Why I Am Not The Pioneer Woman

Have you heard about the Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond?

Of course you have.

She, who went from "spoiled city girl to domestic country wife".

She, who lives on a real ranch in Oklahoma, married to a stud she calls the Marlboro Man and does her own remodeling.

She, who takes fabulous pictures, cooks like a Cordon Bleu cowgirl, homeschools her four kids and blogs about it every single day.

She, who now has her very own cookbook and is currently on book tour for it.

Yeah, that Pioneer Woman.

You know, several years ago, I moved from a swish Massachusetts town to this suburban outpost on the rocky Maine coast.

I traded Bloomingdale's for LL Bean.

Manicures for manure.

Cashmere for polar fleece!

Well, not really.

But I suppose I could have parlayed this story into a successful blog/book/major motion picture.

But I didn't.

Because I could never homeschool my children. For one thing, they're smarter than me. Plus, it would interfere with my tennis time.

And my husband rides a bike wearing spandex, not a horse and chaps.

My dog mostly lies around hoping for peanut butter. She would not know how to herd cattle if her life depended on it.

And because I just don't have that kind of initiative, energy and drive.

Friends, that is what ultimately separates The Pioneer Woman from the rest of us.

As well as this recipe for The Best Chocolate Sheet Cake Ever.

Pioneer Woman Chocolate Sheet Cake

Combine in a mixing bowl:

2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

In a saucepan, melt:
2 sticks butter
Add 4 heaping tablespoons cocoa. Stir together.
Add 1 cup boiling water, allow mixture to boil for 30 seconds, then turn off heat. Pour over flour mixture, and stir lightly to cool.

Pour 1/2 cup buttermilk into a measuring cup.

Add:
2 beaten eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
Stir buttermilk mixture into butter/chocolate mixture. Pour into sheet cake pan and bake at 350-degrees for 20 minutes.

While cake is baking, make icing:

Chop 1/2 cup pecans finely (optional).
Melt 1 3/4 sticks butter in a saucepan.
Add 4 heaping tablespoons cocoa, stir to combine, then turn off heat.

Add:
6 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 lb, minus 1/2 cup powdered sugar
Stir together.
Add pecans, stir together, and pour over warm cake.

Wait until cool, then cut into squares.

I made this cake for our kick-ass football team last week. I will make it again this week as they head into the Western Class C Championship game.
The boys ate it all before I could snap even one photo.
You'll just have to trust me when I say it really was The Best Chocolate Sheet Cake ever.

It's Not Over 'Til the Candy's All Gone

Halloween candy hangover?

Sick of Snickers and tired of Twix? Wallowing in Whoppers?

You could throw it out. That would be the responsible thing to do.

But here at Mignardise, we rarely (if ever) do the right thing when it comes to chocolate.

In fact, we boosted our Halloween haul in the best way possible.

We baked it into brownies.

Use the Katherine Hepburn Brownie recipe I posted last April. It's the easiest and best brownie recipe ever, if you like them fudgy.

Chop up as many different kinds of candy from your kid's bag as you like. I suggest staying away from things like Starburst or Sour Patch Kids. We used Reese's, a KitKat, M & Ms, a Hershey's bar and Whoppers. Mix them into the brownie batter before baking.

As you pour them into the pan, tell yourself that you'll give them away to a neighbor. What good intentions you have!

Then you remember your neighbor is gluten-free.

You could take them to the pre-football game dinner.

But is all that chocolate really good for finely-tuned athletes on the eve of a big game?

I guess you'll just have to eat them yourself...

The Best Thing I Ate All Week

Do you remember when I said this would be a new weekly feature?

I may be a little slow off the mark, but here's the first.

"Sesame Macadamia Caramel Nut Tart with Toasted Coconut Ice Cream, Housemade Hot Fudge and Rum Caramel Bananas" from Blue Ginger in Wellesley, Mass., "shared" with my friend Beth.

Yes, it was as amazing as it sounds.

I would love to show you a picture but I was too busy eating to take one.

What's the best thing you ate all week? Please comment!

A Weirdly Addictive Appetizer

I remember my first ever book group meeting, almost twenty years ago.

We were new to town and, appropriately, had joined the Newcomers Club. The notice came announcing that the Newcomers Book Group would be reading Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns.

It’s not a book I would have read on my own, but isn’t that the point of being in a book group?

I bought the book, read it and showed up at a stranger’s house, not quite sure what to expect.

What I got was a group of women who loved reading as much as I did. A glass of wine. Some good food.

Who could ask for more?

We stayed together long after we were kicked out of Newcomers (they figured we’d been town residents long enough). We enjoyed monthly meetings discussing everything from fiction to families, poetry to politics and more personal topics. There were babies born, houses built, illnesses and celebrations of recovery. There was also the occasional member who moved away.

After twelve years, that member was me.

I’m part of another book group now, and I look forward to meetings. Because now it’s not just snacks and drinks, but a full dinner. This sounds like a lot of work, and it can be.

Or not.

It’s a special treat just to go to dinner at someone else’s house. So whatever is offered is appreciated and feels like a warm welcome.

We had book group at my house this past week. We discussed What is the What by Dave Eggers.

I made a green salad with pears and spiced pecans, maple roasted salmon and a warm quinoa salad with roasted squash and onions.

I also made an appetizer that we used to enjoy often at my “other” book group (thanks Rosemary!). It’s a funny combination of flavors - something you taste and think “ hmmmm...what is that”.

So you take another taste. And then another. It’s weirdly addictive.

You can make this in a small (7”) springform pan, if you have one. If not, it will taste just as good piled into a small bowl.

Hot Pepper Jelly Cheesecake

8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

1 cup hot pepper jelly, any flavor (I used blueberry/pepper)

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

1 1/4 cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated

1/4 cup toasted pine nuts

Spray the bottom and sides of springform pan with cooking spray (unless of course you aren’t using one).

Put cream cheese, 1/2 cup pepper jelly, garlic, cilantro and cheddar in food processor. Blend until well combined.

Spread mixture in prepared pan. Top with remaining pepper jelly, then sprinkle with pine nuts.

Cover and refrigerate at least two hours.

To serve, remove sides of springform pan and place cheesecake on serving dish.

And the Winner is...

Thanks so much to everyone for your comments on my blog-iversary post. I LOVE hearing from readers.

Monique, I hope you'll let us know what the best thing you ate all week was.

Linda at Lime in the Coconut, glad you like the cherry tomato sauce. And yes, the Curry Coconut Chicken Soup does have lime too.

Farmgirl Cyn, lucky you! Send me an email with your address and I'll send out a Mignardise apron to you. It pays to comment!

Susan at SGCC, thanks for the good wishes. I love your blog.

Dragana, thanks so much for your support. It's a great feeling to get to that one year mark.

Linda, so nice to hear from you!

Anonymous, whoever you are (Greg?) thanks for joining in.

Food With Style (Jain), your continued support means a lot to me. Your photos and humor are always inspiring.

Jennifer, I hope you'll continue to read along. Thanks for commenting.

Anita, my old friend, don't be too impressed with the neatness of my desk. It's new so I haven't had a chance to clutter it up yet. Give it a week.

Greetings and gratitude also to Sharon, Stephanie, Judith, Holly, Laura, Jayne, Lo, Dawn, Marla, Kellypea and Angie.

I'm looking forward to another year, new friends and LOTS of commenting.

The Icing on the Cake

I promised you cake, didn't I?

Conveniently, Bob's birthday is the same as my blog-iversay, so I made him a cake which also secretly serves as the Mignardise celebration cake.

Oh what a cake it was!

And I say "was" because there's not a crumb left. We (four of us) ate that cake, slice by slice, then sliver by sliver, until there was nothing left.

I've made this cake many times before, but for some reason it tasted even better this time. Or maybe I just forgot how good it is.

Or it could have been the frosting, which was new to me, but an old family favorite of Bob's.

Or maybe the fact that is was a double celebration cake.

Whatever.

It's so moist, dark, rich and chocolate-y without being too sweet. And not at all complicated.

It comes from one of my all-time favorite bakeries, Rosie's.

Judy Rosenberg had to go ahead and write a cookbook so that we could have her deliciousness any time we want in the privacy of our own homes.

Note that some of the ingredients say "room temperature". I used to dismiss this advice because I could never remember to take them out of the fridge in time. But after reading this article, I have seen the error of my ways and I am now reformed. It really does make a difference.
Also, even though there's coffee in the cake, you won't taste it. It just makes the chocolate richer.

Rosie's Famous Chocolate Sour Cream Cake

4 oz. unsweetened chocolate

2 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

(sift first, then measure)

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup hot, strong brewed coffee

1/2 cup sour cream, room temperature

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 large eggs, lightly beaten with a fork, room temperature

Preheat the oven to 345 degrees. Lightly grease two 8" layer cake pans with butter or cooking spray for baking. Or line with parchment circles.

Melt the chocolate in the top of a double boiler placed over simmering water, then turn off the heat.

Sift together the sugar, flour, baking soda and salt into a large mixing bowl.

In a separate bowl, blend the hot coffee, sour cream and vegetable oil with a whisk.

With the mixer on low speed, add the coffee mixture in a stream to the dry ingredients and mix until blended, about 35 seconds. Stop the mixer to scrape the sides of the bowl as needed.

Add the eggs one at a time and mix on medium-low speed after each addition until smooth, about 15 seconds. Scrape the bowl each time. Add the chocolate and mix until the batter is uniform in color, about 10 seconds more.

Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared pans. Tap each one gently on the counter to remove air bubbles. Place on the center rack of the oven.

Bake until the cake springs back to the touch and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 35-38 minutes. Do not wait for a crust to form.

Cool the layers in the pans on a rack before removing.

Penuche Icing

Melt 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter in a medium sauce pan.

Add 1 cup brown sugar and boil over low heat for 2 minutes.

Add 1/4 cup whole milk and bring to a boil again.

Remove from the heat and add 2 cups sifted powdered sugar and 1/2 tsp.vanilla.

Add more milk as necessary to make a the right consistency for spreading.

It's My Blog-iversary!

Hey friends - it was a year ago this week that I embarked on the little adventure I call Mignardise. Time sure flies when you're having fun.

So what have I accomplished here? Let's take a look...

87 posts

To my great surprise, 24 of them were savory recipes and 21 were for sweets. Ha! I could have sworn I was heavy on the cakes and brownies, but I guess not. I might have to make that up to you.

What was your favorite?

My top three picks are Love and Pancakes, Birthday Sushi with Cake and Ode to Ina.

But the posts that generated the most comments were Celebrating World Nutella Day, Just a Bite and the recent Cinnamon Apple Cake.

98 subscribers

Thanks to each and every one of you. I truly appreciate the support and the faith you have in me.

What about the rest of you? Reminder - it's free! Just put your email in the box on the right. You will get a confirmation from Feedburner in your email. Click "confirm" and Mignardise will appear in your inbox whenever there's a new post. That's all there is to it. Please don't make me beg.


What I've used (approximately)
160 sticks of butter
12 pounds of sugar
5 pounds of chocolate (seems low, doesn't it? Maybe it was more.)


What I've gained
6 pounds (give or take)

Favorite photo

I am still firmly in the amateur category when it comes to food photography. I wish I was better at it and some day I will be. Just not now. Too busy cooking, eating, writing. Oh yeah, and my kids.
There are many blogs out there that have absolutely gorgeous food photos. Check out Food With Style for a taste of them.

I do have one photo of mine I love. Take a look at it here.

The Best Thing I Made All Year
Savory: Coconut Curry Chicken Soup, better than my grandma's chicken soup. But then again she wasn't Asian.
Sweet: Gianduja Straciatella Gelato, the winner, hands down.

The Best Thing I Ate All Week
This is the title of a new feature I'm introducing. It'll probably be on Sundays or Mondays, and it's exactly what it says. It may be something I made. Or not.

You're invited to join in too. Leave a comment telling us the best thing YOU ate all week. I really do want to know.

What's In It for You
I had these lovely Mignardise aprons custom-made just so I can give them away. To be eligible to win, all you have to do is leave a comment of any sort (except nasty) in the comments section of this post by the end of the day Monday, October 19. If you're not sure how to do that, read this.
A winner will be chosen at random. If you don't win this time, don't worry. There'll be more giveaways in the coming year.

Goals
 To connect with you who love good food and appreciate a good story.
To get you to try something new that my family and I love.
To make some new friends, even though we may never meet.
To challenge myself in the kitchen for your sake.
To make you smile.

How am I doing so far?

Like a Pie, But Not a Pie

My daughter has a friend who goes around saying "Hi, I like pie."
Well, who doesn't?

Pie is as all-American as it gets. It's moms in aprons, screen doors slamming and front porches. Pie is like Bruce Springsteen, baseball and the Fourth of July all mixed together then finished off with a heaping scoop of Thanksgiving.

Is there pie in France?
Tartes, oui. Pies, non.


And Italy? No pie.
But there is crostada. And I have to admit to a real fondness for crostada.
It's a little like pie in that there's a crust and a fruit filling.
But it's also a little like a dolce pizza, so it can be sliced into wedges and eaten by hand. Plus this crostada has an apple crisp-like topping.

What's not to like about that?

And aside from letting the dough chill in the fridge, it's very quick and simple to make. I think it's less of a time investment than pie, but the taste is certainly no compromise.

Apple Maple Crostada, adapted from Barefoot Contessa


Crust:
1 cup all-purpose flour

2 Tbsps. granulated or superfine sugar

1/4 tsp. kosher salt

1/4 lb. (one stick) very cold, unsalted butter, diced

2 Tbsps. ice water

Filling:
3 large apples, peeled, cored and cut into large dice
(I use a mix of Golden Delicious, McIntosh and whatever else there is at the market. Try not to use just McIntosh, as they'll get too mushy.)

2 Tbsps. pure maple syrup

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 tsp. kosher salt

1/4 tsp. each ground cinnamon and allspice

4 Tbsps. (1/2 stick) butter

For the crust, place the flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Pulse a few times to combine. Add the butter and pulse 12-15 more times, or until the butter is pea-sized. Then with the motor running, add the ice water all at once. Keep hitting the pulse button to combine, but stop just before the dough becomes one solid ball. Remove from food processor and place on a well-floured surface. Form into a disk, wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least one hour.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Flour a rolling pin and either a large cutting board or your countertop. Roll dough into a large circle (or some semblance of a round shape) and transfer to a lined baking sheet.

Toss apple pieces with maple syrup and 1 tsp. cinnamon. Cover the dough with apple pieces, leaving a 1 1/2" border all around.

Combine the flour, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon and allspice in a small bowl. Add the butter and with your hands, rub all ingredients until they start to stick together. Sprinkle mixture evenly on top of the apples. Gently fold the the pastry border up and over the apples, enclosing them around the edges, pleating and folding as necessary.

Bake 20-25 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and the apples are tender. Allow to cool before serving. To serve, cut into wedges.

Coming later this week...the blog-iversary with giveaway. Stay tuned!