06.19.08
CSA, week 3
Considering the weather, I didn’t really even expect to get any veggies from my CSA this week. But, amazingly, not only did ZJ Farms survive the powerful winds and damaging floods (minus one 102-year-old barn), the folks there were able to get out into the muddy fields to harvest fresh veggies.
So, here’s the full share for this week: radishes, lettuce, broccoli, kale, bok choy (not visible in this picture) and rhubarb.
That crisp, fresh lettuce was drizzled with a raspberry vinaigrette and eaten nearly immediately. (Am I imagining things, or does just-picked lettuce have tons more flavor than grocery store lettuce?)
I used the rhubarb to make Big Crumb Coffee Cake, a recipe I got from Smitten Kitchen to bring into work for a co-workers birthday. I thought the crumbs on top were kind of dry, and they kind of overwhelmed the rest of the nice, moist coffeecake. But nobody in the newsroom complained, and my baking dish was promptly emptied.
I’ll have more about the kale in an upcoming column. In the meantime, I’m curious: I keep reading about kale chips. Has anyone tried these? What did you think?
04.28.08
Who do you read?
Tomorrow’s column is all about food blogs. So I’ll send out the query here, too: Which food blogs do you read? Any favorites that you’d recommend I check out? Any Eastern Iowans out there with food blogs?
03.25.08
A sweet send off: Two cupcake recipes
I decided to send my oven off on a sweet note by spending Sunday morning experimenting with cupcake recipes I found on other food blogs.
First, Billy’s Vanilla, Vanilla Cupcakes from “The Cupcake Queen” at 52 Cupcakes, because I. Love. Vanilla.
Second, a slightly modified version of Bailey’s Mint Chocolate Chip Cupcakes from Baking Bites, because Bailey’s is a favorite in my family (My parents unknowingly gifted each other identical bottles for Christmas one year.) and Easter did fall awfully close to St. Patrick’s Day, which I hadn’t really properly celebrated yet. I used Andes Crème de Menthe Baking Chips instead of mini chocolate chips because that’s what was in my pantry. And I topped the cupcakes with a vanilla buttercream, because I’d already made a big bowl of it for the vanilla cupcakes.
The vanilla cupcakes were dense and rich and very vanilla-y. The Bailey’s cupcakes were a big hit with my family, but I’m not sure if I like mint flavor in my cake. Maybe I should have another cupcake to help me decide…
02.25.08
An easy way to search food blogs
Vanilla Garlic tipped me off to a new recipe search engine created by another food blogger (yes, there are a lot of us) over at Simply Recipes.
Food Blog Search uses Google technology to search more than 1,000 food blogs (with more blogs being added to the list of sites searched every day). It’s pretty cool — and a fun way to find recipes (usually paired with photos and commentary), and maybe even a new blog to add to your reading list.
