Spicy Jam?!

At best, spicy jam sounds odd. In fact, it sounds downright strange and potentially awful. I first tried some during lunch at the preschool I used to teach at (I work in the office now). One of my fellow teachers brought in a sampling of her friend's spicy jam (see bottom of post for information on Connie's jam, it's incredibly good), and after my first skeptical bite of cream cheese and spicy jelly on a Ritz cracker, I knew I was hooked. I couldn't stop eating - even after my stomach started complaining and my mouth was on fire, I was completely unable to stop. Every bite was magical. It's just that good.

I began to look for spicy jam at the store, and I found few that were comparable in tastiness to Connie's Jellypeno Jalapeño Jelly. Because major jam manufacturers don't make spicy jelly, it's mostly produced at mom and pop type places in small batches, and sold at specialty stores. This particular kind of jam costs between $5 and $10 per jar, and it was becoming an expensive habit. I resolved to try to make it myself, being the cheapskate I am, and launched on a batch of it one night with little more than a few Thai hot peppers from my garden and an old apple left in my fridge. That batch was okaaay, but nowhere near spicy or tangy enough. I resolved to do my next batch right, and went to the store for some fresh ingredients. My apartment smells like one giant Serrano chili, but today's batch was a 100% success. I can't wait to share it with my parents when they come down from Michigan to visit for Christmas. Nothing says "don't mess with Texas" like spicy jam for the holidays.

Serrano Apple Lime Jelly

This is best served a little warm, on top of goat cheese. You can also use cream cheese, which is much cheaper and just as delicious.

Connie Schubert

P.O. Box 772

Fulton, Texas 78375

Phone: (361) 386-0162

Jams, jellies and preserves (jalapeño,

cranberry, habañero, pineapple,

mango, peach and strawberry)

Delivery methods: customer pick-up

Cold Toes, Warm Heart

I recently joined in on the Austin Scooter Club's first annual Scoot 'n Skate group ride from Southside Flying Pizza to Chaparral's Ice Skating Rink. Only about seven of us showed up (that's my scooter on the left), but it was well worth it. My skating skills left something to be desired...but perfection wasn't the goal here. While my friends back in Michigan were digging out of a snowstorm, I was frolicking along winding roads on a dry and balmy Texas night. Not to gloat or anything, but Christmas-time in Texas is pretty awesome.

I remember when Christmas was all about decorations, gifts, music, snowy days off, and loads of dessert. The anticipation of Christmas morning was almost unbearable, and I spent my days shaking gifts under the tree, and my nights awake, theorizing about their contents. Obviously, priorities change as you get older, and I'm happy to say it's no longer entirely about the gifts and the food. It's now almost entirely about the food. *smiles*

One personal favorite of mine is Cranberry-Walnut bread (served with cream cheese, of course).

I hope all (eight) of you have a lovely, food-filled Christmas!

Autumn Has Been Kind

Against all odds, my garden is still growing. I've neglected it, done everything wrong, and *gasp* I haven't even fertilized. In Ann Arbor, Michigan, where I grew up, most plants are dead by now. We've had our first hard freeze, the leaves have fallen like rain from the trees, and things are starting to look a lot like Christmas. Without the snow. And some rain. Here in Austin, things look strangely similar to the way they looked all summer. It's still pretty green, the sun is still warm, and apparently...my tomato, basil and pepper plants are very happy. If I'd known this would happen, I wouldn't have tried nursing them through the scorching summer heat. I would have planted in August. I suppose it would have helped if I'd bought that Texas Garden guide book back in March.

This week's post will be a collection of photos from my garden, as well as some photos from around the neighborhood. Autumn looks pretty nice from my kitchen.

When Home Depot has mums on sale for $1.25 a plant, you don't pass them up. You buy one of each color.

Sources say this is a Crepe Myrtle tree, growing right outside my kitchen window. In the spring, it puts out large quantities of purple/pink flowers that smell delicious.

My Thai hot pepper plant spent the summer, ironically, wilting and moping around. The moment it turned cooler, it perked up, made flowers, and started giving me these tiny little peppers. Don't let their small size fool you, because they pack quite a punch.

Baby it's Cold Outside

Shortly after I moved to Texas, someone hit my car while it was parked in front of my sister's house, shoving it ten feet down the road and totaling it. The resulting insurance payment was only enough to purchase a scooter off Craigslist. I've been relying on this mode of transportation ever since, which is usually pretty awesome. Except when it's raining or cold, which can be rather uncomfortable.

After I got home from work yesterday, shivering, I decided it was time to start making soup. This batch of lentil/split pea soup is the first of many pots of soup I will make with every intention of eating in their entirety, only to leave a bowl's worth at the bottom of the pot in the fridge until I need the pot for new soup, and have to figure out how to throw away spoiled soup with no garbage disposal. What a gripping life I lead.

Lentil soup in general, no matter what type, is best served with fresh lemon juice squeezed over the top, mixed in as you eat. Mmm.

Oh, and I also made my Great Grandma Read's banana walnut bread today:

Every Cutting Board Deserves Fresh Bread

There's nothing as satisfying as freshly baked bread, complete with butter dripping off the sides onto the plate (if you even bothered with a plate). The day Wonder Bread came on the market was the day our expectations of bread died a slow, spongy death. Not to say that cheap, mass-produced bread doesn't have it's place...but that place does not exist in my kitchen. I am a bread snob, and proud of it. I would buy bread at the store, but every time I consider it, I look at the cold, sad contents of the package and sigh, saying for the millionth time, "whatever, I'll just make it myself."

This weekend's bread was based on my everyday bread recipe, with salty rosemary water brushed over the top prior to being baked. *wipes away some drool* I've baked this basic recipe and variations on it so many times, it's pretty much ingrained into my memory for all eternity. Many thanks to Nancy Raney and Nika Bareket for contributing the main building blocks of this recipe.

Christy's Bread

1 cup lukewarm water

1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast

3 tablespoons sugar or honey

Mix the water, yeast and sugar together in a big bowl and leave to sit for about ten minutes, or until foamy.

1 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons melted butter or oil (optional, totally not necessary but can be nice depending on the type of bread you're making)

3 cups bread flour (or up to 1 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour plus the rest bread flour)

Before you add the dry stuff is a great time to add any additional ingredients you might like, such as spices, herbs, seeds, etc.

Mix the salt, flour and oil (if you're using it) into the water and yeast mixture. I generally sift my flour in, to make a more evenly textured bread. Mix roughly, not bothering to make a uniform mixture, and turn out on a clean counter top or large cutting board. Knead for about ten minutes or so, adding flour as necessary until it's no longer sticky and forms a smooth, lovely ball of bread dough.

Put in a greased bowl (I usually use the same bowl I mixed the dough in, it saves on dishes) and turn to coat the dough in oil. Cover with a clean cloth and put in a warm place to rise, for about an hour or until it doubles in bulk. Punch it down and allow to rise again until doubled in size, at which point you'll knead it briefly to make a uniform mixture without any giant bubbles or oily spots. Form it however you'd like to see it baked, put it on/in it's greased baking pan, cover, and allow to rise until doubled in bulk again. Bake for about 20 minutes at 375 or until golden brown and the loaf sounds hollow when you tap the bottom. I know this last instruction sounds convoluted and confusing, but trust me on this. It will sound hollow when it's done, and dense and non-hollow when it's still doughy in the middle.

Chipotle Cheddar Biscuits, y'all

Nothing says "I live in Texas" like putting spice in everything, even if it's a strange and bewildering combo. That said, this recipe (from "Baked," once again) for Chipotle Cheddar Biscuits is one spectacularly good use of spice. They had a pleasant, smoky warm bite to them, even though I cut back on the amount of chipotle powder in the recipe. I baked way too many, of course, and had to take them to work to share with the class. The class loved them, I assume, because they disappeared from the break room table almost before I could blink. I hope my co-workers were busy eating and groaning in ecstasy, and that's why they didn't leave a thank-you note. One can only hope. Silence after a meal can be interpreted multiple ways, not all of them well.

Chipotle Cheddar Biscuits

2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (I used mixed)

1 tablespoon chipotle powder (I used 2/3 of a tablespoon)

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1-inch pieces

2 cups grated and tightly packed sharp cheddar cheese

1 1/4 cups buttermilk (I used regular milk mixed with 1 teaspoon vinegar to simulate buttermilk, but use whatever creamy thing you have around I'm sure it'll be lovely.)

1 large egg

Kosher salt for topping (I used sea salt)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, pepper chipotle powder, sugar, baking powder, cream of tartar, and the 1 teaspoon of salt.

Add the butter and, using your hands or the back of a wooden spoon, work the butter into the dough. The mixture should look like coarse sand. Add the cheese and stir to thoroughly incorporate it into the dough.

In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and the egg. Add to the flour mixture and stir until just incorporated. Do not overmix. (I recommend hand mixing this entire recipe, it just doesn't do the biscuits any favors to be overworked at any point during the process.)

Use a small ice cream scoop or a 1/4-cup measuring cup to scoop the dough and drop it in mounds onto the prepared baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Sprinkle with kosher salt and bake in the center of the oven for about 20 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through the baking time, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of a biscuit comes out clean.

Transfer the biscuits to a cooling rack. The biscuits can be served slightly warm or at room temperature (I, and the boys at "Baked," prefer ours warm.)

This recipe makes about 20 small biscuits; slightly fewer if you make them gigantic, like I did.

Already, this blog seems to be circling a central theme; baking. Rest assured, I will make real food occasionally. You know, the kind you can eat for dinner.

Cupcakes, Oh My!

I recently baked some Green Tea Almond cupcakes from my favorite baking cookbook of all time (so far), "Baked: New Frontiers in Baking," and thought this would be a perfect time to finally start a blog. Makes sense, right? Nothing inspires blogging like delicious food.

I live in Austin, TX, one of America's funkiest, weirdest towns. I absolutely love it, even though I've only been living here for a little over a year. Giant bugs and sizzling summer heat aside, this is a wonderful place to live. I highly recommend it.

That is a sweet looking photograph of a cupcake, you might say. This blog will be all about my adventures in the kitchen and the resulting photographs, so prepare to wipe away some drool.