Yummazing!

Dish By Sarah Carroll

Ahh! Has it really been nearly a month since my last post? Wow, time is really flying by these days. Fall is starting to bring “slightly” cooler weather to my little part of the world, which is especially nice because it means that I can start to think about turning on my oven again. These cupcakes were inspired by the $1.99 a pound cherries that graced the shelves of my local grocery for about a months time. They certainly aren’t the most local food I consume, but they are just so hard to pass up!

The little pot this cupcake is sitting in was made by a stellar potter named Sarah Carroll. I never think that I’ll have use for small pots like this in the kitchen, but continually find that they are often among the most frequent in rotation. From sauces, to spices, to cupcakes this little pot is a true worker bee! Hope you enjoy the recipe.

Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting*

1 1/2 cups of flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp vanilla powder
1/4 tsp ceylon cinnamon
1 cup sugar
3 1/2 tbsp butter
1 egg
1/4 c canola oil
1/4 c buttermilk
1/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. While oven is heating mix the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. With a mixer, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add egg and oil, beating well after each addition. 
Next, alternate the addition of the dry mixture and buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour. Mix in chocolate chips. Fill cupcake liners about 2/3 full and bake for approximately 25-30 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting.

Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting

5 oz of cream cheese
3/4 c heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 c powdered sugar
1/8 tsp cinn
1/2 tsp vanilla powder
1tbsp honey

Whip the whipping cream in a large bowl. Mix cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla in another bowl. Mix everything together and whip until smooth. I don’t know about other places, but here in hot hot FL this frosting got pretty runny. If this happens you can put the bowl in the fridge for a while… or you may try adjusting the measurements a bit to thicken it up!

*Another delicious option for these:  Take a little extra cream cheese and mix it with some cherry jam for an inner “stuffed” filling. To do this, cut a shallow cone out of the top of the cupcake, cut off the bottom of the cone and discard it. In the hole, place about a TSP of cream cheese and jam filling. Then replace the top of the cone and frost like normal. To see this process in photos check out this blog post that I just found. It does a great job of explaining it. This made the inside very decadent and moist!

Dish By Sarah Carroll

Plate by Emily Reason

One of my favorite places to visit when I am in Asheville, NC is a little restaurant called Sunny Point Cafe. It was one of my regular haunts when I lived there, and is a necessary stop when I am back in town. Everything made in that kitchen is delicious. So delicious, that I often found my weekend-self waiting with friends in the little rock garden outside of the cafe, with a fresh cup of hot coffee and an anticipatory grin. Mornings like these are my favorite…especially in the fall.

I think, perhaps, I am daydreaming about the cooler times right now because it is currently 93 degrees (with a heat index of 105) here in Florida. Just about everything outside is wilting a little under the weight of the sun these days. So, in a small fit of rebellion, I decided to make an adaptation of one of my fall favorites this morning. This is a pretty simple recipe that I worked up to bring a little taste of Sunny Point’s “Sweet One” french toast into the sultry heat of Florida.

Like “The Sweet One,” I took the basic idea of cream cheese and jam on french toast except I decided to spice it up a bit. I’m quite sure that just about any fruity jam and cream cheese would be divine, but I decided to use up some of the remaining orange cherry marmalade I made last season from the little orange tree in our yard. The bold qualities of the citrus when combined with savory cheese and warm almond flavors make for a mighty tasty breakfast situation. Take that, summer!

The challa bread pictured above is making it’s debut appearance on a beautiful plate made by a wonderful potter and friend named Emily Reason. I have several of Emily’s pieces and I honestly love every single one. However, this newest one with it’s satiny black glaze and grooved ribbon like rim is, without a doubt, my pottery collections equivilent to the “little black dress.” It is soft, sleek and sexy… and it really does make everything look just a little bit better. Hope you enjoy the recipe!

Plate by Lindsay Rogers

Almond Scented French Toast with Marmalade Cream Cheese
(Makes roughly 4 slices of toast)

Dish by Gwendolyn Yoppolo

I know. I know… more blueberries. It’s late and I just can’t seem to help myself! I was going through my photos from my trip this summer and found this image among them. So, I thought I might just go ahead and post a little midnight (or 1:00 am… but who’s counting?) eye candy. I really don’t think that there could be a better pot for those blueberries than this little dish made by Gwendolyn Yoppolo. Amazing person, amazing work and amazing berries.

Good night, y’all! Sweeeeeet dreams!

Bowl by Dandee Pattee

After two long months of travel I am finally back home! It was an AMAZING trip and in many ways I can’t believe it is actually over. Especially because the preparation required for a long distance adventure like this actually extends its impact on your life, making its end all the more surprising. However, when I take the time to separate out my memories and think back on all of the great conversations, the wonderful people, the delicious meals and inspiring landscapes, I am over whelmed by how much I have experienced. Never the less, time has been pretty consistently energetic this summer and keeps on zipping by.

With that said, things on the home front have been moving forward pretty quickly as well. One of the major developments while I was away was that our chickens started laying their first eggs! (I am already envisioning some of my roommates amazing, huevos rancheros, in my future.) It’s so wonderful having chickens. Not only are their little personalities incredibly entertaining, but there are just piles of delicious eggs! The ones photographed above are in a bowl made by my good friend Dandee Pattee. I just love this pot. She isn’t making work like this these days, so I feel especially lucky to have it! Actually, part of what I love about collecting pottery is witnessing the change in an artists work over time. It’s about having an object that you are connected to and living with it and all of the memories it evokes. I suppose this kind of goes back to those feelings of attachment that I wrote about in my memorial post. Each pot connects me to the memory of a person and a time, and when a persons work changes, those memories are just a little bit louder. For me, these are great things to come in contact with every day!

Well, speaking of the day, I wasn’t planning on writing this much and I need to get started with my day today! Now that I am settling back in to my kitchen you can expect some more yummy recipes coming up. Hope you have a lovely, lovely day!

Bowl by Lindsay Rogers

I promise (I think) I will stop posting about the blueberries soon! However, I don’t really know how I am supposed to when they simply won’t stop looking so darn pretty! I suppose I have known from the onset of this food sharing adventure that some repetition was bound to happen with my focus being on seasonal ingredients. So, you can take this additional berry loving post as a tribute to the many berries that I have happily consumed, with no cooking alteration, over the past few months. Like many freshly picked things in my kitchen, the berries pictured in the bowl above (made by yours truly) didn’t make it through the first hour of countertop life. I did, however, manage to take a quick photo before they were gone, capturing that beautiful happening when complimentary colors show off their harmonious partnership. Now that they are gone? Well… I’ll just have to go out and pick more. ;)

With that said, I am still on the road (heading north) and running right up the path of ripening berries along the east coast of the country. Once I land back at home where I am cooking more regularly additional seasonal recipes (and photos of them!) should start popping up again. For now, check out this link to the ball canning recipe for Blueberry Lime Jam. Home canners beware! People will literally fight you for the last jar of this stuff. When I made it last season, my friend Scott told me that it tasted like a berry margarita. I thought that was a pretty accurate description. Of course, the daredevil in me altered the recipe to use a little less sugar and a little more lime juice… I never have been able to follow a recipe exactly! If you make it, let me know how it comes out!

From the garden to the table, the berries of WNC are donning their best wardrobe ever! Pottery by Gay Smith makes even the prettiest and freshest berries even more delicious.

Bowl by Gay Smith

Bowls by Gay Smith

Bowls by Gay Smith

This morning I woke up to the unmistakeable sound of rain on a tin roof. For just a few more days I will be staying in the the Craft House at the Penland School of Crafts. This beautiful old building is as charming and comfortable as sitting on a porch with a good friend, a glass of lemonade and a summer breeze. As I lay in bed in bed this morning, I listened to the rain change from drizzly and lovely lyrical snaps to the pouring enthusiasm of a thunderous applause… and back again. Needless to say, it was a hard task motivating myself to get out of bed!

This is typically the point in the day where I start to day dream about the foods (and memories of foods) that are the most comforting to me. Above is an image of one of my absolute favorite foods from my childhood: Potage Saint-Germain. I know what you are thinking and, yes, as a child I really did LOVE this pea soup. The recipe my mom used came right out of Julias, Mastering the Art of French Cooking and it is not to be missed. I think part of what made this recipe so special to me was that it was strictly seasonal. It simply has to be made with fresh peas. Only after we had gone to the farm, picked the peas, shelled the peas and then cooked them could we taste this absolutely amazing soup.

So, on that note, I’ll leave you thinking warm thoughts of delicious food. I hope you can get out and enjoy whatever weather you are experiencing today. Here in Penland North Carolina, we will continue to hurry from building to building with our heads covered and our feet soggy, and watch as the blueberries soak in the rain and the clay studio radiates with the hum of pottery wheels spinning…

Plate by Michael Kline

Well, I’m considering myself a very lucky lady these days. I am here at Penland School of Crafts assisting the wonderful Emily Reason in a two week workshop in the clay studio. As usual, the class is inspiring, the people are wonderful and the mountains are as gorgeous as ever. Along with this wonderful atmosphere, there is AMAZING food. Here at Penland, scratch-made meals are prepared for you three times a day. That’s right, folks. Three times a day! To top it off, much of the produce cooked up in Penlands kitchen comes from the garden that lives just a short walk away from the dining room.

Above is a photo I took out at the dye shed on Penlands campus. One of my favorite things in the Penland dining hall is the the salad bar packed full of fresh veggies and multiple protein options at every meal! Yesterdays dinner consisted of a marinated tofu and beet salad. Not only was the meal delicious, but I go to test out my brand new Michael Kline plate. I think this may actually be the first time that I have documented the debut of a new pot. I may need to make a habit of that!

Well, I’m off to make some pots.  I hope you all have a delicious day… I know I will! ;)

Ok, Folks. Here are just a few shots of the completely yummazing food that I have experienced in the Bay Area of California. I think it’s safe to say that when it comes to creative cuisine prepared with fresh ingredients,  this is really the place to be! The photos below are a from a few of my favorite places so far: Boulevard, Ubuntu and Gather. I hope you enjoy the pictures. I will write more about my trip when I have time to digest (both literally and figuratively!) all that I have experienced on this trip.

For the next week or so I will be traveling around the Bay Area of California taking in all that I can about the food and ceramic communities out here. I have been here for just a few days and it is already very apparent that the farm to table movement is enthusiastically embraced in this region heavy with farmland and steeped in culinary history. I have been keeping my eyes peeled for local, handmade pots in the restaurants I have visited so far and, to my surprise, a few have quietly appeared on the periphery of our meals! The beet and carrot cake (with goat cheese frosting and almond sorbet) above from Bar Tartine, was not only delicious but served up on a handmade pot. Also, at the end of an amazing brunch at PLOW we were presented our check on a sweet little Rae Dunn plate. San Francisco, I think you are stealing a little piece of my heart.