Minty Perfection: Peppermint Bark

Noel and I looked at each other in dismay today when we realized that we were down to our last two pieces of peppermint bark. See, I had decided that the 591 cookies were not enough, because I wanted to keep at least a few for ourselves (um, and by a few I mean about 75) and I had so many people I wanted to give food gifts to this year, that 500 or so for giving away just wasn't going to cut it. So after a few days of recuperation from the cookie insanity, I decided to tackle some more recipes; most notably this recipe for peppermint bark.

I feel that calling the bark a success is probably justified, because it tastes AMAZING. It's mostly soft, but a little bit crunchy, and it's cold and minty and chocolatey and delicious! I gave most of it away layered in between sheets of wax paper in cute little red and green buckets, and it was kind of ridiculously adorable. Noel and I rationed the few squares left for us sparingly, but sadly they didn't last as long as we wanted them to.

However, it was a pain to make. Now that I know how much time is involved, I'd probably still give these another shot because they're so devourable, but I will admit that I was quite grumpy at them the afternoon I was trying to make them. I followed the recipe exactly, but my first batch came out really soft, and all the layers smeared together as I was trying to spread one atop the other. So with the second batch I allowed twice as much cooling time for each step, and it worked a lot better, resulting in the photogenic version that you see in these pictures, but also resulting in me being in the kitchen for several hours.

All in all, I'd recommend making them, especially if you're a peppermint-chocolate lover, but just be prepared to spend almost double the time that her recipe suggests. Oh, and I highly recommend putting all the unwrapped candies in a large, thick ziploc bag, and letting your husband smash them with a hammer. It's a lot faster than trying to crush them with a can or jar as suggested, and plus it made my husband happy to be allowed to smash things.

Merry Christmas Eve!

If you have some last minute baking to do I recommend the following recipes because they're all simple and don't involve any cookie cutters or frosting!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Squares

Peanut Blossoms

Molasses Cookies

Christmas Cookie Baking: The Saga Continues

Christmas cookie baking is a BIG deal for me! It really doesn't seem quite like the holiday season has fully arrived unless I'm on my feet for at least eight hours, frantically rolling and cutting and sugaring and cooling and frosting and....you get the picture. I blast Christmas music (probably much to the dismay of my neighbors now that I think about it) and bake and bake until the house is fragrant, I've 'sampled' enough dough to potentially give me salmonella, all my tupperwares are full, the tile grout is full of jimmies and sprinkles, and there is flour on literally about 90% of the surfaces in my kitchen.

I try at least one new recipe every year, but there are a few varieties that I always make: most notably the peanut butter kiss cookies and the butter cookies that I've blogged about before (and that are pictured above). But for me the most important are the gingerbread cookies. If it isn't Christmas till I've baked, it definitely isn't Christmas baking until I've made the gingerbread cookies. They're sweet and spicy, fragrant and toothsome, and, most importantly, adorable. I bake them just enough to where they're firm to the touch but still soft to the bite. Covered with a dusting of sugar, they're the perfect accompaniment to a tall glass of milk or a warm cup of cinnamon tea.

The genius thing about my baking this year is that for the first time I was able to make cookies using my new stand mixer. Normally the gingerbread is pretty hard to mix because the dough is too stiff for a hand mixer, which means a lot of elbow grease is involved. But (much to Noel's relief since it's usually his elbow grease) the stand mixer was completely up to the challenge. I mixed the dough up Friday, refrigerated it overnight, and Saturday rolled out about 90 beautiful gingerbread men and bears in no time at all.


Gingerbread Cookies
5 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 tablespoon ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup shortening
1 cup white granulated sugar
1 egg
1 cup molasses
2 tablespoons vinegar

In a medium bowl combine the flour and spices (first six ingredients) and set aside. In a large bowl (preferably of your stand mixer) cream the shortening and sugar together. Then beat in the egg, the molasses, and the vinegar, making sure to incorporate each thoroughly before adding the next. Once the the wet ingredients are well combined, add the flour slowly, beating well, until all flour is thoroughly combined into the dough. Scrape the dough onto some plastic wrap, shape into a log, and wrap tightly. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours, or for up to 2 days.

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Roll out small portions of the dough on a well floured surface (keep the rest of the dough in the fridge while you're rolling so that it doesn't get too soft). Roll until about 1/8 inch thick--or up to almost 1/4 of an inch if you want softer cookies. Cut into the desired shapes, place the cookies at least an inch apart on a parchment lined baking sheet, and sprinkle with sugar. You can re-roll the scraps, just make sure to add a little bit of cold dough each time so that you're never re-rolling only scraps, because the dough will be too warm, and they'll roll out really thin.

Bake the cookies on the center rack of your oven for 6-7 minutes. The cookies will still be soft. Let them rest on the baking sheet for a minute or two to firm up, then carefully remove to a wire rack to continue cooling. They're delicious while they're still warm, but be careful--they're sort of deceptively cool on the outside and then molten in the middle! They will keep for about ten days in an airtight container. After a few days they may get a little dried out, but if you put a slice of bread or a slice of an apple into the container they will soften up again in a few hours.

Christmas Cookie Baking

Before....

After...

Recipes to follow later...I'm going to put my feet up now...

Veggie Tacos aka See Mom, I Do Eat Vegetables

I've made this vegetarian friendly meal several times since we went to Apple Annie's in September. I like it for three reasons: (1) it means I eat a lot of vegetables in one meal, (2) it only takes about 20 minutes or so to make, and (3) it's delicious! Not as delicious as Valarie's potato tacos, but still, quite tasty.

Basically you saute a bunch of vegetables together for a few minutes, blister a few corn tortillas, put the veggies in the tortillas, sprinkle with cheese and salsa, et voila! Veggie tacos! I don't think I could ever totally be a vegetarian because I would really, really, really miss bacon, but sometimes meals like this make me think twice. It's the perfect meal to serve if you're serving a crowd of both omnivores and herbivores, and it wouldn't be hard at all to make vegan if you just make sure to buy vegan tortillas and skip the cheese. It's also a pretty flexible meal--I use potatoes and bell peppers and onions because that's what I always have on hand, but some zucchini or jicama or tomatoes could also be quite tasty in these. So have a veggie taco party, and experiment with the flavors a little bit!

Veggie Tacos

1 medium baking potato, cubed

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 green bell pepper, diced
1/2 medium onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (or one serrano pepper, minced)

1/4 tsp cumin

1/4 cup corn

1/2 cup black beans

8-10 (six inch) corn tortillas, blistered

shredded cheese and salsa for garnishing

In a large skillet heat a tablespoon of oil over medium-high heat, toss in the potato cubes, coating evenly in oil. Cook the potatoes, lid on, for about five minutes. While the potatoes are cooking, dice the bell peppers and onion. Take the lid off, toss the bell peppers, potatoes, and onion together. Cook for another five minutes or so, stirring often. Once the potatoes seemed cooked through, but the other veggies are still a little bit crisp, add the spices, black beans, and corn. Cook for another minute or so, stirring constantly, until all vegetables are hot through, but don't let it go too long, at this point they get mushy fast.

While the vegetables are cooking, place a small empty skillet over very high heat. Working quickly (but carefully!) place one tortilla at a time in the skillet. Let it sit for about 30 seconds on each side, or until the tortilla blisters slightly and no longer looks uncooked.

Place a few tablespoons of the veggie mixture into the center of each tortilla. Sprinkle with cheese, top with salsa, and enjoy!

Nacho Fondue

I love fondue, but the real thing can be both finicky and pricey. This recipe is a cross between fondue and your basic nacho cheese. It's super easy, and another one of those recipes that I feel isn't really a recipe at all, since there are only four ingredients and a little stirring involved. But the end result is warm and melty and a little bit spicy, and no one will know it was that easy to make!

The nacho fondue is a nice contrast to the exorbitant amounts of sweets being served this time of year. Served with chips and veggies for dipping it makes a nice salty snack, or dolloped on some tortilla chips with beans and guacamole it could be a fast meal. I found this recipe in a Sandra Lee cookbook a few years ago, and it's become one of my go-to recipes for easy entertaining.

Nacho Fondue

adapted from Sandra Lee

1 (10 3/4 oz) can cheddar cheese soup

1 can milk (about a cup I think)

about 2 cups of shredded cheese, cheddar or jack

about 2/3 cup of salsa

In a mid-sized saucepan heat the cheddar cheese soup over medium heat. Refill the soup can with milk, add to the soup, whisk until there aren't any lumps. Stir in the salsa. I start with about 1/2 a cup at first, but I just eyeball this whole recipe, so it may be a little more. Stir in the cheese a handful at a time until the cheese is melted and thoroughly combined into the mixture. If the mixture seems too thick for optimum 'dippability' add a little more salsa and stir until optimum thickness is achieved.

This makes enough to fill a small fondue pot twice, or the recipe can be doubled and served in a crockpot. Serve with fresh veggies, and tortilla chips or bread for dipping. The flavor can be easily adapted by using a milder or spicier salsa, or using a combination of cheeses--have fun with it! Leftovers will keep for a couple of days in the fridge, and can be quickly reheated in a saucepan.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Mini Muffins

My Thanksgiving cooking this year was remarkably simple. I made a couple of breakfast casseroles for brunch at my one set of grandparents, and carted along seven loaves of Amish bread that I had hanging out in the freezer. Then for the other grandparents all I made were sweet potatoes and some mini butterscotch pumpkin muffins from this recipe. The original recipe wasn't bad, but I thought that the spices and butterscotch completely overpowered the pumpkin flavor, which is not what I was looking for. Plus the butterscotch chips stuck to the muffin tins, leaving little empty holes all over the muffins when I pulled them out, so I definitely did not take pictures of them!

Today I made another batch of them, halving the spices and using mini chocolate chips instead of butterscotch chips, and they are awesome! They are moist, evenly spiced, and they have a rich delicious pumpkin flavor interspersed with little bits of chocolate. I highly recommend using the mini chips, it spreads the chocolate flavor out more evenly, and it makes for much less mess--this batch came out of the pans beautifully.

The muffins are ridiculously easy to make. It took me maybe five minutes to mix them up, another five minutes to spoon them into the muffin tins, and then just ten minutes to bake. They're a beautiful orange color before they bake, and they come out orangey-brown and fragrant. I think they'd be perfect for anything from brunch to a late night snack with a glass of milk, especially this time of year. There's just something particularly satisfying about pumpkin and cinnamon and ginger flavors during the holidays....I can't wait to start baking! Stay tuned for TONS of cookie recipes!

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Mini Muffins

adapted from allrecipes.com

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup canned pumpkin
4 oz mini chocolate chips (about 2/3 cup)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease mini-muffin pan with cooking spray. I got about 40 muffins the first time, the second time I filled them a little bit more full and got 36, so make sure you have enough space for 36, or plan to make these in two batches.

In a large bowl, sift together the first nine ingredients, set aside. Whisk together the eggs, butter, and pumpkin in a separate bowl. Stir the pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips. Spoon the batter into the mini muffin cups, just slightly less than a tablespoonful into each cup.

Bake in preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, 10 to 12 minutes. If your pans don't all fit on one shelf of your oven make sure to rotate them halfway through. Let cool in pans for about ten minutes, then carefully remove muffins to wire racks to completely cool. Store in an airtight container.

People of the Book

I just "read" People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks (by "read" I mean I listened to it on audiobook) and was pleasantly surprised. I've heard good things about March, but I had never tried any books by Geraldine Brooks before, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect.

The book tells the story of the Sarajevo Haggadah, an illustrated Jewish manuscript from the 15th century that needs authentication from Dr. Hanna Heath, an Australian rare books expert. Hanna flies to war-torn Sarajevo in 1996, and is entranced by the beauty of the Haggadah. According to Jewish tradition, images of the Scriptures are not allowed, but this book proves the exception to the rule. Hanna finds several small clues hidden between the pages of the book: such as a wine stain, a salt stain, and a white hair, that set Hanna on a quest to find out who created this unusual Haggadah, and why.

I liked that People of the Book revealed the secrets of the Haggadah in reverse order, starting with the story of a young Jewish girl running from the Nazis in WWII, and the Muslim family that protected her and the Haggadah. The story progressed from WWII back to turn-of-the-century Vienna, then back to sixteenth century Venice, then back to Spain during the Inquisition, and finally back to the source of the book. The book is told in alternating chapters, flashing back and forth between the story of Hanna in the present day, and the other people who helped protect the book over its long and varied history.

The audiobook version I listened to was fun; the narrator was Australian which gave Hanna's character a vivid, realistic flavor. My one irritation was that the older Jewish characters all ended up sounding the same in the narrator's voice--even though some of them were male and some were female.

This book could have easily fallen into the same silly historical-quest type mold as Dan Brown or Steve Berry or all the other copycats out there, but it didn't at all. There was no big conspiracy, just a story of an intriguing young woman, the complications in her personal life, her love for beautiful books, and this one particularly beautiful book that had touched so many lives over so many centuries. The plot was a little bit predictable, the huge surprise that Hanna is blindsided by was pretty obvious about six chapters earlier; but that's not a huge complaint, I didn't mind seeing exactly how the characters were going to get to that point of the story.

If you're looking for an enjoyable historical fiction book, I'd highly recommend People of the Book. And I'm going to read March soon I think, so I'll keep you posted on whether or not Geraldine Brooks stands up to the second-book test.

Deliciously Addicting Butter Cookies

First of all, don't say I didn't warn you. Since I'm going to share the recipe I can testify that there is no crack/other addicting substance in them, but somehow, once I start eating them I just can't stop. But several other people had the same problem today, so I feel slightly less perturbed about my inability to refrain from eating them.

Anyway, this recipe comes from my grandma's sister Hazel, and is simple but fantastic. It only has six ingredients, so make sure to use the best--I like using organic sugar and unbleached flour and unsalted butter. Martha Stewart tells me that I should use local artisanal brands or quality imported butter, but I don't go quite that far.

My new best friend the kitchen-aid mixer mixed this up in about 4 minutes flat, then the dough has to refrigerate for at least an hour, then you roll it out, cut, and bake. They are quick-baking cookies (only six minutes a pan) so you have to either work fast to have a new pan rolled and cut before the last pan was done, or you're going to have to waste some oven heat. Which, if you live in somewhere other in Tucson, might not be such a big deal; but in my case I semi-frantically rolled and cut and brushed and sprinkled and baked, and got about 80 cookies done in 45 minutes or so, thus avoiding any smidgen of superfluous warmth.

Speaking of brushing and sprinkling--I tried a new method to decorate these, using an egg tempera instead of frosting, and it turned out quite well. But this post will be ridiculously long if I try to talk about both the cookies and the decorating method, so I'll save it for another post.

These cookies are basically a sugar cookie, but a little more buttery and a little less sugary (hence the "butter cookie" name). They're kind of a cross between shortbread and a soft sugar cookie. They melt in your mouth, and on their own aren't too sweet--what makes them sweet is the frosting or sugar that you top with them. I probably wouldn't recommend them plain, unless you're the type who prefers less sweet desserts. I roll them out in various thicknesses depending on my mood. For thin, crisp cookies roll out to a scant 1/8 inch. For thicker, softer cookies, go for closer to 1/4 of an inch.

These butter cookies are also quite possibly the most photogenic cookies ever. Whether they be glazed, frosted, or merely dusted with sugar, they're always cute. I make them seasonally whenever there's a definitive shape (ie snowmen and trees at Christmas, hearts at Valentine's Day, etc) to the holiday or season. This particular batch was a nice assortment of leaves and acorns, perfect for one last autumnal hurrah before the Christmas insanity.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Aunt Hazel's Butter Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter

1 cup sugar

1 unbeaten egg

2 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt (only if using unsalted butter!)

2 2/3 cups flour

plus additional sugar for decorating, if so desired

Sift together the flour and salt, set aside. Cream together the sugar and butter for about three minutes, or until smooth and well-combined. Beat in the egg and then the vanilla. Add the flour/salt combination in half cup increments, beating well after each addition. Once all flour is absorbed, shape the dough into a ball, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Roll the dough on a well-floured surface to about 1/8 inch thick for thinner, crisper cookies, and 1/4 inch thick for thicker, softer cookies. Place cookies one inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets, sprinkle with sugar or glaze if desired. Bake for 6-7 minutes, or until just firm. Carefully remove cookies from pan and place on wire racks to cool. (They'll still be a little pale and soft, but they'll harden as they cool, and in my opinion they don't taste as good if you bake them till they're golden-brown).

Alternately you can make drop cookies without refrigerating the dough for as long. After mixing the dough, refrigerate for about ten minutes, then drop by teaspoonful onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Using a fork dipped in water make a criss-cross pattern on the top of the cookies, flattening them as you do so. Sprinkle with sugar if desired, then bake as directed above.

Let rest on wire racks until completely cool, then frost if desired (and if you didn't previously sugar them). Makes about fifty regular sized cookies, I got eighty using half miniature cutters and half regular cutters. They'll keep for a week, or even ten days, in an air-tight container.

P.S. In the last picture the cookies are on one of a set of pretty nifty glass plates that my grandma got as wedding present fifty-one years and two days ago. Happy Anniversary Grandpa and Grandma!

Crankiness: Failed Quiche

The other night I thought I had a genius plan. I was kind of in the mood for chile relleno, and I was kind of in the mood for quiche, so I decided to combine the two. I basically made a quiche lorraine, but instead of bacon and onions I used red peppers, green chiles, and onions.

I ended up baking it for an HOUR and TEN minutes, and then gave up and ate it soggily anyway. The flavor was pretty good, but I couldn't get over the terrible texture.

And then yesterday I tried making marshmallows again. This time instead of fluffy pillows of perfection I got sticky lumps of gooey flatness. Sigh.

Better Than White Rolls

As you may have noticed by now, bread is one of my favorite things. White, wheat, sweet, sourdough, cheesy, salty, I'm really surprisingly un-picky about my bread, considering how picky I am about everything else. But normally a slightly sweet white bread is definitely my favorite, and I found a good recipe for white rolls a couple of years ago, so I usually stick to those when I want hot rolls.

But last night we were taking mac and cheese with us for game night, and I didn't want to go totally overboard with the white flour, so I decided to try a recipe for wheat rolls that I found more than two years ago, but had never gotten around to trying. I think part of the reason that I had avoided it was that it wasn't my usual type of bread recipe--I usually use a bread machine for the kneading/rising part, and then just shape the completed dough. This recipe, however, called for actual kneading (gasp!) but I decided it was about time I try making bread by hand, so I tackled it...

...and discovered that it was really easy. I should've done this years ago! The only part that worried me a little bit was the part where you're supposed to heat the water to 110 degrees. Since I don't have a candy thermometer (hey Mom--you can add that to my Christmas list by the way) I used the decidedly unscientific method of microwaving the water in ten second intervals and periodically sticking my finger in it till it felt like what I thought 110 degrees probably felt like. I was scared that I might've gotten the water too hot and inadvertently killed my yeast, but it seemed to work out ok.

The rolls were hearty and wheaty, but still sweet and buttery. They tasted amazing last night, and today I took two to work for lunch, and they tasted really good again after about ten seconds in the microwave to soften them a bit. They're good with or without extra butter, and I think they'd really go with just about any meal. So if you're scared of yeast/kneading--don't be! These are so good and so easy that you'll be very, very proud of yourself for making them, and you can feel slightly virtuous about consuming large quantities of them since you just burned calories kneading them!

My only warning is to make sure you have enough time to make them. You're only actually working for about 20-25 minutes, but there's so much rising time in between the steps that you need to allow a little more than three hours from start to finish. But hey, you could go exercise while they're rising, and then feel even more virtuous. Or you could make the aforementioned mac and cheese and eat some chocolate chip cookies to tide you over till dinner. Whatever you prefer.

Soft Wheat Rolls

(from allrecipes.com)

2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
1 3/4 cups warm water (110 degrees F)
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled
1 egg, beaten
2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup butter, melted

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let the yeast stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. Mix the sugar, salt, 1/4 cup melted butter, beaten egg, and whole wheat flour into yeast mixture. Stir in the all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl (I ended up using a few tablespoons more than the 2 1/2 cups called for).

Turn dough out onto a well floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Lightly oil or butter a large bowl, place the dough in bowl, and turn the dough to coat with the oil. Cover with a damp cloth, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

Punch down dough, cover, and let rise in warm place until doubled again, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile grease 2 dozen muffin cups. Punch down dough, and divide into two equal portions. Either roll each portion into a 6x14 inch rectangle, and then cut the rectangle into twelve 7x1 inch strips, or split the portion into thirds, and then divide each third into twelve small balls of dough. (For a total of thirty-six balls from each portion. Not thirty-three like I did because I can't count.)

If you choose the strip method, roll strips up into spirals, and place into muffin cups. Brush tops with melted butter. Let rise uncovered in a warm place 40 minutes, or until doubled in bulk. If you choose the ball method, place 3 small dough balls into each muffin cup, brush tops with melted butter, and let rise in the same manner.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven, and brush again with melted butter (I skipped this final buttering, I felt like they'd had enough already, and the rolls were served with butter, so I didn't want to unnecessarily clog anyone's arteries.)

I did one portion of my dough in the strip method, resulting in rolls that looked a bit cinnamon-roll-ish, leaving a long curl of softness on the inside, with a crispy edge around the first ring. I did the other portion in the ball method, making for rolls that pulled apart easily and that I think were a little softer than the cinnamon-roll way. Both were delicious though, and it's kind of fun to have both shapes in the bread basket, it makes things look more festive. Oh yeah, I totally forgot to take a picture of the bread basket. Next time....

Mug shots....no, actually mug CAKE!

Nowadays when I want a souvenir I buy a Christmas ornament. They're small, portable, and it's ok if they're tacky, because most Christmas ornaments are anyway. And then there's the great night where you play Christmas carols and decorate the tree, and then all the ornaments remind you of all the places you've been.

But there was a time when my souvenir of choice was a mug--mostly notably during my travels in Europe. (Which, looking back on it, was one of the dumbest things I could pick! They are bulky, heavy, and easily broken, I'm not sure what I was thinking. But I digress.) I have mugs with Shakespeare on them and mugs with the London tube map and mugs from Greenwitch and Harrods and mugs with the Eiffel Tower and mugs from Annecy and I did have a mug from Brussels until it broke...

The problem with this collection is that I don't like coffee or tea, and I can only drink so much hot chocolate. So ninety percent of the time the mugs just sit uselessly in the cupboard, waiting to be broken. Until yesterday, when Ben emailed me a wiki for making CAKE in a mug. That's right. You mix the cake in a mug, microwave it, and 3 minutes later have a tasty, brownie-ish cake.

The end result is rich and chocolatey, a little bit chewy, and best devoured when warm. I wouldn't think it would keep very well, but I'm pretty sure the only reason you would even make a mug cake would be to consume it instantanesouly, so you should be safe. If you're having a frantic chocolate craving this will definitely fit the bill! It's possible I guess that you could eat the whole thing, but I'd recommend sharing, it's a substantial amount for one person.

One small note before sharing the recipe: make sure your mug is microwave safe. And if it was made in France, it probably isn't.


Chocolate Mug Cake

One large microwave safe mug
Cooking spray
4 Tbsp flour
9 Tbsp hot chocolate mix
1 egg
3 Tbsp water
3 Tbsp oil

Spray the mug with cooking spray. Mix the hot chocolate mix and flour in the bottom of the mug and stir in the egg until well combined. Stir in the water and oil, making sure that there aren't any pockets of dry ingredients.

Microwave on high for 3 minutes. Use hot pad to take mug out of microwave. Let sit 1-2 minutes, then spoon/scrape cake out into a bowl. I think it would be better topped with ice cream, but you could try it plain.

I used peppermint flavored hot chocolate, which added a flair that I liked. I think maybe adding a couple of drops of orange or mint extract to the batter would be a nice touch if you just have regular hot chocolate.

P.S. I just realized when I typed up this recipe that I only used one tbsp each water and oil instead of three. Which (a) explains the chewiness, and (b) means I'm totally going to have to try this again!!

Ruminations and Juxtapositions or How I Judged a Book by Its Cover

Unless I'm completely engrossed and can't put a book down, I tend to like to mix several books to keep things interesting. Usually I have one at home, one audiobook in my office, and another book to read on breaks or when I have to wait somewhere when I'm out and about. This way I can read fiction and nonfiction simultaneously, so I don't get burned out on either.

Currently I have a fairly typical juxtaposition: two mysteries and a history. The mysteries are The Old Wine Shades by Martha Grimes and The Smoke by Tony Broadbent. The history is How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill. I just finished The Old Wine Shades, and have a few chapters left in each of the other two.

The Martha Grimes I grabbed to listen to in my office. I tend to be less picky about my audiobook selections than my regular reading selections: my two requirements are that the book be unabridged and that the narrator's voice be unannoying. This book fit these two requirements, so although I wasn't particularly intrigued by the mystery I decided to keep listening. It gives me something to do while I'm a-counting out the money.

Even though I wasn't loving the plot I was trying to work with it, until the book started being told from the dog's point of view. Yup, Mungo the dog's point of view. Mungo not only solved the crime, he also planted evidence, and saved some victims that the murderer had locked up. Nope, not kidding. It really happened. I wouldn't have been so irritated by this if I had known that it was going to be dogtective type book. I mean if I had picked up a Susan Conant or Laurien Berenson book I would've known what I was in for. But Martha Grimes seemed respectable. Her detective works for Scotland Yard for pete's sake!! Sigh.

Then there's How the Irish Saved Civilization. I feel like this title is a bit misleading. Ok, maybe more than a bit. It should be called How St. Patrick Was Different from St. Augustine and Created a Christian State in Ireland That Although It Differed Greatly From Roman Christianity Still Retained Enough of Roman Theological Thought To Make Sure That Some Texts Were Copied and Therefore Saved, Meaning That Not Everyone Was Illiterate During the Middle Ages and That Christianity Managed to Hang On In Pockets of Irish Civilization Called Monasteries. Because really, saying that the Irish saved civilization is a bit melodramatic. Really what Cahill is trying to say is that they saved some Greek and Roman texts and some tenets of Christianity that we probably wouldn't have otherwise. I understand choosing a catchy title though, I probably wouldn't have picked it up if it was called How Some Irish Monks Kinda, Sorta Saved Some Parts of Civilization. It isn't a bad book, some of the chapters about how the monks copied manuscripts and the tools that they used were actually quite interesting, but the title is definitely the best part of this book.

And then, the surprising gem: The Smoke. The premise is preposterous: Jethro, a successful London jewel thief is recruited just after WWII to help MI-5 break into the Soviet Embassy and spirit out some important code books and a young Russian woman who wants to defect. But what makes this book is how real the voice of Jethro is: uneducated, yet ruminative, profane, yet hilarious, and surprisingly insightful. Jethro is a fantastic character. And, he talks in the rhyming cant popular among London's criminals, which makes his conversational wit that much more authentic and entertaining. (If you're not familiar with rhyming slang a common example is calling gloves 'turtles'. This is because turtledoves rhymes with gloves, and then is shortened to turtles). The Smoke itself is slang for London. And as Jethro 'creeps' around the smoke, I continue to be interested, entertained, and pleasantly surprised.

So I guess my new methodology is not going to involve picking books based on authors that I think are respectable (e.g. Martha Grimes) or that have catchy titles (e.g. How the Irish Saved Civilization). Nope, I'm going to do what I did with The Smoke. I'm going to pick 'em based on their covers.

False Advertising: Amish Friendship Bread

So this picture isn't actually Amish friendship bread, it's banana bread. I did make some more friendship bread: the two loaves in my fridge and the two more loaves in my freezer can attest to this! But, Noel left the camera at work, so I couldn't take any pictures. Personally I feel like the pictures are what make food blogs though, so I couldn't just leave you pictureless. In fact, maybe I'll share another of my favorite pictures:

Those are the chocolate ganache cupcakes I made for Noel's last birthday, and looking at that picture I think it might be about time to make them again.

But, first, I was here to talk about Amish friendship bread...which does look a bit banana bread-ish, so the picture isn't too far off. I tried two new variations this week, and they both came out nicely.

The first was butterscotch: I omitted the cinnamon from the original recipe, and used butterscotch pudding mix, and then added about 1/2 cup of butterscotch chips. This one isn't my favorite, it's a little too butterscotchy, but Noel is kind of in love with it. I made it in an 8x8 square pan though (plus a loaf pan), so the bigger one came out a little more cakey, and it had a nice consistency.

The second variation was lemon: I again omitted the cinnamon, substituted lemon extract for the vanilla extract, and then used lemon pudding mix. The loaves came out cheerily yellow, and have a light, bright flavor. The lemonness reduces the sugar a little I think, so it doesn't taste quite as sweet as the other variations I've tried.

I highly recommend any of the four variations of the friendship bread I've tried so far...once again, if you want a starter just let me know! Just make sure your camera is handy before you start baking!

P.S. I took all four variations to a brunch on Thanksgiving day (lemon, cinnamon, chocolate, and butterscotch) and the original cinnamon recipe was by far the most popular.

SQUONK

Maybe a year or so ago Ben (one of my co-workers) and I discovered a book on cryptozoology. Immediately entranced, we decided that someday we were going to be cryptozoologists. Bookmans is fun and all, but hunting down mythological beasties would beat Bookmans any day!

I had kind of forgotten about the cryptozoological quest until Ben found another book, which was even better than the last one. This one is a field guide for North American monsters, and in addition to the usual culprits such as Sasquatch and El Chupacabra, this book includes the SQUONK.

The squonk is a sad little monster. It's very, very ugly: descriptions vary slightly, but it's generally agreed that it has loose folds of warty skin, and is a bedraggled, lumpy little creature. The squonk (who hails from Pennsylvania) is so ashamed of its appearance that it hides in forests and swamps and quietly sobs to itself. When seen by humans it becomes so distraught that it weeps itself away--it literally dissolves into a puddle.

Now since we're not murderous/sadistic types, we don't want the squonk to see us, because we don't want to kill one of the poor little creatures. But I'm thinking that sneaking up and taking a picture of the back of one could be a good beginning place for the career of a soon-to-be-renowned cryptozoologist.

So if you've seen any inexplicable puddles, or you've had a boring day at work and hunting down crypto-creatures sounds good, or you haven't cooked anything interesting in a week, and the only books you've read aren't worth writing about, and you need a new obsession; I highly recommend the squonk. Especially if you're having a bad day--at least you know that you won't end up crying yourself to death!

Gracious Grandmothers Club, part two

A few months ago I talked about a cookbook that I inherited from Noel's grandma. Today at work I was looking at that "Gallery of Regrettable Foods" cookbook, which includes dozens of horrifying food pictures like the one above. Inspired by those images (well inspiration may not be quite the right word) I decided that it was time to revisit the Gracious Grandmothers Club, and their litany of fabulous recipes.

I don't know exactly when this book was written, but judging by the type-setting and the plethora of disgusting jello recipes, I'm going to guess late sixties, maybe early seventies. Noel's grandma lived in Middletown, Ohio for most of her life, and these recipes seem pretty appropriate for a town named "Middletown". There are endless pages of suspicious sounding casseroles, fried things, heavily buttered vegetables, and actually some quite delicious sounding cookie recipes that I think I might actually try. If there's one thing midwestern grandmas get right, it's cookies.

Anyway, here are a few more gems for you to enjoy:

Salmon Squares

2 cups cooked rice

2 eggs, beaten

2 cups cottage cheese

1 (1 lb) can salmon, drained, flaked

1 small onion, chopped

1/4 cup chopped green pepper

2 tsp soy sauce

1 cup cracker crumbs

Combine all ingredients except crumbs. Spoon into a buttered 12 x 7 inch baking dish. Sprinkle cracker crumbs on top. Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes. Cut into squares.

Ok, I give this one some props for the soy sauce, which was a pretty unique ingredient in this book. Tess Young was trying to be creative I think. But cottage cheese and salmon mixed? This sounds gross to me, and I feel like the consistency is probably unnervingly wobbly. I do however like the specifity of calling it "Salmon Squares" and then also including "cut into squares" in the directions.

English Muffin Pizzas

1 lb ground beef

2 tbsp chopped onion

1 tsp horseradish

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 lb sharp cheddar, grated

1 tbsp catsup

1 tsp ground mustard

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp chilli powder

english muffins

Mix all ingredients, refrigerate. Slice English muffins. Spread mixture on untoasted side. Brush with melted butter. Put under broiler until done.

First of all, I'm normally a fan of English muffin pizzas--in my dorm days they were a pretty common staple. But this does not sound like pizza to me at all! It sounds like a weird meatloaf mixture, spread on a muffin, and then topped with BUTTER! Bleh. Plus, it doesn't specify whether or not the hamburger is supposed to be cooked, which is not reassuring. Kind of a midwestern steak tartare maybe? Because "put under broiler until done" doesn't sound like any kind of extensive e-coli-killing is occuring.

And here's what you've been waiting for: the prerequisite disturbing jello recipe.

Cinnamon Red Jello Salad

2/3 cup red cinnamon candies dissolved in 1 cup hot pineapple juice

Add 1 pkg lemon jello

and 1 1/2 cups crushed pineapple

Pour half into 8x8 pan, let set until firm.

Cream together:

8 oz cream cheese

1/2 cup chipped nuts

1/2 cup finely chopped celery

and enough mayonnaise to moisten.

Spread over set jello, pour remaining cold jello on top.

Pretty and red for Christmas.

No, I didn't add the last sentence. It was really there. In the recipe. Along with the pineapple, mayonnaise, celery, cream cheese, lemon jello, and cinnamon candies. Yum.

Starters: Amish Friendship Bread

When I was little I loved loved loved sourdough stuff. We had a sourdough starter that my mom kept in the back of the fridge, and I thought that "feeding" the sourdough was the coolest thing ever. Plus, my dad made some pretty awesome sourdough pancakes, and we often had sourdough bread and rolls. Somewhere along the way the sourdough vanished....I'm not sure if it got left behind in one of our many moves, or if my mom just decided it was too much work, but the sourdough pancakes just stopped appearing on Saturday mornings.

I've been thinking about trying to start a sourdough of my own, and I'd bookmarked several recipes, but then one of Noel's co-workers gave me an Amish Friendship Bread starter, and I figured I might as well give this a shot since I already had the starter.

Basically you "feed" the starter once, on day six of its cycle, and then on day ten you bake two loaves, and get four more starters out of it. You're supposed to pass the new starters on to friends (a culinary chain letter of sorts), hence the name. The starter itself looks a little disturbing, it's very bubbly and lumpy, and it smells awful--somewhere between sour milk and really strong beer. But at least you only have to smell it twice, when you feed the batter once, and when you mix it into bread at the end.

The final result is a very sweet, soft quick bread, with a faint sourdoughy tang in the background. The original recipe calls for a lot of cinnamon, I've made it that way twice, and it's really good warm. One time I tweaked the recipe to make a chocolatey version, which didn't quite taste right warm, but was delicious cold. I'm thinking next time I might try butterscotch, or maybe lemon. It's been fun having new tasty bread every ten days though, and I've been giving one of the loaves away each time, which makes other people happy too, so I figure it's good all around. Except for the horrendous smell of the starter....

Amish Friendship Bread

1 cup amish bread starter

3 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1 cup oil

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

2 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda
2 cups flour

2 small boxes vanilla instant pudding

First--don't use metal bowls or spoons when making this. I'm not sure why, but it was in CAPITALS in the instructions I got. Combine the last six ingredients, set aside this dry mixture. Mix together the wet ingredients, then stir in the dry. Lightly grease two 8 x 4 inch loaf pans. Mix an additional 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 tsp cinnamon, dust the pans with half of this mixture. Pour the batter into the pans, and sprinkle with the rest of the cinnamon sugar. Bake for 50-60 minutes at 325 degrees. Cool on wire racks until bread loosens from the pan (about 10 minutes), then carefully remove loaves to cool further. Wrapped well in foil this will keep for up to a week.

Variation: reduce cinnamon to 1/2 tsp, use chocolate pudding mix instead of vanilla, substitute one tablespoon of flour with one tablespoon of cocoa powder, and stir in 1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips. Sprinkle the loaf with just plain sugar instead of cinnamon-sugar, and bake as directed above. (Sadly, I forgot to take pictures of the chocolate loaves, but they actually turned out better than the regular ones, they rose better.)

So if you want a starter, let me know. I've got lots!

Ridiculously Addicting Crackers--don't say I didn't warn you!

This kind of feels like I'm cheating at the whole blogging thing, since this 'recipe' doesn't require any cooking, or even much assembling. In fact, it's quite possibly the easiest snack to make, ever. But what it has going for it is that it's enormously tasty, the crackers look cute, and then if you take it over to someone else's house when they ask you to bring a snack, at least you put some effort into it. I mean, you could've just bought a bag o' Nacho Doritos, but you made at least a tiny effort, and produced these delicious little crackers. (Plus these don't turn your fingers orange, or give you funny Dorito breath afterwards.)

I found a few different recipes for these on allrecipes.com, and this is my version, which takes elements of several of them. I'm pretty specific about what brands to use, mostly because since there are only 4 ingredients, I think that you need the best ingredients. Plus, I've tried them with several different brands and sometimes they definitely turn out better than others. If you get it right, they're salty and crunchy and tangy and spicy all at once. (Ooh, I almost said Yum-O right there, and I got annoyed and quit watching Rachael Ray more than a year ago!) So, um, Yum-EE!

Ranch 'Firecrackers'

1 (14 oz) box of oyster crackers

(the Trader Joe's version is the best--I use two 8 oz boxes and they turn out perfectly)

1 (1 oz) packet ranch dressing mix

(the Hidden Valley Dips brand is best)

1 - 2 tsp red pepper flakes

(depending on whether you want just a little heat, or 'firecrackers')

1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp vegetable oil

In large bowl gently stir 1/2 cup oil into the crackers. Once the oil seems fairly evenly dispersed, gently stir in the ranch dressing mix and the red pepper flakes, trying to avoid breaking the crackers. Stir carefully for a few minutes until the spices seem evenly appied. If you used the TJ crackers you won't need more oil. If you used say, the generic Fry's brand, stir in another tbsp of oil at this point.

Let the crackers sit for about half an hour, giving them another stir every five minutes or so, to make sure that the ones at the bottom don't get soggy. Once all the oil is completely absorbed you can either rapidly devour them, or store them in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. I'd just give them a gentle shake before serving them again.

Vegan-friendly Baking: Cupcakes

I bake a lot (in case you hadn't noticed the title of this blog) and I end up taking a fair number of baked goods into work, since it's a really easy way to make sure that nothing gets wasted. There are several vegans at work who always look hopeful, until I have to disillusion them by informing them that there are eggs or milk in whatever it is they were hoping they could eat. So, this week I was taking cakes into work again, and I decided that it was about time that I attempted something vegan.

I have a cookbook called "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World" by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero. (In case you're wondering why I own such a book, I tried going dairy-free last year, but I couldn't quite hack it. I missed cheese too much.) I hadn't made any of the recipes yet, although I had drooled over several of the pictures, so I decided to start with the very first recipe, Golden Vanilla Cupcakes, for my first foray into the world of vegan baking. I went and bought soy milk and soy creamer and even organic raw sugar, since I vaguely remember someone saying something about processed sugar being non-vegan.

The cupcakes were really easy to make once I had the proper ingredients assembled. They came out a pretty pale yellow color, and once topped with a little powdered-sugar frosting, they were quite delicious looking. They had a nice sugary vanilla flavor, I didn't miss the eggs at all in terms of taste, but the cupcakes had a slightly odd texture. The crumb was very coarse, and they were almost spongey, which I wasn't quite sure about. But, since I'd never made anything vegan before, I figured I'd just take them to work and see how it went.

They got rave reviews, from vegans and non-vegans alike. One person actually told me that it was the best day of his life to be able to eat a cupcake again! So, if you're vegan they apparently might change your life. If you're not, you might find the texture a bit odd, but the end result is still quite tasty.

Vanilla Vegan Cupcakes

from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World

1 cup soy milk

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

2 tbsp cornstarch

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup canola oil

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp orange extract (or almond or caramel)

1/4 cup soy creamer

1/2 tsp clear vanilla extract

1/4 tsp orange extract

2 - 3 cups powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Whisk the soy milk and vinegar together and set aside to curdle. Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners.

Beat together the curdled soy milk, oil, sugar, vanilla, and other extract. Sift in the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix until mostly smooth.

Using an ice cream scoop or large spoon fill each cupcake liner until about 2/3 full. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. They don't brown much, so stop baking when a toothpick comes out clean, don't wait for a color cue.

Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack before frosting. In a small saucepan warm the soy creamer over medium heat. Remove from heat, whisk in the extracts, and enough sugar to reach the consistency you want. I used just about 2 cups of sugar, which made for a thin glaze-like frosting. If you want a thicker frosting just keep whisking in the sugar. Once the cupcakes are fully cooled, spread with frosting, then refrigerate to set frosting. Makes 12 cupcakes.

Mysteries are my favorite!

I've always loved mysteries. In second grade we had this day where we got to change our name, and the teacher called us by our fake name all day. I was Nancy...as in Nancy Drew of course... although I also adored Trixie Belden. I was convinced that when I grew up I was going to be a detective/ballerina when I grew up. I figured that ballet would offer me an entree into high society, and I could solve crimes among the important types who thought they were above the law.

In about fourth grade I became obsessed with Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot and his silly little "moustaches". And I got paranoid that I was going to get hit by a car and die, and no one would be able to identify me since I didn't have a drivers license yet, so every morning I wrote my name and phone number on the bottom of my shoes, just in case. (Sad but true. Just ask my mom!)

Then came middle school, and a sudden adoration of cheesy suspense: Mary Higgins Clark, John Grisham, Tom Clancy, I read 'em all. In high school I tried cozies: Jill Churchill, Elizabeth Peters, Dorothy Gilman, etc. In college I went for the more classic British type mysteries: Georgette Heyer, Patricia Wentworth, Joyce Christmas, and company. But really, I was slightly saddened by the fact that I couldn't find anything I loved as much as I had loved Nancy Drew.

Then, however, I started working at Bookmans, and found shelf upon shelf of awesome books. Fred Vargas, Henning Mankell, Donna Leon, Arnaldur Indriðason, Ian Rankin, Peter Lovesey...I could seriously keep listing for a while. I fell in love with these authors, all of whom happen to be either European or ex-pats. There are certain similarities that most of them share:

(1) Cynical, quirky, humorous detectives, who are usually divorced, or alchoholic, or both. The characterization is believable, and while admittedly sometimes a bit stereotypical, still interesting. And, importantly, all of their detectives are actually detectives...not caterers or housewives or cats or craft shop owners who just happen to solve crimes on the side.

(2) A vivid sense of place. Each writer conjures up the locale of their respective detectives with accuracy and ingenuity, whether it be Ystad, Venice, Bath, Paris, Edinburgh, or Reykjavik. These books are all glimpses into other places and cultures, which adds additional interest to the policework that forms the main part of the story.

(3) An intriguing crime, where the detective's mental prowess is important--none of these authors write books that are what I call "CSI-ish" or "forensic". That's what I hate about most current American authors that I've read, the importance of the detective has been lost, it's all about the science of the crime, and I find that much less enjoyable. These books require the detective to actually detect, sometimes successfully, and sometimes not. They aren't the type of books that always have a happy ending, sometimes the criminals get away with their crimes, and sometimes the detective can't even figure out "whodunit".

(4) They are well-written. Don't look for mid-air collisions of bullets (yes I'm talking to you David Baldacci) or other ridiculously improbable plotlines. Don't look for two page chapters or huge margins (yup, James Patterson, your secret is out). Expect to have to actually read (I realize I'm still talking about genre fiction here, I'm not saying it's War and Peace or anything, but most of these are very well-written books). Expect quirky characters, fascinating sub-plots, bizarre crimes, political subtexts, and surprisingly beautiful moments, particularly if you try Fred Vargas.

I highly recommend any of the European authors I discussed. So if you haven't read a mystery in a while, give one of these authors a shot! (No pun intended. Since they're European there are very few handguns in these novels anyway.)

Miniatures

The other day Amy rescued these tiny white bowls out of dreck, and now I can't quite decide what to do with them.

My first thought was condiments....some sort of meal where you need dipping sauces. Fondue? Tapas? A french fry smorgasbord?

They look quite cute holding grape tomatoes, and I'm sure olives or smallish artichoke hearts would look equally appealing, but the more I look at them, the more I think desserts....miniscule ones. Tiny ice cream sundaes? They'd be adorable, but unsatisfying I think. Itty-bitty shortcakes? Again, delicious, but insubstantial. Small puddings? Although only a gluttonous Borrower would be able to finish one, I think I'd want to eat three, which sort of defeats the whole purpose.

Then I thought about how at Montana Avenue they have those sugary, cinnamony, puffily ginormous doughnuts that come with a little pot of creamy sweet dipping sauce. Everytime I eat one I end up with sugar all over my chin and sauce all over my fingers, and a smile of contentment on my face.

So I think maybe I might have to have a doughnut party. I figure items needed: deep fryer (check), tiny dipping bowls (check), doughnuts (must find good recipe), dipping sauce (ditto), and people to eat the doughnuts (that's you guys!). Mmm....doughnuts!

What To Do With Black Bananas

I got home from work yesterday to discover that the bananas on the counter were really yellow, ok almost black, and smelled supremely banana-y (banana-ish?). Considering that the Amish bread starter that is proofing on the counter is making my whole kitchen smell like I'm brewing beer, I really couldn't handle the beer/banana combination that was occurring, so I decided that the bananas would have to become banana bread, pronto.

I have several 'fancy' banana bread recipes I've been wanting to try...two from Orangette's blog, a Martha Stewart one, an Alton Brown one...but since I was rushing I decided to go to the tried and true Betty Crocker Cookbook, the 3 ring one with the red checker-board cover. It had exactly what I wanted, a basic banana bread recipe that was super easy. I went from yellow-black (yack? blellow?) bananas, to golden-brown banana bread in less than an hour, including 45 minutes of baking time!

The end result was just what I wanted: simple and delicious. The sugary top crust is slightly crunchy, but the rest of the bread is smooth and moist, with an occasional lump of banana goodness. The bread also makes your kitchen smell tantalizingly fresh and cinnamony, and will totally smother any overpoweringly yeasty smells, I promise.

Betty Crocker Banana Bread
Slightly tweaked

4 large overripe bananas

2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 1/4 cups white granulated sugar

3 cups flour

3 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon

dash ground cloves

1/4 cup white sugar

1/4 tsp cinnamon

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and cloves, set aside. In a food processor puree together the bananas, eggs, oil, and sugar, until mostly smooth (or mash the bananas with a potato masher and stir in the rest). It's ok if there are a few lumps left.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients all at once, stir until just combined. DON'T overmix! Divide the batter between two lightly greased 8x4 inch loaf pans. Combine the additional sugar and cinnamon, sprinkle over the tops of the loaves.

Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes, then rotate and cover loosely with foil if necessary, because the sugar makes them brown quickly on top. Bake an additional 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let cool on a wire rack for at least 20 minutes before attempting to take the loaves out. Carefully remove them from pans to a wire rack to continue cooling, and for best results let the bread rest until the next day before slicing. But you can dig in right away; a slice of warm banana bread makes a lovely snack!

Makes two loaves, about 24 slices, and should keep for about a week if well-wrapped.

Bad Guys: Aaron Burr

 

 I've been reading "Fallen Founder: the Life of Aaron Burr" by Nancy Isenberg, which attempts to portray Aaron Burr as a midsunderstood man, who really wasn't such a bad guy. While I will admit that Burr was obviously tainted by the duel with Hamilton and that his tarnished image was unfair, I kind of feel like American history needs him as a bad guy. If all the founding fathers were really that great, then it just makes the current political leadership in this country even more depressing. We need to know that Hamilton picked fights and Adams was bad-tempered and that Jefferson could be petty, and that Burr was a murderous, lecherous, possibly treasonous man. I'll give us George Washington as a paragon of perfection, I think it's just as necessary to have a "good guy" to look up to, but I think Burr is needed as the archetypical antithesis of Washington's persona.

This is partially Isenberg's point of course, she points out that Burr has had popular biographies, movies, and even pornography (!!!) written about him, but up until now there was never a serious intellectual biography about him. Most historians of the founding era have been content to let him remain the bad guy, the scheming counterpart to the others' nobility. It seems like Isenberg has gone too far the other way though; her attempts to show that Burr's shady land deals and frank sexual affairs were just part of his era, or at least no worse than any of his other contemporaries on the New York political scene don't make him seen any less sketchy; they just make all the politicians, including the Clintons and other big New York families seem equally tarnished. I don't think that badmouthing everyone else is the right way to go about making Burr look less bad, but it is original, I'll give Isenberg that.

The two things that I learned about Burr that really interested me were (1) that he was Jonathan Edwards' grandson. (How did I miss this?!?) and (2) that he was pretty much an early feminist. His wife Theodosia was ten years his senior, a well-educated, articulate, political hostess, who was actually married to a British officer when he met her. He and Theodosia exchanged very intellectual letters discussing the educational philosophy of Rousseau and the feminist philosophy of Wollstonecraft. Their daughter Theodosia was educated in Greek and Latin, highly unusual for a woman of that era, and Burr treated both Theodosias as his intellectual equals, a refreshing mindset in a man of his status.

I do think that Isenberg brought up a good point here; that both Theodosias died young, and therefore Burr didn't have numerous progeny polishing his image for posterity the way that Adams and Washington and other founding fathers did. But all in all, I got the vague impression that the book was as much about Isenberg trying to resolve a crush on Aaron Burr as it was about revamping his image. If you're looking for an unusual lens for viewing early American history through, this book will fit the bill. Otherwise, I'd stick to David McCullough or Joseph Ellis, they're much more readable.