Thanksgiving was a blur for me. I cooked like a madwoman, which oftentimes is really the only way to cook. Early in the week, I plotted out a strategy of what to prepare each day, so I wouldn’t get overwhelmed on the day itself. I know this is borderline obsessive but, trust me, it preserved my sanity. And we all want me to hold on to my marbles for quite a while!

The best thing I made for Thanksgiving dinner were these brownie pops, dipped in chocolate and decorated with sprinkles. Cute, huh?

These were made with Wilton’s Brownie Pops pans. Really fun silicone molds–can’t wait to use them again!

And these brownies were a new discovery! They’re from Ina Garten’s Outrageous Brownies recipe and are little pieces of chocolate heaven. I think the addition of a little coffee to the brownie batter makes a huge difference in how rich these taste.

I made the actual brownies two days before Thanksgiving Day and stored them in an airtight container in the fridge. E. helped me in a big way to decorate them on the day of, conveyor-belt style. I  stuck the lollipop handles in them, dipped them in chocolate and handed them to E. He sprinkled the edible decor on them and stuck them to a block of styrofoam to dry.

So much fun! I found the pumpkin-shaped basket at Michael’s for cheap (in the Clearance bin!) and used that to hold the treats with some more styrofoam in the base. We used candy corn and fall-colored Hershey’s kisses to cover the foam. (You must “hide your hardware!”! I learned this from floral arrangement classes in grade school!)

This Thanksgiving, I was thankful for many things: the chance to spend time with family, the ongoing health of my parents, the fact that I’m able to cook for the people I love. But mostly, I was thankful for E., who kept me on an even keel during a crazy week at work and of cooking and entertaining. I’ve never really allowed anyone to help me in the kitchen—a habit I took from my grandmother—but he has proven to be an awesome sous chef! So now, when he says he can help with whatever it is I’m cooking, I’ve learned to hand over the spatula.

The Holidays are here—I hope yours are wonderful!

These cookies were a star in my (extensive) childhood snacking repertoire, except the ones I remember came in a plastic package that we used to buy on Sundays after church in the grocery store. They were manufactured (and maybe still are) by a food company called Fibisco (which, come to think of it was the Filipino version of Nabisco!).

One other memorable thing about them: They were hard as rocks! I used to take some out of the package and leave them out to soften. They were my favorite things to take on fishing trips with Papa. I kept them wrapped in tissue in a fanny pack (it was the 80s, get over it!) and munched on them as I explored tide pools on whatever island we docked on for lunch.

That memory prompted a baking fit last weekend. I wanted to see if I could make soft versions of one of my favorite cookies, and this recipe didn’t disappoint. It’s earned a spot in my cookie file!

It’s chock-full of delicious things in it, like fall-favorite spices and molasses. Surprisingly, a couple of teaspoons of orange juice, too!

I did test runs on baking times at 9 minutes per batch were perfect. I even did three test versions: no sugar coating, half sugar coating and full sugar coating. E. and I decided the third one was the best of the bunch.

These cookies came out with crisp edges but soft, chewy centers. So good!

And since these were cookies from my childhood, I decided to store them in a retro Tupperware canister, too. I love the classic ridges on the cover, and that button you push down for sealing. I love these things! There’s something truly comforting about reaching for your favorite cookie in a cookie “jar” from when you were a kid.

This little cooking project made me remember other goodies from my childhood, and I started a list to see if I can re-create them. Someday, I hope. I’ve seen a resurgence of homemade whoopie pies, Pop Tarts, Hostess Cupcakes, etc. on other blogs. Which means I can try my hand, too, at little baking gems from the sweet days of my childhood, yes? Homemade Choco Mallows, anyone?

Again, if you missed the link to the recipe for these Soft Gingersnaps above, HERE it is.

…and it was fantastic.

My first introduction to Dorie Greenspan wasn’t through one of her many cookbooks. I actually got to know Dorie through her blog, which I tripped over on the world wide web when I was looking for information on French macarons. This invariably led me to Pierre Hermé, the famous French pastry chef considered to be the authority on the dessert. Dorie has written two cookbooks with Hermé, one with Julia Child, another with Daniel Boulud…plus several more of her own recipes. She’s worked with all these rockstars in the culinary world, and I’m in complete awe of her. Even more, I LOVE her blog! It feels very “in the world” to me, not just another cooking blog. Stories matter to me, I  figure, it much the same way as they do to her.

Which brings me to the story of this cake. Dorie calls this her All-In-One Holiday Bundt Cake and I’ve been wanting to make it since last year. That’s a long time to wait for a baker like me! But certain flavors are exactly perfect for the seasons that inspired them. We had just gotten back from our leaf-peeping in the mountains and the weather had significantly cooled down in Los Angeles. I woke up to a slight nip in the air one day last week and realized that fall was finally in the city. This season is my favorite time for cooking, and all of a sudden, I wanted, no NEEDED to make a cake. It was I’ll-implode-if-I-don’t-cream-some-butter-and-sugar bad, so I plunged right in. Made a beautiful mess in the kitchen, just the kind of mess I like making.

I have to say one of the best kitchen doodads is this Adjust A Cup that I had gotten from kitchen supply outlet. It’s the perfect tool for the packed pumpkin puree used in the cake because you just push it through and it slides out cleanly. No more incessant spatula scraping. I imagine it would be just as awesome for stuff like applesauce, shortening and any semi-solid thingamaroos. Maybe even honey or molasses.

This cake has all the favorite flavors of fall: apples, pumpkin, cranberries, nutmeg, cinnamon, fresh ginger and pecans. It calls for fresh cranberries, but I jumped the gun on the season for those things and saw none at the market. Dried cranberries were just fine, though I had to cut the granulated sugar by about 1/4 cup to account for the sweetness of the dried fruit.

The recipe yielded a moist cake that was just right as a sweet thing to start off the morning with some coffee or tea. I just sprinkled some powdered  sugar on top; Dorie suggests a maple syrup glaze, but I didn’t want the folks at work to be jumping off the walls from all that sugar!

This cake can be made in advance, a good thing for the busy holidays when you’re preparing full meals and don’t have time to be worrying about brunch the following day. If you missed the link to the recipe above, HERE IT IS again.

So, yes, this cake has elevated a mere curiosity about Dorie Greenspan to a wide-eyed fascination of her recipes and the stories behind them. Which means it’s time to start my Christmas List!

#1

#2

Tee hee!

Looking forward to more Dorie-ness in the days ahead.

For my next Eat Your Vegetables** project, I decided to try oven-roasting some cauliflower. I’ve only really enjoyed this vegetable in curry, especially that Indian favorite, Aloo Gobi. I suspect it’s because it absorbs much of the flavor of whatever it’s cooked in—and curry is one of my favorite things! Cauliflower is pretty much a bland vegetable. But recently, I’ve been reading a lot on how high oven heat caramelizes the sugars in this versatile vegetable and transforms it into a satisfying, nutty-flavored dish that’s a perfect side for the season’s grilled staples. I wanted to try roasting it to see what cauliflower really tasted like on its own. 

I also learned a new way of preparing the vegetable. I used to lop off the thick stem and then cut out the florets from whatever stem is left behind. But I found that quartering the cauliflower, then slicing the thick stem off at an angle allows me to break down the florets easier. Some of you may have already known to do this, but I just recently picked it up. Saves so much effort!

I had some leftover red new potatoes and decided to throw those in with the cauliflower for color. I then tossed good olive oil (you will need about 1-1 /2 tbsps olive oil for each pound of vegetables) into the happy mix with some pepper and salt. That’s all this dish really needs. Sometimes simple=epic!

Roast on a foil-lined sheet in a preheated 400-degree oven for about 30 minutes until tops change color. Some will be golden, others will have a bit of char (but don’t worry, they’re still delicious!)

Serve warm with a sprinkling of grated Parmesan cheese (if you wish) on top. Do I hear a “yum?”

Oven-roasting is now my favorite way to prepare cauliflower. So quick and so good! It will be quite a ways before I decide to enjoy this in curry again!

—

**Eat Your Vegetables is a new project on The Girl With A Curl. As a promise to eat healthier, I plan to discover new, yummy, non-gag-inducing vegetable recipes every week. They’ll be a big part of my packed lunches at work and will be an interesting way to see how many different ways vegetables can be prepared. As a meat eater, vegetables are something I haven’t paid attention to in my years in the kitchen, but that’s something I’d like to change. From Artichoke to Zucchini and everything in between, here’s to healthy eating at its most delicious!

Tell you what.

Why don’t you….

cook a box of orzo…

in the meantime, dump a big bag of fresh baby spinach into a bowl…

drain the orzo when it’s done…

add it to the spinach and toss together so its heat wilts the leafy greens…

add some feta (the fat-free kind if you’re feeling guilty!)…

maybe a drizzle of olive oil, salt, pepper and a few squeezes of lemon juice to taste…

stop yourself from standing over the pot and eating it secretly in the kitchen while your boyfriend watches Star Trek in the living room…

step back and hug yourself! You’ve just made a simply good, highly addicting pasta side that’s perfect, hot or cold, to go with any dish. A healthier alternative to plain rice, too!

Seriously though, I ate obscene amounts of this while making it because it’s sooo good! I hope you have better luck than me!

Who knew the highlight of my weekend would be a plain cardboard box?

That’s because it has all this gorgeous, fresh, organic produce in it!

This is our very first CSA box. What’s that, you ask? Well let me tell you, and please pardon the babbling enthusiasm!

“CSA” is an acronym for “Community-Supported Agriculture.” (I found out about it through Giselle, who had left a comment on one of my earlier vegetable posts.) Through the South Central Los Angeles Farmer’s Coop, $15/week buys me a small share of an organic farm out in Bakersfield. This means a box of locally sourced, in season, picked-fresh, all-organic vegetables!

I can do this as a weekly subscription and get a box of new vegetables every week, delivered to a location close to my home for me to pick up. I can choose to do this every other week instead, if I feel like I’m buried in vegetables. The terms are flexible (you can pay $20 or $25 as well, depending on what you can afford), the money goes directly to my farmer, and I have access to enough vegetables that can feed a family of four for a week or a couple for two weeks.

Part of the charm is that I don’t know what I’m going to get in the box exactly, but what I do know is that everything is picked at their peak. I’m discovering all these new vegetables I wouldn’t think of buying at my local market. The CSA is a great introduction to all these nutritious alternatives, and just in this week’s box, most were vegetables I’ve never cooked with before.

There are many other CSAs for Los Angeles. For more information on those and to find out what CSAs are available in your region elsewhere in the U.S., go HERE.

Lots of healthy cooking up ahead, which should be awesome for my “Eat Your Vegetables” project!

All the images in this post were taken with the iPhone 4 (save for the screenshots below). I wanted to see how well the new toy would take pictures, and what better way to play with it and putz around in the kitchen at the same time? Quite acceptably good/awesome for a camera on a phone, eh?

These ingredients were for some seriously yummy Butterscotch Brownies, also made with the iPhone! The recipe is from the Mark Bittman’s How To Cook Everything app. I’m really enjoying it. I like its minimalist presentation (no photos!), that it’s organized and comprehensive (at least for being a mobile app) and was one of the first iPhone 4-specific apps available to download.

The best thing about this recipe is that the ingredients are probably already in your pantry. Plus, it’s so simple to remember because you’ll only need ONE of everything!

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

1 stick butter

1 egg

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 pinch salt

WHAT TO DO

1) Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8- or 9-inch square baking pan or line it with aluminum foil and grease the foil.

2) Melt the butter over low heat. Transfer to a bowl and use an electric mixer or whisk to beat in the sugar until very smooth, then beat the egg and vanilla, stirring down the sides of the bowl every now and then.

3) Add the salt, then gently stir in the flour. Pour into the prepared pan and bake until just barely set in the middle, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool on a rack before cutting. Store, covered, at room temp for no more than a day.

Chewy but with crisp edges, and the unmistakable flavor of real butter in every bite. So uncomplicatedly delicious.

Pretty happy with the pics from the new phone, and doubly happy with the new cooking app. More adventures in food up ahead with both. There REALLY is an app for THAT!

Mark Bittman’s How To Cook Everything app sells for $4.99 in the Apple App Store.