“After examining your conscience and telling God of your sorrow, go into the confessional. You may kneel at the screen or sit to talk face-to-face with the priest.

Begin your confession with the sign of the cross, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. My last confession was _________ weeks (months, years) ago.”

Any ex-Catholics here? I’m feeling GUILTY!

Let’s just say a little something called  The Boston Marathon has gotten in the way of my cooking, writing, and general life. I’m so stoked to be running, and, of course, eating my way through the intense training. Unfortunately, many of the things I now eat look like this:

Gu...ewww

Luckily, I hosted a Super Bowl fundraiser for the organization I’m running for to give me a break from all of the “fuel”.

Aside from nearly 100 bottles of beer (many donated by Sam Adams, thanks!), on the menu:
*Shrimp Etouffee (which FLEW! I barely tasted it!) from the Fat Man (aka Paul Prudhomme)
*Meatball Sandwiches from the Pioneer Woman (except Steady Gentleman Caller baked the bread for ours from scratch, take that Pioneer Woman and your hot rancher husband!)
*Pulled Pork Sandwiches from my lovely friend Jonah
*A bunch of dips from my lovely friend Cait
*A bunch of stuff I can’t remember
-and-
DRUMROLL PLEASE…

CUPCAKES!

Now, I know cupcakes are totally not cool anymore, but I felt the need to bake, and I’ve had the linked recipe bookmarked for ages. I recently attended a Hot Cocktail Tasting (I think it had a much more sophisticated name) @ L’espalier, and this amazing hot & spicy boozy hot chocolate was served. Now, we all know how I feel about chocolate & booze already from my love of boozeshakes, and this was a boozeshake taken to winter and spiced up like a Mexican hot chocolate. Incredible. Niftily, these Aztec Chocolate Cupcakes have a similar flavor profile, and I only like to bake for a crowd–perfect timing!

I doubled the cinnamon and chili, and didn’t wait for anything to cool, as you’ll see they want you to do in the recipe. People were freaking out, eating these things with spoons, like they were crack. Amazing.

Vbar, give ‘em a try when you have the baking bug! I’ll come eat ‘em!

Crack Cupcakes (aka Aztec Chocolate Cupcakes from Pithy & Cleaver)

I spent the past weekend in Vermont, a state that is pretty much tops for all things farm-to-table food related. In addition to the killer farmer’s market in St. Johnsbury, where we sampled some amazing goat cheeses, the best, and I really mean the best, kettle corn I’ve ever had (despite the noxious-sounding “autumn spice” flavor which was actually DELICIOUS and the fact that I don’t usually like kettle corn), and picked up a variety of potatoes, squash, and garlic for dinner, we foraged for mushrooms in the yard and picked apples off of the property apple tree.

Like a scene out of Dexter.

I’m not gonna lie, I ate some of it off of the oven door. It was pretty tasty. The crust was too, with the remnants of the grape mixture, but I didn’t make the crust. Ego bruised, Kitchen injury #3.

I think I’ll stick with apple crisp for now:

One day, as I perused bookmarked recipes with a heavy soul, I came across something that I’d tagged impulsively, in the midst of my ennui. Something that would easy my mind, calm my heart, hearken back to the good ol’ days, and remind me that there’s still joy to be had in adult life. I know my moping is related to the end of summer, the realization that I spent a total of three (THREE!) days at the beach, and inexorably linked to the same tick of my brain that compelled me to wander over to my office window all summer and stare wistfully down at the people relaxing in the bright summer sun (and down at the Clover Food Truck, but that’s another post!). I needed a balm, something to soothe my distress, and something that would force me to perk up and appreciate the encroaching fall.

That something is the Boozeshake!

The New York Times published an article Who Put the Whiskey in My Milkshake? and the accompanying recipe for what I’m calling the Boozeshake, what they call the “Bourbon Street Milkshake” (keepin’ it classy as always, NYT), right when I was crawling under my post-Labor Day rock. I immediately sauntered down to J.P. Licks to purchase some vanilla ice cream (whispering conspiratorially to the server that I was taking it home to blend it with booze), but lost motivation as soon as I got home. Cleaning the blender just seemed like so much effort in my state.

Fast forward to this week: Gentleman purchases an immersion blender. My motivation is renewed. I make Boozeshake. I feel like a kid again, only drunk. I’m roaring to go, ready to tackle this beast called autumn and make the best of fall produce, the great recipes I’m seeing, and my new kitchen gadget.

Alas, the Boozeshake (simplified), for 2-4 servings (would be cute in a demitasse for a dessert amuse-bouche!), or 1 very large shake for someone who desperately needs it (who, me?):

Cup of Vanilla Ice Cream

2 TBS of Nutella (I’d like to switch to a more moral option, like this, but Nutella was on hand)

2 TBS whole milk

2 shots of bourbon (or more, but this was fairly strong)

I threw in a handful of raspberries that we were gifted from a garden. It was a fantastic addition, and I’m sure some frozen raspberries or strawberries would work as we transition out of berry season

BLEND!

Pour into chilled glasses/glass and slurp up with a straw… and love life again!

Check out this amazing article in the NYT style section today on preserving fruit in alcohol rather than canning.

The crows do an awful lot of booze-fruit eating in the summertime when we fancy-up our white wines and simple cocktails with a little fruit garnish to be munched on at the end of the drink.  I’ve never thought to preserve fruits this way and then have them for all year long!  I love the idea in the picture of doing pomegranate with a orange peel- can you imagine adding that to a glass of sparkling wine or a whiskey tonic?  I think I just found my weekend project!

Ricotta cheese topped with honey and berries.  Just right.

After a long journey across the country with my man crow, my cat, and in a strangers car, I’ve arrived in New England. More importantly, I will soon be reunited with the JP crows!

I immediately started missing Oakland, and Oakland taco trucks, the second we left California. The thought of entering a taco-free world, and worse yet, a hard shell taco world (and what I thought would be a ceviche free world, until the crows retreated!), was eating away at my soul with each passing day. I knew that I had to share the glory of a good taco with my parents, who were so graciously allowing me to stay at their house while I got my proverbial “shit together.”

The results? Joyous, wonderful, & delicious.

for proper assembly smear black bean goo on the bottom of the shell. add meat. add cream, pile on cilantro, cabbage, and salsa. drizzle with hot sauce, squeeze 1/4 lime. enjoy!

Now, of course, my taco was not “authentic” either. I used no lard or deep frying, and chose to fill my taco with more than meat + onions + cilantro. Nonetheless, it filled a void in my tummy. My favorite animal meat is pig. I love me some pig, especially when it is cooked by several men in a taco truck. I, of course, could not replicate this on a New England grill, so I had to think fast! I went with some extremely thin sliced-bone in- somewhat fatty-pork. Marinaded in Lime zest, oil, hot peppers, cilantro, salt and pepper, then grilled to a tender but done perfection, I sliced it as thin as possible to form the base of our tacos.

Soft Shell Taco Essentials (the players)

small taco shells- I prefer a yellow corn tortilla, but white corn or flour will do, I suppose
cilantro
red onion
hot sauce
red cabbage
sour cream
salsa
karen’s magic bean goo creation (recipe below)
limes- juice and zest
meat product of your choosing!

So, one could just use these ingredients as is, and have a delicious taco. I made a few small, simple, and fast additions to really make it delicious.

Sour cream: Zest a lime and add 1/2 the juice to a 1/2 of sour cream
Salsa: A pico de gallo style salsa would work, this time I cheated and bought some. If you feel like being 100% home made you: take 3 large tomatoes & dice them finely. Zest 2 limes, add all juice. Dice 1/2 a red onion. chop a full bunch of cilantro. dice very finely at least 1 jalapeno, more if you like heat. Finely grate 2 garlic cloves. Mix everything together with a heafty dose of S & P.
Karen’s Bean Goo: The first time I made tacos at home was with our Oakland friend Karen. She made a black bean “hummus” earlier in the day that went SO WELL with our dinner tacos. Drain & rinse a can of black beans. In a blender combine, black beans, a tomato, a green pepper, cilantro, S & P, and some onion. Blend until smooth.
Cilantro & onions: In a bowl, mix a bunch of cilantro with 1/2 a diced onion. Juice a lime over it and add a good amount of salt. It should taste salty.

Recipe for delicious cornmeal poundcake to come!

Also- a thought. Let’s combine our ceviche with a tostada shell, these taco toppings, cucumber and have a ball!

To make these kid friendly cupcakes, all you have to do is whip up a batch of your favorite cupcake or cake batter, pour the batter into the cones about 1/2 inch from the top. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 and frost. I used a chocolate batter with cream cheese frosting and they were delicious.

The muffins were less than a slam dunk. Too much salt, and not enough sugar. I didnt realize I didn’t have any eggs until the sugar and butter had already been creamed, whoops! In went a little tahini, molasis, and yogurt. All in all the batter looked okay, but it became clear in the oven that the lack of eggs would be my downfall.

The applesauce was great. Here is a fool-proof recipe for fast, homemade applesauce!

Ingredients:
-4 apples of your choosing. When selecting apples, think of the exact opposite qualities you would for making pie- you want apples that will break down and have a good amount of sugar in them.
-juice from 2 sweet oranges
-water to just cover the apples
-2 T sugar
-1T cinnamon

Method:
Peel and dice the apples. Place in a saucepans and add remaining ingredients. Cover & Boil until the apples break down, and water begins to evaporate. Check the pan every few minutes and begin breaking up the apple chunks. Simmer until most of the water is evaporated, and the sauce has reached a consistency of your liking.

On actual Thanksgiving I went to my friends Eric, Karen, and Anders house for a festival of people who couldn’t or didn’t go home for the day. All in all I think there were about 17 people, each who brought something delicious to the food table.  For these festivities I made  butternut  Squash and Goat Cheese Gratin, Roasted Garlic & Herb Mashed Potato, Pumpkin Tart, and a crazy cheese terrine. There were certainly a few highlights including but not limited to, a garlic soup meant to be a soup but turned into a delicious gravy, and cranberry cheddar cheese with whole wheat and sunflower bread.

For the first time in a long time, I decided to follow a few recipes to the t to see how I could do. With the exception of a few budget-friendly changes in cheese selection, I first went with this recipe for a cheese terrine. Although I did not find it particularly yummy, others did. The concept of adding more butter to cheese is a little strange, and kind of gross. It was fun, however, learning a new skill, and I will probably apply a similar technique in the future to make cheese delicacies. Above is a picture of my terrine, as you can see from that link, the Bon Apetite cooks have had more success…

The last two weeks my farm box has been overflowing with food. So much so that I have a back-up of things like pumpkin, squash, and potatoes. I had two butternut squash staring me down! It only seemed logical to try this recipe for a butternut squash & goat cheese gratin. Again, I think theirs came out looking a bit more appetizing, however, this was one of the more delicious food items I have ever had, ever, ever.

Now for the recipes!

I was in charge of the traditional-ish sides this year: mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie. Wednesday night I roasted my pumpkin, and roasted my garlic. Come Thursday morning, I realized I don’t own a pie dish. My brain went a-twittering for solutions to my predicament.  Ah-ha! Tart pan. All in all it worked out quite well, but I made the crust a bit to thick for a tart pan, but I think I have mastered my pie recipe of the future!

pumpkin tart
for the crust:
make a pastry crust of your choosing, but add some cinnamon and a pinch of sugar.

for the filling
2 cups pumpkin puree
cinamon
nutmeg
pomegranate molasses
2 eggs
1/2 c sugar
salt
1-2 T flour, to stiffen

for the whipped cream:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 t vanilla extract
1 T cinnamon

Method: Prepare crust and set in refrigerator. Blend the pie filling ingredients together in a food processor, adding the eggs last, and 1 at a time. Roll out dough and press into tart pan. Pour filling over crust and bake at 400 for 30 minutes. Allow to cool slowly and set. Whip cream, serve on top. Enjoy! It might also be nice to put some candied walnuts on top of the crust, before you pour in the filling, and on top, with come drid cranberries, cherries, or other dried, sweetened fruit. Cheese, also never hurt anybody.

roasted garlic & herb mashed potatoes
1 large bag of Potatoes
3 heads of roasted garlic
1 T chopped sage, thyme, & rosemary
salt
heavy cream
butter

Method: Roast Garlic. Boil large chunks of Potato. Combine ingredients to your liking.

To commemorate his birthday, the germs of all-hallows-eve have stripped him of his newly renewed (thanks to bilateral endoscopic surgery of the sinuses) voice. How will I nurse this birthday boy back to health, you ask? With a nice portion of clean and fresh chicken soup. This recipe makes sooo much soup, so if  you don’t want to eat chicken soup for the whole week, I suggest cutting back a bit

Using the store bought, pre-roasted chicken opened up some major possibilities, the main one being that I could use the meat for soup, and make a nice stock out of the bones/left over bits. To make the stock, I simply boiled the bones with carrots, celery, a rosemary branch, and some lemon (I suggest omitting the lemon if you don’t like the cooked lemon flavor, its quite strong) for 1 hour. It smelled better than the soup I was making.

Emylou’s Chicken Soup

1 Roasted Chicken *, picked to the bone of all meaty goodness
5 carrots, chopped in big chunks
1 whole celery bunch, chopped in large chunks
2 Leeks, coarsely chopped
1/5 onion, diced
1.5 cups uncooked rice
1 bunch chard, chopped to 1 inch piece
1 bunch cilantro, loosely chopped
6 garlic cloves
water
S&P

Soy Sauce
Ginger root
Rooster Sauce

Method: Begin by cooking the onions until translucent. Add the carrots and celery, followed by the leeks. Drop in 6 crushed cloves of garlic. Cook until very wilted. Cover with water, add rice. Cover with a lot of water, probably 10-15 cups of water. You will need enough liquid to cook the rice, and also leave room for the chard and cilantro, to be added after the rice is cooked. This is a personal preference thing. After the rice is cooked,drop in the chard/cilantro, and cook until wilted.Don’t forget to S & P throughout each phase, to taste.

To serve: ladle in the soup to your bowl of choice. Drizzle in 1-2 T of Soy sauce, and some rooster hot sauce, to taste. Complete by grading some fresh ginger over the bowl. Enjoy!

*pre-roasted or roast it yourself. the other day the store-roasted chicken was significantly cheaper than the whole uncooked chicken in the meat section, so I went with that. One could also just wait to make this after thanksgiving…oh the possibilities!

Also, I finally got a new camera! Check out this persimmon-chocolate cheesecake I made!

Cheesecake is so easy to make, if you can put up with the amount of animal goo you will consume. 4 8 oz cream cheese packages, 3/4 c sour cream, 1 cup persimmon puree, lemon zest, 1/2 c-1 c sugar, vanilla extract. Pour over crust of your liking in a spring -form pan, and bake 1 hour Breakfast anyone?