July Joys & Favorites | just leave me to do my dark bidding on the internet

| Joys |

Independence Day! We celebrated the 4th at Grandma's house with grilled brats and corn-on-the-cob and backyard fireworks. Grandma's neighbor gave the kids these balloons, and I am so grateful for this neighborly gesture. More even than the fireworks, this was the part of the afternoon Mads and Ella loved most--running through and bouncing off of a bouquet of balloons.

Fuquay-Varina Splash Park! I think perhaps we adults enjoy this place more than the kids. They're still small enough that getting a spray of water to the face is not always an entirely pleasant surprise. But, it's not far from our house, the kids get to expel some of that destructive 3-year-old energy, and it's a great way to cool off in this heat. My only complaint is that of a vampire: I wish it were shaded.

Batmobile! Martigan's Grandmommy and Grandpa Tommy spoiled him royally with his own batmobile (it's black, so it is a batmobile). He drove it furiously for two days before the battery stopped holding a charge, but what a glorious two days (we'll buy a new battery soon; honestly, I'm enjoying the break from the car).

Oak Island! We're not beach people; we're not good at beaching. We always get it wrong, never give ourselves enough time. But, once we get close enough to an ocean, my compulsion toward it becomes an unassailable, tangible thing, a tether that tugs. We're not beach people, but every time we stand in the sand staring at the ocean, we discuss the possibility of moving to an island and becoming fisherpeople. Or merpeople.

Interviews! I truly do loathe job searching. It is among my least favorite experiences, right up there with depression and giving birth, which perhaps is why in the past I've often stayed stuck in a job that didn't suit me or my talents for far too long (years). Unemployment would be a breeze were it not for the fact that I have to spend so many hours a day searching for a new job. But, I must admit, I've been really lucky in my interviews thus far--businesses for which I can see myself working and excelling, businesses for which I feel optimistic and enthusiastic. And, even were they not businesses that seemed to fit me, how lucky I feel just to be granted opportunities to interview.

| Favorites | 

| Recipe | Not Ice Cream! Mads and I have indulged in this recipe nearly every afternoon, sitting on the back deck or front porch (whichever is shadiest at whichever hour). So simple: one frozen banana, half an avocado, a handful of frozen berries, and enough yogurt or coconut water to get it all blended. A thousand imaginable variations. (A food processor works better than a blender, unless you're working with peanut butter--peanut butter is impossible in a food processor.)

| Kid Craft/Play | Moon Sand! I've mentioned this already in my last Project 365 update, but it's just not a North Carolina summer if you don't hear me complaining about it: it is too hot to be outside. I am not just being a hyperbolic whiner; various heat advisories in our local papers and radio station bulletins back me up on this. And any parent, grandparent, child carer can tell you that keeping 3-year-olds cooped up indoors for too long is a dangerous play, particularly when they are together (think Lord of the Flies, but with all your collectibles in the cross fire). This recipe is relatively simple to throw together and cheap (just 4 cups of flour and 1/2 cup of baby oil--recipe found here). It's messy, but I'm a mom; I'm impervious to mess.

| Product | Boogie Wipes! Mads and I were briefly sick this month. Again. I don't know how anybody survived a persistently runny nose before Boogie Wipes. They are so worth the however much they cost--it doesn't even matter, I won't blow my nose on anything else.

| Movie | What We Do In The Shadows! After my fifth time watching this in a row, I think it became pretty official that this is one of my all-time favorite movies. Like, I would get a tattoo of Jemaine Clement as Vlad the vampire as a cat.
| Show | Stranger Things! Typically, Wolfman and I are at least two years behind everyone else in our television consumption. It's a nice place to be--we already know what happens on any given show, we know what critics thought of it, what audiences thought of it, and we've decided we don't give a shit about any of that and don't mind wasting (or not wasting) our time on it. Stranger Things, however, is very new. The only thing I knew about the show came from a tweet which described it as "Twin Peaks meets Goonies." Having seen it, I don't think that's an accurate description, but only because it's something better and more interesting than a rehash of other things. (I will say, though, that it has a just a touch of John Carpenter Halloween to it.) However, part of what makes it so lovely is that Stranger Things definitely gives you all the feelings you feel while watching ET or Goonies or Stand By Me or any other beloved 80's movie featuring a group of boys coming-of-age. It feels wholesome. Scary, weird, wholesome: some of my very favorite adjectives. And, god, how beautiful are David Harbour and Winona Ryder. I've always liked Winona Ryder (I'll get a tattoo of Lydia Deetz right next to my Vlad-as-cat), but she is a complete revelation to me in this show. Her crazy eyes, the way she stabs the air with her cigarette and walks with a hunch, I just completely, utterly love her performance. And now, because Wolfman and I are riding the zeitgeist this time, we have to wait for season two. In classic first-in-a-franchise horror movie style, season one did not quite wrap up, and I could not be happier. | Links & Etc. | On Instagram, I've been particularly taken with @nurturingnova--her account is so chill and joyful and beautifully cultivated. | I've been following Julia Dreads on Youtube for a while, but this month she's increased her output, and her daily vlog videos are the prettiest dailies I've seen. | Recently discovered Drew Monson on Youtube, and though it took me a few videos before I'd made up my mind, I do think he's very funny. But, it's his videos discussing his struggles with depression that I find most impressive, perhaps because they're vulnerable, but more because they're real, and I don't often hear people discuss depression in a way that feels real. | "Literally, right now my body is heavy. It just had a child. My tits are bigger. My stomach is, you know, still soft and giant. And there's this part of me that's going, 'you're going to look kind of ugly,' and then there's that wiser voice that goes, like, 'no you're not. You just had a child. You're going to look real. You're going to look like the thing that you are.'" Love this Amanda Palmer's Style Like U strip interview. | Loved the TED Radio Hour episode "Animals & Us" and recommend it if you have animal companions. | I want this to be a real thing: Mom Tiger Will Finally Lose Her Shit on New Episode of Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood

@JoannaDeVoe Amanda Palmer is my patron saint of Fuck This I'm Doing It My Way If You Dont Like It Boo-Fucking-Hoo. #saintofnoapologies

— thewolfpeople (@thewolfpeople) July 12, 2016

The Wolfkitchen | Wolfman's Inventive Sweet Tooth Cookies [i.e. Cocoa Hemp Cookies]

When I'm craving sweets and there's nothing in the house to satisfy that craving, I eat honey by the spoonful, dried cranberries and raisins, and complain. When Wolfman is craving sweets and there's nothing in the house to satisfy that craving, he gets out my hand-me-down Betty Crocker cookbook and improvises. He is a far better person than I; I am not loathe to admit. Wolfman adapted this recipe from the classic Betty Crocker chocolate chip cookie recipe. He replaced Crisco with coconut oil and used only brown sugar instead of a combination of sugars. The result was a cakey, spicy cookie, not too sweet--particularly tasty dipped in coffee.

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cups coconut oil
• 2/3 cups butter, softened
• 2 cups brown sugar, packed
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup hemp seeds
• 2-4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (Wolfman did not actually measure this part)
• liberal cinnamon (as in, liberal use; cinnamon's political preferences do not matter)

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix oil, butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla in large bowl.
3. Stir in dry ingredients.
4. Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes.
5. Cool slightly before removing from the cookie sheet.

The Wolfkitchen | Trick-or-Treat Vomit [i.e. Halloween Candy Bark]

We are already in full Halloween mode here at the House of Vaughn--Oingo Boingo dance parties at night, skeletons and scarecrows on our mantle, and treat-making in the kitchen. For me, the latter half of the year is all about baking cookies and making candy, essentially fattening up my loved ones like the witch in Hansel & Gretel. This is my first Halloween treat of the year for Mads and Ella (and Wolfman--he takes a Dad Tax of 30% of all sweets). It didn't turn out as beautifully as the photos from the recipe I used at Just a Taste, but it tastes like a diabetic coma waiting to happen, so I will call this a success.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups miscellaneous candy (I used: mini M&Ms, peanut butter M&Ms, mini candy corn, mini Kit Kat bars, coca crispies [at Wolfman's recommendation], and little Frankenstein monster sprinkle figures I found at Target)
• 3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (basically, an entire bag)

Directions:

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Melt the chocolate chips in a double boiler (or I suppose you could use a microwave if you're into that sort of thing), stir until smooth.
3. Pour the chocolate onto the parchment paper, smoothing with a spatula. Sprinkle candy over the chocolate.
4. Place baking sheet in the refrigerator and chill for 30-45 minutes. 
5. Chop into pieces. Serve immediately or refrigerate.

Things I'd do differently next time (and there will definitely be a next time):

1. This is the perfect recipe for using up leftover trick-or-treat candy, which is why, apart from the look of it, Wolfman and I have taken to calling it Trick-or-Treat Vomit (as appetizing as that sounds). I will probably wait to make this again until I have leftovers. 
2. Also, I'll try finding something even darker and more bitter than semi-sweet chocolate chips--the chocolate base doesn't need to be sweet; the candy topping is more than sweet enough. 
3. And, on that note, some of the candy might be better if mixed into the chocolate (certainly, the cocoa crispies). The sprinkling of candy on top is great for making the bark look fun, but during the chopping and storing process, much of it gets jostled off.

Original recipe via: Just a Taste

"Dead Man's Party," Oingo Boingo

Domesticity Log, no. 11 | Fruit & Nut Bites

Here's a wholesome, yummy, simple snack recipe.  Gluten free, dairy free, processed sugar free, etc.  Originally made for that detox my brain refuses to process in words, but a go-to now.  I haven't been this excited about a snack since I learned to make granola.  Recipe originally from Whole Living, but with one alteration:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups mixed dried fruit (I used figs, dates, and raisins.)
• 1 cup mixed raw nuts and seeds (the recipe originally calls for 2 cups, but I found this was way too much.  I used almonds and pecans.)
• Spice (I used allspice.)
• Salt of choice
• 1/3 cup seeds (The original recipe calls for sesame seeds, which I think sounds yummy, but I used flax because it's what I had on hand.  I tried using unsweetened shredded coconut, but the balls weren't sticky enough because, I think, I used too many nuts.)

Directions:

1. Pulse fruit in a food processor, transfer to bowl.
2. Pulse nuts/seeds in a food processor until finely chopped.  Add to fruit.  Add spice and salt.
3. Knead together into 1-inch balls, roll in seeds.

Here's a hint: if you use figs, your fruit & nut bites are going to be particularly tasty, and the little fig seeds will add an extra texture to your bite, which is delightful.  Figs are, in short, the greatest fruit ever to exist on this planet.  Suck it, mangoes.

 

Domesticity Log, no. 10 | Zucchini Cookies

Zucchini season is upon us.  In the next months, undoubtedly, zucchini will be pushed into my arms by neighbors nearly every time I step out the door.  On my afternoon walk yesterday, I couldn't help laughing a little, aloud, as I passed several homes in a row with zucchini and yellow squash piled up on porch rocking chairs and in front of doors.  Luckily, squash is a versatile vegetable--it can be used in soups, of course, and roasted, and blanched, and all that, but it can also be used in place of pasta, and it can be hidden in baked goods.  The first and last thing I always do with summer's zucchini is make cookies. 

This recipe comes from Barbara Kingsolver (one of my lady heroes, and an expert on getting rid of zucchini) via her book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, (a book I talk about incessantly).  Here, I'll post the chocolate chip version.  It's a spicy, fluffy, bready cookie, but very moist, very good.  Typically, I prefer my chocolate chip cookies crispy on the outside and gooey in the middle, but I still make these several times a summer, because I can trick myself into thinking they're healthy as I eat them (I'm eating vegetables!).  Last weekend, I didn't have chocolate chips, but did have a container full of frozen strawberries, so I used those instead. 

And a note on this zucchini, my first of the season: so fresh that juice beaded on its surface when I cut it, and after grating it, I had to wring it out with my hands over the sink like a sponge.  How fun!

Ingredients:

• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup honey (or agave nectar)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup white flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 cup finely shredded zucchini
• 12 ounces chocolate chips of choice

Instructions:

1. Combine eggs, butter, sugar, honey, and vanilla in a large bowl.
2. Combine dry ingredients in separate, small bowl.
3. Blend dry ingredients into wet ingredients.
4. Stir zucchini and chocolate chips into bowl, mix well. 
5. Drop by spoonful onto greased baking sheet, and flatten with the back of a spoon.  Bake at 350 degrees, 10 to 15 minutes.

No, no pictures of the cookies.  They're not incredibly photogenic, but awfully tasty.

Domesticity Log, no. 9 | A Go-To Pie Crust Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
• 8 Tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, very cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar (increase to 1 1/2 teaspoon for sweet recipe)
• 4 to 6 Tbsp ice water

Instructions

1. Place cut up stick of butter in the freezer for at least 15 minutes, so it's thoroughly chilled.
2. In a food processor, combine flour, salt, sugar, and pulse to mix.  Add butter and pulse 6 to 8 times, until mixture resembles course meal, with pea size pieces of butter.  Add water 1 tablespoon at a time, pulsing until mixture begins to clump together.  If you pinch some of the crumbly dough and it holds together, it's ready; if not, add a little more water and pulse again.
3. Remove dough from machine and place on a clean surface.  Carefully shape into a disc.  Do not over-knead the dough.  You should still be able to see little bits of butter in the dough (these will make the dough flaky!).  Sprinkle the disc with flour on all sides.  Wrap the disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Before this recipe, I was in a sad state, or, often, a panicked, irate state (see: Thanksgiving morning, 2010, struggling with a pumpkin pie crust to take to my mother-in-law).  Crusts were either too sticky, or too unyielding, too tasteless, too brick-like.  I was at the end of my rope, really, when this recipe came to me, via Simply Recipes of all places.  I use it for everything now, sweet or savory, galette or popover.

Of course, as you can plainly see from the above photos, I have yet to master the art of a picturesque pie crust.  Though, truthfully, I'm not sure I care to work on that skill to any degree.  The pies always taste good enough.  And I kind of like to think that this is what my children and grandchildren will affectionately remember about me: "Remember those pies Mom used to make?  Remember how ugly they were?"

Domesticity Log, no. 8 | Notes on Tuna Salad

Possible Ingredients:

• Tuna of choice
• Bean of choice (in the batch pictured, I used navy beans), soaked overnight & rinsed
• Green olives
• Black olives
• Capers
• Sundried tomato
• Sweet pickle relish
• Dried Cranberries
• Mayo, miracle whip, oil & vinegar, or mustard
• etc.

Tuna fish sandwiches have always been my favorite.  One of my earliest memories is of my grandma fixing me a plate of tiny triangle-cut tuna sandwiches, each one food colored--one green, one red, one blue.  In fact, I can eat straight tuna from a can (or, I could, when I worried less about mercury poisoning), though typically I have a cat to wrangle with, because they have the nerve to think something fishy smelling in a can belongs to them.  But, throughout this long love affair with tuna, the tuna salad to me always meant the same simple thing: canned tuna with miracle whip, possibly pickle relish if you want to make it fancy (never ever ever onions). 

My eyes were opened about a year ago when I bought a tuna salad plate and crackers from the Square Rabbit, a little take-out and catering place a few blocks from work that I just love.  This tuna salad was different; this tuna salad had cannellini beans in it, and olives, and some other things I've forgotten now.  So now, in the warm months, I make big batches of tuna salad to freeze in individual servings for lunches, and each batch is new--based partly on what I have in my cabinets, and partly on what I remember using and liking from past batches. 

Domesticity Log, no. 7 | Oatmeal Sandwich Bread

Ingredients:

• 1 package active dry yeast
• 3 tablespoons unsulphured molasses
• 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 cups bread flour
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 2 ounces (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted & cooled slightly
• 1 tablespoon salt

Instructions:

1. Lightly butter a large bowl and a bread loaf pan about 9x5x3 inches.  The dough can also be formed into a boule (round loaf) and baked on a baking sheet.
2. Add 2 cups of warm water, yeast, and molasses to a bowl (separate from the buttered bowl).  Stir, allowing the yeast to bloom for about 5 minutes until it begins to bubble.  If it doesn't bubble, the yeast may be inactive, in which case you'll want to start again.
3. Measure the flours, oats, and butter into the bowl with the yeast mixture and stir together with a wooden spoon.  Cover with a slightly damp towel and let stand for 30 minutes.
4. Knead dough on a floured surface--slap the dough around a bit.  The dough should be soft and supple, slightly tacky.
5. For the first rise, scrape the dough onto a floured surface and knead it a few times.  Put the dough into the buttered bowl, cover with towel, and let rise for about an hour, or until it's doubled in size.
6. Shape the dough on a lightly floured surface.  Press down the dough, working it toward a square shape while depressing all of the bubbles.  Fold the dough down from the top to middle, then from bottom to the middle.  Bring the newly formed top and bottom edges together and pinch the seam in the middle, sealing the seam with the with your fingers.  Pinch the sides together and roll the shaped dough back and forth, plumping so that it's evenly formed and about the size of the loaf pan.  Place the dough in the pan, seam-side down.  Press it gently into the corners of the pan.
7. Cover the dough with the towel and let rise in a warm place for another hour.  While dough is rising, preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
8. When the dough has finished its final rise, sprinkle the top of the loaf with oats or bran.
9. Bake for 40 minutes.  The loaf is ready when the crust is molasses dark.  To see if the bread is ready, give the top of the loaf a thump to see if it sounds hollow.  If not, bake for another five minutes.  Remove from the pan and cool on a baking rack, a few hours.

Recipe adapted from Food & Wine's Best of the Best Cookbook Recipes, vol. 14, contributed by Kim Boyce and Amy Scattergood's Good to the Grain.  The original recipe calls for all mixing to be done in a standing mixer.  In step 4, in particular, rather than kneading the dough, the recipe as written instructs that the dough be put in one's electric mixer with bread hook attached to the mixing apparatus.  Unfortunately for me, I do not own a standing mixer.  So, I had to improvise.  The end result may not be as professional, and I may have missed out on the dough's slapping from side to side of the bowl with a "beautiful sheeting effect," but... so it is.  My hands work fine.

Domesticity Log, no. 6 | Bean "Meat" Balls

Ingredients:

• 2 cups dried white beans, soaked overnight (or, 1 1/2 15oz cans Cannellini Beans, drained & rinsed)
• 1 small jar roasted red peppers, rinsed, or 1 fresh red pepper if in season
• 2-3 stalks green onion, chopped (or 1/2 medium yellow onion)
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 1/2 tsp dried oregano (I used much more than this, however)
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup dried breadcrumbs
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Thoroughly coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray.
2. Combine beans, red peppers, onions, & garlic in a food processor.  Pulse until chopped, but not smoothly pureed.
3. Transfer the mixture into a bowl and stir in oregano, eggs, breadcrumbs, salt, & pepper until well combined.
4. Form "meatballs" by rolling roughly 2 tablespoon-sized portions between the palms of your hand.  Place balls on the baking sheet, spacing evenly.
5. Bake until the "meatballs" are firm to the touch and light golden brown, 15-20 minutes.
6. Use with pasta recipes or in subs.

Recipe adapted from Cookin Canuck's Vegetarian Meatballs.

Domesticity Log, no. 5 | Ranger Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar (packed)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup oats
• 1 cup cereal* 
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut

* Note on cereal: I keep a tupperware container in my cabinet for the crumbs and broken bits at the bottom of boxes of cereal.  For this particular batch of cookies, I think I used a combination of golden grahams, grape nuts, and some sort of wheat flake.

Instructions:

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Mix thoroughly butter, sugars, egg, & vanilla.  Stir in remaining ingredients.
2. Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheet.  Bake 10 minutes.  Immediately remove from baking sheet.

Recipe via my beloved Betty Crocker's Cookbook, published in 1976.  '76 is also the year this book was given to my grandma, on her 29th birthday, from her mother.  And, when I turned 25 and moved in with the boyfriend that, within a few short months, would become my husband, my grandma passed it along to me.  

If we're judging strictly in terms of the quality of recipes, this book is perhaps not the best.  Lots of recipes call for cans of soup, for instance, or, like this very cookie recipe, call for vegetable shortening instead of butter.  But, it's good for basics; I often use the recipes herein as a starting off point for greater, improvisational kitchen adventures.  Also, the aesthetic of this book is so fantastic. So much use of the color orange!  And each section is divided by wonderfully dated photos (see the cookie divider below).  Also, my grandma personalized this cookbook in numerous ways--from adding notes, to pages of recipes, to the crewel embroidery pattern she used below as a pretty divider.  I have plans to reinforce all the pages, and perhaps add some personalization of my own for when I one day pass this along to our future daughter, Calamity Jane Vaughn.

Domesticity Log, no. 4 | Chickpeas in Spicy Tomato Gravy

Ingredients:

• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 jalapeno, chopped
• One 2-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 bunch green onions, chopped + sprinkling of dehydrated onion (eyeball it).  Or, 3 onions, chopped.
• 2 tablespoons ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 1/2 cups canned diced tomatoes
• 2 cups dried chickpeas (soaked overnight)
• 2 cups water
• 2 tablespoons cilantro leaves

Instructions:

1. In a food processor, combine garlic, jalapeno, & ginger.  Process to a paste.
2. When chopping green onions, separate the green from white.
3. In a large skillet, heat the oil.  Add the white stems of the chopped onions & dehydrated onions and cook over moderately high heat until sizzling, about 3 minutes.  Reduce the heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are browned, about 7 minutes.
4. Add the garlic paste and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
5. Add the cumin, coriander, and cayenne and cook, stirring for 1 minute.  Add the tomatoes and simmer over moderate heat until thickened, about 6 minutes.
6. Add the chickpeas and water and simmer until the chickpeas are flavored with the gravy, about 8 minutes.
7. Season the chickpeas with salt, garnish with cilantro and green onion.
8. Serve with Greek yogurt & naan.

Recipe adapted via Food & Wine's Chef Recipes Made Easy.  Every year my grandpa orders me a Food & Wine recipe book for Christmas.  I have about five now, this one being the most recent (2011).  Below, you can see how I changed up the recipe.  My effort was to make this not so incredibly spicy, though even with my alterations (I used 1 jalapeno instead of 2, for instance), this still about burnt my tongue and lips off.  But, still a very tasty dish.  And cooking it is a delight--all those spices hitting the skillet make the entire kitchen bloom with that exotic scent.  It's lovely. 

Also, a note on onions: I don't like them.  I hate getting a mouthful of onion, which is always somehow crunchy and slimy at the same time.  So, I use scallions and dehydrated onions exclusively to get around the weird texture thing.

Domesticity Log, no. 3 | "You're feeding me like a real Southern man."

Sweet Potato Spice Loaf

3 eggs

1/2 cup buttermilk

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground allspice

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

3/4 cup butter, cut up

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups shredded fresh peeled sweet potato

1 clementine orange or orange

1/4 cup honey

1. Let eggs and buttermilk stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat 9x5x3 inch baking pan with nonstick spray, or, line with aluminum foil; coat lightly with flour. Set aside. In medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, allspice, and nutmeg; set aside.

2. Mix together sugar and butter. Add eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla. Add flour mixture; whisk until combined. Fold in sweet potato. Spoon batter into prepared pan, spreading evenly.

3. Bake 65-70 minutes or until top springs back when lightly touched and split in top appears dry. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan. Cool completely about 2 hours.

4. Meanwhile, for candied clementine peel, with vegetable peeler, remove strips of peel from orange. In small microwave-safe combine peel strips and honey. Microwave on high for 30-40 seconds until warm. Cover. Let stand while cake cools. Spoon peel strips and honey over cake.

Beans & Skillet Corn Bread

recipe via Pioneer Woman

Domesticity Log, no. 2 | Some Thanksgiving Recipes, weeks after the fact

Wolfman's Ham Recipe

My honey makes one mean ham. And by mean, I of course mean sweet and spicy and tasty.

6-8 lb ham

whole cloves

1/2 cup honey or molasses

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup cola

1 tbsp mustard (dijon or brown)

1 tbsp ginger

1 teaspoon clove

sliced orange & orange zest

Mix ingredients (minus whole clove and orange) together and glaze ham. Spear ham with whole cloves, cover with sliced orange. For cooked ham: needs 18 minutes at 325 degrees in the oven per pound. Uncooked ham: needs 30 minutes per pound at 350 degrees. Remove ham from oven every once in a while to re-glaze. When finished cooking, remove whole cloves from the ham as they will make your mouth and your guests' mouths numb if eaten.

Autumn Quinoa

This quinoa recipe can be used as a stuffing substitute if you or a loved one is experimenting with a gluten-free diet. Or, it's just delicious if you just like delicious food. I also froze a few individual tupperware containers of this for work lunch on my vegetarian days--it's super filling and yummy on its own. Recipe originally via With Style & Grace.

2 cup quinoa (I used a quinoa that had dried mushrooms and onions mixed with it)

3 medium sweet potatoes

Scallions (or, 1/2 medium red onion; I, however, do not eat onion that way, so...)

1 garlic clove

1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons cumin

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup pecans, toasted

3 tablespoons parsley, chopped

salt & pepper to taste

Cook quinoa as directed. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cover baking sheet with foil, add sweet potatoes (and onions if cooking onions), season with salt and pepper and toss to coat. Roast 30-25 minutes. Combine sweet potatoes with cooked quinoa. Drizzle with olive oil. Stir in other ingredients. Season if necessary.

Honey Beer Bread

I have been touting this recipe to anyone who will listen. Super simple, a few easy ingredients, super tasty, and a great way to get rid of any extra beer in your fridge. As we often host friends at our house, our fridge is constantly full of beer that neither Wolfman nor I will touch. I've found that this recipe tastes best with PBR, and the only beer that has totally ruined the bread was Guinness. So, trust me on this, even if you like Guinness, do not use Guinness or Guinness-like beers in this recipe. You'll get a dark, tasteless, cardboard-like loaf of hellfood. Recipe originally from Gimme Some Oven.

3 cups all purpose flour

2 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 tpsp honey (or, agave nectar, but it's tastier with honey)

12 oz. beer (one bottle or can)

4 tpsp butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan. In medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Using a wooden spoon, stir beer and honey into the dry ingredients until just mixed. Pour half the melted butter into the loaf pan. Spoon batter into the pan, and pour the rest of the butter on top of the batter. Bake 50-60 minutes. Serve immediately.

Pumpkin Pie with Fresh Cranberries

I don't do much experimenting with pumpkin pie; the simpler, the better as far as I'm concerned. So, this is the same pie recipe you'll find on the pureed pumpkin cans at the super market. My only addition (besides a ton more spice, because, seriously, a teaspoon of ginger? a single teaspoon, really?) is fresh cranberries. I like some tartness and something to chew on in an otherwise almost pudding-like pie.

Apple, Plum, Pear, & Cranberry Pie

Your basic apple pie recipe, but with more autumn fruits and, as with the pumpkin pie, a heck ton more spice. Also, yes, perhaps I cheated a bit. The bottom half of this pie's crust was a frozen store bought one my sister left in my freezer. Sometimes the thought of rolling out a pie crust is daunting, okay.

Pomegranate Double Chocolate Cookies

I have this thing with favorite fruits--cherries, blueberries, pomegranate--I don't like to "waste" them by baking with them. I'd much rather just eat them straight and raw. But, I decided to try this recipe, and these were very good cookies, but still, I think I would've rather have just eaten the pomegranate seeds alone. So, probably never again, but you never know unless you try. Recipe originally via Made.

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

3/4 cup white sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

3/4 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

2 cups chocolate chips

1 cup pomegranate arils (1 pomegranate should suffice)

Cream together butter, shortening, 2 sugars, vanilla, and eggs. Beat for 3 minutes. In separate bowl, mix dry ingredients. Combine with butter mixture and mix until incorporated. Add pomegranate arils and chocolate chips. A few seeds may burst during mixing, but don't stress over it. More flavor. Scoop dough into small balls on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 9-10 minutes.

Domesticity Log, no. 1 | All Hallows' Eve Eve

Culinary adventures from this year's Halloween/anniversary party, on Sunday October 30th. Typically, for any gathering, I make the snacks, sides, and desserts, and Wolfman is in charge of the meat or main course. Besides what is listed below, I also made some hand-cut french fries and some sauteed carrots with dill. Wolfman grilled some brats and mixed up a toxic green sugary spiked punch.

Scarecrow Crunch

When it came down to Saturday afternoon, the house is clean, and next on the To Do list is grocery shopping for the next day's EPIC HALLOWEENVERSARY PARTY, my mind drew a sort of blank. I could not for the life of me remember what exactly I'd slaved away at the year before. I knew there was a dip the menfolk devoured within an hour of arriving, but how was it made again? A visit to Pinterest, however, gave me this Martha Stewart recipe for a sweet & salty snack mix. It got rave reviews, but personally, I was not so impressed. Also, I accidentally picked up mustard mini pretzels instead of regular pretzels, and after debating this (aloud, I might add) to myself, decided to go ahead. My exact reasoning was, "Well, I like mustard; everyone else can suck it." Let it be known that I love baking and cooking and mixing, but when I have a deadline, I get a bit grumpy about it.

4 cups crunchy oatmeal cereal squares
4 cups tiny twist pretzels
1 (22 ounce) bag candy corn or autumn mix honey candy
2 cups Reese's Pieces (or similar/generic)
2 (6 ounce) boxes Poppycock (or similar/generic)
1 (6.6 ounce) bag Teddy Grahams (or similar/generic)

Combine in large bowl and mix, or combine in large freezer bag and shake.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

I'd made blueberry whoopie pies for my birthday gathering using a recipe I'd torn out of some mystery magazine (Good Housekeeping, or like), and got rave reviews. Though, at the time I thought the cookies were a little too spiced for a blueberry cream filling, and in my brain computer filed away the idea to use the cookies in a future autumnal way. Then, the week before the party, saw Shutterbean's pumpkin cream cheese recipe--Ding! Ding! Ding!

For cakes:

2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1 and 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 large egg

2 tablespoons molasses

1/2 cup sour cream

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F). Grease cookie pans.

2. In medium bowl, mix dry ingredients.

3. In large bowl, beat butter until smooth. Add brown sugar and beat until creamy. Add egg and molasses, beat until well blended. Mix in flour mixture alternately with sour cream (either on low speed with an electric mixer, or as I prefer at this point, by hand).

3. Spoon batter by heaping tablespoons onto prepared cookie sheets, 2 and 1/2 inches apart. Bake cakes, one sheet at a time, 11 to 13 minutes, or until cakes spring back when pressed lightly. Cool cakes completely before adding filling. Cakes can be made ahead up to 1 day; wrap tightly and store at room temperature.

For filling (recipe via Shutterbean):
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

I ended up using a little more pumpkin, maple syrup, and spices because I was using it as a dessert filling, not a breakfast spread. Of course, I can't give exact measurements because I never measure exactly. I'm more of a pourer/taster than measurer.

Dirt & Worm Cupcakes

So, fun self-epiphany, the reason I don't often bake cupcakes, even though I enjoy eating cupcakes, is that I kind of am impatient and annoyed by the decorating process. Also, I have terrible luck getting frosting the right consistency (I'm telling you, man, it's my lack of concern for exact measurements--it's biting me in the ass). So, here I've made this gorgeous chocolate cake batter, so delicious that I woke Wolfman up from a nap to make him taste some (he then got off the sofa, came into the kitchen, and cleaned the bowl for me--with a combination of spatula and tongue), and a slightly tangy, yummy frosting that keeps melting and dripping right off said delicious cake. And I am running out of time. And I am furious. Luckily, my new friend Selena (pronounced Solanah, unlike my friend-since-childhood Selena, whose name is pronounced Selena), has arrived early to help me set up for the party and takes over decorating duty so I can put my costume on. What a pal.

Cake & filling recipe via Lily Vanilli's A Zombie Ate My Cupcake:

For cakes:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

1/3 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup sour cream

4 tablespoons strong espresso*

* I used the morning's leftover coffee rather than espresso, because my husband roasts and brews a strong cuppa. And, a personal sidenote, when he found out his coffee was the secret ingredient, he was smug and proud in a way most adorable.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (f). Line muffin pan with paper cups.

2. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes). Add egg and vanilla, beat until fully incorporated.

3. Combine dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.

4. Add dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the sour cream. Slowly add cooled coffee.

5. Using an ice-cream scoop, spoon the batter into the paper cases, filling them three-quarters full. Bake for 15 minutes or until they pass the toothpick test.

6. Cool completely before decorating.

For frosting:

1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

1/3 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 and 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar

2 tablespoons milk (full fat)

2 tablespoons sour cream*

*Recipe originally called for heavy cream, but as I did not have any, I substituted sour cream, and to be honest, I liked the tang sour cream adds rather than having a sickening sweet icing on my cupcakes.

1. Cream butter and cocoa until combined.

2. Add salt, vanilla, sugar, and milk, and continue to beat, slowly adding cream. Beat until very smooth.

For decorations:

Chocolate-filled Oreos (or similar), crushed

Gummy worms

Gummy mushrooms