Perszyk+ » Food

The Devils Tower Cake, go around number 2 or 3?

Riley — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 02:37:29 +0000

I can’t remember how many times I’ve had a Devils tower cake, I can remember two times but I’m not sure if there were more. But for my 22nd birthday this was my awesome cake, made from Chocolate muffin mix to confer more strength to the cake and to make it taste awesome… the only bad thing was that I ended up eating almost all of it myself. The dissection of the tower was especially fun.

I Made My Mom Proud!

Amelia — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 02:31:59 +0000

Last night, I had my mom and friend Laura over for dinner. Since Riley and I have been making a habit of eating dinner at home to save money (and just be generally healthier people), when my friend Laura wanted to do dinner I suggested I make it instead of going out (I also have our recent vacation to see Tysen & Kathryn to blame for my drive to cook dinner for people because Kathryn is so awesome at it).

After looking through cookbooks and magazines, I decided to go with a Southwestern theme (as sad as it is, I’ve never planned an entire meal start to finish before without help).

The Menu (All Made by Me!):

1. Chicken and Black Bean Quesadillas (Riley’s was made with Chik’n & Avacado instead, yummy)

2. Mexican Rice

3. Tex-Mex Panzanella

4. Mixed Greens w/ Homemade Lime Dressing

5. Tomatillo Salsa

I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised with the tomatillo salsa, it was so easy to make and delicious!

Here are some pictures of the dinner, Enjoy!

Recipe Resources

Kathryn — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 03:47:02 +0000

I have several cooking blogs in my Google feed reader which inspire me daily to try new ingredients and recipes. Recently family members have been turning to me for vegetarian meal ideas, so I thought I would share some of my inspirations with you.

Gimme some of that yummy food mommeee!

The Kitchn – this blog is part of the Apartment Therapy blog series and pulls from many blogs. There are often 10-15 posts in a day, so only add this blog to your feed reader if you can keep up. They address all kinds of topics (cleaning, cooking, alcoholic beverages, sweet treats, meats, cheeses, and more) and answer reader questions. They scope out many other cooking blogs/news articles and condense the information on their blog. I often skim through their posts, but something usually catches my eye and is saved for later to be tried out.

Smitten Kitchen – I’ve tried a couple of her recipes recently and have had great results (Tomato Corn Pie and Barley Risotto w/ beans and greens). I love the way these posts are organized with pictures both of the finished result and several shots of the different cooking steps. Not all her recipes are vegetarian.

101 Cookbooks – One of the more recent blogs to enter my feed reader, this blog shares recipes focused on natural, whole foods and is vegetarian. I think the only thing I’ve made is the Double Broccoli Quinoa, but I have many other recipes saved for another day. Again, the photography on this blog makes me want to cook, and the stories behind the recipe are nice to read as well.

Two Blue Lemons – A vegetarian/vegan recipe blog with emphasis on cooking with fresh food from local farmers’ markets written by two sisters. I’ve tried several recipes (Tostones, Taquitos, Peach/Blackberry and Mango Lassi ice cream, Honey Apple Challah, and others I can’t remember) and saved many more. I love this blog for its fresh ideas and emphasis on eating in season.

Bakerella – So this blog is more fun than nutritious and good for you. Bakerella’s site rose to fame with her adorable (and tasty) cake pops. I had previously made cake balls, and at some point stumbled on this blog and fell in love with all her creativity. While I haven’t made cake pops, I’ve made cupcake bites several times due to their demand by friends and co-workers. I’ll probably never make the cute shaped cake pops, but her treats are fun and inspiring to look at.

Bake or Break – Bake or Break’s posts are similar in format to Smitten Kitchen, and I’ve saved many of her posts and am eager to bake her treats for birthdays and special occasions. Again, this is not a health food site, but if you need to satisfy your sweet tooth, check out the archives for something great. I’ve made Cookies & Cream Cheesecakes and I can’t remember what else…although, maybe I’ve just salivated over the rest!

ChowMama – Great blog for ideas on baby food with adaptations for allergy sensitive ingredients. We’ve made Zucchini Orzo Risotto, Orange Cardamom French Toast, Sesame Noodles, Edamame Hummus, Sweet Potato Muffins w/ Cream Cheese Filling, Pumpkin Walnut Cream Cheese, Cheddar Crackers – although mine never turned out right, and Fresh Corn and Ricotta Crostini, and you’ll enjoy the food as well as your baby/child. I made all of Arcadia’s baby food, except when we traveled, and believe home made food is the best thing for babies. Plus, I think it has contributed to Arcadia eating everything we give her and eating such a great diet.

Food Network – This is not a blog, but a great recipe source. When we had cable TV, I could sit and watch the food network channel for hours. My favorite hosts/chefs are Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa) and Giada DeLaurentis – I know that their recipes always turn out well and are extra tasty. Recently I made Ina’s Buttermilk-Cheddar Biscuits and they were delicious. I’ve also made her Lentil Soup and can’t remember what else. Tysen really likes Giada, but that’s more for her looks. I don’t recall what I’ve made of hers, but I know it was good.

Plus, for more inspiration or to see what’s inspiring me, you can check out my new ‘Recipe Box‘ on the blog — check out the link at the top of the blog. Basically its a place where I can save and tag all the recipes I come across so that I can easily find and make them later. If we’ve tried the recipe, I’ve included a ‘tried’ tag. This recipe listing doesn’t include all the recipes I’ve found on the internet, but I’m hoping to build a nice collection moving forward. Enjoy!

Cookbooks for Christmas

Kathryn — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 22:09:20 +0000

Bear with us as we figure out how to format this better, I’m stumped and am about to maul the computer.

This year I received several new cookbooks. I have been reading through them and trying out some new recipes. Here’s what I got, with some early reviews:

Whole Grain Baking: Delicious Recipes Using Nutritious Whole Grains

by King Arthur Flour

While this book is cumbersome (based on the picture and description I had no idea there would be 612pages!); however, there are lots of ideas and good foot notes for working with the various flours to make all the different types of baked goods. So far I’ve made Lemon-Barley Scones (pg. 88) and Banana-Oat Pancakes (pg. 8). Both were very good, although Tysen’s comment on the scones were that they were too moist, not dry like he remembers scones being. The main focus of this book is substituting a lot if not all of the white flour called for in recipes with whole grain flours (whole wheat, barley, buckwheat, rice, rye, spelt, oat, and corn). I’d already been substituting half of my all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour in breads and muffins, but now I have a lot more options. I’m going to have to come up with some spiffy storage system to contain all my flour types in the near future!

Simply in Season Expanded Edition (World Community Cookbook)

by: Cathleen Hockman-Wert and Mary Beth Lind

I’m in love with this cook book. With it being winter, the lackluster produce selection at the grocery store has left me missing our CSA from last year. I didn’t sign up for the winter share which started last week because I was feeling overwhelmed at the prospect of all the various winter greens we were going to get. Now that I have this cookbook, I think I could manage and create some delicious meals. So far, I’ve made Red Taters and Green Grannies (pg. 253), Company Muffins (pg. 232), Nutty Sweet Potato Waffles (pg. 234), Potato Soup (pg. 236), and Wild Rice Vegetable Bake (pg. 261). The waffles and soup were great. I even froze a 4 waffle portion of the batter so that waffles could be made again at a later date. I’m looking forward to the Spring CSA starting up April 1^st.

More-With-Less Cookbook (World Community Cookbook)

by Doris Janzen Longacre

I’ve just started reading this book. Actually, until this Christmas, I never read cookbooks; I always just perused them for recipes. But this year’s books all have good intros explaining why you should change your eating habits (i.e. skip pre-packaged and convenience foods, eat more whole grains, eat complete proteins – important for vegetarians, etc.). My only complaint about this book is its religious background. I nod right along with the author when she harps on the North American diet, but I could do without the references to Jesus. I just made Cinnamon-topped Oatmeal Muffins (pg. 71) this morning and both Arcadia and Tysen had one and they enjoyed them.

On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen

by Harold McGee

This book is still sitting on our bookshelf waiting to be read. It is also a much longer book that I expected at 896 pages; however, I’m looking forward to reading it. Over the last several years I have enjoyed trying new recipes and cooking for my family, and I think becoming knowledgeable about the science behind my cooking will help me branch out to try new things in the kitchen (gasp – without a recipe!). We’ll see.

Tysen & Kathryn are Not the Only Ones Who “Do” CSA

Sara — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 21:13:48 +0000

Here is a picture of our half-share of our Florida CSA. As I have described, it is a “hole-in-the-wall” farm near our offices. Winter crops have been a lot (repeat A LOT) of greens, some of which I cannot eat (end up doubled over in belly pain). Plus, they don’t tell us what we are getting ahead of time. Oh well, there are better CSAs in the area, just not close enough to make it worth it to sign up.