frosted red velvet cakies

you want to hear something super crazy town?? sugar beet harvest is almost dunzo, making it one of the best harvests in recent history!! typically, weather will really draw things out, making the beeties too cold or too hot or too wet or too dry, causing the boys to work through the end of october. but aside from a little pause last week when it snowed (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), they've been out there for 24 hours a day to pull them puppies out of the ground, and they are almost all out!

do you know what this means??1?1?!!!!! we finally get to watch the season premiere of homeland! and i can once again split the dishes duties with someone. and we can get caught up on wedding planning. and i can have a real reason to make real dinner since when it's just me, dinner is too often cheese on toast, salami on toast, toast on toast, a corn dog, or cookies. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

i am so excited.

i've started to plan the end-of-harvest party, which somehow has to top last year's, which took place at the one n only. it's gotta be meaty because it's for a bunch of dudes that drive trucks and harvesters and tractors. dessert is the easy part though, because it's got to involve these here red velvet cakies, from izy's magnificent book. (cookie + cake = cakie). when i made them last week, i had one bite and knew that if i didn't give them away immediately, they would become breakfast, lunch, and dinner. they are the most addicting thing i've made in a very long time. so i brought some out to visit eggboy and gave them to all of the truck drivers and they went gaga over them. so soft, so perfectly red-velvety.

i wouldn't expect anything less than izy though. she is a gem and i've been a fan of her blog, top with cinnamon, for a while now, not just for the recipes, but also for a glimpse into the life of a high schooler in london. (whatever "a-levels" are, they sound mega intense.) we met at the saveur awards in may, and she is just as delightful as you'd expect from reading her blog. she even followed all the funny american drinking age rules and didn't drink a sip of booze despite the fact that a whiskey maker sponsored the thing and despite the fact that i offered to sneak her some when no one was looking. classy lady, that izy. who also knows when to use jazz hands. 

so her book, i love it. the dishes are flavorful in new-to-me ways, sophisticated without being stuffy, and earthy with a nice dose of comfort. at first glance, i thought i'd have to google some things (like "is aubergine an eggplant? or is that zucchini?") but then i saw that it's all specified in the fine print and it made me really happy and want to have a british accent. this book is heavy on the sweets and baked goods--which, naturally, i love--and there are also some savory beauties, like the sweet and sticky pork, which i have made multiple times now and each time i've licked that sauce right out of the pan. 

if izy were american, i'm convinced that these cakies would have turned out as whoopie pies. they have a very similar texture, and truth be told, i might have sandwiched a few together to eat, mostly so that i could get more in my mouth at once. i do like the open-facedness of them though because that calls for sprinkles, and as izy points out, a better cake-to-frosting ratio. they're dangerously good, so when you make them, be sure that you have a few friends on call to come over and eat some so you don't eat them all yourself and get a bellyache. 

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frosted red velvet cakies

from top with cinnamon

[makes 24]

ingredients

1/2 c (110g // 3 3/4 oz) unsalted butter, softened

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 c (220g // 7 3/4 oz) sugar

2 eggs

1/4 c sour cream or plain yogurt

2 tb cocoa powder

1 tb red food coloring

2 c (250g // 9 oz) all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

cream cheese frosting:

6 tb (75g // 2 1/2 oz) unsalted butter, softened

5 oz (150g) cream cheese

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 c (150g // 5oz) powdered sugar

clues

preheat oven to 350f (180c // gas 4). line a baking tray with parchment. cream together the butter, vanilla extract, and sugar in a medium bowl until fluffy. stir in the eggs, sour cream, cocoa powder, and red food coloring until evenly combined. stir in the flour and baking powder.

drop heaped tablespoons of the mixture onto the lined baking tray, spacing them about 1 inch (2.5 cm) apart. Bake for 8 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

meanwhile, mix together all the frosting ingredients until smooth. use a butter knife or palette knife to swirl the frosting on top of the cakies. they can be stored in an airtight container for 3-4 days.

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-yeh!

pretzel mandel bread + farm scenes + friday links

i am not at all surprised that within five minutes of meeting his first sugar beet, my pops had already taken 10,000 selfies with one and then eaten it like an apple, dirt and all. he is basically just a more extreme version of me when it comes to picture taking and eating. a more extreme version with a much larger stomach capacity. he really enjoyed his time around the farm! he had to wear eggboy's boots as to not get his little dainty city shoes dirty, but once he got into the fields, he was so excited about the sugar beets that he decided we should make a cake about it. so we subbed a sugar beet for carrots in a carrot cake recipe and watched the new york phil on the tv while it baked and i didn't really like it. i hated it. everyone else seemed to like it, but i just couldn't choke it down, and i hate it when the last thing i've made is bad, so the next chance i got, i whipped up this pretzel mandel bread. it's sweet, it's savory, it's pretzel-y, and it's just in time for a yom kippur break-the-fast and the season premiere of homeland this sunday. the recipe is up on jew and the carrot!

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friday links!

i cannot wait to make this hungarian chicken with spaetzle. perfect for the snowy (!!!) weather that's been in the forecast.

this is the sweetest, most beautiful restaurant review

new goal: appear on this website (in the background, sticking my tongue out)

oh so lovely vintage blogged about grand forks!!! i feel like a proud mommy.

can i register for a pet piggy?

i need this polenta in my life!

tahini + coconut + rosewater cake, yes!

animal crackers in ice cream, i am sold.

 <3 the new puzzle muteson album <3

it's not easy being so far from a momofuku milk bar, but luckily there is this cereal milk ice cream recipe!

this ricotta maple + sand pear cake is soooo pretty!

bacon cinnamon rolls need no explanation, right???

say this low and slow: buuuuuuuttttterrrrr tarrrrrts

last but absolutely not least, i am totally obsessed these new linens that i've been using all week (and will no doubt continue to use). they come from stitch new york and they're all handmade in a tiny apartment in new york! from now until the end of the year, you can get 15% off of your order with the code (in all caps): stitchlovesmolly

have a great weekend everybody!!!!

-yeh!!!!

salt & vinegar potato galette + a farmers' market feast

if there's one thing i love most about living on a farm, it's the long lazy dinners. ones that i can spend hours preparing and then serve to a dusty eggboy, the egg parents, perhaps an egg sister and her man, or an egg cousin dropping by to deliver cilantro. i like sitting around our big, kind of awkwardly square table, basking in the bright bright sunset, and eating vegetables off of my favorite three-sectioned plates that i bought on staten island two years ago. one day i'd like a big spacious dining room that has a massive window overlooking our fields, so we can have a golden or snowy white or earthy brown backdrop. 

preparing seven courses doesn't feel like a lot when you have a never-ending list of recipes to try, a new my brightest diamond album to listen to, and a happy little rainbow of vegetables to work with:

because, rewind, i went to the farmers' market. (farmer's market? farmers market? farmer market?) which is a thing i haven't really done since we started our garden, but i am very mad at myself for waiting until the second-to-last market of the season to go because, in just one short visit, i:

1. learned how to choose a good cantaloupe

2. learned how to preserve my corn

3. made two new friends! 

it was so fantastic that i hurry scurried home, told eggboy to alert the eggs that i'd be cooking dinner the next day, and got to work. here was my menu:

kale salad with coconut sesame dressing

zucchini noodles with basil almond pesto

bacon wrapped cantaloupe with balsamic glaze (inspired by these peaches)

hoisin and sesame glazed corn

salt & vinegar potato galette with caramelized onions and parmesan (recipe below)

marinated rainbow bell peppers

watermelon and donut peach salad, sub the donut peaches for actual donuts because i am an idiot and misread the recipe and bought donuts from the nice man at the market instead of donut peaches

also: pesto, a grilled baguette, and brie.

...it was so fun and delicious!!!! my donuts got a little soggy. and i made everyone d.i.y. their kale leaves for the salad since i was afraid of bugs. but people laughed, people cleaned their plates, people left with tupperware filled with leftovers. 

about this galette: this is a recipe for people who enjoy hanging out in the kitchen, smelling the smells, and cutting the things. it's not a difficult recipe, but it does take some time and attention. it's equal part journey, equal part end product. in my research on salt and vinegar potatoes, i discovered that the vinegar flavor in salt and vinegar chips is actually from sodium acetate, which is also (sometimes?) referred to as "vinegar powder." so i made it from vinegar and baking soda, and i felt science-y, and i wore my glasses out of fear that the fumes would blind me, and then i made this galette with some of it sprinkled on, and it was, i don't know, fine. not worth the effort. something i don't want to order that you do. something i might revisit in the future. eventually i turned to the method that lauren and bon appetit and marissa use, and that's to boil the potatoes in salt and vinegar first, fry them a bit, and then toss them with more salt and vinegar. it's delicious. it plays well with sweet caramelized onion, the umami of parmesan, and a buttery pie crust. (does anything not play well in a buttery pie crust?)  

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salt & vinegar potato galette with caramelized onions and parmesan

makes one galette

ingredients

1 large onion

1/4 c butter

1 tb kosher salt, plus more to taste

2 medium potatoes (about 1 lb), thinly sliced (1/8 inch)

1/2 c white vinegar, plus more to taste

2 tb chopped chives

black pepper, to taste

1/2 lb your favorite pie dough

1 large egg

1/2 c shredded parmesan

clues

set your oven to 375.

get your onion caramelizing in 2 tablespoons of butter and a pinch of salt, and let them just hang out there over medium-ish heat while you do everything else. stir them when you think about it. (ask yourself why yankee candle hasn't made an onions and butter scented candle...)

place your sliced potatoes, 1 tablespoon of salt, and 1/2 cup of vinegar in a large pot. fill it with cold water until the water covers the potatoes by an inch or so. bring this to a boil and then let it sit somewhere between a healthy simmer and a low rumble for 15 minutes, gently stirring occasionally. 

strain your potatoes and pat them dry. get your remaining 2 tablespoons of butter heating in a skillet over medium high heat, and then fry your potatoes in batches, for about 5 minutes each. try to avoid overlapping in the pan for this step*. 

toss your potatoes with the chives, black pepper, and additional salt and vinegar to taste.

*(now, ok, if by this point you're starving or have decided that you don't like galettes (??!), you could continue to cook the potatoes for an additional few minutes, until they're fully cooked, season, toss with the onions and sprinkle with cheese and enjoy just like that. but if you're in this for the longer haul, continue...)

roll your pie dough out into a 12- or 13-inch circle and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment. whip up your egg with a splash of water and brush it onto the dough, leaving a 2-inch perimeter. in the center of the dough, layer up your toppings in this order: a sprinkle of cheese, the onions, a sprinkle of cheese, half of the potatoes, a sprinkle of cheese, the other half of the potatoes, any additional chives or black pepper. brush the edges with egg and then fold them up around the potatoes. brush the outside edges with egg, sprinkle with salt, and bake until the pie crust is nicely browned. you could start checking for doneness at about 25 minutes, but it's one of those things that you can keep in the oven for up to about 20 or 30 minutes more, depending on how you like your crust. 

let cool slightly and enjoy!

-yeh!

p.s. yo check this out: all of the fruits, vegetables, donuts, and bread* for this feast fit in this mz wallace + food52 market bag! granted, it was quite heavy, and i briefly considered taking the cantaloupe and watermelon out to just carry in my hands, but i couldn't figure out how to hold both of them in front of my person without alluding to boobies. despite the fact that i am still crabby about the fact that more of you guys voted for the tote to be blue than green, this bag is the bee's knees. it's lined for easy cleaning, it has a zillion different pockets to keep your bread safe from any wiggly friends on your kale, and there's a small zippered lip gloss (change purse?) pocket. it is available for pre-sale on food52 provisions now!

*two softball-sized yellow onions, five pounds of potatoes, one cantaloupe, one watermelon, nine peppers, two bunches of green onions, one bunch of kale, one large baguette, half a dozen donuts, seven ears of corn, a bag of green beans, about four too many bugs (!!!!!!!!!!!!)

thank you so much to food52 for sponsoring the ingredients for this farmers' market feast!!!!

an apple picking party

fall is here!!! fall is heeeeeere!!!! holy root vegetable, i am so excited. 

clearly i've already gotten into the spirit of things, but here's a scientific fact for you: fall isn't fall until you've picked an apple from a tree. (right??) like, you can eat all the pumpkin spice things you want, but you mustn't forget about the apples. 

in the past, my annual apple orchard trip has coincided with a trip home to illinois, but this year i figured there would probably be some hardcore apple orchards in the middle of all this rural business, so i conducted some research on the best places to go apple picking around grand forks. 20 minutes of failed googling later, eggboy came in from the fields, laughed really hard, and then directed me to the two fairly large apple trees in our backyard. apple picking parties are a thing here explained cathryn. 

oh.

...cool!!!!!

so rather than having our regular brunch club, the ladies and i became the most hipster versions of ourselves, took a picnic out to my backyard, sipped some wine, and picked a ton of apples. it was perfect. we talked weddings and miss america, we ate cheese and more cheese. we took moody photos of handfuls of apples. (good thing one of us had a fresh manicure.)

and then we retreated inside, away from the buttercream-loving bees, put on the sufjan, and stretched our definition of proper caramel apple coatings...

here was our menu:

for noshing // brown sugar challah, jam, baked teddybear camembert with raspberry preserves, and a bunch more cheese

for dessert #1 // sprinkle cake

for dessert #2 // caramel apples with coconut, toasted sesame seeds, sprinkles, sea salt, and smoked sea salt

for sipping // kendall-jackson avant chardonnay

for supper // chicken with apples + chardonnay 

i highly recommend an apple picking party, even if you don't have an apple tree. make friends with someone who does! or grow your own. or trespass. (don't trespass.)

-yeh!

thanks so much to kendall-jackson avant for sponsoring this post!!!! all opinions are my own!