Some Like It Hot

...and some, well, some do not. I fall into the latter category at least when it comes to food. Why then am I so intrigued with making my own mustard? Well for one thing... we ran out. Yep, currently mustard-less. Now, while mustard is not something that we put on a lot of the foods we eat, when we do use it, it's generally crucial to the outcome of the dish we're making. Like grilled cheese sandwiches for example. O.K. maybe Chicken Dijon* is a better example. But a smear of spicy mustard inside a grilled cheese can be pretty dang fabulous.

"I'm not headlined in the bills, but I'm the mustard in the salad dressing just the same." [O.Henry, "Cabbages and Kings," 1904]

Also entering into the equation is my ongoing pursuit of saving a buck, learning new things and avoiding excess packaging. Etcetera. As such, I attempted to wade into the shallow end of home mustard making, looking to splash around a little and get my feet wet. Instead, I suddenly found myself pushed into the deep end, street clothes and all. Now, to an experienced swimmer, that might be amusing, but to those more comfortable on terra firma... sheer panic.

Peaches And Herbs

The Lemon Herb Biscuits I made on a whim the other day, brought on a true "food and brain pairing" moment. My synapses fired in sequence long enough for me to realize that those biscuits were just a few tweaks away from an outstanding shortcake. The light bulb over my head was all aglow and my tummy said "Do it! And do it soon!".

The closest I think my mom ever got to making biscuits was when she would make strawberry shortcake (shortcakes are essentially sweet biscuits), a dessert she made often and one that I've always loved. She always used fresh strawberries when they were in season and always always made real whipped cream. I called to ask her what recipe she used for her shortcakes, and the answer was what I pretty much expected to hear: "It was on the box of Bisquick". Well, that was the era (at least she never used Cool Whip). Never one to leave things alone though, she would always add orange zest to the baking mix which took it from ordinary to extraordinary. Sometimes all it takes is that little something extra.

This dessert that I made has ever so many little somethings extra. Too many? Nah. Sometimes more is more. I think this is one of those times (or should I say "thymes"?). So here is my peachy-herbal twist on that quintessential summer dessert...

Sipping On Sunshine

Monday morning was drizzly gray and I was a moody blue. I needed instant sunshine. I needed an influx of happiness. But how can you generate that from within a foggy funk? Fresh fruit (and a little alliteration) always perks me up. Maybe it was time to do something with the mangoes I got at the market the other day (2 for $1.00!). It's as good a starting point as any, and frankly, a lot better than some.

Tender Sweet Apricots

I always have some sort of dried fruit in my pantry. Always. Dried fruits keep practically forever and are endlessly versatile. One of my very favorite dried fruits is the dried apricot. Soft and sweet with a honeyed-tang. They are amazing in everything from oatmeal at breakfast to turkey stuffing at Thanksgiving. Dipped in dark chocolate, well then  they've dried and gone to heaven.*

In summer though, my thoughts always turn to fresh fruit, and the little fragrant fresh apricots often get overlooked as I bee-line to the berries, peaches, plums and melons. They even get overshadowed by their own genetic offshoots: pluots, apriums, etc. Whats next? Grapricots? Aprinanas? It's time I took another look at the subtle and classic blushing beauty that is the fresh apricot... 

 

These desserts all look so very tempting, my problem now is to pick one:

• A yummy Apricot Cake and Apricot Fold Over Pie both from Serious Eats
• Tea-Steamed Apricots & Blackberries on page 20 of Healthy Desserts  (Williams-Sonoma Collection, 1995 )
• This gorgeous Walnut Apricot Bread also over at Serious Eats uses one of my favorite flavor combinations
• Apricot Slice, a tasty looking thing that would be equally at home either for breakfast or dessert (I just love those). Found on page 23 of Best Of Baking (Wolter and Teubner, 1980) 
• The Martha Stewart Cookbook (1995) has Apricots Baked With Vanilla Sugar (pg 422) and two kinds of Apricot Tart on page 453 (one with Grand Marnier and the other with rum... yum!). 
• Also from Martha are two apricot-almond recipes: a Fresh Apricot Tart and a simple dish of Baked Apricots with Almond Topping..

* I really have to apologize for that cheesy awful joke.

Summer Thyme Biscuits

I just received the ultimate compliment: "OMG! These biscuits are wonderful!"  And this was from a man who grew up eating biscuits as a regular feature at dinner time. To say I was pleased as punch would be an understatement.  I thought they were pretty darned great also, it's just that I don't have a lot to compare them with.