use real butter

Have you ever heard of degustation? a tasting menu? I had no idea what it was until I got an email from a stranger one day… she said she liked my web pages and had I ever dined at The Flagstaff House in Boulder? She lives in Sydney, but had been there the year prior and enjoyed the 9-course degustation. Needless to say, today Kell is one of my best pals and I even had the pleasure of visiting her in lovely Sydney earlier this year (and we had a great degustation at Restaurant Balzac).

So yes, a degustation is something to pace yourself through. Tiny plates. Many tiny courses that the chef has prepared for you to experience on your culinary journey. Seems that every time I am within 2 plates of the finish, I feel like I am going to burst, to die right there at the table (just one after dinner mint?). But if you ever get the opportunity - go for the degustation. It is so much fun.

And fun is what Kaweah is all about. Today it is her 9th birthday! I know what you’re thinking… “too much spare time?” Well yes. Doc’s instructions were to “take it easy” after surgery. Gawd - take it easy?! Not in my vocabulary, really. I’ve been chomping at the bit for a week, so grant me this diversion and I won’t make a rude gesture with my good arm…

happy birthday puppy girl!

Dog menus tend to be a little more bland than what we are used to. I don’t feed my girl too many sugary and salty foods, and I certainly don’t feed her anything spicy (thoughts of a dog butt-dragging across my rug don’t appeal). No onions, grapes, mac nuts, chocolate, and other things that are harmful to dogs. So how could I make this interesting? Okay, who am I kidding… Anything remotely edible is going to interest Kaweah, but what about for my own shits and giggles? I present the menu.

woof: dog beef jerky strip with peanut butter smear and iams lamb and rice kibble

egg on egg: egg sheet round with dollop of plain yogurt topped with masago

what’s up doc?: shredded carrot salad on celery slices topped with almond slivers

iron pup: beef flank carpaccio with baby spinach

sprout wrap: shredded boiled chicken, egg sheet, parsley, in a brussels sprout leaf sprinkled with a ground peanut

jamon empanadas: honey ham whole wheat empanadas with plain yogurt

cheese plate: cheddar hearts and gruyère stars

apple stack: honeycrisp apple slices layered with peanut butter

homemade ice cream: plum ice cream on crisped rice cereal

It looks like a lot of food, doesn’t it? In volume, it probably equals just a little more than her normal morning bowl of dog kibbles. She got this instead of the kibbles this morning. She ate it just as fast.

for scale

the layout (sans ice cream finale)

Well! That was fun, wasn’t it?

My left arm has been all jacked up since Friday, but I am slowly regaining the range of motion. It has been quite the pickle getting back to cooking and baking, but I can say with certainty that I am indeed back. It’s a good thing I am right-handed, no?

Every now and again I get a hankering to make something from my youth. Having grown up in southern Virginia, I am well-versed in the food classics made of cheese-food, sour cream, mayonnaise, instant onion soup mix, cream of *your choice* soup, and all manner of white-trash food. I don’t know if rice crispy treats should be classified under 1970s or white-trash or both?

rice crispies and marshmallows

Rice crispy treats - one of the simplest goodies I have in my quadrille scientific notebook o’ favorite recipes. Rice crispies, marshmallows, butter - huzzah! Once, while visiting with my little niece and nephew, I saw they had rice crispy treats in their pantry (their pantry is a veritable advertisement for processed foods - it’s a little disconcerting). These were store-bought rice crispy treats. I scratched my head because isn’t that akin to store-bought peanut butter and jelly sandwiches? Lo and behold, they had pb&j’s in their freezer. Don’t people make food anymore? Is it even considered making food to slap bread, peanut butter, and jelly together?

add marshies to the melted butter

I never thought to experiment with ye olde rice crispy treats recipe until graduate school, when my brilliant friend, Carrie, told me to mix 1/2 cup of peanut butter into the marshmallows and butter. Peanut butter rice crispy treats! Jeremy was not so much a fan of those. I thought he was a purist until that fateful day I bought Cocoa Pebbles instead of Rice Crispies (but really, I buy generic). Chocolate rice crispy treats definitely rank above peanut butter for him. Even better is the organic cocoa pebbles with the panda bear on the cover.

mix in the cereal

Then one winter day, I poured in some nonpareils for giggles. Nonpareils, known technically as sprinkles where I come from, add a splash of color and a crunch to the texture. Since Jeremy is recovering from a cold, I made a batch of sprinkle rice crispy treats to cheer him up and to time warp back to the memories of my youth - when people actually made food instead of unwrapping it. Do it your way.

to put a smile on someone’s face

Rice Crispy Treats

1/4 cup butter
10 oz marshmallows
6 cups rice crispy cereal (or cocoa crisp cereal)
1/2 cup peanut butter (optional)
spinkles (optional)

Grease a 9×13-inch baking dish. Melt butter in a pan over medium heat (with peanut butter if using). When melted, add marshmallows and stir until melted. Remove from heat. Add cereal and mix well. If using sprinkles, add sprinkles and mix well (add more, and some more). Pour contents into baking dish and spread evenly. When cooled, cut into squares and serve.

Just a reminder that Menu for Hope IV is underway as I type! Be sure to visit the full list of prizes being offered over at Chez Pim. If that’s too confusing for you, visit the various regional hosts at the end of Pim’s post - the prizes are being offered from all over the globe! Hurry up! Go! Bid! Do you really want someone else walking off with YOUR prize?!? Well then, get on it! [after you read the rest of my post] :)

Are you freaking out right about now? Maybe now? Maybe - NOW? It’s a big time of year for baking and cooking and feasting and festivities - no matter what the festivities may be. I typically find myself making all manner of sweets and baked goods to share with friends, neighbors, our slow but friendly small town post office, the Subaru dealer, Kaweah’s favorite kennel… When I add up the list though, there just isn’t the time to mass produce super fancy time-intensive confections for everyone. That’s why I love the goto recipes, the ones that are easy to make and delicious to boot.

’tis the season of the cranberry

My mother-in-law gave me this recipe years ago and I cannot tell you how many dozens of times I have made this recipe and doled it out to the masses (the masses = my co-workers and other people I know). So when I see cranberries arrive at the market, I know what I’m going to be baking for a few months. The other nice thing about cranberries is that they freeze well and can be tossed right into the recipe just like fresh cranberries. Even so, I tend to make this between November and January.

the star ingredient

add walnuts, or substitute a different nut if there are allergies

The best part of this recipe is how all of the ingredients are dumped into a big bowl, mixed together, and then baked in a dish. No wait, the best part of this recipe is one of my absolute favorite ingredients in any pastry or baked good…

the secret ingredient: almond extract

People will bite into the cake and their eyes will wander around trying to pinpoint the lovely flavor they are experiencing. Bakers will identify it immediately, but most others just get a dreamy look on their face and repeat, “there’s something in this that tastes… tastes like… what is that flavor?” Almond extract, kids. Repeat after me: almond extract.

spread into a pie dish

I grease my baking dishes, but you should be warned that the only sticking point (pun intended) to this recipe is that it is slightly sticky on the pan. Nothing horrible, but any intricate pan designs might result in some swearing and unhappiness on your part - your recipients will be oblivious because they will be too busy stuffing their faces with this red-jeweled treat.

the berries are like dots of candy

Cranberry Nut Dessert
from my best mom-in-law

1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups fresh cranberries (fresh is best, but you can use frozen)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 tsp almond extract

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a pie dish. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt, cranberries, and walnuts. Mix the dry ingredients together and coat the berries. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs. Pour the eggs, melted butter, and almond extract into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Spread the batter into the pie dish and bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean (crumbs are okay). Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes before serving. Goes well with a scoop of ice cream!