eat make read

I miss my weekly inspiration at the farmers market… the bright colors, happy farmers and new surprises each week. Now, I have to admit, I’m pretty lucky because our local farmers market is actually still open, but more often than not I find it hard to bundle myself up and face the walk. A few weeks ago Maude (my dog) and I got up the nerve to face the cold and made the trek. We didn’t come home with any colorful fruit or vegetables, mostly cheese and meat with a few root vegetables sprinkled in, but our one treasure of the day was the most delicious applesauce I’ve ever tasted. It’s made with one of my favorite apples, Fuji and pink in hue. I ate my fair share, but had enough leftover that I decided to make an apple quick bread with it and boy, did it cure my winter blues.

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One of my favorite things about having eat make read is that I’m always trying new things. Sometimes I see a recipe in a magazine or on a blog that inspires me, sometimes I have a crazy idea that requires a little experimentation and then, every once in a while, one of you, my lovely readers sends me a recipe that just needs to be made. Perhaps after noticing my tendency towards tasty weekend breakfasts, reader Susan sent me a recipe for Crisp-Crusted, Feather-Light Raised Waffles from CookWise. Yeast waffles sounded intriguing and delicious, so this weekend I whipped up a batch.

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Whew! It’s good to be back! I have to say I didn’t intend to take a blog vacation, but life got a little nutty for a bit. Fingers crossed, things have gotten less stressful which means more time for fun! Like cooking up a storm.
During the months before Remedy Quarterly was actually the real deal, I was lucky enough to interview Tim Mazurek from Lottie + Doof. Along with thoughtful answers to my questions, Tim shared a favorite recipe for coffee cake, one that instantly made my mouth water. I thought the last day of vacation seemed like the perfect time to make one last comfort-driven recipe before heading back to the real world. I happily whipped up a créme frâiche coffee cake that rocked my world.

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Polenta been tempting me for a while now. I’ll order it in a restaurant and say, “wow, i’ve really got to make this at home”. Then I’ll come home and attempt to make it and disaster will follow. There’s something about that beautiful yellow powder that just does not agree with me. But finally, after several attempts I was finally successful in my quest to make polenta. Not only did it not fall apart and look like a sad lump, but it was pretty dang tasty too.

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It’s funny, growing up I turned my nose up to pancakes. Waffles? Oh yeah, I’d eat those like nobody’s business, but there was something about pancakes (flatness? stacking? who knows!) that just didn’t work for me. Well now whenever I’m trying to decide on whether to make pancakes or waffles I usually go for pancakes, I think because it seems simpler to me. These pancakes take the genre to a whole new level, so much so that the recipe says they can be used for breakfast or dessert. Is it bad that I had them for dinner? Read more

Ohhhh boy, it’s apple season! I just dipped my toe in the water with the apples this week and only picked up two, which limited my options a little as to what I was going to make, but I like a challenge. This recipe for maple apple muffins immediately grabbed my attention with the “maple apple”, then when I saw that I had enough apples, I was sold. They’re the perfect recipe to welcome apples back.

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Last Friday I had the pleasure of guest posting over at the lovely Food Loves Writing. Check out my rendition of Mark Bittman’s recipe for arepas.

I saw this article in the New York Times about granola made with olive oil a while back. It sounded tasty but I was in no hurry to make it. Then I picked up a bag of Early Bird Granola, the granola in which the aforementioned recipe is based on, and I suddenly realized why that olive oil granola warranted a whole article in the food section of the Times. Ummm… this stuff is crazy awesome. Like jump up and down in the kitchen and hand me that bag. I pulled up that article and got to work making my own batch. The result is a salty and sweet concoction that is one heck of a way to start the day.

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Let me introduce you to my new favorite meal. On our trip to the country this weekend we stopped at a farmers market where they were giving away free grilled corn. Free grilled corn?! Sign me up. Their little ploy worked quite well because as soon as I took a bite I wanted to fill the car with corn and bring it home. Fortunately for Aaron, I have a little restraint and walked away with only two ears. But that got the wheels turning about what to do with it. Sure I could make corn on the cob, but that just seemed a little hum drum. Somehow I decided on corn cakes and it snowballed into the most delicious, corny meal that has me so excited. You’re going to want to pick up some fresh corn on the cob, because spicy corn cakes with fresh salsa is calling your name.

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I had grandiose ideas about what the last market week meal would be. They started out with vegetable gratin, transitioned to a quiche and finally ended up at a concoction thrown together with what’s left from my market excursion. I caramelized some zucchini and onions to act as a bit of a crust, added some eggs and cream as a base and tossed in my remaining tomato, the last bit of goat cheese and a little thyme. The result is a delicious concoction of fresh items coming together to celebrate awesome flavors.

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