I was in town yesterday and saw a fruit vendor with 1-kilo flats of strawberries for €5 each, which I thought was an excellent deal. I bought two, came home with them, and went back out not much later to get (other things also, but) four more. The young lady at the booth looked at me a bit askance when I came up and asked for four flats. I explained I was making jam, and she said, “Oh! Okay. I was wondering if you maybe had a bit of an…
I have semi-invented an easy tikka masala recipe, which is what happens when I have a recipe I’ve made before but discover I’m missing many of the actually-called-for ingredients. This one ends up having what I trust most people have in their pantries, which is why it’s ideal. :) Easy Tikka Masala 1-2 oz butter or vegetable oil 1 tbsp garlic powder 2 tsp ground cumin 2 tsp paprika 1/2-1 tsp chili powder 1/2 tsp salt pepper to taste 1 can chopped tomatoes 1 can chickpeas 1 fresh tomato, rough…
When I was a kid, she said, hunched over with one hand in the small of her back and the other waving an imaginary cane, they made Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies Differently. They had the chocolate cookie base and the thin chocolate layer, but between them they had a thin layer of mint candy, like one might find in a peppermint patty or Junior Mint. The chocolate cookie base had a slight ridge around the outer edge, so the mint candy fit inside that, and one could scrape one’s…
Because nothing says “I love you” like bulbous homemade doughnut monstrosities that look like they’ve risen from the depths of the ocean. I used a buttermilk cake doughnut recipe from my never-fail Meta Given’s cookbook. It said “chill the dough for 2-3 hours.” At the end of 2.5 hours it was clear that the dough was never going to reach any more substantial firmness than it had. “Roll out to 1/4″ inches,” it said. I tried. It stuck to the rolling pin. I grimly added flour, and more flour, and…
RUSSIAN TEA CAKES (traditional Kenai Russian ladies’ recipe) 1 c softened (not melted) butter 1/2 c sifted powdered sugar 1 tsp vanilla 2 1/2 c flour 1/4 tsp salt 3/4 c finely chopped walnuts Allow the butter to soften to room temperature–do not melt. Sift the powdered sugar & measure. Stir them together using a spoon–do not use a mixer. Stir in the vanilla. Sift and measure the flour, then re-sift with the salt. Stir in the chopped walnuts. Stir the flour mix into the butter mix. The resulting dough…