The same night I finally wrote that last bit about being pregnant, I woke up needing to go to the hospital to have the baby five days early. Our first breakfast together went something like this.
It was the most exquisite instant oatmeal I’ve ever had.
We named him West, which came to us on a night when, as usual, we were on the freeway, heading home. It seems appropriate for the only true southern Californian in our family. Which is what we are now, which is still so weird to me, but oh so nice.
I’ll be back here soon with more to say, and a recipe for a much slower bowl of oats. Maybe even a baby photo.
Ladurée’s Hot Chocolate
I found out I was pregnant about a month after we got back from France.
The first thing I did was buy a new bikini.
Brown Sugar + Winter Spice Granola
It feels wrong to be writing about winter-anything, having spent most of last week and the weekend sweater-less, (ahh) bare-legged, and eating breakfast outside.
But that’s southern California winter at its best. There are days when the sun doesn’t come out, the temperature drops below 68º, and people can be seen in public wearing parkas with flip flops.
Those days, it’s better to stay in and make this granola.
How to Section an Orange
My knife skills are just okay. As a pastry student, I was schooled in cake layers and such, but these days, I’m much more comfortable prepping produce.
Oh, but I’m the absolute worst at slicing bread. I don’t think you can even call the end result a slice. Only le bf is allowed to use the bread knife around here.
But for all things fruit and vegetable, I keep Peter Hertzmann’s Knife Skills Illustrated handy. The instructions and drawings are easy to follow and show you how to do all the classic cuts. Each lesson gets repeated for the left-handed, too.
So to get this cookbook party started, here is my first attempt, by the book, at sectioning an orange.
Here is my cookbook shelf for 2013. I boxed up quite a few books when we got a smaller bookcase (“for the baby”), but then Christmas and my birthday happened (see titles on top). I also pre-ordered this one. I had to.
Who else is cooking the books this year? Maybe we can start a club or something.
Coconut Chai Porridge
A bowl of oats, quinoa, brown rice, and barley in spiced milk is just the sort of warm, wintery breakfast to sit down to and make your (super late) new year’s resolutions.
Because there’s the baby coming soon(!), I’m keeping mine to a minimum. With nothing to do with the baby, because I know nothing about babies.
1. Plant a balcony garden. This was on my list last year, and the year before that, too. But just last week, I bought a tiny seascape strawberry plant (for $2!) from the McGrath Family Farm stand that is famous for them. So it’s on.
2. Try one unmade recipe from each of my cookbooks, new (thx, Santa!) and old. They kept me such good company over the holidays. This one I totally copied off Adriana’s list.
3. Buy some new clothes in colors + patterns I’ve never worn before. Because I’m so over wearing the same three or four outfits over, and over, and over.
4. Spend a day at a beach I’ve never been to before. With le bf, of course. And oh yeah, the baby! And madeleines.
5. Donuts.
What do you have in mind for this year?
Merry Xmas Cake 2012
I plan to join you all in 2013 next week.
Fancy cakes are totally not my thing, but I decided that I had better learn how to make a bûche de Noël, what with this baby on the way.
Alice Medrich’s A Year in Chocolate, one of my best bargain cookbook section finds ever, had just the recipe I was looking for — a hazelnut roulade that cracks on purpose, which makes it look even more like a log.
I made one by the book with coffee whipped cream, and another with a soft milk chocolate + hazelnut ganache. And ate all the cake scraps, of course.
Hope your holidays were the happiest!
Xmas Cookies
You know, just in case you need more cookies to bake.
Besides the lemon bars, I made batches of these tangerine + thyme milk chocolate chip cookies and date bars for friends at our 2nd annual Christmas cookie party. Which isn’t over yet, if you ask me. Bring tupperware.
