Thank you for the world so sweet.
Thank you for the food we eat.
Thank you for the birds that sing.
Thank you, God, for everything.
Amen
Love and bountiful Thanksgiving blessings,
Kathryn xoxo
Footnotes: Photo Sea Currents courtesy NOAA; Photo Grain in Sun courtesy Frank Grisdale (Visit highly recommended!)
Posted on November 25th, 2009 by Kathryn
Filed under: People at Life | 8 Comments »
all photos by William Meppem, courtesy Chronicle Books
If there were ever an excuse needed to focus on chocolate the holidays do provide! This week I was nagged by a relentless urging to make brownies, knowing full well I did not have the optimal recipe. (Can someone please explain to me why the Joy of Cooking does not have such a recipe?) Fortunately that very day I was ambling through a local shop in search of an early Christmas present for a dear friend, and lying easily within my reach on a table was the above book which called to me, and I readily responded. What chocolate lover could resist a book called Luscious Chocolate Desserts, (a Chronicle Books classic written by Lori Lonbotham, a former food editor for Gourmet)? Bought and brought home and recipe tried last night. What immediately impressed me was how easy it is! (Love easy!) Here’s the recipe. She calls them Katharine Hepburn Brownies, as apparently Ms. Hepburn was also a chocolate lover and reportedly ate a bit every day. Bravo!
Katharine Hepburn’s Brownies
1/2 cup of butter
2 ozs. unsweetened chocolate (I used Scharffen Berger, slightly sweetened; always messing with recipes.)
1 cup of sugar
2 large eggs (organic, organic, please)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup of flour (!!)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup walnuts, chopped (I used hazelnuts. Messing, messing, messing.)You preheat your oven to 325. Butter and flour an 8″ square baking pan. (I liked that I didn’t have to “line w/ paper” which so many brownie recipes I found asked me to do. Yawn.)
Melt the butter and chocolate in a “heatproof bowl” set over a saucepan of about 1 1/2″ of nearly simmering water. Whisk ’till smooth. Remove the bowl from heat, add the sugar, eggs, vanilla, and whisk together. Whisk in the flour and salt until blended. Stir in the nuts. (How easy is that? Fast! It’s a wonderful recipe to make with children during the holidays.)
OK, bake for 40 minutes. I found that to be perfect timing. Cool completely before cutting.
Here is my result:
Honestly? This took me about ten minutes to make. How long would it take me to make a mix? I have not “made a mix” in about twenty five years, at least. Using a recipe like this you know where your eggs came from, what kind of chocolate, and oil, you are using. You get my drift. And it’s so much better!
Now. Were these delicious and will I make them again? Absolutely. Is it the optimal recipe I was seeking that will be my alltime favorite forever? Not quite. So here’s what I’m proposing. A Brownie Recipe Contest. Yes. And if you would please send me your favorite recipe, I will pick, let’s say eight of them, and make the eight up and choose my favorite and announce on this blog by December 22nd. I have asked Ken, the kind man who sold me this book in his shop, to help me judge the recipes and he has agreed! Please only send tried and true recipes. Thanks. And what will I do with all the brownies? I have contacted the local Food Bank and they are delighted to be including in the packages they will be distributing Christmas week. How’s that? I think that is a splendid idea. Thank you. That will be so fun! Please feel free to post recipes below or to email them to me at joyblog [at] aol.com.
Now, back to the book. I am utterly thrilled to have the recipe for Chocolate Panna Cotta. Does this not look utterly delicious?
Readers might recall my discovering panna cotta awhile back and posting that recipe. This one calls for marscarpone cheese, so that will be fun to explore. And how about Very Chocolatey Pots de Creme, which you garnish with candied violets? Oh, yes. And Buttery Chocolate Wafers sound ever so much like Christmas to me! And how about this? Chocolate Hazelnut Spread!
Chocolate Hazelnut Spread served on toast with nectarines
Something I particularly like about Luscious Chocolate Desserts is that the end of the book focuses on sauces. Now that I have discovered the joy of that caramel frosting that I put on the applesauce cake, I’m rather interested in exploring the extra delicious touch that sauces lend to a recipe. [And I will here confess I keep wanting to dribble something wonderful over those brownies above. I do.] So the idea of adding to my dessert repertoire some Chocolate Whipped Cream, some Chocolate-Balsamic Drizzle or a Chocolate Cherry Sauce does heartily appeal at this time of year!
Enjoy this book! This might make a lovely gift for a chocolate lover on your Christmas list!
Looking forward to your brownie recipes, dearest readers!! Humbly received and gratefully made.
Love and kitchen blessings,
Kathryn xoxo
Footnote: Great news! Chronicle Books is sending me an extra copy of Luscious Chocolate Desserts to give to the winner of the Brownie Recipe Contest! Special thanks to publicity at Chronicle Books for being so kind!
Update: This contest has been delayed until Valentine’s Day for reasons you will hear about in an upcoming post! Thanks for your patience and participation!
Posted on November 16th, 2009 by Kathryn
Filed under: Book Notes | 21 Comments »
Last year I was seduced by the above amaryllis, here slightly stylized, and raptly handed over $40 to enable myself to share my Christmas with this beauty. This year, recalling wistfully the joy of the presence of such beauty, I made up my mind to take the practical road, utilizing the container I’d purchased last year. It was easy (and inexpensive) to find Red Lion amaryllis bulbs at Home Depot’s nursery, so I brought home two and after pondering how to proceed made the following choices, which I’m already enjoying.
Into last year’s container I placed a multitude of green glass stones. There are so many color choices, but I chose green to fit into the next two holiday seasons. I gently placed one of the amaryllis bulbs into the top part of the container and then very carefully poured enough water into the container to immerse the roots, but not so much that the bulb would be under water, as that (I learned the hard way) will rot the bulb. I recalled the simple green French ribbon that had adorned my package last year, and chose for now a sheer purple one, complimenting the green stones very nicely.
Within two days of assembling this the leaves began to shoot up markedly. I’m certain by Thanksgiving I will have buds and at Christmas I will have the full splendor on display. Brilliant!
Then I had to make a different choice for the second bulb, so I opted to put it in soil into a container from some long past Thanksgiving, which I placed on a complimentary silver plate onto which I’d placed green and clear ocean-washed broken glass. Lovely.
This bulb is taking to this arrangement very nicely and I might well have a flower for Thanksgiving. I’m thinking so, aren’t you?
Once I’d accomplished these two creations I turned my attention to paperwhites! Hard to imagine but I’d never really quite learned how to manage bulbs. I think I’ve always been mystified or puzzled by them, not quite sure what to do. I think this is particularly reinforced by buying them all assembled, then at season’s end putting them outside and hoping for the best. Yes, that would do it, wouldn’t it? So this year I’m taking charge, as you can see. Encouraged by what looks like a good beginning for the amaryllis, I found what I thought would be a good container for the paperwhites–essentially a large open clear glass candle holder. And then indulged in the purchase of a large number of marbles, which was quite thrilling as I adore marbles and had never ever purchased so many at once. Indeed, I think I was still holding the child’s view that marbles are something you win.
Does this not speak of promise? Now here’s what I did inside, just in case you are like I was, and need a bit of instruction.
I put a layer of marbles on the bottom of the candle holder. And then I put six bulbs around the edge, pointy end up, of course, and slightly leaning towards center. I used marbles to reinforce this positioning. Then when they were all in place I filled up the spaces in between with the balance of my marbles. When I felt they were all securely in place I added enough water to again wet the bottoms of the bulbs, but not so much to endanger their substance. Isn’t this exciting? It’s so fun to now watch them grow into lovely open white flowers which will fill the room with their sweet fragrance. I think this is particularly a good practice if you have children about, as they will witness one of life’s grandest miracles during this special time of year. I hope you will be inspired to experiment with different containers and mediums and bulbs to bring more life and cheer into your homes this winter. Enjoy, my dear readers.
Love and flower blessings,
Kathryn xoxo
November footnote! The planted amaryllis opened just in time for Thanksgiving!
Posted on November 8th, 2009 by Kathryn
Filed under: Plants | 8 Comments »
