Laowai

This quarantine has been a baking fest around here. I guess comfort food in all its forms feels good right now.

I have some go to places for recipe inspiration. First Smitten Kitchen – she always has approachable and reliable recipes with great instructions and photos. She even includes gram measurements which is great when I’m cooking over here in Europe. The other place I go is Dinner A Love Story. Again, such reliable recipes and she really has great advice for cooking for a family. Her big thing is honoring the dinner ritual – I love that. 

So in the last few days I’ve made several things.

• We liked Smitten Kitchen’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Tart so much I made it a second time

• I had some mashed squash in the freezer and decided to try substituting it for Sweet potato. It worked – Sweet potato muffins from the (now defunct) Wondertime Magazine 

• For Claire’s birthday I made a tried and true flourless chocolate cake – it takes so many eggs! It’s called Lighter Than Air Chocolate Cake.

• I made some Chocolate Pecan Scones from Ina Garten – I thought they were just OK – they needed a glaze because they were too salty and not sugary enough in my opinion

• I tried a new recipe for Yeasted Waffles. Mom gave Bea a mini waffle maker for Christmas and they turned out really nice. Since it’s a mini waffle maker I just have to stand around for a long time making them. What else am I going to do during a pandemic?

• I tried a Flatbread recipe from Smitten Kitchen. I served them with a chicken curry. Brian and Claire really like them I think I’ll try them again.

• Last week I made Fannie Farmer’s Oatmeal Crumb Topping over rhubarb. This is the recipe my mom always made growing up – often with canned peaches – yum!. It’s such a great dessert because I think it’s as good as a pie but it’s miles and miles easier to make. You can use most any fruit and you must serve it warm with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream. Since I can never find this recipe online to link to it here it is:

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OATMEAL CRUMB TOPPING

1/4 pund butter

1 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup flour

3/4 cup oatmeal (not instant)

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

First prepare your fruit – 4 to 6 cups into a pan. Sweeten only if your fruit is tart. In a large mixing bowl combine all the crumb topping ingredients. Cut the butter in until it resembles course bread crumbs. Spread the crumbs evenly over the prepared fruit. This topping should be baked in a moderate oven – around 350 degrees F to 375 degrees F. Cook until the fruit bubbles around the edges – 30 to 40 minutes. You can make a lot and store it in the freezer.

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