East of Eden Cooking

2017/12/162018/01/25

Panettone, the Fast and Easy Recipe

All the flavor of traditional Panettone in a fast and easy recipe.

They hurried up to Main Street and one short block around the corner on Central past Reynaud’s with stacked French bread in the window and black-haired Mrs. Reynaud waved her flour-pale hand at them and they were home.
East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

Every holiday season I have the best plans, things to make and places to go. I start in November and feel confident. I will finish my making and doing, I will not become anxious or stressed. Sound familiar? By mid-December its time to get real, there are only so many days left for all the doing. With Panettone, the Fast and Easy Recipe now is the time for all the baking.

Essentials

I’m here to shatter the myth of 32 hour Panettone with a fast, easy and very rewarding recipe. Fancy Panettone from a speciality bakery is fabulous but if you want something homemade, moist with lots of eggy goodness and fragrant with traditional Italian holiday spice this is the recipe to make. Panettone, the Fast and Easy Recipe can be made in smaller pans or containers, perfect for gift giving. Baking with active dry yeast is such a pleasure. Its almost fool-proof. With Panettone, the Fast and Easy Recipe there’s no floured surface to clean, just the mixer and proofing bowl. Your kitchen will smell of baking bread and holiday spice when making your own Panettone. A simple way to bring the holiday season home. READ MORE . . .

2017/11/292018/01/25

Spicy Lentil Wraps with Tahini Sauce

Vegan wraps filled with lentils and bulgur, red pepper spread, hummus and cabbage. A spicy tahini dipping sauce elevates these wraps to fabulous.

Have to keep up with the times, said Adam. I predict there’ll come a time when you can’t find a horse, Mr. Trask. Maybe so.
East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

I’ve made these Spicy Lentil Wraps with Tahini Sauce for road and train trips, shared them with unsuspecting carnivores and served them for an executive board meeting luncheon. Spicy Lentil Wraps with Tahini Sauce are a wonderful make ahead dinner. Leftovers are the perfect grab and go lunch. These vegan wraps always get stellar reviews. I heard that “wraps” were out of style. Which immediately prompted me to share my favorite wrap recipe. Keeping up with food trends can be exhausting and downright silly. I’m here to share food that’s vibrant with flavor and worth the investment in time and effort to make.

Essentials

There are several components to the Food 52 recipe for Spicy Vegan Lentil Wraps with Tahini Sauce. Don’t let all these pieces to the recipe discourage your wrap making. The sauce and spreads can be made ahead of time. While the lentil and bulgur filling cooks, gather together all the components and get ready to roll the Spicy Lentil Wraps with Tahini Sauce. The original recipe can be found on Food 52. Below are the tips and hints for how I make the Spicy Lentil Wraps with Tahini Sauce. READ MORE . . .

2017/11/192018/01/25

Homemade Potpourri for the Holidays

The warming spices of winter in an easy potpourri recipe for the holidays.

Aron seemed perfectly calm. He sat in the living room, looking at cartoons in old numbers of the Review of Reviews. From the kitchen the odor of the bursting juices of roasting turkey began to fill the house.
East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

We humans are makers, creators, hands busy creatures, dreamers. We know what motivates us, where we find our joy. All that talk about results oriented, achieving goals can cloud the joy in doing. I find it spilling over from my previous life in management. I track myself with lists, the daily, the goals. The, the, the. Attending the International Food Bloggers Conference really clarified my motivation to blog. I find joy in the making. When lost in the process, the doing is my bliss. I’d bet you’re a creative too, because we all are. This year’s IFBC experience was like having my vision checked and then realizing that my new glasses helped so much. I couldn’t believe I was making do with my old pair. Why did I wait so long to see clearly?

Essentials

Homemade Potpourri for the Holidays is a project that rewards the doing. The best way to start making potpourri is to take a brisk autumn walk. Gather fallen pine cones, seed pods or dried berries. All these autumn things are currently littering every path and sidewalk. The experience of gathering and choosing each item begins the creative process. I like an array of colors, shapes and textures but choosing just one item from outside and bringing inside is all you need. Once in the kitchen the aroma of warming spices, apple and tangerine are a pure jolt of winter bliss. I made a big batch so I would have extra for gifting. Even a small project of one bowl of Homemade Potpourri for the Holidays has its reward. This isn’t an exacting recipe for potpourri, it’s more of a nudge of inspiration to set you on a path of autumn discovery. Make your own joy. READ MORE . . .

2017/11/082018/02/09

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with Apples and Coconut Milk

Roast sweet butternut squash with apples for an easy autumn soup.

Lee had his instructions. On the evening of the day of the announcement he was to cook a turkey and bake a cake.
East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

The dreaded holiday dilemma has arrived. May we discuss? It begins with Thanksgiving. The assumption that because we like to cook, we would like to cook more. Clearly, if we cook, we want to cook even more. It rarely occurs to anyone that we would like to be pampered and enjoy Thanksgiving too. Finding a way to change tradition which is heavily reinforced with unstated expectations is a big, big challenge. You will have to speak up, make new plans or heavens forbid, switch up the menu. Otherwise it will be the same old exhausting Thanksgiving.

Cook as much as you want, but just enough so you can enjoy the celebration too! I want to thank picky daughter for teaching me how to enjoy Thanksgiving. Everyone who arrives at her place brings their assigned dishes. Looks like I have stuffing and candied yams this year, fabulous! If she’s busy working all week she picks up her items at the store. No fussy expectations, just good food and company. I couldn’t ask for a better Thanksgiving. READ MORE . . .

2017/10/292018/01/25

Lemon Verbena

Have you discovered Lemon Verbena?

Joe held the cup to her lips, and she drank the tea in little sips, breathing in over it to cool it. That’s enough, she said when the cup was only half empty. How was the night?

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

Have you discovered lemon verbena? It’s an easy to grow herb that has the scent and flavor of lemon. It’s sweeter than a regular lemon, even sweeter and milder than a Meyer lemon. The older leaves are tougher and best for tea. The newer, more tender leaves are easier to chop finely to use in baking. If combined with lemon zest, the whole lemony thing gains intensity. It can be used in place of lemon zest in most recipes. Classic shortbread cookies flecked with lemon verbena and lemon zest are a lemon lovers dream. I’ve infused milk with the leaves and then made a mildly herbaceous and lemony cake. Pound cake or shortcake destined for soaking up summer berries and their juice sing with it’s assistance. For more lemon verbena joy Bon Appetit has several recipes and so does The Kitchn. READ MORE . . .