morsels & sauces

It has been dark and cold and rainy here lately.  In other words, it has been perfect.  And when it is perfectly dark and perfectly cold and perfectly rainy, what's the best thing to do? Make a hot beverage and curl up with a good book. So I turned to David Tanis, whom I adore, and I made my own chai. Come with me on a journey far, far away, will you? A journey to the exotic land of Eugene, Oregon circa 1997. I was a 22-year-old graduate student on a vacation to see a dear friend whom I had met while abroad. She was (is!) funny, urbane, and left-coast. She looked like Rachel from Friends. At a time when everyone wanted to look like Rachel from Friends . (Let's face it: we all still  want to look like Rachel from Friends .)  She could drink a pint and she could dance well into the early morning. She was game for adventures at Giants Causeway in Northern Ireland, and she dragged my tipsy butt home from bars in Edinburgh. She hiked with me through bogs in Co...

I got really inspired by the fine work being done by Jessica Merchant over there at  How Sweet It Is . Especially when that fine work involves bourbon or, in my case, whiskey. You see, she recently infused bourbon three ways : Apple Pie, Chai Spice, and Chocolate Orange. I made some major changes, swapped out bourbon, and stepped away from the Chocolate Orange. But in the end, I made three wonderful infused whiskeys, and I think you should, too.   Holiday season can be your excuse. But we both know you don't really need one, do you?  I didn't. We don't get autumn until late in Northern California. Isn't this fabulous? Okay, let me talk you through each one of these gems and then propose some possibilities for next steps.  Besides drink them immediately. Let's start with the recipes first, and then let's talk about what to do with them. 1.  Decide which one to make. Or... just make all three: Apple Pie Infused Whiskey Ingredients :...

We spent the weekend away up the California coast, where the days (and nights) are cool and foggy, if you're lucky. (Sunny and bright, if you're not.)  As you know, I love the cold density of the fog and the way it nudges you towards sitting next to a fire and reading that book you've been avoiding for no other reason than sheer laziness. I will admit it: I read three books this weekend. Three. On Monday morning, I woke up late and I made this beautiful bowl of oatmeal. However, this was no oatmeal. It was fancy oatmeal, from  Tess Ward's  The Naked Cookbook . First you soak the raisins in Earl Grey tea, not only infusing them with flavor but also ensuring a caffeine pick-me-up for the morning (I guess you could go with decaf if that's your fancy). Then you toast the oatmeal with a little orange zest. Let's admit it here and now: the toasting is what makes this oatmeal nutty and sweet perfection. While it all may seem a li...

Things I Love: cookbooks and cookbooks with menus planned in them .   This new cookbo ok from Ithai Schori (a photographer who has worked in professional kitchens (and apparent ly wrote his senior thesis on the rhetoric of the Food Network )) and Chris Taylor (the bassist for Grizzly Bear ) fulfills that great love I have of p re-planned menus. I am always curious how a cook composes a meal fro m coc ktails to dessert coffee . And boy, Schori and Taylor can do it, and they do it with a casual, inviting flair . Arranged by seasons , which I a nd my CSA box also enjoy, this cookbook presents twenty different dinner menus, often with an appetizer, a protein ma in, a vegetable side dish or a s ala d and a d essert. Many menus offer cocktail recipes and all have accompanying wine suggestions. That said, our authors encourage us to not follow any of the menus, nor any of the recipes for the matter, but to mix and match, experi ment and im provise. The cookbook ...

I did say this blog needs more drinks. Let's talk libations, shall we? I couldn't be more pleased about this little cookbook,  Punch Bowls and Pitcher Drinks ,  and its recent addition to my athenaeum of cookbooks. Seriously, I need more books devoted to the cocktail, and this book does the trick. Dedicated not to the single sipper, the recipes encourage parties, crowds, or at least a slow leisurely drink in the backyard with the husband. So far, we have tried three different drinks (including the Strawberry-Meyer Lemon Sparkler with Lavender and the Lychee Mojito Punch) and I cannot wait for the weather to turn cold again (yes, I am already anticipating the December holidays) so I can try the Wassail and Aztec Hot Chocolate and Cranberry Ginger Punch. Lucky for me, because the book boasts a bevy of summer-themed drinks, so I suspect I will be able to bide my time well until then. One such drink is this take on a classic cocktail, the Moscow Mule. With a m...

This recipe took not one but two field trips. First stop, Highwire . Home of my favorite tea (Winter Morning--no competition), this local coffee shop opened in 2010. They are completely committed to being the local coffee shop, even as Philz is planning a move-in just down the street. On Thanksgiving, the owners hand out fresh, free coffee, and it's my go-to tea store, including my weekly Wednesday cup of Spearmint after work. There is no other place to buy my Earl Grey tea. It is that simple. One of the  classics of the tea world, Earl Grey takes its name from Earl Charles Grey , the prime minister of England from 1830 to 1834 (who had a hand in the abolition of slavery throughout the United Kingdom in 1833 but is better known for the appellation attached to his tea). It is simply black tea combined with oil from  bergamot , a citrus fruit (think a cross between a sour orange and a lemon) grown, for the most part, in Italy, but also in the south of France, Turkey...