FoodFixe

Lemon Pie with Cranberry Coulis and Limoncello Cream

It’s National Pie Day this Monday. It’s citrus season. What better excuse for making a lemon pie? Besides, I didn’t get any pie during the holidays—homemade or otherwise—and I wanted some pie. And because I’d been deprived, I decided to doll up my lemon pie with a cranberry coulis (apparently, the holidays are over but I’m not over them!) and limoncello cream. The pie was pure sunshine on a plate—bright and tangy and a little bit sweet. The perfect thing to brighten up a dreary January day.

Ho-Ho-Holiday Cookies, Etc.

About the only thing I’ve managed to cross off my holiday to-do list is baking. But I know plenty of folks who are just getting started on their cookies, candies, and other confections. If you’re going to baking in the next couple of days and are looking for something new to try or just some inspiration, here are a few of my favorites …

Bourbon Ice Cream

A couple months ago, I had the pleasure of discovering a wonderful local distillery—St. George Spirits. You might not be familiar with the distillery by name but you may be familiar with its vodka, Hangar One, so named because the distillery is located in one of the old hangars at the now defunct naval base on Alameda. (OK, so they’re really in hangar 21, but you can’t fault them for taking some liberties with paint.)

Oh, but St. George makes so much more than that vodka. There are incredible infused (not flavored) vodkas, including mandarin and Buddha’s hand (a citrus fruit similar to lemon that looks like, you guessed it, a hand); exceptional eaux-de-vie (the Thai basil is delish), stellar gins, and the most incredible coffee liqueur I’ve ever tasted, currently made with coffee from Verve in Capitola. St. George even makes absinthe and, to my surprise, I loved it.

Curried Pumpkin: Soup to Nuts

  It’s fall. It’s Halloween. It’s pumpkin season! My favorite time of year. And I’ve been on quite a pumpkin bender of late. A couple weeks ago I was determined to find a really good pumpkin soup recipe. I used to make one years ago that, although I loved the idea of pumpkin soup, I finally had to admit really wasn’t all that great.

I asked for recommendations from the foodie folks on Twitter and scoured the intertubes, and found what sounded like a winner—Curried Pumpkin Soup. I love the pumpkin curry at the Thai joint near work, so soup sounded like the next best thing.

Zucchini Bread

After taking the summer off, I resumed my Farm Fresh to You CSA subscription a couple weeks ago. My first delivery was a tribute to the end of summer in a box—pluots, grapes, arugula, sweet peppers, and zucchini. And though I can certainly stand to eat more veggies, I was bent on baking that zucchini into bread.

I had just the recipe—one my friend Shelly  passed onto me eons ago. I’ve tweaked it over the years, never making it the same way twice. That’s why it’s such a great recipe; this zucchini bread is incredibly versatile. You can add whatever suits your fancy at the time.

Pork, Beans, and Avocado Daiquiris

For some reason, I’m having a hard time letting go of summer. Maybe because we didn’t get much of a summer this year in the Bay Area. At least it didn’t feel that way. So, in an effort to kick a little spice into what’s left of the season, I invited some friends over for dinner. My first real dinner since the “kitchenlift” and an excuse to make a couple dishes from my very long “recipes to try” list. Well, it’s not so much a list as a spreadsheet.

The food wasn’t fancy. It rarely is with me. But it was flavorful. I prefer to focus on what I’m good at, putting together a menu of complementary dishes. What I may lack in sheer cooking creativity, I make up for in planning and coordination. Or, as StrengthsFinder typed me, I’m a “maximizer.” I excel at making something that already exists into something better.

The Kitchen Is Open

I may have been banished from my kitchen while it was getting a little ‘lift, but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t working on the blog. I finally got around to a project that’s been on my FoodFixe to-do list longer than I care to admit. And with my kitchen being out of commission, I had no more excuses. Drum roll, please … I recategorized all the posts on FoodFixe.

I admit, not an exciting-sounding enhancement but one that makes the blog more useful (I hope). Now you can more easily find the recipes you’re looking for, such as appetizers, cookies, entrees, side dishes, etc. And, if you’ve never noticed the search box in the upper left before, that’s a handy tool, too.

Although the task of recategorizing posts may sound tedious and mundane, it was actually quite  fun. After three years (I can’t believe it’s been that long!), there are recipes I’d forgotten about and that I’m excited to make again. More than that, though, scanning the posts was like a trip down memory lane. I forget sometimes how much my life has changed in the last couple of years, and each post is a memory—a snapshot of a moment in time, reminding me of new friends and old, great meals shared, new places experienced, even my childhood.

My blogkeeping chore was a wonderful reminder of what it is about food that I love. As much as I enjoy cooking and eating, it’s bringing people together and sharing the experience and the moment that I enjoy most. And now that my kitchen is back in operating order, I’ll be getting back to it. Fall, after all, is my favorite season. Because I haven’t been able to whip up anything new of late, I’ll leave you with one of my favorites—Eggplant Parmagiana. It’s a great dish for this in-between summer and fall season.

Enjoy!

Rosemary Sausage & Vegetable Skewers

  As someone recently said, “August is the Sunday of summer.” There’s still plenty of grill time left, and this recipe for Rosemary Sausage and Vegetable Skewers is one of my summertime favorites. If you don’t have a grill, don’t sweat it. You can use a grill pan on your stove or your oven broiler.

The recipe is a good starting point. There are an infinite number of variations you can take with these skewers. I even like adding chunks of bread. Brushed with the flavored oil and toasted up on the grill, the bread adds a nice crouton-like crunch to the mix.

Hooray! It's National Cheesecake Day!

This Saturday, July 30, is National Cheesecake Day. To celebrate the occasion, I thought I’d share some of my favorite cheesecake recipes—sweet and savory. What’s a savory cheesecake, you ask? Think of it like an appetizer, warm and cheesy spread on crackers or crostini. If you’ve never tried savory cheesecake, you don’t know what you’re missing! (And nothing smells better baking in the oven. Yum!!) I’ve also included some tip that will help ensure cheesecake baking success.

Sweet

Peach Buttermilk Crisp Cheesecake

Pumpkin Hazelnut Cheesecake

Savory

Stilton-Port Wine Cheesecake

Wild Mushroom-Smoked Gouda Cheesecake


Tips & Tricks

Peach Blackberry Crumb Pie

Back in June, I saw a post cross my Facebook feed from Gluten-Free Girl Shauna James Ahern. She was organizing a pie party on the Internet to encourage folks to bake a pie to help them get over their fear of making pie dough from scratch. I enthusiastically jumped on the bandwagon.

I love pie, especially this time of year when fruit is at its best and the variety is spectacular. So any excuse to make pie was a no-brainer. Also, I really enjoy making pie, specifically pie dough. I have always loved tender, flaky crust (almost more than the filling), and I have fond memories of my mom baking little pie crust cookies for me from the leftover dough when I was a kid. And, I have a crust recipe that works every single time. So any occasion I have to pass along this recipe and hopefully encourage someone to try making pie crust, I’ll take it.