LouAnn's Doughnut Cookies

 Autumn leaves are falling and "LouAnn's busy stirring a big bowl of batter!"  Carrie Finison's picture book, Dozens of Doughnuts is a delightful read this time of year with your littles!  We can never get enough of Brianne Farley's illustrations of cheery doughnuts and LouAnn's expressions! My girls love counting the doughnuts and of course telling us which one is their favorite!

Finison came up with a couple of adorable recipes!  We just tested LouAnn's Doughnut Cookie recipe.  The addition of nutmeg combined with the apple cider icing create a lovely little cookie reminiscent of the apple cider doughnuts found at farm-stands this time of year!   My girls had a blast decorating theirs like doughnuts with colored icing and sprinkles!

Little hands can help with the measuring, mixing, rolling and decorating!

Happy Autumn Baking!

               

More S'mores Please

 

The girls squeal as a small spark ignites the fire.

The teeniest snow flurries swirl around the smoke and land on their fingertips.

The flames grow tall and the girls grab their sticks armed with marshmallows, pudgy white marshmallows destined for the hot orange blaze. 

They stand back and turn the marshmallows over the flames, roasting to a golden brown until POOF it's on fire!

"AHHHHH...oh no it's burnt!"  Daddy swoops in and pulls off the charred sticky bits and gobbles it up with one big bite!  

The remaining gooey globs of fluff are quickly smooshed between a square of chocolate and crunchy graham crackers.  

"S'mores...S'mores....S'mores...More S'mores Please!"

Playdough & Fun In the Kitchen With A Toddler

These days my kitchen is primarily used for making quick meals and crafty goodies for my toddler, some creations have included, playdough, finger paint and gloop.

We just made a new batch of Playdough and I thought I'd post my favorite recipe.

Honey Dumplings Playdough
adapted from The Artful Parent by Jean Van't Hul & Tinkerlab A Hands-On Guide For Little Inventors by Rachelle Doorley

Yields: 32 oz (or 1 large yogurt container)

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups water
1 1/4 cups salt
1T 1t cream of tartar
2 1/2 cups ap flour
5 T canola oil
a few drops of natural food coloring

Prep:
Little Hands can help to measure and mix all of the ingredients except for the food coloring together in a deep pot.  It will look quite lumpy but will become smoother as it cooks.

This is when I put my toddler in her highchair and let her watch as I cook and stir the dough over low-heat.  The water will slowly cook out of the mixture as you stir, it will start to become sticky.  Keep mixing until the edges of the dough along the sides and bottom of the pan appear dry.  Pinch a piece of the dough.  If it's not gooey, it's ready.  Remove from heat.

Place the dough on a countertop and knead until smooth (of course wait a bit if too warm to handle).

Divide the dough as many times as necessary for the number of colors you'd like to make.  I typically create 2-3 colors with one batch.  Put a ball of dough on a piece of parchment paper or something that can handle food coloring.  Roll each piece into a ball and flatten it into a disk.  Add a little food coloring and knead it in; to avoid lots of food coloring on your fingers try to fold and knead the dough over the drops of color rather than putting your hand directly into the food coloring.

The Honey Dumpling Roast

As a new mamma, I feel like a victor when I can lull my little one to sleep by humming or singing and rocking as opposed to simply nursing, our buttercup is an eater just like mamma and dada and to help her along to Nonnyland without nursing is amazing!

As a 4 month old, she can hold her head up and lift objects and loves to bring everything to her mouth.  It's so much fun to see her growing right before our eyes.

As a new mamma, I can brush my teeth, possibly take a shower and perhaps get the kitchen cleaned. All of which is never done with one nap, our little one loves to take kitty naps, she sleeps in small chunks, 20 minutes here...30 minutes there.  She wants to see the world and stay awake for every adventure.

So with all of the excitement of a new little person in our lives, meals are large, often slow-cooked so that we have plenty of play time while our dinner is cooking.

The Honey Dumpling Roast
serves 4 +

3lb chuck roast, boneless
1 large onion, quartered
3 carrots, large chop
2 celery stalks, large chop
3 garlic cloves
1 cup dry red wine
1 cup chicken stock
14 ounces stewed tomatoes, crushed or diced
1 bay leaf
3 sprigs thyme
1 small sprig rosemary
12 of your favorite small potatoes, halved
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

optional: Winter Gremolata: garnish with 1 large sprig of minced rosemary, 3 sprigs of minced parsley, 1 clove of garlic paste (watch honey dumplings video here) and the zest of a lemon.

Preheat oven to 275 F.

Warm a dutch-oven or large deep pan over medium-high heat.
Add a glug of safflower oil or other high-heat cooking oil.
Blot the roast dry with paper towels and season with a few pinches of sea salt and black pepper.
Brown the roast on each side.
Remove the roast to a plate then add the onion, carrots, celery and garlic to the hot pan and cook until lightly browned, about 8 minutes.
Add the red wine and scrape up any brown bits, turn the heat to high and add the chicken stock, stewed tomatoes, bay leaf, thyme and rosemary, bring to a boil.
Add the roast and cover, turn off the heat and pop into 275 F oven.
Roast for 1 1/2 hours and then add the halved potatoes.
Roast for another 1 1/2-2 hours until the roast is tender and veggies are cooked to your liking.

We love to eat ours from pasta bowls and soak up all of the delicious meat juices with a baguette slathered in butter.  Garnish with Winter Gremolata if you like, but it's just as tasty without!

Messy Granola

As most of you know, there hasn't been much time for cooking and baking lately.  So, I've been eating store-bought granola.  Go ahead, guffaw!  As this is a food blog and I'm talking about store-bought granola, I do have a point and don't you worry your pretty heads, you will be getting my homemade granola recipe (again)!

This morning, I had my bowl of granola and heard my little one awake, so I went in and cooed with her and set my bowl of granola on the nightstand and KABLAMO my bowl spilled...sticky, drippy milk and soggy granola everywhere!  On a pre-baby day, this would be no problem to clean up, but now that I'm a mamma, oh my...bambina started to fuss a little and I managed to keep her entertained with my whirling around and blotting up the mess with paper towels.  This held her attention for about two minutes and she soon realized that this whirling around had nothing to do with her, so she let out her little roar for me to pick her up; I gathered her up into my arms and then the next little roar, which translated to "more breakfast please!"  I decided messes can wait until later...as can homemade granola, but if you are up for it and don't have a newborn at home, go for it!  If you have a toddler, they can help!

Buon Appetito!

Mamma Mode & Late Night Summer Pasta

Where to start?  Should I put the clean dishes away?  Try to run out to check the overstuffed mail box, what about the flowers that T brought home for our Anniversary, should I make a handful of bouquets to bloom around the house? 

Typically it’s laundry…clean the kitchen…attempt to water the plants before it’s blistering hot outside…oh those poor neglected plants!  Maybe a nice long shower??? Haha, that’s not possible any more…perhaps a nap to catch up on sleep?  That’s a lost cause by now…I’m in full blown Mamma Mode, watch out because here I come, racing through the grocery store before my little one awakes…typically she’s okay but on certain occasions she has been known to wake up red-faced and fussing loudly.  I’m on a mission when I’m out in the world now, no lollygagging down the aisles at the grocery store, it’s an all-out race to get it all done so that we can get home and nurse, change and carry the baby! 

I’ve spent many hours these last 2 months carrying our little one, in fact she doesn't like us to let go of her unless she is super sleepy and asleep or only if we are very near (we are talking 2 feet away!)….and she rarely likes Mamma to sit down, so you will find me bouncing, rocking, dancing and stretching while holding my little one, she loves movement, however not in anything non-organic, typically just arms and preferably Mamma or Dada’s arms!

Recently our little one and I ventured out to Great Auntie Mary’s house, where we visited, snacked on delicious chocolate zucchini bread, toured the garden and sneaked in a little kitty nap!  Our sweet pea is the master of “kitty naps;” a 30 minute nap here, a 15 minute nap there, no more long naps, just snappy and quick before she misses out on something!

We were given gorgeously ripe and sweet tomatoes on our visit!  Sugary cherry tomatoes bursting with juice, plus an added bonus, these can easily be popped into ones mouth while carrying a newborn!  Uncle David went out of his way to load us up with ridiculously ripe plump tomatoes that we could eat immediately and a few that would last a couple of days…picked to perfection!  The ripe and ready-to-go are the perfect addition to this speedy summer pasta dish!

So today, I started with a quick load of laundry,  and I chose Pasta!! In all its wheaty, glutinous-filled glory!  Heading back to my roots….this dish was a late night creation that a co-worker, Corrado, made when I was an intern in Gaiole in Chianti; one wintry night after our Christmas celebration, we were all starving (all of the kitchen crew) so Corrado made a deliciously quick pasta to fill our bellies!

This is my summer spin on it!

Late Night Summer Pasta

Serves 4 main or 8 side

1lb pasta

3 large garlic cloves, minced

1 sprig rosemary, minced

4 large ripe tomatoes (preferably from the garden or farmers’ market), coarsely chopped (seeds and all of the juices too!) or 3-4 handfuls of garden cherry tomatoes

1 small bunch basil, chiffonade

2 ounces butter, or more to taste

Freshly grated parmesan to taste

Sea salt, to taste

Boil your pasta of choice in salty water until just about, al dente, or about 2 minutes shorter than you normally cook it!

Warm a deep skillet over medium heat and add a glug of olive oil once warm.

Add minced garlic and rosemary, cook until fragrant and the garlic is a bit glossy and transparent, about 1-2 minutes.

Add the tomatoes and all of the juices and simmer while the pasta is cooking.

Once the pasta has reached al dente, spoon it out into the cooking tomatoes with a bit of the pasta water (about ½-1 cup) bring back to a simmer and toss in the basil and butter. 

Salt to taste and serve with lots of freshly grated parmesan.

Buon Appetito!

Things Will Be Changing Around Here...Introducing baby dumplings!

Wow!  It has been 9 months since I've posted anything!  Life has been busy!  Last summer-winter I took on an all-consuming project with a small start-up company in Seattle, where I curated and tested hundreds of recipes, styled and photographed each and every one and had no time for my sweet Honey Dumplings, sorry about that!

Here it is already spring, flowers are blooming, rhubarb is the star ingredient and berries and stone-fruit are right around the corner!  Summer is nearing and we (T & I) are thrilled to announce that we are growing a family of our own.  In just a couple of months, we will be 3!

I've been busy, sewing, painting, knitting, reading, researching everything from vaccines to breastfeeding and meeting pediatricians to post anything about food lately.  In fact, cooking and food have become a very low priority to me for the majority of my pregnancy, besides the scent of it all, the actual cooking has been so tiring! For the first time in my life I finally understand why some people just don't enjoy cooking!  A very strange time for my relationship with food, since the majority of my lifetime has revolved solely around food and all that it entails!  In fact, during my first trimester my husband and I went on a trip to a lovely little cottage nestled into the hillside above the Puget Sound and for one of our dinners we had the option of having a 9-Course Chef Tasting menu, and I opted for a simple bowl of soup, bread and cheese.  What!?! Exactly, what I thought!  Throughout my pregnancy, I have been ruled by the little one growing in my belly.  She determines when I eat, how much and what tastes good!  Most food that I don't typically include in my diet is ever-present now.

During this last trimester, I'm regaining some of my taste preferences!  Grainy bread, greens and fish.  Then there are days that she rules and it's cheese, whole milk (ugh!  I was a kid that never liked milk and now I drink it nearly everyday!), yogurt, fruit and beef.

So alas, I wanted to let you know that I am here and will continue to be here, although I may not post as frequently as I did once upon a time.  Also, things will be changing as I'm sure you've suspected!  baby dumplings will be a place within this blog for all things related to baby, from activities to food.  They'll still be the occasional dinner party menu and all of that fun food but my aim currently and for the near future is simplicity with a focus on baby!

Cheers to you all and Happy Spring!
xoxo
V.

Blueberry

Summertime Blueberries
This is an image that I captured while on a photo shoot for The Happy Film Company.

A Little Project I've Been Working On for SousVide Supreme...Baby Back Ribs

Sous Vide Chocolate Chili Baby Back Ribs from SousVide Supreme on Vimeo.

Homemade Yogurt Recipe

Happy Friday Everyone!!

Check out my post over at Mother Earth Living, if you want to try your hand at homemade yogurt!  The perfect pairing for summer's berries & stone fruit.

Support your local farmers.  Here in Washington, we have a handful of delicious choices:

Fresh Breeze Organic Dairy
Pride & Joy Dairy (Raw Milk)
Pure Eire Dairy (100% Grass-Fed)
Sea Breeze Farm

Dutch Baby

Sneak peek....

Making Mochi Cake

Spongy and somewhat gummy, the classic texture of mochi hails from the glutinous, short-grain, sticky rice reserved for delectable desserts and sauces.  This cake is a delightful gluten-free alternative to any homemade chocolate cake. T and I had a slice (shhhhh....don't tell anyone, but I think we each had 3 slices) at a friend's birthday party a few weeks ago and lucky for us we walked away with the recipe.  If you are a fan of the texture of mochi ice cream then I think you will enjoy this cake especially served with a big dollop of your favorite frozen treat!

As most of you know, I love bittersweet chocolate, therefore I had to add a bit more chocolate and of course 70% to the batter, rather than the semisweet.....semisweet works just fine if you only have chips on hand.  Also, you can certainly use fresh whole milk rather than the called for evaporated milk, however the texture will not be as gummy or mochi-like which is what makes this dessert so unique.

Thank you Grace for sharing your recipe!  Grace believes this recipe came from the old Honolulu Star-Bulletin, she recommends using Koda Farms Mochiko Sweet Rice Flour as other sweet rice flours don't seem to yield the proper texture.  My alterations are in parenthesis.  This recipe halves well and bakes up beautifully in a smaller pan, just keep in mind the baking time will shorten drastically if you halve.  For example, I baked a half batch in a 9"-tart pan for 38 minutes.

Grace's Chocolate Mochi Cake
2 cups Mochiko sweet rice flour
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking soda
(1/2 teaspoon sea salt)
1/2 cup butter
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips or chunks, divided)
2-12-ounce cans of evaporated milk
2 eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
(1/3 cup powdered sugar)

Lightly butter and dust with rice flour a 9"X13" baking pan and set aside.
Sift together the Mochiko flour, sugar, baking soda and salt.
Combine the butter and chocolate (if using 2 cups of chips, then use only 1 cup in this step and reserve the rest for later.  If using 1 cup of chips then melt all of the chips with the butter) in a heat-proof bowl and set over a pot of gently simmering water, stir until melted.
In a medium bowl whisk together the milk, eggs and vanilla extract.
Pour the melted chocolate into the milk mixture and stir until well combined.
Mix in the flour blend and stir until smooth.
If using 2 cups of chocolate chips, then fold in the remaining 1 cup of chips at this point.
Pour into the prepped 9"X13" pan.
Bake at 350 F for approximately 55 minutes or until baked through.
Cool to room temperature.
Lightly dust with powdered sugar before serving.

Film: Quick Spring Meal (What to do with Garlic Paste)

Are you wondering what to do with the garlic paste that I featured in my first video?  Why not toss in a little rosemary and olive oil and marinate meat?  In this new video I feature lamb chops, however if you prefer beef, then try out your favorite steak.

Happy Spring & Buon Appetito!

MILK

I've had a craving for milk off and on for the last few months and have finally given in.  I was not a kid that liked milk, in fact our family doctor wanted me to drink milk when I was little, I had no intention of drinking it until he said that chocolate milk would do.  Oh my, CHOCOLATE + MILK = HEAVEN!  Yum, I had the best prescription ever!  

The only time as an adult that I really drink milk is in my cappuccino or chai and even at that I'm very selective about the source of my dairy and will often times opt for soy milk...have you noticed that many cafe's don't carry good quality milk?  

We typically have half-and-half in our house, unless of course I'm baking and absolutely need milk (baking never requires the entire quart or even pint) so unfortunately the rest of the milk goes to waste in our fridge, for this reason I refuse to buy it. The last handful of trips to the market, I have found myself standing in the milk aisle gazing longingly at the milk cartons and bottles and even going as far as putting one in my basket just to quickly pull it out and put it back on the shelf...I'd then head over to the yogurt and put one in my cart and be on my merry way...the yogurt worked to curb the craving for awhile, but alas, I gave in and bought a half gallon, for the two of us this is a lot of milk. I'm determined to finish this local, grass-fed, whole milk and not waste a drop.

So, how will I drink it?  I set out to make a grown-up version of chocolate milk....now, I'm not a picky eater, the fact that I didn't like milk on its' own when I was younger or even as an adult isn't that far fetched....but one flavor combination that I have never cared for as an adult, and this baffles many of my coffee drinking friends is chocolate and coffee, oddly enough, I have always loved chocolate desserts paired with a cup of coffee, but for some reason combining the two in a cup created a repugnant metallic flavor.  Now, if we go out for coffee, T is a mocha guy and I'm a vanilla latte or straight up cappuccino girl, well until now....This past summer we went to Hawaii for our honeymoon and Kona coffee is bright and acidic which was awful with vanilla or just sugar, so I took a sip of T's mocha and it was delicious, this time CHOCOLATE + MILK + ESPRESSO = HEAVEN! So, why not try it stateside?  Well it's taken me several months, but with this milk craving, I had to try it. CHOCOLATE + ESPRESSO + GRASS-FED ORGANIC MILK = HEAVEN!

So, as of late I've been annoying my local coffee shop, they carry a lovely coffee but then they ruin it with a non-organic milk, so I've been ordering a double shot with chocolate syrup and then I race home (we live right across the street) and add sustainable milk to it and it is quickly becoming a bad habit.

We still had quite a bit of milk left after having a few mochas, so I made my first batch of homemade yogurt.  The first test was not as tart nor as thick as I'd like it to be, but still delicious with a drizzling of honey and berries.  So, no waste here and in the future I'll just make yogurt if I think I won't drink it in time.  I'll share a proper recipe with you once I have it perfected.  For now, I give you photos.

Happy Spring

Today marks the first day of Spring.  The sun has decided to chase away the gray and now the sky is full of pudgy cumulus clouds.  For this sunny first day of spring, I give to you an earthy radish.
Eat this pungent veggie like the French, dipped into a creamy grass-fed cow's milk butter and sprinkled with fleur de sel.

Bon Appetit!

Film: How To Make Garlic Paste

Well, my friends, the time has finally come!  This Christmas, T gave me a gorgeous new camera that also takes video (Thank YOU honey!)  I've been having a blast with the camera and now I'm in the thick of shooting video!  Still so much to learn on the technical side....aspect ratios, fps, compression, video editing programs...oh my!

If you find yourself browsing on YouTube please stop by Honey Dumplings TV.

Jam Muffins

Macarons

A Taste Of Summer: Tomato Soup

We've had a pleasantly dry winter here in the Pacific Northwest and have lucked out with a handful of early spring days...the sky has cleared to blue, the air has turned a bit sweet and flowers have begun to bloom.  However lately it seems that the chill won't quite bid adieu as the rain and perpetual gray have teamed up for a traditional maritime winter. 

Tomato soup suits this fickle time of year...sun-ripened tomatoes plucked from their vines preserving the warmth of summer days make for a cozy wintertime meal.

If you are in need of a little sunshine during this soggy time of year then reach for a jar of preserved tomatoes.  I prefer the fruity and sweet flavor of the Italian San Marzano, it is less acidic than other varieties that line the shelves.  Of course homemade preserves are even better!

Buon Appetito!

When Life Gives You Lemons...