Donut Days

from Leite's Culinaria

It's cold and drizzly and it's making me crave doughnuts.  The kind of doughnuts that's hot and fresh from the fryer, glazed with sugar and paired with some good dark coffee and a soft cozy robe.  As a rule, I don't eat doughnuts.  As least not the ones that are sold at the doughnut shops.  They are always cold, flavorless and disappointingly sad.  I have been lucky enough to have tasted freshly made, small batch doughnuts with a simple sugar glaze from farmer's markets in San Luis Obispo and Seattle.  Every time  I have one of those culinary beauties, it's  a revelation for my tastebuds.  Paul & I talk about having doughnuts for dinner and finding the perfect recipes to use.  Today I looked at one of my favorite food sites and there's this beautiful shot of glazed doughnuts and a recipe.  I think it's fate speaking and we are finally going to have doughnuts for dinner, yeeha!

Glazed Doughnuts Recipe from Leite's Culinaria

For the doughnuts:
3 tablespoons active dry yeast
1 cup whole milk, heated to 110˚F (43°C)
2 to 2 1/2 cups bread flour, plus more for the work surface
2 tablespoons superfine sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large egg yolks
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
Vegetable oil for frying

For the sugar glaze:
1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted to remove any lumps
3 to 4 tablespoons milk or water
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (optional)

For the chocolate glaze:
1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
4 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 tablespoons milk or water
2 tteaspoons vanilla extract

Make the doughnuts:
1. In a medium bowl, dissolve 2 tablespoons of the yeast in 3/4 cup of the warm milk. Stir in 3/4 cup of the flour to create a smooth paste. Cover and let rest in a warm spot for 30 minutes.
2. Combine the remaining warm milk and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the flour mixture along with the sugar, salt, vanilla, and egg yolks. Mix until smooth. Turn off the mixer and add 1/2 cup of the remaining flour. Mix on low for about 30 seconds. Add the butter and mix until it becomes incorporated, about 30 seconds. Switch to a dough hook and, with the mixer turned off, add more flour, about 1/4 cup at a time. Knead the dough on medium speed between additions until the dough pulls completely away from the sides of the bowl and is smooth and not too sticky. It will be very soft and moist, but not so sticky that you can’t roll it out. (You may have flour left over.) Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 12 hours.
3. Line a baking sheet with a lightly floured dish towel. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/2 inch thick. With a doughnut or cookie cutter, cut out 3-inch-diameter rounds with 1-inch-diameter holes. (Note: If making filled doughnuts, clearly, don’t cut out the holes.) You can re-roll the scraps and cut out additional holes.
4. Place the doughnuts at least 1 inch apart on the baking sheet and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let rest in a warm spot to proof until they almost double in size, 5 to 20 minutes, peeking every five minutes. To test whether the dough is ready, touch it lightly with a fingertip. If it springs back immediately, it needs more time. If it springs back slowly, it is ready. If it doesn’t spring back at all, it has over-proofed, in which case you can punch it down and re-roll it once.
5. While the doughnuts are proofing, heat a heavy-bottomed pot with at least 2 inches of oil until a deep-fat thermometer registers 360˚F (182°C). With a metal spatula, carefully place a couple of doughnut holes or doughnuts in the oil, being careful not to crowd the pot. Fry for 1 to 2 minutes per side, until light golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon, drain on a wire rack over a paper towel, and let cool slightly before glazing. Repeat with the remaining doughnuts and holes, keeping the temperature consistent.

Make the glaze:
1. Whichever glaze you’re making, place the sugar (and cocoa powder, if relevant) in a bowl and slowly stir in the milk and vanilla, if using, a little at a time, to make a smooth, pourable glaze.

Glaze the doughnut:
1. Pour the glaze into a shallow bowl. Dunk the doughnuts, let any excess glaze drip off, and then transfer the doughnuts to a wire rack placed on a baking sheet or over a sheet of parchment paper to rest until glaze sets. (Who are we kidding? We know these glazed doughnuts are going straight from bowl to gaping mouth.)

Chocolate & Cherry COOOOKIES!!!!!

It's been a crazy hectic month with our mad  rush to get the house on the market by March 3rd for the realtor's caravan.  Paul and I have been so busy working our fingers to the bone for almost two months straight  that we have forgotten to enjoy ourselves.  This Sunday, we allowed ourselves the luxury of a quiet dinner at home in our clean, beautiful home.  Paul made cocktails for us girls while  I made a pasta primavera.  I quietly suggested to Paul that we need something sweet to make this a special dinner.  Of course the girls had many suggestions.  How about chocolate mousse Daddy, what about chocolate pudding?  You see the theme here, don't you?  How about the "special" chocolate chip cookies?  The one with the sea salt and dark chocolate chunks and dried cherries ????  I see his eyes light up and then he heads towards the computer to look up the recipe.  It's one of those recipes that floated around the Internet a few year ago as the "ultimate" chocolate chip cookies.  They require resting time in the fridge for several days. Patience is key to these delicious cookies.  But you can take  a small scoop on the first day and call it quality control, knowing it'll be even better a few days later.  Of course I added my own variations, I always do and it's much better of course. Here's the recipe adapted from Leite's Culinaria with variations  courtesy of Moi!  Tonight we baked up the rest of the dough and it's oh so good.  Treat yourself to  a good time, you deserve it.

Chocolate & Cherry Cookies

1 1/2 cups flour minus 2 Tablespoons
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 2/3 cups (8 1/2 ounces) bread flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar
2 tablespoons molasses
1 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract or Kahlua
1 1/4 pounds bittersweet chocolate disks or fèves, at least 60 percent cacao content ( Buy it at whole foods)
or I use Trader Joe's Pounds Plus bittersweet chocolate chopped up with sharp knife into large chunks
1&1/2 cups of dried cherries
Sea salt

Directions:

1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.
2. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Add in cherries and drop in chocolate pieces, incorporate them without breaking them. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.
3. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.
4. Scoop six 3 1/2-ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls or a small baby fist) onto baking sheet, making sure to turn horizontally any chocolate pieces that are poking up; it will make for a more attractive cookie. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day.

Eat warm, with a big napkin and a happy, happy smile!!!!!

Spring????

The weather has been so inconsistent lately in Southern California.  Last week my friends and I were complaining about the 80 degrees weather and having to look for summery clothes in February.  Then this week the rain came in and the heater was on all day long.  How is a girl supposed to plan her fashion wardrobe for Spring?  Does she shop for fabulous raincoats and boots to anticipate April showers or does she abandon Spring and shop for the heat that's right around the corner?   And then there's the swimsuits that inevitably haunt every woman when the temperature approaches eighty.  What is a girl to do?



Burberry Trench: a splash of color in the rain $695!!!

Hunter Tall Welly Boots: worn by all the "stars" $150



Essentiel Spring/Summer Lookbook


Essentiel  Lookbook


Essentiel  Lookbook


Karla Colleto: lace-up $395


Uummm, the plan is to starve for three months until June and with ALL the money she saves, a girl can afford all these fabulous clothes and look marvelous too!  You go girl!

Eating Fractals and Stars

Romanesco Cauliflower- fractal icon

Someone once remarked that we eat first with our eyes and then our mouths.  I contend that for some of us, we eat first with our eyes, then our brains.  My brain is fired up by the visual cues of colors and textures of my food.   I am beyond excited to cut into the bright red watermelon in mid-summer, the sweet juices that run onto my counter sets my brain swimming in anticipatory pleasures.  Sometimes the names of foods are evocative provocations for the brain.  Who wouldn't want to eat a star fruit?  Does a dragon fruit sound intriguing to you?   How about consuming  a plate of fractals?  Fractals, you say?  My husband is a physicist and mathematician, so eating  a plate of fractals sends his brain into ecstatic overdrive. Actually, many foods send him over the edge, especially anything containing chocolate, cream and butter. To simplify a lengthy and fascinating subject, fractals are geometric shapes found in nature that contain self- similar patterns.  The Romanesco cauliflower is a dominant icon for fractals, as are ferns, broccoli and cauliflower.  Break apart your cauliflower and you see the self-similar patterns emerging with each floret.

So yes, just like sex, eating starts with the eyes, taking in the fantastic shapes, patterns and textures.  But in the end we all recognise that the brain is where the pleasure occurs.  From the brain to the palate, I say bon appetit!

Star Fruit

Dragon Fruit

Be Mine

I am not a big fan of Valentine's Day.  It feels disingenuous to me, a blatant corporate takeover of love and its tributaries.  I am however, a huge fan of the gorgeous paper artwork of Yulia Brodskaya.  She is a true Valentine to the world.  Here's  a  few of her creations that keeps me dreaming of paper and glue.  She's a real inspiration.

Don't you love her too?  Yulia Brodskaya

Once Upon a Time

Il etait une fois - Benjamin Lacombe By BCWALL from B&C on Vimeo.

My French tutor would read to me in French when I was a little girl, always starting with "Il etait une fois", Once Upon a Time. The fairy tales were mesmerizing not because I understood much French but because the pictures transported me to another time and place. I miss those stories and wish that I can find them for my girls. Looking back now, I recognise that they were full of nuances and dark beauty that the glossy Disney versions lack. The fairy tales I grew up listening to were not so much happy-ever dreams but cautionary narratives of another time. I was so excited to come across this video. It was everything I loved about my childhood memories of fairy tales. This video is a promotion for a pop-up book by French artist Benjamin Lacombe. It is simply magnifique, providing an illuminating perspective on eight classic fairy tales. Alice in Wonderland, Pinocchio, Sleeping Beauty, Bluebeard, Peter Pan , Little Red Riding Hood, Madama Butterfly, and Thumbelina. You don't have to be a Francopile to be read this book but good luck getting it on Amazon.

Benjamin Lacombe is a genius, oui?  Find out more at http://www.benjaminlacombe.com/

A Study in Contrast

This past weekend brought two flower commissions that was a study in contrast.  One a texturally simple and monotonal perspective on succulents and the other a lush arrangement of spring flowers.  The spring flower arrangement was a combination of scented geranium, trumpet flower vines, and ligustrum berries from my garden, combined with anemones, roses, and lemon/lime parrot tulips.  It was wonderfully fragrant and evocative of spring.  The other arrangement was  a request for a long lasting arrangement using succulents.  I paired several types of aeonium cacti together in a red glazed ceramic box to form a lush arrangement.  Green moss surrounds the rosettes of succulents. I liked the succulent arrangement so much that I made one for our living room.

Does it conjure up spring in an English garden?

a tiny posy of anemone, scented geranium,  and fennel for my client

three different aeoniums

the rosettes of the aeoniums form a lush display

Happy Lunar New Year

Today marks the start of the new year in many eastern cultures observing the lunar calendar.

The peach blossom symbolizes fecundity and prosperity. Many Asian cultures display cut branches of blossoming flowers in their home during the New Year celebration to bring in good luck. These blossoms came from a tree that my father grafted himself from two different peach varietals.  He gave me this tree as a gift last year.   It was lovingly planted by my husband in our front yard.  Now we can see it from our large picture window and Paul can see it when he sits down to play his piano.  This picture was from last March.  I love the contrast between the soft, delicate pink and the shocking fuchsia.   I am looking forward to spring and seeing the delicate blossoms again.

May you have a prosperous, healthy, and happy new year.