Toasted Cornmeal "Dutch Pancake"

It's been unseasonably warm lately. The dogs are learning to play Frisbee and I am learning to play Monopoly (I haven't won, but I have a rematch with Nolan tonight). We ordered a rug; we are decorating slowly. We are researching composting and burned all of our trash in the firepit just off the trail to our creek. The smoke still stuck to his hair while we watched TV last night, I could smell it on my fingertips this morning, too.

Or maybe it was the brand of Camel he likes to smoke. A pile of them, stubbed out at different angles, hide under rocks and in porch crevasses like small mushrooms. He'll stop when things slow down. I only smoke to look cool to strangers. It's never worked, but I keep trying.

I'm writing to the local papers more, telling them how I feel about the world these days. My best friend is going to London in May. I traced my mother's grandmother's grandmother back to Ireland and bought three pairs of reading glasses with a coupon I had in my email. Life keeps moving forward, slowly but surely. I keep baking, I keep drinking more coffee than I should. I keep forgetting to pay bills and I sleep to pass the time. But I'm happy. Happier than I have been in years and years and years.

Toasted Cornmeal Dutch Pancake

This recipe is if a Dutch Baby and a cornbread had an affair in a skillet. It's eggy, sweet, nutty, and light. It's not dense, but is denser than it's dutch baby cousins, so will not puff up to the same extent. It's perfect with lemon, cherry jam, or even just more sugar on top.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup cornmeal, as fine ground as you can get (but not flour)
• 2 TB butter, unsalted
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 3/4 cup whole milk, room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425*F
2. Pour your cornmeal into a dry cast iron skillet (11 or 12 inches) and heat on medium-high
3. Stir once or twice so as to prevent browning, but allow your cornmeal to toast and give off a nutty-sweet scent
4. Now, pour your toasted cornmeal into a bowl and replace with your butter in the pan
5. Put pan into oven to melt butter
6. Whisk all remaining ingredients together vigorously. Remove pan from oven for only a second to pour batter into skillet and then return to oven
7. Bake for 20 minutes. As the ingredients are slightly heavier, they will not puff up, but dish will still be light
8. Enjoy immediately

Dutch Oven Chocolate Cake

Dutch Oven Chocolate Cake!

Being a feedfeed editor means that I was gifted this lovely Staub cocotte featured in this post.  I was so happy to use it to make a cake for you guys, which was (heavily) adapted by this Sweet Paul recipe.

Ingredients:

• 8 TB unsalted butter
• 8 oz good quality milk or dark chocolate
• 2 egg
• 1 TB pure vanilla extract
• 1 TB Grand Marnier
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 2 TB cornstarch
• 1 TB baking powder
• 1 1/3 cup AP flour
• 1/4 cup strawberry jam
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup flavorless oil
• 1/4 cup whole milk

 Directions:

1. Grease a small dutch oven or a 10 inch springform pan with butter and flour
2. Preheat oven to 350*F
3. In a double boiler, combine your butter and chocolate, stirring occasionally until fully melted
4. Allow to cool slightly, add in your eggs, vanilla and liquor
5. In a large mixing bowl, sift together cocoa, cornstarch, baking powder and flour
6. In a separate measuring bowl, whisk together jam, sugar, oil, and milk
7. Now, alternate between adding the milk mixture and the chocolate mixture until all ingredients are combined in the flour
8. Pour batter into your prepared pan and bake
9. For the dutch oven: keep covered, will be gooey inside and ready at around an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes
10. For the springform pan: will be less gooey on the inside and ready at about 50 minutes

Post-Vacation Funnel Cake

There are 5 inches of snow on the ground and I just bought a new coffee pot yesterday, our old one from California broke. After being in storage for a year, I'm not surprised. I'm happy, in fact, to get rid of something else from our time on the West Coast. We're different now, simpler. We bought a Mr. Coffee for $21 and it does the job. I'm content with the bare minimum now.

There are three dogs on the couch next to me. A girl that lopes in the backyard and barks at scents she finds in the wind. Two boys that sit on our lap, our stomachs, our chests to stay close, stay warm, stay within eyesight and earshot for treats and kisses and words of comfort when the wind blows too strong.

It's been two days since we got back from Cancun. A world so apart from where we are now. Five hour naps and three course meals. We talked to no one and turned off our phones for the weekend. We fell in love with the beach, the coati, the people. The language and the lilting way I speak it nervously. A world so different than where we live now; we spoke about how it is not right to build the wall. We spoke about how to be more active in what we can do now, when we got back to our real lives.

This week has been full of numbers, questions without answers. Even though I love this cold, sometimes when the snow falls, I dream of warmer weather every once in a while. I dream of more pools and more margaritas. The wild flowers that grow by our creekbed and the dogs lying in the shade. Of barbecues and fair foods. Of ballpark lemonade and fried dough covered in sugar.

Funnel Cake

With the addition of the whipped egg whites and cornstarch, these are lighter versions of your favorite fair food. And you all know how much I love fried dough by now (see here, here, and here)!

Ingredients:

• 2 egg whites + 2 eggs
• 1 ¼ cup whole milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 Tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
• 1 TB white vinegar
• 3 cup AP flour
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• Pinch of sea salt
• 3 teaspoon baking powder
• A flavorless oil, for frying dough

Directions:

1. In a stand mixer, fitted with a whisk attachment, whip your egg whites on medium-high until stiff peaks form. Set these aside
2. In a mixing bowl, whisk together your whole eggs, milk, vanilla, butter, and vinegar
3. In a separate bowl, stir flour, sugar, and baking powder
4. Add your milk mixture into your flour and stir with a rubber spatula
5. Fold in your egg whites and stir until completely mixed
6. Now, fill an old bottle or a pastry bag
7. Heat your oil to 375*F in a large Dutch oven
8. Line a couple plates with paper towels to soak up the grease
9. Now, squeeze some of your batter right over the hot oil and allow to cool for about a minute, flip over to finish frying on the other side
10. Remove from oil and allow to drain on prepared plate
11. Repeat with remaining batter
12. Cover with confectioner’s sugar and enjoy!!

Valentine's Day Brown Butter Rice Krispie Treats!

We leave for Cancun tomorrow, so I wanted to get this last Valentine's Day post out for you! While I have a few more surprises up my sleeve for Nolan, this one came a little earlier in the week and we snacked on them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Sweet, nutty, and memorable, these rice krispie treats should be just another reminder of why you're with your loved one this Valentine's Day!

Brown Butter Rice Krispie Treats

As with many of my recipes, this one, too, is versatile. Use the add-ins you want, change up the white chocolate to dark, and write whatever message you want to convey to your baby boy. 

Ingredients:

• 6 tablespoon butter
• 12 oz marshmallow fluff
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 12 cup rice krispies
• 1 tablespoon red sprinkles
• Pinch of flaked sea salt
• 12 oz white chocolate (chips are fine)
• 1/4 teaspoon red dye (plus more for writing, amount may vary by quality of dye)

Directions:

1. In a dutch oven, melt your butter on medium-high, allow it to cook until brown and slightly nutty
2. Immediately add your marshmallow fluff and begin stirring
3. Add sugar and continue to melt your marshmallow down
4. When completely melted, take off heat and stir in your cereal, sprinkles, and salt
5. On a parchment-lined baking sheet, press down with slightly oiled hands
6. Allow to cool and harden slightly and cut into hearts with a cookie cutter
7. While these finish cooling, melt your chocolate in a large bowl
8. Divide your treats in half. For the first half dip into the white chocolate and return to parchment to cool 
9. When you've done your first half, now mix red dye into the remaining white chocolate and mix to create a pale pink
10. Dip remaining treats into the chocolate
11. Finally, using a toothpick, paint with more dye saying on the hearts and enjoy!

Breakfast in Bed: Oatmeal Topped with Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Valentine's Day used to be a tit for tat affair, early on when I was 19 and 20. It was made for show, occasion, the performance. You get older, you grow with your partner. One year I asked Nolan to pay my car insurance as a present, another we went to the spa in my hometown. This year, we bought a house and are going to Cancun on Friday. We grew older, we stopped making it harder on each other. 

I try to make it easy. I get the coffee ready and wake up with our three dogs at six in the morning. I keep the TV off so he doesn't wake. I turn the heater on in the bathroom, so the tile isn't cold when he gets a shower before work. I try to make it easy for him, easier than I used to make it. When I would demand idolatry and independence and everything in between.

We always have Sundays off together. Since we'll be gone next weekend, I made something for him to wake up to. Breakfast in bed, like I do from time to time. Warm oatmeal in our cold house. We sat in the quiet morning frost, in our wood paneled room, under the faux-fur blanket my mother got us for Christmas, and realized how far we've come in six years.

Roasted Sweet Potato Topped Oatmeal

This recipe can be easily adapted to your tastes and quantities, but the sesame against the rosemary, the roasted and caramelized sweet potato against the soft and sweet oatmeal is definitely something to try before you make adaptations.

Ingredients for Roasted Sweet Potatoes:

• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed
• 2 TB olive oil
• 1 TB brown sugar
• Pinch of salt and pepper

Directions for Roasted Sweet Potatoes:

1. Preheat oven to 400*F
2. On a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil, mix all ingredients
3. Bake for 25 minutes or until caramelized and tender
4. Allow to cool before assembling oatmeal (see below)

Assembly: Make your quick cooking oats to box direction for 2 people, substituting the water for almond milk.  Mix in 1/2 TB of peanut butter per 1 cup of oatmeal. Top with desired amount of sweet potato, sprinkle each bowl with 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, 1/4 teaspoon chopped rosemary, 2 tablespoon brown sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon of sesame seeds. Eat immediately with a bit of maple syrup on top.

This post was made in partnership with Le Creuset, making some of my absolute favorite and most envied pieces around. To find out more, visit their website, like their Facebook, or follow them on Instagram!