Batter Licker

This whole baking-a-lot-by-myself-in-my-kitchen thing is starting to make me go a little nuts. Not because I don’t enjoy it, but just because it’s a lot of time spent measuring, mixing, scooping, and waiting.

So I’ve been trying to find ways to keep the redundant work at least moderately amusing, which largely seems to entail inner – and occasionally outer – dialogue, mostly baking related, mostly looking deeper into things that I’ve always found odd about one baking ingredient (why is “evaporated” milk not called regular condensed milk?), or fascinating about another (how is baking soda so uplifting?).

In other words, I’ve embraced the nuttiness. Speaking of which, spiced nuts are some of the easiest and most delicious treats to make for any affair, and multiple internet sources tell me that they hold well for weeks. They’re also ridiculously easy to store and transport, so welcome to my nut house.

I started with cashews, a nut that I can eat raw, roasted, plain, salted, whole, and in pieces. But curried? Somehow, I had never gone down that road, and as a curry lover, it was about time. Gotta jazz it up for the wedding, right?

Welcome to my month-before-the-wedding blog series. … Read the rest of project wedding dessert bar: part 5 (curried cashews) on BatterLicker.com!

With just tomatoes, onion, garlic, peppers, a couple pantry-staple spices, one pot, and 25 minutes of hands-off simmering, this spicy, satisfying and unapologetically healthy tomato-chile sauce comes together and is ready to satisfy any number of your weeknight Mexican food desires … including the ones you never knew you had – like Mexican Tortilla Lasagna.

… Read the rest of quick, one-pot tomato-chile sauce on BatterLicker.com!

When I made Smoky Black Bean and Spinach Soup last week, it was not quite so grey and cold out as it has been of late. Instead, a warm and sunny day had shifted into a temperate and windless evening, which is unusual by San Francisco standards. I blame this sudden change into decidedly spring-appropriate weather for creating my otherwise inexplicable craving for carrots on that soup-dedicated evening. Seriously … who ever really craves carrots?!?

… Read the rest of mexican carrot slaw on Batter Licker!

A few weeks ago, Jay and I enjoyed a weekend in Bodega Bay with his five other former roommates from college and their significant others. After a late morning and early afternoon of local wine tasting, we ventured upon a cute little cafe (whose name now escapes me) for lunch. It was in that cafe that I made a fatal error: I did not order the black bean soup. But luckily, our good friend Matt was up for swapping bites, and that one spoonful inspired this post.

… Read the rest of smoky black bean and spinach soup on Batter Licker!

So when I loaded up on veggies, especially greens, at the grocery store on Sunday in preparation for a meat- and dairy-free week, I went a bit overboard. By Wednesday, it became clear that I was going to have trouble finishing all the lettuce, spinach, kale, and chard, and that the chard particularly needed some [...]