Fascinating how much your photography can change in just 1.5 years. Way back in December of 2008 I blogged about a delicious recipe I had concocted: Fruit on the Bottom Baked Oatmeal. Here was my original header photo:

I was so proud that captured this image early on a Winter morning.

All of this to say, go and see my guest post on the Tasty Kitchen blog: Fruit on the Bottom Baked Oatmeal.

Seed-Cake

Hello! I’m still here…just…very…busy. August always seems to become that way. I have a lovely Grandma’s Cooking School post planned (apple strudel), but until I have the time to get it up, allow me to offer you some lovely quick breads from the archives.

Honey Pecan Pear Bread

Banana Nut Bread

Date Bread

Maple Cornbread

Banana Poppyseed Bread

Have a lovely weekend!

Have I told you about this cobbler? It is wonderful. Easy, fast, delicious. My dad likes it better than blueberry pie. The first time we made it he said, “You need to USE this recipe.” And so we have.

The construction of the topping was new to me: Cut the butter into the dry ingredients, then add boiling water. The result is a tender, tasty topping. And it’s so much easier than pie dough.

Notes: The original recipe calls for blackberries. Blueberries make a wonderful substitute, but I like to add more than the recipe calls for. Of course I substituted whole wheat for AP flour and maple sugar for granulated.

Blueberry Cobbler

Adapted from Buns in My Oven

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Ingredients:

For the dough:

• 1 1/2 (6 ounces) whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 cup maple sugar, demerara, rapadura, or sucanat
• 1  1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 9 tablespoons cold butter, cut into pieces
• 1/3 cup boiling water

For the filling:

• 2 tablespoons corn starch
• 1/4 cup cold water
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 4-6 cups fresh blueberries
• 1/2 cup maple sugar, demerara, rapadura, or sucanat

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2) For the dough: Mix the flour, sweetener of choice, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. Cut in the butter until you have a coarse, crumbly mixture. Pour in the boiling water and stir together until all of the dough is wet. Set aside.

3) For the berries: Dissolve the cornstarch in the cold water in a medium bowl. Add the lemon juice, berries, and sweetener of choice. Mix together well.

4) Transfer berries to a 10 inch cast iron pan. Heat mixture over medium heat until boiling, stirring frequently. Remove from heat.

5) Drop spoonfuls of dough over the berry mixture and place the cast iron pan on a foil lined cookie sheet and place in the oven. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the dough is golden brown and the berries are thick and bubbly.

Note: If you don’t have a cast iron pan, you can bring the berries to a boil in a sauce pan and bake in a 9×9 baking dish.

Makes approximately 6-8 servings.

Delicious shortbread cookies topped with mocha butter, bittersweet chocolate, and pecans. To get the recipe, check out my guest post over at the Tasty Kitchen Blog.

Chocolate. Cheesecake. Two of my favorite desserts. Here they are combined in a rich, elegant, flourless cake.

This cake bakes up easily and keeps well in the refrigerator or freezer. Perfect for surprise guests! And the flavor - oh, the flavor! Deep, dark chocolate and tangy cream cheese. Scrumptious.

Notes: Although we made this cake exactly as written (granulated sugar and all), I would like to try again using natural sweeteners. Perhaps maple sugar. We used bittersweet chocolate chips for the chocolate and opted for a shot or so of espresso in place of the rum.

make ahead tips

Wrap the cooled cake (unmolded as directed in the recipe) in plastic and refrigerate until firm and well chilled. Slide the cake from the plate and wrap it again in plastic. Freeze for up to a month. To serve, unwrap the cake and set it on a flat serving plate. Cover with plastic wrap and thaw in the refrigerator overnight, or at room temperature for an hour or two.

Our family loves homemade pizza; but when the days grow more hot and humid, I just don’t feel like turning the oven to 500° for an hour or more. The solution: grilled pizza! Here’s the method I like to use.

Make sure you have all your toppings ready. Preheat your grill on high. Roll your dough out thinly. Grease a piece of aluminum foil that’s a little larger than your dough. Transfer your dough to the foil and place on a pizza peel.

Place the dough, foil side up, on the grill and carefully remove the foil. Close the grill, turn it down to medium-high, and cook until you have some nice grill marks, about 2-3 minutes. Flip the dough and cook just until set on the under side, about 30 seconds - 1 minute. Remove to a wire rack. Repeat with any remaining dough.

Here’s a bit of magic: pressed garlic mixed with olive oil. It will make your pizza rock.

Place the dough, with grill marks facing up, on your pizza peel. Brush with garlic oil. Add your favorite toppings. We like BBQ chicken pizza.

Turn your grill down to medium. Carefully transfer the pizza to the grill. Shut the lid and cook until the toppings are hot and the cheese is melted, about 5 minutes. Be sure to check the pizza often or it will burn.

Transfer to a pizza pan or peel. Cool slightly, cut, and serve.

Grilled Pizza

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What You’ll Need:

• Pizza dough
• Your favorite toppings
• Aluminum foil
• Olive oil for greasing the foil
• Tongs for turning the dough
• Metal spatulas for transferring the dough to the grill
• Garlic and olive oil
• A pizza peel or pan

Directions:

1) Make sure you have all your toppings ready. Preheat your grill on high. Roll your dough out thinly. Grease a piece of aluminum foil a little larger than your dough. Transfer your dough to the foil and place on a pizza peel.

2) Place the dough, foil side up, on the grill and carefully remove the foil. Close the grill, turn in down to medium-high, and cook until you have some nice grill marks, about 2-3 minutes. Flip the dough and cook just until set on the under side, about 30 seconds - 1 minute. Remove to a wire rack. Repeat with any remaining dough.

3) Place the dough, with grill marks facing up, on your pizza peel. Brush with garlic oil. Add your favorite toppings. We like BBQ chicken pizza.

4) Turn your grill down to medium. Carefully transfer the pizza to the grill. Shut the lid and cook until the toppings are hot and the cheese is melted, about 5 minutes. Be sure to check the pizza often or it will burn. Transfer to a pizza pan or peel. Cool slightly, cut, and serve.

I am at a loss for words to describe these delicious creations, so I’ll let the photos do (most of) the talking.

Grandma’s homemade bread. Light, flavorful, delicious.

I love Grandma’s flour/baking drawer.

And her cupboards.

Grandma showed us a different way to form loaves: folding!

Now, the cinnamon/sticky buns. Much butter is required.

Proofing and baked. Can it get any better than this?

**Next Time on Grandma’s Cooking School: Apple Strudel**

Here is the list of our lessons so far.

Hello! I’m still here. Just a bit crazy busy at the moment. I have a wonderful post for you — it just needs to be edited and written. In the meantime, allow me to share some lovely things with you:


Pillow Cookies via Bakerella. Oh my. Half a cup of dough for each cookie.

Homemade Black Tea Lemonade via honey & jam. Sounds so refreshing.

Stockholm Floral Apron via Anthropologie. Simply gorgeous.

Leave Me. A lovely short film. Confession: it made me cry.


I hope you all have a lovely 4th.


With love,

Erica Lea

One afternoon, as my sister & I were on lunch break, we discovered something delicious: Greek Gods Yogurt. Between the two of us we devoured a 24-ounce container of the Honey flavor. Hey, it was my first encounter with “real” Greek yogurt.

The drawback? The price. I knew there must be a way to make Greek yogurt at home.

After one failed attempt that left me with runny yogurt, I gave up.  Then, a few weeks ago, I decided to try again. And…success! The creamy, rich yogurt was almost like sour cream.

It was delicious with fresh strawberries from our garden, mixed with strawberry jam, drizzled with honey, or sprinkled with maple sugar. The possibilities are limitless!

Would you like to make some for yourself?

How to make Greek yogurt

Place a colander or strainer in a large bowl. Line with several thicknesses of cheesecloth. Pour in desired amount of plain yogurt (homemade or store-bought). Keep in mind that the yogurt will diminish by about half.

Fold the cheesecloth on top of itself. Place a plate on top of the yogurt and a heavy bowl on top of the plate. Place in the refrigerator and allow to strain until the yogurt is very thick, about 4-8 hours. The whey will drip into the bottom of the bowl. Save for future use or discard. Carefully scoop the thickened yogurt into storage containers. Store in the refrigerator.

Notes: Whole milk yogurt makes for the creamiest texture. If you’re making your own yogurt, you could even add a little cream.

I have also used paper towels to strain the yogurt. Just make sure that none of the paper sticks to the yogurt.

Printable instructions with step-by-step photos

Printable instructions without photos

Are you looking for a light, airy bread recipe? This one is not for you. Are you looking for a hearty, whole-grain bread filled with complex flavors? Keep reading.

I must admit that I had my doubts about this recipe. I threw all of the ingredients into the bread machine, set it to the dough cycle, and left it for hours. When I returned, it hadn’t risen very far and the dough smelled strongly of yeast. Being an optimist at heart, I scraped it out of the pan, formed it into a ball, and set the oven.

To my surprise, it rose beautifully. I slashed it, sprinkled it with water, and placed it in the oven, and it baked up just as the recipe described. It was delicious spread with butter and honey; it was even better toasted.

Broa

Adapted from King Arthur Flour

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Ingredients:

• 1 cup (4 1/8 ounces) yellow cornmeal
• 3/4 cup hot water
• 1/2 cup  milk, warmed
• 2 teaspoons instant yeast
• 1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 2 tablespoons  honey
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions:

1) Mix together the cornmeal and hot water in a small bowl. Stir in the warm milk, and let the mixture cool to lukewarm. Then add the remaining ingredients and mix and knead them together — by hand, mixer or bread machine — to form a smooth, slightly sticky dough.

2) Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl and turn it over, so that the top is oiled. Cover the dough and let it rise for 1 1/2 hours, or until it’s puffy; this rising time will develop both the flavor and the gluten.

3) Turn the dough out onto a lightly greased or floured work surface, knead it lightly (just once or twice), and form it into a ball. Place it onto a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet, or one that’s been sprinkled with cornmeal. Cover it and let it rise for 45 minutes, or until it’s very puffy.

4) Just before placing the loaf in a preheated 450°F oven, spritz it lightly with water and make four slashes, each about 1/4-inch deep, into the top crust. Place the loaf in the oven and bake it for 10 minutes, then turn the oven down to 400°F, and continue to bake for another 15 minutes, or until it’s golden brown.

Yield: l round loaf, 12 slices.