Big Red Kitchen's Two Ingredient Pumpkin Cake and Three Ingredient Glaze

... except I used three ingredients in the cake, and a few extra ingredients in the glaze. Oh, and no pumpkin. I couldn't help myself.

I've long admired the concept of "Cooking the Books: A Cook Through Blog Roll" which seeks those committed enough to cook their way through an entire cookbook. I've long wanted to do this, and I even challenged myself with a vintage cookbook by Margaret Rudkin, and yet here I am, reading other blogs, and cooking from those blogs or from Tastespotting and from random Google searches.

Robin Sue of Big Red Kitchen has taken that Cooking the Books concept and is "Cooking the Blogs" -- an equally good idea, and a plan I recognized I was more likely to adopt. So, it seemed fitting I start with a recipe from Robin Sue's blog, and since one of her most popular recipes (see her sidebar) happens to fit in with my current plan of cleaning out my pantry and not doing any grocery shopping this month (I allow myself to buy only dairy, veggies, and fruit when I'm in "Use It Up Mode), it suited me perfectly.

In Robin Sue's recipe, she uses one cake mix and one can of pumpkin, mixed and baked, and nothing more, for the cake, and then a simple 3 ingredient apple cider glaze. I adapted it only slightly, and had amazing results. Not because of my adaptations I assure you -- the recipe is fine in its original form. I just was very skeptical I'd like the end product.

You see, I've had the "Diet Soda Cake" where you are guaranteed a lower fat, lower sugar cake if you just combine one can of diet soda pop and one cake mix. It was, in a word, ATROCIOUS. Heavy, wet, gummy, metallic. I still shudder.

Here I was, though, with a cake mix and a box of frozen butternut squash puree, and a raining-so-hard-it's hailing-Sunday afternoon.

I decided I was going to make a cake and watch DVR reruns of The Office. I did exactly that.

Butternut squash is often interchangeable with pumpkin puree (indeed, many commercial pumpkin pies are actually butternut squash, I'm told), so I defrosted a brick of it, and added it to a Duncan Hines French Vanilla Cake Mix, and combined thoroughly. I noted others remarked on the batter being the consistency of brownie batter, and I was not trusting enough to leave it alone. I don't like heavy, gummy cake, and since I had out the jar of apple juice (for the glaze) anywayyyyyyyyyyyy, why not? I added 1/4 cup of apple juice to the pumpkin-cake mix, and beat it until it was smooth. I poured it into a greased and floured rectangular cake pan and baked it for 30 minutes.

I was still not trusting, as I made the glaze. For the glaze, I combined 1 cup of powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons of apple juice, and a scant few shakes of Pumpkin Pie spice, and beat it thoroughly. To me, most powdered sugar glazes taste like raw powdered sugar and I always strive to avoid that. I didn't care for the sugary taste, but liked the flavor overall, so I tarted it up by adding a splash of lemon juice. That helped considerably, but it was still too powdery-sugary tasting. I added 1/4 teaspoon of corn starch, and quickly brought the glaze to a bubble in a sauce pan, and immediately took it off the stove to cool. That did it. It took away the "raw taste" and turned the glaze into a thick, glossy glaze with the consistency of honey.

The cake was now cool, and I cut into it. It was not gummy or wet, as Robin Sue promised. It was actually so light, so fluffy, it was almost TOO tender. If I could describe it as anything it would be "a cake of soft baby powder and fog." It was powdery soft, and absolutely wonderful. The flavor was like a mild pumpkin pie in cake form, and with a drizzle of the glaze, it was quite tasty. A sure fire easy cake for a pot luck or unexpected guests for breakfast, and, bonus -- it's lower fat than had you made the cake or the pie in the traditional manner, and, the pumpkin and squash are super foods, which officially makes this HEALTH FOOD.

Two thumbs up, Robin Sue!

CAKE

1 cake mix of your choice
1 regular can of pureed pumpkin or butternut squash

Mix thoroughly. Add apple juice to thin, if desired. Pour into buttered, floured, rectangle cake pan and bake at 350 for 30 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.

GLAZE

1 cup of powdered sugar
2 T of apple juice
1 shake of pumpkin pie spice
1 splash of lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon corn starch

Mix thoroughly, heat to a bubble, remove from heat, stir, and let cool. Drizzle on your cake. 

Blog Alert: This is why you're fat

Just a bookmark for you, when you really need to feel virtuous. I made 11 loaves of ABin5 Bread in one week, until I got one right (we have lots of croutons at my house) and I felt completely carb toxed. That's not a word, but you know what I mean. Yeast Poisoned.

Then I saw This is Why You're Fat and felt much better about myself.

Chili and Cheese

Don't be hating on my cell phone photo. This was from early 2007 and I didn't own a camera back then. Not that having one now has taught me much.

Anyway, I'm recycling some Bento Lunch posts I made long ago on Flickr so that I can group together recipes that are in my regular rotation. This recipe was the first time I was ever moved to make my own chili, and I was so glad I did. It was very unique, and is very tasty.

So about my lunch:

This Mr. Bento Jar toted the day's vittels:

A bowl of chili
A bowl of shredded cojita cheese for the chili (looks like rice, but it's cheese)
A tiny dish of wasabi peas (vegetables!)
A tiny dish of toasted corn kernals (vegetables!)
Mandarin sections
Cucumber slices with sesame seeds
Sugar free egg nog taffy.

I can tell this was from those days when I cut my cucumber slices all purty like and arranged my fruit slices "just so." That isn't the case anymore. I just combine good colors and tasty things. To heck with the cute shapes.

I've misplaced the link to the chili recipe but I think it's from "Half Assed Foodie's Mom" so shout out to her. Found it! Mom's chili by Random Dictates of a Half Ass Foodie!

Here is her Mom's recipe:

HALF ASSED FOODIE'S MOM'S CHILI

1 lb. hamburger
4 pcs bacon, chopped
1/2 ring Portuguese or Keilbasa Sausage
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 small onion, chopped
1 can kidney beans
1 can condensed tomato soup
1 T chili powder
2 T brown sugar
1 t curry powder
dash of salt

Fry hamburger, bacon, sausage, garlic and onion. Add kidney beans, tomato soup, chili powder, brown sugar, curry powder and salt. Simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Serve over hot rice.

I didn't serve over rice, I used Brown Sugar Splenda, and for the sausage, I used linquica. EXCELLENT.

Friday Homework: The 100 List

CakeSpy created the list you see, which is a convenient way for me to waste a bit of time on this Friday lunch hour. Here are your instructions:

Copy this list into your site, including these instructions:

Bold or Colour all of the sweets you've eaten.
Cross out any you'd never eat.
Consider anything that is not bold or crossed out your "To Do" List for the future.
Optional: Comment on any items you particularly love or hate!

1. Red Velvet Cake
2. Princess Torte
3. Whoopie Pie
4. Apple Pie either topped or baked with sharp cheddar
5. Beignet
6. Baklava (hated it; I don't like desserts rich with honey or overly sweet)
7. Black and white cookie
8. Seven Layer Bar (also known as the Magic Bar or Hello Dolly bars)
9. Fried Fruit pie (sometimes called hand pies)
10. Kringle
11. Just-fried (still hot) doughnut
12. Scone with clotted cream
13. Betty, Grunt, Slump, Buckle or Pandowdy
14. Halvah
15. Macarons
16. Banana pudding with nilla wafers
17. Bubble tea (with tapioca "pearls")
18. Dixie Cup
19. Rice Krispie treats
20. Alfajores
21. Blondies
22. Croquembouche
23. Girl Scout cookies
24. Moon cake (Just the description alone, makes me shudder).
25. Candy Apple
26. Baked Alaska
27. Brooklyn Egg Cream
28. Nanaimo bar
29. Baba au rhum
30. King Cake
31. Sachertorte
32. Pavlova
33. Tres Leches Cake
34. Trifle
35. Shoofly Pie
36. Key Lime Pie
37. Panna Cotta (Mmmm. I confess I love the Trader Joe's frozen version, also).
38. New York Cheesecake
39. Napoleon / mille-fueille
40. Russian Tea Cake / Mexican Wedding Cake Cookies
41. Anzac biscuits
42. Pizzelle
43. Kolache
44. Buckeyes
45. Malasadas (My family lives in Hawai'i where hot malasadas are popular)
46. Moon Pie (Meh).
47. Dutch baby (links to my recipe)
48. Boston Cream Pie (Meh).
49. Homemade chocolate chip cookies (Seriously? Has anyone not tasted or made this?)
50. Pralines (Mmm, the speciality of the house at El Cholo restaurant in Los Angeles. They bring you several with your dinner check. Screw the mints. Restaurants should always bring you pralines).
51. Gooey butter cake (I've been meaning to try one of these. I think I'll make one with pumpkin).
52. Rusks
53. Daifuku
54. Green tea cake or cookies (I'm one of those who thinks everything "green tea" flavored is overrated. Blech.)
55. Cupcakes from a cupcake shop (Seriously? Has anyone not tasted or made this?)
56. Crème brûlée (One of my favorite desserts, but I've never made it).
57. Some sort of deep fried State Fair food (Actually no. I've never even had a funnel cake).
58. Yellow cake with chocolate frosting (Most Sunday nights, growing up).
59. Jelly Roll (One of my first assignments in high school Home Economics).
60. Pop Tarts (Much ado about nothing).
61. Charlotte Russe
62. An "upside down" dessert
63. Hummingbird Cake
64. Jell-O from a mold
65. Black forest cake
66. Mock Apple Pie (Ritz Cracker Pie)
67. Kulfi
68. Linzer torte
69. Churro (Eaten at Disneyland and from the freezer aisle, would like to try to make these).
70. Stollen
71. Angel Food Cake (Meh)
72. Mincemeat pie (Just say NO to anything with that many raisins).
73. Concha
74. Opera Cake
75. Sfogliatelle (Ooooooh, that looks so goooood!)
76. Pain au chocolat
77. A piece of Gingerbread House (No. Just NO.)
78. Cassata
79. Cannoli
80. Rainbow cookies
81. Religieuse
82. Petits fours
83. Chocolate Souffle
84. Bienenstich (Bee Sting Cake)
85. Rugelach
86. Hamenstashen
87. Homemade marshmallows (SO not worth the effort).
88. Rigo Janci
89. Pie or cake made with candy bar flavors (Snickers pie, Reeses pie, etc)
90. Divinity
91. Coke or Cola cake
92. Gateau Basque
93. S'mores (My mother was my troop leader. We made these in Scouts).
94. Figgy Pudding
95. Bananas foster or other flaming dessert
96. Joe Froggers
97. Sables (Links to my chocolate sables, a Nigella recipe, probably the best cookie I've ever made, and since I'm not a chocolate fiend, that's saying something)
98. Millionaire's Shortbread
99. Animal crackers
100. Basbousa

Roasted Butternut Squash with Crispy Sage and Italian Sausage

I was inspired by Dragon's incredibly easy dish of Roasted Butternut Squash with a Sage and Balsamic Glaze, and had all the ingredients on hand. Always a nice moment when you know you can get up, go to your kitchen, and recreate someone's recipe. I wanted to add a bit of protein and make it a full meal, rather than a side dish, and after oven roasting a piece of Italian Sausage, and dicing it onto the dish, I had it. Delicious! Thank you Dragon.

Blog Blossoms

There is a simple, fun tool which creates a blooming graph of the html code in your website or blog, color coding various components, tags, and links, and rendered as a gently unfolding blossom which is rather hypnotic to watch. Shown above is a graphic of my blog. Shown below is a graphic for Tastespotting.

How about yours? Comment with your blossom links!

And just what do the colored spheres mean?

Blue: links (the A tag)

Red: for tables (TABLE, TR and TD tags)

Green: for the DIV tag

Violet: for images (the IMG tag)

Yellow: for forms (FORM, INPUT, TEXTAREA, SELECT and OPTION tags)

Orange: for linebreaks and blockquotes (BR, P, and BLOCKQUOTE tags)

Black: the HTML tag, the root node

Gray: all other tags

The Bread Box

I love bread in all forms. The saying "Don't fill up on bread" was coined with me in mind. "Bread is the staff of life" has personal meaning to me. I usually answer "bread" when memed with the question "What one food would you never want to be without?"

I purchase and have more on hand than I'll ever possibly use or eat in a week. I live alone, and have a boyfriend who doesn't eat much bread. It's one of his faults. As a result, my freezer is always jammed pack with a variety of bakery products and flavored butters.

I compound by the problem by wanting to bake rolls and breads on my days off, because it's pure comfort, relaxing, and tasty. I end up with bags of rolls after I eat the first few hot out of the oven, so I developed my "personal bread basket" out of necessity.

Most of my bread ends up in the freezer and it can be irritating to pry off a few frozen pieces of bread and toast it in order to use it right away, or to over-nuke a roll to serve with dinner or pack a bento lunch.

Plus, I'm fickle in my taste. What do I want today? Brioche? Rye? Wheat? Corn? Hmm. Decisions, decisions.

Enter the Food Container. I starting using this plastic vegetable and fruit container which is intended to keep your produce fresher for a longer period of time in your refrigerator (and they do work). I keep a few rolls and a few slices of each variety of bread on hand in my Bread Box, and keep that in my fridge (I realize bread should be stored at room temperature, but I simply can't use it up quickly enough to prevent staleness or mold). The remainder of each variety stays in the freezer until it's time to remove a few slices to replenish the bread box.

This week's selections are (top to bottom, left to right) Brioche, Raisin, Slider buns, Rye, Sesame Knots. Each day I can select whatever suits my fancy from my bread box. It's a simple idea, really, but it's those simple ideas that often make us the happiest.

This makes me happy.

(Pssst. I have two more and I do the same thing with sliced deli meats in one and cheeses in the other.)

Taste of Home Bonanza!

Earlier this summer, a "Taste of Home" swap was set up by Megan at Megan's Cooking, and I was paired with the best partner, Leslie of Mit, Mitter, Mittany (I don't know what that means... I keep forgetting to ask) of North Carolina.

The idea was to swap foods from our home towns or regions that the other may not have access to. The deadline to swap was wayyyy back in July, and when I say I had the best partner, I mean it. I think we were on the same schedule all summer. She was gone, then I was gone, then we gave ourselves an extension, and finally this past week, we swapped our packages.

I was SO delighted because due to the passage of the summer and a hectic schedule, I'd forgotten some of the things I mentioned to her, that "spoke of Southern Soul Food" to me. For that reason, some of my goodies were just a complete surprise, and most appreciated.

At the top of that list is White Lily Flour from soft winter wheat. SCORE!!! I recall reading a Gourmet magazine a few months back and the topic was biscuits. How to make them. How not to make them. The fact that White Lily Flour makes the only "true Southern biscuit." Almost a "don't bother if you don't have this flour" kind of throw-down. I even considered ordering the flour via mail order, but should I be that crazy? I do love a good bread, biscuit, waffle, and pancake ... and then life took over, I bought a hundred new cookbooks, and forgot about the flour.

And then the heavens opened -- Mit sent me the flour. There was much rejoicing in the household.

Not only did I receive the flour, I received ...

A copy of Culinary Kudzu, with a handwritten inscription from the author, Keetha DePriest Reed.

A jar of Kudzu blossom jam.

A tin of Old Bay Seasoning (I've actually never had any of this classic spice! Terrific!)

A bag of cornmeal -- water ground style (very important to Southerners)

A bag of cornmeal -- buttermilk style (ditto above)

A bag of Sweet Heat Pecans.

My friends, very soon you will have blog posts of the following ...

A cake made with White Lily flour and cornstarch, from my Southern Baking cookbook;

Biscuits, and then, some more biscuits. With butter. On the biscuits. With Kudzu Jam.

Cornbread (I want to try a yeast raised cornbread now)

Cornmeal Sweet Heat Pecan Waffles. With butter. and Kudzu Jam.

More biscuits.

More butter.

More jam.

And biscuits. With butter.

Thanks, Mit!

In Flight Snacks Available for Purchase

I put my mother on a plane today, after a lovely layover of a few days during her journey from her home in Hawaii, to see her sister in Baltimore, Maryland.

She's flying United for the entire trip, and for the first time in her many decades of flying, she's learned that everything is now alacarte -- from luggage to peanuts. She paid for every piece of luggage checked ($25.00 per bag), and, her ticket prominently stated "in flight snack available for purchase." The in flight snack typically consists of a miserable turkey sandwich, bag of chips, and commercial granola bar or cookie, and roughtly costs betwen $5.00 and $7.50 depending on which airline you're on -- some of the better United flights do offer a boxed kit with a bit more substantial and varied fare, including applesauce cups and more.

I've followed Biggie's blog for years, and recall her packing delightful bentos for her family to take on flights. She has some terrific tips for packing your own carry-on food. Even so, I hadn't thought of packing a bento for my mother, until she remarked how sweet and handy it had been, for the first leg of her flight from Hawaii to California, that my younger brother packed her a lunch bag. It was if the child was sending the parent off on a school bus, and as he took her to her plane, gave her a bag with cheese, crackers, and a steak sandwich.

For my mother's flight today, I said a silent thank you to my brother for packing her a lunch and reminding me that even though I can't send her on her way with a juice box or even a bottle of water, I CAN send her with a nice packed lunch that meets airline standards.

She wasn't in the mood for much protein -- but said she'd enjoy some sweet and savorable nibbles. Pity I didn't have time for a photograph, but in my mother's plastic disposable bento box, which I tied close with a nice raffia string, I packed:

2 slices of dark brown bread and butter
(chewy, dense squaw bread thickly buttered with unsalted butter and cut into strips)
Extra Sharp White Cheddar Cheese (sliced into small strips)
Sesame Seed Crackers
Salted, cured olives (2 cracked green olives and 2 kalamata olives)
A handful of walnut halves
A baby Fuji apple (cored and sliced, and sprayed with lemon juice)
A condiment packet of peanut butter
A bar of dark chocolate

I tried to assemble an interesting array -- a bit of cheese, olives, and crackers, a bit of bread of butter, a bit of fruit and nuts, and a piece of good, dark chocolate for dessert. I hope she enjoys it. Safe travels, Mom.

How are you packing for travel these days? Buying on board, buying at the gate, or packing snacks?

(Photo by USAToday)

No Flap, Jack ...

... these are pancakes.

I loved the pancake square technique suggested by Robin Sue at Big Red Kitchen so much, I wanted to leave my office and go home to make them. Immediately. I restrained myself until the weekend, but knew I'd be making these come Saturday morning, and make them I did.

I may never flap my jacks again.

This is SUCH an easy method, I wonder why it's never occured to me before, or why I've never seen it before? You simply butter a baking pan, add your pancake batter, and bake until set. Cut in squares, and serve.

As Robin Sue points out, it's easy to customize these pancakes by any number of additions (fruit, nuts, chocolate chips, etc), but I'm a purist. I like butter and maple syrup, and that's about it -- another reason recipe Robin's appealed to me. It was plain and simple.

I followed her recipe almost exactly, but for using vanilla bean sugar instead of plain, and, I wanted a thinner pancake with more crust to cake ratio, so instead of using an 8x8 pan, I used an 8x12 pan for a thinner, more crusty area bar. They cooked in 20 minutes and popped out easily.

In prepping my pancake squares to eat (I buttered the top of the entire pan), I recalled I had a jar of maple butter waiting to be used, and that was a mighty fine substitution for more butter and syrup. The maple butter is really just a big jar of maple icing, truth be told, and I ended up with Maple Bars which were scrumptious.

A huge plus: Because this is really a method more than a recipe -- really you could use your favorite pancake mix and a toaster oven and have hot breakfast before your hair is dry. Just shake up some pancake batter of your choice and pour it into your buttered pan, and if you place it into a toaster oven which shuts off with the timer, you'll bake them without burning (and get some crusty tops), and they'll be ready by the time your morning shower and toilette is finished. No standing over the stove with a spatula, rebuttering the pan, making people wait their turn for a hot pancake or lamenting over the rejects. These will also freeze like a breeze and I can pop one into a bento box for breakfast at work during the week.

Thanks, Robin!

Robin's Pancake Squares

3/4 cup milk
2 T. melted butter
1 large egg
1 T. sugar
1 cup flour
2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt

Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly grease an 8x8 baking dish (for thicker bars) or 8x12 baking dish (for thinner squares). In a large mixing bowl, beat together milk, butter and egg. Add sugar, then gradually beat the flour in. Carefully stir in the baking powder and salt. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Serves 4-6.

Hello, My Name is _________

At what point do our recipe make-overs, substitutions, swap-outs, and stand ins, take a recipe "title" out of the equation, and create a whole new animal?

I’m one of the newest members of the Barefoot Bloggers, who plan to cook Ina Garten recipes twice monthly and compare recipe notes and impressions. One of the questions asked, is how literally the recipe has to be followed. Tara, the founder, responded:

"Add nuts, omit nuts, use pecans instead of walnuts…all of that is fine…but if the recipe is for Ina’s lemon cakes and you turn out a chocolate pound cake, I think you’ve gone too far. Amending recipes to your own tastes is what cooking and baking are about but we’re all baking the same recipes here and I feel like our end products should be fairly similar - how can we rate Ina’s recipes if we change them so much?"

Exactly.

I’ve seen quite a few recipe swap-outs and stand-ins recently which just confuse me. I’m not talking about using Splenda in place of sugar, or pecans in place of walnuts, removing an allergens and replacing them with non-allergens, converting something to gluten free because one must do so, using applesauce in place of oil, or using vegan ingredients in place of non-vegan ingredients. In fact, there is one substitution I will always make: Best Food's Mayo in place of Miracle Whip. This should be mandatory for every person, in every case.

Anyway, I understand and even sympathize when one of more of these swaps are necessary for health reasons, and I always give those efforts a pass -- but if many or even ALL of these steps are taken -- plus several more -- is it still the same dish?

As Tara pointed out, when do we draw the line when a recipe for Ina’s lemon cake comes out as a chocolate pound cake, but it’s still titled "My Version of Ina’s Lemon Cake"? When the "appearance" of something is the only similarity? For instance, Bread Machine Soft Pretzels which are nothing more than white bread dough shaped into a pretzel shape and salted? Or when someone bakes up a Pillsbury tube biscuit, sugars the top, and calls it Homemade Shortcake. This same person sliced pre-made sugar cookie dough into rectangles, brushed them with butter and almond extract and called the recipe Scottish Shortbread.

I spotted a post today on a blog I enjoy, regarding a makeover for a very specific, very regional, very beloved tea beverage – Thai Iced Tea – which uses a different type of tea altogether, a different sweetener, a different (non)dairy, added a non-traditional flavor extract, but still calls itself Thai Tea. Why? I truly applaud the creativity, and what the cook has made here sounds like a really interesting beverage – but it isn’t Thai Tea. Admittedly she does say it’s "a decent approximation", but I think it deserves it’s own name, like Cashew Milk Rooibos Tea – which is what it is, and there is no shame in calling itself that. One could even say "Inspired by the appearance and viscosity of Thai Tea, but going in a whole new direction."

Similarly, pureeing an ingredient to a fine paste and serving it with pita does not a hummus make. The blogger Desert Candy has a GREAT opinion on the subject, and wrote a really interesting post about hummus which stuck with me a long time and actually influenced and changed my marketing habits. I started identifying, buying and thereafter making the "proper kind of hummus" and appreciating it so much more, than say, tubs of goo at Trader Joe’s marked "Tuscan White Bean Hummus." It’s Tuscan flavored White Bean Spread. Why not call it that?

So, folks, where do you stand on Recipe Makeovers which make a whole new animal out of something familiar? When should it be retitled? When does a makeover because Extreme Makeover: Food, or worse a Gender Reassignment?

Zucchini Bread

I clicked through from Tastespotting (aka my Porn Site of the Day) and read Au Naturel's recipe for zucchini bread made with chickpea flour, with interest. I had all of the ingredients on hand and was eager to try baking with this unique and healthy flour. I also wanted to try, and have on hand, high fibre coconut flour, so I gave this recipe a go, with a few adaptations.


At first, tasting the mixed batter, I was nervous. It tasted odd, gamey, too chick-pea'ish. But then, as I readied the batter for baking and cleaned up before baking, I tasted the batter again. Within a minute or two, I was tasting it again, scraping the bowl clean for washing. It was growing on me, minute by minute. Very earthy, nutritious tasting. It had personality and a distinct nutty flavor.


The completed bread was delicious. It was simply more interesting than your run of the mill zucchini bread. Mine wasn't nearly as moist as Au Naturel described, but I attribute this to using the coconut flour.

Without knowing I'd be making this quick bread this afternoon, I already purchased lovely, light, tasty Vanilla Bean Quark from a Farmer's Market vendor this morning, and it was the perfect spread. I learned that quark is a European style soft whipped cheese, much lighter than cream cheese, but with a similar taste and texture. It is high protein and much lower in fat. This version was plump full of vanilla bean, and was sampled by the vendor by presenting it on a strawberry. $5.00 later, and it was mine and I was on my way home to making something with it. Turns out, it was this bread!

My lunch for work tomorrow will be tea sandwiches -- high fibre zucchini bread with vanilla bean quark -- and an artichoke from my garden. Spring is here!

ZUCCHINI BREAD with VANILLA BEAN QUARK

3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup chick pea (garbanzo) flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground vanilla bean pod
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup agave nectar
1/4 cup butter
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup shredded zucchini

Sift all dry ingredients (flour through salt) together, twice, to thoroughly blend, and set aside. Beat butter until light and fluffy, and add agave nectar and one egg at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla extract, and beat. Add shredded zucchini, gently mixing in with a spoon. Add the dry flour mixture in thirds, stirring just until combined after each addition. Add batter to a buttered loaf pan, and bake for 40 minutes at 350 degrees.

The most significant change I made was the addition of coconut flour and using a full two eggs in my version. I did this because the package of coconut flour warned that you should only use a ratio of 20% coconut flour to regular flour, that it is very high fibre and absorbent, and will require an equal amount of liquid to help balance out that absorption which will occur during baking. By adding a full second egg, that extra moisture seemed to work just fine, but next time I'll add a bit more liquid. I also sprinkled my loaf not with cinnamon, as in the recipe I read today, but with vanilla flecked sugar, in very light amounts.

Slice when cool, and spread with quark, cream cheese, or fruit butter.

Verdict: Tasty as heck.
Skill: Easy to make, but unusual ingredients means not many will have all these things on hand.
Make again: You bet.

Kitty Tuna

So named, because it's yellowtail tuna, and, I saw it on Kitty's blog this morning.

Kitty Tuna! Nyuck, Nyuck, Nyuck.

My favorite recipe from ANY food blog is one in which I realize "Say, I have all of those ingredients. I can make this right now."

My second favorite recipe is when I say "Hey, I have everything except (insert one missing ingredient)."

Most others are "Man, that looks good. I should bookmark that."

Kitty's recipe on My Husband Hates Veggies (once she returned from being AWOL that is), was a second-favorite category. I had everything but the tuna, it looked great, and best of all, it had a sure-fire testimonial: She made it THREE TIMES in the short period of time her husband was gone. That must have been good eating because I would have had a lot more confessional meals to share.

I won't repeat Kitty's recipe here, but I'll mention my minor adaptations:

1) When mixing the dressing ingredients in step 1, I wanted it to emulsify somewhat, so, I used my bullet blender cup, and, added about a two-inch long squirt of wasabi from a tube.

2) I forgot to add the chopped cilantro to the dressing, so I added it afterward, on top of the tuna, with the avocado.

3) I used Schezwan pepper salt to season the tuna steaks, for a bit of added zest.

4) I didn't have a lime, but I had 3 key limes and used those.

Delicious! Top Notch and a sure-fire repeat. As easy as she promised, too.

Pumpkin Black Bean and Lentil Soup

Absolutely delicious. Let's get that out there right now. I'm pleased with myself.

In Northern California we're in that in-between period of Spring where you'll venture out one day in your linen dress and sunglasses and embrace the sun, and the next day in a head scarf and warm jacket, leaning into the wind. Today is one of the chilly days and I wanted a pot of soup (although I'm one of those who can appreciate a pot of soup year round, and I love soup for breakfast).

I wanted black bean soup, and went hunting for a quick and easy recipe. I browsed several ideas and then landed on an interesting flavor combo for pumpkin black bean soup on Blackberries and Lobster. That blog, in turn, got the inspiration from Smitten Kitchen. I ran with the flavor idea, and only when I finished, and came to collect the links for this post, did I even realize that one of my last minute inspirations -- adding sherry -- was already on Smitten Kitchen's recipe.

I think this not-sweet flavor marriage of pumpkin and vegetables is just outstanding. I'll be happily eating this for the next several days because try as I might, I just cannot make a small batch of soup. I become this crazy soup alchemist, stirring, adding, tasting, experimenting, until I have a full cauldren. For that same reason, sharing my scratch soup recipes can be difficult. I don't measure, I season to taste, I add things at random. Anyone who loves making soup and reads foodie blogs will appreciate that soup is a very personal thing and is fully customizable -- just take the ideas, if you like them, and run with it.

PUMPKIN, BLACK BEAN, LENTIL SOUP

• 1 - container of Trader Joe's Mirepoix (about 1 cup each of chopped celery, onion, and carrot)
• 1 - 15 oz can of black beans, drained and rinsed free of bean goo
• 1 - 15 oz can of petite diced tomatoes
• 1 - 15 oz can of pumpkin puree
• 1/2 pouch of Trader Joe's Beluga Lentils (about 1 cup)
• 1 large can or box of broth (chicken, beef, or vegetable)
• garlic
• olive oil
• cooked bacon
• Penzey's spices a-plenty (I used loads of cumin, smokey blends, green blends, and finally, some roasted schezwan pepper salt of my own blend)

Coat the bottom of the stock pan with a quick swirl of olive oil. Add the entire container of mirepoix, or, 1 cup each of chopped celery, onion, and carrot (assuring the carrot is a small dice). Add several garlic cloves, chopped cooked bacon (I used three slices of pre-cooked, cold bacon, snipped with scissors into small bits), a good handful of spices (I used loads of cumin and several blends from Penzey's) and saute all until the onion is tender, the bacon has rendered a little fat, but the garlic has not browned.

Add the can of tomatoes, stir, and bring just to a simmer.
Add the drained black beans, stir, and bring back to a simmer.
Add the can of pumpkin puree, stir, and bring back to a simmer.

Using a stick blender, gently pulse about half of the veggies in the pan. I like some texture, so I wanted some pureed until they were pulpy, but left most of intact.

Begin to add some stock to cover the veggies, and bring back to a simmer. Continue to add stock in increments until the flavor and texture is as you like it.

Add 1 cup of fully cooked lentils. I used tiny black "Beluga Lentils" which are from Trader Joe's and fully cooked.

Simmer the soup, adding or adjusting spices as you do so. Taste about a thousand times because you can't believe how tasty this combination is.

Finally, to finish, add a healthy splash (perhaps a 1/3 of cup for me) of California Sherry.

Serve as you wish, topped with croutons, or served with cornbread, or even a dollop of sour cream would be lovely. This was a really low-fat soup, combined a few SuperFoods (I'm trying to consume several each day, in this case lentils and pumpkin), was a snap to make, and, most of all was economical -- my canned items came from the dollar store (the stock, the pumpkin, the tomatoes, and the bleans).

Slurp away.

Anelletti with Sausage, Spinach, and Mushrooms

I was inspired by the delicious looking pasta cooked up by The Kitchn (why is it spelled this way? Someone clue me in) and set about assembly of all the ingredients for a Sunday pasta supper. I must say, this is a rarity for me, and it DID make the job simpler. I'm notorious for doing things out of order (eggs ready before the toast, dish fully assembled before I remember the mushrooms, and so on), so getting everything out and neatly assembled in advance was new. I felt so grown up.

That said, I have to be candid and say that while it was simple, decent, homey -- it wasn't terribly flavorful. Maybe the sausage? I dunno. All I know is, the best thing about the dish was the mushrooms, and that's doesn't say much for the Italian sausage or other ingredients.

Will I eat the rest of the bowl or make it again? I don't know, the jury is still out. Have to think about it, or try it as a leftover. This is my adapted version of the recipe:

1/2 pound of anelletti (purchased from Trader Joe's)
1 cabrese (somewhat hot) Italian Sausage
A few ounces of mild or sweet Italian Sausage
big handfuls of mushrooms
big handfuls of spinach
3 garlic cloves
olive oil
pasta water
Parmesan cheese

Prepare the anelletti pasta (boiling in salted water for 10-13 minutes) and set aside, reserving a few ladle fulls of pasta water. Roughly chop up the sausage and thoroughly brown, adding sliced garlic and mushrooms toward the end of the browning process. When the mushrooms are cooked and sausage is browned, check for the fat level. I didn't need to drain off much -- I probably drained off 1 tablespoon and kept about 1 tablespoon in the pot. Add the spinach leaves and toss until completely wilted. Add cooked pasta, and a ladle of pasta water if you feel it needs a bit of moisture (I did). When combined, add a handful of Parmesan cheese and toss until melted. Serve, seasoning to taste with pepper and/or additional cheese.

For dessert:

Sliced strawberries topped with fat free lemon yogurt, Meyer lemon syrup, and walnuts.

Well how cool is this?! Blogging with a Purpose

What a nice way to start the morning! Robin Sue at one of my favorite blogs, Big Red Kitchen, included me in her list of "Blogging with a Purpose" awards, bestowed by fellow bloggers (not necessarily foodie blogs, I learned). Robin did some research and I'm going to steal her efforts and post 'em right here:

...an award started back in April 2007 by Eric Novak who wanted to start a Christian award to recognise bloggers' hard work and purpose, then was amused to receive his own award three months later! The very first few went to a few homeschoolers. Then they sent them on to their friends, who sent them on to their friends, and now the award has come my way, then on to some of my picks. I love how the Internet can connect so many people in such a short time.

I was especially tickled because it means someone besides my sister reads this blog (and I think she only does so when I remind her), and, I'm really new on the food blogging scene and I participate almost with a certain level of embarrassment. I am not an accomplished cook (although my recent short ribs meal, a first attempt, was stellar), I am FAR from an accomplished photographer, and until my boyfriend recently took pity on me by giving me a digital camera, I was using my cell phone camera for heaven's sake. In my mind I'm a brilliant food stylist of course. I "see" wonderful food styling photographs in various spots of my house. In reality I have the worst light imaginable, underwhelming equipment, and not a whole lot of patience. I could never, EVER work for Cook's Illustrated because I'd say "Oh that's fine. Just eat it!" after the very first batch. And then get fired.

I just hope one day the enthusiasm and skill will meet up and combine DNA. Hasn't happened yet, but hope springs eternal. So, until then, I just keep reading other blogs and taking inspiration from them all.

To that end, there are rules which accompany the award and here they are:

1. Awarded parties must nominate five people who have not received the award; 2. The blogs which receive the award must serve some purpose; 3. In a post about the award, one must link back to Blogging with a Purpose; and 4. Awarded parties must post the award banner on their site. The banner must remain linked to this site.

Candidly, some of the "rules" are a little difficult to follow, although Number 2 amuses me. I'm going to write to my each of friends and say "I'd like to nominate your blog but I can't, because it serves no purpose."

As for the others, it's not that I'm a rabblerouser or buck administration, but I can't be certain whether a) the nominees have ever been nominated and/or received the award before, without combing through archives and b) Union Army General William Tecumseh Sherman, who was proposed to be a Republican nominee for the presidency in 1884, responded, emphatically: "If drafted, I will not run; if nominated, I will not accept; if elected, I will not serve." Accordingly, I'll happily nominate some blogs I enjoy, but, like General Sherman, one can't force them to accept the honor, post banners, link back, or do anything. They may just click "delete" when they see my email.

On with the nominations:

1. The Grub Report was one of the first blogs I started to follow, several years ago. Stephanie Vander Weide Lucianovic writes about the San Francisco Bay Area scene, her forays into cookbookery, her cranky customers at the Ferry Building Cowgirl Creamery, and, stuff which annoys her on television. She qualifies for "blogging with a purpose" because Stephanie, a former fine arts and photography book editor and thereafter a graduate of a culinary arts school, shares her expertise with her "Chef is In" section. A few years ago a friend and I had a vital question about sticky balsamic vinegar, and she researched and gave us the information we needed. She also taught me the best-ever way to roast corn and was the first person who inspired me to roast cauliflower (she said it tasted like candy and I wanted some too), which is now in regular rotation. I guess I'm saying she got me to eat veggies the proper way -- which is blasted to heaven in an oven and tossed with olive oil and sea salt, which leads me to ...

2. My Husband Hates Veggies , written by Kitty. Her husband hates veggies. He also shares a number of traits with MY boyfriend (which at first had me worried and suspicious but I got over that). Kitty blogs with a purpose because she takes on the daunting task of trying to improve a man's eating habits by sneaking in veggies and other worthy fare. She calls them Veggie Fake Outs. Now, having said that, I'm sorry, I cannot indemnify her if and when she is sued by BOTH authors of recent veggie fake out cookbooks, The Sneaky Chef and Deceptively Delicious. They just need to get the hell over one another -- like once a cupcake cookbook has been published, there can't be another cupcake cookbook shortly thereafter? But I digress.

3. PostSecret. I visit this blog every Sunday. It truly blogs with a purpose -- I can't think of a bigger impact for a blog than letting people anonymously share funny, poignant, or sometimes outrageous secrets, which connect us all in the collective cosmos and make us feel like no matter how weird we are, someone else out there understands completely, and no matter how wounded we feel, someone will care. That said, PostSecret has never published my secrets (I've sent two), and one was a doozie (involving office garbage cans) which my sister insisted I send in. Oh well. However, witness the recent "secret" shared by a young man who was so lonely, he prayed his phone would ring now and again and he'd get voicemail (he'd never received a voicemail message. He shared his number and was flooded with calls from well wishers across the United States. It made him cry. That made me smile for him.

4. Stuff White People Like. I am not politically correct, okay? I'm not a racist, either. I laugh at all races, creeds, small children, and stupid pet tricks, all the movies by Christopher Guest, Blue Collar Comedy Tour and Kings of Comedy with fervor. So, I nominate this site because I work for a lawyer. He's really mean. Sometimes he makes me want to cry. I need to laugh every single day or I'll cry, and this site helps. A sample:

White People Like Paris Flea Markets. The Paris flea market
contains many authentic treasures from Europe’s past, including furniture, art, and various knickknacks. Though many white people could acquire these products through the internet, by purchasing it at the Paris flea market they are able to tell their friends “Oh, I found that at the Paris flea market. Have you been? It’s life changing, I swear I wish I could move to Paris.” It is considered good form to ask them more questions about their item. Once they say a word in French such as “magnifique” or “quelle chance!” the conversation topic has run its course, and they will like you for not correcting their pronunciation.

5. Recipes that Get You Laid. If this isn't a Blog with a Purpose, I don't know what is. I know, probably very uncool to nominate this for an award which has Christian values as its genesis, but, please read the intro to number 4.

Finally, thanks to Robin Sue, I will now forever refer to my recipes as ... "From the award- winning Warm Olives Blog", and, I get to create an "Awards" category. So, thank you for that. Oh, I need to re-do my header, now to reflect my new status!

Have a nice weekend, folks!