Feb 12
There’s a sort of tragic story behind these cookies. A real lose-lose-lose-lose situation, you might say, and those don’t come about all that often. I suppose there’s definitely at least one win in there somewhere, since in the end there were a few cookies to eat and they were really delicious. And there’s a good recipe to come out of it that I get to share with you, so that’s another win.
But otherwise, it’s a pretty sad story.
Jan 20
This is an update from a post I first wrote in 2010 – the recipe updated for clarity and ease, new photos added, and the commentary streamlined. Enjoy!
These cookies have an intensely strong flavor association for me – one bite and I’m taken immediately back to college, when I spent much of my time studying (or socializing, or wasting time) at The Motley, the student-run coffee house one campus over. When I was at the Claremont Colleges, most of the food at The Motley was prepared by some off-campus company, aside from the packs of vegan cookies prepared by students. The cookies were delivered every few days, wrapped in packs of three, and they were widely known across the campuses. I probably bought packs of these cookies at least half of my visits there, and together with how often they showed up at other campus events, I can tell you that I ate a lot – a lot – of these cookies between 2002 and 2006. Read more
Did I just realize, after writing this post, that this is the third apple recipe in a row? Yes. That said: yesterday no fewer than 10 different people came into the store where I work specifically to get gear for making things with their overflowing apple stores. There were cider makers and people drying apple rings and everyone giving recommendations for apple picking places and so many conversations about apple pies that I could barely find the time to figure out what type of apple pie I was going to make upon returning home from work. It is apple season, everyone, and Wisconsin takes that seriously, and I will definitely not let you forget it (apparently). Apples apples apples.
But really, I will try to write the next post about something other than apples. Seriously.
I’ve been taking photos of food for a few years now, and for the most part it’s been going pretty well. Lumbering the tripod around the kitchen can be a bit of a hassle and the idea of taking out my camera at restaurants makes me pretty uncomfortable, so I primarily take photos only when it’s a recipe I want to document (for here or elsewhere) or when something looks particularly pretty (like the onions Brett browned today to put in the venison stew we made). I knew absolutely nothing about photography before I started this website and would only claim to know a very small amount now, but I’ve been learning a lot and it’s all worth it for that moment when a shot seems to grasp everything I wanted it to – the way the light looked, the feeling and intention I had in making and serving a dish, or the spirit of the food. Read more
Everything you ever wanted to know about pie crust - the hows and whys of various ingredients, techniques, and more.
Sep 23
What if I said I made three of these cakes in two days?
There was a reason, see, and a pretty good one at that – a waxed cardboard box full of apples from Minnesota, bequeathed to us by my grandmother on Labor Day and rapidly softening thanks to the hot streak that followed. (Even Midwestern basements can’t store apples well in 95-degree heat.)
So I made 16 cups of apple pectin stock and 3 different types of apple jelly (Jameson, chili, and red wine/bay leaf), each of which was re-branded a glaze after utterly failing to set (whoops). But even that project used up only about half the apple stores, and with only a few days of usability remaining I turned my eye to desserts. So I opened up the usual suspects – a few favorite websites and books – to find inspiration, only to be almost immediately questioned by Brett as to why I would make anything other than this apple cake that I first made a few years back. It’s actually been on this site since back then, but tucked in the archives under the relatively unassuming name “Simple Apple Cake,” and after this binge I figured it deserved an updated page and a new title. Read more
My name is Bowen and I'm a cooking instructor/food writer/home cook in Seattle, WA. I'm dedicated to community-based food systems that nourish people and planet alike, and this site is an extension of my kitchen - seasonal, fresh food and cocktails made with heart (and sometimes an indecent amount of olive oil) to share with friends and loved ones.
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