One To Try: Whole Wheat Muffins

Here's a recipe I'd like to try: Mark Bittman's Whole Wheat Muffins. My mom made them when the recipe first ran in the Minimalist column in February and said that it was a good one. Bittman says the secret to a good whole wheat muffin is to use whole wheat cake flour, rather than all-purpose. I'm thinking I will try a pumpkin-carrot combo for fall.

I'm also dying to see Mark Bittman's new cookbook The Food Matters Cookbook. Anyone seen it or bought it yet?

PS - Sorry I've been lacking in posts lately -- work has been busy and I spent a lovely four days out in CA with my parents last weekend.

Vampire Party for All You

Earlier this year, I had the pleasure to work with All You magazine for the first time. I contributed some of the crafts for a vampire-themed party in their October issue. I am particularly proud of my bat invitations which had movable wings (above), but overall, I am super-thrilled with how this story turned out! Here are all of the crafts I contributed.

A "bat-mobile" made from a spray-painted embroidery hoops, ribbon, thread and black, paper bats.

Black paper treat bags cut down to look like tombstones and "engraved" with a white paint pen.

Family photos are doctored for the party with white paper fangs.

A spooky centerpiece of black flowers and spray-painted fake fruit.

Portobellos with Spinach, Leeks and Goat Cheese

After reading the user comments on the website for Everyday Food, I decided not to follow the recipe for Portobellos with Leeks and Spinach to the letter, but rather to use it as an inspiration for my own mushroom entree. The resulting vegetarian dish was yummy and satisfying.

Here's what I did:

Portobellos with Leeks and Spinach
Inspired by Everyday Food

2 leeks
2 portobello mushroom caps
2-ish tablespoon olive oil
1-ish tablespoon red wine vinegar
Coarse salt and ground pepper
2 cups chopped fresh baby spinach (about 2 ounces)
1/4 cup crumbled soft goat cheese

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Slice white and light green parts of leeks into half moons and wash in a salad spinner in cold water until all dirt is removed, then spin dry. Wash and dry baby spinach.
3. Heat enough olive oil to coat a saute pan over medium heat, when hot add leeks to pan. Cook for three minutes or so until leeks soften. Toss in spinach and stir until wilted.
4. Place portobellos on a rimmed baking sheet gill sides up; drizzle each with just a bit of oil and vinegar, and season with salt and pepper. Bake 15 minutes.
5. Top the mushrooms with the cooked -leek-spinach mixture, then sprinkle goat cheese crumbles over top. Season with salt and better. Bake for an additional 10 minutes.

I also tossed a half a pint of cherry tomatoes and a few whole garlic cloves with some olive oil and coarse salt and threw them onto the baking sheet when I placed the mushrooms back in the over in Step 5 for a super-simple side dish -- who doesn't love an oven-roasted garlic clove?

Homemade Iced Tea

Bottled iced tea has to be one of the most wasteful and overpriced beverages, especially when you can make a pitcher yourself for just a few cents. All summer I've been brewing myself pitchers of custom tinctures, and one favorite combo has been two Tazo Ginger-Green tea bags paired with two mint tea bags.

From the age of 14 until almost 21, I held jobs at a number of different coffee shops. In fact, I still get recognized on the street at the "Grey Dog Girl" despite the fact that I haven't worked there since 2001. One thing I learned during my barista years is that a cup of hot tea chilled will become cloudy. To prevent the cloudiness, you can brew a small concentrated quantity of hot tea (as you can see me doing above) and then dilute it with cold water for a clearer cup of iced tea.