I am completely infatuated.
Not with anyone, but with this blog I discovered through a backdoor link from another knitting blog - smittenkitchen.com. Honestly, if you're a decent photographer, you have such a jump on getting people sucked into what you talk about, and then if you happen to be talented to boot...my goodness.
Anyhow, so this site has a ton of interesting recipes, mostly adapted from other sources with the cook's twist. I am in love with it. It started with the Apple Cake.
Before
After
Ironically this stemmed from a strange little memory of going to the German Delicatessen over by Logan Square when the whole family got hauled along with my dad to his office on the weekend. It was such a crazy little place - you could get marzipan anything, all these little animals and vegetables, which my sister really liked, but I couldn't stand because I can't deal with marzipan. And then there were all the various sausages (well, it was a German deli after all), including the odd cured sausage shaped like a pretzel (why??), the bratwurst, the knockwurst, the head cheese, etc. Then they had the best chocolate Santas and Easter bunnies, and funny German taffy candies. I adored going there, but the crowds were nuts.
What I remembered at the moment that I came across that recipe was this German Apple Strudel my mum used to make. From a box. That we bought at the deli. I really enjoyed it, but, as my mum informed me when I brought it up, there were no real apples in it. Yeah, all we did was probably add oil or butter. Otherwise it was all dried/preserved/artificial. But in my head it was delicious.
Regardless, here was an opportunity to recapture my youth. Oh sure, I could go and try to google the box mix, but honestly. Better to at least use real apples, right? Anyhow, it was a resounding success despite the inexplicable loss of my tube pan. I swear I had one, but evidently not anymore. Nevertheless, yum! I let it sit outside for about 36 hours, and then started refrigerating it. Leaving it out helped the apple juices soak in, making it a moister cake as opposed to a drier coffee cake. The biggest danger, of course, is to keep from eating it all. My friend, who I swiftly corrupted into making it as well, was not so lucky when making it for her husband and sister, and proceeded to devour her version over the weekend with her accomplices - a distinct risk.
So since trying the Apple Cake, I have since made the Jacked-Up Banana Bread (unjacked, frankly, because I don't have bourbon, and there was no way I was going to buy it just for a quick bread), and tonight, the Shakshuka, which is allegedly poached eggs in spicy tomato sauce to be served with warm pita bread. Despite using the increased pepper dosage (Anaheims, not Jalapenos) mine turned out not-so-poached, and not-so-spicy. Also, forgot to buy the feta. OK, so in other words I completely botched it - it's really just eggs in a tomato-pepper stew. Not bad, but not exotic either.
Oh man, shakshuka.
So next time - I have a bunch of knitting to share. Plenty of FOs, including the wedding shawls (one for the bride, and one for me), and Mama socks. Also, the world's most ineptly sized sock for my dad. Yeah, he's going to have to wait for that one.
