2010

The Sweet Potato Orange Cake that Could

Sanura
Sweet Potato Orange Cake
Sweet Potato Orange Cake

A couple snowstorms ago, a grocery-shopping spree was timed before the arrival of the first of trillions of snowflakes. In a fury of quickness, a few sweet potatoes were picked up along with the Southern propensity to buy excessive quantities of milk and eggs before a storm. Over time and periods of warmness that melted the snow, other ingredients for delicious recipes were consumed. The sweet potatoes sat still in darkness. It’s not as if they weren’t wanted or a bore, for they were the favorite taste among all the ingredients. One day, a father released a new recipe to the email winds of change. It was a simple cake calling for sweet potatoes. Quite easy the recipe read to be. The supporting ingredients, good for their purpose, tried to be difficult to the process of baking a cake. Read more →

A Farmer’s Market Find: Crosnes

Sanura
A Farmer's Market Find: Cosnes
A Farmer’s Market Find: Cosnes

Getting up early last Saturday was the opportunity to go to the farmer’s market in the city. It was a nice winter warm day of walking pass stalls and creating a menu in my head for next week. Before it became too crowded, I was exiting the market with a heavy bag of Savoy cabbage, spicy turkey sausage, a smoked turkey wing to be placed in the freezer for Southern-style collard greens, gold rush apples, freshly baked pretzels as a low-fat snack, apple cider, and crosnes. Read more →

Pasta with Creamy Pesto Sauce, Peas, Zucchini and Chicken

Sanura
Pasta with Creamy Pesto Sauce, Peas, Zucchini and Chicken
Pasta with Creamy Pesto Sauce, Peas, Zucchini and Chicken

Promptly exiting the office at 5 p.m., I had to make a choice between two important tasks causing scheduling conflicts: going grocery shopping or working out. The local gym, free to the neighborhood, is open for two hours on three weekdays. Although, I’ve recently discovered running in cold weather is a refreshing activity, the gym is still needed on snowy days when the streets are icy. That free gym saves the budget from a yearly membership expense, because it is not needed in the summer. The recent snowstorm had enough power to close the gym, in which a few days of running were missed. It also delayed grocery shopping, and the fridge is looking bare. The eggs and the flour are gone, the pale bottoms of the drawers in the fridge are visible, and eating out is beginning to take a toll on the budget. Read more →

Ethereal Pancakes

Pancakes Whipped from Thin Air

Sanura
Ethereal Pancakes
Ethereal Pancakes

In the Southern states, the announcement of a snowstorm sends crowds to grocery stores stocking their fridge with milk and eggs. The following week, the snow is melting, the roads are increasingly accessible and the sidewalks are being de-iced. From a non-cook’s perspective of looking at a fridge full of milk and eggs, these pancakes will look as if they were whipped from thin air. This whipped eggy batter produces ethereal, airy pancakes that will melt in your mouth. Serve these with caramelized apples and toasted walnuts. Enjoy! Read more →