Berry Dutch Baby
August 3, 2011
Breakfast is sometimes tiresome. We make eggs, pancakes, waffles, granola, but even with all of those choices, we are still sometimes bored. Recently I remembered about Dutch Babies which my mother used to make for me. They are essentially large popovers that are sliced and served with lemon and powdered sugar or jams and syrups if you prefer. As a child I loved these, but I have not be able to completely sell my kids on them for some reason. The other night however, as I said goodnight, my son requested a Dutch Baby with berries for breakfast.
Making Dutch Babies is simple, you whisk together a batter, preheat a cast iron in the oven, and pour the batter into the hot pan. The batter then cooks in the oven until it puffs up and browns. It is dramatic and beautiful, but have your audience near when you take it from the oven, because it soon falls. Dutch Babies are best eaten very soon after being removed from the oven.
Three Berry Jam
July 6, 2011
My family and I just returned from a delightful escape from reality in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Without the modern distractions of cars, phones, and computers, our days were peacefully filled with banana slug hunts, star gazing, and swimming until we pruned. It was a much needed pause in an otherwise busy life, a centering of sorts. But alas, there are other responsibilities to which we must tend. Some are grudgingly attended- bill paying, laundry folding, car repairing. Other responsibilities are the important rituals of life that help to make meaning and define some of the rhythms of our family life. At the top of the list during this time of year is preserving the glorious bounty of summer.
Berry season is short, so we rely on the craft of jam making to preserve these flavors for the dark days. On our way home, we stopped into Gizdich Ranch and picked up a flat each of raspberries and ollalie berries. I combined these two berries with some strawberries I froze last month to create a mixed berry jam.
My Pantry Shelf 