roasted marinara sauce

12 roma tomatoes
3 Tbsp olive oil (divided)
1 tsp salt
6 garlic cloves
2/3 c grated carrots
1 c diced onions
1/3 c diced red pepper
4 basil leaves julienned
1 tsp dry oregano
1/4 c white wine
1/4 c red wine

preheat oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit.  wrap garlic cloves in aluminum foil and place in the oven for 30 minutes.  while the garlic is roasting, quarter, seed, and dice all roma tomatoes.  place tomatoes, 1 Tbsp olive oil, and salt in an oven safe dish and in the oven for 15 minutes.  take the tomatoes out and stir.  add carrots, onions, red pepper, and remaining olive oil for 30 minutes, stirring after 15 minutes.  take the the roasting vegetables out of the oven and stir.  make a valley down the middle of the pan.  add basil, oregano, and garlic in the valley, and cover with the vegetables.  put back in the oven for 30 more minutes, stirring after 15 minutes.  let the mixture cool for 10-20 minutes.

place all the roasted vegetables in a blender.  add white and red wine.  then puree until smooth.  place in a saucepan over low heat for 20-30 minutes, stirring often.

12 roma tomatoes

quartered tomatoes

seeded and diced tomatoes

grate 2 medium carrots

the valley down the middle for basil, oregano, and garlic

cover the herbs and garlic so they do not burn

before in the food processor

after

While living in Moscow, Michael and I really learned to loved roasted veggies.  I made them for/with dinner very often with tasty dips or dressings to be served on the side.  When I thought of making a marinara sauce, the idea of all the stirring that would be necessary if I made it on the stove was not appealing.  So I opted for roasting the veggies in the oven.  All the veggies take on the sweet roasted veggie flavor that I love.  This sauce is a fantastic marinara sauce.  

garlic bruschetta with garlic bread chips

garlic bruschetta
4 roma tomatoes
1 medium garlic clove grated
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 Tbsp olive oil
4 large basil leaves

garlic bread chips
1/2 french baguette
2 garlic cloves grated
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp butter

for the bruschetta, cut roma tomatoes in quarters lengthwise.  remove the seeds.  petite dice the tomatoes.  in a small bowl, combine balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, and olive oil.  toss the tomatoes in the dressing.  add basil.  let marinate for 15-20 minute while you prepare the garlic bread chips.

for the garlic bread chips, cut a baguette in half.  slice it lengthwise.  then thinly slice.  in a small pan, grate the garlic.  add in oil and butter.  melt butter and slightly saute the garlic.  the garlic should remain white and not brown.  brush the buttery mixture on one side of the bread.  place the bread under the broiler.  rotate the pan often and keep an eye on the garlic bread chips.  as soon as one is done, place take it out and place it on another cookie sheet close and waiting.  plate up pretty and enjoy!

quartered, seeded, and petite diced

have a second cookie sheet ready to place each
garlic bread chip as soon as it is toasted and done

I feel awful cutting out the seeds of the tomatoes and trashing them but it is really necessary in this recipe.  I used to do this for salsa and my garlic basil tomato sauce as well; however, I realized that it was an unnecessary step.  With bruschetta though, the seeds significantly more liquid than is optimal.

So I had bruschetta at The Cheesecake Factory with my parents.  It was good... but they served it with pita/flat bread.  Interesting but not quite right.  Then I have been to other restaurants that serve huge pieces of bread or garlic bread with their bruschetta.  The focus should be the bruschetta.  Similar to salsa and chips, I think bruschetta needs a thin foundation to be piled up on... So I came up with really thin garlic bread.  The bread is about a quarter inch thick.  It toasts up so nicely!  This makes a great amount for hors dourves (but I ate it as dinner).  Yummy!

fried not too green tomatoes

6 saltines (about 1/4 c crumbs)
10 full tostito corn chips (about 1/3 c crumbs)
1/4 c flour
1/2 tsp salt + more for a final sprinkle
1/4 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 egg
1 small vidalia onion grated
1/2 tsp pepper sauce
1/2 tsp hot sauce
enough canola oil  to be 1/4 in. deep in a saute pan
6 roma tomatoes that are as hard as green tomatoes but have just begun to turn

in a small food processor, pulse saltines and corn chips.  on a plate, mix together the cracker and chip crumbs along with flour, salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper.  in a bowl, whisk the egg, grated onion, pepper sauce, and hot sauce.  cut the tomatoes into nice slices. dip the tomato slices into the egg wash.  place the dipped tomatoes on the crumbs.  cover tomatoes with crumbs and transfer to a sheet of wax paper.  heat oil and fry the tomatoes 40 seconds to 1 minute per side.  when fully cooked, transfer to a wire rack (that is on top of newspaper).  sprinkle with salt.  serve with ketchup, blue cheese dip, ranch, or pepper sauce.

the beginning of yum!

the breading station:
sliced tomatoes beside egg wash beside breading on top of wax paper

frying set up:
wax paper with tomatoes beside frying pan close to wire rack
(but news paper is well away from the flame)

frying the first side!

tomatoes cooling

ready to be eaten!

So I have two problems with fried green tomatoes.  First, the corn meal is slightly grainy in some recipes... And second, green tomatoes are not super tasty.  So I combat these with two problems with using corn chips and in place of corn meal.  The way I get around green tomatoes is using slightly ripened tomatoes.  These tomatoes are as hard as green tomatoes but are beginning to sweeten with the slight reddening.  I once tried fully ripe tomatoes, and they disintegrated in the oil.  Oh I love these!  Enjoy!!!

zucchini bread - if you wait to pick zucchini from your garden as long as nicole, you'll make quite a few loaves from one zucchini

3 eggs
1 c vegetable oil
1 c sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
2 heaping c of grated zucchini
4 tsp vanilla extract
3 c flour
1 Tbsp + 1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 c chopped walnuts

preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.  whisk eggs.  mix in vegetable oil, sugars, zucchini, and vanilla.  in another bowl, mix flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  fold egg mixture into dry ingredients until just incorporated.  fold in walnuts.  split batter between two loaf pans.  place in the oven until a toothpick can be inserted and pulled out clean or with little bread crumbs, about 45-60 minutes.  it will slice more easily if you wait to cool the loaves completely before cutting.

When my friend Nicole posted a picture of her adorable daughter holding a zucchini from their garden (and the zucchini is the size of her itty bitty's leg), I thought she was ready for this recipe.  Enjoy!  It is super tasty and moist!

chewy oatmeal kiss cookies

3/4 c butter (at room temp.)

1/2 c sugar

1 c brown sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 c flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 c oats

1/2 c walnuts chopped

hershey kisses

preheat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.  with a wooden spoon, blend butter and sugars together.  when fully incorporated, add eggs and vanilla.  combine cinnamon, flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, oats, and nuts.  mix the dry ingredients into the wet mixture.  using two cereal spoons, make cookie balls.  place the them in the fridge for 10-15 minutes.  pull cookie balls out of the fridge and place on a cookie sheet.  bake for 12-13 minutes.  unwrap enough hershey kisses for the cookies.

when the cookies come out of the oven, transfer to a cookie rack or wax paper.  place a hershey kiss on each cookie.  wait for the cookie to warm and melt the bottom of each kiss.  then give it a little twist to seal the kiss to the cookie.

make sure the hershey kisses re-solidify completely before transferring the cookies to a ziplock bag or storage container.

While living in Moscow, I could not talk Michael into getting a hand held mixer (let alone a stand mixer).  So I had to make due mixing cookie dough by hand.  It turns out that "made with love" means mixed by hand.  Plus, I learned that when recipes call for ingredients at room temperature they really should be at room temperature.  These cookies mix like a dream if the butter is at room temperature.  Tasty, yummy, awesome little treats.  

peanut butter cookies

1/2 c butter (at room temp.)

1 c peanut butter

3/4 c sugar + extra for rolling cookies

2/3 c brown sugar

1 egg + 1 egg yolk

3 Tbsp sour cream

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/4 c flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2/3 c chopped peanut butter chips

20 hershey kisses chopped (1/2 c milk chocolate)

preheat the oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit.  with a wooden spoon, cream butter and peanut butter.  add 3/4 c sugar and brown sugar.  mix in eggs, sour cream, and vanilla extract.  combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  Add dry ingredients to the wet mixture.  stir in peanut butter chips and milk chocolate.  using two spoons create cookie dough balls.  roll dough in sugar and then place on a cookie sheet.  bake for 10-12 minutes.

roll  cookie dough in sugar

lightly browned - perfectly baked

cooling cookies on wax paper - yum!

When we found out that we would be living in Russia for 10 months, my cousin-in-law Mona had a list of foods that we should take with us.  She had developed this list over a few years when she lived in Switzerland and knew what it was like to miss foods you were used to eating.  Peanut butter was at the top of the list.  Luckily, we could get peanut butter at Ashan in Moscow so I did not have to take it with me.  However, there was a problem: brown sugar.  When we came home for Christmas, I took a two pound bag of brown sugar back with me.  By the time the it was used up and gone, we could find brown sugar at Ashan too!  So exciting!

carrot cake yum yums

carrot cake

1/2 c canola oil

1 c applesauce

1 1/2 c sugar

1/4 c brown sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

4 eggs

8 oz drained crushed pineapple

2 1/2 c grated carrots

2 c flour

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp allspice

butter and flour for dusting pans

spiced cream cheese frosting

4 Tbsp butter (at room temp.)

8 oz cream cheese (at room temp.)

4 c powder sugar, divided

1/8 tsp all spice

1/8 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt 

food coloring (optional) 

toasted walnuts (optional)

to make the carrot cake, preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.  in a large mixing bowl, whisk canola oil and applesauce together.  continue whisking while adding sugars, vanilla, and eggs.  when thoroughly combined, add pineapple and grated carrots.  stir in flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and allspice.  line the bottom of two 9x9 pans with parchment paper.  butter and flour both pans.  split the batter between the two pans evenly.  bake for 23-27 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean or with itty bitty carrot cake crumbs and is just pulling away from the pan.  let the cakes cool complete before frosting them.

just beginning to pull away from the pan

no real crumbs - but a clean toothpick means they're done

golden brown tasty cakes

to make the spiced cream cheese frosting, mix butter and cream cheese together.  if they are truly at room temperature through and through, they blend together with just a wooden spoon.  stir in 2 cups of powder sugar.  add the remaining powdered sugar, all spice, cinnamon, and vanilla.  use a mixer on medium speed for 3-5 minutes until the proper creamy texture is reached.  if you want a color other than creamy white, add food coloring.

if making a cake, top with spiced cream cheese frosting and serve; however, if also using toasted walnuts, drop the desired amount of toasted and chopped walnuts on top.

on the other hand, if you are making carrot cake yum yums (that's what i want to call them), there is more work to be done.  take a cake and cut it in thirds (three long rectangles 3x9).  split the three long rectangles of carrot cake into 2 layers.  put a generous layer of spiced cream cheese frosting on the inside.  drop a handful of toasted walnuts on the frosting side.  on the other layer, spread a thin layer of frosting so the walnuts will stick to the top layer.  put that layer back on top.  cut the long rectangle into 6-8 smaller portioned size rectangles.  use the remaining frosting to decoratively top each carrot cake yum yum.  place them into muffin wrappers.  truly beautiful and tasty.  enjoy!

Happy Birthday Daddy!  I came up with this recipe for my daddy's birthday.  He has loved carrot cake for years, and I have made him a carrot cake once or twice over some of those years.  But I wanted to make two changes.  One, carrot cakes are notorious for having lots and lots of oil in them.  That is why the cake is so moist but I wanted to substitute some applesauce in place of some oil which can provide the same moisture but less fat.  Two, I wanted to add pineapple to the cake (just a little, like a hummingbird cake).  Pineapple also adds moisture.  The benefit of adding pineapple also helps with taking out some of the oil.  Yum!

A few years ago my sister Aimee' happened to say something to the effect of, "What are you going to do dad?"  All he heard was doodad.  So we have manufactured lots of sentences that not only end in "...do dad" but have substantial emphasis on "...do dad."  I thought it was about time he saw this on a birthday cake too.

brownies: so many stories because they're so good

75 grams bitter sweet chocolate - chopped

70 grams dark chocolate - chopped

8 Tbsp grams butter 

195 grams sugar

2 tsp instant coffee granules

1 tsp vanilla

3 eggs

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

15 grams cocoa powder

95 grams flour

1 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

100 grams milk chocolate chunks

(butter and flour for dusting the pan)

preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.  in a microwave safe bowl, place the bitter sweet, dark chocolate, and butter.  microwave for 30 seconds.  take bowl out and stir mixture.  continue 2-3 more times until butter and chocolate are a smooth melted mixture.  be sure to melt chocolate and butter in rotations of melting and stirring to make sure it does not burn.  

after 30 seconds 

after 30 more seconds

smooth after 30 more seconds

whisk in sugar, coffee granules, and vanilla.  add eggs and vegetable oil.  in a separate bowl combine cocoa powder, flour, baking powder, and salt.  combine dry ingredients in chocolate mixture until just combined.  stir in the chocolate chunks until evenly distributed throughout the batter.  

good milk chocolate cut into chunks

cut a piece of aluminum foil long enough to cover the bottom and spill over the edges of the pan.  fold the sides under so the foil is only as wide as the bottom of the pan (eight inches for 8x8 or nine inches for 9x9).  put a pat of butter in the pan.  with your finger completely cover the aluminum foil covering the bottom and two sides.  also make sure to put butter on the sides with no aluminum foil.  place about a spoonful of flour in the bottom of the pan and shake it to cover the sides too.  pour out any extra flour.  pour batter in an 8x8 and bake for 35-40 minutes or 9x9 and bake for 30-35 minutes.  a toothpick should come out either clean or with little brownie crumbs (just not gooey brownie batter).  also you should notice the brownie has pulled away from the side just slightly.  let the brownie cool completely before cutting into it – it’s difficult to wait but totally worth it.

little crumbs after 30 minutes let me know it's done

the brownie has just pulled away from the pan another tell tell sign

This is one of the first recipes I realized that no recipe I find is set in stone.  The more I have altered recipes and had success the more I am eager to be adventurous and make changes I think are necessary.  While living in Moscow, I also started using a kitchen scale.  I partly did this out of necessity because butter is not delineated in tablespoons, chocolate only comes in bar form weighed in grams, and I have always heard that baking by weight is more accurate than by cups.  All in all it was fun to have a new way of cooking and baking.   

To make this recipe, I looked at lots and lots of brownie recipes.  I found a great fudgey brownie added a tad more chocolate and subtracted a little sugar.  Then mixed in complementary flavors to chocolate in order to boost the overall brownie flavor.  Finally, I changed the fudgey consistency to a slightly more cakey texture.  The reality is I do not like fudgey brownies because they always taste undercooked.  I start thinking of uncooked eggs, salmonella, and the enjoyment factor decreases as I inevitably drop the brownie in the trash.  Because this brownie has a thick chocolatey cakey texture (but still totally a brownie), it is easier to tell when it is done.  Important to note with this recipe, if it is overbaked the brownie loses the fantastic texture and becomes dry.  Bake until done and no more.


I tutored one of my favorite students in Moscow once a week at his grandparent's flat.  His grandmother served me a special treat and a cup of tea in the fanciest teacup I have ever seen.  The edge of the cup looked like lace.  Even after months of tutoring him, I was still fearful that I might break the delicate little teacup when ever I picked it up.  Because they took such great care of me, I took little treats to them whenever I baked something tasty.  While they liked the cookies and little cakes I brought, his grandmother only asked for this recipe.  She spoke English but when we began going through the recipe (and not going over the math and grammar lessons of her grandson) I realized that her English didn't cover brownie ingredients.  Somehow we managed to get through dark, bitter sweet, and milk chocolate but flour was where the understanding ended.  Now my Russian is about as extensive as "я не говорю по России."  Translation "I don't speak Russian."  But some how I remembered that the word for flour was close to the word for both fly and torture.  No matter where I put the stress or how I changed the word to be what Michael told me it was, I could not communicate it to her until I made a call to a bilingual friend.  That's how good this recipe is...  She did not want me to leave until she understood what flour was.


I believe that the Russians have fantastic desserts but they do not have brownies.  My sweet friend Alina was blown away by by them when she tried one at a party.  She immediately requested the recipe.  She made it successfully the first time.  While there are quite a few ingredients, you will be successful if you go step by step and do not overbake just like Alina was successful her first time ever making brownies!

brownie sundae

brownie
vanilla ice cream
chocolate sauce
sprinkles


place a brownie on a plate.  put a scoop of ice cream on top.  squeeze chocolate sauce over the ice cream.  sprinkle sprinkles on top.  serve and enjoy!

brownie ice cream sammie!

brownie and mint chocolate chip ice cream sammie

brownie
wax paper
your favorite ice cream


slice the brownie in half.  spoon ice cream on the bottom half.  place the top half on the ice cream.  wrap in wax paper. enjoy!

potato corn chowder

1 Tbsp butter
4 pieces of bacon diced
1 c diced onion
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 1/2 Tbsp garlic
2 Tbsp flour
5 c chicken stock
1/4 tsp thyme
4 c petite diced potatoes
1 c petite diced carrots
3 c fresh corn
1 c heavy cream

on low heat, melt butter and cook bacon to render the fat.  this should take 5-8 minutes.  when the bacon is crispy, remove from the drippings and place on top of a paper towel.  to the drippings, add the onion and salt and pepper.  saute for 5 minutes.  add the garlic and saute another 2 minutes.  sprinkle in the flour.  make sure it is absorbed by all the liquid.  add chicken stock, thyme, potatoes, and carrots to the pot.  bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for 15 minutes.  using a metal potato masher, break up the potatoes and carrots to a chowder consistency.  there should be whole and mashed pieces.  add in the corn.  simmer for another 5 minutes.  turn the heat off.  stir in the cream. serve with bacon bits on top!  (makes 6-8 servings)

While living in Moscow, Michael and I had to deal with a colder winter than we had ever had to deal with before.  We definitely learned to layer and still look fashionable (maybe decent is a better adjective).  But in the house, I coped with the harsh winter by baking lots of desserts and making lots of soups.  This is by far my favorite of them!

When making this soup in the winter, I had to use frozen corn but I have always wanted to use fresh.  Seeing all the fresh corn in the grocery store, I knew this would be the perfect time to make this tasty dish.  Frozen corn is fine but fresh is better!