Before Summer officially ended, I made a huge batch of Summer Corn Chowder. Using a few recipes for inspiration (the ever fabulous Ina Garten and a few others), I came up with this recipe. It is delicious, if I do say so myself. I ate it for about a week solid. I'm hoping to make it one last time before the leaves turn.
Ingredients:
Directions:
Rustic chic table setting:
Food detail drawing:
My favorite companion to soup:
I heart soup.
My father has one sister, Aunt Sissy. She is a prolific bread baker, reader, nurse, teacher, mother of four, dog-lover, and overall amazing woman. When I was going to college in Indiana, she was a 5 hour drive away in St. Louis. Their house was my home away from home when I was burnt out on being a college student (for what felt like a decade), overcoming college-angsty heartbreak or just homesick. The years I got to spend with them there (and my uncle and four cousins) are some of my most treasured memories. Whether it was taking my younger cousins to the movies, having "nights of beauty" where I'd dye my cousin Cara's hair and we'd experiment with makeup, or just reading on the couch and talking to my aunt and uncle. When she visited me in March to meet Henry, she brought a sourdough starter for me and taught us how to make her go-to no-knead sourdough recipe. The mad-scientist type process of having to feed the sourdough starter appealed to me, and the low effort for a delicious baked bread. I've made no-knead and kneading required breads before, but never with a starter. This one is delicious, and takes 5 minutes of preparation. You just need to find a starter or make one yourself!
My aunt uses a chopstick to stir the bread, and I'm a convert. Less shagginess to cling on to the utensil, and it does the job. Just plan ahead 14 - 20 hours ahead of time to allow for the rising, second rising and baking. Other than that, it is totally simple.
I follow the recipe linked above from Heather at A Real Food Lover. I just take one chopstick and mix 3-1/2 cups of bread flour, 1-1/2 cups of non-chlorinated water (I leave my Philly tap water out for 12 hours prior), 1/2 cup sourdough starter and 1-1/2 teaspoons of sea salt in a bowl. My preferred method is to stir everything vigorously and try to get all of the dough wet until it's in some semblance of a ball. However, it doesn't seem to matter. If there are dried bits of flour on the bottom though, it will mix in once your dough rises.
Cover it with plastic and let sit (room temperature) for 12 - 18 hours. Here is my dough after about 18 hours. Also note my really cute BKR water bottle that I love, but I accidentally dropped and broke (so need to purchase the glass bottle part again soon).
Take your dutch oven (oval shaped if you're lucky like me and have a pretty purple one from...you guessed it...Aunt Sissy) and spread butter all over the bottom and sides. Round would be fine too, it will just give you a different shaped bread. Sprinkle some cornmeal on the bottom and shake it so it hits the sides.
I have dumped the ball of dough into the dutch oven, or floured a surface and kneaded / folded it gently into a football shaped loaf. I had the same results both times. Either way, shape it into a loaf looking thing and center it in your dutch oven. Cover with the lid and let rise for 1-2 hours.
Heat oven to 500 degrees, and bake for 30 minutes with the lid on. After 30 minutes, take the lid off, and (very important here, folks) reduce heat to 450 degrees to get this nice crust. Do not forget this very important step and turn your loaf of homemade goodness into a burnt football. However, if you do as I did, you can scrape it off and still eat it. Might I suggest additional toasting and lots of butter?
If you do it correctly, the top will look like this. Mine doesn't spread out to fill the whole oven, but it still creates a beautiful shape. Let it cool uncovered or even taken out of the dutch oven, slice and enjoy! It is delicious warm from the oven, and also toasted with butter. But honestly, is there anything better than toasted bread with butter? It's the perfect accompaniment to a bowl of soup or a hearty salad.
It goes fast, so plan ahead to make more! I keep mine (after it's cooled) in the same dutch oven I baked it in with the lid on. This is also the perfect excuse to keep my beautiful Le Creuset oval oven out on the countertop.
I've said it before, but there is really something magical about making bread. There's an invisible thread that connects you to the millions before who created, passed on and taught this small act of providing sustenance to your family. It's the childlike glee I get to see the chemical process that creates something delicious out of a few ingredients, patience and time. And the smell in your home before, during and after the baking process.
Thank you, Aunt Sissy, for years passed and years to come of love and support. And thank for bringing me a jar of fermented sourdough hooch juice into my life and connecting me to something big, small and outside of the intensity of new motherhood. I love you always.
P.S. Hooch is the alcohol substance that can build up over your starter. It makes me laugh for no particular reason other than it sounds funny.
Many of my friends have expressed how hard it is to make good friends in their twenties and thirties. I agree that it can feel as awkward as dating at first! Unless, there is an activity. Honestly, I think that activities are the secret to making friends at any time in your life. You all have the excuse of being there to mingle, whether it's a volunteer group, kickball league, pub trivia teams or my favorites: book club and knitting group. I've definitely mentioned my lifelong friends made over the years thanks to Wednesday night knitting circle at Rosie's Yarn Cellar.
Weekly pub quiz (or Quizzo) in Philly for years introduced us to a wonderful group of men and women, and where I met my delightful Arch-Nemesis.
As a volunteer co-chair for the Delaware Valley Green Building Council, I made great professional connections, but realized that no matter what age, people usually bond post-meeting by eating, drinking beer and cracking jokes. They can hold their liquor and still speak quite intelligently on sustainability, energy grids, local government and policy.
So what does this have to do with crabs? Particularly Maryland Bay Seasoned Blue Crabs?
Last year, through friends of a friend, I added another wonderful group to my Philadelphia network, the Book-It Girls. A friend started a book club, and even though all of them don't enjoy reading as much as others of us, it has become a long-lasting and tight-knit group. What a welcome surprise as I entered my 33rd year. I'm actually one of the older ladies in this group, so it's nice to have younger group of friends, especially as many of my friends are having babies, moving away, etc. (I realize the irony of this now that I am having a baby...)
The members of our book club attended a Bridal Shower / Bachelorette Weekend in Annapolis, Maryland this weekend to celebrate our founder's upcoming wedding. We attended a laid back shower in an open barn with gorgeous weather. One of the girls even brought along her 2 month old twins and husband.
After the shower, we went to an All-You-Can-Eat Crab dinner, then dancing and drinking (excluding me!) past midnight. It was a blast, and my baby bump and I enjoyed breaking it down on the dance floor while I'm still feeling good!
It may sound sappy, but it makes me so happy to have amazing friends in my life, and still be meeting new ones unexpectedly over the years. Not being from Philadelphia, we had to create a new network almost from scratch. After 8 years, we're still meeting new people, and seeing how intertwined all of our groups of friends are. Knitting overlaps with Sustainability and Book Club, etc.. until they're all just friends.
The Book Club girls have become the kind that you feel comfortable to talk about anything with, to have slumber parties in hotels, and to go buck wild on an epic breakfast on the road trip home after your abs hurt from laughing 24 hours straight.
Lesson learned: when moving or looking for new friends, join a club! Good times.
Tonight is the revealing of Open Air, a 3-D Light Installation art project on Philly's Ben Franklin Parkway. There will be live music, food trucks, and a light show visible from 10 miles away. It should be fun! I'm even skipping the première f my favorite show, Parks and Recreation! However, I have a firm rule that TV should never take precedent over real life! I got into Parks and Rec a couple of seasons ago, and it is in my opinion, the funniest show on TV currently. The writing is hysterical, the entire cast so strong, and the humor is quirky but also broad-reaching. The "Treat Yo Self" clip below is one of my favorites.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsABTmT1_M0]
Speaking of treating yo' self, I did last month! When one of my favorite internet friends, Suzy, posted some beautiful new necklaces in her shop, I jumped to get this lapis one below. I've been wanting some longer necklaces to wear, and this one is perfect for me.
I also treated myself to what I consider the best Fall Salad in pretty much the history of the world (without exaggerating too much).
It's the Grove salad from Andrew Swallow's lovely book, Mixt. It has greens, honeycrisp apples, Asian pears, pomegranate seeds, goat cheese (I like that better than blue cheese), spiced candied walnuts and a champagne vinaigrette. I find that whenever I make and eat this salad, I stop every 3 bites to exclaim, "My God, this is the most amazing salad E-V-E-R!". My converts who I hoist this salad on agree wholeheartedly, or perhaps know that I'll un-friend them if they disagree!
Julia Child's Mushroom Quiché with the salad is pretty extraordinary as well. Quiché has become my soup of the warmer months. It also makes an amazing leftover or work lunch.
P.S. Thank you so much for your sweet comments about our news! It means so much to me.
During one particularly uncertain summer at work, I made membership cards for an Ice Cream Social Club to lighten things up. Anyone could join the club, as long as you vowed to eat one type of frozen treat each Friday from Memorial Day to Labor Day. We called it Ice Cream Friday: A Summer Social Event for all 50 States. A super obvious moniker combined with a ridiculously long and slightly Southern inspired tagline.
Without further ado, I invite you all to partake in as much ice cream or any other frozen treat this summer. Unfortunately, the membership cards are long gone (and they were laminated too!), but I drew up the instructions below.
Rules: Eat something cold once per week, preferably on Friday. That's it. Anything counts!
This year's inaugural cone was a decadent peach scoop in a sugar cone at Philly's Franklin Fountain. It was so delicious, I urged a few people in line to follow my lead on that selection.
Maybe I'll even try out my ice cream attachment to my stand mixer this year. I'll add that to my summer to-do list.
Though I didn't get around to making official new year's resolutions, I did make a promise to myself to eat more fruits and veggies this year. Okay, mainly veggies. I need next to no help in the fruit department.
When I was home in Florida for Christmas, I got it in my head that I needed to start drinking morning smoothies. After obsessively researching the pros and cons of juicers versus blenders, I was ready to get a blender.
I bought a Ninja blender on sale. It was a great deal, is easy to clean, quite powerful, and is 1/4 of the price of the holy grail of blenders, The Vitamix. I was so excited about my purchase, I dropped the box (still fine), and convinced my best friend's hubby to buy one too. Coincidentally, he dropped his Ninja box while making fun of my snafu (his blender is also still fine).
I also like that "The Ninja" is the roller coaster in St. Louis that Uncle Steve finally convinced me to ride, and became the start of my lifelong roller coaster career.
I've used it 5 times a week since January 1st and cannot complain. It's loud, but for less than a hundred bucks, I don't mind. (Thankfully, my neighbor doesn't mind either).
Dr. Oz's Green Drink is my new favorite breakfast. I like to add a lot of ginger for an energizing and refreshing kick. It takes some getting used to, but by the end of the first glass, you're weirdly craving it. If you try it and it's too intense at first, mix some honey in there, or a bit of orange juice until you get used to it.
I also started putting spinach in all my other smoothies as well. It's a great way to get vitamins into your drink with a mild taste. I also like using non-sweetened almond milk, plain yogurt, frozen berries, bananas and whatever else is in my fridge that is looking a bit peaked.
One tip I found for frozen bananas is to slice them before you freeze them. What a revelation! I've been accused of keeping rotten black bananas (the best for baking!) in my freezer by Mike for years.
Wheat germ is also good if you want some folic acid and substance. Chia seeds are something everyone swears by, but it makes your smoothie a bit gelatin-y if you let it sit for too long. But I hear it makes a great pudding!
Since I've been drinking my morning smoothies, I think I've felt more alert in the mornings (still love my morning cup of coffee too). If you're looking to eat more healthfully, it also sets the tone for the day. You've already eaten about 5 servings of vegetables and fruit before lunch. Not too shabby, and low on calories if you're watching your weight. I found my clothes fitting much better after a few months of this, and believe me, I was eating plenty otherwise.
I've found that smoothie and juicing fans love to share their favorite recipes. Feel free to point me in the direction of yours!
I should blame my unanticipated absence my new role at work, my volunteer position, an event I helped plan, the twice weekly Spanish lessons I'm taking, and a baby shower I'm throwing. But it mainly comes down to one thing. Feeding the pantry and food storage obsession.
Most of my recent daydreams have been dedicated to what whole grains and bulk bin items I can scoop out and store in the carefully cleaned out jars I've been saving over the years. I dream about having matching jars found on sale somewhere that I know the contents of by sight, or with handwritten labels since I'm not a label-maker type of girl (excluding one workday frenzy with name labels and the P-Touch).
I'm using my new reference book, Rebecca Wood's The New Whole Foods Encyclopedia, to get ideas of how to incorporate new foods and grains into my diet.
Last week I brought home beautiful poppy seeds that I just wanted to put my hands in. They're blue, purple, black and oh so tiny and susceptible to static cling.
Citrus is in season, so I snagged some tangerines for an avocado, grapefruit, radish, arugula and citrus salad. I was inspired by this delicious and refreshing version by Martha Stewart. It reminds me of home, when I used to have a ruby-red grapefruit and orange tree in our backyard until the citrus canker hit Florida. Our neighbors traded us for mangoes, avocados and tangerines. That was the life!
Big ruby reds were always my favorite. Fresh picked while warm, eaten first and then juiced for the finale. Always with a teeny bit of sugar, though it barely needed it.
I tried out a red lentil and carrot soup for lunch this week. It was healthy, tasty, filling and easy to make. Fits the bill for my busy week! Avocados have had constant rotation in my morning smoothies of late as well.
Lastly, the beautiful blood orange. They're so pretty on the inside, but aren't my favorite tasting citrus. However, I keep buying them to add dimension to other colors and flavors, and you know I'm a sucker for pretty colors!
¡Qué alimentos bonitos! (What pretty food! I told you I was taking Spanish!)
I officially became obsessed with pomegranates this year. I first realized that it was a full blown obsession when I started stocking up on 6 at a time.
I rationalized that I wanted to make good use of the 3 for $5 sale at the grocery store. But then a man walked up mistakenly to my cart, saw the fruit, and hollered to his wife in shock and disdain, “Elaine, what the heck is wrong with you? Why would anyone need so many pomegranates?!”
Poor Elaine and her frustrated husband! I found it hysterical, it still makes me snicker. I jumped over to the cart to defend my loot, and we all had a hearty laugh about the mix-up.
Last week, I contemplated buying 8, but felt that equated to crazy cat lady type numbers in regards to fruit. Though at least this addiction is full of antioxidants!
I love to eat them in a little bowl with a spoon. They're incredible sprinkled over Andrew Swallow's Grove Salad from Mixt. They're a great addition for a crunch pop in a fruit salad, or over yogurt and granola.
I’m the type of person who does all the work of seeding the pomegranates first, and enjoying the literal fruits of my labor later.
I’ve sketched up my current present way of removing the arils (in a bowl to avoid stains, and in front of my television because that’s how I roll, but on the floor because I love my sofa). It’s a relaxing, meditative like ritual, and the arils keep well in the refrigerator.
Though my way works for me now, I’m absolutely trying this easy and logical technique via Apartment Therapy's The Kitchn next time. Hopefully, there is a next time. I don't know when they go out of season, but I nearly shed tears at ShopRite last week when I thought they were out.
Can you tell how much fun I had with my hot pink inks?! I forgot how much I miss drawing. I can't wait to do more this year.
A few years ago, I got really into cooking soup. After a long, cold day, I love the process of unwinding by chopping up some vegetables and warming up in the kitchen by cooking a vat of homemade soup in my Staub La Cocotte French Oven. To me, chopping vegetables and adding layers of flavor into a soup is so calming. Plus, I love using my beloved La Cocotte, which was a gift from my sweet Mom at my bridal shower.
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Based on my past love for the Baby Sitters Club book series circa 1989, the urge to have some type of club always fascinated me. My friend, Olivia always teases me about this proclivity, but I tell her I know she just wants to be Vice President of my Soup Club! (Note to self: add "start a soup club" to Life List)
I made this beloved Butternut Squash and Cannellini Bean Soup so many times last winter, that I needed something new to change it up. Eager to use up my leftovers before they spoiled, I made up this soup from a conglomeration of various recipes.
I went for a really unique name here, can't you tell? Butternut Squash Soup.
Ingredients:
Directions:
This soup was quite spicy (add 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of dried red pepper for a mellower flavor). Also, adding those 2 - 3 tablespoons of heavy cream make a huge difference. One of my favorite celebrity chefs, Giada, would surely call it "silkiness". I would have to agree. Regardless, every time I use a dash of heavy cream, I feel like a pro and end up proclaiming,"Heavy cream makes everything taste better!" Within reason, of course. And don't look at the nutrition facts while you're pouring.
The great thing about soup is that it's nearly impossible to screw up. It's easy to share with friends if you have enough Tupperware, and there are infinite variations.