Homemade Graham Crackers - a tale of two recipes

Left: Martha Stewart´s recipe                      Right: Nancy Silverton´s recipe

Necessity is the mother of invention, or in this case the force behind trying different recipes of the same cracker not because I want to have a good homemade version, but because they are non-existent here, so it´s either homemade graham crackers or store-bought vanilla wafers.

Having made hundreds of cheesecakes over the years using a wafer crumb crust, I didn´t really need the extra step. No one cared.

Vintage Mondays - Oatmeal Cake with Broiled Coconut Topping

Since the summer has not ended and it´s hot here, yesterday I made gazpacho for a group, while everyone was busy with chowders, creamy and cheesy concoctions to keep themselves warm. So I thought these images might help you get into vacation mode. Maybe this margarita will give you an extra push? Or this one, or this other one.

I realized my pinterest recipes-to-try board gets bigger every week, to the point where it´s boring to go all the way down. Which contradicts the reason of why I started the board, which is to make those recipes eventually. Here are some I´ll try to tackle very soon, before they get lost in the thread:

Maple bourbon bacon jam from Closet Cooking
Crazy delicious Ham and Cheese sliders from Hip Foodie Mom
Cauliflower pizza from Daily Dish Recipes
Whisky Pecan Pie from Filosofia de Sabor
Salted Chocolate Popcorn from The Kitchn
Chocolate Mint Lava Cakes from Gotta Get Baked
Chocolate Peanut Butter Bundt Cake from In the Kitchen with KP

Bread and Tomato Soup - Gazpacho Style #SundaySupper

I know some of you will liteally shiver when you read the title, since you´re buried in snow or the weather is minus x 2, or something similar, and might not even make it to the recipe, but I had to take a few liberties from what I read about this Sunday Supper event, hosted by Pam of The Meltaways, `what could be better on a cold winter day than soup? Share a soup recipe to warm up with on a chilly day or any time of the year´. 

I clearly choose those last five words as a guide, because it was so.darn.hot when I decided what soup to make.

On wednesday, the actual day I went into the kitchen, chopped and took the pictures, it was actually cool and almost windy, with cloudy skies and a feeling of a sad winter day. And it continued for two more days. I could do with a split pea soup if you ask me. Murphy´s law in full force.

So I suggest you think of this soup as a reminder of sunny and colorful days to come.

The last time I had gazpacho was a few years ago, and I have no idea why I never made it again. It´s my absolute favorite cold soup in the world, there´s no contest, it always wins.

Cheating-on-Winter Pea Soup

Just in case you feel betrayed afterwards, I might as well tell you from the start, there is lettuce in this soup. 

Now that we have that part out of the way, this soup is called Cheating-on-winter Pea Soup and that is a catchy name, imagine if you read pea lettuce soup... because add some onion (I used shallots) and broth, simmer everything for ten minutes, blend it until smooth, and that´s about the recipe.

Whole Wheat Mountain Bread #TwelveLoaves

Though the idea of a good breakfast to start the day doesn´t elude me, I don´t make it a point to have one. No matter how much or not much I ate the night before, there´s an incompatibility going on between my body and my mind for the first hours after I wake up. I already wrote about this, when I posted the muesli with blueberries, but let´s discuss it again, shall we? After all, it is the most important meal of the day.

I fully understand the concept of fueling your body to be able to perform better during the day, a very noble idea, though not necessarily in sync with my needs. I need my coffee when I wake up. And then another coffee. That takes from one to two hours during which I can´t think about actual food. 
Oh, I´m sure I´m not alone here, right?

Boca Negra - or chocolate bourbon pudding cake

The second part of the title is my personal experience with the recipe. It ended up being a pudding cake, or spoon cake or similar. Dark chocolate meets bourbon meets underbaking and finally goes to rest on a spoon. The recipe says to unmold it while hot and eat it warm if possible. So I did.

We´re baking Boca Negra, from the book Baking with Julia. Our host today is Cathy of A Frederick Food Garden, where you´ll find the whole recipe.

Tortitas Negras or `Little Black Cakes´ - a guest post at Food Wanderings

When I read that Shulie was interested in heritage baking I thought I heard her call my name.
She blogs at Food Wanderings, and I´m sure most of you know her already. She´s the voice behind that gorgeous food blog, with incredible recipes like Date and Orange Tea Ring, or my personal favorite Polenta Citrus Cookies. 
I was already following her before I started my own food blog, so this guest post is a real treat.

I´m sharing Tortitas Negras with you today. They have been around for ever, one of the most traditional bakery items in this country, Argentina. They haven´t changed much through the years, are of very simple execution and good for a snack at any time.

So go check out the recipe, say hi to Shulie and spend whatever amount of time you want wandering around her blog. It´s so worth it.

Pear Almond Arugula Salad with Honey Mustard Vinaigrette #SundaySupper

This is a gorgeous salad, with a bit of everything, the kind of salad that is good on the waist and also good for you. Fresh pears used two ways, peppery arugula, toasted almonds, only two plump medjool dates, a bit of good asiago cheese and a wonderful honey mustard vinaigrette.

After very decadent weeks in this kitchen, which included focaccia with roasted grapes, creamy chocolate ice cream with cherries, triple chocolate peanut clusters, fantastic berry pancakes and the most decadent dessert with dulce de leche and puff pastry, this salad is a welcome idea.

Dulce de Leche Mille Feuille - with quick puff pastry

If I were to meet all of you readers and friends, face to face, this is the dessert I would make especially for you. Layers of butter puff pastry with dulce de leche and meringue. A combination that everyone should try at least once in their lifetime. And since, as I told you yesterday, there is a birthday going on, I baked this over the top dessert just for you. To thank you for being here, reading this blog. 

Because what originally was a collateral effect of starting a food blog is now the main reason for keeping it going. I´m talking about all of you who stop by and read or comment or are in the least interested about what goes on throughout these pages.

Cornmeal Berry Pancakes + Homemade Maple Syrup

In a nutshell, the story goes something like this: 
In the mid/late 40´s my paternal grandmother had developed a line of instant cake and pancake mixes, had spent a year or more developing it, had registered a name and was ready to give it a go, an idea that had started with my grandfather, her husband, after he had gone to college in the US, Cornell University to be precise in 1918, and came back in love with boxed mixes, especially pancakes. 
Some kind of argument happened between them, I assume a huge one, that no-one knows in detail, put an end to her dream due to an unexpected decision on his part to back out of the whole thing. 

Chocolate Velvet Ice Cream with Cherry Sauce #SundaySupper

I was dying to make this chocolate ice cream with cherry sauce, a combination I find irresistible. And the frozen cream here deserves the word velvet; though cheesy, it´s self-explanatory.

We´re having a heart´s celebration at the Sunday Supper table hosted by the lovely Jen of Juanita´s Cocina, since I guess it´s no mystery that the sweetest day of the year is almost here.

I will forever have mixed feelings about commercial celebration days. I love birthdays and new year, because, well it is a landmark, another year in your life has passed or a new year is beginning with all the potential it always brings. It´s sort of a rhetorical party in my opinion, you will be a year older and a new year will start whether you like it or not, as a bonus you also get to cheer that a crappy year is over if that suits you.

Fresh Orange Pork Tenderloin

I finally found pork tenderloin just in time to make this recipe. This year the FFWD group has put me to the test, and I have to admit I didn´t quite pass.

I couldn´t find chicken livers, and after looking for them in two butcher shops, I decided not to make the chicken liver gateaux, which I regret since I love chicken liver pate. Then the cellophane noodles and shrimp were not happening given that I don´t like shrimp and those slimy noodles by themselves, well, not appealing at all.

Whole Wheat Focaccia with Roasted Grapes and Goat Cheese

Before we sit down to chat and eat this whole wheat focaccia I think you should go out, buy some seedless grapes, come home, roast them with the tiniest amount of olive oil, and try one. I really, really hope you´ll be as amazed at their sweet flavor as I was. Almost a candy in the form of a soft grape. 
Then the conversation about this whole wheat focaccia with roasted grapes and the mandatory amount of olive oil it needs, will go smoothly and you´ll be as excited about it as I am.

I don´t remember the first time I baked or had focaccia really, but what I do remember with absolute clarity, is the first time I had a focaccia that forever stayed in my mind, as is explained in this post about a walnut, potato and blue cheese one.

Triple Chocolate Peanut Clusters

This is chocolate bark with a different shape. The idea of making your own chocolate bar is so appealing in my opinion, and if you, like me, thought for years that certain flavors or candy could only be achieved by mega companies with complicated, expensive machinery, the excitement and surprise after the first bite is multiplied by a gazillion. 

Oh, they don´t look as flawless or with tiny ridges in the surface, or have a nice wavy pattern or shiny coating since I didn´t template my chocolate or whatever, but they taste superb and you know exactly what the ingredient list is. Which is always a big plus.

Marinated Steak and Chimichurri Sliders #SundaySupper

Imagine you have plate with a juicy rump steak and a tomato salad. You finish eating it and you have the most incredible pool of salty beef juice, vinegar and oil. You reach into the basket with the warm, crusty french bread in front of you,  sop it up and eat it. 
Of course that last part is the highlight of the whole meal, almost as if you ate everything else just to get to that last part. Add some garlic and parsley to that and you have an idea of what these steak and chimichurri sliders are all about.

It´s Super Bowl weekend at the Sunday Supper table, hosted by the most famous Cocina. So of course we´re bringing all sorts of things to eat, both savory and sweet. 
It doesn´t get much better than this type of food, does it? Many sliders, recipes with cheese, dips, chocolate, brownies, cookies, it seems today we get a free pass for all of those things you try to avoid eating all the time.

White Chocolate Raspberry Bundt Cake #BundtaMonth

I can offer you a thought, a good one, when it comes to bundt cake recipes. If you find a recipe that works, and unmolding perfectly well without much prayer being an exclusive quality, stick to it and try to adjust and change it around a bit when looking for different flavors that don´t clash too much with the original. 

This is what I´m doing with this month´s Bundt a Month challenge for chocolate bundt. Any chocolate, any combination.

I was sure I wanted to use white chocolate, because it pairs so well with fresh raspberries, and also it´s the first day of that sweet, romantic month when you´ll see an endless parade around the web of chocolate and hearts in every possible variation, with different shades of red and pink thrown into the mix. 
But it´s not my thing really, as much as I try I have mixed feelings trying to get into the spirit of whatever monthly celebration is taking place. As much as I like to celebrate I like to be more spontaneous about it.