a little zaftig

Rhubarb Cordial

by Laura 19 May 2011

Definitions for cordials seem rather contradictory. Dictionary dot com defines one as “a strong, sweetened, aromatic alcoholic liquor or liqueur;” others describe a sweet, nonalcoholic fruit concentrate. My favorite definition comes from Merriam Webster: “tending to revive, cheer or invigorate,” and is associated with cordial waters. It seems the most fitting for this rhubarb cordial. [...]

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Wild Ramp Cream Cheese

by Laura 13 May 2011

If you are lucky enough to find some ramps this spring, and you can barely wait to cook with them, you can tame them and get one or two onto your plate in a heartbeat with this cream cheese. Smeared onto some good bread, a bagel, or crispbread, these wild leeks, redolent of garlic and [...]

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Ten-minute Rhubarb Vanilla Conserve

by Laura 12 May 2011

Thirteen years ago, during the first spring in our house, I discovered that you could make a simple rhubarb conserve in less than ten minutes. We’ve come to call it a refrigerator preserve, since there isn’t a high heat canning process involved, and the springtime jars vanish from our refrigerator so quickly it would be [...]

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Meet the Flock

by Laura 9 May 2011

Here is Edna, an Australorpe, the littlest, the feistiest, capital squawker and pecker. Within minutes of reaching the brooder, and despite the fact that she is roughly half the size of her week-older counterparts, she was putting them all in line, hand on proverbial hip. She has a no-nonsense matronly gate, and is the kind [...]

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Rhubarb Crumble

by Laura 6 May 2011

The other day I was wondering, Where did April go? And then I sorted it out. It’s the calendar. (Cue shrieking music.) The dreaded calendar. I don’t know how it got so crowded, but it’s a bit maddening. I loathe a crowded calendar. Read mine like a country auctioneer with me: haircut, grooming, dentist, doctor, [...]

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Cheese and Apple Salad

by Laura 6 May 2011

At our house, when you’re the birthday boy or girl, “plan your heart’s wishes, plan your menus, and enjoy” is the rule of the day. Here is our Sweet Boy’s supper menu for his 17th, which we celebrated Wednesday: filet of beef juicy Lucy (grilled filet stuffed with fresh mozzarella and wrapped in thick bacon), [...]

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Simple Leek and Potato Soup with Ham

by Laura 3 May 2011

Stubborn grey winter is hanging on in Minnesota. We had snow fall briefly yesterday and a couple of days before that, and the temperatures have been in the low 30s. The trees are still bare, but the buds have begun to pop on shrubs and lilacs despite the cold, and the owls have returned. On [...]

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A Warren of Bunny Cakes

by Laura 22 April 2011

There are bunnies in these woods… I woke to hoar frost this morning. (Is there anything lovelier?) And the first daffodil of the spring, nestled in a bed of snow not yet melted. Spring and winter are currently colliding in Minnesota in a month-long tug of war. I know spring will prevail eventually, but right [...]

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Coffee Custard Tart

by Laura 18 April 2011

I baked eight cakes yesterday, but I couldn’t resist making something for Food52’s coffee-themed contest last night, too. I made a thin, crisp shortbread crust flavored with concentrated coffee, whole wheat pastry flour, and turbinado sugar and filled it with a barely sweet, egg-rich, coffee scented custard. Since there are only two tablespoons of sugar [...]

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Salted Date Pie

by Laura 13 April 2011

Well, just as I had smelled spring in the air, piles of snow as big as a school bus spied on my way to rosemaling class and news of another snow storm on its way to Minnesota have put me in the mood for a few more days of winter cooking. My Kaffeeklatsch are coming [...]

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Brown Butter Almond Cake with Homemade Citrus Jelly

by Laura 11 April 2011

It is 45 degrees here this morning. The sky is clear and big and bright blue, and the last of the snow is melting. Even the spot where the plows had pushed up a good eight feet at the end of the driveway has nearly disappeared. There is the smell of dirt and life in [...]

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