christine's Profile

Most frequently, fruit and tea. Oranges, Asian pears, persimmons, apples, grapes, honeydew, cantaloupe, watermelon. Cherries or plums. Oranges were probably the most regular on rotation. Jasmine or oolong tea. This is still what my parents serve me after meals when I visit.

Mini crustless quiche! Bacon, caramelized onions, and cheese are a nice combo, or mushroom and onion.

I haven't tried his recipe, but Alton Brown apparently has a wonderful hot cocoa powder mix that includes powdered milk and cayenne pepper. It's available here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/hot-cocoa-recipe/index.html. I plan to try it soon as temps drop here!

I love farmers' markets as well! I was in San Diego earlier this year, and was walking over to a restaurant with my travel buddy when we stumbled upon the outdoor mercato in Little Italy. I convinced her to eat there instead of going to the restaurant and I found it thoroughly enjoyable, even moreso than sitting at a nice restaurant to eat. I was able to get my fill and then some! Freshly squeezed blood orange juice, fresh pastries, samosas, tiny juicy strawberries... and that's without even mentioning all the samples.

slow roasted tomatoes, a la smitten kitchen/dorie greenspan. http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/08/slow-roasted-tomatoes/

i don't even like tomatoes, but i could eat these straight off the pan as a snack.

banh chung is too too time- and labor-intensive for me to make at home, especially if it's just me and i'm away from family, but i miss growing up with my grandparents making them in a huge stockpot in our backyard and seeing them pile up on the counter ready to deliver to relatives. still a favorite at my house when i can purchase them at the market. my parents buy tons during new year, eat plenty for a few weeks, and always stash some in the freezer to eat when they're no longer available.

i like it sliced at room temperature, microwaved until super hot, but fried banh chung is always the best! i've never had it with sugar, or seen it eaten that way.. i guess just not in my household. i'll have to try it that way this year, if i can convince someone to bring me a few. i wish i could get them where i'm currently located...

I bake smitten kitchen's brown butter brown sugar shorties just for myself, like Deb suggests :)

To bring to cookie swaps, I do Russian tea cakes, oatmeal/pecan/choc chip cookies, and sometimes thumbprint jam cookies. Also sometimes the chocolate crinkle cookies from Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Baking. For years, I've been putting off the earl gray tea cookies from The Kitchn... maybe I'll finally need to try those this year.

butter-glazed radishes from orangette: http://orangette.blogspot.com/2011/04/have-your-way.html

I've made these butter dips three times over the past week. Simple, fast, and delicious all three times. I served them today at a non-Easter brunch with my fave blueberry lemon jam!

The first time I made them, I had issues with rolling the wet dough in the butter, so I switched to using a silicone brush to brush the melted butter onto the top of the strips before baking, much easier. Also, when I take a tad too long to get the dough together, the butter gets nicely browned and adds an extra rich flavor.

Thanks for this post! Puts things into perspective right now as I continue to procrastinate.