I’ve found that there’s a running pattern in my life.
I’m sure you’ve noticed it.

I find that I speak in food. Lots of people do this, but I’ve become increasingly aware of this phenomena happening in my own life.

I say “Get well soon” with a Mason jar of soup, “Today sucked, but it’ll be okay” with Spicy Soba Soup, “Today sucked, do not disturb” with Green Smoothies, and “I love you” with a pot of Dirty Rice.

…

Update alert:

I am very excited to say, I have found a brand spankin’ new job! Tyler and I will be moving in order to make my commute more tolerable, and suddenly, I find myself in a situation where I need to say “goodbye”. How do you tell a group of coworkers “goodbye, I’ll miss ya, keep kicking butt” with something delicious? Sort of a bittersweet message. So I figured, bittersweet brownies.

Pump the breaks. Brownies are awesome. Yes, this is a fact.
You know what else is awesome? Pops. Cakepops, Ice cream pops… Brownie Pops. Where are my popsicle sticks?

Dear Coworkers,
I am so excited to start a new chapter in my life–working at a new job, living in a new city, and experiencing all new things. Yes, I am excited– but I’m totally going to miss all of you! Thank you for the (almost) two years of working together and kicking butt together. Keep on keepin’ on!
Love,
Elise

Let’s pop.

Bittersweet Brownie Pops
(brownie inspired by Alton Brown’s Cocoa Brownie Recipe)
For the Brownie:
4 eggs
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 cups of cocoa powder
3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 shots of espresso (optional)
4 ounces bittersweet baking chocolate, melted
2 sticks of butter, melted and brought to room temp
nonstick spray

For the Pop:
12 popcicle sticks
1 bag of white chocolate chips
all the sprinkles your heart desires

1. Preheat the oven to 300°F.
2. Place the eggs in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Turn onto medium and allow to beat for 3 minutes.
3. Add the two types of sugar and mix to incorporate.
4. Whisk the cocoa powder, flour, and salt together.
5. Reduce the mixer to low speed, and slowly add the dry ingredients. Feel free to stop the paddle to scrape the sides as needed.
6. Once the ingredients are fully incorporated, add the vanilla, espresso, and melted chocolate.
7. Continue to keep the mixer on low, and slowly drizzle the melted butter into the batter. Do it low and slow, allowing the butter to incorporate before adding more.
8. Make a parchment paper hammock in a 9×13″ baking pan (line with parchment) and spray with the nonstick spray. Fill with the batter and smooth the top.
9. Bake for 40-45 minutes.
10. Remove the brownies from the pan and place onto a cooling rack. Cool for 15 minutes, and then (using a pizza cutter) cut into 12 squares.
11. While the brownies are warm, (very) carefully, insert the popcicle sticks. Be nice about it, would you? The brownies are still fairly fragile at this point.
12. Carefully place onto a cookie sheet and place into the freezer. Freeze for at least 2 hours and up to a day.
13. Melt the white chocolate in a double boiler (microwave on half power stirring every 30 seconds until melted also works).
14. Gently dip or drizzle the brownie pops to your heart’s desire, also sprinkle those sprinkles! Place onto a lined cookie sheet into the freezer.
15. Allow the white chocolate to solidify, serve and enjoy!!!

Yes. I know it’s a long process. But it’s worth it, trust me.

Yum Foodie Foodie!

I have come to realize that life comes in waves.

Sometimes, there are waves of unfortunate situations…a family member falls ill, a friend looses their job, you’re in a fight with loved ones.

Then there are times that are filled with happy events: you get a promotion, or it’s your significant other’s birthday…

At this particular point in time, I would like to officially declare that the waves of bad stuff totally suck. Poo on you bad stuff. I will not welcome you and your negativity into my life, no. No, not at all.

Last night, feeling the weight of life of my shoulders (and really… let’s be honest, I was throwing myself a little pity party), rather than sit around drinking red wine scowling at birds flying above my back patio, I decided to make soup. Soup is the kind of food that I totally associate with being comforted– don’t you? If you were sick when you were a kid, your mom would heat up a can of chicken noodle soup and give it to you in a big mug. At this stage of my life, I feel that I’ve moved past the canned-chicken-soup-phase and into the boom-pow-delicious-home-made-soup-in-a-huge-cast-iron-pot-phase… I’m sort of proud of myself.

One of our friends was feeling a bit under the weather last night, so I decided that not only would the act of making soup soothe me and my angst, but it would also spread the love a little. Double batch it is–I put that deliciousness in a mason jar and paraded it over to her house with a big hunk of bread. Good karma. Getchusome.

Lemon Chicken & Orzo Soup
I saw this recipe on Shutterbean, who originally got it from Bon Appétit… this slightly adjusted version is inspired by both of them, plus a little extra love from my kitchen.

You’ll Need:
2 tbs olive oil
1 white onion, chopped
3 leeks, light green and white only, thinly chopped and cleaned
3 stalks of celery, chopped
4 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 32oz box of chicken broth
1 cup water
2 chicken breasts
1 cup orzo (you can use any type of pasta you like)
2 bay leaves
1 bunch fresh dill
lemon wedges (1 per serving)

1. In a large [cast iron if you're a snob like me] pot, add olive oil and place over medium high heat.
2. Add the onion, leeks, celery, carrots, and garlic into the pot. Stirring occasionally, cook until tender (about 5 min)
3. Add the chicken broth and water and bring to a boil. Add the chicken breasts into the pot, completely submerging them under the liquid. Lower heat to medium and cook for 20 minutes. (soup should be gently boiling for the full 20 minutes, if you find that the liquid isn’t, simply adjust the heat up)
4. Remove the chicken breasts to a cutting board, and using two forks, shred it!
5. In the meantime, add the bay leaves and orzo. Allow to boil for 11-15 minutes (until orzo is tender).
6. Place shredded chicken back into the pot, stir to incorporate all of the ingredients. Salt and pepper to taste.
7. Scoop a big ‘ol bowl of soup, garnish with as much dill as you like, and squeeze a lemon wedge
into it!

You know what? You should share some of this soup… this is a big pot… this recipe make a respectable amount of soup… and if you’re anything like me, you might abandon your excess in the back of your refrigerator (whoops…). Put this vicious delicious concoction into a container/big mason jar and deliver to your person of choosing. Or better yet (given that everyone is in good health) go ahead and invite somebody over to have soup with you. It might be a random phone call…

“hi”
“hey”
“what are you doing?”
“nothing…”
“…would you like to come over and eat soup?”
“…yes.”

but it will likely end in a pleasant experience. And hey, it definitely beats sitting around by yourself.
Share. It’s good for you.

Yum foodie foodie!

I have, and always will maintain that cooking something delicious for someone is an act of love. You are creating something that evokes joy in the other person. Whether it’s soup for a sick friend, or cookies for a new neighbor—you are taking time out of your crazy-run-around-day to create something joyous for someone else.

Have I ever talked about Muffin Monday?
Well, of course I have… in fact I’ve blogged muffin recipes from Muffin Monday’s past like Donut Muffins, Holiday Gingerbread Muffins, and Coffeecake Muffins with a Hint of Lavender just to name a few… but have I ever really talked about Muffin Monday?

Let’s get real here.

For about a year or so, every Sunday afternoon, I busted out my muffin pans and baked a batch of roughly two dozen muffins. Sometimes using recipes that I’d seen before, but mostly recipes that I made up—and always something different. It became part of my weekend: 3pm on a Sunday—Muffin Time. Why did I do this? What did I do with two dozen muffins?

Nothing.

I took them from the oven and put them into a plastic container, where they would wait, all happy and delicious, until the next day: Muffin Monday.

Every Monday morning I marched through the campus of Chico State University, down to the basement of the Miriam Library to the little graphic design studio where I worked and placed my batch of muffins on the counter with a hand-written flavor card. People started to take note, and after a while, people knew Mondays were Muffin Mondays.

Why did I do this?
Well, I loved (and still do) to bake, for starters.

But I did it out of love.

I loved my life, I loved the studio I worked in, I loved the people I worked with—that love manifested in the form of two dozen muffins in a plastic container, every Monday.

Okay okay, so why the long-winded story? It’s simple: I’m hoping to inspire you to love.
I don’t care who, show some love to your boyfriend, your girlfriend, your family, your friends, even your coworkers—whoever!

Muffin Monday is long gone, but it helped build a community in our little design studio that I will never forget.
Last night I had a nostalgic run-in with blueberries, butter, and sugar: a classic muffin flavor profile, that made an appearance in a bread-pan rather than a muffin-tin this time around. So, this morning, I brought this lovely thing into work, you know, to spread the love:

Blueberry Lemon Bread
(yields one 5×9 inch loaf)

You’ll Need
1.5 cups of all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
0.5 tsp salt
1 stick of sweet cream butter (softened)
1 cup sugar
0.25 cup of lemon juice
2 tbs lemon zest
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1.5 cups of blueberries
0.5 cup buttermilk

1. Preheat your oven to 350° F.
2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together.
3. In a stand mixer with a paddle, cream the butter and sugar together for 3 minutes (until fluffy).
4. Add the lemon juice, zest, vanilla, and eggs. Beat on medium until well incorporated, make sure to scrape the bowl if you need to.
5. Put the mixer on low, and add half of the flour mixture-allow to stir-and then add half of the buttermilk. Repeat until all is incorporated.
6. Toss the blueberries in a small handful of flour and then fold into the batter.
7. Butter and flour your bread pan and fill it up with your batter!
8. Bake in the oven for 50-60 minutes (it depends on how hot your oven REALLY runs).
9. Remove when a toothpick comes out clean, allow to cool in the pan for at least 40 minutes.
10. Insert a knife along the edges to help dislodge the bread from the pan, and invert the pan onto a cooling rack. Allow to cool, and share it with someone you love.

I made this for you all, I love you all! Who do you love?
You should go walk up that that person and say “hey! you listen to me, I freakin’ love your face and Immonna make you something delicious… to prove it… and to share it”

Get after it.

Yum Foodie Foodie!

Did you know that it’s the holiday season?

I know it.

I bet you do. I bet your amazon.com accounts are going haywire. I bet you’re stressing about that one gosh darn relative that’s impossible to buy a gift for!!!

Been there.

Done that.

I’ve been going nuts. This time of year used to be magical when I was a kid. Now it is… well, it’s still fairly magical, but not in the same way. It used to be magical because SANTA WAS COMING and you got to eat unlimited sugar cookies. Now- it’s magical because I have friends and family to buy thoughtful gifts for, and I have a wonderful boyfriend to buy funny/random presents for. It’s magical because suddenly I’m allowed to bake with loads of ginger and cinnamon- and NO ONE–NO ONE– CAN STOP ME!

It’s magical becaaaaaaaause we get to drink things like eggnog, or fancy cocktails at holiday parties—-oooooooooor spiced apple cider.

Yes.

I made this spiced apple cider in no time, it was delicious. It was holiday-ish. It was crazy good.

also- I wouldn’t judge you if you added say… bourbon to your mug.
I’m just saying.

It’s as easy as

1. Place 1 1/2 cups of unfiltered apple cider into a sauce pan over medium heat.

I am very fond of you all, very fond.

So fond, that I stopped mid-bite during dinner last night so I could hastily photograph these little beauties to share with you all:

These babies didn’t last very long after their moment in front of the lens.
Tyler made some more home-made sourdough bread this weekend, but each batch makes wwaaaayyyy more bread than I should consume in one weekend.

furreal
He’s still using the same (awesome) recipe from the Tartine Bread Book.

You know what rocks about that book? There are more recipes than just that one bread recipe. There are recipes in there that tell you to use day. old. bread.

jackpot.

THIS is one of those glorious day-old-bread-using recipes

The tomatoes are magical.
They start out looking like this:

and then they look like this

boom. boom. boom. boom.

pow.

Tomatoes Provencal:
from the Tartine Bread Book
You’ll need:

4-5 medium tomatoes (we used heirlooms)
2 tbs olive oil
salt
2 slices of day old bread (you can use store-bought bread if you’d like)
1 tbs herbs de Provence
zest of one lemon
3/4 c Parmesan cheese
3 tbs olive oil

1. Preheat the oven to 475°
2. cut each tomato in half, place on a lined cookie sheet cut side up, and drizzle with olive oil and salt
3. roast those puppies for 15 minutes
4. in a blender/food processor pulse the bread until it becomes crumbs.
5. add the herbs, lemon zest, parm, and olive oil. Pulse until well incorporated.
6. after 15 min, remove the lovely tomatoes from the oven, and put a big ‘ol spoonfull of your bread mixture onto each one
7. roast for 15 more minutes
8. try not to drool
9. eat them

No need to thank me, this one aint mine.
go to Tartine, and thank them!

good dinner, babe.

yum foodie foodie!

Okay, I’m sorry.

I need to brag about my boyfriend.

He made this:

It’s sourdough bread!
We made a starter using native yeast to the area… fed it for weeks, and now look! He made this crazy delicious, crusty, awesome bread!

The recipe is long and complicated, so I won’t reiterate it. Plus hey, I feel like he earned this trick to hide up his sleeve.

If you simply cannot live without knowing how to make this lovely loaf, check out the Tartine Bread book, my gift to Tyler for his birthday. (Tartine is a famous bakery in San Francisco. If you haven’t been, GO! Get there at 4:30 for a fresh loaf of sourdough right out of the oven)

My boyfriend rocks… and simultaneously sucks… so many carbs.

Love you Tig. <3

Be kind.

One time Tyler and I were driving along on some weekend outing and stopped at a tollbooth to pay to cross a bridge. I’m not sure how many people actually pay cash to cross the bridges in the San Francisco Bay Area anymore, rather than using FasTrac, but we are some of them. It costs $5 to cross, and I had a $10 bill. I thought, “be kind” and paid for the car of strangers behind us to cross as well. How cool would that be, if that happened to us? How cool would that be if it happened to you? Oh wow! How nice of them! You would think as you crossed that bridge for $free.99–
That was some time ago, but today I got a call from Tyler, who was driving into San Francisco for work. He happily told me that when he pulled up to the tollbooth, the man inside said “Oh, go ahead man! The guy ahead of you paid your toll!”

Ah! How cool, and how nice of that guy to do that!

Now, this story being told, I should tell you that I’m one of those brats who lives five minutes away from where I work. That five minute drive does not include a bridge, so I luckily do not have to pay a toll terribly often. But paying for  a stranger’s bridge toll is not the only way to perform an act of kindness.
SO- when I’m not at a tollbooth with a $10 bill and an unsuspecting stranger behind me, I choose butter and sugar to help me perform acts of kindness.
Peanut butter and brown sugar to be exact.

Be kind.

Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies
Bring these puppies to work with you. Leave them in the break room. Don’t say who brought them.
Good deed of the day. Do it, it’s good for you.

2 1/2 c flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 sticks of unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 c dark brown sugar
1/2 c sugar
1 banana mashed
2 eggs
1 c peanut butter
handful of sugar to roll the dough in
1 1/2 c chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350°
2. Whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together.
3. In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. (Try using a paddle attachment in a standmixer)
4. Add the eggs and mix until incorporated. Scrape the sides of the bowl.
5. Add peanut butter and banana and then mix until all is incorporated.
6. Add the dry ingredients along with chocolate chips, mix until incorporated, and scrape the bowl.
7. Take out a bit of dough (about two tsp in size) and roll them in the sugar. Set on a lined cookie sheet a few inches apart.
8. Take a fork and press a criss-cross pattern on top of each cookie.
9. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until golden brown around the edges
10. Give them to your friends and family!

Boom pow.
yum.

yum foodie foodie!

I struggled with what to call these.
At first, I thought to call them pancakes. But… I feel like pancakes live in the same place in my head as cinnamon sugar and maple syrup. And sorry, but THESE are NOT those kind of pancakes.
Then I thought, griddle cake. Griddle… cake. Cake is misleading–cake is sweet. These are savory, these are dinner… not that there’s anything wrong with sweet for dinner. I’m just saying–these are not cake. These are strong. These are unapologetic. These are gnarly lookin, cheesy, spicy, insanely satisfying, carby rounds of perfectly toasted whole wheat batter with a whole buncha good stuff cooked in. So… what do we call them?

How about… flap jack? Something about “flap jack” makes me nostalgic.
Done. Good. Flap Jack.

These are a hot mess in the best way possible. You plop a dollop of batter down on a hot pan, you mash a bunch of yummy stuff into one side, and then you FLIP IT OVER and toast that dang delicious stuff right up in there. There’s something weirdly satisfying in flipping a flap jack over and seeing that golden brown face. BOOM. Yeah. Look at me, I just flipped that flap jack! Dang.

Spicy Sausage and Chive Flap Jacks

You’ll Need:
2 c whole wheat flour (you can use all purpose if you want)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
4 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
3 tbs melted butter
1 1/2 c buttermilk
1/2 c fat free plain yogurt
2-3 dashes of Worcestershire
2-3 dashes hot sauce (optional)
1/2 c water
3 tbs of vegetable oil
2 fully cooked chicken sausages (I used a hot Jalapeno variety) sliced thinly
1/4 c chives, chopped
3/4 c shredded cheese (I used Jarlsburg!)

1. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt.
2. In another bowl, whisk the egg, butter, buttermilk, yogurt, Worcestershire, and hot sauce  together. Add it to the dry ingredients and mix until incorporated.
3. Add the water to the batter to loosen it up a bit. Stir stir stir.
4. Add the oil to a large nonstick pan over medium/high heat.
5. Drop a dollop of the dough into the hot pan. Smoosh some slices of sausage, chives, and cheese to the top. Allow to cook until golden brown underneath, and then FLIP!
6. Allow to cook until golden brown, remove from heat, and EAT THAT SUCKA!

boom boom pow.
Now, listen to me. If you’re a vegetarian, great! This recipe is very adaptable. Instead of sausage, use some more yummy veggies like thinly sliced red onions, or diced bell peppers. Oooh. You could also use soy chorizo. They make that, you know. Boom. Yum. Yowza.

Yum foodie foodie!

“This is my invariable advice to people: Learn how to cook-try new recipes, learn from your mistakes, be fearless, and above all have fun!” -Julia Child

well said, Julia. well said.

I believe the following fact to be absolutely and irrevocably true: noodles are good for your soul.

Fight me all you want on this, but it’s true–it’s true–it’s true. If you are having a bad day, eat noodles. Shoot. If you’re having a GOOD day, eat noodles. Then you’re having a noodle-good day. Hard to beat my friends, hard. to. beat.
While we’re on the subject of things that are good for your soul, let me roll out a few more little nuggets of wisdom:

Chocolate is good for your soul, as is salted caramel.
Cooking in instead of going out to eat for a date night, good for your soul.
This song is good for your soul, trust me.
The sound of crickets chirping is good for your soul.
Caffeine is good for your soul.
A glass of wine after work. Good. For. Your. Soul.
Good leftovers are good for your soul.

I had some good leftovers. I took some lovely smoked tri-tip home from a summertime sunshine bbq. Free good food? Add that to the good-for-your-soul list (also jot down cookie butter while you’re at it).

What does one do with leftover tri-tip? Tri-tip sanwich? Maybe. Doused in BBQ sauce? I suppose so. But tonight, I feel like feeding my soul– so.
There’s only one course of action, of course. Noodles. Tri-tip. Happiness.

Some of you might already be familiar with soba noodles. Maybe you’ve had them chilled with dipping sauce. Maybe (not likely… but just maybe) you were around back in February 2011 when I had a noodle night. Ancient history, delicious ancient history. Soba noodles are a Japanese variety of noodles made from buckwheat. They are crazy delicious. They have a hearty bite, they’re quick to make, and they’re dang delicious. So there.I love this recipe because it’s sort of a fake-out recipe. You can whip it together really quickly if you have all the right ingredients, and whoever you share it with will be severely impressed.
Real talk: It’s full of shortcuts. You used your leftovers to make it. It literally took you no time.
Last minute date night recipe, anyone?

Spicy Soba Noodle Soup
For two happy bowls

You’ll Need:

2 bundles of soba noodles
1 (14.5 oz) can of chicken broth
3 tbs store-bought teriyaki marinade (BOOOM. shortcut)
1/2 tsp Sriracha sauce (adjust to taste)
1 dash of fish sauce
1 small shallot, sliced thin (optional)
2 green onions, sliced thin
several slices of leftover tritip/leftover chicken/leftover pork/leftover whatever

1. Drop soba noodles into a pot of boiling water, stir, and allow to boil for 5-7 minutes.
2. In another medium saucepan/pot, combine chicken broth, teriyaki, Sriracha, fish sauce, and shallot. Stir and put over medium heat until it’s hot.
3. When the soba noodles are tender, drain them into a colander and divide between two bowls.
4. Split the broth between to two bowls, and then add the leftover tri-tip/leftover chicken/leftover whatever, and finally, the green onions.
5. Give one bowl to your awe-struck guest and the other to yourself. Mow down.

There. Not so hard. And now your soul is extra happy, you can thank me later.

Please note! If you’d like to make this recipe vegetarian, use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth, omit the fish sauce, and use tofu! Hooray!

Foodie foodie!