Flour Bakery's Intense Chocolate Brownies

For Christmas, Steven gave me the cookbook from one of my favorite places to eat in Cambridge: Flour Bakery + Cafe.

Their roast chicken, avocado and jicama sandwich singlehandedly torpedoed my efforts to save money by bringing lunch from home...but in my defense, it was one of the few lunch foods that appealed to me during the first trimester of my pregnancy.

So we'll just refer to that as a medical expense. Fair's fair.

Anyways, I have my heart set on working my way through the cookbook and I decided to start with another nail in my bring-lunch-from-home coffin, their intense chocolate brownies. These are definitely worth the effort and I'll certainly be making them again. I've decided that I should pull them out of the oven a couple minutes earlier, though, to ensure that I've got the perfect brownie. Flour's owner, Joanne Chang, shares her thoughts on the perfect brownie in the cookbook, indicating that if she wants fudge, she'll eat fudge. And if she wants chocolate cake, she'll eat chocolate cake. The perfect brownie needs to live somewhere in between.

I wholeheartedly agree.

P.S.-You can get the Flour Cookbook HERE.

P.P.S.-While linking to Flour's website I discovered that there is a 2nd cookbook, called Flour Power, in the works! Looks like a broader set of recipes--soups, sandwiches, etc. Can't wait to give it a gander...

Summer Reading

1) Some chick lit (i.e.-junk food for the brain)

2) Years of working in science and I know that HeLa cells are a staple of laboratory research, but I never even considered their provenance. This New York Times bestseller tells the story of the woman, Henrietta Lacks, from whom they were collected.

3) I've heard a lot of people say that they love Emily Giffin's books, but don't think I've ever read one. This title was the only book of hers available at my library...a testament to their popularity?

4) Of obvious appeal.

5) Yes, I'm going to try and be crafty. Roman shades, curtains, and redoing an old rocking chair are the top projects on the list.

Recently on My Radar

While this blog's adoring fans (all 3 of you ;) await the unveiling of the downstairs renovation, I'd thought I'd share some good things that have grabbed my attention lately.

1)

I was peripherally aware of the hype surrounding the release of the final book of Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy this summer, but as I knew nothing about the first 2 books, it didn't really register. Then a coworker lent me her copy of book 1. Halfway in and I was hooked, and the fever only increased with the next two installments. It's been quite a while since I've felt so emotionally invested in a character in a book! Great reads.

2)

Pumpkin White Hot Chocolate recipe from Good Life Eats.

3)

Because this tomboy-turned-scientist could always use a few pointers.

4)

The October issue of Martha Stewart Living featured an article entitled "Grown-up Grilled Cheese" and it's definitely worth a look. I'm aiming to make all ten.

Challenge accepted, Martha. Challenge accepted.

5)

This seasonal treat somehow keeps getting mixed in with our weekly milk delivery. Hmmm, how did that get there? ;)

6)

Yay yay yay! I just won this book in a giveaway from The Non-Consumer Advocate.

Happy Halloween Weekend!

~LT

Appleton Creamery, Magical Breakfast Cream, & Homemade Yogurt

While up in Maine last month, we stopped by the Belfast Farmers' Market for the first time.

There was an impressive selection, but my favorite stand by far was that of Appleton Creamery, an award winning artisan cheese maker in nearby Appleton, Maine. They had a stunning variety of chèvre (rolled in herbes de Provence or marinated in olive oil or encased in beeswax or seasoned with maple and peppercorn...), as well as an assortment of other dairy products. And samples of everything! Steven buzzed around from sample to sample like a honeybee among flowers...I'm pretty sure he tried every. single. thing. :)

One product that immediately caught my eye was the sheep's milk yogurt. I love yogurt (so versatile!) and have been incrementally moving away from the mainstream brands of my youth--Yoplait, Colombo, etc--and towards the brands that take a more minimalist approach to the ingredients...no thickeners, HFCS, preservatives, etc. FAGE is my favorite.

Another reason for my heightened interest in the artisan yogurt was the fact that just that very morning I had been flipping through the French Women Don't Get Fat Cookbook by Mireille Guiliano.

(Not a huge fan. While I like her philosophy--basically a low quantity, high quality approach--I frankly found her delivery to be a little...smug. A lot of "I always..." and "I can't understand why anyone would ever..."...Bleh.)

However, she absolutely raves about yogurt, and that's something I could get behind. She calls it every woman's secret weapon, and shares a family recipe for Magical Breakfast Cream: a mixture of yogurt, honey, flax seed oil, lemon juice, grains and nuts. She swears by it as a sort of detox, perfect for when you're feeling a little bloated or like you've been a little too indulgent and need to reset.

So I decided to buy the sheep's milk yogurt, and when I asked the vendor how long it would keep, she assured me that it would be fine, unopened, for about month. She then added:

"I just made it last night, so it can't get any fresher."

Wow. That just floored me. I wanna play!

So I looked into it, and making your own yogurt looks pretty easy (in fact, it's basically 100% analogous to the way we grow bacteria in the lab when we need to produce a ton of DNA. weird.) I definitely want to give it a shot, and after some research, I added this baby to my Amazon wish list:

It's a yogurt maker (basically just an incubator) with 7 glass jars, so none of that alarming plastic leaching talk. Can't wait to try it out!

(Bubba voice): yogurt + honey...yogurt + fruit preserves...yogurt tzatziki...yogurt hamburgers...yogurt pancakes...yogurt casserole...yogurt gumbo...yogurt sausage...yogurt smoothies.......

;)

p.s.-the Magical Breakfast Cream is actually really good...with lemon and honey, how could it be bad?

p.p.s.-Appleton Creamery hosts cheesemaking workshops! Yes, please.

Noteworthy Cookbooks

1) Martha Stewart Cupcakes

I recently realized that I have never made cupcakes. Nope, never. I think it's time to change that...and this cookbook from Martha seems like a great place to start. Worth flipping through, at the very least for the creative decoration and presentation ideas.

2) The Italian Farmer's Table

This cookbook might be a keeper. It profiles several Northern Italian agroturismi (small family farm "resorts") and shares their simultaneously rustic, elegant, and progressive recipes. So much in here I'd like to try and make...Chocolate Ricotta Tart, Rye Bread Soup, Goat Cheese Gnocchi with Walnut Butter Sauce, Zucchini Roll, Stuffed Baked Peaches, Chicken Breast with Lavender, and the list goes on and on...

Travel Daydreams

How long has it been since I rambled on and on about how much I love the library?

I recently checked out these books featuring amazing travel destinations and experiences....

I loved flipping through these books right before going to bed, and putting together a long (largely hypothetical) mental list of all of the places I'd love to see...

Meat CSA

I finally did it.

I’ve been wanting to participate in the Stillman Turkey Farm meat CSA (community supported agriculture) for a couple of years now, but never felt I could justify it. I recently decided to just DO IT, and signed up for the 6 month/half share program, which is 10 pounds of meat per month for 6 months. That 10 pounds can include beef, pork, chicken or lamb, and is roughly 5 lbs. of ground meats or stew cuts, and 5 lbs. of premium cuts. Most importantly, it is local, free-range, hormone-free and conscientiously-raised.

Since I’ve been wanting to do this for quite a while, it was with great anticipation that we drove up to Jamaica Plain on Saturday to pick up our first share. It contained: ham steak, Italian sausage, pork chops, chicken breast, raw bacon, smoked pork butt, and as an extra “bonus“, a bag of pork neck bones (for soup, stock, etc.).

Hmmm, written out like that it sounds like a pretty good haul…but I have to say that my first impression was that it must be a cleanout month for the CSA, since this share was so pork-heavy. And of course, this little frugalista wants to make sure she’s getting a good value. At the end of the day, this meat is costing $7.50 per pound.

Of course, when I refer to value, I’m not just talking about the meat itself. I recognize that part of what we’re paying for is almost political in nature. With our financial support, we’re saying that local agriculture, humane husbandry, and traditional small-scale farming are a good thing and we want it to stick around. Even from my relatively elementary experiences while growing up on a hobby farm (we had nearly every barnyard animal you can think of, except for sheep), I know that what these farmers are doing is not easy. Furthermore, it’s rarely lucrative. So I really appreciate their willingness to live that life, preserve old New England farmland, raise heritage breeds humanely, and make it available to the rest of us. It’s not an occupation that many of us would have the guts to pursue.

Anyways, now comes the fun part…choosing/designing recipes around the meats that we received. I’m actually really excited for this part, and to see what’s in next month’s share…it’s like a grab bag of meat! I’ll keep the updates, recipes, cooking tribulations and triumphs coming…

In the meantime, if you are interested in these sorts of topics, I thought Fast Food Nation and Real Food were great reads…

2010 Prospectus

I love making lists, and what better time to make a master list than the New Year? Here's my current vision for 2010:

Home.

*Finish downstairs bath.

*Give the front porch a makeover.

*New windows in the sunroom?

*Rewire the 2nd floor? (Awaiting estimates)

*Continue cosmetic remodel of 1st floor.

*Hopefully get 1 bedroom updated.

*Garden!

Health.

(Do I even need to say it?) You know the drill for this perennial favorite: eat better, exercise, slim down.

Professional.

Take 2 more graduate classes.

Financial.

2009 was the year of financial flux. Between the new job, new house, tax credit, money in, money out, heat & water bills...we're still not sure what a "normal" month is going to look like.

So:

*Figure out our monthly budget.

*Save for travel.

*Save for home improvement.

*Open a Roth IRA.

*Bring lunch from home! (Huge financial and dietary failure of mine)

Travel.

One big trip (current frontrunner: Alaska) with several little trips (VT, ME, NH) sprinkled in.

General.

*Establish a daily routine.

*Explore our new community.

*Do a better job keeping in touch with old friends.

*Keep reading lots of library books.

*Act on my "six month rotation" mentality (I'll explain later.)

Happy New Year!

~LT

Random Randomness

Nothing huge going on these days...but some random tidbits:

-I just started reading this book...

and so far it's awesome.  All kinds of nature, travel, science-y kind of stuff.  I'll do up a proper review when I finish it.

-This Saturday I'm running the Mount Desert Island YMCA Spring 10K in Bar Harbor with a couple of my best girls.  This is actually going to be quite the escapade, as I am not a runner by any stretch of the imagination, and supposedly my compatriots have not been training very diligently either.  (I've been fooled by them before, though, LOL.  When I decided to do my first running event ever, a 5K last fall, one of these tricksters was all "I don't know how to run either, I hate it, I'm gonna have a heart attack" etc.  What happens when the race starts?  She zooms past not only me--the meatball of our trio--but also past our other friend, whom I consider to be a "runner", as she does so regularly and actually finished a, gulp, 10 mile road race just a couple months before!)

A shot taken right after the run in question ;)

In all seriousness though, it's always nice to set goals and challenge yourself, and this is just one of those things.  My goal is simply to finish the 10K, ideally without having to stop or walk...which is something I was not able to do for the 5K.  If I can do this without any major calamities, especially those of the gastrointestinal sort (oh, don't laugh.  the last time I tried to run "far"--i.e. 4 miles--there was an...incident.  But that's a story for another time...) I'll consider this a major feat!

-We put an offer in on a house today!  Normally I wouldn't even say anything about it, as I'd be afraid of "jinxing" it...but considering how little my superstitions have assisted in the house buying effort so far, I'm just going to let it fly.  And I'm not even going to pretend to be nonchalant about it...we LOVE this house!  

It's our favorite style (turn of the century colonial), with most period details intact, a really nice 1/2 acre yard, and a quick walk to the town commuter rail station.  It's in one of our "B" towns, needs some cosmetic updates, and has a slightly odd kitchen layout...but I'm in luuuuuuuuuurve.

Yes, yes...I know better than most that the cruel I-can't-believe-we-didn't-get-that-house heartbreak monster is lurking in the bushes, just waiting to jump us.  And he's got a good shot at crushing us, since the house already has multiple offers after only 3 days on the market.

But you never know, this could be the one.

That's all for now!