Tastes like Okemo - The C-Building to be exact.

I swear the title of this post makes sense. Really, it does.
You see, it all started yesterday afternoon when I got a CRAZY craving for cream of wheat. I say crazy partly because it turned me into a crazy person and partly because I was sitting at work in the sun in 95 degrees - how could I possibly want hot cereal? But I did.


By the time I got home I had somewhat forgotten about it and went about making a normal adult dinner. You know, the kind with meat and vegetables that doesn't resemble baby food and have sugar in it. After all it's still summer and I should take advantage of the barbecue while I can (...that sounds like foreshadowing for an announcement...not yet though - not until it's definite).

(See? Proper adult dinner).

Anyway, I forgot all about that bowl of hot mush until I woke up this morning. All. I. Wanted. Was. Cream. of. Wheat. And not the lighter-made-with-mostly-water kind that I make in recent years. I wanted the the mostly-milk-and-a-chunk-of-butter kind. The kind I used to eat before skiing when I was a little. Back when I hated skiing. I remember it being so much work just to get dressed in the morning; It took forever and I hated the whole process. I loved Vermont though. We almost always went to Okemo and for many years we rented a condo in the "C" Building. I'll never forget that pullout couch with the ugly blue sheets, or the kitchen with the off-white and brown cabinets and dishes to match. Breakfast was always Cream of Wheat with white sugar (gasp!), sometimes with a hershey kiss or two slowly melting and swirled around the bowl and always with a piece of butter melted in last minute. The best part was when my Mom would forget to stir it for a few minutes and the little lumps would form. Sometimes when I make it now I intentionally don't stir it as often as I should. I know, that's gross, but clumpy carbohydrates are the best.

So back to this morning.  Milky, cream of wheat with white sugar and a touch of salt to balance it out. And the butter. I wasn't giving that up. Every bite tasted like morning in the "C"-Building and If I closed my eyes and didn't think about the wall of heat outside my cold air conditioned kitchen - it almost felt like Vermont.

Okemo Morning Cream-of-Wheat

Best eaten immediately, especially before wrestling with your ski boots.

Serves 2

1/3 cup Farina (not the instant or the two minute kind)

1 cup milk (any fat percentage you prefer)

1 cup water

1 tablespoon white sugar (you could use another kind of sugar but this is traditional for me)

pinch of salt

salted butter to serve (optional)

Hershey Kisses to serve (only if it's a chocolate-for-breakfast kind of day)

Bring water and milk to simmer over medium high heat (don't let it boil because it will boil up and out of the pot). Add farina and stir. If it's not boiling over you can leave the heat on medium high, if its threatening to explode all over your stove, turn the heat down a bit.

Cook until thickened, about 5-7minutes stirring frequently (less if you like clumps like me...just be careful to not let it burn on the bottom).

When farina is thick stir in 1 tablespoon of white sugar and divide into two bowls.

sprinkle each with a hefty pinch of kosher salt and top with a thing pat of salted (or unsalted) butter.

I like to let the butter pool a little and then stir it in. 
Swirl in a Hershey Kiss if you feel like a chocolatey start to your day.

Blueberry Buckwheat Pancakes

I'd like to start by saying who get's sick in the summer?? Apparently me. It never fails, right around this time of year when the temperature starts flip flopping, I get sick. The achy, feverish kind of sick that makes you go stir-crazy because you know you should stay home but you're just so bored out of your mind from sitting around. Yea, it's the worst kind. The only upside is that I eat whatever I want. If that means no green vegetables for the entire duration then fine. Probably not the best way to get better quickly but hey, if I want 4 slices of sourdough toast with butter, that's what I'm having.

Even if it's not the queasy-stomach kind of sick I usually want super bland little-kid kind of foods. When I had pneumonia last November, I ate nothing but Frosted Flakes with milk and sliced bananas for at least 3 days. Other popular sick choices are plain pasta with butter and parmesan, pastina with the same, grilled cheese, saltine crackers, challah bread, and ginger ale (the kind with real ginger in it). Basically all carbs. What can I say? They're comforting and delicious. Of course there is also the trusty chicken soup - also known as "Jewish Penicillin". Usually not what I want but also the one thing I force myself to eat anyway because I know it will actually help. I wanted to kick myself when I remembered I never made it last weekend as I had originally planned. Lucky for me, there is a Ben's Kosher Deli (any of you downstate-New-Yorkers know what I'm talking about?) literally 30 seconds 2 minutes walking distance from my couch. I drank a mug full of Ben's "Penicillin" last night and now my obligation is done - at least until tonight.


Today, I wanted pancakes. With blueberries. They made being sick worth it.

Blueberry Buckwheat Pancakes

Makes about 6 medium (not the gargantuan diner size) pancakes or enough for 2-3 people.

If you use frozen blueberries (as I did) do not thaw them first. I will say, fresh blueberries are better. 

I like to use salted butter to cook pancakes because the touch of salt rounds out the flavor and plays nicely off the sweetness of the maple syrup. If you prefer, you could use olive oil or unsalted butter instead. Of course, in my opinion, the only way to cook pancakes is on cast iron.

1 cup homemade buckwheat pancake mix (see below for recipe)

1 cup low-fat buttermilk (or 1 cup milk with 1 teaspoon white vinegar)

1 tablespoon canola oil

1 egg 

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

salted butter or oil for greasing the skillet or pan

Combine well. 

Ladle on to a hot cast iron skillet and sprinkle some of the blueberries into the top of the pancake.

Flip pancakes when bubbles start to appear.

Homemade Buckwheat Pancake Mix

Makes 12 cups.

Since I'm only one person and I make pancakes something like a whopping 4 times a year, I quartered this mix to make only 3 cups. I also store it in the freezer because whole grain flours, especially buckwheat, go rancid very quickly due to the higher fat content. If you are a normal American family, you probably have the ability to go through a few more pancakes than me and will have no problem finishing up this 12 cup mix. On the other hand, If pancakes 4 times a year sounds more like you don't worry; I took the liberty of quartering the measurements for you as well. 

4 cups buckwheat flour

4 cups whole-wheat flour

4 cups all-purpose flour

½ cup Turbinado sugar

2 Tablespoons kosher salt

2 Tablespoons Aluminum-free Baking Powder

1 Tablespoon Baking Soda

To make only 3 cups of mix

1 cups buckwheat flour

1 cups whole-wheat flour

1 cups all-purpose flour

 2 Tablespoons Turbinado sugar

1/2 Tablespoon kosher salt

1/2 Tablespoon Aluminum-free Baking Powder

1/2 Tablespoon Baking Soda

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Using a sturdy wire whisk, mix ingredients together thoroughly. Using a funnel, scoop mix into jars and top with a lid. Label and store in the refrigerator or freezer until ready to use. 

Beyond any muffin.

I never liked scones.

They are almost always too dry or too doughy, usually too dense and inevitably resemble crumbly lead balls. Appearance is no help either - generally the more appealing they look the worse they taste. If I bothered to eat them more frequently I may occasionally stumble across one worth eating but, since the odds are never in my favor, I usually don't chance it.

In spite of this, my dad brought home freshly baked blueberry scones from Fairway a few weeks ago. He piled them in a basket along side the croissants and a few oversized muffins and plopped them on the counter with a grin. We usually agree that Fairway's baked goods are not very good; but these came out of the oven just before he scooped them up and maybe it was my imagination, but they were almost still warm when I broke into one.

They had a crisp sugared exterior and instead of the typical smooth triangular cut, they had rustic craggy shape. They looked better than any scone I've ever seen which, if going by my past scone experiences, means they should have tasted awful. Yet against all better judgment I took a bite and unleashed a new found love for scones.

I'm almost sorry I did. 

Almost.

The perfectly crystalized crust yielded to a tender crumb and the blueberries whispered their praise for summer with each plump berry. The contrast of crust to to crumb elevated it way beyond any muffin and I happily ate one, completely plain, while thinking of all the scone recipes I've skimmed and never really given a fair chance. Now I remembered one in particular that caught my eye. 

I settled on this recipe over all the rest because it uses buttermilk instead of cream which adds a nice tanginess and rounds out the flavor. It also cuts down on the fat but that's really only a drop in the bucket since there is still a full cup of butter per twelve scones. I also like that it recipe doesn't require rolling out the dough. This means less mess to clean up plus the less you handle the dough the less likely the final result will be tough. 

If we're being honest, I also just really like pictures. I'm far more likely to make a recipe if the picture looks good and, as I've said before, The Big Sur Bakery Cookbook is one of the most beautiful around. 

Blueberry Scones
I replaced some of the flour with whole wheat pastry flour with no trouble, next time I will probably cut out all of the white flour and replace some of it with rye flour or regular whole wheat flour. If you don't have buttermilk you can replace it with the usual milk/vinegar combination. Just place 1 cup of milk in a cup with 1 tablespoon of vinegar. Let stand 5 minutes and use the required amount. The dough will seem a little dry at first and it ended up being much easier to forgo the wooden spoon and just mix gently with my hands. Try not to handle the dough too much to avoid tough scones. These are best eaten the same day.
Adapted from the Big Sur Bakery Cookbook/Makes 12 Large Scones

1 cup fresh blueberries

1 cup cold unsalted butter, cubed

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup turbinado sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

2 tablespoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk

extra turbinado sugar to sprinkle on the tops

About 2 hours before making the scones, scatter the berries on a cookie sheet and put in the freezer.

Put cubed butter, flours, 1 cup turbinado sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a mixing bowl, put the bowl in the freezer and leave it there for 30 minutes.

In the meantime, preheat the oven to 375 degrees and 2 baking sheets with parchment paper (I ran out so I just sprayed mine pan really well with olive oil to keep them from sticking).

Using a pastry cutter, or in my case a potato masher - which i don't recommend, work the chilled ingredients together in the bowl until the butter cubes are the size of peas. Make a well in the center. combine the buttermilk and vanilla in a separate bowl, and pour the mixture into the well. Mix the ingredients with a wooden spoon to form a shaggy mass. Add the frozen berries and gently mix them in trying not to crush them.

To shape the scones, place a 3-inch round cookie or biscuit cutter on one corner of the prepared baking sheet. Take a handful of the dough and press it into the cutter patting it down so that the top of the scone is flat. Pull the cutter off the sheet leaving the scone behind. Repeat the process across the sheet, keeping enough space between scones for them to double in size, until you've use all of the dough. I fit 6 per sheet and made 12 scones total.

Sprinkle the tops of the scones with turbinado sugar and bake for 15-20 minutes, until they're golden brown along the sides but still tender inside. Transfer the scones to a cooling rack and let them sit for at least 10 minutes before serving.

All pictures (excluding the last two) courtesy of Katherine Hamilton.

Better than Nutella

Nutella is one of those foods that I just won't buy. Not since my freshman year in college anyway. Back then I bought it twice or three times when I first moved into the dorms. I ate it on everything from toast to fruit and it was especially good right off a spoon directly from the jar. Of course each jar disappeared all too quickly (a week or less a piece), and I decided Nutella was a food better left in Supermarket. 

The next three years went by without so much as a thought of, or even craving for Nutella until one misty morning in early 2009. I was in India, in the city of Varanasi (formerly known as Benaras). I sat down to breakfast and on the table was a jar of Nutella and a basket of bread. I remembered it's smooth, creamy texture and immediately toasted a slice of bread, spread a thick layer of the dreamy, chocolatey, goodness and took a bite. It was just as I'd remembered it. Better, actually, because by then I had been in India for over two weeks and I was definitely missing familiar foods. I ate a few more slices, closed the jar and went about the next year as I had the past three. 

Then one day this past February, I made my own Nutella. I figured if I made it myself, I can control what goes into it. I can make the main ingredient nuts instead of sugar, I can leave out the preservatives and I can certainly leave out the hydrogenated oils. My first attempt came out alright. I used a tiny food processor and the texture wasn't spectacular. I used honey for the sweetener and it lent a taste that I said I didn't mind, but later decided wasn't my favorite. Last but not least every recipe I looked at had added oil so I added a bit as well - just to try to smooth it out. The result was good and I was completely thrilled with it at the time, but I didn't find myself making it again. In fact, I pretty much forgot about Nutella altogether, until I spied an especially delicious looking chocolate croissant in the bakery the other day. It reminded me of when I used to eat croissants slathered with the stuff in high school. 


I decided to try again. 
Only this time, it would be different. 
This time, it would be better.
This time, it would be so good, I wouldn't even call it Nutella.
This time, it would be better than Nutella.

I used an 11-cup food processor, powdered sugar and no added oil. After all, the nuts have plenty of oil in them already and that really should be sufficient. It turns out I was right. Just 4 ingredients made the best chocolate-hazelnut spread I've ever tasted with less fat, calories and sugar than Nutella.

Better than Nutella

It's important to use a food processor with a capacity of 11-cups or larger otherwise the nuts will not smooth out properly. Makes about 1 1/2 cups

2 cups hazelnuts

1/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder

6 tablespoons powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place hazelnuts in a single layer on a shallow baking pan. Toast until the skins are almost black and the meat is dark brown, about 15 minutes. Stir the nuts halfway through baking to ensure an even color.

Since the skin is bitter, you’ll want to discard them. Wrap the cooled hazelnuts in a clean kitchen towel or paper towel, and rub until most of the skins have come off. Don’t worry if you can’t get off all the skins.

Process nuts in a food processor, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally, until they have liquefied, about 5 minutes. First, you will get coarsely chopped nuts, then a fine meal. After a little while, the nuts will form a ball around the blade, and it will seem like you only have a solid mass. Keep processing. The heat and friction will extract the natural oils, and you will get hazelnut butter.

When the nuts are liquified, add the cocoa and vanilla.
Next add the powdered sugar a tablespoon at a time until the mixture reaches your desired texture and sweetness. Make sure you scrape down the sides in between

Note: First two paragraphs of the instructions are from Jessica at Su Good Sweets.

This side of winter.

My favorite part of my house is the balcony attached to my room. It's just big enough for two chairs and a few plants and I used to spend every morning on it since last August. I put my legs up on the railing, ate my breakfast and watched the neighborhood slowly, sleepily come to life. Gradually this became my favorite part of the day but as the seasons went on the temperature dropped. With each passing day, I wore an extra layer of clothing in order to keep warm. I wrapped up in a blanket, wore a hat, slippers and two pairs of socks. I made a larger mug of coffee to clutch between my hands, slowly sipping it to warm up from the inside out. I did everything I could to stay on my balcony, but eventually it just got too cold. 

I locked the screen and closed the door for the last time in late November. I learned to enjoy my mornings in the living room with my feet tucked between my body and the couch, snow falling softly outside, the same cup of coffee to keep me warm and Colin on the other couch; both of us quietly reading before getting ready for class. I learned to enjoy these mornings as much as I did the balcony; but this morning, this first day of class since spring break, I once again unlocked that door. I unfolded my chair put my legs up on the railing and there I spent my first breakfast this side of winter. Only this time, Instead of hot coffee, I sipped an icy smoothie to cool down from my run.

The neighborhood was not quite so lively yet, but the birds are out and chirping the arrival of Spring.

Banana, Mango, Strawberry Smoothie

The spinach flavor isn't really noticeable and ups health factor a bit, but feel free to leave it out if it scares you. Makes 1 very large smoothie or two small (snack size?) ones.

1/2 fresh or frozen banana

1/2 a mango

2 large strawberries

1 cup 1% milk

a small handful of ice cubes

small handful of spinach (optional)

Put all ingredients in a blender and blend until frothy. Enjoy immediately.

Carolina pictures are on my flickr. Click here to check them out.

Irish Soda Bread

Of all the things there are to be intimidated by Irish Soda Bread is not one of them. However last year's attempt came out terrible; Dry, crumbly, hard and just all around bad. It left me undecided as to whether the poor outcome was a result of human error, a bad recipe or if soda bread just doesn't taste very good. After all it originated out of need for a quick, cheap way to put bread on the table in Ireland. I began thinking that maybe that was it; soda bread just wasn't very good. 


Then, as March rolled around once again, thoughts of whiskey and alas, soda bread began to dance through my mind. I remembered last year's failure and pushed away the desire to make another floury dough ball but then I remembered the tender, crumbly (in a good way) soda breads of elementary school. I lived in a heavily Irish area and on St. Patrick's day the mothers of other children would bring in green bagels (ew) and freshly baked soda bread, flecked with raisins and slathered with salted butter. The memories were enough to get me back on the soda bread bandwagon and that's how I arrived at this recipe. It's all the things I remember it to be and I completely rescind my unfriendly comment about soda bread just not being very good.


It's loosely adapted from Richard Corrigan via Jules on one of my favorite blogs, The Stone Soup. If you haven't seen her site you should check it out. In the mean time preheat your ovens. Next time I will be adding plump raisins and perhaps making some fresh butter.

Irish Soda Bread

I did not convert this to standard measurements but I promise metric really is easy. In fact this whole recipe is easy. I slept late this morning (8am!) and still made it for breakfast without rushing in the least. The whole thing takes maybe 40 minutes from start to finish. Serves 4 as a breakfast or 6-8 as a side. Adapted from Richard Corrigan via The Stone Soup.

100g self raising flour (or 100g unbleached white flour and 3/4 teaspoon baking powder)
200g whole wheat flour
1 Tablespoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
225mL low-fat buttermilk
4T honey

Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Line a baking tray with parchment paper and dust generously with extra whole wheat flour. 

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. 

Whisk together buttermilk and honey. 

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour buttermilk mix into the hole.
Using a fork gently stir to just to combine and form a soft dough. Be careful not to over mix it or it will be tough. Shape into a round and place onto the baking tray. 

With a sharp knife gently score a cross into the top and dust with flour.

Bake for 30-35mins or until golden brown and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. 

Allow to cool then serve with a generous spread of salted butter

All Natural Nutella

There really isn't too much to say about this except that you should be making it right now. Seriously, go get your food processor. I'll wait.


Ready? Good. This is so easy and since the first ingredient is hazelnuts it's actually pretty healthy. I can't say the same about store-bought Nutella in which the first ingredient is sugar. True, my homemade version is definitely not as smooth as the store-bought but I only have a very tiny food processor (mini-chop). If you use a full size 11 cup or larger and let it run for quite a while you'll get a smoother consistency than I did. In reality, that has more to do with my impatience than the size of my food processor - I have to hold the 'grind' button down the entire time instead of turning it on and walking away. After 5 minutes I lost my drive to hold that little button. At any rate, I'll stop rambling because you should be eating this instead of reading about it.


If you're motivated you could make a fresh baguette to go along with it. It's like a little piece of Paris in every bite. Now if only I could remember anything from all those years (11!) of studying french. Oh, quel dommage.  

All Natural Nutella

I used olive oil to avoid buying anything but, on the off chance you own some hazelnut oil, it would be fantastic. Makes about 1 1/2 cups.

1 cup hazelnuts

Pinch of salt

5-6 tablespoons honey

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably organic and fair trade)

1 Tablespoon vanilla

2-3 tsp olive oil 

In a food processor, grind the hazelnuts to a smooth butter, scraping the sides as needed

Add the cocoa, honey, vanilla, oil and salt. Process until well blended

Spread on a slice of bread (or everything).

Quinoa Pudding

I finally got my snow day today. I was so excited that I couldn't even fall back asleep so at 6am I was out of bed watching the soft flakes fall. It was only flurrying lightly but now it's coming down quite hard. They say we're supposed to get up to two feet, which is just fine with me.

The streets are quiet, except for the low rumble of the occasional snowplow or the shuffling of boots walking down the sidewalk. My house is quiet too, just my book and the occasional creaking of the floor boards settling to keep me company. Peaceful as it was, by 7:30 all I could think of was breakfast.

I wanted something warm and creamy to tuck in to and snow days always call for something a little bit special. Immediately I thought of my Mom's rice pudding. I made it a lot last [school] year but I've pretty much given up white rice entirely now, and haven't made it since. Actually I hadn't even so much as thought about it until recently when the recipes started showing up all over blog world. Everyone has their own little twist to put on the classic favorite, but one idea in particular caught my attention.

Quinoa instead of rice. I knew I would be trying this soon and then I promptly forgot about it. I've gotten so caught up in my breakfast routine that it took me close to a month to finally get to it. Actually, I've become quite picky and boring about breakfast. I eat greek yogurt or steel cut oats every single morning and I get pretty [unnecessarily] fussy if I'm forced to have something else. Finally I reasoned with myself and decided today was the day. Quinoa has a pretty similar texture to steel cut oats anyway.

In the end, it was good but it's not rice pudding. It doesn't get nearly as creamy without all that refined white rice starch and; In all honestly, it just tasted like oats with milk and sugar...and double the carb content. It left me thinking what's the point? I could solve some of that issue by adding a little cream, but that's a bit excessive for me, at least for breakfast. Next time I think I'll just go back to the traditional white rice. Either way the recipe is the same just use whichever grain your prefer.

Quinoa Pudding

I used 1% milk but feel free to switch it for whatever fat % you prefer. Fat-free is okay with white rice but I don't recommend it for the quinoa. You could also replace 1 cup of milk with light or heavy cream for a richer pudding. I like my pudding a little looser but If you like a drier result use 1 less cup liquid.

Serves 8 to 10.

1 cup quinoa or white rice

4 cups low-fat milk

1/4 cup turbinado sugar

2 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup dried unsweetened cherries (or cranberries, blueberries, raisins, currents etc.)

In a small pot heat milk, sugar and vanilla until almost boiling.

Add quinoa or rice and bring down to a simmer.

Let cook for 20 minutes stirring occasionally. Don't worry if a bit of a skin forms just stir it back in.

Add dried fruit and cook 10 minutes more.

The pudding should be thick and the grain should be cooked through.

Remove from heat and eat immediately.

Surprisingly, this actually freezes fairly well.  The Consistency will be a little thinner than before you froze it but certainly not bad. Especially if you are just one person and have trouble finishing things like me.