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Linguini & Clams with Fennel & Tarragon

July 19, 2013 | posted by Sarah | 4 Comments

No matter the season, I love sitting down to a big bowl of linguini and clams. In the winter I make hearty additions like chorizo sausage and kale, summertime I keep it light with fresh herbs and maybe diced zucchini or sweet corn. Or I might decide to make life (and dinner) really simple and just use whatever I’ve got on hand. In this case, it’s a handful of grape tomatoes, fennel, carrots, and some of the tarragon that is currently taking over my garden.

Friends, simple is good. This version of linguini and clams is quick, it’s tasty, and it’s worth making over and over with variations galore.

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Grilled Garlic Scape Hot Dogs

July 1, 2013 | posted by Sarah | 1 Comment

If I am remembered for contributing 1 dish to the food world, I’m rooting for my “scape-dog”. Not only is the name punny and hilarious, it’s an awfully good way to enjoy 2 of summer’s best features: grilled hot dogs and zesty green garlic scapes.

Let’s go over the scape-dog’s history. Last year was the first time I took the plunge at the farmer’s market and actually bought a bunch of garlic scapes. I’d seen them, but I had never known exactly what they were or how they could be used. They’re thin green stalks that grow up from a garlic bulb. They pop out of the ground, twisting and curling until they end in what looks like a tightly closed, spindly flower. Garlic scapes get snipped off in early summer so they don’t suck up all nutrients needed for the garlic bulb to grow large and plump. They then get trucked off to farmer’s markets and end up in the hands of people like me that aren’t completely sure what to do next.

I figured out what to do in a hurry though. Turns out I liked them. No, loved them. I ate them sautéed, grilled, roasted, and raw. I had them on pizza, with pasta, as a salad, and in eggs. I bought bunch after bunch and started pushing them on friends and family. When they were all but coming out my ears, I stumbled upon my favorite application for them: grilled and used as a hot dog garnish. Oh, yeah, I’m talking a good charred dog with a smear of mustard and a few grilled scapes dancing out of the bun. Just add a cold beer and a picnic table and it’s easy summer eating at its finest.

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Vanilla-Orange “Dreamsicle” Panna Cotta

April 22, 2013 | posted by Sarah | 3 Comments

Dreamsicle or creamsicle? I never know which it is.

What I do know is that the combination of creamy vanilla and orange is amazing. I know that every time I hear the ice cream truck singing on the next block, I’m going to grab my stack of quarters, have a moment of gratitude for the fact that ice cream trucks still exist, and run out to the street to buy my favorite ice cream treat. I’d encourage you all to do exactly the same.

The only problem is, when you invite friends over for dinner, you can’t count on the ice cream truck pulling up at the exact moment you clear the dinner plates. Especially, if it’s only April. And slurping a dreamsicle in a candlelit dining room seems a little strange.

But I’m all about solutions to everyday problems, so I came up with dreamsicle panna cotta. It’s a creamy, dreamy vanilla bean panna cotta, topped with orange curd. It’s the deliciousness of our favorite ice cream treat, dressed for a proper dinner.

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Cardamom, Orange & Honey Coffee Cake

March 8, 2013 | posted by Sarah | 10 Comments

A few months back, I went to a cabin with a group of friends. Matt and I arrived a couple of days ahead of the gang, so we were put in charge of packing kitchen necessities. You know, the basics: butter, oil, salt, pepper, flour, sugar…

“Uh, Sarah, did you really need to bring 3 different sources of cardamom for a long weekend?”

What can I say? It’s true; I love it and I like to be prepared. You never know which day you might find yourself needing a quick fix of cardamom.

Today was one of those days. It was a cold, snowy, really-need-something-sweet-with-your-sixth-cup-of-Earl-Grey kind of day. This is just the cake for those days. It’s fast and easy and won’t make you feel too guilty. Sure there’s a stick of butter in it, but there’s also yogurt. Yogurt is good for you. The cake is full of the sweet, spicy cardamom you’ve been craving and you’ll have it around for breakfast all weekend. Do it. Make it. Just make the cake. You’ll be back to whatever you’re supposed to be doing in no time.

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Chocolate-Dipped Orange Shortbread Cookies

December 16, 2012 | posted by Sarah | 3 Comments

Every December my mom turns into a Christmas baking machine. Everyday for a month she’s getting butter out to soften, firing up the oven, and cranking out cookies. There are peanut butter balls, fudge, jam turn-overs, bittersweet chocolate and coconut shortbread, cherry bars, buttery cut-outs, snowballs, thumbprint cookies, and on and on.

It’s pretty amazing. It’s also a ton of work, lots of trips to the baking aisle of the supermarket, plenty of yelling at cookie dough-snitching kids/dogs/husbands, a few miscellaneous melt-downs along the way.

There is another way though. An easy way. You can arrive at your holiday gatherings with a kaleidoscope of cookies without baking for a solid month.

It’s called a cookie exchange. Most people are probably familiar with the concept, but it came as a revelation to me. You gather up a few friends (preferably amazing bakers) and everyone makes a big batch of one type of cookie to share with the group. You end up with a beautiful assortment of goodies after only one day of cookie baking. Plus, if you’re not a blabber-mouthed food blogger, you can bring your beautiful tray to Christmas, pass them all off as your own, and really impress your family and friends.

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