Berkeley is a mecca for scone lovers -- between the Cheeseboard's dizzying selection and the tasty scones that Acme Bread Company churns out daily, we're basically surrounded by mouth-watering options. But I decided to make my own, partly because it sounded fun, partly because it looked easy, and partly because I'd never made them before and was curious about the process.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Classic Currant Scones
Berkeley is a mecca for scone lovers -- between the Cheeseboard's dizzying selection and the tasty scones that Acme Bread Company churns out daily, we're basically surrounded by mouth-watering options. But I decided to make my own, partly because it sounded fun, partly because it looked easy, and partly because I'd never made them before and was curious about the process.
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Eve Fox
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10:53 AM
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Labels: classic currant scones, cream scones, scone recipe, scones
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Where I Find Great Recipes
- 101 Cookbooks - a great option for super healthy, tasty, creative vegetarian recipes written by Heidi up in beautiful Marin County. She's also got a great aesthetic so the pictures are tasty, too.
- Simply Recipes - a nice, solid source for good recipes - lots of variety, always tasty written by Elise. I like the focus on family recipes.
- Food Blogga - good source for a wide variety of recipes (meat and vegetarian). Susan posts frequently so there's always something tasty-looking to check out.
- Recipes for Health - this is a selection of recipes with a focus on healthy, tasty, vegetable-focused dishes that is written for the NYTimes.com by Martha Rose Shulman. (I have to admit that I sometimes make these recipes less healthy by adding more cheese than they call for, etc.)
- Smitten Kitchen - I only discovered this blog a few months ago and have already cooked a number of things from it. Writen by Deb in NYC. How she manages to post so often with an infant is a mystery but I'm glad she does!
- Bitten -- Mark Bittman's food blog on the NYTimes.com. There are often interesting, new things posted here as well as old standards. Lately, he seems to have a lot of guest bloggers posting but I like his posts best.
- La Tartine Gourmand - this is hands-down the most beautiful food blog I read. Written by Bea, a french ex-pat who lives in MA with her husband and adorable little girl, it is truly an aesthetic pleasure. I have to admit that I have not yet cooked or baked anything from it yet but it is definitely a feast for the eyes.
- Epicurious - this is a great resource -- it's made up of recipes from Bon Appetit, Gourmet and a few other sources. I usually turn to this when I have some ingredient I need to use or if I have a vague idea of a recipe and want concrete examples.
- Food Blog Search - Although I sometimes resort to Google, I like this search option better because it allows me to search only food blogs, returning more specific and higher-quality search results.
- Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone - this is like the bible of vegetarian cookbooks - very thorough, easy to read and delicious. Written by Deborah Madison, formerly of the Greens restaurant in San Francisco. One of my favorite things about it is that it's written for people who eat meat, as well as those who don't (it does make a difference!)
- The Joy of Cooking - conventional as it may seem, this is my go-to resource for questions, basic recipes, etc. I have the updated version which is WAY better than the old one and includes lots of tasty ethnic foods in addition to the everything else under the sun that is included in the original version
- From The Cook's Garden - this cookbook is one of my favorites - I want to cook every single recipe in it. It's written by Ellen Ogden who used to run a seed company in Vermont (since sold) and her love and knowledge of vegetables shows through on every page.
- Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet - this book is delicious on several levels - the photos, the recipes and the writing are all incredible. It's sort of half travelogue, half cookbook with the most amazing photos you've ever seen. I've been in love with South East Asia ever since I first visited in college and am grateful for the wonderful recipes in this book that take me back there without having to spend 18 hours on a plane... Naomi Duguid and Jeffrey Alford, the author and photographer, have published a number of other scrumptious books like this including one on flatbreads of the world and one about China that look equally delicious and intriguing.
- The Williams Sonoma Collection - I have three of the cookbooks in this collection (soups, breakfast, and cookies) and love them all, despite their slightly corporate-y nature. I like them because they are accessible yet delicious, short (longer cookbooks have the downside of being overwhelming...), filled with good recipes (there is not a one that does not look good to me), and I love the layout - great photos and easy to read.
- The Silver Palate and The New Basics Cookbooks - these are good, solid cookbooks that offer tasty meat and vegetarian options and a lot of very tempting desserts.
- Beard on Bread - almost every (successful) loaf of bread I've baked has come from this wonderful little cookbook. James Beard's writing makes the daunting process of baking yeasted bread seem not only manageable but also enjoyable. His simple yet thorough instructions got me through my first ever loaf (his basic homestyle bread) and I always come back for more good recipes.
- Beard on Pasta - my mom gave me her copy of this along with his bread book years ago and it's served me well the few times I've made pasta from scratch. Not surprisingly, I like it for exactly the same reasons I like the bread book.
- Sunset - this magazine is right up my alley. In addition to food, it covers gardening, home projects and travel (all focused on the southwest with a big emphasis on California.) They've also gotten more and more focused on sustainability and local ingredients of late. I have found a number of excellent recipes in this magazine. Although I subscribe to the magazine, I also search the recipes on their site at times, too.
- Eatwell Farm CSA's Newsletter - since we've been doing our year of local cooking, the recipes that are included in the newsletter that comes with each produce box from our CSA has been very handy.
- Friends and Family - the other obvious place I find inspiration is from the foods my friends and family cook. There's nothing like eating something delicious to make you want to try it out on your own.
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Eve Fox
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8:29 AM
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Labels: 101 cookbooks, cookbooks, Deborah Madison, Epicurious, food blogga, food blogs, la tartine gourmand, recipes, recipes sources, simply recipes, Vegetarian cooking for everyone
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Homemade Breakfast Sausage -- Fast & Flavorful
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Eve Fox
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5:36 PM
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Labels: breakfast recipes, brunch recipes, fra'mani, homemade breakfast sausage, putting food by, sausage recipes, spices for breakfast sausage
Saturday, February 13, 2010
New Standards For Organic Milk - A Step In The Right Direction
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Eve Fox
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8:47 AM
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Labels: Aurora, Clover Stornetta Farms, e. melanie dupuis, grist, Horizon Organic, organic milk, organic milk regulations, pasture-raised dairy, Straus Family Creamery, USDA
Monday, February 8, 2010
Pear Bread With Lemon & Pecans
This bread is lovely - subtly redolent of ripe pears, with a nice mix of spices and a pleasant nutty crunch from the pecans. It's delicious plain and decadent toasted and spread with sweet butter or cream cheese. I used Red Anjou pears but any ripe, flavorful pear will do.
As always, I encourage you to use the highest quality organic ingredients you can find/afford.
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Eve Fox
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3:48 PM
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Labels: batter breads, joy of cooking, lemon pear bread with pecans, pear bread, pear pecan bread, quick breads, smitten kitchen
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Greening Your Kitchen: Buy BPA-Free Tomatoes, Beans, etc.
Buy your beans from Eden Organics, the only company that currently does not use BPA in the lining of its canned beans or chilis. Here is what they have to say about their cans:
"All 33 Eden Organic Beans including Chili, Rice & Beans, Refried, and Flavored, are cooked in steel cans coated with a baked on oleoresinous c-enamel that does not contain the endocrine disrupter chemical, bisphenol-A (BPA). Oleoresin is a non-toxic mixture of an oil and a resin extracted from various plants, such as pine or balsam fir. These cans cost 14% more than the industry standard cans that do contain BPA. The Ball Corporation tells us that Eden is the only U.S. food maker to date to use these BPA free cans and we have been since April 1999."
However, Pomi uses Tetra Pak packaging for its tomato products and Tetra Pak does not include BPA. Pomi sells chopped and strained tomatoes as well as marinara sauce. Pomi's tomatoes are packaged in Italy so the carbon footprint of these tomatoes is gonna be pretty big. The Tetra Pak packaging also looks to be unrecyclable - two strikes against it in my opinion. I guess we get to pick our poison on this one -- planetary or personal...Special thanks to Alicia at the Soft Landing for her great post on BPA-free tomatoes :)
Posted by
Eve Fox
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9:00 AM
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Labels: BPA, BPA in cans, BPA-free, BPA-free cans, BPA-free foods, BPA-free tomatoes, harmful effects of BPA, PVC, slow death by rubber ducky, TCSA petition, The Soft Landing
Monday, February 1, 2010
Spinach & Cheese Strata (Eatwell Recipe 47)
A few more recipes you might like:
- Spinach, Onion, Thyme & Cheese Quiche
- Late Summer Frittata With Sweet Pepper, Tomato, Onion, Basil & Sausage
- Frittata With Chevre, New Potatoes & Fresh Herbs
- Grandpa Joe's Eggs
- Homemade Granola
- Poached Egg Sandwich With Watercress & Shallot
Posted by
Eve Fox
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9:00 AM
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Labels: breakfast foods, brunch foods, brunch recipes, eatwell recipes, egg recipes, Epicurious, Gourmet magazine, Gourmet Unbound, smitten kitchen, spinach and cheese strata

























