FIND SOMETHING YOU'RE PASSIONATE ABOUT, AND KEEP TREMENDOUSLY INTERESTED IN IT -JULIA CHILD
Yes, I agree, 2020 is a dumpster fire. I even have a candle saying so! However, this year has also had wonderful moments that have been overshadowed by an overwhelming negativity in the news and outside our windows. So, for the next month I …
I decided to break away from exclusively baking pies this Thanksgiving. I was on call all week, which turned out to be very busy. I needed recipes that were less time-intensive than pies. Besides time constraints, I was hosting a cozy holiday with just my parents …
Autumn in Seattle was long and beautiful, and apparently I did not spend it in the kitchen. Very belatedly (but still delicious all winter long), I present these gooey apple cider cookies filled with caramels. Kevin had friends visiting for a long weekend, and I whipped these up after a long rainy outing to Snoqualmie falls and the Ballard Locks. Though the Ballard locks are more active than any other lock system in the US, there wasn’t much action the day we were there. We did get to see one boat go through! I was more entertained by the fact that the captain of the boat looked exactly like Gorton’s fisherman.
On a lovely hike to Snow Lake, my friend Dr. W found the best hammock spot that ever there was. This was also the hike that made me realize I need to add hiking boots to my Christmas list to be a true resident of the PNW. This perfectly picturesque scene was soon to be disturbed by an obnoxious man with a small drone that may as well have been a full size helicopter for all the noise it made. Hikers lounging and lunching banded together to restore the peace, giving me one vote against the Seattle Freeze. I had several lovely conversations with passers-by as we took an hour to enjoy the scene before our trek back over the mountain.
Back to the cookies. These cookies are best fresh out of the oven when they’re still a bit gooey. The caramel will harden as they cool, so I recommend setting one over a hot cup of tea or blasting in the microwave for about 8 seconds to soften it up just a bit. Also, don’t try to make these healthier by getting the sugar-free cider mix. This is a large recipe, and I had to send goody bags home with each of the boys to save myself from eating 3 dozen of these. It felt very possible at the time…
August was prime produce season in Washington, as I mentioned probably too many times in previous posts. Bon Appetit had a Farmer’s Market Challenge including 10 recipes for the month, and this crumble was the grand finale. This is a delightful, simple recipe that comes …
Kevin and I were both off for Labor Day weekend this year and ran away to Whidbey Island with friends. We had the most wonderful time playing on the water and not setting morning alarms for 3 straight days. Not to mention the seaside bonfires, …
I hadn’t noticed the blackberry bushes all over Seattle until my brothers’ recent visit. They rode Lime bikes to the Olympic Sculpture Park and did not make quick progress on their journey because there were so many berries to be had. We made our way through Discovery Park a day later and found paths lined with blackberries, at which time our “hike” turned into breakfast. The edges had been picked over and it got a little treacherous, at one point having to disconnect 3 separate parts of my shirt from thorny branches, but definitely worth it. Once you start looking, the blackberry bushes are all over the city! We passed a couple who were much more prepared and were berry picking with baskets near the Ballard Locks. I feel like such a rookie paying for them at the farmers’ markets! I should be heading out for walks with a few baskets in tow instead.
I would love to head out for berry picking, but the air quality in Seattle right now is almost apocalyptic. On my commute home from work, the sun was the most beautiful dark orange color that can only be achieved with terrible air quality. I was just home in the San Joaquin Valley and the air quality is far worse in Seattle. I never expected to see this haze moving from Central California to the PNW! There are warnings to stay indoors, wear masks when outside, and avoid strenuous activity outdoors due to smoke blowing in from fires in British Columbia, Oregon, and Eastern Washington. Between the poor air quality and recent ankle trauma from my trusty Allbirds, my outdoor activities have been limited at best. I’m getting antsy to get back to running, hiking, and ticking off the bucket list!
Most of my bucket list activities have been intentional, but I stumbled across the Fremont troll on my way to dinner over the weekend. Pretty incredible that he is holding an actual VW bug. I thought it was a stormtrooper at first…
But back to the blackberries and the point of this post. If I were to enter a baking competition, I think I might bake this cake. I made it originally for a group of my medical school friends during our Game of Thrones viewing parties, and it has gone down in history as one of my favorite cakes. It is subtle, not too sweet, and just different enough to still be a crowd-pleaser. The recipe uses 8-inch cake pans, which I only acquired once I moved to Seattle. I did a lot of math and a lot of googling and ended up making these cakes in 9 inch cake pans with thin layers. It can be done with success, but I’m sorry to say I don’t remember my baking time. I opted to keep the original frosting proportion and make a naked cake rather than increasing the amount of frosting to account for the increased surface area. It was the right choice, and I will likely frost in just the same way when I am making this in my new 8-inch cake pans.
I decorated my cake (as per the original recipe) with blackberries. I’m sure there are many potential substitutes depending on what is in season, but I love the visual appeal of the blackberries!
If you’re in a city not affected by wildfires the way we are on the West Coast, look out the window and enjoy your view of the blue sky. Then take a big deep breath and be grateful for your clean air. Take a moment to be thankful for the simple things, then make this cake.
Being back on the West Coast has proven to be everything I dreamed. I have been able to reconnect with family and friends from all phases of my life in the last month. I am also extremely lucky to have had time to ease into …
Summer in Seattle is magical. I thought I would spend more time baking in my free weekends this summer, but instead have been traveling or entertaining every weekend. In between, Kev and I have been focusing on using all the amazing produce from the Pike …
I’m breaking in my oven in Seattle this weekend with an old tried & true recipe for a potluck with my new co-residents. There is nothing vegan, gluten-free, organic, or environmentally friendly about these cookies so they don’t scream “Seattle”, but warm cinnamon on a crisp drizzly day feels right. I first made these snickerdoodles around the holidays during my first year of medical school and they have become my go-to cookie. I didn’t realize the first time I made these that cinnamon chips are only seasonally stocked at grocery stores. The second time I went to make these was mid-summer and after checking every market in Cincinnati short of Jungle Jim’s, I ordered a 6-pack of Hershey’s cinnamon chips on Amazon and always have these ingredients on hand. Consider yourself warned.
I’ve had many requests for this recipe, and am finally getting around to sharing. Truthfully, I wrote this recipe in my book years ago and can’t remember the source to give credit where credit is due. I’ve not changed the recipe from the original, though I have screwed it up in just about every way because I always seem to be in a hurry when making these. I’ve forgotten to roll them in the cinnamon sugar, remedied by sprinkling it on while the cookies were still warm fresh out of the oven. I even forgot the cinnamon chips once – totally fine, just change the name to a regular snickerdoodle and no one will know the difference!
Cream of tartar and pudding mix make these cookies exceptionally light and soft. Cream of tartar (aka potassium bitartrate aka tartaric acid) is an acid byproduct of wine making that has a number of uses in cooking. It is used as a leavening agent in baked goods because carbon dioxide gas is formed when combined with baking soda. It is responsible for the tang and softness that differentiates snickerdoodles from a basic sugar cookie, and it is also commonly used to stabilize whipped egg whites for meringue. According to Cooking Light, you can substitute fresh lemon juice or white vinegar in a 2:1 ratio (2 tsp lemon juice for 1 tsp cream of tartar).
I’ve lived in Seattle a week now and it feels like all I’ve done is eat – Malaysian ribs, oysters, Ramen, 3 lbs of Rainier cherries, fresh pasta… the list goes on. There are so many cuisines to try and cute restaurants to pop into! Not to mention the fresh summer produce spilling out of local markets right now. Time to put this post away and look up some good hikes and recipes for my purple asparagus and watermelon radishes. Sending the rest of these cookies to Kevin’s new MICU team as he’s 1 week deep into Intern year (51 to go, but I don’t think he’s counting), but wish I could pretend they were healthy and keep them all for myself.
After 5 years in the Midwest, I’m very excited to become a West Coaster again! All of my coastal friends and family think of Cincinnati as flyover country (as did I, before I moved here) but I have truly enjoyed experiencing this city as it …