Blood Orange and Peach Fruit Roll-ups

I was a junk food prince as a kid, wrappers strewn across my room. I ate aimlessly and without purpose. I ate to make my teeth sore and to turn my tongue the unnatural shade of "blue raspberry". I ate because my father ate the same way. I ate because it was the only food in the house. 

My sister's birthday is the day after Halloween; we'd always go to the dollar store to buy the discounted candy on our way to her birthday party. For Christmas, I would remind my parents every year that I wasn't partial to chocolate, but loved fruit snacks and gummies. When Nolan and I lived in California, I would make a stop to the 7-Eleven for Mike and Ikes when I was stressed from school or work. And when I was in kindergarten, I got an ulcer from stress, too, and my father brought me a candy bar when I wouldn't stop crying because I wasn't a very good reader at the time.

I'm a snacker, a grazer. I munch absentmindedly to pass the time between loads of laundry and replies to my emails. But I'm 25 now and my metabolism is changing and I change with it. I was nervous to reinvent anything from my childhood, but I was excited to use these blood oranges I bought on a whim. And so I made fruit leather, but they'll always be fruit roll-ups to me.

Blood Orange and Peach Fruit Roll-ups

A true blast from the past, these are my favorite kind of recipes. I love sharing with you what it was like growing up in Kentucky and Pennsylvania and the kind of food I ate there. These are so easily adaptable to any fruit, just replace the whole fruit with another of your choice and adjust the liquids and sugars accordingly. Keep in mind that the oven temperature is long and broad and to check periodically, especially the edges, which may burn a bit.

Ingredients:

2.5 lb peaches, roughly chopped

Juice from 3 blood oranges, strained

1/2 cup white sugar

1/4 cup water

1/4 teaspoon salt

Juice of 1 lemon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 200*F and prepare a half sheet with parchment paper

Combine peaches, orange juice, white sugar, water, and salt in a large pot and heat to boil

Reduce heat to a simmer and let simmer for 15 minutes or until peaches are tender

Puree in a blender or food processor until smooth

Strain into a large mixing bowl

Add lemon juice

Pour pureed mixture onto your parchment paper smooth out evenly with a rubber spatula

Bake for 4-6 hours or until it is not sticky to the touch

Peel and check the backs--if still sticky, flip over and bake an additional hour

Place on parchment paper, roll up, cut into segments and tie with string

Can be kept for up to a week in an airtight container, but may get a little stickier in high humidity

Orange Ginger Shortbread Cookies

The days are slowly creeping longer and I’m tired by seven. I’m working harder, longer hours. I drove something like 450 miles this weekend, and I’m glad I spent the money on toll roads, parking garages, bottles of wine, and cups of coffee. I’m making my own memories now. I’m paying off bills. I ate bologna sandwiches with my parents the night I came home and we sat and talked for an hour. My dad, with the TV turned loud, and my mom, with her wool socks and iPad on her lap. She checks for deals online and he checks the death toll in a five-car pile-up outside of Pittsburgh.

I don’t fear I’ll be here forever, but I’m taking my time here while I can. I made them cookies before I left, the smallest gesture to say thank you that I could muster. They’re orange and ginger shortbreads. The whole batch was gone by Monday. They were made with love and only the crumbs remain on the cellophane, now crumbled up in the trashbin by the sink.

Orange Ginger Shortbread Cookies

Yields 12-14 cookies, depending on shapes used

Ingredients:

• 1 ¾ cup flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons butter, room temperature
• ½ cup white sugar, plus more for sprinkling
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 ½ tablespoon orange zest, plus more for sprinkling
• 1 tablespoon grated ginger
• 1 tablespoon orange juice

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350*F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or oil to prepare
2. In a medium bowl, sift flour and salt together
3. Mix butter and sugar in stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, until it is well incorporated but still pretty firm
4. Add vanilla, orange zest, ginger, and juice
5. With mixer on a low speed (or, if you prefer to use a wooden spoon, that is perfectly fine), add flour mixture until dough begins to come together
6. It will be fairly dry but should hold its shape
7. Dump onto a floured work surface and pat into a disc
8. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes in refrigerator
9. Roll out onto a dusted work surface and cut into shapes that are about 1/3 inch in thickness
10. Sprinkle with sugar and orange zest
11. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until brown and crisp around the edges

Whit It Up, Snickerdoodle Style

I like who I am.  I genuinely do.  I like the talents I naturally possess and the ones I look to refine.  I didn't grow up baking, but I grew up eating.  It wasn't until I was unemployed after my stint at law school did I begin working in the kitchen, too embarrassed to continually spend money when money was tight. I began this blog in January and I hone a craft every day.

I try to think about the first thing I baked, when I knew it was love and not just another hobby.  I think it was a carrot cake.  I think I grated the carrots in a food processor I bought on sale at Macy's.  I think I whipped some egg whites and called it a meringue.  I think it deflated when it set, but I was proud of it all the same.  It tasted like shit, but it was all mine.  Now, looking back, I see how far I have come, what progress can look like, and I'm thankful to attribute my growth to all of the amazing people in food that I have met in the last year.

If there was one cookbook I would have liked to have had starting out, it would have been one like my pal Billy's Whip it Up!.  Simple, creative, and fun.  Nothing too complicated, nothing too expensive.  But delicious, playful.  Food I'd make for my family.  Food I'd make for people I love.  Food I'd make for movie nights and picnics.  Food I'd make because I know the results will always come out great.  Billy's book is as much pop art as it is a culinary expression of his humor and talent.   Doesn't help that he's got a special place in my heart for his chocolate espresso snickerdoodle recipe (below and in his new cookbook!!), which apparently Hungry Girl Por Vida and Fix Feast Flair also loved :)

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Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2 teaspoons instant coffee (powder)
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3 tablespoon cane sugar (or granulated white)

Directions:

1. Sift together the flour, cocoa, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt in a medium-sized bowl
2. In another bowl, use an electric mixer to cream the butter, coffee, brown sugar, and white granulated sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes
3. Add the eggs one at a time, making sure the first one is completely blended before adding the second one with the vanilla extract.  Then add the cocoa-flour mixture in 2 batches so it doesn't fly everywhere, mixing until combined.  Refrigerate the dough for at least an hour to firm up.
4. Preheat oven to 350*F and line a baking sheet with baking parchment 
5. Combine the cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl or pie dish, then use  a medium cookie scoop (or 1 1/2 tablespoons) to portion dough and roll in cinnamon sugar to coat.  Place on the baking sheet 2 inches apart and bake for 8-10 minutes until slightly flattened and crackly.  Cool for 5 minutes, then transfer to rack to cool completely

Congrats, Billy!!!!!!!