say it with Thai food

Whenever I go out for Thai food, I order Pad Thai, or Drunken Noodle, or Tom Kha soup and sticky rice. It arrives in front of me, steaming and saucy, and I slurp it down happily, though I have not a clue what's in it. What makes that beguiling orangey-brown sauce on the noodles? What's that firm yet yielding crunch I get every once in a while in a bite of Pad Thai? And really, how do they make that rice so sticky? While I might briefly ponder these questions, the truth is that I don't really care. Those mystery tastes are good ones, and that's enough for me. When the craving for Thai hits, it hits hard, but we're usually not too far from an acceptable vehicle to deliver the delicious goods. I don't have to go about actually thinking about how to create a Thai dish myself.

Which is how I knew Adriana was pretty much the greatest friend on the Earth when, in high school, she made me Pad Thai, from scratch, in her very own kitchen, for my birthday. She got together the rice noodles, the peanuts, the bean sprouts, even procured the tamarind and prepared it all in a wok. She served the luscious noodles in her living room, and I got to savor each delicate cube of tofu, each springy crunch of scallion, within the comfort of a home. I found myself touched that my fearless friend had gone so far out of her way, explored this uncharted culinary territory, simply to provide this birthday girl with her favorite dish. Thinking about it now, I'm growing a little teary, a bit wistful for those days of birthday sleepovers surrounded by teen magazines and nail polish.
...

A couple of weeks ago, when a couple of our Brooklyn friends invited Mary and me over for a home cooked meal at their apartment, I knew I really needed to step up to the plate. They were cooking us dinner, and all I needed to bring was dessert. When somebody's offering you home cooked nourishment at their house, you just kind of want to give back in a big way. Because I knew they loved the coconut mango sticky rice from a nearby Thai restaurant, I decided to dive right in and see what I could finagle in my own kitchen, using honey instead of sugar as a sweetener.

I'll admit that I was pleased with my efforts. The rice steamed effortlessly into perfect stickiness over a pot of boiling water. The honey sweetened the coconut milk into a luscious syrup, and the mangoes added firm freshness to the sticky dessert. It was a hit all around, and while it wasn't as involved as birthday Pad Thai, I think it showed I cared.



Coconut Milk Sticky Rice with Mangoes
Adapted from Epicurious


3 cups sticky rice, soaked overnight in water and drained
2 cups canned or fresh coconut milk
1/2 cup honey
Pinch of salt
4 ripe mangoes

Fill a large pot with about three inches of water. Place drained rice in a fine metal strainer over the pot of rice, making sure the rice doesn't touch the water. Place a paper towel on top of the strainer full of rice, and cover loosely with the pot's lid. Bring the water to a boil and steam rice for 25 minutes, until it is shiny and tender. Add more water during steaming if necessary so the pot doesn't run dry, as that will ruin your pot (just trust me on this one). Alternately, it's fine to cook the rice using a normal rice cooker if you don't have a metal strainer.


Meanwhile, place the coconut milk in a heavy pot and heat over medium heat until hot. Do not boil, as that will curdle the coconut milk. Add the honey and salt and stir to dissolve completely. When the sticky rice is tender, turn it out into a bowl and pour 1 cup of the hot coconut milk over; reserve the rest. Stir to mix the liquid into the rice, then let stand for 20 minutes to an hour to allow the flavors to blend.

Peel the mangoes, and slice the flesh from each side off the pit by running your knife lengthwise about a half inch to the side of the center of the mango. Lay each mango side flat and slice thinly across to make strips.

To serve individually, place an oval mound of sticky rice on each plate, and arrange half a mango beside it. Stir the remaining coconut sauce thoroughly and pass it separately, with a spoon, so guests can add more as they wish.

-Kylie

merry christmas, a month late

I'm not going to lie. I made these pecan tassies at the beginning of December. I got my mom to e-mail me her recipe, and I tweaked it with my whole wheat pastry flour and honey instead of all-purpose and sugar. I photographed them, straight out of the oven, against the piney backdrop of our table wreath and wintertime plates. And I'm posting all of this now, in mid-January.


Somehow that post on how much I love pecan tassies and how thoroughly self-satisfied I was when I made them sugar- and white flour-free didn't get written in December. Now it's January, and not only are pecan tassies not the treat you want to be making in January, but the photographs here are all red and green and probably made you do a double-take when you first saw them. No, it's not December anymore. And I also don't care.





Since going sugar-free, these pecan tassies have been my greatest baking achievement. I decided I couldn't live without them this holiday season, and converted them, and I can honestly say that I like my sugarless version better than the original. The tender flake of the cream cheese dough is still there, just with a little more tooth thanks to the whole wheat flour. The honey also showcases the creamy sweetness of the dates, which are what make these mini-pies special, in my opinion. I'm justifying the fact that I'm posting this unabashedly holiday-themed recipe here with the fact that I'll probably make these throughout the year, they're so good.





Plus, after the really nasty flu I was home with for three whole days this week, I'm really needing something to take the edge off of January, even if that something is a month-overdue Christmas cookie.


In other news, today is the last day of our week of Sugar Freedom, which included a lot less posting than we had intended due to both Adriana and I getting sick at once. Sorry about that. We're still excited to hear your sugar-free experiences, though, so feel free to share.

-Kylie

Pecan Tassies
Yields 48 tarts


1 cup butter, softened
6 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup honey
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups finely chopped pecans
1 cup pitted, chopped dates
1 tablespoon vanilla


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 


In a large bowl, combine the 1 cup butter, cream cheese, and flour. Mix until well-blended. Divide the dough into 4 equal parts, then separate each part into 12 balls, all the same size. Place the balls in the 2-inch sections of 4 ungreased, miniature muffin tins. Using your thumb and forefinger, press each ball into its cup, working the dough evenly up the sides to the rim.


Cream the remaining 1/2 cup butter with the honey. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Divide among the unbaked shells. The shells may not look full enough, but the filling will increase in volume when baked.


Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes. Cool on racks before removing the tarts from their tins.


These will keep several days at room temperature, though you can also freeze and defrost before serving.

tastes of the season

You already know that I made it past Halloween without my double-stuffed, neon orange Oreos. I'm now here to report that I bypassed Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie, pecan pie, or even those little Italian cookies (a Brooklyn favorite) that decorate the after-dinner table each year. I survived Thanksgiving, sugar-free. (Well, almost. I found out later that the mashed turnips had a bit of sugar in them. Live and learn.)

My Thanksgiving this year consisted of apple cider, kissed with the tartness of pomegranate juice and a splash of fizzy water. A two-year old's sniffles when she couldn't find her Christmas tree figurine ("Where my Christmas tree?"). A surprisingly moist and flavorful slice of turkey breast, accompanied by a silken puree of mashed potato. Trying to stay out of the way as eleven other people maneuvered their way into seats around the expanded dining room table. Falling to sleep in a quiet home tucked within New York City, totally content.

I need to tell you that Thanksgiving without sugar blew other Thanksgivings out of the water. This year, instead of anticipating the cloying rush of sweetness at the end of the meal, I savored each bite, noticed the sideways glances around the table as the grandmothers squabbled and the couples squeezed hands. I woke up this morning with more energy than I can usually muster on Post-Turkey Friday, and I gazed out the window at barren branches swaying in the wind. I was happy.

While Thanksgiving was great and all, for me, it's simply the Christmas season's gatekeeper. I'm sure my contentment this morning is due in no small part to the fact that I can now admit that I'm listening to Christmas carols without shame, don some red sweaters, dash to the nearest holiday office party, and start consuming things that contain peppermint.

While I'm perfectly content with passing up Halloween candy and pumpkin pie, I will not be deterred from the familiar tastes of the holiday season. Thus my proudest achievement of the year so far, my refined sugar-free peppermint hot chocolate. Tasting this for the first time a few nights ago, I sighed in contentment. This is everything I always loved about the holiday drinks at Starbucks, and I don't even have to waste a paper cup to get it. Even better, I can drink it in the evening without experiencing what I now call a "sugar hangover" the next morning. Sipping my proud creation as I write, I'm convinced there is no more perfect way to spend a morning and kick off a season.

-Kylie

P.S. Big news! Remember how we were giving away a book way back when it was Thin Crust Deep Dish's birthday? Well, our very lucky winner (selected scientifically from a baking dish of names) was Caitlin of Roost. Congratulations to you! We can't wait to find out which book you'll chose. And thanks to all who participated and showed your love here. It was a blast to hear from you, and we appreciate your kind words of encouragement more than you know.

Peppermint Hot Chocolate

Serves 2

2 cups whole milk

4 Tbs. unsweetened cocoa powder (I like Ghirardelli)
1/2 tsp. peppermint extract
1 Tbs. raw honey
6 drops liquid Stevia (or less, depending on your taste)

Warm milk over low heat in a small pan. In a mug, combine cocoa powder, peppermint extract and honey. Once the milk has warmed, pour about two tablespoons of it into the cocoa mix. Stir briskly with a fork until the mixture becomes a smooth paste. Pour mixture into pan of milk and whisk until it incorporates fully. Taste the hot chocolate with a small spoon. If it isn't sweet enough for your taste, add Stevia one drop at a time, whisking and tasting as you go. Once the sweetness is to your liking, continue to heat hot chocolate until it is hot but not boiling. Pour into mugs to serve.

To make a peppermint mocha, simply pull a shot of espresso into the bottom of the mugs before serving. To make an alcoholic hot chocolate, replace the peppermint extract with a shot of peppermint schnapps.

the hardest part is the beginning

I've been lazing around the house all day now, since I woke up. I've wanted to start this blog post, but instead I've been doing things to put it off. Things I've done today while procrastinating blog posting include:

1. Looking through four different cookbooks in search of fun things to do with the last of the carrots in our crisper
2. Making a list of everyone I want to give holiday gifts to, and planning what those gifts will be
3. Checking Twitter on five different occasions
4. Looking up dessert restaurants that are open late in Brooklyn for a friend's birthday
5. Making chicken stock from this week's roast chicken bones
6. Doing the dishes in the sink

While each of these fantastic procrastination devices has been somewhat productive (with the possible exception of the obsessive Twitter checking), what I really wanted to do was write. But as lots of people who write know, beginning is usually the most difficult part. My thought process during today's procrastination went something like this:

"I'd really like to write a blog post today. But what could I write about? I need to cook something to write about it. I mean, it's a food blog, after all. I can't just sit down and write things and then publish them to the internet. Yes, I should cook something. But what should I cook? We're nearly out of butter, and everything I would want to cook includes butter. I should go to the store to get some butter. But I don't really want to go to the conventional grocery store to get it. I don't know where that butter's been or what kind of a cow it came from. I could go to the farmers' market and get some cream to make my own butter. But then I have to go out in the rain, and it's going to take forever to walk to the farmers' market and back. I could make carrots, I guess. Carrots would be a good thing to make. Plus, people will be looking for things to make for Thanksgiving, and it would be nice to give them an idea for a side dish. But we have so many roasted vegetables in the fridge. I can't just make more carrots. They might go bad, and that would be such a waste. Maybe I could make a carrot soup. That would keep in the freezer. But I don't have any stock. I'd better start making stock with that chicken carcass I have from the other night. Now I'm hungry. I think I'll heat up some leftover roast chicken and vegetables with rice for lunch. I should probably do the dishes, too. This stock is going to take a long time, and it's getting dark now. There's no way I'm going to be able to make stock for a soup, make a soup, and photograph it for the blog today. I guess I should just start writing. I could post those awesome pumpkin whoopie pies from the Baked cookbook that Mary made a few weeks ago. But that's a sweet, and Adriana's probably going to be posting a lot of sweets since she just started her baking and pastry unit in school. But I guess it would be fine to post the whoopie pies because they're really terrific, and some people might want to make them for Thanksgiving. Yeah, I guess I could post about them. But what the heck am I going to write? I should just sit down and get started, and then if I don't like what I'm writing, I can always stop. There's no rule that says you have to finish a blog post the same day you start it. Okay, I'm just going to get started. Now what the heck should I write?"

Yes, folks, that's pretty much what it was like to be in my head today. Quite the jumble of thoughts, eh? To be honest, I don't have much else to say. These pumpkin whoopie pies are incredible. Mary made them, and they looked and smelled so terrific that I decided to eat a whole one, even though I'm going sugar- and white flour-free these days. They tasted to me like little hand-sized pumpkin pies. In fact, they tasted way better than pumpkin pie, in my opinion. Since she made them, I've been telling Mary that she's got to make these as a treat for Thanksgiving. I think you might want to do that, as well.

On an unrelated note, I currently have a Thanksgiving article up at Refrigerator Soup. Have you heard of the site yet? It's similar in some ways to Foodgawker and Tastespotting, except it's a bit more blogger-focused. Each day, the website features a few photos that are posted in a featured section above the fold of the page. This is a terrific chance for food bloggers to showcase their work and draw attention to unique dishes. Refrigerator Soup is also unique because they have a blogroll of all their contributors down the entire right side of the page. This means that as long as you contribute photos to their site regularly, the name of your blog will be on the front page for other food lovers to find. They're a relatively young site, as well, so it's a fantastic place to learn about smaller-scale bloggers who aren't featured as often on larger round-up sites. My favorite thing about them so far, though, is that the people behind the site are just as nice as can be. They genuinely care about bloggers and about providing compelling content. I highly recommend visiting them and submitting your photos if you have a food blog you would like to share.



Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
Adapted from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking
Makes about 24 pies


For the pumpkin whoopie cookies:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
2 Tbs. cinnamon
1 Tbs. ginger
1 Tbs. cloves
2 cups firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3 cups chilled pumpkin puree
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract

For the cream cheese filling:
3 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Cookies:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick baking mats.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and cloves together and set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk the brown sugar and oil together until combined. Add the pumpkin puree and whisk to combine thoroughly. Add the eggs and vanilla and whisk until combined.

Sprinkle the flour mixture over the pumpkin mixture and whisk until completely combined. Chill completely (at least one hour). This will make the pies easier to scoop and will give them their signature domed top.

Use a tablespoon to drop heaped spoonfuls of the dough onto the prepared baking sheets, about 1 inch apart. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the cookies are just starting to crack on top and a toothpick inserted in the center of a cookie comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool completely on the pan while you make the filling.

Cream cheese filling:
Sift the confectioners' sugar into a medium bowl and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until it is completely smooth, with no visible lumps. Add the cream cheese and beat until combined.

Add the confectioners' sugar and vanilla and beat until smooth. Be careful not to overbeat the filling, or it will lose structure. (The filling can be made 1 day ahead. Cover the bowl tightly and put it in the refrigerator. Let the filling soften at room temperature before using.)

Assemble the whoopie pies:
Turn half of the cookies upside down (flat side facing up).

Use a tablespoon to drop a large dollop of filling onto the flat side of the cookie. Place another cookies, flat side down, on top of the filling. Press down slightly so that the filling spreads to the edges of the cookies. Repeat until all the cookies are used. Put the whoopie pies in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to firm up before serving.

The whoopie pies will keep for up to 3 days, on a parchment-lined baking sheet covered with plastic wrap, in the refrigerator.

-Kylie

sugar freedom

This past couple of weeks, I've been joining in a virtual event hosted by Kimi of The Nourishing Gourmet called the Sugar-Free Challenge. If you know me, now is probably the time that you should say, "What? Sugar free?" I know; it's shocking. I'm the one who would rather smuggle candy than popcorn into the movies, the one who bakes cookies to share with coworkers for no reason at all. My hope is that, from this challenge, I'll still be the same sweet-loving person, but in a more natural and nourishing sense. And anyway, there are three levels of the challenge, and I started with the most basic. You can get more details about what the challenge is and the different levels here. While Kimi's challenge ended last week, I'm still going on my own personal challenge.

I don't know what it was that made me think I could successfully complete this challenge. Perhaps it's just that, similar to Adriana, I'm drunk with love over fall and everything the markets have to offer right about now. But usually my favorite fall things include a particular sandwich cookie with neon orange cream filling. And the small dishes of bite-sized candies that start popping up in every office and shop in mid-October. This year, though, things have been different.
 
When Kimi posted the challenge, I realized that I wanted to, and could, join in. So here I am. It's almost two weeks later, and extracting processed sugars and white flour from my routine hasn't been the tug-of-war of will versus desire that I had expected. Instead, sugar-free has felt simply like freedom. Please note that I've been debating with myself about whether or not to blog about this, afraid that committing this experience to keyboard would somehow break this sugar-free spell and that I would suddenly find myself incapable of resisting all highly refined products and slipping into a mire of darkness and ill-health with which I associate them. However, I'm taking that chance, as I think there are several elements of this sugar-free week from which others (and I) can benefit. Here are some of them.

1. Eat lots of fermented foods. This may not be true for everybody, but for me, eating fermented foods has really helped to reduce cravings for sweets and other refined carbohydrates. If you know why this is, please chime in. My best guess is that fermented foods are more easily digestible and increase healthy intestinal flora, allowing us to extract more nutrients from our food and decreasing cravings for nutrients we aren't getting. These days, if I'm hungry between getting home from work and making dinner, I snack on a half cup or so of Bubbies sauerkraut or my homemade 'kraut. I'm a little bit in love with it.

2. Eat more vegetables. This challenge has been a great excuse for me to fall back in love with my favorite vegetables. Last week, instead of packing my usual afternoon snack of almonds and an apple, I sauteed a red bell pepper and an onion. It was delicious. Funny that I didn't think of sauteed vegetables as a snack before, and that I so blatantly overlooked their natural sweetness.

3. Get enough protein. I know this can be a hard one, especially for the vegetarians and vegans out there.  Plus, who wants to go around calculating the amount of protein you need with each meal? My tactic is to make sure I have some form of animal protein at each meal, be it unsweetened whole milk yogurt, scrambled eggs, chicken or grass-fed beef.

4. Include high-quality fats. Some of my favorites of late have been my homemade cultured butter, coconut milk and coconut oil, almonds, olive oil and whole milk from grass-fed cows.

5. Experiment with natural sweeteners. Try out some sweet leaf Stevia in your coffee or tea, or add raw honey to your oatmeal instead of eating sugary packaged cereals. One of my favorite fruit-sweetened recipes is stewed prunes, which are simply luscious and decadent with yogurt. Oh, and this whole natural sweeteners thing is what brings me to my next point: poached pears. I know that even if you're going sugar free, you might still want to share a beautiful dessert with your friends when they come over for dinner. These poached pears are perfect for just such an occasion. Mine are sweetened only with apple cider, and I found them plenty sweet. However, if you want to add a teaspoon of raw honey to the cider as it reduces, I'm sure that would be lovely, as well. I love these pears because they fill the house with autumnal aromas without the sugar and white flour that are in so many fall treats.

Cider-Poached Pears for Fall
Serves 4


2 cups fresh apple cider
2 Tbs. mulling spices
4 pears, peeled, halved and cored
Optional: 1 tsp. raw honey

Add the cider and spices to a medium-sized saucepan and bring to a low boil. Stir in the honey if you are using it. Reduce the heat, and allow mixture to simmer, uncovered, for ten minutes.

Meanwhile, peel, halve and core your pears and place them gently in the liquid. Continue to simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, until the pears yield easily to the tines of a fork but are not falling apart. By now, your liquid should have reduced to half its original volume. If it has not, remove the pears when they are tender and continue to reduce poaching liquid.

Remove the pears from the pan and place in shallow bowls. Strain the liquid into a bowl to remove the spices, and generously spoon the liquid on top of the pears. Serve warm as a dessert, or cooled as an accompaniment to breakfast yogurt.

*Note: You'll notice that the pears I photographed were not halved and cored. I did this because they are pretty to serve that way. However, on second thought, it's much easier for people to eat these if you do the coring before you poach, which is why I included that step in the recipe.

-Kylie

nigel slater's plum (i mean apple) cake

"I have always felt that a recipe should be something to inspire, remind and lightly influence rather than a set of instructions to be followed, pedantically, to the letter."

-Nigel Slater

Since I bought Nigel Slater's The Kitchen Diaries a few years ago, it's made every move with me. Dorm to dorm to house to house to apartment, The Kitchen Diaries is always the key book that gets packed, right after the socks and rainbow flair and other daily essentials. It's like a security blanket to me, the book I can pull out when I feel like plopping down on the couch and reading with a cup of tea.

This book has served me well. It's just as good to cook from as it is to sit and read. It's organized by seasonality into months, so I can easily flip to the right section when I want to make something and don't quite know what. And to be truthful, I think Nigel and I may be connected by blood in some far-off capacity. Learning about his sensibilities around food feels like coming home to me, and he's always saying what I mean better than I could.



Nigel loves food when it's dressed-down, unfussy. He takes his fruit just at the tip of its freshness, spilling over into too-done juiciness. He isn't particular about measuring and doling out patronizing instructions; rather, he seems to know that you know what's best and that you know what you like.

In short, I felt that Nigel might just be okay with me making his plum cake with what I had on hand instead: the first little New England McIntosh apples of the season. I took a few liberties, as well, baking it in a springform pan instead of a square pan because I didn't have one, and substituting quite a bit of the flour with white whole wheat flour. I don't think this cake was worth for the wear. Crumbly and stuffed chock-full of apples, it uses very little sugar and flour, making it just as nice to serve alongside your breakfast eggs and coffee as it is as an after dinner treat topped with vanilla whipped cream.



Nigel Slater's Plum (I Mean Apple) Cake
Adapted form The Kitchen Diaries

 10 Tb butter
1/2 cup sugar
6 McIntosh apples
3 large eggs
2/3 cup white whole wheat flour
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 3/4 Tbs. baking powder
2/3 cup ground almonds
1/2 cup shelled walnuts

Set the oven to 350 degrees. Line the base of a square 8-inch cake pan or springform pan with parchment. Grease the pan's sides.

Beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy with an electric mixer. Beat it until it is, as Nigel says, "light, soft and the color of vanilla ice-cream". Peel and core the apples and cut each one into eight sections.

Break the eggs, beat them lightly with a fork, then add them bit by bit to the butter and sugar. Whisk together the flour and baking powder, and fold them gently into the mixture using a wooden spoon. In a food processor, grind 2/3 of a cup of almonds until they are the texture of cornmeal, and fold them into the batter. Chop the walnuts to "the size of small gravel" and fold them in, too.

Scrape the mixture into the cake pan, dropping the apple sections in on top. Push the apples down into the batter a bit. Bake for 45 minutes, then test for doneness by inserting a paring knife to the bottom of the pan. If it comes up clean and free of batter, the cake is done. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool for fifteen minutes before turning it gently out of the pan.

Cut into slices, and serve alone, with whipped cream or a drizzle of heavy cream.

Serves about 12

-Kylie

sweet relief

The past few weeks, it's been, on average, about 93 degrees Fahrenheit in our kitchen. How do I know this? Well, this little surfboard magnet on the side of our fridge has a handy dandy thermometer on it. I'm really glad it does. Makes complaining about the heat so much easier when I have tangible proof of kitchen temperature.

You see, Mary and I decided to get through this summer without the help of an air conditioner. We had several reasons for this decision. Fresh air is lovely. Air conditioners are expensive. They're not energy efficient. We don't have that many windows, and we don't want to block out light with a bulky window unit. And also, secretly, it makes us (or at least me) feel rather proud to think that we're living without the modern luxury of that quickly-cooled air. Call me crazy; I probably am.The result of this decision, however, is that we sleep on top of the sheets and blankets with a strong fan blowing directly on our sticky bodies. I often find myself padding to the freezer after a few hours of tossing and turning to retrieve an ice pack, which I then tote back to bed with me wrapped in a towel and grasp as if I'm an inconsolable toddler and it is my security blanket. Not to worry; that always does the trick. I fall asleep in minutes, lulled into slumber by the coolness of the melting bundle in my arms.

During the really hot, humid days, draping ourselves over the refrigerator door sometimes provides a moment of relief. Or drinking a chilled glass of water in a stream of hurried gulps. But after a meal, when I kind of want ice cream but know I'll just get annoyed that it's melting so fast, I turn to cool, sweet fruit, slurped up as its juice trickles down to my elbow, and enjoyed so much more because I know it will be gone from the market in a matter of weeks. This watermelon salad was inspired by an incredible appetizer I recently had at The Farm on Adderley, my very favorite restaurant. Personally, I feel it fits even better at a summer meal's end than at its beginning. I have the feeling I'll be making this for years to come, with whatever fruits are in season and whatever nuts and herbs strike my fancy.While I may be wilting in the heat, we've just got to revel in summer while it's here. So soon, it will be gone for another year.

Sweet Watermelon Salad

Inspired by The Farm on Adderley

Ingredients:

Several slices of watermelon, black seeds removed

1 ounce of chevre or another fresh, tangy cheese such as feta

10 unsalted pistachios, coarsely chopped

1/2 tsp. of your favorite honey

A few pinches of lavender blossoms

Assemble watermelon slices on a plate. With your fingers, gently pry off small nubs of cheese and sprinkle over the fruit. Sprinkle pistachios over next. Dip a fork into the honey and drizzle in quickly over the salad. Sprinkle salad with lavendar blossoms, and serve immediately.

-Kylie

you can, too.

Way, way back when I was a freshman in college, I walked several times a week from my dorm on Washington Square East over to Broadway, then a couple of blocks North, and then made a right onto Astor Place, stopping at Astor Place Starbucks. I worked there as a barista. My fellow employees not-so-affectionately nicknamed it "Disaster Place", which should give you some insight as to how they felt about working there.

Because I made the walk so much, I noticed when a sign suddenly went up on Broadway for a store called Beard Papa's. Having no idea what it was, I wandered in and investigated. It was a store that sold cream puffs, almost exclusively. Its employees wore jumpers and paper hats, which struck me as rather odd. And how did a store expect to stay in business on Broadway in lower Manhattan by selling cream puffs?

It's now over four years later. I've graduated college, moved to Seattle, and moved back to New York. Beard Papa's is still there, somehow. And not only is it still there, but it now has another store in the West Village (about ten blocks away) that I pass almost daily as I hustle from the gym to the train. There must be something about cream puffs, because New Yorkers are clearly buying.

I've got to admit, I'm not really a fan of cream puffs. I know, shocking, isn't it? But Mary loves them, as do a whole lot of other people I enjoy spending time with. In case you're wondering, it makes people really happy to get a box of these little puffballs. But you know what makes them even happier?

When you make them yourself.

What's that? You don't think you can do it? Hogwash! I did, just this past weekend, and I know that you can, too. Know how I know that? Because they're really simple to make. They only take a few ingredients, and this recipe from Bon Appetit is very exact, so you don't have to do any of that guessing stuff (the guessing is what usually gets me into trouble).

All I have to say is that you should make these cream puffs. You can bake them into little, bite-sized party treats as I remember Adriana's mama doing once for a party when we were in high school. You can also make them into big, Beard Papa's-sized pastries that promise to dust the tip of your nose with powdered sugar. You can pipe the cream into the middle if you have a pastry bag, or you can cut a hat off the puff and spoon in the filling as I did. Whatever you do, make them the same day you plan to serve them, and don't assemble them until right before. That way, you'll be eating these puffs at their pillowy, creamy best.

Trust me on this one. You can do it. I know you can.

-Kylie

You Can Do It Cream Puffs
Adapted from Bon Appetit, March 1996
Makes about 18

Ingredients:

Cream Puffs:
3/4 cup water
3 Tb unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp sugar
3/4 cup all purpose flour (note: this isn't the time to use your whole wheat flour)

3 large eggs

Filling:

1 cup chilled whipping cream

1 tsp plus 2 Tbs sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

powdered sugar, for dusting

For cream puffs:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a baking sheet or line it with parchment paper. Combine water, butter, salt, and sugar in heavy medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring to melt butter. Add flour; using wooden spoon, stir vigorously until mixture clumps together, forming a ball. Stir one minute longer over the heat. Remove from heat and transfer dough to medium bowl. Using an electric mixer, add the eggs one at a time, beating until dough is smooth after each addition (dough will be slightly soft and shiny).

Using 1 rounded tablespoon of dough for each cream puff, spoon dough onto prepared baking sheet, spacing about 2 inches apart and forming mounds about 3/4 inch to 1 inch high and 1 1/4 inches in diameter. Using moist fingertips, gently press tops of cream puffs to flatten any peaks. Bake until golden brown, about 37 minutes. Transfer baking sheet to rack; let cream puffs cool. (Can be made 4 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.)

For filling:

Beat cream, sugar and vanilla in medium bowl until stiff peaks form. 

Cut the top third off each cream puff. Place cream puff bottoms, cut side up, on plates. Spoon filling into bottoms, mounding slightly. Top with cream puff tops and dust with powdered sugar.