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Finnish Pasties

2011-11-01T09:57:00Z

Yet another recipe from Beatrice Ojakangas' The Great Scandinavian Baking Book, though this time it's savory. I was intrigued by the descriptions of these meat and vegetable-filled pasties found in this cookbook and on the internet, which explain that they were popular among mining communities (a complete meal conveniently "packaged" that miners took with them to eat for lunch). These freeze well and are great for those nights when you are short on time or simply don't know what to prepare for dinner. Make a salad while heating them up and, 20 minutes later, voila! dinner is served.

Swedish Sokerkaka (Sugar Cake)

2011-10-14T08:14:00Z

This dense, spiced cake has become a staple in our home. It's so simple to make and uses ingredients you probably already have in your pantry: flour, sugar, baking powder, dried spices, salt, eggs & cream. There's no butter to soften and no special order in which to combine ingredients -- you simply measure them, put them all in the same bowl and mix them together. I use a stand mixer, so from start to finish it takes me no more than 5 minutes to make the batter, pour it into a bund form pan and pop it in the oven.

The spice that the recipe calls for is one found in a lot of Swedish baked treats: cardamon. While I like cardamon, I tend to associate it more with savory foods -- our favorite Indian restaurant puts whole pods in its sauces and rice, and when I first tasted this cake I immediately thought *Chicken Vindaloo*. The second time I made it, I substitued cinnamon for the cardamon, which made for a delicious, lightly-spiced cake. The third time around, I used pumpkin pie spice (my husband's favorite).

Recipes for this cake abound on the internet. I used one from Beatrice Ojakangas' The Great Scandinavian Baking Book.

Macaroni & Cheese

2011-09-30T08:58:00Z

Not typically what I would post on this blog, but this is a dish that is equally as comforting as any cake. By an enormous stoke of luck, my local supermarket stocks real English cheddar cheese -- in two versions, sharp and extra sharp(!!!). This may not seem like something to celebrate, but after having to substitute Emmental for cheddar in recipes for about 5 years, I was thrilled when I saw bonafide cheddar in the cheese case.

This recipe is from the Barefoot Contessa Family Style cookbook. It makes a ton of macaroni & cheese -- we had enough for at least 5 meals. It freezes well too. Highly recommended.

Kourabiedes

2011-09-15T19:15:00Z

Normally I can think of desserts I want to make all on my own. I decided to make these, however, to follow up a Greek-inspired summer meal of grilled chicken & peppers, stewed tomatoes & onions and, of course, Greek salad (below).

When we travelled to Athens a few years ago, I ate my weight in baklava. Perhaps some day I'll try my hand at making filo pastry, but for now I'm sticking with sweets that are a little more accessible.

Flipping through my copy of the Joy of Cooking for Greek desserts, I came upon this recipe for kourabiedes that not only looked like something I could fit into a busy Sunday, but a recipe that I could do with ingredients I already had on hand.

These cookies are buttery and literally crumble / melt in your mouth. They look exactly like the powdered sugar-covered balls that are always left over on the Christmas cookie platter, right next to the malformed snickerdoodle no one wants to eat. I think if you put these kourabiedes on the platter, however, they would be the first to go...

Large Granny Square Blanket

2011-08-31T18:56:00Z

Here's a crochet project I started nearly one year ago and finished in late June (with a few long breaks along the way). The inspiration for this large granny square blanket came from this project on the Purl Bee blog.

One of my favorite parts of making my first granny square blanket was doing the border rows. There were very few yarn changes, as opposed to the inside squares, and it was easy to get into a rhythm and stay there. To make this blanket you more or less crochet one border row after the next -- I loved it.

I made a lot of progress on this blanket during our vacation to the south of France last spring. To this I attribute the fact that the blanket didn't up being exactly square -- the edges are quite wavy, probably because I was more relaxed and my tension lower (crochet tension, though my regular tension was probably lower too!).

I made this blanket as a gift for our friends' daughter who is just a few months younger than ours. I think it will be perfect for in-between weather (Spring, Autumn) since the pattern lets in light and air, but not too much.

Here's more info on the materials used:

3,5 mm crochet hook

8 skeins Phildar Phil Thalassa in Indigo

6 skeins Phildar Phil Thalassa in Horizon

6 skeins Phildar Phil Thalassa in Denim

6 skeins Phildar Phil Thalassa in Meringue

This yarn is made up of 75% cotton and 25% Lyocell, which comes from seaweed and according to Phildar has anti-bacterial and anti-odor properties (perfect for a baby!).

Angel Food Cake

2011-08-17T20:49:00Z

I had a craving for angel food cake and had been wanting to try out the recipe for a lemon-flavored version from the Barefoot Contessa Family Style cookbook. Plus, I'm always looking for recipes that let me use my kugelhopf pan and help me amortize the cost of my stand mixer...

This cake hit the spot, but I'm afraid I won't be posting any pictures of it outside of the tin. It was a bit of a struggle to get it out -- I had to cut and pull out a slice before I could gently "tug" the rest of it out without the top half sticking to the pan. To give you an idea, once out it looked like one of those airplane neck pillows, without a cover and toasted.

Log Cabin Baby Blanket, Part Deux

2011-07-24T21:05:00Z

In a fit of organizing that hit me earlier this summer, I unearthed this baby blanket that I had started while on maternity leave last year. I love to re-watch my favorite movies and TV series while I craft, and if I recall correctly, this got me through quite a few episodes of Sex and the City. But at some point I put it down, probably to advance on the granny square blanket, and it had been buried in a closet ever since.

I had originally planned to knit a much larger blanket but instead opted for a small version that I could use to cover Bon Bon while in her stroller (and that wouldn't fall over the sides and get trampled under the stroller's wheels). The blanket is perfect for this, and I'm happy to say it's gotten quite a bit of use as Paris has been unseasonably cool this summer.

The idea to do a log cabin blanket came from this project on the Purl Bee blog. I normally go for a more muted palette in my yarn projects, and it was a nice change to get to play with colors like lime green and turquoise. Kind of makes me want to embark on a new crocheted blanket à la Jane Brocket or Lucy at Attic24...

If I ever leave Paris...

2011-07-10T19:38:00Z

I'll definitely miss the fallafel (from l'As du Fallafel, the best in Paris). Of course you have to follow up a Sunday fallafel with a stroll around the Place des Vosges.

And a hop, skip and a jump over to the Ile St. Louis.

Of course no trip to the Ile St. Louis would be complete without some Berthillon ice cream (and licorice-flavored tea).

Ahhhh, weekends are tough here...

Ann Romney's Welsh Skillet Cakes, tweaked

2011-06-26T20:26:42Z

For those interested in US politics, campaigning is beginning in earnest, at least on the conservative end of the spectrum. During election cycles, it has become customary for potential presidential candidate's spouses or the candidates themselves to provide recipes from their personal collections.

I'm not sure when this custom started but am thinking that it had something to do with Hillary Clinton's comment in 1992 that she could've "stayed home and baked cookies" in response to a question she received with respect to her career as a lawyer. If I recall correctly, many a housewife were offended, so she apologized for the statement and, as an added bonus, provided a chocolate chip cookie recipe... Regardless of where the tradition began, I'm glad it's here as I'm always looking for new things to bake.

In the lead-up to the 2008 election, I saw that a few presidential hopefuls' wives had provided recipes, including Ann Romney's for "Welsh skillet cakes". Being far more original than the standard chocolate chip cookie, my interest was peaked and I decided to make a batch of these current-studded, dense cakes.

Flash forward to 2011...a few weeks ago I heard that Mitt Romney declared his candidacy and immediately thought back to these cakes. This time around, in order to make the cakes a bit healthier, I decided to tweak the recipe a little and substituted wheat flour for white, cassonade for white sugar and raisins and dried apricots for the not-always-in-season red currants.

These cakes are really delicious. They remind me a bit of my favorite cake doughnuts, much more so than the glazed doughnut muffins that I made last summer and subsequently scorched in the microwave. I think it's the nutmeg that's to thank for this. Here is my adapted version of Ann's recipe:

Ann Romney's Welsh Skillet Cakes (modified from the original recipe)

Yield: 35-40 cakes

1 egg
1 1/4 cups dried fruit (raisins, apricots, etc.)
1/2 cup milk
3 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup cassonade
2 teaspoons nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspooon salt
1 cup butter

1. Beat egg with milk in a small bowl; add the dried fruit.

2. Sift all of the dry ingredients together. Work the butter into the dry ingredients using a pastry cutter until the mixture is mealy.

3. Pour milk, egg and dried fruits over the mixture all at once and mix well. Wrap the dough in wax paper or plastic wrap and chill for at least one hour.

4. After chilling the dough, roll it a little less than half an inch thick. Cut out cakes using a round cookie cutter.

5. Cook on a pancake griddle greased with oil on both sides (the original recipe calls for a 325°F griddle). Flip the cookies when you see that the top of the dough has become shiny. Flip and cook on the second side for slightly less time.

6. Roll in granulated sugar (tried this with the first few cakes, but stopped because I had trouble getting the sugar to stick). Let cool before eating.

La fête des Mères

2011-06-18T10:00:00Z

A few weekends ago, we celebrated Mother's Day in France. This time around the day was especially important for us because we also celebrated the baptism of our daughter.

We were very fortunate that both my huband's parents and my own mother, as well as our siblings and a cousin who lives in Switzerland, were here to share the moment with us. All in all it was a day that we will always cherish.

Since they came all the way over from the US, my family stayed on a few extra days. As always, we had a blast visiting some favorite neighborhoods and sights in Paris. Here are a few shots from the weekend.

Close-up of one of the front doors of the Notre Dame de Paris cathedral

The Eiffel Tower

Modern sculpture in front of the main courtyard at Versailles

And, one of my favorite sights from the weekend, bakeware that I bought (but for which we had no room in our suitcases) during our trip back in November plus my favorite cut-out, iced sugar cookies (thanks Mom & Blair!!!)