Oh so tender little cakey bites with dried apricots and golden raisins plus a brandy syrup poured over the top. And then a lemony drizzle on top of that.

A post from Carolyn.  This isn’t a new recipe here on the blog, but it’s been years – YEARS – since I made them. And because I did – make them last week, that is – any of you who weren’t around in 2008 should know about them.

Originally the recipe came from a 1996 issue of Sunset Magazine. I’d put it into my recipe program way back then, and have made them many times. What appealed to me was the combination of apricots and brandy. And that’s still the same thing that encourages me to make them.

You mix up an easy batter  – kind of a cake type, not cookie type and pour it into a buttered 10×15 pan. You can do it in a 9×13 pan, but they’ll take a bit longer to bake. The cake is baked for about 25 minutes. Once out of the oven you pour over a syrup made up of sugar, apricot brandy and lemon juice. Once the bars have cooled, you drizzle on a lemony icing. That’s what you can see in the photo – the icing. The syrup completely soaks into the cake. Although the bars are not soggy or wet at all – you can taste the brandy, certainly, and you might think the brandy is in the icing. But no.

They keep at room temp (sealed in a container, of course) for three days, but after that you should freeze them, using waxed paper to separate the layers. When you store them at first you should separate them with waxed paper also.

What’s GOOD: Love the tender cake rather than firm, chewy cookie-style bar, exactly. Love-love the brandy in these (not much). Definitely something for adult palates. You probably don’t give your children bourbon balls – so you might not want to give them these bars either. So, so good with a cup of coffee or tea. They freeze well (separate with waxed paper). They lend themselves well to fall flavors or Christmas, but you could make them any time of year.

What’s NOT: nothing at all. Absolutely wonderful little nuggets.

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Just look at that deep, dark color. I’d never made chili this way. Read on.

A post from Carolyn. We had a few days of cooler weather, a harbinger of fall, here in SoCal, and my taste buds turned to winter weather foods. First I craved chili, so I decided to try a new recipe. I have a deep respect for the work that the folks at Cook’s Illustrated do, and sure enough, I had a recipe to try. They called it “Best Ground Beef Chili.”

Right off the top, I’ll tell you, this isn’t a 1-2-3 done kind of chili. It requires a few steps and about 2 hours in a low oven too. But oh, my goodness, is this ever good. The dried ancho chiles are the key ingredient in this version. Well, there are a couple of other oddball ingredients in this too, but the ancho chiles are certainly the first and foremost. They are stemmed, seeded, and cut or torn into chunky pieces. They go into a dry Dutch oven and are toasted. You’d think they’re already toasted with the color of them, but they’re not – they’re simply dried chiles. The picture at right shows the ancho pieces as they toast away in the dry Dutch oven. Do watch the pot, though, and make sure they don’t begin to smoke. If they do, turn down the heat – but stir them a lot as they toast. You cannot tell they are getting toasted, just trust the recipe.

Meanwhile, I mixed up the lean ground beef with 2 T of water and a bit of baking soda. Say what, I asked? Why? Well, doing that helps the beef retain its moisture as it cooks and helps the beef to not shed all of its juices. What an idea! That bowl was set aside to rest while I began the other steps. Onion was sautéed in the Dutch oven (same one I used for the chiles). The toasted chiles went into a food processor along with a whole bunch of dried spices and herbs. That got whizzed up into a fine dust and was added to the onion. A large can of whole tomatoes was also pureed (I guess you could buy already pureed tomatoes if you’d rather). They say the whole tomatoes have better flavor; I suppose that’s why you whiz them up yourself. The ground beef was added to the Dutch oven, the spices and the tomatoes. Plus a few other minor ingredients like chipotle chiles in adobo, a can of pinto beans, a tetch of sugar and a couple cups of water. That was brought up to a boil, lid affixed, and it went into a 275° oven for 1 1/2 hours (or up to 2).

Once out of the oven, the mixture needs to get stirred as the fat rises to the top. Stir it in to get more flavor. The chili is so SO dark colored. Those toasted chiles really did their job of coloring the entire pot full. You also add 2 T of cider vinegar. What that does for the chili I don’t know – I couldn’t really taste it. Guess it gave it a bit of tang, perhaps? The recipe recommends serving it over rice and/or tortilla chips. I did neither as I didn’t want the carbs. A serving is about 1 to 1 1/4 cups – it’s rich, so a little goes a long ways. All the toppings give texture too. Grated cheese, avocado, red onion, crushed tortilla chips, sour cream, lime wedges, chopped cilantro – any and all of those go with it.

What’s GOOD: everything about this chili is stellar. Deep, dark flavor from those ancho chiles. The chili is just slightly warm (go easy on the chipotle if you’re sensitive to heat). Notice, there is NO chili powder in this chili. Loved it from the first to the last slurp. A definite keeper. Thanks to Cook’s Illustrated.

What’s NOT: nothing other than it takes a few hours to prepare and more cooking prep than some recipes. But you’ll be rewarded at the end for all your hard work.

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Tender, tender apple torte with not much cake, mostly apples.

A post from Carolyn. A few weeks ago one of my book clubs met to discuss the novel, Lessons in Chemistry (such a fun book, see the sidebar for a further explanation). We’re meeting now at the home of one of our members who has mobility issues, so each time we meet, one of us brings a sweet. I offered. This cake was the result.

An easy cake to make – maybe except for peeling and coring the apples – leaving them whole though, then slicing them carefully into rings. I used Fuji, but I think next time I’d use Honeycrisp. I’m guessing the Fuji apples I bought were last year’s crop. They were good, but not overly tasty. The apples are combined with the batter, then poured into a greased and floured 9″ springform pan. The apples don’t exactly lie down flat, so you need to help them along to flatten out the batter. I just used my fingers to get them settled down.

Ideally, serve this warm. I actually baked it the day before, and it kept just fine overnight – I left it in the springform pan (although I’d loosened it when it was still warm) and covered it overnight. Just before serving, I sprinkled on the powdered sugar. We had plenty of other food, so I didn’t serve it with the creme fraiche as the recipe suggested. Whipped cream would be lovely too.

What’s GOOD: everything about this was good. A delicious, tender cake with tender apples in it. Easy to slice. There at left you can see the slice – mostly apples. The cake is a lovely, eggy, light one.

What’s NOT: gee, nothing that I can think of. It kept for another day and I had the last slice. Everyone got a slice to take home.

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What an unusual salad – good, earthy flavors.

A post from Carolyn. I keep forgetting to write who is posting, but then I’m the one who is doing nearly all of it. My daughter and D-I-L are just too busy with other things. I didn’t begin writing this blog until 12 years after I retired, so I get it.

Anyway, I needed to prepare a salad to take to a potluck luncheon, and my aim was to avoid a special trip to the grocery store. Flipping through my recipes this one popped up – I had sweet potatoes, I had wild rice, and I had Feta, a fresh Bosc pear and Italian parsley. Everything I needed. Fresh lemon juice I had stored in the freezer (my wonderful, bountiful Meyer lemon tree has young budding fruit right now, small and hard nuggets, undeveloped), and maple syrup was in the frig.

First I began cooking the wild rice – I think it took about 40 minutes – using nothing but rice, water and a bit of salt. I let it cool in the water it was in, then I drained it. Meanwhile, I roasted two sweet potatoes and a nice sized red onion (cut into thin wedges). If you make this, do keep the two things kind of separated on the sheet pan because likely the potatoes will be done before the onion – at least it took the onion another 20 minutes or so to caramelize and be tender. Scallions were chopped up, Italian parsley minced (save some for garnish). I toasted the walnuts too. Everything went together, the chopped up pear included, and it was ready to serve. I tossed some of the Feta in the salad and kept a little bit to brighten up the top when I served it.

What’s GOOD: I liked this a lot – the extra chewy texture of the wild rice, the sweetness of the sweet potatoes and the caramelized red onions, the acidity of the Feta and lemon juice. I could barely taste the maple syrup in it. Loved the pear in it as well. I thought it was best the day I made it, although it kept in the frig for a few days. Was this a wow dish? Uhm, maybe not, but I really did enjoy it and had comments from several of the guests at the luncheon, wanting the recipe.

What’s NOT: nothing, really, except that you need to have all of the ingredients on hand – not all the items are everyday pantry staples! Finish mixing it just before serving. It’ll keep a day.

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The beautiful park smack-dab in the middle of Greenville, S.C.

After cooking soups for Sabrina for two days, I finally had one day for myself. One evening I took a walking tour of Greenville, with food, called Thirsty Thursdays Tour (cocktails and appetizers). If you go onto Trip Advisor you can find it easily enough under Attractions for Greenville. We met at 5pm at a nearby hotel/restaurant called Oak & Honey, had one cocktail plus a little appetizer sandwich, as the group of 11 got to know one another. Then we moved on to Sassafras Bistro, where we had THE best shrimp and grits I’ve ever had. What made it so good? Creamy grits, for the first thing, blackened shrimp plus some bubbling bits of pork belly (I think, or else it was chunky bacon), and lastly a creamy, buttery sauce poured over the top. They served us Sangria as the cocktail. As it happened, the night before that I’d taken Sabrina out to dinner, and we went to Sassafras. Had a wonderful meal there and had a delightful waitress.

More of the Falls Park on the Reedy.

After that the group meandered on to Maestro, an Argentinian style restaurant where we had yet another cocktail and this time an empanada with chimichurri sauce. I drank about a quarter of the first three cocktails (some in our group had gulped them all down). I just can’t drink that fast. Another walk down the main street and we came to a cute little French restaurant, Bonjour Main. This was dessert, and we were served a magnificent almond cream filled crepe with strawberry sauce on top. And served a glass of sparkling wine with a few blueberries in the bottom of the glass plus a splash of orange liqueur. I was so topped out I couldn’t drink any of it, but the crepe – oh my was it ever good.

There’s another picture of Falls Park on the Reedy (river). See the fellow down there amongst the rocks? He was doing pushups on one of the flat rocks. Lovely, gorgeous walking paths line both sides of the park. It’s positively lovely. I sat for awhile in the shade watching people (mostly moms with children and people walking their dogs), just enjoying being outdoors. It wasn’t that hot and the humidity was low that day, anyway. Canadian geese have taken up residence in some parts.

I checked out of the B&B and moved into a lovely VRBO home the family had rented for the weekend (a 4-bedroom home, about 1/2 block from where Sabrina lives). The next day, after the rest of the family arrived, Sabrina took us on a tour of her med school (it was a Saturday). We got to see plastic mannikin cadavers, her classroom theaters, the myriad of study rooms (many of them filled with her classmates diligently hitting the books), and their relaxation space.

We had a big family dinner that night (we bought South Carolina barbecue with sides) sitting out on the lovely veranda of the VRBO home. A few mosquitoes, but they didn’t overwhelm us. I took mosquito wipes along and they did the trick.

The next day was the white coat ceremony that was held at an auditorium on the nearby Furman University campus (picture above). We met a bunch of her fellow classmates – and I was amazed in meeting one of her friends who said oh, you’re tastingspoons, right? Shock! Sabrina had shared some of the granola bars with him and he loved them, so she directed him to the blog. Guess I’ll have to post the recipe. There’s a photo of Sabrina with her dad, her brother John, and Sara.

After dinner and another overnight at our VRBO home, we drove north to Blacksburg, Virginia to spend a part of a day with young John, who is a student at Virginia Tech (VTI). We put together an outdoor barbecue at his off-campus housing entertaining area, got to meet some of his friends, which was really nice. So proud of these two young grandchildren. We drove to Roanoke and we all flew home the next day on different flights. I went through Chicago. Packed airplanes. But at least no canceled flights.

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That’s my granddaughter’s freezer . . . but I made all those soups – four different kinds.

A post from Carolyn. Last week I spent in Greenville, South Carolina and one day in Blacksburg, Virginia. Daughter Sara (who posts here occasionally) and her husband John, his mother and sister and I flew to S.C. to attend a “white coat ceremony.” Their daughter, Sabrina, my granddaughter, is in medical school at the University of South Carolina/Greenville. She began classes there about 6 weeks ago. First she did EMT training, and now she’s in full-on med school classes requiring lots, lots and lots of studying.

A white coat ceremony is done for nursing students and for med school students (maybe others but I know only of those two). Sabrina was given her white coat to wear when she works at Prisma Hospital, associated with the med school. Families of the 110 students were there (from all over the world, but lots of them from South Carolina). Her undergrad was from Clemson University, 30 minutes away, and that probably helped her get into the med school in Greenville. I think there are three students from California in her class. I removed her last name from the photo, just because it’s the safe thing to do. Can you tell I’m short and she’s tall?

It was a very moving ceremony; so very proud of this sweet girl. So, I flew to Greenville four days earlier than all of the family. I stayed at a B&B about a block away from Sabrina’s apartment. I became a regular at the Publix supermarket down the street, and I spent 2+ days making soup by the gallon. Sabrina spends so much time studying that she doesn’t have much time to cook, so this was my gift to her. If I’d had bigger pots/pans I’d have made double the quantity, but she has a limited repertoire of them, so I made do with her Instant Pot and one other pan.

Since this is a food blog, you probably want to know what I made for her? These soups are favorites of mine. If you haven’t ever made any of these, you’re missing out.

Cabbage Patch Stew – after making the soup with ground beef and veggies, I prepared a batch of mashed potatoes, filled a small snack-sized ziploc with the mashed potatoes and added it inside the main ziploc (quart sized) with the soup in it.

Moroccan Harira Chicken Soup  – chicken soup in a flavorful soup with lentils, rice and garbanzos – this is one of my favorite soups that I make regularly.

Beef, Cheese and Macaroni Stoup – a Rachael Ray recipe I’ve been making for about 20 years or so. This time I made it with Italian sausage.

And lastly my dad’s Lentil Soup – my dad never cooked anything for the family except this soup and grilled burgers and steak. But it’s a regular favorite in my family now (granddaughter Taylor loved it). I used ground beef in it this time, but I often use Italian sausage instead.

There are some more pictures to share, but I’ll do it in the next post. Lots of things to do here at home when you’ve returned from a trip away.

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Ever wondered why there isn’t more zucchini IN zucchini bread? Read on . . .

A post from Carolyn. Not that I’ve ever spent much time philosophizing about zucchini bread, but when I read the article from Deb at Smitten Kitchen, I knew I needed to make her version. Her write-up on her blog was so funny, I LOL’d. If you need a good hearty laugh, do go to her post about it. And her starting point is why isn’t there more zucchini in zucchini bread? She decided to change that, and for now, at least, until someone else comes up with something better, I’ll be baking this one. I’m too afraid of fiddling with baked goods because of the chemistry of them – the right amount of dry to wet to leavening to baking. I’m glad Deb did!

My friend Sue (Colorado Sue) made the bread when I was visiting them in late April. Sue is careful about sugar because her husband Lynn is a diabetic now, so she used monkfruit in her version – except for the turbinado sugar on top.

Once home from my trip I located the recipe and have now made it myself. If you look carefully at the open slice of bread (pictured, on the right) you can actually see some of the zucchini peeking through. I used monkfruit golden (instead of brown sugar) and monkfruit classic (instead of granulated sugar) when I made it, and it’s just as tasty as making it with the real thing. Sometimes in desserts I can tell it has some type of artificial sugar in it (I get that cooling feeling or texture – can it be called a texture? – after chewing or swallowing) and know. With this, I couldn’t tell. That’s a real big win for my taste buds!

Make this with the real sugar or a combination of artificial ones. In either case, this recipe is a real winner.

What’s GOOD: altogether delicious bread – you can’t taste the extra zucchini, but it’s so moist. A keeper.

What’s NOT: nothing at all.

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SO easy to make, and so delicious. 

A post from Carolyn. I made this for my lunch the other day. My usual go-to for lunch is soup, but gosh, it’s been SO darned hot here in SoCal, that eating hot soup did not appeal. But warming up my toaster oven was easy enough and this came together in minutes. This was so good. Maybe doesn’t reach the tip-top of any broccoli dish I’ve ever made, but it sure was tasty and easy to do.

I had broccoli heads in my refrigerator – being a single person/widow, buying an entire bunch of broccoli is usually too much for me, so the broccoli head, even though more expensive, is a wiser choice. If you want to buy the bunch and have a family, well then, just double this recipe. My notes say this is an Ina recipe, but I did alter it a little bit – really I just cut up the broccoli into florets (making sure I cut off any of the wider, thicker stalk parts, tossed it with EVOO, salt and pepper, some slices of fresh garlic, roasted it in a 425°F oven for about 15 minutes. Once out of the oven I sprinkled it with shreds of Parm and pine nuts and put it back in the toaster oven for about 3 minutes. Done. Then I added the lemon zest AND lemon curls and a squirt or two of lemon juice and it was ready to eat. I gobbled up that pan full, just about. The recipe called for julienned basil – and I had some – but forgot to put it on there. Do add it if you have it available.

I also had some leftover calabacitas (one of my favorite vegetables ever) and ate those along with the broccoli. A very filling lunch. Not much protein (cheese and pine nuts, only), but I had chicken for dinner, so I was fine with my allotment of daily protein.

What’s GOOD: so easy to prepare, and takes just minutes start to finish. Really good flavor from the cheese and pine nuts. Lots of texture too. Be sure to use finely grated Parm, not big shards or shreds so you have plenty of Parm to go around. You don’t use much.

What’s NOT: nothing that I can think of.

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A winner of a good cookie.

A post from Carolyn. In my recipe program, MasterCook, I have 344 cookie recipes. I’ve probably made half of them; maybe more. And, of course, I keep adding to the list. Last week I was preparing some food to ship off to my granddaughter who is in medical school in South Carolina. She’s been there for about 6 weeks now – loving it as far as I know. I’ve texted with her a few times. She studies a lot. Obviously! And although she likes to cook, she’s learning that she just doesn’t have much time to cook because of the amount of studying she must do. Fortunately, there’s a Trader Joe’s in her neighborhood. But food from home is always welcomed. I hope the cookies survive the flight across country in a box that may get thrown and tossed.

I made a batch of granola bars (with dried cranberries and walnuts). Not sure they will ever make the rotation again (they were all for her), but we’ll see what she says. They were very sticky and not as firm as I’d hoped. They were altogether too sweet for me, but then she’s young and needs nutrition in any form she can get it.

Then I made these cookies. I had started out with a recipe from Half Baked Harvest, but I altered it some. I’m not such a fan of cookies made with all brown sugar, so I used about 2/3 brown, and 1/3 regular white sugar. I’d debated about adding walnuts, but ended up not; I also reduced the quantity of chocolate chips. Otherwise, the recipe is mostly the same. Butter gets gently browned in a skillet. Be sure to use a light colored pan so you can SEE how brown the butter is getting. It goes from looking like golden melted butter to dark in a matter of about a minute. It needs to cool awhile before being added to the cookie batter.

I kept the dough in mounds (I thought they would ship better), but you can also flatten the dough on the pan too. In mounds, the cookies took about 13 minutes to bake (until golden brown). If flattened, they’d probably bake in 2-3 fewer minutes.

What’s GOOD: loved the crispy texture and taste. Good and nutritious. The chocolate doesn’t overwhelm the cookie but you know the chips are there. The browned butter adds a rich flavor. Yes, I’d make these again.

What’s NOT: nothing that I can think of . . . they’re really delicious.

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Having made this as a dip, to eat with pita chips, I had a lot of it – and it went beautifully as a sauce with the tri-tip steak we grilled. Several guests commented how complementary it was to the meat.

A post from Carolyn. There’s been a bit of cooking and entertaining going on in my house lately. Birthdays and then Taylor’s nursing graduation. I made a batch of this dip and had plenty to serve for both events. Happy coincidence. I made the grilled tri-tip for both parties (mostly different people) and this dip, although maybe not the most appetizing color, is really delicious.

The recipe has been in my arsenal for a long time – I might have made it years ago – before I started writing a blog. It’s a Phillis Carey recipe. And I’ll just say – it’s super easy to make. It’s a sour cream based dip but also contains red wine vinegar, some oil, a little brown sugar, garlic, fresh ginger, cumin and salt. The most time consuming thing about this is soaking the dried ancho chiles in boiling water for about 20-30 minutes.

There’s a picture at left of some ancho chiles (or chilies). They’re a very dark red/brown. They’re a pasilla/poblano chile that’s been dried. They have tons of flavor, but not much heat. I keep them on hand – although the food experts say if you haven’t used them in a year, buy new ones. I’ve never done that — I have dried chiles that are 5 years old and they seem fine to me. Use  your own judgment.

Anyway, once you have soaked the chiles, you mix up the ingredients in the food processor, then chill for several hours to allow the flavors to blend. Serve with tortilla chips, with veggie strips, crackers, or as a sauce for grilled meat (shrimp also recommended).

What’s GOOD: so easy to make. Just have dried chiles and sour cream on hand and you will likely have all the other ingredients. Great also as a sauce to grilled meat. It’s not hot – it has a little bit of heat and a lot of flavor.

What’s NOT: nothing, as long as you have the dried chiles on hand.

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