Oh, I so owe Gomez.

Actually, I owe all of you. I don’t know what happened to me; it isn’t as though I quit baking, cooking, reading about cooking/baking, eating out and taking pictures of cooking/baking. Damn loss of momentum!

Anyway, I promise to be better if you promise to come back and check the blog a couple times a week because I guarantee you that there will be three new posts a week (mostly on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays). And to celebrate the return of my attention to said blog, let me tell you about berry season here in Quebec. It’s B-A-N-A-N-A-S, y’all.*

Matt and I have been up to our ears in strawberries (fraises), raspberries (framboises) and blueberries (bluets). With the blueberries alone, I have made muffins, coffee cake and gelato. YES, GELATO. This week I rummaged through one of my favorite cookbooks/food memoirs and tried out an amazing pound cake.

You know how most pound cakes, despite their deliciousness, don’t have that amazing tight crumb? They fall apart on you, or are a bit dry? I can assure you that this one does not; in fact, I can assure you that it is so insanely moist, you’ll wonder if you’ve just been eating terrible pound cakes your entire life. And in high berry season, it’s perfect to bring to barbecues.

So here you go, Gomez and my other gentle readers, a berry pound cake from me to you. It may not be Valentine’s day but it is truly from the heart.

*yeah, I quoted Gwen Stefani. Wanna fight about it?

Blueberry-Raspberry Pound Cake

courtesy of Molly Wizenberg

2 cups plus 8 tbl. cake flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

5 large eggs

1 2/3 cups sugar

2 1/2 sticks (10 oz.) unsalted butter, diced, at room temperature

2 tbl. kirsch (I subbed cassis because it was what I had)

1 cup blueberries, rinsed and dried well

1 cup raspberries, rinsed and dried well

Set an oven rack to the middle position, and preheat the oven to 300F. Butter a standard-sized 9-cup Bundt pan and dust it with flour, shaking out any excess. (If your pan is nonstick, you can get away with a simple coating of cooking spray, no flour needed.)

In a medium bowl, whisk together 2 cups plus 6 tablespoons flour, the baking powder, and salt.

In the bowl of a food processor, blend the eggs and sugar until thick and pale yellow, about 1 minute. Add the butter and kirsch, and blend until the mixture is fluffy, about 1 minute, stopping once to scrape down the sides of the bowl. If the mixture looks curdled, don’t worry. Add the dry ingredients and process just to combine. Do not overmix. The butter should be thick and very smooth.

In a large bowl, toss the berries with the remaining 2 tablespoons flour. Pour the batter  over the berries, and, using a rubber spatula, gently fold to combine, taking care that all the flour is absorbed. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, spreading it evenly across the top. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the cake’s center comes out clean, 1 hour to 1 1/4 hours.

Transfer the cake to a rack, and cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Carefully invert the cake out of the pan onto the rack, and cool for at least 20 minutes before slicing. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

Matt has warned me that while April seems the promise of sunlight, blue skies and green trees, here in Quebec, this is not so. April here is a time of the occasional super warm day, the chilly nights and blasted days of grey skies. I mean, if a day must be overcast (and some must, I know), then at least let it rain. Let there be a reason for all the greyness. Because if it rains, then I can make large mugs of coffee, settle in on the couch and read. Or, alternatively, I can make soups or muffins.

Especially muffins like these. Citrusy, tart from the raspberries, soft buttermilk cake, these were wonderful on a dreary Sunday. Admittedly, I wished I had some nonstick baking spray instead of Cinderella muffin liners (what? Matt bought those, not I!). And I also wished that I knew why during baking they seemed to leak excess butter in the bottoms of the pan. Regardless, they were yummy. It was a taste of spring in a muffin. A promise that not every day will be grey and if I am just lucky, then there might be some sunshine in my future after all. Or at the very least, some sunshine in my baked goods.

Raspberry-Topped Lemon Muffins
Adapted from Susan Elizabeth Fallon via Bon Appetit, July 2006

Yield: 14 large or 56 miniature muffins

1 1/8 cups sugar, divided
4 teaspoons finely grated lemon peel (from two large lemons)
2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large egg
1 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 1/2-pint containers (about) fresh raspberries

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line 14 standard muffin cups (or 56 minis) with paper liners. Mash 1/8 cup sugar and lemon peel in small bowl until sugar is slightly moist. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat remaining 1 cup sugar and butter in large bowl until smooth. Beat in egg. Beat in buttermilk, then vanilla and lemon sugar. Beat in flour mixture.

Divide batter among muffin cups (the 2/3-3/4 level worked well for minis). Top each large muffin with 4 raspberries (or mini muffins with one each). Bake muffins until lightly browned on top and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 35 minutes (baking time was on the shy side of 20 minutes for mini muffins).

It’s not entirely warm yet here in Canada. The days are sunny but the wind is still fierce and the temperatures are still brisk.

And while I know chocolate is good at all times, sometimes I want something fresher, tarter. Something that utilizes the first batches of berries that are starting to peek their little heads up at my local markets. Of course, since the weekend usually means eggs or pancakes, maybe I don’t want those.

Maybe I want berry breakfast bars instead.

Raspberry Crumb Breakfast Bars

Adapted from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking

originally seen on Smitten Kitchen

For the crust and crumb:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 1/4 cups rolled oats
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces

For the raspberry filling:
1/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 pound raspberries, fresh or frozen
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Make the crust and crumb: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9-by-13-inch glass or light-colored metal baking pan. Put a long piece of parchment paper in the bottom of the pan, letting the parchment extend up the two short sides of the pan and overhang slightly on both ends. (This will make it easy to remove the bars from the pan after they have baked.) Butter the parchment.

Put the flour, brown sugar, oats, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon in a food processor. Pulse in short bursts until combined. Add the butter and pulse until loose crumbs form.

Reserve 1 1/2 cup of the mixture and set aside. (Note: The book suggests you reserve one cup only. My gut told me that was too little, and I upped it. I wanted to make sure the top of the raspberries were mostly covered, at least for packing purposes, and was glad I had changed it.) Pour the rest of the mixture into the prepared pan and use your hans or the back of a large wooden spoon to push the crust into an even layer at the bottom of the pan. The crust should touch the sides of the pan. Bake until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let the crust cool. Keep the oven on while you make the raspberry filling.

Make the raspberry filling: In a medium bowl, whisk the sugar, lemon zest, cinnamon and flour together. Add the raspberries, lemon juice and butter and use your hands to toss gently until the raspberries are evenly coated.

Assemble and bake the bars: Spread the raspberry filling evenly on top of the cooled crust. Sprinkle the reserved crust mixture evenly on top of the filling.

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, rotating the pan every 15 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the filling starts to bubble around the edges.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely, then cut into squares and serve. The bars can be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to two days.

I have never had much luck with yeast. Sometimes it pulls through for me and gives me the rise I need for whatever recipe I happen to be futzing with that day. And other times….well, Disappointment City.

When I prepped this variation of rugelach, I was worried that I’d be saddle with sadness, instead of a stretchy, tender dough. I am pleased to say that I was wrong. I copped this recipe from food blog titans, Smitten Kitchen and the Pioneer Woman, and oh man, was it ever worth it. Admittedly, not as good as a cinnamon roll, but damn near.

Now it didn’t make as many as directed, but it sure made plenty for Matt to take to work. (Seriously, how popular am I now at that office?) I omitted the currants mostly because it already had chocolate, cinnamon-sugar, nuts and raspberry jam—not to mention the cream cheese frosting. Dried fruit just seemed one more thing too many for me.

And then I made pie. Good old fashioned Southern chess pie.

Add some orange zest and juice and you have got yourself a sweet-tart custardy pie. Brew up the coffee because this pie needs it.

Ranch Rugelach

courtesy of Pioneer Woman AND Smitten Kitchen

Dough
2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil (I haven’t tried this with melted butter instead, but if you do, let us know how it goes)
1/2 cup sugar
1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour plus plenty of extra for flouring the surface
1/2 heaping (slightly more) teaspoon baking powder
1/2 scant (slightly less) teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Filling
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup light or dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup jelly or jam (raspberry and/or apricot are traditional, but anything you like will work), divided
6 tablespoons salted butter melted (or unsalted, with a pinch of salt in it), divided
1 cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans (although there’s no reason you can’t use any other nut you prefer), divided
2/3 cup finely chopped semisweet chocolate or miniature chocolate chips, divided (optional, but use slightly more dried fruit if you’re omitting this)
2/3 cup dried currants or chopped dark raisins, divided

Glaze
3 tablespoons butter, softened
3 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup milk, approximately

Make the dough: Mix the milk, vegetable oil and 1/2 cup sugar in a large pot, and heat it until just before it boils. Turn off the heat, remove the pot from the burner, and let it cool for 45 minutes to one hour. When the mixture is lukewarm, sprinkle in the yeast and let it sit for a minute or two before adding the four cups of flour. Stir the mixture together, cover the pot and let it sit for at least an hour. After an hour the dough should be a giant, puffy but still pretty wet. Add another 1/2 cup of flour, the baking powder, baking soda and salt and stir the mixture together. Either use it right away, or cover the dough and put it in the fridge until you’re ready to use it — overnight or up to a day or two. If it starts to overflow in the pot, press it down.

Roll out the dough: Generously flour a large counter — the dough is very wet and sticky. Dump half the dough onto it, flour your rolling pin well, and roll the dough into a large rectangle about 24 inches wide and as thin as you get it in the other direction (ours ended up about 12 inches deep).

Fill the rolls: Generously spray two 12-cup muffin tins with a cooking spray, or butter them well. Go ahead and spray the flat part too, so if your jam bubbles out of the buns, it will be easier to scrub off. (This is what years of a dishwasher-less experience will teach you!)

Stir together the 1/3 cup sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon and set it aside. Spread one half of your jam evenly over the dough, leaving a 1/2-inch margin at the wider ends. (If your jam is cold from the fridge, you can heat it slightly in a small saucepan or in the microwave, not until bubbling hot but until warm enough to easily spread.)

Drizzle three tablespoons melted butter over the jam layer. (Although it would be intuitive to do it in the other order, I was concerned that the jam wouldn’t spread well over the slick melted butter. Plus, I wanted the melted butter to mingle with the cinnamon sugar, as it would in a traditional cinnamon roll. Drooling yet?)

Sprinkle the jam and butter layer with 1/4 cup of the cinnamon-sugar mixture, then half of the nuts, half the chocolate and half the dried fruit.

Starting with the wider side of the rectangle (the one that should be 24 inches), begin to tightly roll the dough, incorporating the filling. Once it is fully rolled up, cut it into two-inch segments with a sharp knife (a serrated knife works great here). Place one in each muffin cup. Sprinkle the tops of the rolls with a tablespoon of the cinnamon-sugar mixture and set the tin aside to puff some more, about 20 to 30 minutes. (You could loosely cover it with plastic wrap, but we didn’t bother.)

Repeat this process with the other half of the dough, and the remaining filling ingredients.

Preheat your oven to 350°F.

Bake the rolls: Bake your rolls for 15 to 20 minutes, until they’re golden at the edges and the filling looks bubbly. (I was using a convection oven at the Lodge, which is nothing like my oven at home so your baking time may vary. Look for a nice color and that bubbling filling before you take them out.)

Let the rolls mostly cool on a rack.

Make the glaze: Beat the butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla together in a bowl with an electric mixture until fluffy. From here, you can either spread this frosting on your lukewarm buns, or thin it with milk until it is more of a drizzling consistency. Eat one at once.

Orange Buttermilk Chess Pie

For the cream cheese pie dough:

5 tbl. unsalted butter, room temperature

1 (3. 0z) pkg. cream cheese, room temperature

2 tbl. granulated sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup AP flour

1/4 tsp. baking powder

For the filling:

4 eggs

2 cups granulated sugar

1 tbl. cornmeal

1 tbl. AP flour

1/2 tsp. salt

zest from 1 orange

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1/4 cup buttermilk

3 tbl. balsamic vinegar (trust me; it makes a simple pie CLASSY)

1 1/2 tbl. fresh orange juice

1 1/2 tbl. lemon juice

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

To prepare the dough:

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter, cream cheese, sugar and salt. Sift together the flour and baking powder, then on slow speed, add in the mixture. Let it mix, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary, until the ingredients come together and the dough is formed. Gather the dough into a ball, press into a disk, wrap in plastic and chill until needed. Let dough rest for a few minutes at room temperature before rolling out. Roll out between two sheets of parchment paper into an 11-inch circle. Remove the paper and transfer the dough to a 9-inch pie pan. Trim the excess dough and flute the edge. Chill until ready to use.

To prepare the filling:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs. Whisk in the sugar, cornmeal, flour, salt and orange zest until well-combined. Whisk in the butter, buttermilk, vinegar, orange juice, lemon juice and vanilla extract. Stir until fully combined.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pie shell and bake for 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to 300, rotate the pan and cook for 20 to 30 minutes, until the filling is just set in the center and slightly brown on top. (If the edges of the crust begin to get too brown, cover the edges only with aluminum foil.) The pie will firm up as it cools.

Ah, Fridays. Sometimes Matt cooks and sometimes we both just plunder fridge, freezer and cabinet to find whatever we can. Last night’s dinner was sort of like that. Some homemade jarred pesto stored in the freezer (thawed, obviously), leftover fresh mozzarella, lingering tomatoes and the very dregs of a bag of frozen peas. Add all that to odds’n'ends of pasta and you have…I don’t know; I never thought of a name for it.

The same application—only with leftover herb butter and some fresh garlic—was done to a nice large loaf of day-old bread.

Would you call what we did a recipe? I would call it: “I am starving and this is what we have. Let’s eat and play Dance Dance Revolution now, please.”

So I took a two-month hiatus…mainly because I am not sure what to do about this blog thing; I enjoy doing it, I just don’t enjoy doing it for the sake of very little reward.

ANYway, I have never made a layer cake from scratch. Oh, sure, me and Betty Crocker have totally hung out together in the past but I have always been of the mindset that making a layer cake from scratch was just too torturous. There are entirely too many pitfalls in the world of cake-making. I don’t deal with failure well so having a cake burn, slump or fall apart on me was asking for a meltdown. Nevertheless, I decided yesterday that I wanted cake and by God, I didn’t want to buy box mix nor purchase ready-made. So I set to and made a cake.

I would like to say that Matt’s opinion for deliciousness of cake counts but sadly it doesn’t. My husband is a notorious sweets freak so it could have been frosting covering styrofoam and he’d've gone ape-poopy. It was very delicious from my standpoint, however. I only made a few adjustments to the recipe. I have the worst luck with egg white-whipping so I ended up using three whites instead of two, which meant three yolks in the batter as well. I didn’t have any walnuts or sliced almonds on hand so I dumped some ground almond flour in there instead. Also, the frosting? Not very impressed. It was too runny for my tastes. I would find a better one if I made this again.

And who am I kidding? Despite it being super yummy, I probably won’t make this again. (I am infamous for rarely making things more than once. There are too many recipes out there for me to stick to just one!)

Banana Nut Cake with Fudge Frosting

2 eggs, separated

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

4 very ripe bananas, mashed

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 3/4 cups AP flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 cup sour cream

1 tsp. baking soda

1 cup chopped walnuts or sliced almonds (pecans would probably work just as well, too)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter the bottom of a two 8-inch or 9-inch cake pans and line with parchment paper; butter the paper.

In a medium bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff but not dry. Set aside. In a separate mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg yolks one at a time, then beat in the bananas and vanilla. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl or cup, stir together the sour cream and baking soda. Add the flour mixture to the banana mixture in two or three parts, alternating with the sour cream mixture. Fold in the nuts, then the egg whites.

Spread the batter in the prepared pans. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until a tester is inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, then remove cakes from pans and cool completely on wire racks. When cool, assemble and frost with Fudge Frosting.

Fudge Frosting

3 tbl. butter

3 (1-ounce) squares unsweetened or bittersweet chocolate

1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar (or more)

5 tbl. hot milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

pinch of salt

In a small saucepan over low or in the microwave, melt the butter with the chocolate, stirring regularly and watching carefully to prevent scorching. Set aside. Place the sugar in a mixing bowl and beat in the hot milk. Beat in the butter and chocolate mixture, then beat in the vanilla and salt. If the frosting is too thin, beat up to 1/2 more cup of sugar to achieve desired thickness.

Welcome to the 200th entry, y’all.

Even though it’s nutritionally useless, I rather like eggplant. Pureed, you have the beginnings of a dip; grilled, it’s very portobello mushroom-like; and here, sauteed with basil, garlic and tomatoes, it makes for a really lovely sort-of pasta sauce. Eggplant is another one of those veggies I am glad to have introduced my husband to. When I use it in a recipe, he likes it and often remarks about how he likes it. That being said, he could do anything he likes to it too and it would be just as tasty. Seriously though, this is very good and fairly easy to make for that vegan/vegetarian in your life.

As you know, I am more a fan of veggies than I am of meat. I love trying out new ones, seeing if I like them or not, or seeing if I may like it better if cooked a different way. Sadly, that is what I am hoping happens with the broccoli rabe (aka rapini). Yes, I am aware that is a fairly bitter vegetable, which why you blanch it or serve with something that compliments the sharp flavor. And I figured you couldn’t go wrong with lots of garlic, crushed red pepper and salt. And sauteed, for God’s sake. Most leafy veggies taste unbelievably good sauteed. Nuh-uh, not broccoli rabe.

Matt and I’s initial impression was that we glad to have tried out a new veggie but right now: NOT FOR US. I will thumb through some treasured cookbooks and see if there’s anything out there that may change my mind. You want an analogy for broccoli rabe? Collards (which I don’t like) and kale (which I do).

I am really glad to have made it to 200 entries. I hope that if you’re out there reading, I’d appreciate if you could leave comments from time to time. So far it feels like speaking to an empty room. In any case, I am glad to have my awesome husband by my side. He’s my guinea pig and my honey bunny.

Eggplant, La Tavernetta Style

2 lb. eggplant of any variety, the smallest you can find

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 cloves garlic, slivered

12 good cherry tomatoes, halved, or a couple of plum tomatoes or medium-size regular tomatoes, cored and chopped

1 cup roughly chopped basil leaves

Cut eggplant into pieces about an inch or two long and no more than half-an-inch wide; each piece should have a bit of skin and a bit of flesh. (If eggplant are small, cut them first into long strips, then cut them crosswise. If large, you may end up discarding or reserving the fleshy, seedy center.)

Put 1/3 cup oil in a skillet over medium heat; a minute later add eggplant. Cook; stirring occasionally, and seasoning with salt and pepper until very soft, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, put remaining oil in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Add garlic and cook until it colors slightly. Add tomatoes and about 2/3 of the basil, raise heat to medium, and cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture is saucy, about 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

When both sauce and eggplant are done, combine them. Serve hot, warm or at room temperature, or over pasta, garnished with remaining basil.

Broccoli Rabe (Friarielli)

4 tbl. extra virgin olive oil

2 or 3 garlic cloves, peeled and slivered

3 or 4 dried chilies (if you don’t have that, use as much crushed red pepper as you like)

2 lb. broccoli rabe, trimmed of stalks over 1/8 -inch thick, washed and left wet

salt and pepper

Put oil in skillet over medium-low heat and add garlic and chilies. When they sizzle and garlic begins to color, add broccoli rabe all at once.

Cook, stirring occasionally, until broccoli rabe is very tender, 10 to 15 minutes; if stalks are thick, you may have to add a few tablespoons of water to let them cook all the way through but keep this to a minimum. Remove chilies before serving, if you like.

Actually, make that three great tastes. And give it up for my crappy picture-taking because I know we all hold the hope that one day I will get better at it but honestly, let’s not fool ourselves.

This odd li’l soup could easily become a favorite with me; it’s savory yet sweet; rich yet light. I paired it with plain old cheese toast because on an overcast day, that’s how I roll. What about you: will you give this delicious odd soup a try?

Curried Apple Soup

1 (10 3/4 oz.) can reduced-fat cream of chicken soup

1 (14 to 16 oz.) can reduced-sodium chicken broth

1 1/2 cups applesauce (about 15 oz.)

1 tbl. curry powder (or more or less to taste)

1 Granny Smith apple, cored and cut into small cubes

In a saucepan, combine the cream of chicken soup, chicken broth and applesauce. Heat, stirring, until well-combined. Stir in curry powder. Spoon into serving bowls and garnish with apple.

There should totally be more pictures of these black beans cakes; you see, I meant to but I got distracted when I originally made them. They made a fine burger and this morning they made a fine vehicle for fried eggs, salsa and cheese.

My friend Leah quite liked them but since she’s a better cook than I am, I daresay she will perfect this recipe better than I ever could. Regardless, one recipe, many uses.

Black Bean Veggie Burgers

from “Living Gluten-Free for Dummies” by Danna Korn (Wiley)

3 lbs. canned black beans, rinsed and drained (or use cooked dried beans)

1/4 cup diced onion

1/2 cup diced red bell pepper

1 tsp. cayenne pepper

1 tsp. cumin

1/4 cup egg substitute

1 cup cooked quinoa (which should be thoroughly rinsed before you do anything to it)

2 tbl. chopped cilantro

2 tbl. olive oil, divided

8 crisp cold lettuce leaves, washed and patted dry (optional)

salsa, also optional

In a food processor or blender, add the beans, onion, bell pepper, cayenne, cumin, egg substitute, quinoa and cilantro. Process the mixture until it has a consistency that you can mold into patties. Shape the mixture into 8 patties.

In a large skillet over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add as many patties as will fit in the skillet and fry for 2 minutes per side, turning once. Add the remaining tablespoon of oil and cook the remaining patties.

Wrap each patty in a lettuce leaf, topping with salsa, if desired.

I’ve been going a lot for comfort this week. Utilizing simple ingredients to make something yummy and not too taxing. Mostly the recipes I’ve been giving you are, oddly, more Southern summer picnic food. That may not be a coincidence.

I am wishing for warmth with all my heart. I live in the Canadian cold now, where the winters are too long and the sun is too brief, but in my soul, I dream of spring and summer. Of thunderstorms, of lazy days on a patio with sunshine and a book, of ice cream and green grass. Georgia cracker salad is something my grandma made, only hers had larger chunks of garden-ripe tomato and was a bit drier. Regardless, this version was pretty good.

Last night my husband made a wonderful simple chicken curry that lifted my spirits.

Served over basmati rice, it tasted of spice and exotica. It reminded me how much I miss having Indian food; Sherbrooke has a pretty decent Indian restaurant but nothing compares to Zyka in Atlanta. Making saag paneer at home is one of my future cooking goals but I’d rather make Zkya’s saag paneer.

Have I mentioned Matt bought me a super shiny new waffle iron for no reason at all? It’s the flippy kind that you usually see at hotels and restaurants. We inaugurated it this morning by whipping up a batch of pumpkin waffles.

Again, I am sure pumpkin is out of season, but as long as there’s snow on the ground I will feel perfectly justified in using it in baked goods for the time being. So I made the batter and Matt manned the waffle iron. The batter is considerably lightened by the inclusion of whipped egg whites. I would recommend to get the batter started first—it takes a hot minute—before preheating the waffle iron.

Ohhhhh, me. Sincere and utter bliss. Deep divots in a cinnamony, pumpkiny waffles, perfect for holding small bits of butter and rich maple syrup. Tell me that isn’t worth eating just a little out of season.

Georgia Cracker Salad

adapted from “The Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cookbook,” by Paula H. Deen (Random House, 1998)

4 oz. saltine crackers

1 large tomato or 2 plum tomatoes, seeded and finely chopped

3 scallions, finely chopped

1 cup mayonnaise

1 hard-cooked egg, finely chopped

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Just before serving, place saltines in a medium-size bowl. Use your hands to crush crackers into big pieces. Add remaining ingredients, mix gently but thoroughly, and season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately as a side dish or top with shrimp to serve as an entree.

Chicken Curry in A Hurry

from “Mark Bittman’s Kitchen Express,” Mark Bittman (Simon & Schuster, 2009)

In about a tablespoon of oil, cook a sliced onion, teaspoon of curry powder and some salt and pepper for about three minutes. Season chicken tenders with salt, pepper and more curry powder. Nestle the chicken between the onions, and cook for about two minutes on each side; remove the chicken and set aside. Add a cup of plain yogurt (or sour cream if you want it a bit richer) to the pan and stir; cooking for another minute or so (do not boil). Return the chicken to the pan and cook another few minutes, turning once, until everything is cooked and warmed through. Adjust the seasonings and serve over couscous or jasmine rice.

Pumpkin Waffles
Adapted from several sources

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
4 large eggs, separated
2 cups well-shaken buttermilk
1 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted
Vegetable oil for brushing waffle iron or cooking spray

Preheat oven to 250°F and preheat waffle iron. Sift together flour, brown sugar, baking powder and soda, salt, and spices. Whisk egg yolks in a large bowl with buttermilk, pumpkin, and butter until smooth. Whisk in dry ingredients just until combined.

In a mixing bowl with a whisk attachment, whisk the egg whites until they hold soft peaks (as in, far softer than the over-beaten whites you’ll see in my picture above). Folk them gently into the waffle batter, until just combined.

Brush waffle iron lightly with oil and spoon batter (about 2 cups for four 4-inch Belgian waffles) into waffle iron, spreading quickly. Cook according to manufacturer’s instructions.

Transfer waffles to rack in oven to keep warm and crisp. Make more waffles in same manner.