Pink of Perfection

Since we began the week with cookies, it seems only fitting that we should continue on to ice cream. No, I am not single-handedly trying to wreck any resolutions you have for healthy eating. I think of myself more as the Ambassador of Pleasure, reminding you that every day should have its moments of unadulterated delight, whether that should come in the form of a quiet snowy walk, a tea date with a friend, or, you know, ice cream.

And what’s better than a bowl of ice cream following supper? Since you ask, I can say with the utmost certainty the answer is ice cream drowned in espresso and topped with whipped cream. My better half and I ate this on New Year’s Eve when we knew our energy reserves would be running dangerously low for the ball-drop. (Little did I know then that J. Lo’s sheery spangly catsuit would jolt me right awake.)  Coffee fiend that I am, I expected something delicious. But I did not suspect that I would be struck dumb, awash in the saporous delight of my absolute new favorite dessert. The espresso tempers the sweetness of the ice cream and the whipped cream is just to be ridiculous. It play its part well.

Continue reading “Chocolate Hazelnut Affogato” »

Can we talk about cookies yet?

I know you’re all eating tofu and baby bok choy and feeling like lean, virtuous tigers of unbounded energy, but consider the cookie. So perfectly portioned, sweet, buttery, a little salty. The perfect nibble, really, with an afternoon cup of tea when you feel your will to look at another spreadsheet flagging. And even though I can’t think of a way to convince you that a cookie is the gold standard in nutrition, you can’t deny how utterly wholesome these devils are. What do you think Laura Ingalls Wilder ate on the grassy plains when she sat cooling her heels in a cold brook? What did Jane Austen use to fortify her mind while considering the proper twist to bring Elizabeth and Darcy back together? I cannot prove that it was cookies, but I feel quite certain that the chances are good it was.

Necessity inspired a revelation with this particular recipe. All I happened to have in the freezer was salted butter, undoubtedly something my mom sent me home with in a “your not eating well enough” care package. Here, take four sticks of butter. Anyway, I followed the recipe to a t, using the salted butter and then absentmindedly stirring in additional salt as well. The results were addictive: flat, rich cookies, crisp on the edges, soft in the middle, studded with saltiness. A cure for the Mondays? I won’t make any promises, but it’s worth a shot.

Continue reading “Peanut Butter Cup Cookies” »

I say salty because that’s what catapults these rich cookie bars into another stratosphere. Without the salt these sweet rectangles would be cloying. With that lick of savoriness, a layer of butter cookie topped with a salted chocolate caramel and sprinkled with sea salt becomes otherworldly. One guest proclaimed that these knocked chocolate chip cookies out of her favorite cookie spot.

I say salty also because as filled with as I am with hope, goals, dreams, and expectations for the new year, I’m sure those dark days will come: we’ll get caught in the rain (but not in a romantic way), stay home sick (but not in that mental health day kind of way), and fine ourselves beset by the blues (and not necessarily in a creatively rich Dorothy Parker kind of way).

Just today I woke up with the world unexpectedly softened by snow. At first, it seemed magical in that Christmas morning kind of way. And then I thought of the treacherous streets, worried about someone I love moving from one office to another, just today turning the page on one life chapter. Perhaps the best we can do is notice the flip side of life, and then turn that coin right back to the bright side. That is the art and challenge of living well, no matter how fat your bank account.

Whenever I talk of moving to some fair city and starting anew, a friend reminds me, “Wherever you go, there you are.” The same certainly can be said for money. Sure, some of life’s problems can be banished by waving a wad of cash at them. But the heart of what it means to live fully, ecstatically, confronts rich and poor alike everyday: What is truly meaningful to me? How can I create a daily life that contains my deepest values? What (gulp) is the meaning of my life? And what’s for dinner?

As we approach a new year and the fourth (!!!) anniversary of Pink of Perfection, I want to thank all of you for coming to this site, reading, hanging out in the forum, and most of all, leaving your insightful, funny comments. I have always loved this blog as my creative place; the unexpected joy has been watching it become a gathering spot to the wisest, loveliest blog readers out there. I take great comfort in this community, and I hope you do, too. Here’s to another year of asking the big questions and savoring the smallest pleasures. Happy New Year!

Continue reading “A Sweet (and Salty) New Year” »

Though my means may be reduced from the days of whole sides of salmon and a digestif of chocolatey brandy, my love of entertaining has not waned. And why should it? A party can still be a be a kick-up-your-heels affair when guests are served bowls of chili, they just might not be as inspired to don a plaid strapless number, or pair their seductively low-cut red silk with pearls. Serving a dinner that seems a little special requires a bit of scheming, but it’s not impossible. A magician may pull a rabbit from a hat, but a clever hostess can extract 3 courses for 8 people out of $50. Some general tips for a thrifty affair:

• Have your guests bring the wine. When people ask what they can bring, be specific. Guests love assignments! Let them know that the party’s bar will be stocked by the guests and to bring what they want to drink. And no, this does not seem cheap. You’re serving forth a multi-course dinner, you don’t need to quench everyone’s thirst, as well. A bottle or two stowed in the fridge just in case might put worry-wart hostesses at ease (and provides the opportunity to take a nip of something before the guests arrive).
• Go easy on the appetizers. As much as I love cheese — and believe me, I mean I love cheese — people, ahem, have a tendency to overdo it when a creamy wedge of brie is plopped right in front of them as they’re tossing back drinks. You wouldn’t want your lady guests wishing they bought their green off-the-shoulder frock one size large this early in the evening. Pre-dinner nibbles should whet the appetite, not sate it. Olives and cheesy breadsticks always seem to go over well.
• Make vegetables the stars. Instead of relying on a pricey roast to steal the show, put super fresh seasonal vegetables in starring roles in beautiful salads, soups, and side dishes. A $2 head of cauliflower and precious little else can become a delicate and creamy soup that starts the night off on a high note.
• Let the sales guide you. It’s easy to plan a menu when the sky’s the limit — it takes resourcefulness to think about what’s in season and what’s on sale to come up with courses that complement and enhance one another. Think of it as a challenge!

Continue reading “Dinner Party on a Budget” »

A friend of mine who has recently received an Adult Dose of Life’s Bad Stuff met me for a cozy fall cocktail a couple of weeks ago. We sat in the wooden booths of my favorite neighborhood bar surrounded by walls of white subway tile and settled in for Real Talk. The buttered rum (her) and apple-gin-maple-syrup cocktail (me) quickly got us in a chatty groove. I was coming off a time in life so happy, I burst into tears every time I recounted details of it, and my friend was coming off a time so trying, she too burst into tears. At this particular moment in time, toasting our friendship in low candlelight, our lives could not have been more different.

But my friend is kind of a genius of perception and she found the common thread: we both felt blessedly lucky to have support. For me, having friends and family from different times in my life and points on the globe descend on one backyard to toast to a solemn vow made for a wedding day of magic. For my friend, her friends and loved ones were laboring on her behalf — behind the scenes at times — to make her life run a little more smoothly as she passed through some serious turbulence. “If I’ve learned one thing this fall,” she said, “it’s that we get what we need.”

I wonder if we need the kick in the pants life serves us sometimes–the tests of our mettle, the challenges of our character. I prefer, more pleasantly, to believe that life knows when we need to see an adorable child or step into a short line at the grocery store. But there is some comfort in knowing that whether we’re served treats or tests, we are always only getting what we can handle. It is hard to see the need in brushes with death or extreme poverty or hunger, but maybe it’s in there somewhere. I’m still trying to figure it out.

What I’m sure of, though, is that upon returning from my honeymoon, I needed to meet with a group of strangers on a Sunday evening in November in a cozy brownstone to drink red wine and talk about Mad Men. I needed a book club — had wanted one for years — but at exactly the right moment, there it was: a roomful of smart, accomplished women who wanted to talk about literature and eat cake. My kind of girls.

Continue reading “Classic Pound Cake: Book Club Tested, Book Club Approved” »

You bought a quart of buttermilk for one recipe and now you’re wondering what to do with the rest? So been there. Allow me to introduce the Ultimate Buttermilk Recipe Repository! I scoured the web for the best-looking recipes that call for a bit of buttermilk, giving us plenty of opportunities to use up what’s still left in the fridge.

Breakfast

• Wheat Germ Scones with Dried Fruit and Nuts
• Buttermilk Banana Bread
• Pumpkin Pecan Muffins
• Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes
• Buttermilk Bran Muffins
• Buttermilk Oatmeal Muffins
• Pumpkin Walnut Flapjacks
• Strawberry Buckwheat Muffins

Continue reading “Ultimate Buttermilk Recipe Repository” »

Even before I was invited over to a friend’s house for the world’s best beans and rice (holy ham hock!), these cookies had been on my mind. Cool air makes me think of oatmeal. Strike that, cool air makes me want to bake, and nothing gets me back into the baking swing of things than cookies. So wickedly wholesome, so perfectly portioned, so associated with all that is good and innocent and simple in the world. But if oatmeal needs a friend, I confess raisins just don’t get my heart pumping. Chocolate chips, you say? Now we’re talking.

When I discovered, however, that I was out of brown sugar, my powers of improvisation leapt at the idea of making these cookies with maple sugar (white sugar mixed with, of course, maple syrup rather than molasses). I thought the maple flavor would kick up the fall feeling of these cookies. But to my dismay, the maple ended up being a silent accompaniment to the batter. Now I find myself wondering how far a little extra maple syrup would have gone… It’s important to ask the big questions on Monday morning.

Continue reading “Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies” »

September means back to school, which for me signifies a return to my grand diplome course. No, I didn’t forget about it, but truth be told, I’ve been hung up on the cake lesson. Who in their right mind, without a birthday to commemorate, wants to bake something like this on a hot summer day?

The September issue of Everyday Food with its recipe for a plum cake, however, got me in the mood. There is just something about plum cake that seems to have a hold on people’s psyche. Just the words sound anachronistic to my ears, like an antique baking tradition in which brunettes with twin braids in long, calico dresses carry hot baked goods to the prarie neighbors after picking the last of the season’s plums. Or something.

Whatever the connotations, there is an undeniable bit of cozy magic at work. Because everyone I mentioned this to got a dreamy, far-off look in their eye, remembering plum cakes of days gone by. Meanwhile, I had never had one in my life. Plum tarts — sure — but not a cake. And even still, there was something so dear about just the idea of it, like a treat Mama Bear would pull out of the oven to serve with a tiny china cup filled with weak, milky tea.

I served it instead to the man I’m going to marry in 52 short days, dusted with powdered sugar, and chased with a small glass of whiskey (it had been a rough day). The reviews were raves, and the wedding’s still on.

Continue reading “Super Moist Plum Cake” »