing, or found everywhere. 

Grilled Bruschetta

I'm having a fit of wants this week and wishing for inspirations and talent to miraculously be mine. 

I know that strength comes in working through the wanting, in putting my head down and forging ahead. Still I want. I want to write you clever recipes and shoot beautiful photographs. But I know that even after almost 5 years doing what I do, I am still new to this career and even newer to photography and to blogging. Its hard not to look at all the other lovely sites out there and feel like I am not enough, like this space is not enough. 

Peppermint Patty and the Food Blogger Cookie Swap!

This fall I signed up for the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap organized by the lovely Lindsay of Love and Olive Oil and Julie of The Little Kitchen. Clearly I wasn't thinking - I knew I would be very pregnant, busy with work, and trying to fit in some Christmas crafting. I mostly forgot about it (a benefit of pregnancy brain) until the my first dozen cookies arrived (overnight, certified in fact!) from Sheri at My Judy the Foodie one Saturday morning.

Simple Gifts: Cookies and Milk

Boy-howdy! Are there a lot of gift guides out there or what?! They're on my bloglovin', on pinterest, even in my inbox daily - every corner of the webernet has a guide for what you should buy this holiday season. It sort of makes me sweat and itch and my heart pounds a little. There are so many wonderful ideas and so many people I'd love to find just-the-prefect-gift for.

Hot Cocoa Treats

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas at our house. The lights are hung, the tree is decorated, and my Christmas gift crafting is well underway. It hasn't quite felt so much like winter in Georgia yet. The temperatures have dropped and snow is in the forecast this week, but today was the first day that a coat was really required.Still the snuggly-weather spirit moves me in December and I just want to drink hot cocoa under the Christmas lights and watch the Charlie Brown Christmas special, instead of tackling anything on my holiday "to-do" list.

Bacon Cheddar Biscuits

This week last year, I was in Portland, Oregon for the IACP conference. We stayed at the Ace Hotel there which has a Stumptown Coffee Roaster in the lobby. This was probably my second favorite feature of the hotel, as we could have awesome coffee and a snack before walking to the conference. One of my favorite snacks were their Bacon Cheddar Biscuits, even as they were served cold. Obviously I've been thinking about them since then and had to do something about it as a trip back to Portland isn't on my schedule anytime soon. I will, however, be in Austin for this year's conference.

Hummingbird Cake

I make Hummingbird Cake once a year.

I'd never heard of it until I was asked to make it for a colleague's birthday about a year after I moved to Atlanta. I'm a very visual person, so as soon as I heard "hummingbird cake" I instantly pictured hummingbirds being captured and baked into a cake. I was a little embarrassed to admit that I had no idea what the cake was (I was after all a baking and pastry student!).

Apparently its quite the Southern treat originating in North Carolina in the 70's and become wildly popular after a spot in Southern Living magazine in 1978. Imagine banana bread turned cake studded with pineapple and pecans. Then top that image with tangy cream cheese frosting. Yup, it is that good.

Funnily enough this cake typifies Tamie* in the best ways. It's roots aren't Southern, but it is in every way. It is unassuming but brilliant. Not too sweet and sassy enough to make a permeant impression.

My recipe is an adaptation of the cunning and stunning Nancie McDermott, who, herself typifies the Southern woman. I've added a bit of brown sugar in place of the white, merely because I like the flavor it lends to both the bananas and pineapple. And I like to leave the pecans out of the frosting.

Happy Birthday Tamie! *said colleague, who only asks me to make it once a year, for her birthday!



Humming Bird Cake

adapted from Southern Cakes from Nancy McDermott

Serves 10

3 cups all purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple, juice and all

2 cups mashed banana (it took me about 4 whole bananas)

1 cup chopped pecans

Heat the oven to 350˚F. Line 2 nine-inch cake pans with parchment and spray with non-stick cooking spray.

Combine the flour, sugars, cinnamon, soda and salt in a large mixing bowl. In a medium bowl combine the eggs, oil, pineapple and bananas. Add the wet mixture to the dry fold in the pecans.

Divide between the prepared pans and bake for 35-40 minutes. Cool the cakes in the pans on a wire cooling rack for 10 minutes before de-panning. Cool completely before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

4 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature

16 ounces powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Beat the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy, about a minute. Add the powdered sugar in 1/2 cup intervals, mixing on medium speed between each addition. Stop every other addition or so and scrap the sides of the bowls to avoid any clumpy business. Add the vanilla and salt at the very end, mixing to fully incorporate.

Put a dab of frosting on your favorite cake plate or a cardboard cake circle. Set one cake layer right side up on top of said cake layer. Dollop about 1/3 of the frosting in the center of that cake. Use an offset spatula to spread into an even layer. Top with the second cake layer, this time upside down. Cover the top and side of the cake with the remaining frosting and refrigerate the cake for at least 30 minutes before slicing and serving.

Preggers!

No, I am not! 

But the adaptation of a Buckeye recipe to pretzel-stuffed-chocolate- covered-peanut-butter-balls could only have come from the crazy cravings of a pregnant woman. When my colleague Vanessa was pregnant with her son Ethan all she wanted was peanut butter, chocolate, salty and sweet. For her baby shower, I made these. Later when Vanessa's hairdresser was pregnant, she asked for the recipe and that is how they got the clever label of Preggers.

A Heap of Breakfast

Atlanta has a chain of breakfast diners that got it right. Key locations, good coffee, counters, quick waitresses, and even quicker line cooks. Although I will debate the validity of a whole wheat biscuit, I love Thumb Ups Diner. I particularly enjoy their breakfast heaps, which consist of homefries, and whatever else you want, fried up, covered with cheese and topped with eggs, all just how you like it.

I don't like to wait, however, and sometimes I can't guster the muster to get in the car and wait twenty minutes for a table or seat at the counter on a Saturday morning. Good thing I like to cook.

Death, Taxes and Banana Bread

Inevitably, you will have brown bananas. Ugly, spotty, squishy bananas. You are not even particularly fond of bananas and yet, here there you are, you and ugly bananas, together. You have tried every trick you know, and nothing will make those bananas look better. So here's what you do: you mash the life out of those bananas and you butter them up, egg them on, and share some bourbon. You really show those frickin' bananas what's what and they give you delicious, comforting bread.

Sunday Supper: "Jambalaya" Risotto

Anytime I see quotations around any part of a recipe title I roll my eyes. I don't want to be misguided and quotations are a pretty good sign that the title is very subjective. That's one of the great things about food - we eaters view the same things differently. I say jambalaya and you might think shrimp or chicken or andouille. Maybe you think of the holy trinity or creole spice or Zataran(!). So let me be clear - when I hear jambalaya I think - rice, smokey, tomato, trinity. I also think of a dish with a nice contrast of texture. The rice should be sort of soft, but not mushy, the vegetables should still have some life left in them.  Notice I listed rice first. It's the part I always screw up - too crunchy, too mushy, or worse when it is both mushy and crunchy. But risotto, I can and will do well. And that's how we ended up here, with a quotation in our recipe title.

Chocolate and Beer Cupcakes

I am a fan of Fridays (hello, weekend!), of chocolate, of beer, of rom-coms and snuggling. I also love puppies, especially squishy ones eating ice cream, but who doesn't?! But what I really like is a recipe that feels fussed up, but actually requires a very minimal effort on my part.

Whole Wheat Oatmeal and Chocolate Chip Cookies

I do not like raisins. Ok, I kind of like them if they are covered in chocolate or sometimes if they are golden. My sister despises them so much that she tells people she is allergic, which I guess is true of anything you dislike so much it makes you sick.

Maybe this is why my favorite cookie became oatmeal chocolate chip. My mom made them often from the recipe on the Quaker box. She used a lot more cinnamon and would keep a supply in the freezer.

A Vanilla Bean Paste Haiku

I had to look up the rules for a haiku. Was 7th grade that long ago? Wait was it even 7th grade where we learned that?

Regardless - I wanted to profess my unabashed love of vanilla bean paste. You can use it in place of vanilla extract and it since it contains bits of the seeds it feels super fancy, but since you can also use it in place of real vanilla bean, it feels super frugal too. Without further ado - my vanilla bean paste haiku:

Fragrant but sticky

cheapness never so fancy

Seedy and smooth

Apologies if I got it all wrong - wikipedia is suppose to be a reliable source right?

Vanilla Bean Paste via the web: here, here, and here.

Ps. If you are in the greater Metro Atlanta area, Your Dekalb Farmers Market has got the best price around.

Brown Butter and Vanilla Pancakes for Two

I don't like Valentine's Day. I'd much rather know I'm loved any day of the year than one day that everyone else is supposed to show their love too.

But I do like making pancakes and shaping them funnily. My dad used to make shaped pancakes in such brilliance as our initials or as a mouse. This is how I became "Meggie-Mouse" most of youth, unfortunately. My mom made pancakes every Sunday she could and we always, always, always had real Vermont Maple Syrup. She even brings her own syrup to restaurants that don't serve the real deal. So pancakes, love, there is a real connection. At least in my world.

Brown Butter and Vanilla Pancakes

Serves 2

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 1/2 tablespoons Vanilla Sugar

1 teaspoon Vanilla Bean Paste

1 large egg

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Melt the butter in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Cook until the butter foams, the foam browns and sinks to the bottom of the pan, about 2 minutes. Remove the butter from the pan and set aside to cool while you assemble the rest of the ingredients.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Combine the sugar, egg, buttermilk and butter in a medium bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, mix gently, then rest for 10 minutes.

Heat the non-stick skillet over medium heat. Scoop 1/2 cup of batter into the pan and cook, 2 at a time, until the edges are dry and bubbles are appearing, before flipping. Cook until golden on the other side.

Keep warm in a 200˚F while repeating with the remaining batter.

Classic Blondies

I admit that I haven't been the best poster this week. I've been working on getting some things into the Fork and Swoon shop along with creating a new Vintage shop with Brian. It is exciting and exhausting along with all the other work and life responsibilities, but I am really glad to get the ball rolling on both.

I threw together some blondies this afternoon to bring to Brian's sisters house tonight.

I think they still need some tweaking, but a very good basic recipe and easy to make on a whim.

Classic Blondies

2 sticks unsalted butter

1 cup light brown sugar

Melt the brown sugar and butter together in a medium saucepan over medium heat until smooth. Remove from the heat and cool for 10 minutes.

Heat the oven to 350˚F and line an 8x8 glass dish with a piece of parchment paper.

Add to the butter and sugar:

2 eggs

Beat until well combined.

Add 1 teaspoon vanilla and 1 cup of all purpose flour and a heavy pinch of kosher salt.

Stir until well combined and pour into the prepared pan. You can also fold in 1 cup of chocolate chips or walnuts or other nuts or m&ms or whatever before panning and baking. Bake for 25-28 minutes until golden and set to the touch. Cool for at least 20 minutes before using the parchment as a sling and cutting the blondies.

makes 12.

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I packaged them in an old Olvatine container wrapped with a scrap of fun paper, just because, well I wanted them to be cute and yummy.

And don't worry I'm also bringing a salad.