Sometimes there are things in life that seem to follow you around. Needling, restless things that haunt your brain.

Like, last week, I ran into the biggest spider I have ever seen in our bathtub. Normal sized spiders FREAK ME OUT, but this one was abnormal. It was the size of my palm and it’s legs stretched over the edges of the drain. It was a monster…and the memory of it is haunting me. I can’t stop thinking about it and I’m sure it’s friends are lurking somewhere in my home. Big sigh.

Pound cake is something else that has haunted me…for years! I have made pound cake after pound cake and none of them have turned out. Either they sink in the center, come out way to dense and wet, or just lack flavor. I want the perfect crumb and flavor–dense while still being light, buttery, and better after resting a day or two.

I found this pound cake recipe via Orangette. Not only is it the perfect texture, it comes with a heavy sprinkling of hazelnuts, my favorite–the original recipe call for pistachios, which I believe would make one special cake. So, even though I am still haunted by the spider encounter, I can get over my pound cake issue… finally.

Hazelnut Pound Cake

Adapted from Orangette

The original recipe calls for citrus zest, which I left out, but I think this version would be lovely with some orange zest. 

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 cups sugar

5 eggs

4 Tablespoons half & half or whole milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1 cup hazelnuts, toasted, skinned, and chopped coarsely

Preheat the oven to 325*F. Spray a 9x5x3 inch pan with cooking spray and line with parchment, leaving an overhang on two edges.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, and nutmeg. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer or with electric beaters, beat butter until creamy and light, 2 minutes. Add sugar and beat to incorporate, 1-2 more minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, to incorporate well, scraping the bowl as needed. Add extracts and half&half and beat to combine. Fold in the flour mixture and 1/2 of the hazelnuts. Scrape batter into the prepared pan, smooth top and sprinkle with remaining hazelnuts. Bake in the center of the oven for about 1 1/2 hours (I started checking it at about 60 minutes). Remove from oven and cool completely on a cooling rack. Can be kept, wrapped in plastic at room temperature, for a week.

 5/7/2012: Pink roses this time.

 5/8/2012: Hazelnuts are my fave. I’ll be posting the recipe I used them in soon!

 5/9/2012: Baby Italian Parsely, kitchen window garden.

 5/10/2012: Sunning some dough for these buns.

 5/11/2012: My favorite corner of our yard is Spring Crazy!

 5/12/2012: Favorite grocery bag from the produce stand of my childhood. My mom and I still stop there anytime we’re in the area.

Though your hair and glasses may have lost some volume over the years, your generosity of spirit and capacity for love have not. Happy Mother’s Day to my wonderful Mom. XO!

Let’s talk about these carrots.

I’ve always been lukewarm about carrots. Sure, I’ve eaten plenty of carrot sticks in my day..and inhaled little shreds of carrots into my lungs, sending myself into one of those ugly-coughing-fits, I hope I’m not the only one. Most of the cooked carrots I’ve had have been those little whittled dudes–aka baby carrots, aka NOT an actual baby carrot–or mushy coins taking up too much space on my plate. I never loved or hated carrots, I just didn’t really have any feelings for them.

You know?

I decided I needed to get over it. Mostly because I love those bunches of carrots with their frilly tops and spindly bodies. I wanted, so badly, to love to eat carrots as much as I liked to look at them. I went for roasting, a surefire way to prepare pretty much any vegetable. I liked the idea of sweet spices, a bit of heat, and a bit of acid. Cumin, cinnamon, ginger, and cayenne get whisked into honey thinned out with lemon, carrots get tossed with the mixture, drizzled with oil, and sprinkled with salt. It all gets tossed onto a baking sheet and hits a hot oven until the thin ends are crisp and caramelized, while the thick ends manage to be tender yet retain a bit of bite.

My carrot indifference has turned into carrot love. Love wins!

Spice Roasted Carrots

I have used maple syrup instead of honey for these carrots with great results. You can omit the ginger and cayenne if you want, but I think the cumin and cinnamon are a must. Also, I should have weighed my carrots to give you and exact amount, but this recipe is easily adaptable for any amount. It’s sort of a toss it into a bowl situation.

2 bunches of carrots, tops removed

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

big pinch of salt

juice of 1/2 lemon

1 Tablespoon honey

oil for pan and drizzling (I have used both grape seed and olive with fine results)

Preheat oven to 425*F. Line a baking sheet with parchment and drizzle the parchment with oil.

Scrub or peel carrots. In a large bowl whisk together honey, lemon, and spices. Toss carrots with the dressing. Put the dressing coated carrots onto the baking sheet, drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt. Roast in the oven for 15 minutes, toss, and roast an additional 10-15 minutes–depending on how large your carrots are and the doneness you  would like.

These carrots are great with roasted or grilled pork loin, or with chicken.

So, I know that America’s favorite Mexican food and booze holiday has passed, but margaritas aren’t just appropriate for Cinco de Mayo…and I know it’s only Monday, but a girl can dream of the weekend, right?

Sean and I aren’t major party-people, we’re the stay-at-home type…but that doesn’t mean we’ll pass up any excuse to enjoy Mexican food (arguably one of our favorites) and cocktails. These margaritas are super simple–in both execution and ingredients. I mixed these up in a carafe so we had our cocktails ready to pour. One could easily double or even triple this recipe for a crowd. I’m not much of a blended drinks kind of gal–I like my margaritas on the rocks with a crunchy salted rim. I used flaky Maldon salt for these, to up the crunch factor…kosher salt is also a good choice, or that margarita salt sold in that sombrero shaped box.

There aren’t any fancy additives like bitters or top-notch tequila–though, I’m sure this cocktail would be elevated by either–just lime, water, honey, and booze. Fresh lime adds that tell-tale tang and cuts the sharpness of the tequila, while the honey brings it’s floral sweetness. Simple and refreshing.

Simplest Margarita

Makes plenty of cocktails for 2, just enough for 4. 

This is more of a ratio situation that recipe. It’s a 2:2:2:1 sort of concoction, 2 parts each Lime/Water/Tequila to 1 part Honey–Agave would be an appropriate substitution for the honey. I have also made these with grapefruit, subbing half of the lime juice for grapefruit. Also, if you can stand it, use fresh squeezed juice. 

1 cup fresh squeezed lime juice (6-7 limes)

1 cup silver tequila (I used Jose Cuervo)

1 cup water

1/2 cup honey

salt for rims and lime wedges for garnish

In a glass measurer, dissolve honey in water. Pour lime, tequila, and honeyed water into a pitcher or carafe. Stir. Using a wedge of lime, moisten the edge of your glasses of choice and dip into a plate of salt to rim. Place ice cubes into the glasses and pour margaritas over the top. Toast and enjoy!

 4/29/2012: Wine with dinner.

 4/30/2012: Solo dinner, mac& cheese with jalapenos and roasted tomatoes.

 5/1/2012: Pink Ranunculus in my blue Ball jar.

 5/3/2012: Strawberries about to get churned into sorbet.

 5/4/2012: Herbs.

 5/5/2012: Fresh lime juice for margaritas!

Rhubarb is such a strange beauty and totally magical, too.

It’s the ultimate harbinger of spring and definitely an old-fashioned beauty–classic and maybe a little unexpected. Despite how many times I bake and eat rhubarb, it always makes me swoon. It’s celery-like stalks and vegetal looks belie an unexpected tartness. When baked until bubbly, the aroma is undeniably fruity–almost like tart berries–while the juices run a luscious hot pink.

When I bake with rhubarb it’s all about tart, juicy, fruitiness. I like to keep it simple and relatively unadorned–I don’t want the flavor to be masked or hidden. I love it paired with simple pastry or crumble. Pie is always a delicious option and it pairs beautifully with creamy custards as well, but possibly one of the simplest and most satisfying preparations would have to be a crumble. Browned butter is mixed with flour, oats, sugar, and a bit of salt, which takes a rest in the refrigerator while rhubarb is chopped, tossed with sugar, vanilla bean, and cornstarch into a baking dish. Finally, the rhubarb is topped with the chunky crumble topping and baked until brown and bubbly. This dessert is perfect served with a dollop of something cool and creamy–vanilla ice cream is always the best choice, but whipped cream or creme fraiche are lovely as well.

Brown Butter Rhubarb Crumble

adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Rhubarb leaves are toxic, but are easily and safely removed by simply cutting off and discarding. I coarsely ground the oats in my mini-processor. You can leave them whole if you’d like. You can also sub 1-2 teaspoons of vanilla extract for the bean. I also like to err on the tart side, so up the sugar if you like a sweeter filling. 

for the crumble:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup rolled oats

1 teaspoon baking powder

6 Tablespoons sugar

pinch of salt

1 stick (4ounces) unsalted butter, browned

for the rhubarb filling:

2 pounds rhubarb, ends and toxic leaves removed

1/2 cup sugar

1 vanilla bean, seeded

pinch of salt

3 Tablespoons cornstarch

1 Tablespoon chilled, unsalted butter, cut into tiny cubes

Heat oven to 375*F.

To brown the butter, melt in a skillet over medium-low until solids are browned and fragrant like nutty toffee. Remove from heat and set aside while you gather the remaining crumble ingredients. In a large bowl stir together flour, oats, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Stir in the slightly cooled brown butter and set in the refrigerator or freezer while you prepare the filling.

Cut rhubarb into about 1-inch pieces–I like mine on a fairly sharp bias. In a large bowl rub vanilla seeds into sugar until combined and fragrant. Stir in salt and cornstarch, finally toss the rhubarb into the sugar mixture to coat well and scrape the mixture into a 9-inch pie plate or other desired baking dish. Sprinkle with cold, cubed butter, and top with chilled crumble mixture and bake for 45-60 minutes until top is golden browned and juices are bubbling. Allow to cool at least 10 minutes. Serve warm or room temperature, with ice cream if desired.

 4/23/2012: Granola! This batch has olive oil, coconut, and almonds. Based off of THIS recipe.

 4/24/2012: Mani of the week! Sonia Kashuk-Taunting Teal, Zoya-Farah, OPI-Miami Beet w/ American Apparel-Meteor Shower

 4/25/2012: Flowers of the week. Sean chose these ones for me. What a guy!

 4/26/2012: Zuchinni, as thin as I could slice it, for pizza topping.

 4/27/2012: On my chalkboard wall. I LOVE chalk markers.

 4/28/2012: Saturday lunch–Pork tenderloin and baby bok choy stir fry. This bowl of goodness was steaming hot and delicious!

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I really love coffee.

When I was a small child, I would relish visits to my grandparents house…not only for the blackberry picking expeditions and days tromping through the woods surrounding their Sierra foothills home, but, because for breakfast there were often waffles with strawberries and cream AND a mug of sugary milk with a splash of coffee.

That creamy-sweet, slightly coffee flavored mug of goodness was a serious treat. My mom never made it a practice to allow us to have soda, let alone coffee as kids. The only exception (besides trips to grandma and grandpa’s) was when we would go to Baskin Robbins for a scoop–or if we were really lucky, a double–my brother always got a classic kid-friendly flavor, like bubble gum, but I ALWAYS got jamoca almond fudge. Coffee, almonds, and a fudge swirl. So good.

This semifreddo is reminiscent of those childhood days, when coffee-flavored treats felt so mature to my kid-palate. The texture of the semifreddo is somewhere between an ice cream and a mousse–all without the need for a machine to churn it all. It’s flavored with instant espresso, sweet cream, toasty almonds, and creamy almond butter. It’s great on it’s own, but, serving scoops in a puddle of chocolate sauce makes this dessert a touch fancier… Definitely something my young-self would have been into.

Espresso + Toasted Almond Semifreddo

adapted from Pumpkin Semifreddo

I use instant espresso powder in this recipe for ease and because I really like it in desserts.   If you’re feeling fancy, you could definitely brew a few shots, cool, and fold those into the mixture before folding in the almonds and freezing. 

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1 Tablespoon, plus 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder–divided

3 Tablespoons honey

3 Tablespoons sugar

2 Tablespoons water

3 large egg yolks

2 Tablespoons almond butter

1/2 cup coarsely chopped, toasted almonds

Sprinkle the 1 Tablespoon of espresso powder over the cream in a large bowl to dissolve. Once dissolved, whip the cream to medium peaks. Set aside in the refrigerator.

Make an ice bath in a clean sink basin or a large bowl. In a large, heatproof bowl whisk together the remaining 1 teaspoon espresso powder, honey, sugar, water, and egg yolks. Set the bowl over a pan of simmering water and whisk constantly until the mixture thickens and the whisk leaves visible tracks. Remove from heat and continue to whisk over the ice bath until cooled. Fold in the almond butter. Stir in about 1/3 of the prepared whipped cream, then fold in the remaining whipped cream, and lastly fold in the chopped almonds. Scrape the mixture into a container, cover with plastic wrap, and freeze for at least 4 hours to set.

Spiced Chocolate Sauce

adapted from The Perfect Scoop

I only made a small quantity of sauce, this is 1/4 of the original recipe. 

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup good quality cocoa powder

1 ounce dark chocolate, chopped or chips

1/16-1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla

In a small saucepan combine water, honey, and cocoa powder, bring to a low boil, remove from heat and stir in the chocolate, spices, and vanilla. Can be used warm or room temperature.

 4/16/2012: I NEVER buy carnations, but I couldn’t resist these pretty peach ones!

 4/17/2012: Cremini party!

 4/18/2012: Maple syrup and honey for these peanut butter cookies.

 4/19/2012: I re-planted this tiny cactus in my robot planter.

 4/20/2012: Love tree! My mom gifted this Japanese Maple to Sean and me when we first moved in together 6 years ago. This year is it’s healthiest year yet!

 4/21/2012: Spring is spring-ing!