faux-reos

Look what I made you. See? I made you an Oreo. No, no…I made you a faux-reo.

Dad. Clearly, the fact that I think that’s the best name I’ve come up with for anything, ever, is a tribute to the “sense of humor” that I could only have inherited from you.

I have a cookbook crush. My attempts to find stellar cookbooks at the public library had been relatively unsuccessful until three weeks ago, when I stumbled upon Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston’s Flour Bakery + Cafe. Its glossy hardcover with drool-inducing photos had me hooked before I even opened it up.  But then I did. And now I need to own it forever. Forever and ever.

chocolate peanut butter pie

Ok, I’m back! So, no excuses for my months-long absence. Know that it wasn’t you, it was me. I just wasn’t doing much cooking. And I certainly wasn’t taking pictures of the boring food I was eating (think pasta…lots of pasta). But I’m starting to cook again, and I really missed writing to all of you and sharing recipes. Let’s start with something awesome, ok?

I really want to talk to you about peanut butter. And chocolate. And the magical things that happen when you stack them up in a pie crust and eat them.

This is one of my favorite desserts that my mom has been making for years. It’s killer. Cut thin slices. And don’t come back here saying, “Erin, it’s so rich it nearly killed me, why didn’t you warn me??” because, face it, I did.

s’mores cheesecake bars

All of my coworkers are on diets. It’s making it very difficult for me to clog their arteries with delicious baked goods.

So I’ve had to find another outlet for my baking obsession. Fortunately, a semi-regularly-occurring girls’ night has landed in my lap. We watch Grey’s Anatomy and eat pizza and talk about girl stuff. Oh yeah, and we stuff our face with dessert. Dessert like s’mores cheesecake bars.

lentils

Can I tell you a secret? This is my favorite food ever.

I know it’s not much to look at. I know it honestly looks like mush on rice. But this is truly my ultimate comfort food. It ranks right up there with macaroni and cheese, chicken and dumplings, and sausage casserole (more on that another day). This is a mom recipe, so that’s bound to be a contributing factor to its comfort-food-ness.

So go on. Fill your head with all the clichés about looks being deceiving and not judging books by their covers. And give these adorable little beans their day in the jacuzzi.

black bean patties

I mentioned these briefly when I shared my peach and tomato salsa recipe with you. Remember?

These are fabulous. They taste like a party – nay, a fiesta – in your mouth. And the bonus? They’re pretty darned good for you. Fiesta on, my friends*.

The hardest part about this recipe is keeping the patties from falling apart on their way to the pan. The easiest way I’ve found of ensuring their intactness, is to make them thicker and smaller, instead of going for burger-like diameters. You can smash them a little flatter with your spatula, once they’re safely in the pan.

piña colada custard

Do you ever get weird cravings? I’m not talking cravings like the one that you always get for Chick-fil-a on a Sunday. That’s a craving born of clever corporate strategy.

I’m talking cravings for something very specific, like for that weird Indian carrot pudding thing you tried once (which I’m going to have to learn how to make, since I’ve now referenced it in two posts). Or for something you’ve never even eaten before. Like piña colada custard.

chilled cantaloupe and peach soup

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I found a new spot to photograph food. And I bought a tripod. These can only mean improvements in the quality of my pictures, I’m certain. Oh, I also put some thought into my plating for once. Do blogs give out bonus points? Or cookies?

I bought a cantaloupe at the farmer’s market, and couldn’t figure out how I was supposed to consume an entire cantaloupe by myself. I like cantaloupe, but I think that eating a whole one by myself would probably turn me orange. So I cut half of it into chunks and froze it for later. And the rest of it became a soup. It’s sort of like a smoothie, only you eat it with a spoon out of a bowl like a civilized person, so you can serve it at a fancy dinner party. Feel free to polish your silver for the occasion. Go ahead, you deserve to eat with silver.