Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Aunt Heidi!

Hannah in the kitchen

Hannah making pancakes with Grandma Cunningham in Santa Barbara.

Ryan's Grandma, Eve, always puts a little cottage cheese and cheddar cheese in with the mix. Sounds crazy but tastes delicious! Speaking of pancakes, here is a good recipe for sourdough pancakes.

Sourdough Pancakes
1 cup sourdough starter (see recipe)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup milk

1 large egg, well beaten
2 teaspoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon granulated sugar
The night before: Mix 1 cup starter with the flour and milk in a large, nonreactive bowl. Place the bowl in a warm place, cover and let it stand until morning. (Be sure to replenish your starter by adding 1 cup all-purpose flour and 1 cup water; let stand until next morning; then refrigerate.)
The next day: add beaten egg, oil, baking soda, baking powder, salt and sugar to sour dough mixture; mix well. Heat a lightly greased griddle or skillet over medium heat (375*F - 190*C). Griddle is ready when a few drops of water bubble and skitter rapidly around. For each pancake, pour scant 1/4 cup batter onto hot griddle. Cook pancakes until surface is covered with bubbles and appear dry around the edges. Turn and cook other side until golden brown. Makes about 12 to 14 pancakes.

Sourdough Starter
1 (1/4-ounce) package active dry yeast or 2 1/2 teaspoons
2 cups room temperature, non-chlorinated water (or bottled water)
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

In a 2 to 3-quart glass or ceramic jar or bowl, using a wooden or non-metallic spoon, mix yeast and warm water. Let stand for 10 minutes. Add flour; mix until thick batter forms. Batter need not be smooth. Cover loosely with cheesecloth, lightweight kitchen towel or plastic wrap. Let stand in warm place for 24 hours. Stir; cover loosely. Place starter in a warm place for 2 to 3 days or until it bubbles and smells sour; stirring once a day.
Cover loosely with a glass or ceramic lid or plastic wrap and store in refrigerator. If the starter is not used within one week, you must feed it to keep it alive and active by following directions to replenish below. If a clear liquid (an alcohol sometimes called hooch) rises to the top of starter during storage, simply stir it back in, but if the liquid turns a light pink, it means the starter is beginning to break down and spoil; discard and begin again.

To Replenish Starter
After using a portion of starter, replenish with equal amounts of flour and warm water. For example, if 1 1/4 cups of starter were removed to make bread, replenish remaining starter with 1 1/4 cups warm water and 1 1/4 cups flour. Stir well to blend, cover and let stand in a warm place until bubbly, 3 to 5 hours. Store starter in loosely covered glass container in refrigerator. If not used at the end of one week, remove 1 cup starter and discard; then replenish with equal amounts of flour and warm water as instructed.

If you're ever in Santa Barbara...

...you have to eat at Ca' Dario. After eating there 3 different times I can say that everything I had was delicious! I highly recommend:

Mozzarella Alla Caprese

Fresh Mozzarella, tomatoes, basil, extra virgin olive oil

Lattughette Con Grogonzola E Noci

Mixed lettuces with apple, walnut, golden raisins, crumbled bleu cheese

Ravioli Al Burro E Salvia

Pasta pillows filled with spinach and ricotta with browned butter and sage sauce

Costata Alla Fiorentina

Grilled rib-eye steak served with stewed white beans and sage

Sella D'Agnello

Grilled rack of lamb with roasted garlic, olive oil, fine herbs

Just thinking about this food makes me want to drive all the way back there. Hannah even had a good time eating the delicious bread!

Bridal Shower

So I just got back from a trip up to the San Francisco area (sans baby) and throwing a bridal shower. I don't know how I managed to pack all of my things into 2 checked and 2 carry-ons, but it was nice not to have a stroller, pac-n-play, carseat and all of the other necessary kid stuff with me this time. It was just a quick trip up there but I have lots of pictures to illustrate:

the set-up
the colors were white and shades of orange

basil pesto, fresh mozzarella, tomatoes on herbed foccacia
grilled chicken, arugula, mango-ginger chutney on pane rustico

sun-dried tomato pesto, grilled chicken, mozzarella, tomato, and basil on ciabatta

coconut cream cheese and orange creamsicle cupcakes

drinks

each bag of candy had a question on the back for the person to ask the bride

starts with one big box, ends with a small, with lots of questions in between

the favors

**my thanks go to Martha Stewart (I don't know her personally, just her website), Barefoot Contessa for her coconut cupcake recipe, my color printer, and to Trader Joe's

Happy Birthday!

I'd like a pile of presents as tall as I am. Happy 2nd to our PRINCESS!

Lemon Bars

I made these lemon bars (recipe from Tartine Bakery in San Francisco) the other day. I didn't use the pine nuts because Ryan is allergic, but I think that they would be delicious! Also, next time I make them I'm going to cook the crust longer than I did- it's needs to be golden brown all the way through-


Yield: one 9-by-13-inch baking pan; twelve 3-by-3 1/4-inch bars
FOR THE CRUST:
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar (2 oz/55 g)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (7 1/2 oz/215 g)
3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature (6 oz/170 g)
1/2 cup pine nuts (2 oz/55g) (optional)
FOR THE FILLING:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour (2 1/2 oz/70 g)
2 1/4 cups sugar (1 pound/455 g)
1 cup plus 2 tbsp lemon juice (9 oz/28o ml)
lemon zest, grated from 1 small lemon
6 large whole eggs
1 large egg yolk
salt pinch
confectioners’ sugar for topping (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking pan.
To make the crust, sift the confectioners’ sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the flour and stir to mix. Add the butter and pine nuts (if using) and beat on low speed just until a smooth dough forms.
Transfer the dough to the prepared pan and press evenly into the bottom and 1/2 inch up the sides of the pan. It should be about 1/4 inch thick. To help even out the crust, use the flat bottom of any type of cup, pressing down firmly. Line the crust th parchment paper and fill with pie weights. (I used parchment paper and uncooked rice)
Bake the crust until it colors evenly to a deep golden brown, 5 to 35 minutes, Rotate the pan 18o degrees if the crust appears to be baking unevenly.
While the crust is baking, make the filling: Sift the flour into a mixing bowl. Add the sugar and whisk until blended, Add the lemon juice and zest and stir to dissolve the sugar. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk the whole eggs and egg yolk with the salt.* Add the eggs to the lemon juice mixture and whisk until well mixed.
When the crust is ready pull out the oven rack holding the crust and pour the filling directly into the hot pan. (It is easiest to pour the custard into the pan if the pan is in the oven.) If the crust has come out of the oven and cooled before you have finished making the filling, put it back in for a few minutes so that it is hot when the custard is poured into it. Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees F. and bake just until the center of the custard is no longer wobbly, 30 to 40 minutes.
Let cool completely on a wire rock, then cover and chill well before cutting. Using a sharp knife, cut into 12 squares, or as desired. If you like, dust the tops of the squares with confectioners’ sugar. They will keep in an airtight container or well covered in the baking dish in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
*KITCHEN NOTES: Whisking eggs with salt helps to denature (relax) the protein in the eggs and breaks them up more quickly and thoroughly. We do this whenever we need to whisk eggs thoroughly and there is also salt in the recipe. You can also do this if you are making an egg wash, adding a small pinch of salt for each egg you use.