East of Eden Cooking

2016/02/122018/01/03

Almost Miss Spoon’s Quinoa Salad

Kindness

“After awhile, said Cyrus, you’ll think no thought the others do not think. You’ll know no word the others can’t say. And you’ll do things because the others do them. You’ll feel the danger in any difference whatever—a danger to the whole crowd of like-thinking, like-acting men. What if I don’t? Adam demanded.”

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

Did you pick a word for this year? It’s a resolution for the new year, in a word. It’s another avenue for self-improvement. A mantra, a meditation in mindfulness, in just one word. To be better than before, to do better than before. To keep trying. I have chosen gratitude and forgiveness before. This year I chose kindness. I don’t think of myself as unkind, but I can be. Often it is a protection to cover that fragile place of vulnerability. I can find it tantalizing as a replacement for anger. A reward for getting even after a petty misunderstanding. The always unjust places of pride and arrogance can spew unkindness. How can being unkind be so right, when later it feels so wrong. It’s so borderline, the knife blade is sharp, it can cut. The blade slices while the rest of the knife just follows along. I’m trying not to follow along, to break the pattern. To keep the knife dull, it makes it more difficult for a fast, clean cut. READ MORE . . .

2016/02/022018/01/03

Little Biscoff Cheesecakes

Performance Art

“You know, Lee I think of my life as a kind of music, not always good music but still having form and melody.”

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

Cooking and baking is live performance art. If you never thought you were an artist, I’m taking this opportunity to say that yes you are! We create and share and then it all disappears. Each individual act of cooking and baking is never repeated. Like a long running Broadway show, the more practice, the more consistent the performance. There are so many variables—timing, ingredients, attention to detail, experience, technique, equipment. Some performances are better than others, its real theatre. There are days when my performance is dismal. Even when I’m totally submerged in the process, it can fail. It’s a smooth performance in my kitchen theatre when a new recipe comes together easily. Little Biscoff Cheesecakes are from one such performance. READ MORE . . .

2016/01/242018/01/03

Smashed Beets with Lemon and Pistachio

Smashed Beet Salad with Lemon and Pistachio

A Winter Salad

“Charles found that he could cook his fried and boiled meals more quickly and efficiently on the forge than he could on the kitchen stove. The bellows forced quick flaring heat from the coke. A man didn’t have to wait for a stove to heat up. He wondered why he had never thought of it before.”

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

After those outrageous Lemon Ginger Sweet Rolls it must be time for something vegetables. With this recipe we have all the lemon and our vegetables too. Smashing the roasted beets and then crisping them in a hot skillet until the exteriors are crunchy and the insides stay soft and buttery is the kind of winter cooking I recommend. While hot dress the beets with a citrusy vinaigrette and a dollop of creamy ricotta. Fresh herbs, crunchy pistachios and a flurry of baby lettuce make a fabulous winter salad. READ MORE . . .

2016/01/112018/01/03

Marvelous Lemon Ginger Sweet Rolls

Bake and Be Happy

“There wasn’t any limit, no boundary at all, to the future.”

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

A belated Happy New Year! I took a break to enjoy the holidays and I hope you did too. I like to start the New Year with a baking recipe that has been lingering on my must-try list. This not a diet or Whole 30 recipe, just one mighty fine sweet roll recipe. The recipe is adapted from a 3-hole punched page from the November 1973 Family Circle magazine. It arrived in my life with a stack of old, forgotten recipes. The title, “Prize Recipes from Women’s Clubs” told me this is very likely an excellent recipe. In my kitchen, Orange Rolls from the Sunflower Sampler (Oh, what a name!) of Wichita, Kansas became Lemon Ginger Sweet Rolls. Light, super fluffy with the sweet, tart allure of lemon and warmth from candied ginger these marvelous sweet rolls are winter comfort in every bite. Eating one Lemon Ginger Sweet Roll can only be achieved with super human will power. Just serve two and be happy. READ MORE . . .

2015/12/212018/01/03

Candy Cane Cookies

A Cookie for Christmas

“But I brought you a present. She laid the folded handkerchief in Faye’s lap. Open it carefully , she said.”

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

Candy Cane Cookies are a personal favorite. I try to make them every year. There is something about tinting the dough a rosy holiday red and smashing candy canes that signals the season to bake cookies has begun. The Candy Cane Cookies are buttery, with a soft crunch and just enough peppermint topping to evoke a traditional candy cane. READ MORE . . .