Caramel Week: Caramel Cake

The word caramel has been associated with a sweet family memory for many years. I vividly remember sitting at a high-top table with my mom and three of my sisters while our other sister was serving us at a local restaurant. It came time to order dessert and my youngest sister who wasn't more than eight years old at the time said, with complete seriousness, something along the lines of "I'll have the Caramel Sundae, you know, I think I'm a caramel-alcoholic." What followed was both laughter and embarrassment, while most of us thought it was cute and endearing that this little person was claiming such a deep love of caramel, my little sister was dead serious.

As it turns out Molly was ahead of her time. It took me a few more years to warm up to caramel. For too long I thought you had to choose between Team Chocolate and Team Caramel (and there was little chance of me giving chocolate a cold shoulder). The good news is you don't have to choose, numerous recent studies (see Caramel Week, the latest Theme Weaver production, more information below) have shown the ease, versatility, and compatability of carmelized sugar. 

For my Caramel Week contribution, I made a classic southern caramel cake rescued from the pages of Gourmet magazine (via Smitten Kitchen). This cake combines homemade yellow cake and warm brown sugar caramel glaze. Best enjoyed with coffee and friends. Hop over to Smitten Kitchen for the recipe. Enjoy!

For more caramel week decadence visit some of the awesome blogs below. . .

• Monday–Comfortably Domestic-Crockpot Dulce de Leche / Kvetchin’ Kitchen-Caramel Apple Pie
• Tuesday–Decadent Philistines Save the World-Salted Caramel Pork Loin with Shaved Brussel Sprout and Apple Salad / Bakeaholic Mama-Chewy Milk Dud Brownies
• Wednesday–Inside NanaBread’s Head-Chocolate Alfajores with Salted Vanilla Bean Caramels / Comfortably Domestic-Alfajores Caramel Sandwich Cookies / The Girly Girl Cooks-Almost Famous Fairground Caramel Sauce / Climbing Grier Mountain-Dulce de Leche Milkshakes with Caramel Drizzle
• Thursday–Tenaciously Yours-Popcorn Crunch Sundae / Kvetchin’ Kitchen – Red Wine Caramel Sauce 
• Friday–Country Cleaver-Pear Caramel Mini Cheesecakes / Munching in the Mitten-Caramel Cake
• Saturday–Comfortably Domestic-DIY Dulce de Leche Coffee Creamer / The Hill Country Cook-Salted Caramel Pie

Food Bloggers Against Hunger + Recipe: Spinach Rice Pilaf

A few weeks ago I received a text message from a co-worker (actually, my boss, she's great) asking if I wanted to go see A Place at the Table at our local theater. It was a well created and important film that provided a good glimpse into the many factors contributing to hunger in our country. I like to think I'm well versed when it comes to food and farming issues. Most of the issues that arose in the film pertaining to SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or "food stamps") benefits, food insecurity, and school lunch programs were familiar to me, but the numbers were much larger than I could have imagined. Seeing all of these statistics next to each other was staggering.

The bottom line:  hunger has been on the rise in the United States over the last several decades. At this very moment 50 million Americans don't know where their next meal is coming from. Funding for SNAP benefits and to school lunch programs has decreased over this same time period. To add insult to injury, the price of fresh fruits and vegetables has increased as have subsidies on commodity crops like corn (read: sugar), soy, and wheat. All of this essentially makes junk food cheaper and fresh food more, and more inaccessible. This article from Civil Eats provides a great recap of the issues and film, although I encourage you to see A Place at the Table if its available in your area.

Today, with the help of the folks at The Giving Table, over 200 food bloggers are dedicating their posts to the growing problem of hunger in America. Our purpose is two-fold. First, we're posting budget-friendly recipes that lend themselves to the $3-4 per person per day supplement SNAP beneficiaries receive. Some bloggers are taking $4 to the grocery store and documenting their shopping trips, others are sharing personal experiences with federal nutrition programs. Second, we want YOU to write letters to your senators and representatives asking them to protect SNAP funding and make eradicating hunger in America a priority. Submission is easy, click here to send a letter!

For my recipe contribution, I chose to make something with ingredients on hand. Any special trips to the grocery store just for this post would not happen if I were on a tighter food budget. The recipe I chose to make below (from 101 Cookbooks) lends itself well to variations and can be made quickly. I tried to use inexpensive ingredients, those that are available in bulk (rice) and ones that can be easily substituted and swapped (spinach, cheese).

Spinach Rice Gratin 
slightly adapted from 101 Cookbooks
2 1/2 cups leftover or precooked brown (or white)
1 1/2 cups cups well finely chopped spinach (or kale, collards, chard)
4 ounces of firm tofu, crumbled (I omitted. You could also use ham, black beans, or other protein.)
10 black olives, chopped
1/2 medium onion, diced
1/3 cup almonds, toasted
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup shredded swiss style cheese (or parmesan, cheddar, your favorite)
3 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, and lightly grease a 10-inch round baking dish.

Mix rice, spinach, tofu (or protein) in a large bowl. Add most of the chopped olives, onions, and almonds, reserving a bit for your garnish. Add half of the cheese to the large bowl. Whisk the eggs and salt in a separate bowl before folding it into your rice mixture. Put the mixture into the baking dish, top with remaining cheese and bake for 25-30 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining onions, olives and nuts (I added a bit of parsley too).

Fig, Fontina, and Pecan Flatbread for 50

Happy Birthday, Jeanne! That's right friends, the sweet and sassy, Texas-dwelling blogger behind Inside NanaBread's Head is turning 50 today. 

In honor of this exciting day, my theme-loving friends and I (see Cocktail Week, Crepe Week, Beer Week, etc.) are hosting a surprise (virtual) birthday party for Jeanne. Today we're sharing all sorts of great recipes fit for a fun, fabulous party.  

While I haven't known Jeanne long, I feel like I know her so much better after combing through her blog in preparation for today's recipe. I was looking for an affinity toward a certain ingredient or dish from Jeanne's posts. A sign! Something! And there they were. . . pecans.  With pecans as an inspiration and endless possibilities, I figured I could do no wrong. This sweet and savory combination comes from my cheese mongering days where I learned fig + cheese = happiness.  I hope you'll agree, Jeanne! Happy Birthday!

Fig, Fontina and Pecan Flatbread
1 lb. prepared pizza dough, or use your favorite recipe
cornmeal for baking pan or pizza stone
1 red onion, thinly sliced and caramelized
1 tablespoon of butter
1/2 cup of fig jam
1/2 cup of raw pecans, halves and pieces
2 cups of shredded fontina cheese
arugula, optional

1. Prepare your pizza dough, rolling it out to make one large flatbread or several (4) small flatbreads. Move pizza dough to a cornmeal dusted, preheated baking sheet or pizza stone. I opted to use Smitten Kitchen's gussied-up pizza dough and roll out four small flatbreads. Pro-tip: Do NOT substitute grits for cornmeal. Bad bad idea. 
2. Heat butter in a skillet on medium high heat to caramelize the red onion. Once the butter is warmed through and fully melted, add the sliced onion, stirring to coat the onions. Turn the heat down somewhere between low to medium heat and let the onions caramelize slowly. I added a little bit of balsamic jam here, I highly recommend it if you can get your paws on some. 
3. Once the onions are done, begin dressing your unbaked flatbread(s). I layered the onions first, then small half-teaspoon dollops of fig jam, followed by pecans and fontina.  Make sure the pecans are tucked well underneath the cheese, otherwise they'll burn. Alternately, skip the pecans in your assembly and top hot-out-of-the-oven flatbreads with toasted pecans.
4. Bake your flatbread(s) at your ovens highest heat or per dough instructions. 
5. Top your flatbread(s) with bright, crisp spinach or arugula and enjoy. I did!

Great news! The party doesn't stop here. See who else is celebrating Jeanne's 50th today. . .

• Kirsten's Orange Cream Pie 
• Allison's Coca Cola Cake 
• Beka's Aged Manhattan
• Megan's Nutella Turnovers
• Kat's Guacamole
• Madelyn's Cheesey Chorizo Dip
• Anne's Mexican Vanilla Ice Cream Cones
• Monica's Tropical Ice Cream
• Katie's Chocolate Cake with Cooked Flour Frosting
• Lauren's Mini Key Lime Pies with an Animal Cracker Crust
• Carrie's Coconut Banana Brownie Pie

Sweets Week: Chocolate Pistachio Biscotti

Happy Fat Tuesday to all my friends preparing for Lent and to those who just enjoy an excuse to eat a Paczki or two. I fall into the latter category although I've been reliably giving up my Starbucks habit for the past few Lenten seasons. It's my Catholic school education. I also have Catholic guilt. I'm not even Catholic.

Nonetheless, I've been doing my fair share of "preparation." This weekend I did the Paczki Run in Hamtramck, Michigan, took a chocolate class, and went to a birthday party all in one day. Each activity (obviously) involved amazing baked goods and confections.

Whether you're preparing for your Lenten fast or baking for a loved one(s), Sweets Week (another theme week from the ladies of Cocktail, Crepe, Beer, Cookie, and Soup Weeks) offers plenty of tasty ideas. I've had the chocolate-pistachio combination on my mind since reading a fellow Michigan blogger's recipe for Double Chocolate Pistachio Muffins. Although this chocolate-nut combination isn't of salted-caramel food-fad stature yet, it seems pretty popular this year. I'm a follower.

While softer than most biscotti, these still stand up well to a cup of coffee but would also be divine with bowl of ice cream and are a great way to show some love. Tomorrow I'm planning to show my coworkers how much I love them by bringing in biscotti and chocolate class leftovers of truffles and chocolate almond bark. ;) I guess there's a little bit of self interest involved too, I need this stuff out of reach. . .

Chocolate Pistachio Biscotti
from Martha Stewart

6 tablespoons of softened unsalted butter, plus more for baking sheet
2 cups of all-purpose flour, plus more for baking sheet
1/2 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 cup of sugar
2 eggs
1 cup of shelled pistachios
1/2 cup of chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350, coat baking sheet with butter and flour. 
2. Whisk flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt in medium bowl. Cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer (or your muscles!). Beat in eggs to the sugar and butter mixture until well combined before gradually adding in the flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips and pistachios. 
3. Form the dough into a log (approximately 12 by 4 inches) on your prepared baking sheet. Bake for 25 minutes or until slightly firm (in hindsight, I would have cooked for another 3-4 minutes). Let the cookie log cool for 5 minutes and reduce the oven temperature to 300. 
4. On a cutting board, cut the cookie log into 1-inch thick slices on a diagonal. Put the slices onto the baking sheet, cut-side down and bake in the oven for 5 minutes (or to your desired crispiness.

Be sure to visit Carrie at Bakeaholic Mama today. She's whipped up a tasty Samoa-inspired dessert dip: Samoa Crack Dip. 

Sunday:
Retro Raspberry Divinity (+Baking-themed Giveaway) - Jeanne @ Inside NanaBread's Head
Red Velvet and Vanilla Marble Cupcakes with Milk Chocolate Buttercream - Kristen @ Comfortably Domestic


Monday:
Chocolate-Dipped Peanut Butter Pudding Cookies – Beka @ Kvetchin’ Kitchen
Mini Meringue Strawberry Pie – Katie @ The Hill Country Cook


Wednesday:
Avocado Peppermint Chocolate Mousse – Lauren @ Climbing Grier Mountain
Cherry Garcia Chocolate Bark – Megan @ Wanna Be A Country Cleaver

Thursday:
S’Mores on a Stick – Kat @ Tenaciously Yours
White Chocolate Cupcakes with Raspberry Buttercream Frosting – Mads @ La Petite Pancake

Friday:
‘Pucker Up’ Lemon Marshmallows – Allison @ Decadent Philistines Save the World
Mini Chocolate Mousse Pies - Kristen @ Comfortably Domestic

Saturday:
Berry Smoothie Ice Cream Pie (+ a Giveaway) – Anne @ From My Sweet Heart

Soup Week: Garbage Soup

Happy Soup Week! It's yet another great collaboration of over a dozen awesome women on a very seasonally appropriate dish. In addition to swells of soup, you'll find a few loaves of bread and a Le Crueset giveaway in the mix this week.

If you read Kristen's (at Comfortably Domestic) Broccoli Cheddar Soup post yesterday, you know its cold in Michigan. Really cold. I was traveling around northern Michigan this weekend, still thawing as I write this post, both ego and a body bruised from my first downhill skiing trip. I was thankful for a warm bowl of soup yesterday after a cold morning on the slopes and a long afternoon in the car.

Why not take your dog for a walk on I-75 when traffic is stopped?

I thought about changing the name of this beloved family soup for the sake of my popularity during soup week. . .then I thought about how my notoriously picky niece has been asking for Garbage Soup for years, and I remembered the rise I used to get out of my friends when I excitedly told them I was having Garbage Soup for dinner. Priceless.

It's a family-recipe if we ever had one, given to my Mom by my Grandma (her mother-in-law), now a crowd-pleasing kitchen staple in my sister's kitchen. Why the name Garbage Soup? Since no actual garbage goes into the making of this soup, the best explanation I've been given is that the dumping of several cans of different ingredients necessitates the name. It seems barely justifiable, but traditions are important.

Garbage Soup

• One medium onion, diced
• 2-3 stalks of celery, thinly chopped
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 1 can of chicken or veggie broth (+1 can of water)
• 1/4 cup of ketchup
• 1/4 cup of brown sugar
• 2 small cans (~15oz) of stewed tomatoes or 1 large can
• 1 can of sweet corn
• 1 can of sliced new potatoes
• 1 small head of cabbage, thinly sliced
• 1 package of smoked summer sausage or kielbasa
• salt + pepper

Saute the onions and celery in butter over medium heat until soft. Add the broth, water, ketchup and brown sugar and stir until everything is well incorporated. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for a half hour to forty-five minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Notes: If you prefer to avoid canned food you can use equivalent amounts (eyeballing, of course) of fresh corn, fingerling potatoes, etc. For my version I used fingerling potatoes, veggie broth, and minimally processed kielbasa. Also, you shouldn't need to add much, if any, salt. The ketchup, canned veggies, and sausage usually suffice for salt content, but if you avoid the cans that scenario will change.



Best enjoyed with sisters and a puzzle.



For more soup, check out these great blogs. . .

Monday, January 20th

• Katie @ The Hill Country Cooks - 3 Bean & Spinach Soup (+Le Creuset Giveaway)
• Kristen @ Comfortably Domestic - Broccoli and Cheddar Soup in bread bowls
• Haley @ Girlie Girl Cooks - Hearty Vegetable Mexican Soup with Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread

TODAY

• Mads @ La Petite Pancake – Gnocchi Pesto Soup

Wednesday, January 22nd

• Megan @ Country Cleaver - 40 Clove Garlic Chicken Soup with Parmesan Croutons
• Lauren @ Climbing Grier Mountain – Sunchoke Soup with Gorgonzola & Honey Crostini

Thursday, January 23th

• Monica @ The Grom Mom – Coconut Curry with a lot of Aloha
• Carrie @ Bakeaholic Mama – Beef Bourguignon with French Baguettes

Friday, January 24th

• Kat @ Tenaciously Yours – Eat Live Run’s White Chicken Chili
• Allison @ Decadent Philistines – Arizona Mountain Soup with Cornbread

Saturday, January 25th

• Anne @ From My Sweet Heart – Pink Prosecco Soup
• Jeanne @ Inside NanaBread’s Head – Shrimp Bisque
• Beka @ Kvetchin Kitchen – Creamy Mushroom Soup

Cookie Week: Salted Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

What a week, as of today we are officially in mid-December. There is still much to be done this holiday season, but in light of recent events, even more to be thankful for. I don't have to words to describe how awful it must be to lose a child in a tragedy like that in Connecticut, or how Lily's family must feel losing their daughter to a hard fought battle with cancer. This morning I'm thankful for those who fight to keep young lives safe, who fight to eradicate all cancers, and it seems like "thank you" just begins to cover it all.

This week I was honored to blog with a group of women who are constantly using their blogging platforms to shine light on the issues most important to them. During Cookie Week, Kristen at Comfortably Domestic is working with Glad to Give and tallying up the number of cookies we've all swapped this week. Glad to Give will in turn donate a dollar to Cookies for Kids Cancer for every cookie exchanged this week (you can participate too, send your totals to comfortablydomestic <at> gmail <dot> com by today).

On Thursday, my co-workers and I swapped cookies during shift change at my fun market job. This was my first in-person cookie swap which was exciting, as I've only ever participated in the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap (also exciting). I'm lucky to work with lots of foodies, so there was no shortage of great cookies to be had.

For my contribution I made Salted Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies from Food 52. There is cookie that a Detroit bakery (and I'm sure thousands of others) makes - Sea Salt Chocolate Chip - I'm obsessed. I happily sprinkled flakey, crunchy Maldon Sea Salt all over these cookies. In all, I contributed fourteen cookies to the market-swap, and gave the rest to co-workers at my non-profit job (the beauty of multiple jobs - more distribution outlets for baked goods). 

Salted Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies 

from Food 52/Food Blogga

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

3/4 cups creamy peanut butter (not all natural)

1/2 cup unsalted peanuts

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

coarse sea salt for sprinkling cookies

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
3. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar with an an electric mixer on medium-high speed. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Beat in peanut butter until just combined. Beat in dry ingredients until just combined. Stir in peanuts and chocolate chips.
4. Drop 1 heaping tablespoon of cookie dough two inches apart. Top each cookie with a few sea salt crystals.
5. Bake cookies for 12-14 minutes, until the edges are firm.

Be sure to check out all of the Cookie Week posts via Comfortably Domestic!

The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap 2012

To say I've been looking forward to the 2nd annual Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap since August would not be an exaggeration.  Last year's swap kept my friends and I fueled during finals week. This year's swap was just what I needed to launch myself into the holiday season amidst work, life, etc! The sweet addition to this year's swap was that each participating blogger represented $4 going to Cookies for Cancer.

As I haven't spent much time baking in past few months I sought out infallible recipes for this year's swap. When I found Dorie Greenspan's recipe for Chocolate Chunkers, I knew it was "the one." Four types of chocolate eliminated all room for error, not even my finicky oven could mess up this one.

I did worry the final product, which was amazing, may have been a little delicate for shipping. The "crunchies" as Dorie called them, semisweet and white chocolate chips, peanuts and raisins, outweigh the cookie dough here and so the dough loosely holds these cookies together. Hopefully my cookie recipients forgave any presentation problems at first bite!

Get the Dorie's Recipe for Chocolate Chunkers here.

Off to New York, Tennesee and Florida

In exchange, I received three dozen great cookies.

• Alexandra at Sweet Betweens sent Mexican spiced Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Melissa at I Was Born to Cook sent Toffee Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
• Lauren at West Coast Girl, East Coast Life sent Ginger Molasses Cookies

These ladies know how to bake! I've been stowing away the cookies they sent in my freezer and I'm looking forward to enjoying them all winter long. If you're interested in signing up for next year's swap - sign up here.

Later this week I'm joining my favorite bloggers of all time who are baking for Cookie Week.  Kristen at Comfortably Domestic is organizing this baking extravaganza alongside Cookies for Kids Cancer (much like the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap). For each cookie exchanged, Glad to Give is donating $1 to Cookies for Kids Cancer. Be sure to follow all the action of Cookie Week via Kristen's blog or use #cookieweek on Twitter.