Kitchen Sink Links {2}

remains of the snack. 

Our fridge went out this week. Yes, it was pretty terrible to have to throw out a bunch of groceries, but, hey, now both the fridge and freezer are clean!

Here are a few things I'm loving around the web this week:

The combination of pollen and warmer weather we are experiencing in Atlanta right now can only be combated with a lovely drink like this Sweet N' Spicy from Eat, Make, Read

John and Sherry finished up their kitchen remodel over at Young House Love. Opening up that wall did wonders for the space, but I'm loving the penny tile and industrial style stools the most.

It was reassuring to read Virginia's post on The State of Cookbook Publishing, ya know, because I like having a job and all.

Favorite new to me food blog of the week: Food Plus Words. These Whiskey Oatmeal Pies are totally on my "to-bake" list now.

On my "to-make-then-consume-in-mass-quantities list": Chihuahua Mac and Cheese from Scarletta Bakes. This is my favorite line from the post and I think it pretty much sums up my week:

"I personally have never heard of a Mac & Cheese Deficiency, but assuming it exists, I’ve been suffering something fierce."

How about you, how was your week?  What's cooking this weekend? 


Happy Friday!


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Kitchen Sink Links {1}

Welcome to the ides of March, it's strawberry season; Here are some things worth reading, viewing, and eating from the week of March 12:

Irvin Lin's post on Google Plus for Food Bloggers caught my attention, so I joined Google + . I already Tweet, Tumble, Facebook, and Pin, so I'm not sure how there will be time for much else.

The piece on Cookbook Ghostwriters  from the NYT got a little backlash on Twitter. Regardless of whether you consider yourself a writer or an author, its be nice to see recipe developers get a little more credit - even if its on an acknowledgement page in the very back of the book. For the record - I'm not complaining - I've certainly been given credit where due and am fortunate to have good work relationships.

THIS VIDEO is an absolute must watch (dice = dice, c'mon!) and for a laugh this one too.

Go read Tami's post about Silence, Spring and Strawberries and then make her cake.

This weekend is a busy one, but I'd like to squeeze in a field trip to this place. Hmm a fried chicken field trip...

Happy Friday everyone!

Little Biscuit

In case you missed the tweets and the constant instagram updates, we welcomed Ms. Ella Jean Splawn into the world on January 8th. She weighed a healthy 7 pounds 15 ounces and measured 21 inches. She is far and away the very best thing I have ever baked.

I will be heading back to work full time this week, so I expect it will be some time before regular posting resumes. Thanks for your patience.

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.

Just a Tip

You never leave your whipping cream unattended in the mixer, do you? So you never come back to said mixer to find over-whipped cream, right? Me either!

Ok, except maybe this one time when I wanted to show you how to fix it. Add a few tablespoons heavy cream to the whipped cream and whisk in slowly by hand. It won't help you if you've made butter from your cream and it might not be quite as silky, but at least dessert won't be ruined. I mean could you imagine?!

On Love and Cake

I had a panic attack on the first flight. "I should have packed my cake decorating stand," I thought. I ran down the list again, a suitcase already packed and checked: 3 sizes of cake pans (2 of each), a full size off-set spatula, same in mini, a box of pastry tips, piping bags, parchment paper, two jars of vanilla bean paste, and a jar of Duke's mayonnaise*. "When can I get into the kitchen? Will there be enough fridge space? Is there even a mixer?" The panic continued.

A Sweet Pop

Life has a wicked sense of humor.

When we try to make plans, life makes others. Just as we think we've figured out the new plan, life throws another curveball our way. This is both the brightly beautiful and the deeply troubling thing about life.

{Thirsty Thursday}: Fuzzy Peach

A peck of peaches is becoming my new summer tradition. Lured in by cute roadside farms or beauties at a berry farm, I enthusiastically pick the prettiest peck to bring home. A peck is between 12 and 20 pounds. I didn't know that last summer, but somehow that fact slipped my mind as I payed for and carried home another twenty this year.

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.

Just a Tip

You know how recipe writers are always asking you to use "fresh homemade breadcrumbs" and you're always rolling your eyes and huffing "yah right, like I'm going to buy a loaf for that..."?

Here's my solution: I keep a gallon size zip-top bag in the freezer and every time I have a leftover piece of baguette or that weird little end thingy from a sliced loaf, I chuck it in there. When the bag gets full, I thaw it, throw the bread in the food processor and then dry in a 300˚F oven (takes about 10 minutes for most batches). Store in an airtight container in the pantry - and quit rolling your eyes 'cause they might stick back there. Just saying.

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.

{Something Southern Sunday}: Cheese Grits

Oh grits, where do I start with you? There are so many questions I've been wanting to ask. Are you breakfast, lunch, or dinner? Are you savory? Sweet? Are you hominy or corn? Are you a relative of polenta, a brother or more like distant cousin? And what's your deal with shrimp?

Just a Tip

I've said it before I will say it again: drawer liner is a cook's best friend. Put it under blows for mixing, bowls for dipping, bowls for kneading and it won't wiggle around while you work.

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.

Thirsty Thursday: New to Me Negroni

The subtitle of this post should be "Or how I accidentally got drunk on a Sunday afternoon".

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.

Just a Tip

I am, like, the world's worst garlic mincer. It's a task I do not enjoy, maybe because I am lazy about it, or maybe because I grew up with a jar of the chopped kind in our fridge. My mince is more like a chop anyway - big and inconsistent. For work, I will sometimes toss a whole heads worth of peeled cloves in a small food processor. But at home I won't use it up fast enough.

So the tip - right - and less of the type that is keeping you from the tip. Was the picture not obvious enough? Use your micro-grater when a recipe calls for minced garlic. Takes approximately 1/8th of the time.