Archive for November, 2008
Eat Feed Autumn Winter
Ladies and gentlemen, I’m absolutely smitten. I haven’t been this taken with someone or something since the day I met D. You know how that first encounter makes you wish for more time together. You dream of being curled up on the couch together, basking in the soft puddle of light from a solitary lamp, maybe an afghan pulled over your knees. “When? When will be we together again? Can I see you tonight? I’ll cancel my meeting…”
Now for the shocking confession: I’m talking about a cookbook! It’s true! Anne Bramley’s Eat Feed Autumn Winter cookbook is utterly irresistible and, yes, so charming it will sweep you off your feet. And guess what? The recipes are delicious too!
When Anne asked me to review this gorgeous book, I had no idea what I was in for. To start with, the talent of the team that put this book together is incredible. The elegance of the layout, the styling of the food, the quality of the photos, the wit of the sidebars, and the overall welcoming soft atmosphere speaks volumes even before you’ve tried a single recipe. I spent two days just hungrily reading this book before I even started contemplating what recipe to try first. Really, it’s just plain addictive.
Now, about that title: I too was a bit confused when I first read it. See, Anne, unbeknownst to me until I got this book, has a hugely successful podcast – an online radio show in essence – called Eat Feed. Since discovering this, I’ve been listening to as many of her archives as I can fit into my spare time (along with thumbing the pages of her book) and have come to realize this woman really knows how to spin a tale about food. I’m immensely impressed with her all around.
So, anyway, back to the title of the book. The remainder of the title bears tribute to the theme of the book, which is “30 ways to celebrate when the mercury drops”. Anne compiles her recipes into said number of vignettes, such as “Highlands Hogmanay”, “Fireside Chat”, and “Traveling the Spice Route”. Each of these creative themes includes three or four recipes and usually a historical quip or two. The overarching idea being to present fun excuses for gathering friends and family together during the dark short days of winter to light them up with good food and merriment. Like I said, “charming.”
To step aside for a moment from my tween-like-cyber-squeeling-at-the-sight-of-the-coolest-cookbook-ever, I do have one little bitty piece of criticism about the book. On the inside of the jacket, in the introduction where I, being the good literature major, naturally started my reading, it says “Everybody talks about eating seasonally. But that’s easier to accomplish in summer….Being a consummate (and truly seasonal) cold-weather cook takes real creativity – and a deep enthusiasm for the fortifying pleasures of the autumn and wintertime table.” Oh how I almost jumped for glee in my reading chair! Finally, I was going to get loads of great recipes for winter squash, rutabaga, celery root, kale, collards, parsnips and all those other tricky cold-season vegetables.
Well, there are a few recipes for most of those, but really, I don’t think Anne’s goal in this book, even if it came across in that very first introductory paragraph, was to present recipes for locally grown produce in autumn and winter. Or, if that was her goal, she fell a bit short when she listed citrus and chocolate as main staples in the winter pantry. Neither of those are easy to come by locally in most of the continental United States in January.
But, hey, having said that, guess what I’m about to do? I’m going to use some locally grown lemons in a recipe from Eat Feed Autumn Winter! Ha!! How’s that for irony? I happen to have friends who have the world’s most productive indoor lemon tree growing in their kitchen. These same friends also happen to throw intimate dinner parties about every other week or so. When I got an invite to the last one, I immediately remembered seeing Anne’s recipe for a loaf of lemon tea bread.
In a post way back in the archives somewhere (oh yes, it’s here), I’d once experimented with pairing lemon and rosemary together and I quite liked it. So, I decided to add a little to this new recipe to make Lemon Rosemary Tea Bread and dressed it up a bit with some fluffy frosting and flower garnish to make it presentable for dessert after a nice dinner.
Eloquent Winter Squash
Goodness gracious! I’ve left you all without a proper food post for far too long. The pace of life just gets away from me sometimes, you know? Setting up the Etsy shop and making teas was more time consuming than I’d hoped, but since both are such instant successes, I’m not complaining. By the way, I know some of you will be happy to know that I’m going to be placing a handful of teas on my Etsy shop (www.lovenfresh.etsy.com) this coming weekend so be sure to stop over there if you’d like to try some for yourself or to give to others.
Now, about that food post: I’ve got a dandy for you. Too bad it’s the night before Thanksgiving, and all through the house cooks are already scurrying about with their preparations as this recipe for Baked Winter Squash with Blue Cheese & Candied Pecans is just begging for a prominent place on the holiday table. Maybe you have a winter squash hanging out on your counter already and you’d be so bold as to change your plans for it at the very last minute? Hmmm? I promise you won’t regret it!
Both the taste and the texture of this dish are complex and rich as silky sweet squash bumps into tangy blue cheese crumbles and crunchy nutty warmly spiced candied pecans all in one perfect bite. When made in individual servings in small ramekins or even ovenproof mugs, the presentation makes it almost too endearing to eat. It would surely impress your holiday dinner guests. My private party for two certainly did enjoy every last bite of it.
Announcing New Etsy Shop!
I’m very excited to announce the grand opening of my Etsy online shop, Love n’ Fresh! Just in time for holiday gift giving, you can now buy, among other things, high quality prints of photos featured here on SFTF. Also available are a very limited quantity of my handcrafted herbal teas.
Having my own Etsy shop is something I’ve thought about for awhile since I discovered the site last year. This fun website is single-handedly bringing back the cottage industry that is so vital to hometown economics. In other words, it gives individual entrepreneurs like myself a chance to sell their wares around the world. If there’s nothing quite to your liking in the new Love n’ Fresh shop, please browse the entire Etsy site as I’m sure you’ll find something perfect for everyone one your shopping list. Or, even better yet, search out local artists and craftspeople in your own hometown and support them with your business!
Herbal Tea Recipes
I spent this past weekend handcrafting my loose-leaf herbal tea blends using the herbs I’d grown and dried myself. I have to say that I’m pretty pleased with this year’s selection. For starters, I have made 10 blends this time compared to the one blend last year. But more importantly, some of these new recipes yeild some of the best herbal teas I’ve ever tasted (and I’m a big herbal tea drinker). In particular, the Floral Fantasy Tea and the Spiced Anise Tea are outstanding.
All herbs were grown in my own garden using organic growing practices (no chemical fertilizers or pesticides whatsoever). I handpicked the herbs so only the best leaves and flowers on the plants went into the teas. Blends are my own creation, crafted with both taste and each herb’s properties in mind. Each specially designed gift box has enough tea for 10 servings and detailed directions for brewing the perfect cup.
I will be selling these teas at the special Thanksgiving marketday at the Headhouse Market next Wednesday. If any are left, they’ll be going up on my brand new shiny Etsy online shop that I’m in the midst of designing and where I’ll be selling some of my photography prints too. Just in time for holiday gift giving…
I’ll actually be giving several gift bags to my loved ones this holiday that contain a box of tea, a jar of wildflower honey from my bee hive and an adorable candle made of bees wax and decorate with a little bee. Cute, huh?
Like this:
Natural Inspiration III
Since so many of you seemed to appreciate seeing the last batch of these garden snapshots, I thought I’d share a few more I took yesterday and today. Snow was falling at the time and the light got reflected in odd ways, adding an almost eerie glow. I can’t believe it snowed so much in November! Perhaps it’ll be a white Christmas this year?? The doe in the snow was so calm as I took her picture and I found the combination of her demeanor and the snow extremely peaceful. Meanwhile, the thorns of the Poncirus trifoliata (Trifoliate- Orange) are rather sinister but alluring, don’t you think?
more photos after the jump
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