Dead Simple (And Delicious) Chocolate Tart

I know what you are thinking.  Who posts something like this on the evening before Thanksgiving?!  You’ve already planned your menu, you’ve done your grocery shopping, heck, you’ve probably prepped half the meal!  And here I am throwing something at you in the twelth hour. Twelth, is that a real word?

I’m sorry to do this to you, I am.  But this really is a dead simple tart.  And you might even have all the ingredients hanging around.  If you didn’t have the cookies for the crust, you could easily sub in a pre-baked tart (pastry) crust.  It’s the filling, all that smooth, creamy ganache, that makes this a star.  And the fact that it comes together in no time, doesn’t require any space in the oven, and is perfect all by itself, or simply adorned with some whipped cream.  And it pairs beautifully with pecan pie, pumpkin pie, and apple pie.  And it really makes my sister in law happy, since she doesn’t like pie.  *gasp*

Sourdough, Part 1. And I don’t mean Bread.

Little Jar o' Starter

Are you ready for Thanksgiving?  I am.  But only because my role is to (1) show up, and (2) eat.  My in-laws always cook a great meal, my husband is in charge of the green bean casserole (gourmet, not gross!) that we are bringing, and he also plays the role of “entertainer” while I kick back and put my feet up.

Yes, I know how lucky I am.

Harvest Cookies

My oh my, how the time do fly!

That’s me with a southern accent, what do you think?  No?  It’s true, I’ve been to New Orleans once and Austin twice, and that’s the full extent of my contact with the south.  And none of that has anything to do with harvest cookies, except that lately I’ve been thinking in a southern accent (inexplicably), and oh, I did get one final harvest out of my garden last weekend, here it is:

Stuffed Bell Peppers

Why is it that a weekend away throws such a wrench into normal life?  We came back from cyclocross craziness last weekend and suffered through a week of chaos–no groceries, not much in the way of clean clothes, the smell of smokey campfires in my hair for three days and everything topsy turvy at home.  Mini vacation . . . great!  Return from mini vacation . . . ugh!

Have you Yurted?

Yurt at Fort Stevens State Park

I had a crazy weekend, how about you?

The crazy-ness of my weekend was not so much about Halloween, but more about getting out of town, staying in my first yurt, and watching the spectacle of cyclocross for two full days in a row.

Did I just lose you?

Front porch

Filled Sugar Cookies

When I was 20, I took a break from college and ended up moving around a bit.  A bit, meaning I went from Boulder, Colorado, where I was in school, to Illinois to visit family, to Bucharest, Romania, where I lived with my dad and stepmom for nine months (which was originally supposed to be a visit of 6 weeks or so), and then on to Blackfoot, Idaho, where I lived with my mom for about a year, before finally landing in Portland, Oregon, where I live now.  A strange and interesting time in my life, and one that brings up all kinds of feelings of anxiety.  Which also may explain why, out of all those places and all the memories I could tell from that time in my life, I’m choosing this one to tell . . .

Banana Bourbon Bread Pudding

So this is what you do with that stale loaf of challah bread.  Whaaat, you don’t have a stale loaf?  Because you ate it all? I know, I know, it’s good stuff.  I had to hide our second loaf, my husband and I polished off the first one in a space of an evening.  Okay, maybe it was half gone when he got home, whatever.  So, go make some more challah, and let’s get on with the show.  The Bread Pudding show.

Holla for Challah

For me, there is a direct correlation between how many items are on my to-do list, and how much I want to bake bread.  The more stuff I really should be doing, the more I find myself thinking about diving into the long, meditative process of mixing, kneading, rising, shaping, rising, and baking bread.  It’s wrong.  Very wrong.  Bread isn’t difficult to make, don’t get me wrong–but you do have to schedule yourself around it, be attentive to it, and certainly at some point set everything aside for it, because when it’s ready, it’s ready! It’s not the thing you make when you are

Turkey Pesto Meatballs

I don’t know what happened, but it seems like we went from 90 degrees, sunny and gorgeous (and a bit ridiculous in late September in Portland, Oregon) to BRRRR, where is my winter jacket?  Suddenly the cat stopped clawing at the door to go outside, and instead wants only to be ON ME at all times, or if not on me, then on the heating vent nearest to me.

Roasted Beet and Chevre Salad

I love the colors of fall . . . the yellows and greens and burnt umbers of fall leaves, the still (sometimes) blue sky, everything earthy and gorgeous, and somehow more humble and subdued . . . or maybe more mature, yeah, that’s it, mature, than the bright boldness of summer.  And the produce!  Oh, the produce is the best–apples in every hue, rainbow colors of beets and potatoes, and the beginning of all things squash.  The changing of seasons, and even better, a reminder of the approaching holiday season, the best time of all!