Coming Soon...

Do not fear. I know this is starting to look like a baking blog, but stay tuned. Turkey and vegetable soup with split peas and barley coming soon!

Cardamom/Cinnamon Rolls

Yes. I bake a lot.

I made these cardamom/cinnamon rolls for Thanksgiving morning for my family. It was great. I made the dough, rolled, spread the butter and spices, rolled, cut the rolls, placed in pans, and chilled in the refrigerator for a couple nights prior to baking fresh that morning.

But it wasn't that easy. I begin melting butter and prepare to activate the dry yeast. And nothing happened. This sort of freaked me out because working with dry yeast just makes me nervous. I mean, what if they don't rise? And you're left with flat rolls?! Flat anything?! Doesn't sound good. Well, maybe flat, thin-crusted New York style pizza, but not flat cinnamon rolls. So I do a little online research (always helpful), and realize my dry yeast is dead. Or not activated. One of the two. Throw away and do not use. Really?

So I run to Trader Joe's down the street and wade through all the ladies and their shopping carts full of turkeys, pies, and apple cider. Two of them kindly let me cut them in line when they see me with my three packets of active dry yeast. The cashier says, "You came out into all this chaos just for that?" And I said, "Uh, yeah. I kind of needed it." And I did. The new dry yeast activated just fine and I was relieved that I didn't settle on my first batch.

Cardamom is an interesting twist on the usual cinnamon roll. The recipe actually only called for cardamom, but I thought it might be too strong for my younger sisters; hence, the addition of cinnamon. I think they turned out pretty well. A wee bit hard to pull out of the pans (they were technically only supposed to chill overnight) since some of the cardamom/cinnamon and brown sugar glaze sunk to the bottom, and hardened onto the pans. But that being said, they were pretty good.

Thanksgiving Dessert

You may recognize this Pumpkin Carrot Cake from a previous post. Remember? I frosted it way too early? And I had to check on it every few minutes to be sure the frosting wasn't falling off the cake? Don't make the same mistake, people. Or maybe this is something everyone else already knows and I'm alone here. I think I knew not to frost so soon, but impatience got the best of me! Not this time.

My mom asked me to make this cake again for Thanksgiving. My first Thanksgiving dessert. She made apple pie and I made this. It was a great combination I think. Transporting it from Seattle to Portland was a little interesting though. I bought a cake carrier for the event, which was brilliant thinking. Lining the bottom with parchment paper was not brilliant thinking. It was good for moving the cake from the carrier to my mom's cake pedestal (you know, for elegant Thanksgiving presentation purposes). It was not good for keeping the cake stationary inside the carrier while driving south on I-5 and braking frequently in lovely holiday traffic. Despite these traveling conditions, the cake survived (thanks to it's spot on the floor of the passenger seat and frequent babysitting by Zack and I). You do what you got to do.

And take note...no frosting dripping off the sides.

Pumpkin Cookies

Okay. So I'm obsessed with pumpkin. Pumpkin bread, pumpkin cake, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin spice lattes. But then I'm not entirely sure that it is the pumpkin I'm so enamored with. It could very well be the wonderful comforts of pumpkin spice. Pumpkin doesn't exactly have a big, bold flavor. Regardless, I'm in love. So I went searching for a pumpkin cookie recipe a couple weeks ago and this is what I found.

These are more like light, fluffy pillows from heaven. They're like little cakes. What makes them even more delightful is the brown sugar glaze on top. Now, I may be getting more excited about these cookies than I should be. Zack didn't really think they were earthshaking. Well, particularly the glaze.

This glaze is made in a saucepan. It hardens super fast, so I was madly adding additional ingredients and trying to stir and dip/frost the cookies at the same time. Some of the cookies had thicker glaze then others, but that just gives people a choice, right? Thick versus thin anyone?

I will definitely make these again. Chopped nuts could be added for garnish or could even be put into the dough. They make a great holiday treat.

Quinoa Tabbouleh

Lots of blog writing catch-up to do. The holidays are here!

For now, here is another lovely side for a packed lunch. Tabbouleh.

I love quinoa. It's a great alternative to rice or couscous. And it's high in protein. I basically just cooked the quinoa, rinsed, drained, and added tomatoes, cucumber, scallions, and an easy dressing (freshly squeezed lemon juice, sea salt, and extra-virgin olive oil).

More lunch sides like these coming. They're light and fresh, and go great with a pita or sandwich. Cheers.

Chocolate Chip Cookies Cockaigne

I know, I know. Cockaigne? What on earth does that mean? All I can find online is that it means a sort of medieval, mythical land of plenty. Alright. I guess I can take that.

I can take that because these cookies are magical. This twist on the classic American cookie is found in none other than the amazing Joy of Cooking Christmas Cookies cookbook (which I checked out from the public library). These are the greatest chocolate chip cookies ever. Even ask Zack.

Finely ground rolled oats, both semisweet chocolate chips and ground bittersweet chocolate, and finely chopped pecans. The texture of these cookies is incredible. Maybe it's the ground rolled oats? I had never heard of that before, but it is genius! A little bit crisp on the outside with a chewy abundance of chocolate on the inside. These are a winner.

Moroccan Harira

Moroccan harira. Our favorite soup/stew to date. I knew we would love this recipe when I saw it because of the spicy cumin and paprika. We also added a bit of curry and cayenne (thanks to Zack). It was delicious.

In Morocco, there are many versions of this traditional soup, but most include lamb or beef, chickpeas, lentils, and cumin. It's thick and hearty, and though it takes over two hours to cook, it is a one pot meal and doesn't require a whole lot of direct supervision.

Heat a little butter and extra-virgin olive oil in a heavy-based pot. Add chopped onion and garlic, cooking until softened. Stir in spices and bay leaf, then add beef stock, tomato paste, chopped tomatoes, and beef, and bring to a boil. Simmer over low, partially covered, for 1 hour. Add chickpeas (rinsed and drained) and dried brown lentils and cook for 1 hour more. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper, then sprinkle with cilantro.

This stew is wonderful with a crusty bread. It's spicy, rich with tomato-based flavor, and the chunks of tender beef just melt in your mouth (if that's possible). We're looking forward to having this again tonight for dinner.