Cookie Galette!

The chickens are still not laying and they're just a little over 6 months now. It's getting unbearable, anticipation of finding a tiny egg between the straw. Instead, all I have found is a small and timid mouse I tried to shoo away with the back of my glove. But, I'm waiting as patiently as I can, watching their combs grow a little darker, closing the barn door when the sun goes down.

I'm trying to keep busy while I wait. Finding new things to do with the time that autumn somehow offers me. I'm reading more, taking a bath in the evening. I'm cleaning the garage and painting the living room. We're visiting my sister, going out to dinner for my birthday. Spending more time together. Starting new TV shows. Falling asleep by ten, waking up at six to feel the morning fog that surrounds us in the mountains.

And with all this extra time I find, I'm practicing my piping skills. My unsteady hand and lack of artistic talent prevented me from trying it for too long. But, now I'm eager. Now I want to learn. Now I have the patience to sit down and sketch what's in my head. And now, with it slightly chilled by 6 o'clock, I don't mind spending time in the kitchen with the stove on and the dogs waiting patiently for samples.

So I made a cookie. I adapted a recipe I had for childhood desserts I wanted to reinvent. This one was originally an oatmeal cookie, the crisp and chewy iced ones you buy in a 30 pack at Wal-Mart. But so sharp and brittle, so thin and browned, it felt less like a cookie cake and more like something else. With its iced border and buttercream center, I got to calling it a galette. A cookie galette--which will henceforth be my stripper name and the new rebrand for cookie cakes. Join me in this, won't you?

Oatmeal Cookie Galette!

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup +2 TB AP flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 TB honey
  • 1/2 TB molasses
  • 1/2 TB pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup quick-cooking oats

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350*F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper
  2. In a mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt
  3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugars until light and pale
  4. Add your egg and beat to incorporate
  5. Add honey, molasses, and vanilla
  6. Now, using a wooden spoon (I found the stand mixer mixed the dough too much), slowly add in your flour while stirring
  7. Stir in oats until fully mixed
  8. Transfer dough to a floured work surface (I just did mine directly onto the parchment) and roll out to about a quarter inch
  9. Using a dinner plate, cut dough into a circle and tap the edges in a bit if they crumbled slightly
  10. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until edges are browned and center is firm, but not burnt
  11. Allow to cool before decorating (see notes below)

Decorating note: As always, feel free to decorate however you'd like. For me, I whipped together 1/2 cup shortening, 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract, 1/2 teaspoon orange juice, and 1 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar until light. Transfer to a pastry bag fitted with

Pumpkin Tahini Snack Cakes

This is our first Fall in the new house, and I am ready for it. We can keep our windows open again soon, having spent the last month sealed up in a freon cold of our air conditioned house. It's been in the 90's lately. It's been so hot the grass has dried up. Leaves are falling while I'm still in short sleeves. It's confusing, but I'm trying to be patient.

The dogs can't seem to notice the difference. They lay on the deck and catch bugs in their paws. Release them. Curious. They're from California, so they like the heat. We bought them sweaters this year, a size larger than what we think will fit them, so they have room to grow, to get older, to fill it out in five or ten years.

I'm ready for Fall. I'm ready to be reintroduced to the hues of colors I hadn't seen since California. Yes, I was in Pennsylvania last year, too, but I was so caught up in my own self-pity, I was distracted. This year, it will be different. This year, I won't let that happen again. This year, I know how it feels to wait and wait and wait and to appreciate the beauty when it's all around you.

Fall has always been my favorite season and I'm ready to keep the windows open and the oven on and to bake again. Bake more. To create the things I haven't had since I was a kid, because it's time for me to look back and realize it all wasn't so bad.

Pumpkin Tahini Snack Cakes

This recipe is an amalgamation of one from Nolan's mom and a little bit of classic snack cake elements - a bit more oil to keep it moist, and a bit of decoration on top to keep it fun. This is a great recipe that can be done in one bowl (though I broke the recipe up below into two) and can freeze pretty well too!

Ingredients:

  • 2 cup AP flour
  • 2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 2 teaspoon cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/2 cup tahini (or peanut butter)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 cups pumpkin

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350*F and line an 18" by 13" baking sheet with parchment paper
  2. In a large mixing bowl, sift together all dry ingredients
  3. Whisk together all remaining ingredients until smooth
  4. Fold your wet mixture into your dry ingredients and continue to blend until everything is fully incorporated and there are no lumps
  5. Pour into prepared pan and smooth evenly. Tap a couple times on a tabletop
  6. Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean
  7. Allow to cool before decorating (see instructions below)

Decorating Instructions: In a stand mixer, beat two egg whites on high until soft peaks form. Add 1/3 cup white sugar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract. Continue to beat until glossy peaks form. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with any tip you'd like. Create your pattern on your cake. Bake for 5 minutes in a 300*F oven to set meringues. 

One Dough, Two Ways: Pizza and Donuts!

After two years here, I do not claim to be a healthy blog. I eat how I grew up - things that are quick, things covered in fat, things in moderation because my parents had to feed five. I eat what I like. I eat what I want Nolan to come home to - things that are warm, fragrant. Things that make it worth coming home for. It's the easiest part of building a home. Thank God it's my favorite, too.

I do not claim to be a good cook. I'm an average baker when I put the energy into it. But I have my favorites down--roast chicken, kale, eggs, and pizza. We rotate. We sometimes just have cereal when neither of us want to cook. We hardly ever eat out anymore. It's so different than California, when our one bedroom was scattered with paper napkins and plastic forks. But, then again, we are different, too. A year can be a lifetime and thank God we've had a few to learn and try to get this thing right.

Our dogs know the routine now for when it's pizza night, they begin following me around the kitchen when the oven is still preheating. When the yeast is blooming. When the dough is punched and my hands are too floured to pet their needy heads. They always get the end pieces, the burnt edges, the marinara off our plates. We don't mind. Thank God for them.

A few weeks ago, I posted on Instagram a photo of some leftover dough turned into a donut. Using my favorite dough recipe and adapting it to a sweetened donut has become a ritual now for us. I make extra, I put it in a cake stand for the morning. I cover them in powdered sugar like I did for my other donut recipe. We wake up to these and a warm cup of coffee. And thank God for that.

One Dough, Two Ways!

Basic Dough Recipe:

  • 2 teaspoons active dry yeast (of course, Red Star is my preferred)
  • 1 teaspoon white sugar (additional 1/3 cup if making donuts)
  • 1 cup water, warmed to 105*F
  • 2 1/2 cup AP flour
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 tablespoon butter, melted
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil

 

Basic Dough Instructions:

  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together yeast, sugar, and water
  2. Allow to sit for 10 minutes or until water is foamy and yeast is activated
  3. While yeast is blooming, sift together flour and salt (and sugar if making a sweet dough)
  4. With mixer on low and a dough hook attached, begin to slowly add in a bit of flour at a time
  5. A dough will begin to form, but it will be dry. Add your butter and oil to wet dough slightly
  6. Roll out onto a floured work surface. Refer to the below instructions for further direction on making your pizza or donuts!

For the pizza: Use the above recipe. Preheat oven to 450*F. Using a Silpat or parchment paper, roll your dough out on top of it. Cut out excess dough on the edges to avoid too much crust. Add your desired toppings. Once you have the pizza assembled, bake for 20 minutes and enjoy!

For me, I made a Flammekeuche (tarte flambée), which is a traditional Alsatian dish that is honestly delicious. I used a half cup sour cream, and half a yellow onion (sliced) and 6 slices of bacon (make sure you cook the bacon fully before baking the pizza). 

For the donuts: Roll out dough onto a floured work surface to about 1 inch. Cut out your donuts shapes. Allow to rest for five minutes. While dough is resting briefly, heat 1 inch of vegetable oil to 325*F in a Dutch oven. Prepare a plate with a paper towel. Fry two donuts at a time, turning once and allowing each side to fry for about 15-20 seconds or until browned. Transfer to your prepared plate to drain any excess grease. Repeat with remaining dough (and donut holes!). Shake in confectioner's sugar. They're good for about 2 days!

Thank you to Red Star Yeast for sponsoring this post. I believe in using quality products when it comes to baking and I am always confident my dough will rise beautifully with Red Star! Check out the active dry yeast I used for this recipe and others on their website, follow them on instagram and like their Facebook!

And while you're at it...like my Facebook and Instagram too!

Breakfast in the Morning, a Fire in the Evening

There was a period this summer where Nolan worked something like 13 days in a row. Working from home, this was hard on the both of us--he was exhausted and I was lonely. I'm so accustomed to having him around at his odd work hours that I wanted to make sure he knew how special that time we spend together is for me. So I had the idea to make a combo breakfast in bed and fireside dinner.

We pulled out the couch bed and watched an old movie and fell asleep with beer on our breath. I woke up an hour earlier and made breakfast. Assembled the pastries I had bought the day before, mixed a heavy-handed mimosa, sliced some fruit and cheese and made flipped pancakes. We ended up, stretched out and full, watching the Lion King.

It gets cold here at night, even when it's muggy during the day. So a fire in August still felt right. That night, when chores were done and we napped a couple times, I pulled the lawn chairs down and we burned some old cardboard boxes and broken branches. We killed off the pasties, the champagne. We had fruit and cheese and crackers. A few hard-boiled eggs and nothing else was needed. It's how we like to eat when we're prepared. 

How to Make a Breakfast in Bed/Fireside Platter

Do:

  • Buy pastries the day before instead of trying to make them
  • Make sure the champagne and orange juice are chilled
  • Have flowers available for a special touch
  • Have a lap desk/tray so you're not balancing everything dangerously in bed
  • Make the pancake batter the night before so you're not messing with it when you're tired and rushing
  • Boil some eggs 
  • Save every leftover-even if a pastry just has a bite in it
  • Give some condiment options in the evening - we had some mustard lying around that was perfect for this
  • Transfer everything to a platter, nix the orange juice in the evening, kill off the champagne and add a few eggs for dinner!
     

Don't:

  • Worry if not everything looks perfect--it's the thought that counts
  • Forget to make coffee
  • Forget to have back-up drinks once the champagne is done in the evening
  • Try to get too fancy with dinner, it's more about snacking than anything
  • Leave the platter out too long - take it out when you're hungry to stop flies from swarming
  • Use any silverware for dinner; use your hands and even feed each other (I think we ended up having a grape catching contest over the fire haha)
  • Litter when you're done! Take everything inside!

 

A Muffin for this In-Between Month

Decidedly, increasingly, it's getting colder around here. The dogs sleep on the bed with us, Murphy and Milo in the middle, sandwiched by my body and Nolan's. The window stays open and sometimes a stray moth floats in. If we bat it down with a tissue box or sock, it turns to dust and tumbles down.

I can't seem to stay awake. I can't seem to do much of anything, but everything is getting done. That's why I'm not a huge fan of September, because it's the in-between. It's the un-season. It's has the lazy transient waltz of earthworms and bumblebees. I want it to be over. I want it to be October. I want to celebrate my niece's birthday and wear layers and sit facing one of our pastures and dream of what comes next.

But in the meantime, we have our chores. I was cleaning out a cupboard when I found some muffin liners I thought were gone. I found some tahini, too, tucked behind a bottle of olive oil. And so I made muffins. Big, hearty ones. Ones that have a hint of molasses, a hint of fall on the tongue to keep us satiated and still waiting. 

Tahini Ginger Muffins

Ingredient:

  • 1 1/2 cup AP flour
  • 1/2 cup almond meal
  • 2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup tahini
  • 4 TB unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 2 eggs +1 yolk
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 1 TB pure vanilla extract
  • 2 TB molasses
  • 3 TB candied ginger, roughly chopped
  • 2 teaspoon sesame seeds

 

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 375*F and prepare your muffin tin (I used a large muffin tin, if you use smaller, baking time will be reduced by 10 min or so)
  2. Sift together flour, almond meal, baking powder, and salt
  3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together tahini, butter, and sugar
  4. Add eggs and mix to combine. It will look a little lumpy at this stage
  5. In a measuring cup, whisk together milk, vanilla, and molasses
  6. With mixer on low, alternate adding your milk mixture and flour mixture to your tahini mixture
  7. Once a batter forms, fold in ginger
  8. Evenly distribute between your muffin tins
  9. Sprinkle sesame seeds on top
  10. Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean
  11. These muffins are good for up to 4 days in an airtight container