Ginger Apricot Mini Cakes

One of my conundrums is that I often want to bake but I don't always know what to make. These refreshing little cakes were inspired by the need to bake using only the available ingredients in the house and were a rewarding experiment. 

Preheat oven to 400 F, line or butter a 12 cup pan.

1 stick butter, soft
1 c chopped dried apricots, soaked & drained
1/4 chopped fresh ginger + 2 tbsp chopped candied ginger
3/4 c vanilla sugar
3/4 c milk (I like coconut for it's thickness)
2 eggs
2 c flour
3 tsp baking powder

Sift flour and baking powder, coat ginger and apricots, then set aside.

Combine butter, sugar, eggs and milk.

Now, when you combine the wet and dry mixes, you want to make sure not to over mix. It should be a bit lumpy. Pour into lined, prepared cupcake tins. Sprinkle the tops with sugar so they will be crunchy! Bake for about 20 minutes.

Spicy Shrimp Soup

There's a magic that happens when you have good ingredients and plenty of time to create something rich in flavor and love. One of my old roommates used to make a soup of shrimp, peppers and potatoes. She always used fake butter to cook everything with before putting it all in a pot.

Not my style. The goal for me is always to layer the flavor, to build something from the bottom up that leaves you happy to the last bite. My version of the recipe is fairly simply yet with patience will leave you richly rewarded. Besides, fake butter is bad.

for two people as dinner. For four people, add in a salad.

1/2 a yellow onion, chopped
1/2 a red pepper, chopped
garlic, chopped (you can use as much or as little as you like)
1 large potato, chopped
1/2 large can of diced tomato
8 Oz shrimp
1 lime, sliced in quarters
salt, pepper, sriracha

Prep your mise-en-place. Once you start, you won't want to stop to chop something!

Saute the onion with a little coconut oil. Once the onion is soft and translucent, add the pepper, let soften a bit. Add in your garlic, let cook until garlic gives off scent. Put in your potato, cover with half can of tomatoes and water to fill the pot.

Simmer to cook the potatoes. Season with salt, pepper and sriracha to taste. If you use more than a few drops it can really spicy, so taste it before adding more! Drop in the shrimp just before serving so it doesn't over cook. Serve with good corn chips and a lime wedge or two for added flavor.

St. George, oh my stars

This is a repost from 2011 of when I got magically transported to St. George Spirits and met the crew behind all that goodness. It is even better than you ever imagined. When ever you're ready to go, do give me a call.....

While talking up St. George to my volunteer partner for the day at Eat Real, a guy stopped to drop a few pieces of info on us. I laughed and said 'I'm a local, and a huge fan, so I know!' Just my (awesome crazy) luck that it would be one of the distillers in the flesh!

The distillery is magnificent. Let's make something!

Now we've been fans for close to 10 years and essentially love each product more than the last. I got a chance to try a sip of the Mt. Tam gin and I all I can say is that I fell in love. I have never been much a gin drinker, but this is not your ordinary gin, by any means. This is the sort of gin that makes blues singers leave their lovers for a quick cuddle with a bottle, the sort of spirit that doesn't need additions to make it palatable. Even better, there are three to choose from, each distinctly different from the other.

My personal suggestion is take the time to visit them. If you take the bus, you have a rather nice, peaceful stroll in almost utter silence. It is a great reset with just a few minutes of feeling as though you are walking through a ghost town, before you enter the warm, loving embrace of St. George. I'm not being funny: these people spread their love through the air and it comes through with every sip. Passion for their product appears to be true love: Dave, Andie, Lance, Sasha and Paulie, the members of the St. George family I have met, are a true pleasure to be around. Their enthusiasm is 100% genuine.

Buddha's Hand lurks in a jar

Paulie started me off with some great advice for trying spirits:

1) Don't swirl

2) Don't swish in the mouth

3) Take a deep breath, sip, swallow and breathe out

This made a huge difference, there were subtle hints I might have missed in the flavor if I hadn't been told that from the start. What a difference from any other tasting I have ever done! For instance, I not only felt like I had just taken a bite of pear, but I could tell there was more than one in there.

The Breaking & Entering Bourbon is sexy with a smooth, spicy finish with a scent of toffee. And the name? Well, let's just say there was a little of that going on to get their hands on some Kentucky barrels.....

Firelit Coffee Liqueur made me want to bust out cheesecake with this as caramel sauce. Created from brandy and single origin cold brew beans, this is the one that will make coffee lovers stand up and sing.


And then there's the Absinthe. I'm a bad girl. I have had the stuff no one ever talks about and no one's supposed to have. My opinion though, is that this is the one to beat. There are some botanicals in there that are not traditional and will make purists shout about the wrongness of it all. While they shout, I will be enjoying my glass of the green liquid and having a lovely time.

The cloudy goodness

Really Paulie?! With root beer?! Okay, well, you're in charge....

 This tasting will be some of the best use of your time, ever, trust me on that. They don't mind if you ask lots of questions, which means I was in heaven. Be sure to try the Buddha's Hand vodka, which I swear is better than the first time I tried it years ago. Big thanks to the entire gang for being so super amazing, you rock!!

Raspberry Cupcakes

Baking is one of those things I feel I need to do when I feel really mislaigned. The process of creating something from scratch always feels so magical and important to me that I love the whole process. Before you think of how scary it is to bake with the weights and measures, it's really a thing you should relax about. The oven can always tell when you panic! We can still get raspberries here in California but I did originally make these June as I do try to utilize what is fresh and in season. But with Fall not yet raising her pretty head it is really hard to know what season it is right now!

Raspberry Cupcakes

1/2 cup soft unsalted butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 cup flour + 1/2 cup oat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 c half and half
2 eggs
1/4 cup fresh raspberries
12 dark chocolate discs

 preheat oven to 350 F. Line muffin tin.


 Whisk together the dry ingredients and set aside. Beat the butter, sugar, milk and eggs on low until pale and fluffy. Add your dry ingrediants and combine until just mixed. Divide evenly among the muffin cups, place a chocolate disk in sideways and bake for about 15 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.

I like to do a basic vanilla frosting with this, butter, powdered sugar plus a splash of milk and vanilla. Enjoy!

Bacon, Leek and Potato Tart

I don't know about your house, but I live with a meat and potatoes kind of man, so sometimes I have to get inventive if I want him to eat outside of the proverbial box. This idea came when I realized that putting something tasty with bacon in pastry was a sure fire way to get him to enjoy something I really wanted. He still has no idea what all the ingredients are. It's best if we just don't tell him.

For the Tart you will need:

1 uncooked pie crust:

1 1/4 cup flour

3/4 stick cold butter, cubed

1/4 tsp salt

5 tbsp cold water

Combine salt and flour. You can use a food processor or mixer for this. Add butter and mix until it looks like a mealy dough. Add water 1 tbsp at a time until it makes a cohesive dough. Have extra cold water ready just in case your dough is a bit dry.

Pat into a round, wrap and chill for at least one hour.

preheat your oven to 350 F. and prep the rest of your ingredients.

For the filling you will need:

6 slices bacon, cooked crisp

4 potatoes, sliced thin and par cooked

1 large leek, cleaned sliced thin and lightly sauteed

The easiest thing to do is utilize your bacon fat here and cook the potatoes and leeks in it as well!

Use paper towels or tempura paper to drain the fat and set aside.

Once you have everything together, roll out your dough and place it in a tart tin. You don't want it too thick, or it won't be very crispy. Prick the bottom of the dough, pop into the oven for 7 to 10 minutes or until turning a light golden brown. Add your potatoes, leeks and bacon to the tart crust and then pour over 3 tsp cream + 1 egg (2 if you really like eggs), lightly beaten with a fork.

Bake about 20, then turn off your oven and allow to cool.

This is perfect for a light supper with some arugula and mushrooms, or even with a lovely little french onion soup!

Molasses Cookies

Imagine a day where you need something warm and delicious to go with brown sugar ice cream. So you whip up a simple, delicious batch of cookies, the kind that once rolled in a little brown sugar have a marvelous crispy texture and are perfect for a sandwich cookie.Yeah, I thought that might get your attention.

Molasses Cookies

1/2 c shortening
1 c brown sugar + 1/2 c set aside
1/2 c molasses
1 egg
2 c whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp cloves (optional)
1/2 tsp salt

preheat oven to 350 F.

Whisk together dry ingredients and set aside.

Beat sugar, egg, molasses and shortening until light and fluffy.

Beat in dry ingredients until well combined.

Use a tea spoon or a small cookie scoop and drop into the brown sugar that was set aside. Roll, press down and bake for about 10 min.

These are also easy to freeze! Don't roll in sugar until you are ready to bake. Freeze on a piece of parchment in a flat area of your freezer, then wrap in plastic wrap or freezer safe bags.

Apricot Lavender Shortbread

I know that there are a great many people who don't care for lavender in their food and insist that it takes like soap. I have two things to say to that: 'Okay, then you don't have to eat it' and 'If it tastes like soap, you've done something terribly wrong.'

When I worked at the winery years ago I got used to wandering out in the garden and taking roses, borage, lavender, lemon verbena and rosemary back into my kitchen. The amount of dreamy things you can create from fresh herbs is beyond measure and I for one am looking forward to the day when we are back in a spot where Sascha can have a garden.

This recipe is from my pastry chef days, and I promise you, it is really good. The trick is, as always, to use high quality ingredients and have patience. Baked goods cannot be rushed and they will know if you get desperate.  For me, the golden rule is to relax into what you are doing, whether that be baking or cooking. Believe me, it makes all the difference in the world.

Apricot Lavender Shortbread

1 c walnut oil

2 c pastry flour

½ c lavender sugar (use 1 tsp of lavender for your 1/2 c of sugar)

½ tsp salt

1½ c dried apricots, chopped and re-hydrated

preheat oven to 325 F.

Combine all ingredients until well mixed, pat into in lightly oiled pan and bake for 20 minutes. Allow to cool, cut and enjoy!

Lemon and Ricotta Ziti

 When I made this, I honestly felt that it really needed more lemon, but I am a lemon freak. Taste the ricotta and lemon before adding it to the pasta, that way you can adjust as you need to it. What I love about this dish it that it is quick and that you could easily add a little more or vegetables for something that is nutritious and palate pleasing.

For four servings, you will need:

Coarse salt
1 lb ziti
1 lb ricotta
3 tbsp butter
Freshly grated pepper
Zest and juice of 2 lemons
Fresh chopped herbs (I like thyme or rosemary, but its up to you)

Boil water and salt it. Cook pasta until al dente.

Stir lemon zest, juice and herbs into ricotta. Save 1 cup of pasta water before draining.

 Return pasta to pot, stir in butter and then add ricotta. Season to taste with pepper. If you need to thin the cheese out, add some of your pasta water.

Add a salad and you have dinner in no time!