today is my very last day at the agency i’ve worked at since 2004. and mike’s last day at the company he’s worked at since 2003. and this is our last weekend in santa cruz.

so we have been saying and will be saying a lot of good-byes to many wonderful and amazing family, friends, and co-workers – people who have helped shape our lives, and who we’ve learned so much from over the years.

and let me tell ya, good-byes are not my forte. in fact, they’re one of my least favorite things in the world. but all the good-byes are bittersweet – i know we’ll stay in touch with these fantastic people, and i’m pretty darn excited about seattle, grad school, and our new apartment.

of course, with t minus 4 days left before the big move, we’re still eating down our cupboards at home. this orzo salad utilized walnuts, orzo, and balsamic vinegar dressing that we had lying around. and it tasted pretty delicious.

so while i go say more good-byes, i highly suggest you check out this orzo salad. and the next time i post, we’ll be in seattle!

one year ago: grilled veggie sandwiches
two years ago: falafel from scratch

orzo salad

yields about 6 side servings

• 1/2 pound orzo
• 1 ½c cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
• 2T basil, washed, dried, and chopped
• 1/4c walnuts, broken into quarters
• 3T balsamic vinegarette (or 1T balsamic vinegar, 2T olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste)
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1. boil salted water in a pan and add the orzo
2. cook the orzo until al dente (for us it was about 12 minutes), then drain and rinse thoroughly with cold water
3. meanwhile, place the halved cherry tomatoes, chopped basil, and broken walnuts into  a medium sized mixing bowl
4. add the cooked orzo
5. top with the balsamic vinegarette
6. stir, and enjoy!

well here we are, one week later, much more packed than when i last wrote, and much much closer to moving!!

everything feels surreal right now, because all my daily routines are the same, except i’m constantly counting down in my head. five more days of driving to work. six more days of driving home from work. twelve more dinners. two more weekends in santa cruz.two more blog posts. a gazillion more boxes to pack. just kidding on the last one – there’s no way i could count the enormous number of boxes that we’ve packed and that we still have to pack!

i’m simultaneously excited about the future and sad about moving away my family, friends, job,  and hometown. such mixed emotions!

i’m still cooking though, throughout all this, and trying to use up as many items from our fridge, freezer, and cabinets as possible. we’ve been doing this  for several weeks now, as we tend to have a very well stocked pantry and freezer at all times, and thus anticipated a lengthy eat-down-the-pantry process. but these days i’m feeling like old mother hubbard (who went to her cupboard…).

so what does all this have to do with blueberry scones? well, i had one last bag of  frozen blueberries in my freezer. so i turned them into scones! this recipe made amazingly light scones, which is definitely my preference – i am not a fan of the heavy, dry kind that one) often finds in bakeries. although they were definitely best the same day they were made, we found that if we stuck them on a baking sheet in a 400º oven for about 5 minutes, they crisped right back up and were almost as good as new.  so i hope you enjoy, and i’ll see you all back here next week!

one year ago: tomato pie
two years ago: honey glazed tofu with couscous

blueberry scones

yields 8 scones
adapted from martha stewart.com

• 2c flour
• 3T sugar (plus more for sprinkling over the top)
• 1T baking powder
• 3/4t salt
• 6T cold butter, cubed (plus more for greasing the pan)
• 1½c fresh or frozen blueberries (i didn’t thaw my frozen berries, and they turned out great)
• 1/3c (soy) milk (plus more for brushing the tops)
• 1/2t vanilla
• 2 eggs  (plus  one for brushing the tops)
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1. preheat the oven to 400º
2. grease a cookie sheet and set aside
3. in a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt, stirring to combine
4. add the cubed butter and use a pastry blender to mix the butter into the flour mixture, until all butter pieces are pea sized
5. stur in the blueberries
6. in a separate bowl, whisk the milk, vanilla, and eggs together
7. pour into the dry ingredients and stir to combine, adding more milk or flour as necessary to make the mixture come together with a slightly (but not too) sticky consistency
8. dump the mixture out onto a well floured surface and press into a rectangle that’s a little over 1″ thick
9. use a sharp knife to cut the rectangle into four rectangles, and then cut each of those diagonally, so you wind up with 8 triangle scones
10. whisk one more egg with about 1T of milk, and brush this mixture over the scones, then sprinkle the scones with a little sugar
11. place the scones onto the cookie sheet and bake for 20-22 minutes, or until both tops and bottoms are golden, then serve right away and enjoy!

i’m feeling rather wordless. for those of you who know me in person (or even just know me through reading this blog), i bet you’re wondering how it’s possible that i am without words – i am normally quite verbose and tend to have a plethora of things to say on all subjects.

but there’s a lot of work looming ahead of me over the next 17 days, and i’m working on mustering all my strength to get ready for this big project of moving us across a few states, and then beginning grad school!

just because i’m out of words and energy at the moment doesn’t mean that i don’t have a great recipe to share with you, though. it uses delicious veggies that are in season right now – green beans, tomatoes, and shallots. and it’s delish. and i’m now officially out of words. i’ll be back next week with a brighter, happier post for y’all, i promise!

one year ago: white gazpacho
two years ago: lemon tart

green bean salad

yields approx 6 servings
borrowed from smitten kitchen

• 1 lb green beans
• 1 lb tomatoes (regular or cherry both work well)
• 1 large shallot
• 2T red wine vinegar
• 1/3c olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
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1. boil water in a large pan
2. chop off both ends of the green beans, and slice them in half if they’re long (you want bite sized pieces)
3. put the green beans into the boiling water for about four minutes, then drain and rinse thoroughly under cold water to stop the cooking process
4. put the green beans into a large bowl
5. chop the tomatoes into bite sized pieces and place into the bowl with the green beans
6. meanwhile, peel and mince the shallot
7. whisk the shallot, vinegar, olive oil, and salt and pepper in a bowl
8. pour the mixture over the green beans and tomatoes and serve immediately! (the green beans will discolor with the acid from the vinegar, so if you’re serving later, wait to dress the salad until right before you serve the dish)

busy, busy, busy, busy – that’s how it’s been going for us lately. we traveled up to seattle for a whirlwind apartment hunting trip this weekend. thanks to mike’s amazing itinerary and coordination, we found a beautiful apartment in a great area within our budget and exceeding our expectations in just two days, instead of the three we planned to spend. so we were able to enjoy the last day of our trip by traveling to whidbey island and spending time with my awesome family members who live in the area. and this weekend, we’re popping down to visit mike’s parents to celebrate his mom’s 60th birthday this weekend. fun times!

so is the busy schedule and moving planning impeding our ability to cook at home? well, yes and no. we’re definitely making a lot more throw-everything-in-the-pan, under 20 minute meals these days, and we’re trying out less new recipes. but cooking at home is still quicker and cheaper and yummier (is that a word?) than going out.

all of the fun activities aside, i promised you a recipe for homemade tortillas awhile ago, and i want to live up to that promise. except, it’s barely a recipe.  i mean, it’s just masa harina, hot water, and salt. and then stirring. and maybe adding more water if the dough feels too dry. and then rolling it into a little ball and pressing it in either a tortilla press (thanks for gifting it to me, j!)or using a rolling pin and cooking it on a hot cast iron skillet. and voila, beautiful, hot, soft corn tortillas!

so really, that’s all there is to tortillas. which is perfect, because who has time for long, complicated meals these days? not i! and hopefully you’re having a fun, busy summer as well.

one year ago: zucchini bread
two years ago: polenta and pesto

homemade tortillas

yields approx 1 dozen tortillas
borrowed from bob’s red mill

• 2c masa harina (i like using Bob’s Red Mill)
• 1/2t salt
• 1½ to 2c hot water
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1. heat a pan (preferably cast iron) on the stove
2. mix the masa and the salt together in a large bowl
3. add 1½c hot water and stir the mixture together
4. add the remaining 1/2c as needed – the dough should not be sticky, but it should be moist and spongy
5. break off an approx 2″ size ball of dough, and roll between your hands
6. press the ball of dough in a tortilla press (i put saran wrap on either side so the dough doesn’t stick) or use a rolling pin to press out into a 6″ tortilla (rolling out between saran wrap would be a good idea)
7. place the tortilla on the hot pan and allow to cook for about 3 minutes per side, or until light brown spots emerge
8. repeat with the rest of the dough
9. top with your favorite tacos fixings (beans, cheese, avocado, eggs, salsa, etc) and enjoy!

this whole move/grad school thing is getting really real, friends. we’ve officially begun a search for movers, and a are in the midst of a serious search for apartments in seattle. i’m having a hard time believing that we’ll be moving in just over a month. it’s craziness.

i know that this is just the tip of the iceberg, and the weeks ahead are going to be chaotic and full of lots of change, and that’s a very daunting feeling. don’t get me wrong, i’m not complaining here, just sharing – because this is something that i’ve wanted to do for a very long time, and i’m lucky that my amazing husband is willing to uproot with me to support my pursuit of this goal. but it’s still crazy stressful, just sayin.

so i’m doing the things i know will make me feel better: spending time with friends and family, swimming and running daily, getting lots of sleep, and eating healthy, delicious foods that aren’t terribly time consuming to make. luckily, my sis-in-law gave me moosewood restaurant’s simple suppers cookbook as a bday present, and that’s been helping us a ton with the last item.

friends, i can’t recommend this cookbook enough. we’ve made three recipes out of it in as many weeks, and each one has been delicious, flavorful, and ridiculously simple and quick – we haven’t made anything that’s taken more than 30 minutes from start to finish. this recipe is the first one we made, and completely hit the spot. it’s a rustic combination of onions, cannellini beans, mushrooms, spinach, tomatoes, and a flavorful combination of dried and fresh herbs. it’s hearty but not heavy, and absolute heaven when sprinkled with a bit of parmesan cheese. you can thank me for sharing this recipe after you’ve made it. (ha!)

one year ago: gazpacho
two years ago: the best chocolate chip cookies

ragout over polenta

yields 6 large servings
borrowed from moosewood restaurant simple suppers

• polenta from scratch (a package is fine, too!)
• 1.5T olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2t dried thyme
• 1/2t dried rosemary
• 1/2t dried sage
• 10oz cremini mushrooms, washed and quartered
• 1/4c red or white wine
• 15oz cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
• 28oz can of diced tomatoes
• 1/2c chopped parsley
• 1/2c chopped basil
• salt and pepper to taste
• parmesan cheese, optional
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1. start making the polenta according to the directions on the link, but stop before putting it into a 9×13 pan – we want to eat this while it’s still warm and soft
2. heat oil in pan over medium heat, then add the onion, garlic, thyme, rosemary, and sage, sautéing for 10 minutes
3. add the mushrooms and wine, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes
4. stir in the beans, diced tomatoes, parsley, and basil, then cover again and bring to a simmer
5. cook the amazing concoction for 10 minutes until hot all the way through
6. add salt and pepper to taste, then serve over the polenta and sprinkle with parmesan cheese, and enjoy!

a few weeks ago, we were lucky enough to receive two large bags of zucchini from mike’s mom’s garden. as soon as we got home, i grated the zucchini in my food processor, and added it into spaghetti sauce and mini zucchni bread loaves for our upcoming camping trip to the russian river.

even after making double batches of the recipes above, i still had leftovers. so i threw them into a ziploc and froze them, knowing that i would relish using the fresh-from-the-garden-zucchini soon.

i couldn’t stop thinking about a recipe mike’s mom mentioned for zucchini fritters.  so when we were back from camping and ready to cook at home again, this dish was top on my list. i am crazy for savory pancakes, as evidenced by the veggie pancake recipe, corn fritter recipe, and chickpea patty recipe. so how could i possibly resist trying a new savory pancake??

while there is definitely a time and a place for complex, time consuming meals, that place is not on a weeknight. if i’m faced with a complex, lengthy recipe after working all day and swimming on my lunch break or running after work, my patience wears thin and i toy with the idea of just skipping the meal and grabbing tacos at the nearest taqueria, stat!

but this recipe falls into the quick-as-lightning category – i couldn’t believe how fast they were ready!  it just took a whisk of eggs, a mincing of parsley and garlic, a zesting of a lemon, and a stir with the already-grated zucchini (ok, so that would add a little more time if you hadn’t already grated it), and some flour and breadcrumbs. the result was amazing – light but filling, green all the way through, and bright with lemon zest. i think these are going to become a regular in our summer rotation of meals, and a great solution when there’s excess zucchini in the house!

one year ago: fresh spring rolls
two years ago: hawaiian wedding cake

zucchini fritters

yields approx 15 fritters
adapted from marthastewart.com

• 2 eggs
• 1 lemon’s zest
• 1/3c parsley, minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4t pepper
• 1t salt
• 1lb grated zucchini (about 2 medium zuccs)
• 1/2c all purpose flour
• 1/2t baking powder
• 1/2c plain breadcrumbs
• olive oil for frying
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1. whisk the eggs, lemon zest, parsley, garlic, pepper, and  salt in a medium bowl until combined
2. add the grated zucchini to the bowl, and stir to coat well
3. mix the flour with the baking powder and breadcrumbs, and pour slowly into the zucchini batter, stirring to ensure there are no lumps
4. heat olive oil in pan over medium high heat
5. once oil is hot, drop the batter into the pan in 2T sized fritters
6. cook the fritters for about 3 minutes per side, until golden
7. serve with a salad and bread and cheese, if desired

you know the desert island game, right? where you pick one food that you could live on forever if you were stranded on a desert island? well, tacos are my desert island food. i know that’s cheating a little bit, because there are so many taco ingredients. but how could i ever decide between beans, tortillas, avocado, or salsa?

i just couldn’t decide between those four items. but since i’ve talked about beans extensively on this site (black beans, garbanzos, white beans, you name it!), and i’ve talked a lot about avocados, i think it’s time to chat about salsa. (i promise to post about tortillas soon, too.)

my all-time favorite salsa is a fresh pico de gallo, one that my sister and dad picked up on a field trip to wilder ranch many years ago and we’ve been making ever since. it’s super easy to make, turns out slightly different (but still delicious!) every time, and is a great addition to tacos, burritos, scrambles, guacamole. not to mention that it’s fantastic on its own with tortilla chips. it’s a little spicy, but you can use less jalapenos or more than the recipe calls for, depending upon your spice preference.  so what are you waiting for? ditch that stuff in the jars and go make this salsa!

one year ago: tofu skewers and peanut sauce
two years ago: pizza dough

pico de gallo

yields approx 2 cups of salsa

• 3 tomatoes, diced (and seeded if you prefer)
• 2 tomatillos, diced
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 jalapeno, membrane and seeds removed, and minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1/2 bunch cilantro, minced
• salt and pepper to taste
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1. toss the tomatoes, tomatillos, onion, jalapeno, garlic, lime juice, and cilantro in a bowl and toss
2. add salt and pepper to taste, and serve!

i can’t wait to share the amazing summer dinner recipe pictured above with you! but first, i have to share photos from a cooking class we attended on thursday night. the class was taught by joseph schultz (many of you from santa cruz might know him better as india joze). joseph danced around the kitchen and created an amazing 11 dishes during the three hour chickpea festival class:

the class begins!                                       1. soup made from chickpea flour

2. pakora with quince chutney                3. garbanzo marinata

4. cicer et elixati (roman dish)               5. chicken w/chickpeas & pickled lemon

6. bulgar w/liver                                   7. khatte kabuli (black garbanzos)

8. topig (stuffed chickpea “tamale”)        9. murg dhansak (chicken cassoulet)

10. tempeh cassoulet                            11. besan barfi (chickpea fudge)

it was amazingly inspiring to watch and listen to someone who is so passionate about food, and so very knowledgeable about cuisines across many continents! the flavors in all of the dishes were phenomenal, and we left with a cookbook chock full of chickpea recipes, tummies full of scrumptious food, and brains full of ideas, so look for some more chickpea posts on this site soon!

ok, so back to the recipe of the week: panzanella. i had heard of this type of salad, but was never tempted to make it until i read the love letter to panzanella on the blog cheap, healthy, good. do you read this blog? if not, you should – she’s such a good writer and so convincing that i immediately decided it was time to try this recipe out.

i wish i hadn’t ignored panzanella recipes before. but they’re so basic that i’d often overlooked them. bread. onions. tomatoes. basil. olives. cheese. olive oil. vinegar. salt and pepper. and that’s it! the simplicity of the dish allows every item to sing, and makes you go back for seconds. and thirds. and even leaves you with leftovers that taste better the second day than they did the first. i am planning on putting this into our weekly rotation for the rest of the summer. won’t you join me in doing the same?

one year ago: lemon feta tomato pasta salad
two years ago: raspberry bars and mango teriyaki tofu

summer panzanella

yields 4 heaping servings, or 6 regular servings
borrowed from cheap, healthy, good

• 1/2 red onion, sliced
• 1 loaf french bread (whole wheat if possible)
• 4 tomatoes, diced
• 4 ounces mozzarella, cut into cubes
• 1/2c fresh basil leaves, sliced into ribbons
• 2/3c pitted kalamata olives, chopped
• 1T red wine vinegar
• 1T olive oil
• salt
• pepper
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1. turn oven on to 350°
2. soak red onions in a small bowl with ice water for 10 minutes, then drain
3. slice the bread in half, and bake 10 minutes on a baking sheet, until toasty, then remove from the oven and let cool a bit
4. while the bread’s cooling, toss the tomatoes, cheese, basil, olives, onion, vinegar, and olive oil in a large bowl
5. then, slice the bread into 1″ cubes, and throw into the large bowl with the rest of the salad
6. stir well, and let sit for 30 minutes to marinate, or overnight (i skipped this step because i was impatient and hungry, and it was still delicious)
7. sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste, stirring again, and serve!

two years ago this week, i opened my laptop and began blogging about food, excited to share my favorite baked goods, dinners, breakfasts, and side dishes with all of you, my friends and family (and whomever else might stumble upon this website – hi, if that’s you! please leave me a comment and let me know you’re here!). since the inception of eclaire.name, back in july of 2008, i’ve posted 115 recipes. i have loved writing stories and anecdotes about where i found the recipes, and why i love to make the dishes.

but i’ve been holding out on you, keeping these blondies away from you. why? because this recipe is my signature dish – one that i’ve made so many times that i know it by heart. and i’ve been selfish, not wanting to share it, because it’s my recipe, my favorite dessert to bring to parties, my favorite cookie. my, my, my – i sound a little like a two year old, huh? but instead of wallowing in terrible twos on my blog’s second birthday, i’m going to try to overcome them and share this recipe with you.

so how did i find this amazing recipe that i’ve been keeping to myself all these years? well, it’s probably not much of a surprise to you that i’ve been cooking and baking for a long time. i can remember standing on a chair when i was a kid, leaning over the counter to watch what my parents were cooking, and being excited about the whole process. my parents, ever supportive and fabulous chefs themselves (you might have noticed that i’ve purloined many of the recipes on this site from them), bought me a kids cookbook, called kids cooking: a very slightly messy manual, part of the klutz series. i fell in love with the cookbook, and i think we made almost every recipe held within the spiral binding. in a short matter of time, i realized i wanted a new cookbook, perhaps one that had more desserts in it. so when my school had a book fair (remember those?), i saw this cookbook called the cookie lovers cookie cookbook, and decided that i had to have it. i’d like to say that i bought it for the delicious recipes inside, but i’m pretty sure i was just drawn to it because it was pink, had a cat on the front, and was all about cookies – three of my favorite things at that point in my life.

i read through the book when i got home, and discovered a recipe for blondies, something i’d never heard of before. i was immediately drawn to the recipe, possibly because i’m a blondie, too. so i made them, and they were so easy to put together! way easier than brownies, because you didn’t need to melt chocolate in a double boiler, and everything happened in one pan. the only problem with them is that they didn’t have any chocolate in them. at all. and that, to me, was a huge omission – i mean, what’s the point of dessert without chocolate? so i threw some chocolate chips in the second time i made them. and i fell in love.

the next fall, when my parents suggested that i enter something in the baking section of the county fair, this was the first recipe that came to mind. i remember being really nervous when i made them, ensuring that none of the eggshell got into the batter, and that there weren’t any lumps of salt or baking powder. and then we delivered them to the fair, waited a few days until the judging was complete, and went to go see what happened. i jumped up and down when i saw that i won first place in my category. and then my dad noticed that i also won a c&h sugar award, meaning i would get 16 pounds of sugar for free! i don’t think i ever cashed in that prize, but both awards confirmed what i already knew: this recipe is a winner! i hope you all enjoy it, and i promise to keep sharing mouthwatering recipes for you for many more years to come! thanks for reading this blog, and thanks for sharing your favorite recipes and food with me over the years, too!

one year ago: summer lasagna
two years ago: couscous “tabouli” salad

blondies

yields 16-25, depending upon how you cut them
slightly adapted from the cookie lovers cookie cookbook, by prudence madden younger

• 1/2c butter, plus more for greasing the pan
• 1c brown sugar, packed
• 2 eggs
• 1t vanilla
• 1½c flour
• 2t baking powder
• 1/2t salt
• 6oz chocolate chips
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1. preheat the oven to 350º
2. grease a 9×9″ baking pan
3. melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat
4. once the butter is melted, take the pan off the heat and place onto a pot holder on the counter
5. add the brown sugar and stir well
6. add the eggs one at a time, stirring fast after the first one so it doesn’t scramble
7. add the vanilla and stir again
8. combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a large measuring cup (i use a 2 cup one), and stir to combine – this will ensure you don’t have any concentrated salt or baking powder lumpes
9. stir in the dry ingredients
10. stir in the chocolate chips, and pour immediately into the greased pan, so the chips don’t melt and stain the batter (we don’t want brownies, right?)
11. bake for 25-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted off center comes out clean
12. allow to cool, and then cut
13. this recipe doubles very easily, but i suggest you cook in two separate 9×9″ pans instead of a 9″x13″ – i’ve found that 9″x13″ pans leave the center too runny and the edges too dark
14. enjoy!

ok, disclaimer: i don’t really have an old favorite brownie recipe, so the title of this post is a bit of a misnomer. but this recipe, this amazing recipe, yielded the most delicious, fudgy, and scrumptious brownies that i’ve ever baked.

although this is the second brownie recipe i’ve posted in the past few months (the other was a low-glycemic index black bean brownie), brownies are not my favorite dessert, or even my favorite bar cookie. and honestly, i’ve really only baked brownies a few times from scratch, and disliked the cake-y results. i don’t know about you, but i want dense, fudge-like, stuffed-to-the-brim-with-chocolate brownies. and these ones, for the first time ever, fit the bill completely, and won a special place in my heart for brownies again!

i read about these brownies on one of my favorite food blogs, smitten kitchen, way back in january, and i was so won over by the description that i immediately bookmarked the recipe. so when one of my dearest friends mentioned she would like brownies for her birthday, i jumped at the opportunity to try this recipe out. my friends, do not wait as long as i did to try this recipe. find any excuse – be it a weekend bbq, a dinner party, or even just a free hour that you want to spend in the kitchen, and make these absolutely divine brownies asap!

one year ago: mole sauce

favorite brownies

yields 16-25 (depending upon how you slice)
borrowed from smittenkitchen.com

• 10T unsalted butter
• 1 ¼c sugar
• 3/4c and 2T unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4t salt
• 1/2t vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1/2c all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup walnut pieces, optional
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1. preheat the oven to 325°F
2. line the bottom and sides of an 8×8″ baking dish with foil, leaving an overhang
3. heat water in a pan until boiling, and then either use a double boiler or place a heat-proof bowl over the pan
4. in the double boiler or bowl, place the butter, sugar, cocoa, and salt, stirring to combine
5. when everything’s melted and combined, remove the bowl or double boiler from the heat
6. stir in the vanilla, then add the eggs one at a time
7. next add the flour, stirring until shiny
8. add the nuts if using (these are totally optional – i made one pan with them and one pan without, and loved both options equally)
9. spread the batter into a lined pan and bake for 35-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted off center comes out with just a little bit of batter
10. let cool completely in the pan, then lift up the brownies using the edges of the foil and cut into pieces