I just got back from Traverse City, Michigan where we went to check on the progress on our new house. This means I don't have any new recipes to share though I have had some excellent food recently. For Labor Day, I tried out some bookmarked recipes from other bloggers. I made an eggplant dip from 64 sqft Kitchen that was wonderfully smoky and so creamy. I'm not a fan of eggplant dips like baba ghanoush because of their texture but this was great! I figured Alex wouldn't be interested in this so I made it with real dairy yogurt. I also used some homemade harissa from my father which made it a special collaborative effort. My family gobbled it up! A damp lemon and almond cake from Technicolor Kitchen was the other recipe I enjoyed. The cake was moist with a tender crumb and a strong, bright lemon flavor. I made mine with Earth Balance instead of butter but otherwise kept the recipe the same and it still worked beautifully. Even Alex had a piece and liked it. I was thinking that it would be good with lime too because I love lime and almonds together. See the end of the post for links to the recipes.In other news, our trip up to Traverse to the building site earned me the material samples for the kitchen. I now have samples for the different woods and glazes for the cabinetry and the Silestone colors I'm considering for the counter tops. I can stare at them to my hearts content and almost imagine it finished! I'll also be taking them around to look at tile for the back splash. The kitchen designer gave us a drawing of the final layout that I hope to share soon. I'm extremely happy with how it turned out. It is going to be my dream kitchen!! I hope I'm worthy of its magnificence.
On our way out of Traverse we stopped at my favorite pasty shop, Cousin Jenny's. I know it's probably heretical to name a non-UP pasty shop but I just love these! The pastry is very flavorful and flaky and they have these brilliant veggie pasties with globs of cream cheese and cheddar mixed in with the root vegetables, cauliflower and broccoli. It was cold and raining and so deeply satisfying to have a hot pasty on the ride home.I hope to have something that I cooked now that I'm back but until then here's something for the cat fans.
The only previously unrevealed 4 legged member of our family,
old man Nelson licking his chops.
old man Nelson licking his chops.
Spicy Eggplant and Yogurt Dip Recipe on 64sqft Kitchen
Damp Lemon and Almond Cake Recipe on Technicolor Kitchen
My Key Lime Pie Almond "Truffle" Recipe
Roadfood.com Review of Cousin Jenny's Cornish Pasty Shop
And if you haven't heard the new Foodie Blogroll site is up and looks great! Stop in a waste an hour (or four) browsing all of the great foodblogs.
