TBECC Round-Up: Recipes, Crafts, and Books, Oh My!
Posted: April 28, 2011 Filed under: Art & Craft, Farm Women Fancy, Recipes | Tags: coffee, craft, domesticity, farmers market, feminism, food culture, industrial food system, local food, NYC, self-sufficiency, tea, women, women farmers Leave a comment »
“Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself.” This is hands down my favorite quote from a novel ever. I’m a huge Virginia Woolf fan; there’s something about female, high-society writers that I can’t get enough of. (Edith Wharton, anyone?) I’m definitely no literary buff, not even by a long-shot, but I’ve always identified that simple sentence with my own notions of feminism and femininity (beyond the larger context of the book of course, I’m not married to a politician, nor do I have servants). So in preparation for TBECC, a celebration of domesticity and feminism of sorts, I just had to buy flowers…myself.
TBECC was more than just flowers and aesthetics, of course, and it lived up to its name: friends, women, eating, talking about food issues, sharing knowledge and just enjoying each other’s company. We had SO MUCH food. Meg baked a banana cake with chocolate sea salt caramel ganache (which she baked in a toaster oven!); Marlie brought salad (thankfully, some lighter fare) and bread from Hawthorne Valley Farm where she’s a market worker; Julia brought buttermilk pie and honey and jam; and I baked some honey whole wheat pound cake and mini cinnamon rolls. (More recipes to follow!) To drink, I sorted my out-of-control collection of Harney and Sons tea, and pulled out my bag of Counter Culture Jagong coffee (arguably my new favorite, although Crop To Cup’s Burundi is still up there).
Dani Walsh, the wonderful woman behind www.WomenEatNYC.com (and Grub Street intern!!), a bee-yoo-ti-ful blog that includes recipes and pictures of women enjoying food, stopped by and helped out with some necessary lighting in my living room (no natural light, boo!). She also shared some really cute recipe cards (Dani, let me know where you found those little guys!). We discussed our favorite baking books including, The Pie and Pastry Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum (who also wrote the Cake Bible!) and The Bread Bakers Apprentice by Peter Reinhart.
Eventually (it was inevitable) the knitting needles came out and Meg, knitter extraordinaire, shared her go-to book for knitting: The Complete Guide to Needlework edited by Readers Digest. Meg’s copy is ancient, but it’s a gem of a reference book. The pictures are painfully 80s, but the instruction is invaluable, with pictures and clear descriptions of a bajillion patterns and stitches for all kinds of stitching crafts from knitting to quilting to needlepoint to embroidery.
We’re hoping to host another TBECC before the school-year lets out. My hope is that TBECC will encourage more women (men too!) to get together, share domestic knowledge and take back our food system!
Weekend Baking: Whole Wheat Chia and Flax Seed Buttermilk Bread
Posted: April 26, 2011 Filed under: Recipes | Tags: bread, food studies, food summit, recipe, tea 2 Comments »
Phew, that recipe is a mouthful! That’s also a bad pun, my apologies. Last week was an absolute whirlwind. Between writing an intense paper on women and the industrialization of the food system (I think I’ve exhausted this topic by now), catching up on readings, and running around for NYU’s Earth Week, OH and very slowly recovering from a sinus infection/cold thing, my apartment turned into an absolute disaster by Sunday night (which also accurately reflected my well-being). Good news is, today is a gorgeous sunny day and the high is supposed to be 78 degrees. Albeit, I’m stuck in the office all day 9-5, the mere thought of sunny-78-degree-weather is nonetheless exciting.
Before I get to the recipe, I just wanted to share two things: Harney and Sons Royal Wedding Tea and the Atlantic’s Food Summit.
First, Harney and Sons. My good friend Meg, fellow Slow Fooder and tea enthusiast, turned me on to yet another wonderful Harney and Sons creation: Royal Wedding Tea. Considering my half-English heritage (father = born and bred English punker turned Los Angeles cruiser), I love all things English. Although I can’t really identify with the royal-family-fanatic-camp, I have to admit a slight affection for the whimsy of the Royal Wedding.
Meg and I can’t figure out if the Harney and Sons tea is specifically celebrating THE Royal Wedding, or if it’s celebrating royal weddings in general, but we love it either way. Royal Wedding tea is a delicious white tea with almond, coconut, vanilla, with pink rosebuds and petals. It only comes in a 30-sachet tin (I much prefer loose tea, so the sachets are kind of a bummer), but the tin is SO decorative and delicate that I’m ok with sachets, just this once.
And now on to academia, of sorts. Today is the Atlantic magazine’s Food Summit. As part of their “Intelligence Series,” the summit is an all day forum that will explore various food-related topics such as consumer behavior, health and nutrition, and sustainable agriculture. Alice Waters is the keynote speaker for the event, and is giving her presentation at 1:45. You can watch a live-stream of the summit here!
And now, the recipe. I used-up all my leftover buttermilk and some various seeds and what not we have lying around our kitchen. We have SO MANY chia seeds. Last year, Noah mailed me a FIVE POUND BAG of chia seeds. Why? Who knows. I ask myself this every time I open my baking pantry and see three pasta sauce jars full of chia seeds, and for some reason we keep finding the tiny black seeds scattered throughout our bed. I try to use chia seeds in just about every recipe, but you can easily replace the seeds with any other mix-in you like! Sesame seeds, wheat germ, sunflower seeds, dried fruit, etc. This is a great, really quick, no-knead, no-rise, recipe for a delicious and hearty morning bread. Enjoy!
Whole Wheat Chia and Flax Seed Buttermilk Bread
Makes one loaf
Ingredients
1 cup white flour
2 cups whole-wheat flour
3 tbls. flax seed
2 tbls. chia seed
1 tbls. brown sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
2 cups buttermilk
Preparation
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Butter and flour a standard bread pan.
2. Sift the flours, sugar, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Add the seeds or other mix-ins and whisk to combine.
3. Slowly add the buttermilk and mix well. This is a very sticky dough, so don’t be discouraged if it’s tough to handle! I actually rinsed out the inside of my buttermilk carton and poured the residue into the dough to make it even stickier.
4. Pour the dough into the bread pan and flatten as best you can with the spatula. Bake for 40-50 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. It should also make a hollow sound when you tap the bottom of the pan.
My Weekend Baking Part 2: Honey Whole Wheat Pound Cake
Posted: April 21, 2011 Filed under: Recipes | Tags: bees, farmers market, local food, NYC, recipe 1 Comment »
A continuation of my weekend baking – part two! Yes, that’s right, I spent all Sunday morning in my kitchen baking not one, but two different recipes. I was up at 8AM and still baking at noon. I call it “therapy baking.” Which I will be doing some more of tonight: I’m just beginning to come out of my week-long sinus infection (thank you roommate’s humidifier!) and last night I began reading the “History of Agricultural Price-Support and Adjustment Programs, 1933-84,” which is a 52-page historical report by the USDA’s Economic Research Service on, you guessed it, the evolution of agricultural legislation in the U.S. from 1933-1984. It’s dense, but the report is only the calm before the storm; my Food Systems professor assigned it as merely a prep document for understanding the actual 2008 Farm Bill, which is over 1770 pages long by the way. Yeah, no big deal.
In any event, I’ll probably be re-baking this recipe (since it was such a big hit at TBECC) for the NYU Earth Day Fair tomorrow where Slow Food NYU will be hosting a table along with the bajillion other green clubs at NYU (check out the line-up, it’s so awesome to see such a strong showing of environmentalism at NYU). This recipe is a Joy the Baker original. I used local eggs from Millport Farms in Lancaster, Penn (they also have AMAZING raw milk cheese) and local honey from Andrew’s Local Honey (a beekeeper I interviewed for an article I wrote a year and a half ago on rogue beekeepers – before NYC beekeeping was legal!) all gathered at the Union Square Greenmarket.
Honey Whole Wheat Pound Cake
Original recipe from Joy the Baker
Ingredients
2 1/4 cups white whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour (I used 1 cup white flour and 1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour since I didn’t have whole wheat pastry flour and I didn’t want to use all whole wheat flour, which can be pretty dense and overwhelmingly wheaty)
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks (12 Tablespoons of butter)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup honey
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a loaf pan.
2. Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together in a small bowl and set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, whip the butter, sugar and honey on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 to 4 minutes. (Again, I don’t have my dear Kitchen Aid, so I just used an electric hand mixer) Add the vanilla extract. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for about one minute after each addition. Scrape down the bowl as needed.
4. Add the dry mixture and buttermilk in three additions, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Stop the mixer and scrape the bottom of the bowl with a spatula to make sure everything is evenly incorporated.
5. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan. Smooth the top down and bake the cake for about an hour. The cake will be a lovely golden brown and a thin knife inserted into the center of the cake will come out clean.
6. Let the cake cool in the pan for 20 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
My Weekend Baking, Part 1: Mini Cinnamon Buns!
Posted: April 19, 2011 Filed under: Recipes | Tags: recipe 2 Comments »
This past Sunday was TBECC, a celebration of women talking, baking, eating, crafting, and cooking. I’m still recovering from the combination of too-much sugar, coffee, tea, and in general, excitement over such good conversation and company. I’m currently trying my hardest to fight off a sinus-infection-cold-hybrid thing that has been plaguing my life since Thursday, as well as catching up on papers and readings. The good news: it’s exactly ONE MONTH to my Gallatin graduation!
I’ll post more on the TBECC event later this week, but for now I just wanted to share one of the many recipes featured on my living room table for the day: Mini Cinnamon Buns! The recipe was adapted from the wonderful Smitten Kitchen.
Mini Cinnamon Buns with Cream Cheese Glaze
Originally taken from Smitten Kitchen
Makes about 24 mini buns, with some leftover dough which bakes nicely in a ramekin for some cinnamon-sugary-doughy goodness
Dough
1 cup almond milk (SK calls for whole milk)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 1/2 cups (or more) unbleached all purpose flour, divided
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
2 1/4 teaspoons rapid-rise or instant yeast (from 1 envelope yeast)
1 teaspoon salt
Extra butter to slick the dishes, I usually just use the butter wrapper (SK called for non-stick veggie spray)
Filling
3/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
Pinch of salt
Glaze
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup powdered sugar (SK called for 1 cup, but having made icing a bajillion times, 1 cup of powdered sugar ALWAYS produces an icing too sweet for my taste)
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1. Combine milk and butter in glass measuring cup. Microwave on high until butter melts and mixture is just warmed to 120°F to 130°F, about 30 to 45 seconds. Pour into bowl and add 1 cup flour, sugar, egg, yeast, and salt. Mix thoroughly using a rubber spatula. (SK’s recipe called for a stand mixer, but mine is gathering dust at my mom’s house in upstate NY. However, me and my beloved Kitchen Aid will be reunited soon at me and Noah’s new apartment in Brooklyn that has a kitchen about 3 times the size of my current set-up! But more on that later…)
2. Add an additional 2 1/2 cups flour. Mix until flour is absorbed and dough is sticky, scraping down sides of bowl. If dough is very sticky, add more flour by tablespoonfuls until dough begins to form ball and pulls away from sides of bowl.
3. Turn dough out onto lightly floured work surface. Knead until smooth and elastic, adding more flour if sticky, about 8 minutes. Form into ball.
4. Lightly oil large bowl with the butter wrapper. Transfer dough to bowl, turning to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, then kitchen towel. Let dough rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 2 hours.
5. For the filling, mix brown sugar, cinnamon and pinch of salt in medium bowl.
6. After 2 hours of rising time, press down the dough. Transfer to floured work surface. Roll out to 15×11-inch rectangle. Using a sharp knife (I used a steak knife), cut the rolled out dough down the middle length wise. (If you don’t want minis, simply leave the rolled out whole and follow the same directions for the filling.) Spread butter over both sections, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Sprinkle cinnamon mixture evenly over the butter for each section.
7. Starting at the longer side of one of the rolled-out doughs, roll dough into a tight log, pinching gently to keep it rolled up. With seam side down, trim ends straight if they are uneven and cut remaining dough crosswise with a knife, each one about 3/4-1 inch thick.
8. Butter a standard glass casserole dish and arrange the buns cut side up, pinching the seam into the side of the roll so they stay intact as they bake. Cover the dish with plastic wrap, then a kitchen towel. Let dough rise in warm draft-free area until almost doubled in volume, 40 to 45 minutes. (Mine did not rise too much, which may have something to do with the fact that I used almond milk instead of whole milk, but the buns were delicious and fluffy nonetheless.)
9. Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 375°F. Bake rolls until tops are golden, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and invert immediately onto rack. Cool 10 minutes. Turn rolls right side up.
10. For the glaze, combine cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter, and vanilla in a medium bowl. Using electric hand mixer, beat until smooth. Spread glaze on rolls. Serve warm or at room temperature. (I served my glaze on the side in a mason jar with a icing spatula. DIY!)
TBECC: Reclaiming the Domestic, in Action!
Posted: April 15, 2011 Filed under: Art & Craft, Farm Women Fancy, Finger Foods, Recipes | Tags: craft, domesticity, feminism, NYC, women, women farmers 2 Comments »
I couldn’t be more excited for the weekend coming up! On Saturday, Slow Food NYC is having their first volunteer workday. They’re gearing up for their summer program at Ujima Community Garden in Brownsville, Brooklyn, and they need volunteers to help plant and build in the garden, and to prep the classroom. This year they’re adding chickens to their repertoire of urban farming, so naturally we have to build a chicken coop. The coop building is scheduled for the second workday, April 30th. I’m most excited to help build the coop as Noah and I are beginning to think about the potential of our own Brooklyn chicken coop! But more on that some other time…
This Sunday, I’m hosting a wee-little event called TBECC: talk, bake, eat, cook, and craft (not the best acronym, but whatever, it serves its purpose for now). What is TBECC? Well, this semester, I’ve made great connections with some amazing girls at NYU. We’ve exchanged recipes, cooking/baking tips, crafting tips, and in general just had really empowering conversations. I found myself making promises to hang out with everybody in getting together to cook, bake, eat, talk, drink tea/coffee/mircrobrews, knit, craft, etc. all on different occasions. But then I realized, in these different conversations with different girls, that we all had the same ideas in mind: eating locally, sustainability, feminism, crafting, enjoying food, baking/cooking, and all that jazz.
Obviously it would be wonderful to hang out with everyone individually, but I figured, in light of some recent ideas I’ve had about communality and the sharing of domestic knowledge, why don’t I get all these great, intellectual, feminine minds together in one place and just talk, bake, eat, craft and cook? So, we have TBECC this Sunday at my humble apartment! My yarn has been collecting dust under a folding table in my bedroom so I’m especially excited to dust-off my knitting needles and put them to work. And, since we will be cooking, eating, and baking, I have two recipes in mind: Cinnamon Swirl Buns and Grapefruit Honey Yogurt Scones. Reclaiming the domestic, in action!
{image courtesy of Boston Public Library flickr}
