BLUEBERRY BOY BAIT

As I've mentioned, probably more than anyone cares to hear, we are moving at the end of this month. It's a very complicated move and things have been hectic, which is my lame excuse for almost completely ceasing to hang around in my kitchen for the past few weeks. We're now in the moving stage where we have put a stop on all grocery shopping in hopes of using up what groceries we already have. So far it's resulted in lots of ramen and lots of takeout. It also makes baking difficult.

With that said, I had been planning on making boy bait for a few months. I came across the recipe while searching through blogs in the beginning of this thing. From what little I've been able to find about it, it originates in the 1920's and is named for its effects on men who eat it. Basically its how little ladies in the 20's got husbands. Which feels like reason enough to make it right there. Plus it looked awesome and has 2 sticks of butter in it. In my world that's a done deal.

So, in the midst of a packing extravaganza the other day, we were informed that a friend from down the street would be showing Jaws on a projector in his backyard and I immediately saw it as an opportunity to get rid of some blueberries and make this boy bait stuff already. (It's nice that the rest of the ingredients are basic things that I always have around the house - more I can rid myself of!)

Benny gave me permission to turn on the oven, as its been much nicer out lately, so I went to town on it. And I have to tell you. This was a huge hit. I think in fact, that EVERYONE had seconds. Even Benny. To stress the strangeness of this, he has even been sneaking little bits of the leftovers today. Now.. this could be because he doesn't want to pay for anymore takeout but I'm going to tell myself that he loves it.

My official ruling is that if I ever decide it would be smart for me to have kids, this is one of the recipes they'll be inheriting. That's pretty serious.

And one more fantastic thing - I was given the most fantastic birthday gift which this recipe allowed me to use for the first time. Nesting doll measuring cups! I love them. Plus they're super convenient because they have cups for 3/4c and 2/3c, which seems unimportant until you have it and I absolutely love them. Although I have to say that Benny has been using them. (mysteriously. I have no idea for what he could possibly need measuring cups, they just sometimes show up with the dirty dishes.)



Recipe Soundtrack: At the risk of being too cheeky, I choose "Fucking Boyfriend" by The Bird & The Bee. Mostly because it's in my head, but also because it feels fitting. In fact, I don't even like the damn song. But there it is.

BLUEBERRY BOY BAIT
from Via Nostra


my apologies for the horrible pictures

(serves 12) or in my case, 6

Cake Ingredients
2 cups plus 1 tsp all purpose flour
1 tbls baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 sticks softened butter (yes, two!)
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup fat free milk (original recipe calls for whole or even buttermilk, but this was all I had)
1 1/2 cups blueberries (original recipe calls for 1/2 cup, fresh or frozen, but we reallllly like blueberries)

Topping
1/2 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Use a 9x13 pan. Butter sides and bottom. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, combine 2 cups flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In a separate large bowl, blend together softened butter and the two sugars. Blend for about two minutes. Add one egg at a time, blending until incorporated. Add 1/3 of flour mixture and blend. Add 1/2 cup of milk and blend. Add another 1/3 of flour and blend. Add final 1/2 cup of milk and blend. Add final 1/3 of flour and blend. The mixture should be light and creamy and fluffy at this point.

Toss blueberries with teaspoon of flour and gently fold into the large bowl. Be careful to leave the blueberries in tact or you will dye your batter prematurely.

Carefully spread mixture into the your greased pan.

Mix topping and sprinkle all over top.

Bake 45 to 50 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes. Eat warm or at room temperature.

proof of satisfied customers

Seriously. SO GOOD.

FLOUR TORTILLA CHIPS! SWEET VICTORY!!

Let me tell ya a little story about tortilla chips. An old roommate of mine used to bring these Tostitos Flour Tortilla chips home every now and then and try though i might, I have never ever been able to find them in a grocery store. She used to get them from jewel but every time I've gone theyre nowhere to be found. I spent a while on a constant quest for them, in which I asked a grocery store employee at every one I went to if they had them, only to hear "you mean multigrain." in response. I do not mean multigrain. Anyway, I eventually gave up and then, when we started deep frying regularly it occurred to me to throw a couple of bit of flour tortilla in there to see what would happen. The result was good but it wasn't what I was looking for.

I thought I'd try baking them sometime, which Benny was NOT a fan of. (Apparently baking things that are meant to be fried is a cardinal sin.) But I found myself with some free time and a sudden reckless abandon while Benny was out of town last week. I got hungry and remembered that we had some leftover soft shells from the last time we made tacos so I thought I'd try it. And let me tell you. They were delicious! I'm doing this all the time from now on. ALL THE TIME.


Not to mention its a simple enough recipe that I don't feel ridiculous doing it while trying to paint and move my entire apartment to my parents house. Plus one or two of my 3 readers might actually make it, which I would recommend. Alas, here it is:

BAKED FLOUR TORTILLA CHIPS

You'll need:
Enough flour tortillas to make as many chips as you think you want
A baking sheet or two
Vegetable oil and a basting brush
salt (or other seasoning- this is an opportunity to get creative)
parchment paper (probably not completely necessary, but I heart it.

Preheat the oven to 350. Cut your tortillas into squares or triangles or any other shape you fancy. Cover the baking sheet(s) with parchment and then brush the parchment with oil. Place your tortilla pieces on the parchment, then brush them with oil as well. Sprinkle with salt or other seasoning and then bake for 10 minutes or until golden. (The picture makes them look darker than they are, so aim for a little lighter than that.)

You have to watch these really closely because they go from raw to done very quickly and they are not nearly as good when you burn them a little. (I had one failed attempt.)

So there it is. Enjoy!

LEMONADE COOKIES

I swear to you, I still exist. Life has been more hectic than I care to explain lately but I did manage to make time for cookies today. Now I know that my last post was lemonade and I know that a certain friend of mine is sick of having to see that stupid lemonade posting since I haven't been updating lately and my only response is this: Purely coincidence. And also I promise to post something non-lemon-related very soon.

Anyway these things are fantastic. Light, declicious, summery and chewy. Yada yada, you get the idea.



When I started making this I realized that the quantities of the ingredients were very small and I wasn't sure if I believed the part about it yeilding 36 cookies but I gotta say, it made quite a few more than I thought it would. I made them rather small, which I'm sure contributed to that but I'm pretty sure theyre the perfect size. I will however say that I may have overcooked these puppies just a smidge. The first batch I definitely overcooked (I refuse to use the word burn) as a result of attempting to quite literally do 5 things at once. The second batch was much better but I might allow myself one more try. These things are really worth perfecting.

I got the recipe from Tastes Of Home. It was also featured on Foodbuzz's Daily Buzz top 9, which is how I came across it.


Recipe Soundtrack: "Zebra" By Beach House (Very fitting, I think)

LEMONADE COOKIES
from TASTES OF HOME

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour (spoon flour into dry-measure cup and level off)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 tbsps (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg white
1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
2 tbsps lemon juice


Method:
1. Set racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees fahrenheit.
2. Stir the flour, baking powder and salt together and set aside.
3. Beat the butter and sugar together by machine with the paddle attachment on medium speed for about a minute, or until well mixed. Beat in the egg white and lemon zest.
4. Change the speed to low and beat in half the flour mixture, then the lemon juice. Beat in the remaining flour mixture.
5. Use a large rubber spatula to give the batter a final mixing.
6. Drop the batter with a teaspoon or ice cream scoop about an inch apart in all directions on the prepared pans. Try to portion the drops as equally as possible to ensure even baking.
7. Bake the cookies for 8 to 10 minutes, or until they are light golden on the bottom but still very pale on top. Change the position of the pans, from top to bottom and back to front, about halfway through the baking.
8. Slide the papers from the pans to racks to cool the cookies. This batter makes about 36 cookies.