Apple Cinnamon + Brown Sugar Pull-Apart Bread

get it together.

Apple Cinnamon + Brown Sugar

Pull-Apart Bread.



Sometimes things fall apart.
Life gets overwhelmingly garbage-y and the impulse is to assume the defensive position, remain static, and hope nobody notices.
Because one can only handle so many
metaphorical kicks to the crotch...
But sometimes everything comes together in the most inconceivably, ridiculously perfect way possible.
So inconceivably, ridiculously perfect that a "cynical is my default position" person such as myself would suspect an elaborately staged practical joke before believing the truth.
Out of the blue, life got really good.
Then there was this bread.
Keep pushing through the gray, you guys.
There's sweet stuff under all those layers.

Get it together, pull it apart.

tomato and plum cornmeal galettes with basil cashew cream

because summer ain't over till there's no more tomaters.
#GRAMMAR
Tomato and Plum Cornmeal Galettes 
with Basil Cashew Cream.

don't go, tomato.

I made a lot of delicious foodstuffs this summer. 

I made and ate a lot of delicious foodstuffs this summer. 

I made and ate and forgot to post about a lot of delicious foodstuffs this summer. 

Things happened. 

Fun was had. 

Days were long, the sun was bright. 

Feet were bare and delicious growing things were abundant.

There were road trips and boat trips and cold beers and grilled pizzas. 

There was music.

There was ocean rock skipping and boozy fireside storytelling.

Times were good. 

Times ARE good- if only a tiny bit chillier.

Yeah, the calendar says October, but I believe summer to be a fluid concept. 

A state of being the ebb and flow of which is entirely dependent on 

local tomato availability.

Soon mountains of dirt-caked root vegetables will replace the last lingering 

super-saturated nightshades. 

But not quite yet.

So put on a sweater, give those overeager fallen leaves the swift ass (stem?) kicking they so richly deserve, head to the market, and get baking.

itsy bitsy.

Plum and Cherry Tomato Cornmeal Tart 
with Basil Cashew Cream

(makes 5 medium tarts)

crust:

1/2c unbleached all purpose flour

1 1/2c stoneground cornmeal

1/3c unrefined coconut oil

1/2c chilled water

1/2tsp ground sea salt

filling:

2c plums, any variety, sliced into quarters or eighths depending on their size

1c halved cherry tomatoes, I used a mix of heirloom, sungold, and sweet 100 varieties

1c unrefined sugar + 1-2Tbsp extra for topping

1tsp fresh lemon juice
1tsp vanilla extract

2-3 large basil leaves, thinly sliced, for garnish

cashew cream:

1c raw cashews

1/2c fresh basil leaves
2tsp fresh lemon juice

1Tbsp maple syrup

1/4tsp ground sea salt

Watermelon Radish-Kale Slaw with Sugar Snap Peas.

rebel without a slawzzz?
ugh. puns...
Watermelon Radish-Kale Slaw with 
Sugar Snap Peas.

i won't do what you tell me.

I don't like being told what to do. Gentle nudging, helpful suggestions, even well intentioned advice- they all kick me into a sort of adolescent, contrarian hyper drive. 

This is why I sometimes (read: oftentimes) do things completely counter to my own self interest. 

My mother could probably write an entire book on this subject; though I really, really, really hope she doesn't...

Every now and again, though, that reflexive non-compliance has some small benefits.

Among them: it makes me relatively immune to advertising, cuts down on participation in contrived food holidays, unless they're donut-related (suck it, national nutella day), and means I'll rarely do anything just because I'm supposed to. 

This has all been a overlong way of confessing that I didn't join the masses and take to the grill on the Fourth of July, I slawed instead. 

And it was defiantly glorious.

i grew this. then i ate it.

Watermelon Radish-Kale Slaw with Sugar Snap Peas

(serves 4)

vegetables:

1 bunch watermelon radishes (about 3-4), scrubbed and peeled

1 bunch kale (about 7-8 leaves), I used a mix of red russian and lacanato

2c sugar snap peas, washed and de-stemmed

dressing:

1Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

1Tbsp toasted sesame oil*

2Tsp extra virgin olive oil

1Tbsp rice vinegar

2tsp apple cider vinegar

1/4tsp ground sea salt 

1/4tsp ground black pepper

Whole Wheat Maple-Vanilla Waffles.

how we waffle.

Whole Wheat Maple-Vanilla Waffles

+

45 Hours in Detroit.

syrup IN the waffles.

It's a beautiful city, Detroit.

One that feels like it's just coming back to life. 

Full of characters and character. 

I fell, rather unexpectedly, in love with it.

A quick run-down of the things I did in my all-too-brief time there--

Sat in a restaurant and ate a vegan sandwich a mere 45 minutes after arrival. 

A new personal best.

Slept on, and watched the most spectacular sunset from, the 58th floor of a hotel with floor to ceiling windows.

Had some vegan soul food.

Saw some local hip hop.

Met some interesting people. 

Gazed at some stunning architecture.

Drank beers around a fire pit in the back alley of a bar.

Giddily wandered around Eastern Market on a beautiful Saturday morning- 

had to restrain myself from buying everything.

Ate two vegan hot dogs.

MacGyver-ed my party dress together with a travel kit needle and thread 

like a proper grown-up.

Watched my friends get married in the Diego Rivera mural room at the 

Detroit Institute of Art (WHAT?).

Drank my body weight in dirty martinis, IN A MUSEUM.

Danced A LOT.

Photobooth-ed (it's a verb now).

Rode on a post-wedding party bus to a bar that also served pie.

Stayed up until 4.

Slept for an hour.

Went to the airport.

Boarded the plane home still a *little bit*  drunk from the night before.

Was sad to leave.

I also returned home with a bag of Michigan-milled whole wheat pastry flour.

Not a weird thing to bring home in your checked baggage, right?

Forget snowglobes; foodstuffs are the best souvenir.

I've been saving it for something special.

These waffles are it.

best souvenir.

Whole Wheat Maple-Vanilla Waffles

(serves 2-4)

1Tbsp ground flax seeds + 3Tbsp boiling water

2c whole wheat pastry flour

2tsp baking powder

1/2tsp ground sea salt

1/3c coconut oil, melted

1 1/2c non dairy milk (i prefer walnut or coconut)

2tsp apple cider vinegar

1Tbsp vanilla

2Tbsp maple syrup

Creamy Carrot-Sumac Soup with Crispy Chickpeas and Shallots

sprung?

Creamy Carrot-Sumac Soup 

with Crispy Chickpeas + Shallots

warm enough to thaw my cold winter heart.

It's snowing as I type this. 

It has been spring for 19 days now and it's snowing. 

Half an hour ago I was wearing my heaviest winter coat. And a hat. And gloves.

Yesterday was 65 degrees. Tomorrow will probably feel like summer. 

Ugh.

Little known fact about me-- I will fall down in a spectacularly cartoonish manner at least once a winter. Taking a header on a patch of ice and pitching ass-backwards into a giant snow drift, or an equivalently embarrassing series of events.

But this year was different. 

Not because I spent the previous 11 months mastering my coordination skills, but because there was just too much damn snow.

Feet upon feet upon feet upon feet of snow. 

The sheer volume of which made falling down next to impossible.

Instead I spent two month rattling around endless ice and snow mazes (that used to be sidewalks) like a human pinball. 

Not necessarily better, but much less bruise-inducing.

Then the first day of "spring" came...

I accidentally wandered onto a continent-sized sheet of ice, slipped-- nearly dislocating both knees in the process, and dumped half a bag of groceries directly into the filthiest, deepest puddle of all time. 

And, just to add insult to literal injury, I tried to brace myself on a nearby snow pile but my arm went straight through to the still-frozen ground.

There I was, laying on the sidewalk with one arm stuck up to the shoulder in a pile of slush, one leg bent behind me, on the verge of tears, and wondering how bad it would be if I just slept there that night.

This is what spring in New England does to you.

It leaves you banged up (both in the head and on the body), pushing the borders of unhinged, and in need of some serious comforting.

It's the the soup-iest of soup weather.

bowl therapy.

crispy bits.

Soup:

1lb carrots (about 5-6), coarsely chopped

2 shallots, sliced into very thin rings

2 1/2c cooked chickpeas

4 cloves garlic, finely minced

2Tbsp olive oil

2tsp sea salt

1Tbsp sumac

2Tbsp ground cumin

3Tbsp fresh lemon juice

5-6c water

Toppers:

1c cooked chickpeas

1 shallot, thinly sliced

1Tbsp olive oil

2tsp sumac

2tsp cumin

1Tbsp fresh lemon juice

1-2tsp lemon zest

1/4tsp sea salt

Sugar-Crusted Turmeric Chili Stoneground Cornmeal Donuts

never not donuting.
Sugar-Crusted Turmeric Chili

Stoneground Cornmeal Donuts.

oh, the things you can donut (verb).

This may be hard to believe, but up until fairly recently, donuts didn't interest me much. It was an ill-conceived donut birthday cake project that first stirred something deep inside. The cake was an unmitigated disaster, but it's construction did require the purchase of a certain specialty kitchen item. I expected to use it only once, maybe twice, and then leave it to collect dust on a high shelf somewhere.

Best laid plans...

Not to get all swept up in pastry-based hyperbole, but owning a donut pan has 

CHANGED MY LIFE. 

It was a seismic shift with a hole smack dab in the center.

A new mission, clear as day-- everything in donut form, 

whenever and wherever possible.

seismic.

baking weather.

Sugar-Crusted Turmeric Chili

Stoneground Cornmeal Donuts

(makes one dozen)

Adapted from my Turmeric-Chili Stoneground Corn Muffins recipe. 

Because DONUTS.

dry:

1c all purpose flour

1c stoneground cornmeal

1/3c unrefined sugar

1Tbsp baking powder

1tsp finely ground sea salt

2tsp chili powder

1tsp turmeric

wet:

2Tbsp ground flax seeds

6Tbsp boiling water

1c non dairy milk

1/4c melted unrefined coconut oil + a little extra for greasing the donut pan

1tsp apple cider vinegar

topping:

3-4Tbsp extra sugar

1Tbsp crushed red pepper

72 Hours in NYC

will walk for local produce, good art, and (of course) donuts.
72 Hours in NYC.
(if we're not sleeping, we're probably eating.)

this is art.

 

Late November mother + daughter rituals. Pre-holiday southbound adventures.

A month's worth of walking, talking, eating, and museum going packed into three short days.  

Eat, eat, eat. 

Walk, walk, walk. 

Talk, talk, talk. 

Eat again. Walk again. Talk again. 

It's a trip from which we each need a full week of recovery.

It's the best of all possible traditions.

 

morning highline views.

through the tall grass.