11.20.08
Lunch, dinner and popovers
It’s been a while!
First: Two new lunch options in downtown Cedar Rapids!
- The Prairie Soup Company, owned and operated by Ryan and Katy Buresh, serves homemade soups and sandwiches from their location on the second floor of the APEC building.
- Benz Beverage Depot is offering grab-and-go “European Lunches” featuring artisan or imported cheeses and sliced cured meats on a mini baguette for $5.95.
Second: You’ve probably heard by now, but just in case you haven’t, Blend and the Piano Lounge are both open for business. They both look a little different — Blend has added an outdoor seating area, reconfigured its entryway, and redecorated the interior with darker, cooler tones while The Piano Lounge has opened up it’s establishment and added a second bar — but they’ve maintained their cool, upscale atmosphere AND tasty food and drinks.
Third: I wanted to show you what the popovers I wrote about in my last column looked like. I had always shyed away from popovers, because I didn’t want to buy a popover pan, and I was afraid that using a muffin pan would result in a batch of unpoppedovers and a disappointed and unhappy Anne. But then I took a deep breath and gave it a try anyway. I’m pleased to report that the popovers did rise, at least a little bit, and they were delicious and I will be making them again, popover pan or no.
A muffin pan o popovers
Lovely, poofy insides. I'm getting hungry.
A word of warning for those who haven’t tried popovers before: These should be eaten while they’re still warm from the oven. Unlike, say, muffins or biscuits, they’re no good the next day. Click through for the recipe.
10.20.08
What’s your cooking obsession?
photo from mon1que on flickr
I love this essay from Lee Stokes Hilton from Sunday’s New York Times: For This Baker, the Cookie Is a Canvas
I’m going into the city today,” I say.
“What for?” my husband asks.
“Sprinkles.”
I admit it: I am obsessed with sprinkles. I began to suspect as much when I went shopping for storage containers to hold my jars of jimmies, nonpareils, sanding sugars, edible glitter, and three different sizes of silver and gold dragées. I could barely fit them all into two of those large plastic drawers from Bed, Bath and Beyond.
This is not a cupcake obsession. I know cupcakes are a hot item these days, but I’m talking about cookies — rollout cookies in shapes to suit any occasion.
My neighbor says she’s having a Western-themed party, and I have visions of cacti bristling with emerald-green jimmies, cowboy hats in white or blue-black sanding sugar, boots, jalapeños, and silver stars shining with dragées. Before the thought has jelled, I hear myself say, “Want me to make cookies?”
Do you have a kitchen obession? Share it here.
10.14.08
Cupcakes take the cake
Since today’s column was all about cupcakes, I now present the top 3 reasons to love The Cupcake:
1. You get to eat an ENTIRE (cup)CAKE in one sitting. All by yourself. No sharing required.
2. An excellent cake-to-frosting ratio.
3. Endless potential for cute, clever and creative designs.
The column hasn’t been posted to GazetteOnline yet, but you can find it in the e-edition here (registration required). Or you can get a quick hit of the highlights:
1. “Hello, Cupcake,” a book of cute, clever and creative cupcake decorating ideas, rocks.
2. It inspired “Cupcake Sunday” from 1:30 to 3 p.m. this Sunday at the Cedar Rapids Barnes & Noble. Activities include cupcake decorating contests, cupcake decorating demonstrations, a children’s book reading (“If You Give a Cat a Cupcake”), and, of course, a chance to peruse the store’s growing collection of cupcake cookbooks.
Back to “Hello, Cupcake.” A couple of weeks ago I made these fantastic Spaghetti and Meatball cupcakes.
Spaghetti & Meatball Cupcakes
They were incredibly easy. Except for one thing: The book recommends using a zip-top plastic bag to pipe frosting: My frosting burst the side seam of the bag not once, but twice. Lesson learned: Don’t use so much pressure while piping frosting OR use freezer bags OR use pastry bags; this is what they were designed for.
Here is a video of author/food stylist Karen Tack demonstrating the Spaghetti and Meatball cupcakes.
Click “keep reading” to see the recipe.
04.15.08
Peanut butter cookies win Bake-Off
I’m thinking maybe I should stop writing about food, and spend more time baking it. Specifically, cookies. More specifically, cookies like Carolyn Gurtz’s Double-Delight Peanut Butter Cookies.
Her simple recipe — it uses refrigerated cookie dough as its base — took the $1 million Grand Prize in this year’s Pillsbury Bake-Off. Oh, and she also won an additional $5,000 for having the best recipe that uses at least 1/4 cup of Jif Peanut Butter.
According to a news release from Pillsbury, “contest judges agreed that Gurtz’s recipe surpassed the 99 other competitors as the grand prize winner for its simplicity and approachability, allowing the home cook to take a convenience product and turn it into an unexpected cookie that bursts with layers of peanut butter flavor. Contest judges described Gurtz’s Double-Delight Peanut Butter Cookies as a delightful taste that combines two classic cookies – a snickerdoodle and a peanut butter cookie.”
Do Gurtz’s Double-Delight Peanut Butter Cookies really taste like 1 million (plus 5,000) bucks? I can’t say. I’m still kitchenless. But if any of you are inclined to whip up a batch of cookies, leave a comment and let me know what you think. Here’s the recipe.
To see other winning recipes, visit www.pillsbury.com/BakeOff/
