Feast: Boston cream pie for my brother's birthday

My brother's birthday is this month and I wanted to make him something impressive. Not, like, "foie gras truffle oil blah-de-blah I'm so snooty" impressive, but something that he loves that he doesn't get to eat very often because it's not a typical dessert you find everywhere. And if you do find Boston cream pie, oftentimes it's composed of vanilla pudding, boxed yellow cake, and a gooey chocolate stain of a ganache. Okay. Now I'm getting a little snooty. There's nothing wrong with Jell-o vanilla pudding or boxed cake mix. I grew up eating (and loving!) these things because my mom really had no interest in baking.

But, I've cleared several levels in the game of life, baking-wise, and I've progressed beyond cake mix when making a birthday dessert for someone. If I can, I'm going to make it from scratch. Settle in, dear blog readers, as I embark on a quest to create a Boston cream pie worthy of my serious, cynical, funny, meticulous, caring, science-loving, occasionally petty, mostly awesome brother.

Kale, sausage, and potato soup (forager's minestrone soup)

Sorry for the absence! I came down with a late summer cold, which was the worst. I mean, I'm given to frequent fits of hyperbole, but seriously. Being sick when it's sunny and 90F outside and all you want to do is lie huddled under blankets in a darkened room is just . . . the pits. I'm coming back to the blog now, with a restorative soup, meant to warm you up with its slightly spicy, earthy goodness.

The season for soups and stews is almost upon us and I have the perfect soup for you to try out. This recipe came out of a desire to make a hearty lunch without having to go to the grocery store first.

All of my photos of this soup were kinda blurry and awful, which is such a disservice to this tasty soup!

Crispy chickpeas, two ways (forage)

At the job I had before grad school, my friend Lenore (who has a food blog too!) introduced me to the concept of "mouth-bored." You know that feeling you get when you're not really hungry and gum just won't satisfy, but you still have the compulsion to eat? Yeah, that's mouth-bored. She'd eat carrots (sometimes peeling them at her desk!) or green peppers and I'd usually have some kind of stash of stale crackers and a small tub of peanut butter with which I could make do. It was a sad state of affairs.

I thought about this as I looked into my pantry last night. I like to munch on a little something when I'm in between meals and/or when I'm mouth-bored. It was lookin' a little lean, snack-wise. I did have two cans of chickpeas just hanging out and I knew that roasting chickpeas was a thing (just google it--you'll be buried in recipes) so I figured I'd give it a shot.

Crank up your ovens, y'all! It's time to make some crispy chickpeas!

Ragù Bolognese

Prior to this recipe, I'd never made anything with veal before. It kinda squicks me out, but I was cooking for my parents and my mom requested veal, so I bit the bullet and decided not to put up a fight. This was the sauce I used to accompany my homemade pasta and it was really incredible. Classic bolognese is made with pancetta and a mixture of ground beef and ground veal, but guess what? It's hard finding pancetta in a small town in Virginia and I had a pound and a half of ground veal in the fridge ready to use (and no ground beef). For all that, I don't think my sauce suffered one bit.

Homemade pasta (fresh tagliatelle)

Damn. Homemade pasta is not for people with weak arms. I mean, if you're not me and have a pasta press or some fancy KitchenAid with a pasta-making attachment, I bet pasta-making is a delight. However, I only get new kitchen implements when people (re: my brother) decide to buy them for me. Don't get me wrong--I would love a pasta maker/chitarra/KitchenAid with attachment. I just have other things higher up on my list, like feeding my dog, maintaining a Netflix account, and not being crushed under the weight of student loans.

Whinging aside, here's how you make pasta the old school, put-your-back-into-it-girl way.

Chocolate ice cream

Guess what? Continuing with the trend of getting me one-trick pony gifts, my brother got me an ice cream maker for my birthday! I've been wanting one forever, envying all of the amazing homemade ice creams I see other people's food blogs. I know I've said I'm not chocolate's biggest fan, but I wanted to make something just a touch fancier than vanilla for my first try. This (not-so) dark chocolate ice cream recipe from Jeni Britton Bauer, of Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams, was really delicious.

Tangy chicken and tomatoes with penne

So, there are times when the going to the grocery store is a real pain in the keister and I have to make dinner. You have those times too, right? To keep myself from making instant ramen or scrambled eggs too often, I try to keep a dozen or so things stocked in my pantry or fridge at all times. What are these staples (beyond spices and condiments) that I try to always maintain a healthy supply of in order to make meals on the fly? I'm glad you asked!

Quinoa caprese

I love Caprese salad, which is just a fancy way of saying I love eating lots of cheese. Honestly though, the three ingredients that are required in a caprese salad are all at the top (or close to the top) in their respective food fields for me--basil is my favorite herb, tomatoes are my favorite fruit that masquerades as a vegetable (sorry, avocados and eggplants!), and mozzarella is one of my top three favorite cheeses.

If you make something a la caprese ('in the style of Capri'), chances are, I'll eat it. Enter Quinoa caprese. I'll eat this alllll day. All day, son!

Chocolate buttermilk donuts

Jackpot! I've been trying to perfect my chocolate donut recipe for awhile now, because my brother loves them so much. Each time I've made them, however, they were either too dense or too dry or not chocolatey enough. Well, after poring over a dozen or so recipes for chocolate donuts, buttermilk donuts, and chocolate buttermilk donuts, I think I was able to fashion a recipe of my own that I like very much. I present to you now, my best chocolate donut:

How to carve a watermelon

Is there a fruit or vegetable that screams SUMMER more than watermelon? I defy anyone to say so (unless you're in a country where watermelon isn't plentiful and cheap in the summer like it is here). Sure, there are people who love their tomatoes and peaches and corn and squash, but, let's be real. You can get those things any time of year. Obviously, the quality suffers, but watermelon consumption is still very much limited to the summer. 

I don't know about you, but this means I eat as much watermelon as possible for the entirety of the summer. I can't get enough of it. I don't really enjoy other melons, but sweet, crisp, juicy watermelon is something I'll never turn down.