Spring Time!

    

     Good God, has it actually been a month? I missed all you lovely people. I missed cooking and I missed photographing, but most of all I missed writing. Writing English essays is one thing, writing endless reactions over and over again (organic chemistry anyone?) is something entirely different, but writing these blog posts keeps me sane. Oh the joy of writing what I Want to write! Of spilling out what I really and truly feel. Thank you for being here to read my ramblings, thank you oh so much.

     And here with my ramblings I am back to present...another cake! I seem to be on some kind of cake-roll, but when I am stressed beyond belief, cake is my savior. Cake makes me happy, baking cake gives me an opportunity to blast music and sing and run around the kitchen while its in the oven...and end up with such a delicious product! I know its not the healthiest option, but my sweet tooth will never understand.

     This cake is also so seasonal. The sun is shining almost too brightly, I'm wearing a skirt and a tank top, and I bought a whole pineapple from Trader Joe's on Friday! I have never bought a pineapple before. I'm not sure if or when I've even eaten fresh pineapple before. Let me tell you, I was intimidated when it came down to cutting and peeling and coring this thing, but thankfully I just followed Deb at Smittenkitchen's step by step pictures.

 

     I also came up with this cake recipe (almost) all by myself! I based most of the ratios off of Deb's recipe but the effect is entirely different. Oh my this cake was so good. I wanted something light, something I could eat for breakfast and with tea, after lunch and after dinner, and never get tired of. Boy, did I succeed. (Did I really just say Boy? Writing again makes me overly euphoric..) Bursting with pineapple chunks, moist beyond belief, and just barely sweet, this cake keeps you coming back for more and more and more. Just like writing is going to bring me back again so soon!

 

    Happy Spring time!

Pineapple Chunk Cake
Very loosely adapted from Smittenkitchen

1 Medium Pineapple
1 1/2 cups Water
3/4 cup Granulated Sugar
2 tbsp Rum (I had light, but I bet dark would be good)
2 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
3/4 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1 stick Unsalted Butter (or Margarine)
2 Large Eggs

First, cut off the top of the pineapple and quarter it lengthwise. Then, core it by cutting out the middle section, and peel off the skin making sure no knobs are remaining. I then cut the pineapple quarters lengthwise in half again, and just chopped those up. If you would like smaller chunks of pineapple in your cake, dice more finely, it is up to you!

In a large saucepan, heat the water, 1/4 cup of the sugar, and the rum at medium heat. Once it is boiling, stir to make sure all the sugar is dissolved. Then, add in your pineapple chunks. Reduce the heat to medium low, and allow the pineapples to simmer in the syrup for 15 minutes. Then, turn off the heat and transfer the pineapple chunks to one bowl and the syrup to another. Let them cool.

Meanwhile, pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and butter a 9-in cake pan. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In another large bowl, cream together the butter (softened first in the microwave) and the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar. Add to this one egg at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition. Next, stir in 1/2 cup of the syrup, then fold in 1/2 of the flour mixture. Repeat this once more so you have incorporated 1 cup of syrup total, stirring just until everything is incorporated. Last of all, fold the drained pineapple chunks into the batter (the remaining syrup will be used as a glaze). Bake the cake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick stuck into the middle comes out clean. Take it out and allow it to cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Then, turn it out onto the rack. Place a large plate or cutting board under the rack, and pour the remaining (I know its super watery) syrup carefully all over the cake - you want as much to soak in as possible. Once that is done...try to wait for it to cool at least 5 minutes longer. Then eat! Or let it cool all the way if you can.

Banana-Zucchini Bread

    

     Today, I decided to do the laundry. I decided to wash all my sheets and all my towels. I decided to reorganize my closet. I have piled up all the dishes, and I will do them All. Because my parents are visiting. Not just my parents, but my parents and my little brother. (My little sister having decided to go to school on the West Coast she cannot join the reunion, but I will see her soon so all is well.)

     Struggling to get my comforter back into its newly washed duvet cover a little while ago, I felt a strange kind of vertigo. My family is visiting so I'm cleaning my apartment. Wasn't it just yesterday that I was sitting on the couch folding the laundry with my mom? That I was complaining about the sandwiches she'd made me to take to school? That I could come home and there would be fresh baked bread stored, as always, in the slow cooker? Yes, I get it back for a little while over vacation. But is this, this living in an apartment and making my own meals and folding my own little store of laundry, is this real life now?

     If it is, its a good thing my parents are visiting. I want to be pampered for a little while. I don't want to cook my own meals. I want to be driven around in the car, in the back seat with my little brother. One of my very wise friends the other day commented on our lives at college, how we are constantly running around. No two hours are spent in the same place between different classes and meetings and studying. Its true, and now I need a respite, a little haven. And that is what parents are for, right?

     Just like this bread. I know I gravitate towards banana bread and zucchini bread, so it seems inevitable that a banana-zucchini bread is making its way onto my page. But, when one has half a zucchini in the fridge and wants comforting food, this does seem the way to go. This bread is dense and moist, full of banana flavor and the heartwarming knowledge that one is eating a vegetable. But most importantly, with its cinnamon and nutmeg goodness, this bread made my apartment smell like home. A home my parents and brother can come visit and fill full of home-like memories.

Banana Zucchini Bread
Adapted from Joy the Baker

2 large Ripe Bananas
3/4 cup Granulated Sugar
1/4 cup Vegetable Oil
2 tsp Vanilla
1/4 cup Milk (or use Soy Milk to stay vegan)
2 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/8 tsp Nutmeg
1 cup Shredded Zucchini

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and grease an 8 by 4 (or 9 by 5) loaf pan.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt, and set aside. Next, in a separate mixing bowl, thoroughly mash your bananas. To your bananas, add the sugar, oil, vanilla extract, and milk. Whisk everything together until incorporated. Using a wooden spoon, mix these wet ingredients into your dry ones until just combined. Fold in your shredded zucchini, and scrape the batter into the loaf pan. Bake for 45-50 minutes, testing with a toothpick to make sure it comes out clean and the bread is ready. Once it is done, take it out on the oven and cool it on a wire rack for ten minutes in the pan. Then, upturn the cake onto the pan, and leave it to cool completely - or slice and eat right away.

Returning to My Roots

    

     Sometimes, you have to work with what you have. That sometimes is pretty much all the time regarding cooking and me lately. I need to start shopping based on things I want to make. Instead I shop like this: I need a fruit (bananas), I need a cheese (this takes the longest), I need 2 vegetables (mushrooms!...and something random), I need 2 frozen foods because I know I will not cook once I get home from Trader Joe's after starving all day today, bread, sandwich meat...and there we have the constants of my ten things I buy every week (I leave room for a little miscellaneous..eggs? pasta? what don't I have at home? Toothpaste. You know, that kind of thing).

     The issue with this grand new shopping system is that while I have the ingredients needed to throw together my everyday meals (there's been a lot of omelettes lately), I never seem to have the right things for a Recipe. But then I had a revelation. Isn't that what I used to blog about when I blogged everyday oh so long ago? I just used to write about my everyday meals because isn't that The Point. That everyday meals can be made in college, that they can be super simple and not require a Recipe? No more capitals in the middle of sentences from now on, promise.

 

 

     Here's another revelation. I totally missed my one year anniversary of blogging. I feel like I don't deserve it anyway due to my winter break hiatus... But this is my 100th post. Wow. You know, I constantly contemplated my 100th post, and how I would make something super fancy and super special. But in a way, this is much more fitting. Here am I, college student with fridge full of my 10 weekly items, telling you that a little thinking out of the box and scrounging around your apartment is all you really need to make a special meal just for any old weeknight.

     So, here's what I actually made: mushrooms (obviously) and pasta. Simple. But no jars of tomato sauce because just because we are in college doesn't mean we can't make sauce! It doesn't take that long, I promise. Here's what it took me: I chopped up mushrooms, I cooked the mushrooms, I took them out and used the same pan to cook down some red wine, chicken broth, and spices. I added my pre-cooked pasta (which I cooked to just al-dente) and my mushrooms, and simmered everything together. Grand total: 20 mins. Use what you have on hand! Google recipes and find new ideas! But keep cooking, and your everyday meals won't seem everyday anymore, they will be 100th post worthy.

Red Wine and Mushroom Pasta

Note: Feel free to use any seasonings you like. Thyme, oregano all go well with basil, or as substitutes. Red chili flakes are of course optional, but they don't add a lot of heat to this just a little flavor. Also, I used the honey because my wine was Super acidic and I really didn't like its taste that much, so honey is a good...rounder-outer of the flavor. Use your taste buds to guide you! Also, use spaghetti or any other long/strand pasta you like, I just do think the long-strand types would work better than other kinds.

1 tsp Crushed Garlic (or 1 Garlic Clove, minced) 
2 tbsp Olive Oil 
10 oz Baby Bella Cremini Mushrooms (or really, any kind of mushrooms you like)
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Dried Basil
1 tsp Italian Seasonings
1/2 tsp Red Chili Flakes
1/2 cup Red Wine
1/2 cup Chicken OR Vegetable Broth (Or 1/2 cup Water and 1/2 bouillon cube) 
1/2 tsp Honey
2 servings Linguine, Just-Cooked (i.e. take them out when they are still rather al-dente)

     Roughly chop your mushrooms, including the stems. In a very large frying pan, heat 1 1/2 tbsp of olive oil at medium high heat. Once it is hot, and 1/2 tsp of the crushed garlic, and allow it to sizzle for a minute. Then, add in the mushrooms and salt. Stir them around well, and then let them sit evenly on the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes, only stirring occasionally. Once they are darker and tender, and releasing some juices, transfer the mushrooms into a separate bowl. Try to the get the juices to stay in the pan.

     Add the remaining 1/2 tbsp of olive oil, and the remaining 1/2 tsp of the garlic to the same pan at medium-high heat. Allow them to sizzle for a minute, then stir in the basil, Italian seasoning, and red chili flakes if using. Stir in the pan for a minute or two, then add the wine and broth (or water and cube). Mix everything together well, adding the honey if needed, and then leave for 5 minutes. Allow the alcohol to evaporate off and the sauce to become thicker. Once it looks slightly (not A lot, just slightly) more viscous, add in the just-cooked pasta. Stir the pasta into the sauce, it will absorb the color and should start absorbing the flavors. Leave at a simmer for a few minutes, until the sauce has reduced further and most of it seems absorbed into the pasta, and then add the mushrooms. Simmer everything together for a few minutes until the mushrooms are hot again, and serve!

Happy House

    

     It's been awhile.... A long while. There's the usual run of excuses to give - I had winter break! Then I came back! School started! And the more realistic - I was so exhausted when I got home I barely cooked. I was so overwhelmed when I got back to school that blogging seemed like a chore. Thankfully, I have put that all behind me - courtesy dropping a class and realizing No, there are not 30 hours in a day.

     Everything is settling down. Philly is looking beautiful again, and my stove ridiculously inviting. But not as inviting as my oven. I know that the last thing I posted - oh so long ago - was a cake, but I couldn't resist. I want to celebrate being back. This is my little internet home, and I wanted a little homey cake to go with what I can't help but consider my (hopefully permanent) return.

     I actually had no idea what kind of cake to make once I started thinking about blogging again, but there I was helped out by my little sister in the Big Brother Big Sister type program that I'm in. This week when I saw her, she really wanted to make a vanilla cake. And when we went grocery shopping, it was entirely her idea to buy a bag of Hershey's Mini Kisses. Inspiration comes from all sorts of places, and it was a good thing she was around because this cake would not have been half as amazing without her.

 

    So, we worked busily and produced this giant of a cake. Can't you just tell that it made the apartment smell heavenly? Golden crumbed on the outside, almost like cornbread as my assistant said, and densely vanilla-y inside with little chocolate chunks, it might have been lovely on its own. But we didn't stop there. I made a thick chocolate cream cheese filling and chopped almonds into it. Cutting the cake in half (Not very expertly...) and filling it was fun, eating it was so much more.

     I took it to a potluck at my friend's place, a house aptly named Happy House, and there it was happily devoured. That was really all I needed to blog again. I love cooking and I missed it....but more than that sharing my food and hearing how much people liked it reminded me that what I love most about blogging is sharing with all of you, and the thought that maybe someday you can share these foods with others. I hope you make this cake and it makes you as happy as it made me! It's good to be back.

Happy House Cake

For the Chocolate Chip Cake:
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

4 cups All-Purpose Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Salt
1 cup Softened Butter (I use Smart Balance...just to make myself feel better)
1 3/4 cup Sugar
2 tsp Vanilla
4 large Eggs
2 cups Milk
4 oz Mini Hershey's Kisses (or chocolate of your choice) 

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9 by 13 pan and line the bottom with parchment paper (or you can use two 9 in cake pans if you want to make a layered cake), make sure to butter on top of the parchment as well. 

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat together the butter and sugar until it is fluffy and a lighter cream color. Next, beat in the vanilla, and the eggs one at a time. Make sure everything is well mixed. Then slowly pour in the milk while beating at low speed. Your mixture is going to look supremely curdled. Once the milk is combined, add the flour mixture in three batches. Use the mixer on low to mix in each addition until it is just incorporated, no need to overmix. Pour your batter into your cake pan and spread it evenly. Lift your pan up an inch off the table and drop it down to pop any air bubbles. Then, place it in the oven for 45-50 minutes until its golden brown. While it is baking, start on the frosting.

Start checking the cake at 40 minutes but it might take slightly longer to bake. It is ready when you can insert a toothpick in it and it comes out clean. Place it on a wire rack once done, and let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Once it has cooled, run a plastic knife around the edges and upturn it onto the rack (if you have one that large). I just let mine finish cooling on a large cutting board.

For the Filling:

6 oz Mini Hershey's Kisses
1 tbsp Butter
1/4 cup Milk
5 tbsp Cream Cheese
1/3 cup Almonds, Finely chopped

Place the chocolate and butter in a small saucepan at medium heat. Mixing with a wooden spoon, let all the chocolate melt. Once it is melted, whisk in a couple of tablespoons of the milk. Next, whisk in the cream cheese (Note: if you would like, you can pre-whisk the cream cheese in another bowl or with an electric mixer so it is fluffy and you don't have to work so hard whisking it in by hand into the chocolate). Once the cream cheese is thoroughly incorporated, it is up to you. I wanted a fairly thick filling, but one that would easily spread through the cake and have vaguely the consistency of a pudding. So I whisked in slightly less than 1/4 cup of milk, and kept whisking and cooking it until it reached that. If you like a slightly thinner, more ganache like filling just add more milk. Once your filling is ready, whisk in the almonds.

To put the Cake together

Once the cake has cooled completely, place it on a cutting board and make sure you have another large cutting board or plate nearby. Use a long serrated knife to divide the cake into two layers. For me, this is easiest to do just going around all four edges, making sure the knife goes in as far as possible so you cut the middle in half as well. Carefully lift off the top and place it on your other cutting board or plate. Using a large spoon or spatula, dollop your filling out onto the cake. Use your utensil to evenly coat the entire cake. Once that is done and all your filling is used up, place the top of your cake back into place. Now cut a slice and eat!

Finals

     It is Final Time. Perhaps you have guessed from the fact that I haven't been around. Or maybe you live in a college town or are in college and can feel the stress waves emanating through the air around you. Finals Finals Finals they say....Shut up Shut up Go Away, you reply. Or at least, that's how I would reply. If I could talk.

     One of those charming quirks of my personality is that I always get sick for exams. I'm sure my mom, for one, would throw me a party if I got through a single finals/midterm season without running a fever and hacking up my lungs the entire time. No party this time. And somehow, with my own special skills, I managed to contract an illness that has forced me to eat solely....Ensure. Which is not a food. It is a nutrition drink. And that along with mashed potatoes and mashed sweet potatoes and mashed bananas....is not a fulfilling finals diet. Can you blame me for being missing? You didn't want to hear about various ways to make mashed bananas interesting, did you?

 

 

      But, today I feel a little better. Or at least, I am better enough to want something that is Not Mush...that is in fact...baked....perhaps...banana bread? Of course, the issue with things like baking during finals time is that I am very strapped for ingredients. Who needs grocery shopping when there are things like organic chemistry exams to study for! So, no milk, no eggs, three vaguely ripe bananas....It's a good thing banana bread is pretty impossible to mess up, or this poor thing would never have made it into the oven.

     Because you see, the lack of milk or any other liquid meant that originally my batter was....lumps. Not a batter at all, simply sad lumps of flour trying to mix in with oil and sugar and all that jazz. But would you give up when trying to make your first solid food in a week? Of course not! And neither did I. I didn't have milk. I couldn't use water. Orange juice? No... And then it came to me.....tis the season for: HOT CHOCOLATE! Ya, Capitals. I was that excited. So, I made a cup of hot chocolate and into the batter it went. The result? Must you ask? Not too sweet, super moist, chocolatey, banana-y, with a touch of cinnamon I-have-already-eaten-too-much deliciousness...you are on your way to make this now right?

Hot Chocolate Banana Bread

1 1/2 cups All-purpose Flour
1/2 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/8 tsp Nutmeg 
1/3 cup Vegetable Oil 
1 cup Light Brown Sugar (or regular sugar, it will just be a tad sweeter)
2 tsp Vanilla 
3 Medium Sized Ripe Bananas, Mashed 
1 cup Hot Chocolate (i.e. 2 tbsp Hot Chocolate Mix stirred into 8 oz hot water)

Pre-heat your oven to 325 degrees and butter a loaf pan.

In one medium large bowl, whisk together your flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. In another larger bowl, stir together your vegetable oil, sugar, and vanilla. Mix your dry ingredients into your wet, and stir in the mashed bananas. Last of all, add your hot chocolate (make sure its stirred well! No lumps at the bottom) and mix it in thoroughly - so you have a nice smooth batter. Pour into your loaf pan, and bake for 55 to 60 minutes, until a toothpick (or plastic knife) comes out clean when you stick it in the middle. Let cool on a wire rack in the loaf pan for 10 minutes, then run a toothpick (or plastic knife) around the edges, upturn onto a plate, and enjoy! Or you know, wait for it to cool completely...then enjoy.

Study space...that is why the sticky notes are around, by the way.

An Ode to Roquefort

   
     The smell of Roquefort, that notorious salty blue fungi speckled French cheese, baking in the oven is heady. I feel almost drunk as I sit and write this, all off that smell. Man oh Man. So rich and salty and tempting me with things to come. That is only one of the good smells that came out of the oven today.

     The first, only half an hour ago, was of roasting acorn squash. That was slathered in balsamic vinegar and honey and olive oil and pepper and laid on a foil lined pan, placed in the oven, and yum. But you see, I couldn't eat it all off the pan - I stopped myself after only two pieces. Because today I made a flatbread.

     What is the difference between a pizza and a flatbread? I don't know why I feel the need to call this a flatbread, but can we let it slide? Because pizza or flatbread, this is just pure deliciousness. It came out of the oven by the way. I ate almost half of it standing over it telling myself I still need to save some to photograph tomorrow in the morning light. Do we all understand how this flatbread is a conglomeration of many good things together?

   
     Roasted acorn squash. Check. Spinach that was mixed up with lots of Roquefort and a little honey. Check. Then globs of Roquefort on Top. Oh My God. The sweetness of the squash against the saltiness of the Roquefort is more than divine. The spinach became almost creamy in its Roquefort bath and biting through the cheese and tender squash and spinach to the crunchy crust....Heaven.

    
     The irony behind all this is that before this summer you couldn't have paid me to touch blue cheese. Yet, post the most awesome trip to France with the loveliest people who I miss so so so much, I am a blue cheese person. But most specifically, a Roquefort person. The Roquefort eating (orgies) we had this summer were definitely inappropriate in the amounts of Roquefort sometimes consumed per day.

     Be warned that this recipe is an ode to those moments, and the taste of the cheese really comes through here. If you are not a blue cheese person, I would cut down on the amount you mix with the spinach, and just sprinkle less on top. But this recipe, the way I made it, is dedicated to my France trip companions....you would like it.

Roquefort, Spinach, and Acorn Squash Flatbread
Adapted (a lot) from Smitten Kitchen

1 1 pound Acorn Squash
1 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
2 tbsp Honey
1 tbsp Olive Oil
A generous grinding of black pepper
A light sprinkle of salt
1 cup Spinach
1/2 block Roquefort (about 1/4 cup, plus more for sprinkling)
1/2 Trader Joe's Pizza Dough OR enough dough for an 8'' Diameter Thin Crust Pizza

Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees. Cut your acorn squash in half, scoop out the middle, and then cut it into half-moons. Peel these, then cut the half moons into chunks (about 1 inch, they can be rough).* In a medium bowl, mix together the balsamic vinegar, 1 tbsp of the honey, olive oil, black pepper, and salt. Dump in the chunks of acorn squash, and mix them around, until they are all thoroughly coated. Lay them flat on a baking tray (covered with foil if you don't want it to get dirty). Pour any remaining liquid over them. Place them in the oven and let them roast for about 20 minutes until they are just fork-tender. Take them out and let them cool while you finish the rest of the steps. Raise the heat of the oven to 425 degrees.

Shred your spinach and place it in a bowl with the Roquefort, crumbled up, and the last tablespoon of honey (I used the same bowl again to get those last drips of marinade). Massage the spinach into the cheese, until it looks almost like a spinach dip.

Stretch out your pizza dough (I generally just drizzle some olive oil on my baking tray and stretch the pizza dough until its as thin as possible, without tearing, and fits in the middle of the tray) or roll it out to an 8'' diameter pizza. Top it with the spinach and cheese mixture and the pieces of acorn squash. Dot with some extra crumbles of Roquefort cheese if you would like, and place it in the 425 degree oven for about 10 to 15 minutes, until the crust is crispy and the cheese is golden on top. Let it cool on the pan for ten minutes, transfer to a cutting board, cut and eat!

*Note: You can tell by my pictures that I forgot to peel them. Peeling all those little chunks when they were hot out of the oven? Painful.

High Culture, Low Culture

 

   
     What an unassuming thing is a simple loaf cake. In my English class, one week we talked a lot about high culture versus low culture. High culture: old French movies, the Louvre, reading Canterbury Tales and schmancy poetry while wearing stilettos and sipping on a glass of wine. (Schmancy is now a word, just saying.) Low culture: the first two Saw movies (yes, I liked them....they make me queasy, they make me want to run away, but I like them), sitcoms and rom-coms, your warmest fuzzy slippers that you always wear even though you mean to get rid of them.

    All this thinking about high and low culture, like thinking about most everything in Me-land, got me thinking about food. High culture calls for macaroons, dainty French pastries, things that look like this. Low culture food? Hamburgers, french fries, banana bread...the comforts of life, the delicious familiarities. Apparently also the American versus the French in Me-land, I am a Euro-snob? I am turning into a total American???? Sigh, let's get out of my head now.

 

     In class we said that high culture forces you to think, teaches you something new. Yes, trying Pear and Asparagus Pizza (asparagus seems classy) is enlightening to me, I am broadening my eating and cooking horizons. Chocolate chip cookies? Not so much. That's more of a low culture thing. A feel good, I know what I'm getting and BOY does it make me happy kind of a thing.

     So what do I want out of life? I suppose that is the whole problem. Do I want easygoing home food? Or do I want to try fancy (I didn't say schmancy this time!) new things? Pushing the limits is fun, buying artichokes and asparagus and eating aged cheese is thrilling. But, I can't always hit that note. I cannot watch depressing foreign movie everyday, in fact most of the time it takes me forever to get around to watching those at all. Today was a fuzzy slippers and Friends kind of day, obviously, it was a simple loaf cake kind of day.

     And that's what popculture, pop-food - not going to say popcorn because that's just too easy...haha very funny me- is for right? Comfort. Analyze it if you will, but it will always be there for you, just like a warm slice of this delicious bread, studded with dried cranberries, with a hint of lime and sweetness, eaten cuddled up on your couch, a mug of tea in your hand. Or at least, it will be there for you until it is all gone...every last crumb. And then you can bring on the stinky cheeses.

Cranberry Lime Loaf Cake
Adapted (a lot) from Allrecipes.com

1 cup All-Purpose Flour
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1 cup Dried Cranberries
1 1/2 tbsp Lime Juice
1 tbsp Honey
1/3 cup Vegetable Oil
2/3 cup Milk
1 Egg, Beaten in a separate bowl

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and butter a 9 by 5 loaf pan. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt. Next, stir in the cranberries, beaten egg, lime juice, honey, milk, and vegetable oil. Stir until just mixed, making sure all the flour from the bottom of the bowl is combined, and then scrape into the loaf pan. Bake for about 1 hour, until a toothpick (or plastic knife) inserted in the center comes out clean. Once done, cool in the pan for 10 minutes, and finally remove onto a wire rack to cool completely. Cut and serve!