Luxury brand rice crispie treats

I meant to take a beautiful close up of these white chocolate rice crispie treats, but I only managed to snap a shot of this little pinch of a piece. This is David Lebovitz's famous white chocolate and candied peanut rice krispie recipe. He managed to take a wonderful photograph before they were gobbled up. I was brave and managed to make my own candied peanuts as well! No pots or utensils were harmed in this process!

Short order naan

I'm back on the 5 minute bread bandwagon with a tupperware of light whole wheat dough in the fridge. I followed the directions in Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day for making naan to go with my chicken curry. I poured a little vegetable oil in a cast iron frying pan, tossed in a flattened disc of dough and covered it with a cookie sheet. It took 7-8 minutes. I should look up pita bread next.

Candied orange peel

This is a spoonful of orange syrup - it tasted like heaven. The smell of simmering orange peels filled the house with an incredible smell while I did some kitchen chores, read the paper. I had 5 degrees to go on the candy thermometer when I left the kitchen.

When I smelled the burning orange peel I knew my giant cough drop was done. 

Nuts for the holidays

David Lebovitz's Holiday Snack Mix is so good I just kept burning my tongue eating it straight from the pan. I used some back-of-the-cabinet leftovers for this batch, but I am planning one with pecans.  This is a great snack to whip up when you are doing some hard holiday crafting and need protein coated in butter and syrup and salt. Playing Keep the Car Running on repeat is also helpful. I don't know if our little parakeet is ringing his bell like crazy because he likes to play along or if he is screaming mercy. 

Tea with milk and sugar ice cream

Cooler weather calls for new flavors. I substituted Earl Grey for the black currant tea in David Lebovitz's recipe in The Perfect Scoop. This was wonderful on hot apple crisp. Splendid Table had a repeat show this week interviewing Paul Roberts about his book The End of Food. It makes you want to cook dinner.

Bird and leaf cookies

When I saw these cookies in the new issue of Marie Claire Idees, I thought, why not carry my bird and leaf obsession into the holidays? I like the look of the seeds and pignolli, and I want to add minced candied orange peel and ginger, and almond slices.

Ice-O-Mat

Nothing says October in Berkeley like Ice-O-Mat! For a mere $2 I have a lovely ice crusher and all my icey drinks look so professional: lemonade, ice coffee, Clara's back porch fizz. 

Banana Upside Down Cake

I've taken banana bread just about as far as it can go with David Lebovitz's Banana Upside Down Cake. It's wonderful.

I've been thinking about old Victorian homes that come with linen closets and butler's pantries and broom closets. There have been several great articles in Martha on making your own hidden storage - a craft space from two bookcases and an office in an armoire. I like this "origami living" style.

Housekeeping

I've been paging through these housekeeping books looking for schedules or forms to add to my planner. There's a chapter on canning in So You're Going to Get Married that reminds the reader to ignore snide comments like, "I thought Mr. Dole canned pineapple!" Whenever we are discussing making anything from scratch (mustard, bread starter, yogurt) I hear that voice.

Rhubarb magnificents

Mr Lear came back from the market Saturday with armloads of rhubarb - an armload for the sorbet, an armload for the crisp, and this armload for the compote - all courtesy Mr. Lebovitz. It was the edge of a leftover ricotta orange pancake dipped in the remains of the rhubarb crisp that inspired magnificents - it was like suddenly thinking things and being able to speak them in Hungarian - crusty, moist, both sweet and sour with salt and wine and spring. 

Daniel Carasso's Yogurt

Daniel Carasso's obituary in Saturday's Financial Times inspired me to make yogurt again. Sometimes I stumble on tradition. I am so wound up on re-creating that I stop enjoying. A few Summers ago I read about the carbonated fruit flavored tea drinks on the menu at Mariage Freres in Paris. The article was similar to this post at TeaMuse by Karen Burns, "France has never been a big tea-drinking country...this is an advantage because the French never developed fixed traditions regarding tea, and so they're open to new flavors, new blends, and new varieties."

The Mariage Freres web site explains, "Day after day, we ask ourselves what tomorrow's tea should be like. So in the field we constantly seek the most delicate harvests, while in the lab we devise the most expressive blends."

I'm going to adapt David Lebovitz's Lavender-Honey ice cream into a Fage Greek style homemade yogurt. "Day after day, I am going to ask myself what tomorrow's creations should be like. So in the marketplace I will constantly seek the most delicate harvests, while in the kitchen I will devise the most expressive blends."

Ceramic bottles

More images from the Mingei book - these ceramic bottles would be lovely in the kitchen with cork tops. I would glaze the inside and use it for meyer lemon concentrate - which tastes incredible chilled in tiny tea cups!

Mustard

I am going to make fancy mustards and can them for gifts. This is white wine and sage with honey 1.0. I cooked it too long. The next batch will be lighter, smoother, and I'll make a porcelain mustard spoon! Maybe it will look like a sage leaf.

Heirloom Beans

I heard about Heirloom Beans on Splendidtable.org. As you can see in the photo, most of my experience with beans is drilling holes in them and stringing them. Last month I sampled some leftover gigante beans from Flora's in Oakland. Those creamy white beans mixed with goat cheese and bread crumbs and the Splendid Table podcast convinced me I need to get cooking.

Espresso art in clay

My local coffee shop is closed for remodeling so I'm working out my coffee muscles with this tiny barbell. I am studying frothing and tamping. And I am dreaming of espresso cups and cappuccino cups thrown from Navajo clay - thin porcelain burns my finger tips, smashes on the faucet. I like to stack cups bottom up - wouldn't some white slip painted like latte art on the dark clay be nice? If Mr. Lear makes the drinks, they will have a design on the top and on the bottom!

London Fog, Berkeley Fog

Lately I've been making my coffee or tea and bringing it along in a thermos. Today I was early for pottery and it was pouring rain when I heard the siren call of Starbucks. I went in looking for a cup of tea, but I was curious about the drink London Fog. It's a cup of Earl Grey with steamed milk and a shot of vanilla syrup and it's wonderful. As I sat there drinking I planned my homemade version: it begins with a super-strong cup of Earl Grey with Lavender (while you wait for the tea bag to steep, the milk is loosing its steaminess), a bit of steamed milk with some vanilla sugar mixed in. Maybe I'll make some orangey sugar. Maybe I'll make some Earl Grey ice cream and fold in candied orange! Do you see what Splendid Table is doing to me? The above is the only foggy pic I could find, one of Mr. Lear's stencil photos.

Of Sugar and Snow

Mr. Lear and I were enjoying a wonderful lunch this afternoon when I looked up and thought I recognized Carol Field from her photo in The Italian Baker. Mr. Lear (who has made many many treats from The Italian Baker) swore I had been brainwashed by nonstop Splendid Table podcasts. And then he stared at her for a while and thought so too. I don't know if we were correct, but we did see this book being handed across her table: Of Sugar and Snow. Back at home, I googled the poetic title and now I am really looking forward to Jeri Quinzio's newest book on the history of ice cream due out this Spring. Till then, I have her blog. 

Lemon gold

I am treating these beautiful Meyer lemons from my friend Eleni like deer I have shot with a bow and arrow, using every part to honor the noble citrus. Here I grated the peel into sugar for lemon-flavored ice cream. I also candied some peel and put it in a jar with the syrup - it's marmalade really. I wonder if I could make a simple syrup from the peel for sodas and drinks and then candy the peel separately for breads and cookies? I can't nail their antlers to the wall, but maybe I should paint a still life of the last three and hang it on the wall.

Mustgo meringues

For my grandma and grandpa, Thursday night was Muscow night. I never understood what a smorgasboard of leftovers had to do with the a strange country called Muscow. It was only later that I realized they were saying "Must Go" night. We usually celebrate Muscow Night on Fridays when we make homemade pizza with leftover salami, cheese, olives, and vegetables.

These are Muscow Meringues. The egg whites are leftover from ice cream making and the candied fruits and raisins and almonds are from nooks and crannies in the frig and cabinet. When I grew tired of spooning out little blobs, I threw some coffee concentrate into the bowl, gave it a mix, and plunked the whole thing out on a cookie sheet as a giganto flat meringue. I hope this ends up as some kind of Pavlova thing.

Bread starter

I'm so jealous of these bakers with starters passed down from Medieval times! Yesterday I decided to begin my descendants' starter. There's a bowl of half flour half water on the counter. One day they will pinch off bits and give it to their children headed for Mars. I washed my Central Park Hoodie and it grew a little. I need to block it back to size but I can't take it off. I'm not sure if I'm shivering from the rum raisin ice cream or trembling from the concentrated ice coffee.