Awesome {Foolproof} 2nd Birthday Party Menu

Happy New Year!












  
My sweet baby just turned two, so we had a little party to celebrate. The menu was vegetarian and largely gluten and dairy free as well. It was also easy to make/prep ahead of time and the main dish was just thrown into a slow cooker and left alone for 2 1/2 hours. So easy!

Here are links to the recipes I used along with my notes and tweaks. I didn't get any photos because I was too busy chasing toddlers and chatting with grownups, but suffice it to say, the recipes all got rave reviews! They are keepers.

Healthy + Flourless Applesauce Spice Cake from the great blog, Chelsea's Messy Apron
This cake is moist, bouncy, and so tasty. It will be my go to spice cake from here on out.

*To give the cake lift, I separated the eggs, whipped the whites, and then folded the whipped whites into the batter at the end before scooping/pouring the batter into the cake pans and muffin tin.
*I used half all purpose flour and half almond meal in place of the oat flour because I didn't have any oats or oat flour in my kitchen on baking day.
*Because the applesauce I bought was quite sweet, Mott's Natural (unsweetened), I cut the brown sugar down to 1/4 cup (of dark brown sugar). Perfectly sweet cake.
*I tripled the recipe ended up with twenty-four mini cupcakes and two eight inch cake rounds, which I stacked with lightly sweetened fresh whipped cream between and on top. 

Slow Cooker Mexican Quinoa also from Chelsea's Messy Apron
This is so delicious and, because everything just gets dumped into a slow cooker, oh so easy.

*I like it cooked for 2 1/2 hours so the squash still has some body to it.
*I rinsed the black beans, doubled the garlic, used one 28 ounce can of regular diced tomatoes, and skipped the chicken broth/stock. I also tried it with chipotle pepper in adobo and a jar of salsa in place of one of the enchilada sauce cans and that was great too.

African Black-Eyed Pea Salad from the wonderful veggie blog, Cookie + Kate
*I used canned black-eye peas, rinsed.
*I skipped the tomato, rice and avocado.
*I used only one hot pepper.
*I added about 1/4 cup (+/- to taste) tahini and really liked that flavor addition.

My Go-To Slaw
Thinly slice a medium white or red cabbage, dice two carrots and one small red onion. Toss to combine. Make a vinaigrette of (approx.) 1/2 cup EVOO, 1/4 cup half and half sherry and balsamic vinegars (just balsamic is fine), and salt and pepper to taste. Toss so the cabbage is well coated and starts to tenderize. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed (i.e. add more salt, pepper and vinegar if needed).

Skinny Heart-Shaped Sugar Cookies from Amy's Healthy Baking
*I shaped mine as dinosaurs because, toddlers!
*I used orange extract instead of butter extract and loved the flavor. They were definitely still nice and buttery.
*I just used room temp butter, not melted and cooled, and did not refrigerate the dough before rolling. The shapes held up great.
*Be sure to under-bake these or they get quite hard. 7-8 minutes until they're set-up and maybe a minute on the sheet out of the oven before transferring to a rack to cool. Don't let the edges brown and you'll be golden (ha!)!
*I didn't ice them so they would be less sugary because, again, toddlers. Plus, I just did not have the energy for that:-). 

Amazing Whole Orange Muffins

These fresh and simple muffins are some of the best I've ever tasted. They are not at all bitter, despite containing the skin and pith of an entire orange, and are a breeze to throw together. Thank you, food processor!   

Amazing Whole Orange Muffins
Adapted slightly from Fresh Orange Muffins by Lennie on Recipezaar
Makes 12 muffins
1⁄2 cup orange juice, not from concentrate
1 orange, cut into 6-8 chunks (skin on) and seeded
1 large egg
1⁄2 cup butter 
1 3⁄4 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup chopped bittersweet chocolate, optional
1/2 cup chopped or slivered nuts, optional

Preheat your oven to 400 and line or spray your muffin tin.

Add the orange juice to your food processor or blender. Cut the whole orange up (leaving the skin on!) into about 6 to 8 chunks, making sure to seed it if necessary, and puree with the OJ until smooth. The puree will still be fairly pulpy but that's fine. Add the egg and butter and whir to combine. 

Whisk together your dry ingredients in a separate bowl and then dump them into the wet, mixing until just combined. Fill each muffin tin equally and bake for about 20 minutes. 

Julia Child's Finnish Pulla

Julia Child's Finnish Pulla is gorgeous, delectable, and very easy to make. Active time is low on this one; about 30 minutes, with two resting periods of about 45 minutes each. Thaz it! For a wonderful fresh breakfast or brunch treat, you can do the first rise in the fridge overnight, then shape the wreath and do the second rise in the morning before baking. 

Did I mention this thing is gorgeous?!

I made this loaf last winter with my mother-in-law Debbie during a family trip to the Hudson Valley. We stayed in a quaint, artsy house with a fireplace and lots of great cookbooks. It was a perfect little getaway and baking this loaf with Debbie was a great bonding experience. You know you get along with someone when you can cook side-by-side with them. 

In addition to lots of cooking and baking, we introduced Freya to the snow and brought her to her very first whiskey tasting. Very little whiskey was consumed, and none by Freya, just to be clear!

She seemed much more impressed with the pourers than with the snow.

This recipe is just like Julia's except that I steeped the cardamom in the warm milk to ensure maximum flavor. I also added citrus zest, which I highly recommend.

Julia Child's Finnish Pulla
adapted from Baking with Julia Baking with Julia: Savor the Joys of Baking with America's Best Bakers
1 cup milk, scalded and cooled
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
¼ cup warm water (no hotter than 110 degrees Fahrenheit)
½ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon crushed cardamom seeds (the seeds of about 5-8 pods)
zest of one large orange or zests of several clementines
1 teaspoon kosher salt 
2 large eggs
4 ½ to 5 cups all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Wash/Toppings
1 large egg and 1 tablespoon milk, for wash
Sliced almonds or any crushed candied nuts (we used candied pecans)
Coarse sugar for sprinkling (we used regular and it was fine)

Scald the milk then add the sugar, salt, and cardamom. Allow to steep. Dissolve the yeast in the warm water and make sure it foams (aka, is alive!). When the scalded milk has cooled to about room temp, beat in the eggs, then add the yeast mixture, butter, and zest, mixing well. 

Pour the wet mix into a stand mixer with dough hook or into a large bowl and stir in enough flour to get a shaggy dough. Continue adding flour little by little either using the dough hook on low speed or kneading by hand (or with a flexible pastry scraper) until the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl and is less sticky.  Knead by hand or with the mixer for an additional 5-10 minutes until it is elastic and smooth. Allow to rise in a oiled bowl in a warm place for 45 min to an hour (until doubled in size).

After about an hour, punch the dough down gently and separate into three balls rolling each into a long log about 30-40 inches long. Braid the three strands and connect the ends, pinching them together to close the circle and create your wreath. Transfer the braided wreath to a parchment lined baking sheet and allow to rise for about 45 minutes. 

Preheat your oven to 375. Brush the wreath with the egg and milk wash and sprinkle with nuts and sugar. Slid onto the center rack of your preheated oven and bake until deeply colored, about 20-25 minutes.  It's wonderful warm and is best eaten the same day you bake it.

Momofuku Milk Bar Corn Cookies

These corn cookies... 

...are inspired! I love the concepts at Milk Bar but often I think the goodies there are just a bit too sweet. My adaptation of this cookie, therefore, calls for less sugar and also simplifies the method a bit. What you end up with is an awesome combination (full credit to Christina Tosi for this) of chewy, crisp-edged, buttery, sweet, corn cookie goodness that is just too good not to try. 

Momofuku Milk Bar Corn Cookies
Adapted from the Momofuku Milk Bar Cookbook
Makes about 12-15 cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp 
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup freeze-dried corn powder (available at Milk Bar in store or online, Amazon, or at some Whole Foods but call ahead, mine didn't carry it)
1/4 cup corn flour (Not cornmeal or polenta. Bob's Red Mill makes it.)
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Add the all-purpose flour, corn powder, corn flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda to a bowl and whisk to combine.  

Preheat your oven to 350 and line two or three baking sheets with parchment or siltpats.  

In a stand mixer, or with beaters, cream the butter and sugar together for 3 minutes or so until very light and fluffy.  Scrape down the sides and add the egg, beating for another 2 minutes or so. *The Milk Bar recipe calls for 7 plus minutes of beating but I think that's unnecessary.

On low, add the dry ingredients in a few additions until just incorporated. The dough will be soft and moist but slightly crumbly. I brought mine together quickly at the end with a spatula.  

Scoop the dough with a 1/3 cup cookie scoop into mounds and set about 3 inches apart on your prepped pans. Fatten each mound slightly with your palm. 

The Milk Bar recipe calls for refrigerating the dough for 1 hour to overnight but I baked mine right away on the center rack of my oven, one sheet at a time, for 11 minutes (until the edges were just beginning to darken but the centers looked slightly under-baked) and had great results.  

These are exceptional warm and supposedly freeze well.

Also, just read Amelia Morris' book Bon Appetempt: A Coming-of-Age Story (with Recipes!) and you should too!!!

I just read this and it is wonderful. If you've read my blog at all, you know I'm a big fan of Amelia Morris' blog and her book Bon Appetempt: A Coming-of-Age Story (with Recipes!) is just lovely and perfect. Seriously, I took a deep breath and sighed when it was over. Very satisfying read.

If it's not your bag, which it definitely will be if you're reading my blog in the first place, give it to the food lover in your life. Seriously. I would have asked Jon to get it for me for Valentines Day, but I already have it so, sorry bud, you're on your own;-).  

I hope to write more about it soon because, as a fledgling food blogger and someone who has always hoped to use her creativity to somehow make a mark for herself, it definitely got my wheels turning. 

A Taste of Summer: Tracy Obolsky's Sweet Corn Panna Cotta with Blueberry Compote

This is yet another recipe I made a long time ago (last summer!) and haven't gotten around to sharing until now. I'm seriously out-of-whack about blogging these days, but I intend to get my act together, really I do. 

So here's Tracy Obolsky's Sweet Corn Panna Cotta with Fresh Blueberry Compote from Food & Wine Magazine. Yum!

It's really delicious, easy to make, and quite elegant too. I followed the directions in Food and Wine Magazine exactly. I know that corn is seriously out of season right now but this recipe is really great and I'm pretty sure we could all use a tasty reminder of summer's happy bounty right about now, am I right? 

Plus, maybe you froze some of the summer corn from your CSA? Or maybe you just wanna bookmark this recipe and wait until summer to make it? Or maybe you just grab some corn, fresh or frozen, and go for it. Click on the link above for the recipe and let me know what you think. You'll see that it didn't get rave reviews, but I think it's a delicious dish and I definitely plan to make again. 

Almond and Coconut Flour Orange Shortbread Cookies with Rosemary Icing

Practicing my decorating skills again with this batch of shortbread cookies. 

All bagged up and ready for the mail!

I gave these as gifts this past Christmas and they were a big hit. Tender, buttery, and incredibly flavorful, this is a stellar cookie recipe that I can't recommend highly enough. I've made a variation of these before, and continue to tweek the recipe, but this cookie's backbone and inspiration comes from Casue Sweets, an amazing sister owned cookie company here in NYC.

I decided to make the icing with orange juice and fresh minced rosemary this time. It was really nice and subtile. A winner!

Almond and Coconut Flour Orange Shortbread Cookies with Rosemary Icing
Yield: 30-60 cookies depending on the size of your cookies. I got just short of 60.
1 lb unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar, packed lightly
1 1/8 teaspoon table salt
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup almond meal/flour
4 cups unbleached all purpose flour
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 Tablespoon orange juice
1 Tablespoon orange zest

I used my stand mixer for this recipe, but a hand mixer will work fine here too. Cream the butter and sugar on medium/low until light and fluffy. Mix in the salt, vanilla, OJ, and zest until combined. Add the almond and coconut flours on medium/low speed until well combined. Then, in two additions, add the all purpose flour, pulsing until just combined. 

Turn the dough out onto a floured board and bring it together. It should be just a tad crumbly (mix in more flour before turing your dough out if it seems too wet in the mixing bowl). Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 30 minutes to an hour. 

Line baking sheets with parchment or siltpat and get your cookie cutters and work station ready.

Preheat your oven to 325. Take out a chunk of dough, about two cups or so, and put the rest back in the fridge covered tightly. On a floured surface with a floured rolling pin, roll the dough into a sheet about 1/3 inch thick. Cut the dough into your desired shape(s) and transfer each cookie to your prepared baking sheet (parchment or silt pat) using a spatula. 

The dough is delicate (i.e. sorta crumbly) but forgiving, so if it breaks, just patch it back together or start again. I kept rolling the scraps back into the next chunk of dough I grabbed from the fridge and the texture was still great (see, forgiving!). This dough also keeps it's shape really well while baking, so you can fit a lot of cookies on each sheet.

Once your oven is preheated, bake each sheet separately in the center of the oven for about 10-14 minutes - the edges will just begin to brown. Allow the cookies to firm up on the sheet for a few minutes, then transfer them to a rack to cool completely. This recipe holds up well both at room temp and after being frozen and thawed. 

ICING!

The icing I used for these cookies is based on the recipe for Glace Icing from the ladies at Casue Sweets. I reduced it a bit but the general proportions are very similar to theirs. First, I made a looser base icing that could be used to "flood" the cookies. I poured off about three cups worth of it and added additional sifted confectioner's sugar to create a thicker icing for piping. 

Cookie Icing
Yield: I had enough for about 60 cookies with quite a bit leftover. 
6 cups sifted confectioner's sugar (plus extra for thickening the icing for piping)
4 oz lukewarm water
1/8 teaspoon orange juice
4 oz light corn syrup
1 Tablespoon finely minced fresh Rosemary

Sift 6 cups on confectioner's sugar into a large bowl, or into the bowl of your stand mixer. Add the water and begin mixing on the lowest speed with your stand or electric hand mixer, then add the orange juice and corn syrup. Keep mixing until everything is fully incorporated and the icing is shiny. It should be viscous enough that it runs smoothly off a spoon but not so wet that it looks like it would just run off the edges of the cookies. Basically, it should spread easily but not be runny. If your icing is too thin, simply sift in more confectioner's sugar a few tablespoons at a time until it looks right. If it's too dry add more liquid a drop or two at a time.

Separate out about 3/4 of the mixture for your "flood" icing and add the finely minced rosemary to it, then pour it into a squeeze bottle or tupperware container with a tight fitting lid, be sure to cover it well to keep it from hardening.

To the remaining icing, and just mixing by hand now, add more sifted confectioner's sugar by the tablespoon until the consistency is thick enough that it's difficult to stir. If you lift you spoon up, the icing should fall very, very slowly (slow glop). You want it to be thick so it sets up right away and creates a boarder to keep the flood icing in check. See my previous post for photo examples and let me know how yours come out!

Lamb and Turkey Meatballs To. Die. For.

Welp, it's been an age since I last posted. We had family in town for four months and between that, the little one, and the holidays, I've have put this here blog on the back burner in a big way. I've been cooking my fanny off, however, so I hope to give you some insight into the more notable culinary successes of this holiday season past. 

Well, almost past, because I decided to throw a party this weekend for my daughter's first birthday. Whooo Hooooo, looks like we made it! I'm not even decorating (just a pretty bouquet), or cooking much (we're doing fondue, kinda fun, right?!), or tying to frost a cake (powdered sugar, yo!). We're just letting the babies roam as they may and drinkjng some (spiked) hot apple cider! For Jon and me, this party is more of an excuse to have all the new folks/parents we've met since Freya was born over. And, as one of my new mom-buds put it, to celebrate having survived the first year. Happy Birthday, Freya!

So, THIS recipe, is one I made for Christmas eve as in my vaguely Italian American family tradition. It's an adaptation of one I posted a while back for Turkey Meatballs adapted from Molto Italiano by Marion Batali. The lamb was an accident, I was rushing at the grocery store and thought it was turkey, but I will never make these without it again. It's so good. Here's the adaptation along with a photo from the first batch I posted (we ate the lamb ones too fast to get a photo opp). They look the same but these taste so much more rich and nuanced. Yum!

Lamb and Turkey Meatballs
Adapted from Mario Batali's Turkey Meatballs from Molto Italiano 
Yield: about 30-40 small meatballs
1.5 lbs ground turkey
1/1.5 lbs ground lamb
1/2 -2/3 cup milk, any fat content you have on hand is fine
2 large eggs, beaten
2 1/2 cups bread crumbs or croutons
4 gloves garlic, minced finely
1 Tablespoon fresh rosemary, minced finely
1 Tablespoon fresh oregano, minced finely
1/2 Tablespoon red pepper flakes
1 scant Tablespoon kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat your oven to 475.

In a large bowl toss whisk the eggs and milk then add the bread crumbs, garlic, rosemary, oregano, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Let the bread get hydrated by the milk. Add the meat and gently massage it with your fingers or a wooden spoon. Your don't want to overwork the meat, but you do want to get all the lumps and knots of meat kneaded out, the two kinds of meat combined, and the whole mass worked into a fluffy (ish) consistency.

Gently roll a heaping tablespoon of the mixture between wet palms to shape. Be careful to use a light touch and not pack the meat together into a hard ball. Place each meatball just a little apart from the next in a casserole dish coated with olive oil.

Once the meatballs are all formed. Cook them for 15 minutes at 475. While they're cooking, make a simple sauce or doctor up a jarred one. 

After 15 minutes remove the meatballs from the oven and reduce the heat to 350. Toss the meatballs in the sauce and bake for an additional 45 minutes to 1 hour (read: braise!). Garnish with chopped parsley and Parmigiano-Reggiano and serve hot with crusty bread and al dente spaghetti. So good!!!

Apple Torte Riff

Sooooooo, this is another recipe I was inspired by Bon Appétempt to make. It's based on the Purple Plum Torte recipe, adapted by Morris, published during plum season every year in the New York Times. It's pretty amazing (tart and sweet) and my husband, who summarily avoids cake, loves it, which is really saying something. The apple inspiration, thusly sliced, came from this cake by Smitten Kitchen, and from the fact that the market next to my apartment had no plums the day I made this.

I decided to try the recipe with apples tossed in honey, lemon juice and cinnamon. It came out great but on the sweeter side, so I'd suggest using sour green apples, or the plums called for in the recipe of origin, if you make it.

Here's the recipe. Tell me how it comes out for ya!

Sour Apple Torte

Adapted slightly from Bon Appétempt and the New York Times

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon table salt

2/3 cup granulated sugar 

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

2 large eggs

4 small sour apples, peeled, cored and sliced thinly 

1 Tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 Tablespoon honey

1/4 cup sliced almonds, optional

Preheat your oven to 350. Grease an 8 or 9 inch springform pan (both sizes work great just check on the large pan on the earlier side) and set it on a baking sheet. 

Prep the apples by peeling, coring, halving, then slicing, as pictured above, like a hasselback potato. Mix together the lemon juice, honey and cinnamon and drizzle over the apples to coat them while trying not to separate the slice bundles.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. 

In the bowl of a mixer, or with an electric handheld, cream the butter and sugar for about 4 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, mixing for another minute. Add the dry to the wet and mix until just combined. 

Use a spatula to transfer the batter (mine is always very thick) to your prepared pan and smooth it out to the edges. An offset spatula makes easy work of this. 

Nestle the apples around the edge and then center of the pan, leaving about a half-inch from the edge and each other, around each bundle. Drizzle any remaining honey/cinnamon/lemon juice mixture over the cake batter and apples.

*I found that this is especially important if you are using plums because they basically melt leaving cavities in the cake, so moving them in a smidge from the edge of the pan helps to keep the your cake intact.

Sprinkle the top of the cake with the almonds and bake for about 45-50 minutes until it passes the toothpick test.

I like this cake when it's warm best (with either plums or apples) despite it being generally recommended at room temp on the second day. Enjoy!

Corn and Cantaloupe Chopped Salad from Better Homes and Gardens August 2014 Edition

This is an outstanding salad. When I first read the ingredients list, I was intrigued and perplexed. Honestly, it looked weird but also delicious. What to do? Welp, I'm really glad I made it because it is delicious.

The recipe is from the August 2014 issue of Better Homes and Gardens. I skipped the greens and used a teaspoon of regular stone ground mustard instead of dry mustard powder. I also doubled the fresh dill. Yum!

I wish I had posted it earlier during prime corn/cantaloupe season but baby-proofing and teething have had me all-consumed until now. It's definitely going to be one of our family summer staples from now on, however, and maybe yours too, despite this short notice!

Bon Appétempt's Triple-Coconut Quinoa Porridge from Megan Gordon's Whole-Grain Mornings

Triple-Coconut Quinoa Porridge is super delicious, healthy, and very satisfying.

If you haven't already heard of Amelia Morris' wonderful blog, Bon Appétempt, stop reading this and go there - now! 

Amelia is a wonderful emerging food (etc.) writer. I'm basically counting down until her book comes out early next year. All the recipes on her site are great but the ones from her semi-recent video/post, Post-Apocalyptic Pantry Cooking, are some of my favorite so far. This is probably (read: definitely) because they are easy and it's tricky cooking with a tiny baby in tow, something Amelia can speak to because she's a new mom too. 

Anyhow, made the black bean dip from this post two nights in a row and Jon and I ate ALL OF IT with tortilla chips for dinner both nights. So good! As for this delightful porridge, I'm not even going to type the recipe or instructions here. You just get my photo teaser and a link to the recipe at Bon Appétempt. 

Enjoy!!!

Salted Oatmeal and Dark Chocolate Lactation Cookies

More lactation cookies, you say? Yup! Turns out, enhancing lactation is one of the best reasons to make cookies there is. If you try these, please let me know how they turn out for you. It's been a while since I made them.

With regards to how long it's been since I made these, I must admit that the photo below is of another batch of cookies I made from a very similar recipe. I made the lactation cookie recipe below for my mom's group, and we devoured them so quickly, I never got the chance to take a good shot for foodrefuge. This photo gives you the gist though, as these are crisp and chewy, unlike the previous lactation cookie recipe I posted with Oatmeal Dark Chocolate Dried Cranberries and Toasted Pecans, which were thicker and softer. 

Salted Oatmeal and Dark Chocolate Lactation Cookies
Recipe slightly adapted from Smitten Kitchen, Crisp Salted Oatmeal White Chocolate Cookies
Yields about 2 dozen
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon table salt
2 Tablespoons flax seeds (I used golden flax)
2 teaspoons brewer's yeast (no more as this is very bitter stuff)
14 tablespoons (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
6 ounces (3/4 cup) dark chocolate (or chocolate of your choice), roughly chopped
1 cup chopped toasted nuts (pecans or walnuts), optional
*about 1/2 teaspoon flaky sea salt, for sprinkling 

Preheat your oven to 350 and line your baking sheets with parchment or a silicone pad. 

If using, toast the chopped nuts for 5-8 minutes until fragrant.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, table salt, flax seeds and brewer's yeast and set aside.

Chop the chocolate up and set aside. 

In a stand mixer or with an electric hand mixer in a large bowl, cream the butter and sugars together for about 4 minutes until very light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and whip in the egg and vanilla. Scrape down again and pulse in your dry ingredients, then pulse in the oats. Fold in the chocolate and nuts until well distributed. 

It's never a bad idea to refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes at this point so the cookies spread less, or just proceed....

Roll about 2 Tablespoons of dough per cookie into rounds and flatten each slightly. Place them about 2 inches apart on your prepared backing sheets. Sprinkle each with just a smidgen of flaky sea salt and bake for 10-12 minutes until the edges just start to get golden. Let the cookies set up for a few minutes on the pan, then transfer them to a rack to finish cooling.

Here I am nursing Freya while touring around Washington DC. So, as you can see, these lactation cookies worked like a charm. Happy World Breastfeeding week, by the way!

Carrot-Top Pesto with Roasted Carrots Radishes and Cherry Tomatoes

This delicious pesto could not be easier, healthier, or more "sustainable" in that you're using something that all too often gets thrown away. It has a bright, herbaceous flavor and is just different enough to add a new twist to this classic condiment. 

I was inspired by this carrot-top pesto recipe from Bon Appétit but I just eyeballed everything and skipped the cheese, though I will be adding cheese when I toss this pesto with pasta later in the week. 

Carrot-Top Pesto
the green fronds from 6 carrots (washed and shaken dry) - about 4 cups or so
one large handful of basil leaves (also washed and shaken dry)
4 cloves of garlic, smashed
1/3 cup olive oil (add more, little by little, while scraping down the sides of your food processor to get a rough puree)
1/4 cup toasted hazelnuts or other nut (toast at 350 for 5-8 minutes)
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, optional
salt and pepper to taste
red pepper flakes, optional

Pulse the garlic, nuts, and olive oil until relatively smooth. Pack in the greens and pulse until you get a rough puree, adding more olive oil, little by little, while scraping down the sides of your food processor to get a rough puree. Add the cheese, if using. Then salt and pepper to taste. 

Use right away on pasta, rice, potatoes, atop crostini, with roasted veggies, as a dressing on fresh salads, or freeze for later use. Freezing in ice cube trays is smart and allows you to grab a bit of pesto, say to toss into a sauce for extra flavor, whenever you need to!

I tossed mine with carrots, radishes and cherry tomatoes and roasted at 425 for about 30 minutes until everything was blistered and delicious.

Pesto is a condiment that most people love but not enough make because it seems sort of complicated. I hope this post helps to demystify it. The basic pesto formula is basil, olive oil, garlic, pignoli nuts and Parmesan cheese pureed (with salt and pepper to taste, of course). If you aren't being a stickler, however, you can change up the nuts (walnuts, hazelnuts, pecans, brazil) and greens (arugula, carrot-tops, sorrel, watercress) and even swap the Parmesan for another hard-aged cheese (grana padano, aged gouda or manchego, hmmmmm!). 

Even more willy-nilly than pesto, is it's cousin, chimichuri! Check out my recipe/guidelines for that here!

Fattet Hummus (Tahini Yogurt Chickpea Bread Pudding) from Food52

This "bread pudding" is really delicious. Depending on how much torn-up toasted, baked or fried pita you add, it can range from a dip to a much heartier entree-level dish. Either way, it's delicious. 

I added more tahini than the recipe calls for, and also more mint - about 1/4 cup of each. I also saved time and effort by just breaking some Stacy's Multigrain Pita Chips into the dish rather than dealing with prepping the pita myself. Also, if you don't have pine nuts, try walnuts, pecans, or something else (and tell me what you think!). The crunch is nice. 

You can really knock this dish out of the park if you use high quality, flavorful chickpeas. Arrowhead Mills Organic Chickpeas, soaked overnight then brought to a boil and simmered until tender in fresh salted water, are amazing.  They are a whole different animal than any canned variety I've used. Frying about half a cup to garnish is also key for the texture and beauty of this dish.

I usually serve it with still more pita chips for dipping. Another important note, if you make this to bring somewhere and want it to look gorgeous, transport the dip in one container, the fried nuts and chickpeas with their oil in another, and bring the paprika and some extra mint leaves to garnish on-site. Assemble the dish right before serving so everything looks all drizzly, fresh and perky.  

Click here for the recipe! 

Crock Pot/Dutch Oven Fragrant Braised Beef with Allspice and Cinnamon over Whole Wheat Shells

It's been harder and harder to find the time to post these days with the little one napping less and less and playing more and more. Here's an easy recipe for a fragrant, delicious pot roast from my friend Stacie that, I promise you, will make up for my absence. It can be served over noodles or rice, in a sandwich, or simply along-side a loaf of crusty bread and butter. It's also a great recipe for the summer because it makes a lot and the crockpot won't heat up your whole kitchen. Enjoy!

Crock Pot Braised Beef with Allspice and Cinnamon 
* If you don't have a cock pot, see my dutch oven instructions below.
1 cinnamon stick, broken into pieces (or 1/2 teaspoon ground)
4 whole cloves (or 1/4 teaspoon ground)
3 allspice berries (or 1/4 teaspoon ground)
6 black peppercorns (or 1/2 teaspoon ground)
olive oil
about 3.5 lbs beef (chuck, round, or shank/brisket) trimmed of excess fat
1 large yellow onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 celery stalks, sliced
2 carrots, sliced
1 cup hearty dry wine (any red you have on-hand is fine, just use one that's drinkable)
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
salt and pepper

In a mortar and pestle or spice grinder, grind the cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and peppercorns to a fine powder. Just use ground spices if you don't have whole ones on hand.

Prep all your veggies and get your wine and canned tomatoes ready.

Heat some olive oil in a large sauté pan or cast iron skillet over high heat. While its heating, dry the beef well with some paper towels and salt and pepper it liberally on all sides. When the pan is smoking hot, brown each side of the beef for about 5 minutes each, so the entire surface is seared and crusty. Transfer the beef to your crock pot.

In the same pan you browned the meat in, sauté the onions over medium heat until they're lightly browned. Add in the celery, carrots and garlic and sauté for about 4 more minutes (reduce the heat if needed so you don't burn the garlic). Add in the spice mixture and sauté everything for another minute. Pour in the red wine and cook it down for about 10 minutes or so. Be sure to deglaze your pan here, aka scrape all the yummy bits up off the bottom of the pan. 


Pour the contents of the pan over the meat in your crock pot. Add the crushed tomatoes a good pinch of salt to taste. The liquid should cover at least 3/4 of the meat. Add a cup or two of water if it doesn't. Cover and cook on low for about 8 hours, turning the meat over at the halfway point if you're around to do that. You can cut the cooking time down by a third to a half depending on the power of your crock pot by cooking it on high.

*If you are short on time, just toss the veggies, spices and crushed tomatoes into your crockpot and stir well. Brown the beef well on all sides and then nestle that in there. Deglaze the pan you cooked the beef in with the red wine and then add that to your crock pot and power it up. 

Serve over pasta, creamy polenta, or with roasted potatoes. It's also amazing with just some crusty bread drizzled with olive oil or slathered with butter. A dollop of crème fraîche or a grating of hard, aged cheese like Grana Padano, Parmiggian Reggiano, or Pecorino really sends it over the edge. 

*If you don't have a crock pot or prefer to use a dutch oven. Preheat your oven to 325 at the start of the recipe and set the racks so the dutch oven will sit roughly in the center of the oven. On your stovetop, heat some olive oil in the dutch oven and sear your meat then remove it to a plate. After you remove the beef, sauté the veggies and spices as described above. Add the wine, scrapping up all the good bits from the pan, then add the crushed tomatoes and season to taste. Put the meat in, again making sure it's 3/4 covered by the braising liquid (add just enough water or extra crushed tomatoes to accomplish this if it's isn't), cover and roast in your oven until the meat can be easily puled apart with a fork (about 6 hours or so). 

My take on Joanne Chang's Vegan Vanilla Mixed Berry Muffins from Flour, Too

Light and fluffy, these muffins have a moist center and perfectly crisp, sugared top. They are divine. 

This recipe is a slight adaptation the Vegan Vanilla Mixed Berry Muffin in Joanne Chang's second cookbook, Flour, too (an excellent cookbook!). 

I digressed a bit from Chang's original recipe here in order to add some whole grain goodness and cut back the sugar and oil just a smidgen. You can also use all whole wheat flour and/or make this as a cake (8 or 9 in cake pan, greased and parchment lined) with wonderful results. Another fun note, these are made with vegan "buttermilk", which gives them a light tanginess and tenderness that really sets them apart.  

I ate 6 of these the day I made them. Now for the recipe!

Vegan Vanilla Blueberry Muffins
Adapted from Flour, Too by Joanne Chang
2 cups whole wheat flour
2/3 cup all purpose flour 
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2/3 cup granulated sugar (plus extra for sprinkling on the muffin tops before baking)
zest of one lemon or one orange (optional)
2/3 cup coconut or vegetable oil
1 1/3 cup nondairy milk (I use almond)
2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar (distilled is fine too)
1 Tablespoon good vanilla extract (it's a lot of vanilla, so using the good stuff is worth it)
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen berries (I use frozen blueberries but Chang calls for raspberries and blueberries. Use what you got.)

Preheat your oven to 350 and line muffin tins (12) with liners (or grease them well). 

Combine the dry ingredients, sugar, and zest and set aside. Combine the wet ingredients and pour them into the dry. Mix until just combined then fold in the berries. I try not to mix too much at this point so my muffins don't turn entirely blue/purple. Spoon the batter into the muffin tins, almost to the top of each, and sprinkle the tops with some sugar.

Bake for 25-30 minutes until the tops are golden and the muffins are springy to the touch. Let them set up in the pan for a few minutes before taking them out to finish cooling on racks.  Joanne Chang suggests refreshing them in a 300 degree oven for 5 minutes if you don't eat them all the day of baking, when they are best, that is.

Crazy Delicious Farro and French Lentils with Parmesan

This is an incredibly simple, flavorful, and satisfying dish. You can throw it together in just a minute and after that, it only takes about 30-40 minutes total, largely unattended. I made this for the first time a few weeks ago and have made it weekly since then because it's so tasty, filling, and easy to whip-up while my lil' one is napping. 

The ratio is 2:1 water to dried goods and you don't need any spices, although you can certainly play around with them in this dish. Garnish with a little parsley and grated Parmesan and, presto, your nourishing and delicious dinner is served!

Farro and French Lentils with Parmesan
1/2 cup dried 10 minute/quick cooking farro (I like the one from Trader Joe's best)
1/2 cup dried french lentils (picked over for stones)
1 generous teaspoon kosher salt, to taste
freshly ground pepper
2 cups water
1 Tablespoon olive oil

Toss everything into a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Cover and reduce to a simmer for about 12-15 minutes. They should be just short of al dente before you cut off the heat.

*NOTE: I've found that the farro doesn't get too mushy with this method, even though it's meant to cook up in just 10 minutes. I've been using the Trader Joe's quick cooking farro so other farro brands may work out better if cooked separately.

Remove the pot from the heat and let it sit covered for another 10 minutes. The grains and lentils will absorb any remaining liquid and soften during this time. 

Toss with a fork and garnish with parsley and Parmesan cheese. Serve alone or tossed in a Spinach Salad with Orange Zest, Sunflower Seeds and Dried Cranberries.

Here's that lil' one I mentioned earlier in her Tye Dye Mary hat from Nashville. 

Thanks, Peggy and Craig!!!!