East of Eden Cooking

2014/11/242014/11/24

Yeasted Pumpkin Bread with Cranberries, Pecans and Browned Butter

With Gratitude and Thanksgiving — What We Have Forgotten

“Lee apologized for the dinner like an old fool. He blamed the gas oven which didn’t heat like a good wood stove. He blamed the new breed of turkeys which lacked a something turkeys used to have. But he laughed with them when they told him he was acting like an old woman fishing for compliments.”

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

Home cooking and the gender of who cooks these meals is buzzing in the media. It’s not a new discussion though. Ever since women started working full-time outside the home, cooking breakfast, lunch and dinner has been a timely topic. There’s lots more too, budgeting, planning, shopping and clean-up. Even a bold essay about not cooking at all. I’ve wanted to comment on each of these blog posts, but my response is long and conflicted. I’ve had spurts of enthusiasm with cooking too. I still do. READ MORE . . .

2014/11/12

Citrus Pistachio Cake — Pound Cake on Steroids

Green Oranges

“On the table, with candlesticks around it, was a big white cake and a box of chocolates, and beside these a basket with a magnum of champagne peeking out of crushed ice.”

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

Before I introduce the ultimate pound cake I should explain how green oranges became this weeks obsession. Around the block from our house is a vacant lot. Mr R tells me there once was a house there. It must have been a long time ago because only the foundation, a ramshackle shed and a few trees and shrubs remain. The apples on the huge apple tree ripened early and I missed harvesting them. Across the lot a small citrus tree clings to life. It’s hugging the fence. Maybe there’s water on the other side of the property line. After I missed the apples I started keeping closer tabs on the citrus tree. I was amazed at the amount of fruit the little tree was producing. The fruit was very small, green, hard and round. At first I thought I’d found lemons that just weren’t ripening. Finally when some of the fruit began to get a touch of color and was dropping to the ground I brought one home. The exterior had a coat of dull fuzz that I scrubbed off. The fruit was a pale luminescent green inside and the juice was very bitter, but not unpleasant. I was convinced I had found a lime tree. But what I had found was a very sad orange tree with bitter fruit. READ MORE . . .

2014/11/032014/11/26

Pineapple Guava Bread with Browned Butter and Macadamias

Urban Foraging

“Wherever a trickle of water came out of the ground a house sprang up and a family began to grow and multiply. Cuttings of red geraniums and rosebushes were planted in the dooryard.”

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

I’m getting back to my old self again. I’ve been baking. And cooking for fun, not just because we need to eat. I’ve been working on my list of baking and cooking ideas. Lists are one of my most favorite things. My notebook has little drawings on the left hand side of the page to remind me of the idea— the colors, textures, setting and props. The sections for spring and summer are almost empty. It’s been months, early March, since I felt free enough to daydream. READ MORE . . .

2014/10/26

Browned Butter Banana Cupcakes with Salted Dark Chocolate Ganache

Browned Butter Banana Cupcake with Chocolate Ganache

Too Many Ripe Bananas

“Charles squared his chair around and put his elbows on the table. We’ll have to figure it out, he said nervously. We can put it off all we want, but we goddam well got to figure out what we’re going to do. I know that, said Adam. I guess I just wanted some time to think about it.”

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

There is a time when a decision must be made. We’ve all been there. What is the best thing to do with too many ripe bananas? When there are five ripe bananas a certain panic sets in. A massive amount of food waste becomes possible. I was ready to throw the bananas away when I saw this post. This is a genius recipe from Fine Cooking. READ MORE . . .

2014/10/112017/12/31

Soft and Fluffy Flour Tortillas

American Wheat and the Wheat Safari 2014

“The supper would be delicious—omelets never fell and cakes rose to balloons of lightness, biscuits fluffed up, and no one could season a stew like Agnes Morrison.”

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

Emerald green until the land meets the sky. If I had to describe August in eastern North Dakota in just one word, it would be green. American wheat is grown here, along with corn and soybeans. Sunflowers, sugar beets and hay are part of the landscape too. Celiac disease, gluten sensitivity, the gluten-free diet and the very popular books Wheat Belly and Grain Brain have left us searching to understand the implications of American wheat in our diets. I am fortunate that no one in my family has Celiac disease or gluten sensitivity. I continue to bake with American wheat to feed my family and develop recipes. With so much media coverage I was more than interested in learning about how American wheat is bred, grown, harvested and processed. I learned all this and more. The different classes of American wheat and the baking performance in different types of recipes captured my attention. Wheat Safari 2014 offered a perspective on American wheat flour that begins long before the bag of flour is placed in the shopping cart. READ MORE . . .