East of Eden Cooking

2016/09/062018/03/23

Raspberry Cream Pie

Gray

“Adam seemed clothed in a viscosity that slowed his movements and held his thoughts down. He saw the world through gray water. Now and then his mind fought its way upward, and when the light broke in it brought him only sickness of the mind, and he retired into the grayness again.”

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

It was an unusually gray August. A mix of coastal fog and smoke from the Soberanes fire, left us feeling that summer must be somewhere, just not here. To be fair, the sun pushed its way through the gray many afternoons, at least for a few hours. Then the late afternoon fog swooped in from the coast and settled until the next afternoon, or the day after that. The Soberanes fire has moved south and so has the dusting of gray ash, on our cars, patio, plants and whatever else was outside. We will remember this fire for a very long time. After this raging fire Big Sur and the Los Padres National Forest won’t ever be the same. It was started by an illegal campfire on July 22nd in Garrapta State Park and it won’t be contained until the end of September. That’s right, over two months of fire. Every June, July and August I look for summer, knowing that it will arrive in September and stay through October. This is how we summer in this part of California. READ MORE . . .

2016/08/272018/01/09

Blackberry Cobbler with Lemon Thyme

Oh August and Blackberry Cobbler!

He threaded among willows and sycamores and wild blackberry vines in the riverbed, patted the trunks of live oak and scrub oak, madrone and laurel.
East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

Oh August! We still have fresh blackberries, raspberries, tomatoes, a new crop of crisp apples and pears too. I’m dizzy with possibility. I grew up devouring summer cobblers, crumbles and crisps. We scooped lush, sweet fruit into our bowls and went back to dig in the pan until it was all gone. Scraping the corners of the pan to get every last bit of sticky fruit was a must. My mom was known for her pies but when she was summer busy a cobbler topped with drop biscuits brought no complaints. Desserts with more fruit than topping, more fruit than sugar, just more fruit is the siren song of August in California.

A cobbler is a classic American dessert, lots of barely sweetened fruit topped with fluffy homemade biscuits. This is a recipe that takes the classic pairing of biscuits and jam and tosses it up in the air! It lands with more jammy fruit than biscuit. The pillowy biscuits are tender crumbed from butter and cream. Their bottoms nestle into the fruit while the biscuit tops reach high in the oven to gain their toasty brown tops. For a golden finish brush the biscuit tops with more cream and a sprinkle of sugar. READ MORE . . .

2016/08/172018/01/03

Double Ginger Pear Crisp

A Taste of Sacramento

“They do pretty nice things in Sacramento, and Horace told how they did things in Sacramento as they rode along.”

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

Last month I attended the International Food Bloggers Conference, IFBC, in Sacramento. It was my first food blogging conference. Gerlinde, of Sunny Cove Chef, and I traveled and roomed together. It was a whirlwind four days of non-stop activity. The experience was rewarding and I recommend attending next year’s conference in Sacramento. READ MORE . . .

2016/08/072018/01/03

Chamomile Cookies with Brown Butter

Tea Cookies

“Lee set a teapot on the table and shuffled away. Samuel began to talk to push the silence away. He told how he had first come to the valley fresh from Ireland, but within a few words neither Cathy or Adam was listening to him. To prove it, he used a trick he had devised to discover whether his children were listening when they begged him to read to them and would not let him stop. He thew in two sentences of nonsense. There was no response from either Adam or Cathy. He gave up. He bolted his supper, drank his tea scalding hot, and folded his napkin. Ma’am, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll ride off home. And I thank you for your hospitality.”

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

If you like chamomile tea, I have a luxurious cookie for you. Little scoops of brown butter goodness blossom into sweet and toasty cookies laced with chamomile. Very much like making tea, the chamomile flowers are steeped, in browned butter not water. The nutty taste of browned butter is a marvelous foundation for the sweet and floral tasting chamomile. The thin crispy edges of these cookies are fabulous. And the soft, billowy centers are mighty fine too. Don’t bother with store bought cookies. The taste, texture and calories just aren’t worth it when homemade cookies are so easy to make. If we’re going to indulge, make it worthwhile. READ MORE . . .

2016/07/252018/01/03

Cherry Almond Scones

A Favorite Recipe

“For the world was changing, and sweetness was gone, and virtue too. Worry had crept on a corroding world, and what was lost—good manners, ease and beauty? Ladies were not ladies any more, and you couldn’t trust a gentleman’s word.”

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

Oh wow! What an election year! Every day brings more information and mis-information. It’s a dizzy time in America. The one-two punches hit in the gut. Emotional responses explode throughout the media. Discussing the election is for the brave. I am already weary of the politics. Let’s bake our way to November to keep our sanity. READ MORE . . .