Well, whether you’re ready or not, the holiday season has surely arrived. After working a 12+ hour shift on Thanksgiving, knowing I work the same shift Christmas, not to mention having to hear nothing but Christmas tunes until December 26th, I was honestly feeling a little “bah humbug” about the whole holiday thing altogether. After all, they are just days right? I mean, do we really have to run to the malls like sheep, buying a bunch of junk and taking pictures with Santa? We should be able to fill joyous and spend time with those we love whenever, wherever - not just in the midst of holiday madness.

Now cut to yesterday, where I spent 8-9 hours with my lovely stepsister Kaylie baking 5 types of Christmas cookies (complete with one screw-up). Clearly, the holiday spirit shocked me, kicked my ass and showed me who was boss!

We did some Classic Gingerbread Men, Peanut Butter Buckeye Balls, Russian Teacakes, and my mom’s famous Candy Cane Butter Cookies. The Pecan Pie Cookies I attempted somehow spread across the sheet pan into one gigantic, gooey, nutty mess. In the end, we decided to break that wreck into small pieces to save for a future homemade ice cream - always good to recycle, right? Redeeming post to follow!!

So many of these cookies hold nostalgic childhood memories of watching my mom bake for me and my brothers, eating them in front of the lit-up Christmas tree, hopefully watching A Christmas Story. I had an amazing time carrying on the tradition and feel ready for some snow, time with family, friends & lovers, a lot more sweet treats and of course, sitting down to break bread over delicious holiday fixins.

How are all of you spending your holidays? Do you have a family cooking or baking tradition that you’d like to share?

It’s been too long since I’ve posted anything on here. There has certainly been a lot of bread broken with beautiful people and delicious meals in the time that’s past, but also a total lack of photo taking on my part, thus - no posts in a month.

Life has been good recently. Actually, great. The pace of life here in Tahoe is one that cannot be explained or understood until one lives it day-to-day. “Tahoe time” is not just a phrase - people take it serious here. While things in Seattle moved at around 75 mph for me - the hustle of taking the bus, work, living in constant noise around constant people, never getting outside as much as I would have liked - things here are moving at about 10 mph. And that’s a really wonderful thing! Since my last post, I’ve: seen the sun EVERY day (for the northwesterner’s reading this, you get how great that is for the brain & soul!) done a 7 day ayurvedic cleanse (so needed during the change of seasons), taken up stand-up paddleboarding (serious fun), disc golf (love it!), seen a ridiculous amount of good music, met some fabulous people and pretty much learned to just slow down and take things as they come. So far it seems my time here has been exactly what I needed & beyond what I could imagine wanting. Thankful doesn’t even begin to describe it.

While many of you are experiencing a drop in temperature and cooler fall temperatures, we’ve only had a brief snap of cold. Since it’s still been in the 60s/70s, my cooking hasn’t totally transferred into those comforting fall dishes yet. This dish - one of my favorites I picked up from my lovely former “boss” Pia - is cool, refreshing and light. I love whipping this up when I’m “hmm-ing” and “haa-ing” in front of the fridge, wondering what I want for a light lunch. And best of all, it gets better as it sits. So even if you’re bundled up in a blanket, sipping hot cider, staring at beautifully carved pumpkins - do yourself a favor and make this insanely easy salad!!

This also goes wonderfully as a side with spicy food, especially Indian dishes (as it’s more or less a raita).

Cucumber Yogurt Salad (adapted from Pia Hunter):

2 medium, Organic English cucumbers

1-2 garlic cloves, finely minced

1 1/2 C. Greek yogurt

1 TB. chopped fresh dill

Kosher salt

Freshly cracked pepper

• Peel, slice off the ends and seed the cucumbers. I’ve found the easiest way to seed them is to slice them in half lengthwise and drag a spoon down the center, scooping out the seeds.
• Thinly slice the cucumbers and place in a bowl with a heavy dose of salt. I add about 1/2 TB. - don’t worry, this won’t all end up in the final product.
• Let the cucumbers sit in the salt for about an hour, stirring occasionally. This will extract juices from the cucumbers.
• Drain the cucumbers in a fine sieve or colander for about 10 minutes.
• Place the cucumbers back in the bowl and mix with garlic, yogurt, dill and cracked pepper to taste.
• That’s it!! Salad will keep very nicely chilled, and as mentioned, does get better and better as the flavors meld!

According to many, it is the unofficial national dish of the Philippines; according to me, it is officially mouth-watering. I stumbled upon Chicken Adobo last year in a New York Times Magazine article, was asked to prepare it for the family I nannied/cooked for and my mind was blown. I had no idea such simple, easy ingredients could come together to cook something so incredibly complex and delicious!

“Adobo”, when used in relation to Filipino cuisine, simply refers to a dish usually made with pork and/or chicken, that involves vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, bay leaves and black peppercorns. It seems to be the type of recipe that every family probably puts their own tweaks on and thinks it is the absolute necessary way to prepare the dish. The first time I made it, I followed the NY Times recipe to a T and was very happy with it.

I have since tweaked a few things here & there, and figured out my favorite side dishes to increase the yum-factor. Hope you enjoy! If any of you out there reading this attempt the recipe, tell me what you think & if you did any improv’s of your own!

Chicken Adobo (adapted from NY Times Magazine, orig. from Purple Yam Restaurant, Brooklyn):

1 cup coconut milk

1/4 cup soy sauce or tamari

1 1/2 cups rice or coconut vinegar

12 garlic cloves, peeled

3 fiery chilies, such as bird’s-eye or serrano, tops sliced off

3 bay leaves

1 1/2 tsp. fresh cracked black pepper

3-4 lbs. skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs

• Combine all of the marinade ingredients in a large, nonreactive bowl or resealable plastic freezer bag. Add the chicken and turn to coat. Refrigerate overnight or for at least 4 hours.
• Place chicken and marinade in a large lidded pot or Dutch oven over high heat and bring to a boil. Immediately reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through and tender, around 30 minutes. Be sure to handle the chicken pieces delicately, as the skin can easily slide off.
• Heat broiler. Transfer chicken pieces to a large broiling or roasting pan and set aside. Raise heat under the pot to medium-high, and reduce the sauce until it achieves almost the consistency of cream, about 15-20 minutes. Remove & discard bay leaves. Also remove and set aside about 2 whole chilies and about 4-6 cloves of garlic. At this point, I prefer to use an immersion blender to puree the leftover garlic cloves and one of the chilies to the sauce. It will set off the flavor and gives you a true blend of salty, garlicy, spicy, and sweet.
• Place chicken pieces under broiler skin-side down for 3-5 minutes. Remove, turn chicken skin-side up, baste with sauce and repeat, 5-7 minutes more or until carmelized. Return chicken to sauce and cook for a few minutes more, then place on a platter and drizzle heavily with sauce.
• Serve with coconut cilantro rice and sauteed bok choy (recipes below). Serves 4.

Coconut-Cilantro Jasmine Rice:

1 cup high-quality Jasmine rice (Basmati works well too)

1/2 cup coconut milk (should be almost exactly that amount left from the Adobo)

1 1/4 cups water

pinch salt

pinch sugar

1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro

• Measure rice into a medium saucepan. Cover with about an inch of water and swirl rice around for about thirty seconds to wash. Drain dirty water through a fine-mesh sieve and keep rice in saucepan.
• Mix rice with coconut milk and 1 1/4 cups water. Bring to a light boil over med-high heat, stirring occasionally, as rice can stick to pan very easily. Once boiling, add a pinch of salt and a pinch of sugar, stir, cover with lid and turn to simmer.
• Simmer for about 15 minutes. Remove from heat, but keep covered for about 10 minutes longer to ensure it is cooked through.
• Add minced cilantro, stir and serve!
• Serves 4.

Sauteed Wasabi Sesame Baby Bok Choy:

4 baby bok choy bunches, cleaned, ends trimmed and sliced crosswise into about 1” pieces

1 TB. peanut or canola oil

1 tsp. toasted sesame oil

2-3 cloves garlic, peeled, thinly sliced

1” piece of fresh ginger, peeled, thinly sliced

pinch of crushed red pepper

1/2 TB. rice, coconut or apple cider vinegar; juice of 1/2 lemon will work well too

1 1/2 TB. wasabi sesame seeds (or more/less depending on your tastes. If wasabi sesame seeds are not available, regular sesame seeds, lightly toasted, will work)

• Heat peanut and sesame oil in large saute pan or wok over med-high heat, until shimmering. Add garlic, ginger and red pepper and saute until fragrant, about 1 min. Be careful to not burn your garlic and ginger.
• Add bok choy and saute, stirring occasionally, for about 2-3 minutes. Add vinegar or lemon juice and stir for about 30 seconds longer. Remove from heat.
• Season to taste with wasabi sesame seeds, salt and pepper.
• Serves 4.

trees + water + blue sky > buildings + cars + people = rad.

I don’t know how it always sneaks up on us so quickly, but it seems that fall has arrived. Temperatures have dropped here in Tahoe, the lake is allllmost getting too cold to swim in, pine trees are turning red and thunderstorms are starting to become a little too frequent. As much as I’d still like to be getting freckles and feeling that warmth of the summer sun, there are definitely a few benefits to the change in seasons. Sweaters, boots, football, baseball playoffs/world series, sitting in front of fires, and….. apple pie!

After a trip to the Tahoe City Farmer’s Market, I felt super inspired by their freshly picked, beautiful local Chieftain apples and just couldn’t help myself. Came right home, busted out my Mom’s apple pie recipe (originally inspired by none other than Betty Crocker - sometimes old school simple is the best way to do delicious!), complete with a few little tweaks of my own.

I encourage all of you to head to your local Farmer’s market and find your own inspiration. After sitting down for dinner with the fam, my dad stated that  “this dinner is just a means to the apple pie.” Simply said but oh, so true. Welcome to Autumn friends!

Apple Pie (adapted from my beautiful mother, and Betty Crocker):

Pastry for a 9” double crust pie:

Notes: I know a lot of folks are very resistant to using shortening. Trust me, I get it! However, shortening will provide you with the flakiest, most delicious pie crust around. Some people swear by an all-butter crust because of the richness it provides, but the consistency never quite turns out as well from my experience. Feel free to choose your fat source or do a blend of the two. I prefer to use Spectrum brand Organic all vegetable, non-hydrogenated shortening.

Also, this pastry recipe typically calls for very cold water to be used as the binding agent, but I took a little tip from Mr. Alton Brown and used vodka instead. It turned out magically! The alcohol will bake right out and the vodka will help add to the flakiness of your crust, as it does not react to the gluten in flour as water would. I love the science of baking almost as much as the eating part of it!

2 cups all-purpose flour (I always prefer to use King Arthur’s - worth the extra $$!)

2/3 c. + 2 TB Organic shortening

1 tsp. salt

4-5 TB. very cold vodka (or water)

Measure out flour into a large bowl, always remembering to scoop flour into your measuring cup and level with a knife. Add salt and lightly mix with a wire whisk. Add shortening or butter and blend using a pastry blender or two knives pulled in opposite directions. Blend until pea-sized lumps form. Add vodka 1 TB. at a time, until dough comes together easily when melded together with your fingers. I usually end up using about 4 TB but it will depend on a lot of factors. The liquid should only be used to bind it all together - you do not want the dough overly wet or sticky.

Half the dough into 2 balls and place each on a sheet of waxed paper. Working with one at a time, use your fingertip to turn the balls into discs about 1/2” thick and about 4-5” wide. Make sure to avoid any cracking in the dough, as it will be harder to roll out without breaking. Wrap each disc in waxed paper and place in freezer to firm up for about 10 minutes.

Remove from freezer and place one disc between 2 new sheets of waxed paper. Using a rolling pin, roll out dough in a circular fashion until large enough to fit into a 9” pie dish with about a 1” overhang. Make sure to push dough into bottom and sides firmly. Place dish in refrigerator to keep cool while preparing apples.

Filling:

3/4 c. sugar

1/4 c. flour

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/4 tsp. cloves

1/4 tsp. allspice

1 tsp. cinnamon

dash of salt

6 cups of peeled, cored, thinly sliced apples (choose a firm, crisp, tart apple such as Granny Smith or Chieftain)

2 TB. cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

lemon juice

1 egg, lightly beaten

Heat oven to 425 deg. Mix sliced apples with juice of one lemon. Stir together sugar, flour, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, cinnamon and salt; mix with apples.

Let meld together for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, roll out top crust between sheets of waxed paper. Turn apple mixture onto pastry-lined pie dish. Dot top of apples with butter. Cover with top crust. Slit top and flute edges together, ensuring a strong seal. Cover edge with foil. Bake about 25 min, remove foil and brush top with egg wash. Bake 15-25 min longer, until golden brown and juices begin to bubble through slits.

icecreamisbetterwithafork:

I want to beg you, as much as I can, to be patient toward all that is unresolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves like locked rooms and like books that are written in a very foreign tongue. 

Do not seek the answers, which cannot be given to you because you would not be able to live them. 

And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer. 

- Rainer Maria Rilke

Well, I’ve been living in N. Lake Tahoe for almost a week now. In a short amount of time, I’ve eased into the pace of life here pretty damn quickly. Things definitely move slower than they do in Seattle and I’m grateful for the opportunity to find more time to cook, write recipes, work on my private chef business and explore local food & beverage. And I’m finally getting this much-talked-about blog up & running!

I’ve already whipped up an amazing batch of peach butter (complete with my first canning experience!) and helped throw together a beautiful summer family meal. Is there anything greater than breaking bread with those you love and making them ‘mmmm & ahhhh’ over the delicious treat of farmer’s market’s bounties and fresh Sockeye salmon?! And it certainly doesn’t hurt to have a new knife to help with said creations (big thanks to the Hunters!!).

Feeling pretty blessed. I look forward to sharing my new adventures with you - both in & out of cooking and thank you all for the inspiration you provide to my creative, soul-satisfying quests!