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Whenever I visit home, I can’t help but spoil my parents with baked and cooked treats, because when they come home after a long day and smell something delicious in the air, they get the most precious looks on their faces that show me that their worries from the day have abated ever so slightly. And if it’s that easy to make someone happy, why not do it everyday?

I try to make sure that they not only get some sweets, but some healthful foods in their diet to keep them strong and healthy. These modified Salmon Cakes full of Omega-3 fatty acids fall into the healthful food category. I topped these salmon cakes off with a Cucumber Yogurt Salad that lent the dish a refreshing twist. I’m never precise whenever it comes to cooking, so here’s a rough recipe to follow if you’d like to try it out yourself!

Salmon Cakes
Makes 3-5 portions

• 3 fillets of fresh salmon
• 1/2 cup pine nuts
• 1/2 cup walnuts
• 1 cup whole grain bread meal*
• 1/4 cup onion, diced
• 1/4 cup bell pepper, diced
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons freshly minced garlic
• 1/2 tablespoon dried dill weed
• 2 eggs
• salt and pepper to taste

* Basically take a couple slices of whole grain bread and leave out to dry. Alternatively, lay the slices on a baking tray and bake in a 175 degree F oven until they’ve dried out. You can also add some herbs to this mix as you like.

1. Steam the 3 salmon fillets until tender. Set aside to cool.
2. Combine the pine nuts, walnuts, and bread meal in a food processor and process until fine.
3. Thoroughly drain the bell peppers by squeezing them within a cheese cloth.
4. Add the bell peppers, onions, lemon juice, and garlic to the salmon fillets in a large bowl.Using a fork, mix to combine until the salmon flakes. I like some sizable chunks of salmon in there. Sprinkle in some salt and pepper to taste. Keep in mind that you will be adding the bread meal and eggs to the mix, so compensate for that by adding just a bit more seasoning than you think is necessary.
5. Crack in the 2 eggs and gently combine. Add the bread meal as necessary until the salmon cakes reach your desired consistency. If the salmon cakes are difficult to handle, you can also put them in the fridge for 30 minutes to 1 hour to make handling easier.
6. Spoon up ~4 tablespoons of salmon cake into the palm of your hand, roll, and press gently until you make a patty about .75 inches thick.
7. Heat a pan with just a touch of oil, butter, or cooking spray and place the patties on the pan. Cook over medium-low heat until cooked through and golden on each side.
8. Serve warm.

Cucumber Yogurt Salad

• 2.5 cups Greek style plain, fat-free yogurt
• 2 cups cucumbers, diced
• 1 tablespoon dried dill weed
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

1. Combine everything in a bowl. Cover and let it sit in the refrigerator for ~8 hours.
2. Serve cool.

The Porter house is:

• Jli and all the wonderful things that the very name entails
• A warmly lit front door with a Tomblesaurus leaning out with a welcoming grin and a giant wave
• Tacos
• Romping around and jumping on the most comfortable bed
• Sofa-side girl chats under blankets

In many ways, the Porter house is a hub of warmth and comfort. So when I set my mind on developing a recipe just for the lovelies at the Porter house, I knew I wanted something to capture the feeling of comfort I felt when I was there. It took some experimentation, but I think this is it: a moist pumpkin cupcake scented with cinnamon and a kick of nutmeg with a hidden sweet and tart apple pie filling in the center that surprises you mid-bite.

Jli, Tomblesaurus, Abdelsamad, Abaclig, and Mr. CIA, this one’s for you!

—

Pumpkin Spice Apple Cupcakes a.k.a. “The Porter House”
Makes 19 cupcakes (18 cupcakes for guests + 1 for the baker, of course)

Pre-work:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
• Bring the eggs for the cupcakes  to room temperature and lightly beat them
• Bring the melted butter for the cupcakes to room temperature
• Set out the cream cheese and butter for the frosting to soften
• If you are using cupcake liners, line your muffin tin with the liners. If not, lightly grease your muffin tin.

Prepare the apple filling first:

• 2 medium apples peeled, cored, and finely diced
• 1/2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon grapefruit zest
• 1/2 tablespoon cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons butter

1. Soak the diced apples in a bowl of water with the tablespoon of lemon juice.
2. Then combine the brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, grapefruit zest, and vinegar in a bowl.
3. Mix the apples into the apple filling seasoning mixture.
4. Lightly sautee the apples with the butter until fork tender. Set aside.

Now prepare the cupcakes:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 cups packed light-brown sugar
• 1 cup unsalted melted butter
• 4 eggs
• 1 can (15 oz) pumpkin puree

1. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg intended for the cupcakes in a medium bowl
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the brown sugar butter, and eggs until smooth
3. Add the dry ingredients to the wet as you continue to whisk until smooth
4. Add the pumpkin puree and whisk it in until combined
5. Fill the muffin tins 1/4 of the way with the pumpkin cupcake batter. Drop a heaping teaspoon of the apple filling in the center of the batter. Pour the pumpkin cupcake batter over the filling until the muffin tins are about halfway full.
6. Put in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the tops of the cupcakes spring back when you gently push on them with your fingertips.

Prepare the cream cheese frosting as you wait:

• 1.5 packages cream cheese, softened
• 4 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1.5 cups confectioners sugar, sifted
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Cream together the cream cheese frosting and butter until smooth
2. Mix in the vanilla
3. Gradually add the granulated sugar
4. Pipe or smear onto the cupcakes once cooled

*I opted to top the cupcakes with a sprinkling of candied walnuts instead of a cream cheese frosting, but for those not worried about such a silly thing as calories, I would highly suggest topping these off with a swirl of cream cheese frosting, as it would be a lovely complement to the cupcakes.

Take a good look at this woman. She may look like the most wise, strong, and loving mother in the world. And, well, that’s because she is. But I’m sorry to tell you, she is a chronic “storer.”

Yes. A storer. She has the amazing resourcefulness to find the best deals within a 40 mile radius and an even more astounding ability to pack it all away … a great skill to have in post-war Korea, but not necessarily a survival tactic necessary in the land of plenty (and Costco’s). Nevertheless, so it is.

Many a times during my childhood did I pop open my mother’s trunk after a shopping trip to find totes upon totes of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and health foods galore only to have my mother reply to my gasp, “But they were on sale!” Well, there must have been a special on apples recently, because what I found upon opening the refrigerator on my recent visit home were not one, nor two, but three bags of apples sitting unapologetically on the shelf.

Others might have seen waste, but in my “fatty” eyes, all I saw were dancing visions of experiments with Fall recipes. To start with, I baked up a dependable Apple Crostata that filled our home with wafts of nutmeg and cinnamon that announced my arrival home to my Dad’s nose. The recipe is quick and easy, and the butteriness of the flaky crust and the sweetness of the filling are wonderfully offset by the splashes of freshly squeezed lemon and grapefruit zest added to the filling.

Apple Crostata

And the beauty of it all is that there are still plenty of apples and some other goodies to experiment with in the coming days! We have a can of pumpkin puree with an impending expiration date and a can of adzuki red bean paste sitting on the pantry shelf that are crying out to be used. So look forward to some fun recipes coming your way soon!

Apple Crostata

For the crust:
1 cup flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar*
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter chilled and diced
2 tablespoons ice water

For the egg wash:
1 egg white
3 tablespoons turbinado sugar

For the filling:
3 small apples, peeled, cored, and sliced into 1/4 inch slices
1 teaspoon grapefruit zest
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

For the crumbles:
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup brown sugar*
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
4 tablespoons butter, chilled, and diced

*I substituted each unit of sugar with half a unit of Splenda brown sugar blend, and everything baked up just fine

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit

1. Give the flour, sugar, and salt a quick mix to combine
2. Add the chilled butter to the dry ingredients, and use the back of a fork to crumble the butter into the dry ingredients until small clumps form
3. While continuing to mix, add the ice water in a steady stream and continue to use the back of the fork to incorporate everything. Stop right before the dough becomes a solid mass.
4. Wrap the dough and refrigerate for 1 hour and up to 1 day
5. As you wait for the dough, prepare the filling by tossing the apples with the lemon juice and grapefruit zest. Set aside.
6. Combine the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and nutmet. Add the butter and use the back of a fork to make the butter crumble into the dry ingredients once more.
7. Use a lightly floured rolling pin to roll the chilled crust dough out on a  lightly floured surface into an 11 inch round
8. Transfer the crust dough onto a baking sheet. Add the apples to the center of the dough, leaving a 1.5 inch border along the edges. I like to create a small mound, so there are more apples in the center of the dough.
9. Sprinkle the crumbles atop the apple filling
10. Fold the crust over onto the apples along the edges of the mound, pinching as necessary to cover up holes
11. Brush the egg white onto the crust edges and sprinkle the turbinado sugar over the crust
12. Pop in the 450 degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until the apples are tender and the crust is golden
13. Cool and serve warm or at room temperature

- T. Egan

The sorry state of my first batch of macarons yesterday was rather underwhelming. But thanks to yesterday’s disappointment, today’s success is even more of a joy! I am so happy to share that after a couple changes to the recipe and to the technique, my second try at macarons was much more successful than the first. I picked up some great tips on technique along the way, which I will share with you as soon as I have a moment. In the meantime, please cheer with me! Now I can sleep at night!

Chocolate Hazelnut Macarons

Can I share a secret with you? These didn’t turn out quite as I had wanted them to be. Most cracked, and some burned. Some were far too crunchy. But some were not cracked, some did not burn, and some had just the perfect texture (in my opinion) of being airy and light in the center (with the slightest hint of chew) with a crisp outer shell.

These macarons were from the first experiment of my many experiments to come with making macarons. And this less than successful first venture has only made me even more determined to get the perfect recipe down. So just as a warning to my taste-testers out there, get ready for a deluge of macarons, because they’ll be coming your way steadily and soon. In addition to producing (hopefully) many delightful treats, this series of experimentation with macarons will be good for building up technique as well. Because the key to making these macarons is really the technique.

In addition to experimenting in the kitchen, I’ll be doing some secondary research. And if I run across any helpful tidbits of information, I’ll make sure to send them your way via this blog. So stay posted. I’m determined to come back with a success story sometime!

Red Velvet Cupcake

Cream Cheese Pound Cake

Today’s events have left me feeling particularly exhausted. And there is yet more to do. But before I tackle the next task, let’s take a break, yes?

In moments like these, baking becomes more than just a fun and easy way to make a yummy treat for myself or others. And it becomes something more therapeutic, because anyone who enjoys baking can tell you that there’s something incredibly ritualistic, comforting, and calming about baking. There’s something special in the measuring out of the ingredients, in the creaming of the butter and sugar, and in the gentle folding of egg whites that calms your nerves, slows your heart, settles your nervous fingers, and assures you that everything will be okay.

A simple pound cake seems suitable for a day like this – something not too demanding that is comforting, and delicious. Maybe I’ll throw some cream cheese in there as well!