Comfort Foods and Indulgences

Sweet tooth anyone? This will get you through, but you'll need milk or black coffee and then you'll be in your own swirly heaven. You'll need someone to save you.

I literally sat around indulging in this while I finished a book I recently became obsessed with. I'm not usually a fiction reader but I found my self engrossed in this tale of love and loss and war and pain and well you know how those books are...I couldn't put it down until it was done. It sucked me right in. If you are looking for a good read during Spring Break at the beach or the pool, give it a try.

Anyway, I used coconut milk in this bread but you can use regular milk if you like. It was moist, yummy and sweet! The loaf is nice to look at with a glaze and more coconut on top, who wouldn't love this gorgeous thing...well...my husband...he dislikes coconut. Isn't that crazy?!!

I’ve never had luck trying to grow basil. It just never works for me. This year, one of the guys at the farmers market suggested I plant basil in 12-inch pots. I did. Today, two pots sitting in last summer’s square-foot garden hold basil that look like very lush, healthy shrubs. I just can’t believe it.

I pluck fragrant leaves from my basil plants everyday, layering them into sandwiches, tearing them to arrange over the top of homemade pizza, chopping them up to make fresh herb-flecked cream cheese spread and even steeping them in hot liquid to turn into jelly.

I recently discovered how well spicy-perfumed basil and sweet-tart ruby-red raspberries work together. Macerating raspberries with basil and a small amount of sugar produces a surprising treat for the taste buds. The longer the mixture is allowed to sit, the stronger the essence of basil will become. Basil-infused raspberry sauce is a unique topping for ice cream, waffles, French toast and is a delicious addition to a morning bowl of thick yogurt and homemade granola.

Yesterday, I stirred some Raspberry-Basil Sauce into a Chambord-spiked bowl of cheesecake batter. The resulting cake delivers an aromatic bouquet of fresh raspberries and basil with each forkful of creamy decadence. You won’t taste basil in the cake, but you will luxuriate in its refreshing sweet scent.

Culinary historians have traced the first cake “brownie” to the 1906 edition of The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book, edited by Fannie Merritt Farmer. This recipe is an early, less rich and chocolaty version of the brownie we know today, utilizing two squares of melted Baker’s chocolate. Food historians don’t know if Fanny Farmer obtained the recipe from another source, printed it as is or adapted it, or provided the name.

The second recipe, appearing in 1907, was in Lowney’s Cook Book, written by Maria Willet Howard and published by the Walter M. Lowney Company of Boston. Ms. Howard, a protégé of Ms. Farmer, added an extra egg and an extra square of chocolate to the Boston Cooking-School recipe, creating a richer, more chocolaty brownie

Be sure to test for doneness before removing the brownies from the oven. If underbaked (the toothpick has batter clinging to it), the texture of the brownies will be dense and gummy; if overbaked (the toothpick comes out completely clean), the brownies will be dry and cakey.

I love scones, but I don't enjoy making them. There I said it.  Kneading the dough, shaping it...maybe that sounds lazy but right now life is busy with no extra time for little things like, kneading and shaping dough.

That's what I love about these scones, you gently stir the batter together, mounding up each scone individually. So easy!

However, the trick with scones remains; over-handling the batter will make them tough. Mixing must be kept to a minimum for optimum results.

These scones were quite toothsome with their mix of blueberries, cornmeal and lime zest. Lime juice was also added to the glaze to really bring home and incorporate the flavors at play.

Overall, a lovely, easy breakfast to enjoy. Not overly sweet and perfect with coffee or tea.