Spotty bananas– a healthier way!

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First off, let me assuage your fears: no, I am not on a health kick, and no, this blog is not becoming weight-conscious or health-obsessed.  I just got back to London (don't get me started on the welcoming deluge) from a month in San Francisco– land of the latest organic/vegan/macrobiotic craze– with my crazy, points-counting family, so I've got health on the brain.  But don't worry, I'll be back to my buttery, sugary self in no time.

Now that we've got that out of the way, lets talk about what awaited me upon my return to the UK (besides the aforementioned rain): piles of books/clothes/general boy stuff on every surface in the flat; a closet full to bursting, into which I was hoping to unpack my stuffed suitcase; a fridge full of random meats and not much else; and bananas.  Spotty, old, fragrant bananas.

Points Counting and Panna Cotta

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 I have a bit of a baking dilemma: when I'm in London, I have very little equipment/space, but there are people around who will eat the things I make.  When I'm in San Francisco, at my parents' house, I have all the beautiful, fancy equipment and stainless steel countertops a girl could desire, but nobody will touch my creations.  Why is this?  Well, I blame weight watchers.

On cravings.

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Every now and again, I do in fact feel like baking something savory.  Now, usually this craving comes in the form of buttery, flaky, biscuity goodness, but it's also been known to rear its head in a sharp, tangy, cheddary way.  As it did last week.

Now, as someone who never visited restaurant chains as a child (my parents are food snobs, much to my childhood chagrin– not that I mind these days!), I can't testify as to the oft-cited deliciousness of the Red Lobster Cheddar Biscuits.  I can, however, say that the many bloggers and food message-board commenters who describe them gave me a major jones for cheesy, chivey, garlicky goodness.  So off I went to hunt for a recipe that would be easy to throw together with stuff I already had in my pantry.  And boy did this one fit the bill! 

On ADHD and rice pudding

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I’ve always said I’m confident I can cook pretty much anything*, except pasta and rice.  Yes, you read that correctly.  For some reason, I always seem to either undercook or overcook those simple basics, yet I’m capable of making mini lemon soufflés in hollowed out lemon peels!  Seems really weird, I know.

Not a total fail Fruits-of-the-Forest Crumb Bars

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Sigh... Yet another SK recipe that didn't turn out as I expected.  I think Deb's gorgeous photos just raise my expectations too much!  I'm just one person, damnit, with an insufficient kitchen and metric conversions to do!  Oh, and I didn't follow the recipe exactly, so that might have been it...  Hey, fresh blueberries are spend-o-rama, and we happened to have some forest fruits in the freezer, and they looked so beautiful...

Consider my heart duly touched– Dim Sum in the 'dam!

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Sometimes I feel like the luckiest girl in the world. 

Like when the bf whisks me off to Amsterdam for a weekend of charming canal walks and delicious ice cream.  Or when we arrive, having checked the weather and prepared for rain, and instead we're greeted with cool breezes and warm sunshine and fluffy white clouds.  Or when, as a thank-you, I book us in for a cooking class at a place I've never heard of, which just happens to be the only class I can find where the timing fits, and we end up cooking dim sum for 4 hours (and staying to eat and chat for another 1.5) in a gorgeous studio with a raucous, international crowd of students and a fabulous, young, Socratic teacher named Fong. 

Luckiest girl in the world.  For serious.

Homemade bread on an hour's notice? For serious!

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Do you ever just think: "I really feel like baking bread today," but feel like there's too much effort and time required?  That was me a couple weeks ago.  I didn't really have time to deal with a couple of long risings, and I didn't have an appropriate loaf pan for a quickbread.  So I set out on the hunt for a recipe that would allow me to have bread and butter in my mouth within the hour, and wouldn't require any equipment besides a baking sheet, a bowl, and these two lazy hands of mine.