DailyWaffle - Page 96 of 119 - The Blog About Books and Bites

Cookie Time: German Chocolate Cookies aka Chocowalnos

Every Christmas, I find myself making the same cookies. For every other holiday, it's ok to add new dishes, but at Christmas, there’s something comforting about tradition, about knowing that there will be snickerdoodles and chocolate crinkles and that my mom will probably send me a batch of candy cane cookies. But if tradition is just something you’ve done more than once, these chocolaty, coconutty, walnut-studded "brownie meets German chocolate cake" cookies are going to be a new holiday tradition.

October 23, 2012

Recipes

Comfort Food, Dead Ahead: Chicken Tetrazzini

This week, fall has slammed into us full force. The rain came in over the weekend, and then last night, it was stormy enough that we lost power for a few hours in the middle of the night. It's a good thing, the yard is in desperate need of a soaking, and with that soaking,…

October 17, 2012

Book Reviews Recipes

Blue Bottle Liege Waffles at Home

Waffles don’t show up too often here, despite the blog being called DailyWaffle. Around our house, they get inhaled before they can be captured with anything other than iPhone. So this is big, and if we’re going big, we’re not bringing your average Sunday morning waffles. These are Blue Bottle liege waffles – the ones…

October 15, 2012

Baking Dessert Entertaining

Rosemary Cornmeal Pine Nut Biscotti

It’s Tuesday night. The gorgeous Asian pears are gone, except for a half, the blueberry muffin from Craftsman and Wolves but a memory, the husband is sick and watching Corner Gas somewhere he can’t infect the rest of the household, and I had my dad’s Sloppy Joes for dinner. It involves Campbell’s Chicken Gumbo soup. Don’t judge. It’s back to real life. It’s a relief. Being on the road, dining out for every meal, sounds glam, but it is tiresome. I’m not 25 anymore. But believe me, it’s not a complaint. I had a fantastic time in San Francisco, catching up with folks I see once a year. Italian and Cal-Italian dominated our restaurant choices over the course of the week and Tim, the friend we hung out with at the market, and I chatted about lavender biscotti, so naturally I’m diving back into posting with these little Italian cookies on the brain. So, Rosemary, Cornmeal and Pine Nut biscotti.

October 11, 2012

Travel

California, Here I Come: San Francisco Ferry Building

Two days after being back from SF, I’m finally hungry again. When you’re trying to pack food experiences into a compressed amount of time, you’re never hungry for 3 meals, let alone afternoon snacks. But I persevered. California delivered a gorgeous week of sunshine, practically a heatwave for early October. Ahhh, vitamin D. And not only that, this past weekend happened to coincide with Fleet Week, the America’s Cup, a post-season Giants game, and a Niners game. But let's start with an appetizer, shall we? The Ferry Building ended up being a home away from home of sorts, since it was so close to the hotel.

October 10, 2012

Main Course Recipes

First Day of Fall: Poblano Corn Chowder

It finally rained on Saturday morning, just briefly, but with a clap of thunder that scared the bejeezus out of H. and sent her into our shower and then downstairs to her safe spot. In California it was fireworks, here it's the occasional thunderstorm. Poor ol' girl. Skies were still overcast later in the morning,…

September 23, 2012

Appetizers Recipes

Vegetarian Summer Rolls w/ Quinoa

You know that thing I said about tiptoeing into fall? It’s on hold. Well, temporarily. Ma Nature has gifted us with an extended summer and around these parts, you don’t look a sunny and 75 gift horse in the mouth. You bypass the pumpkin lattes and keep on making cold brew and enjoy every last bit of summer you can, because there’ll be beets and parsnips from the moment it ends until July comes around again next year. I’m sure I’ve committed some kind of culinary crime with these vegetarian summer rolls. Violated a sacrosanct law by bringing quinoa into the picture. A grain that’s as hipster as skinny jeans and typewriters. But if you’re trying to get more whole grains, more fiber, well, then you work it in where you can. These summer rolls are a perfect little snack, a perfect little starter and they’re chock full of vegetables.

September 19, 2012

Dessert Recipes

Killer Blackberry Froyo

At the tail-end of blackberry season, every week is a guessing game. Whose berries will best? Last week, the Skagit Sun blackberries and golden raspberries were terrific. This week those blackberries were phenomenal -- sweet and full of berry flavor. It's not hyperbole. I bought a mixed flat of blackberries, golden raspberries and regular raspberries and ate half a basket of the blackberries as I walked back to the car. Then I high-tailed it back to their booth to get another flat of just blackberries. I thought I might make pork chops with a blackberry-cabernet sauce, but then I remembered this froyo.

September 16, 2012

Recipes Restaurants

Scenes From Cafe Juanita’s Alfresco Pig Roast

Hold on, the headline says pig roast. Why am I looking at soup? Because a pig roast, while delicious, is ugly gorgeous. As the sunny season winds down at Cafe Juanita in Kirkland, Washington, this soup is one of the things I've been looking forward to all summer. Pappa al pomodoro. You know this soup? Tomatoes, hand crushed. Garlic, basil, cayenne, olive oil, balsamic, sherry vinegar, bread. Served at room temp, it is the essence of summer. At Sunday night's Pig Roast, pappa al pomodoro was a pre-dinner summer sipper. This is perhaps the one Cafe Juanita recipe that gets shared the most, but I've never actually made it. Why? It's a destination dish. I'll just say, it's worked out really well that we got married in late summer. If I plan it right, I can have it at the restaurant. If you can't, the recipe is here. So what about that pig roast?

September 14, 2012

Main Course Pasta Recipes

Mushroom Ragu with Fettuccine

I’m tiptoeing into Fall. The last few mornings there’s been more of a chill in the air, but the afternoons are still warm. I'm still wearing flip-flops, but with long sleeve t-shirts. My cherry tomato in a hanging pot is in its second wind. This is when we keep our fingers crossed for one last push. Last night’s pasta carried that forward. Summer's Lite Brite punches of heirloom tomato and basil were left behind, making way for the earthiness of mushroom. We (er, I) haven’t quite given ourselves (read: myself) over entirely to the autumn, but this mushroom ragu was a first tentative step.

September 13, 2012