Culinary fiction - "That part was true", by Deborah McKinlay

It seems that most of my reading is done while travelling. I usually take at least a few books with me. Of course, it does happen that I don't even get them out of my bag or suitcase and sometimes I need to buy a new one on the way. This was the case last week, when I was travelling home from Barcelona, Spain. I had a few books with me that I took from home. Started reading as soon as the plane took off and couldn't get my hands off until I was finished. Who knows - maybe the hotel, which added a book in Lithuanian to their library will make some guest happy some time.

On my way back, I stopped by the book store at the airport. Came across Deborah McKinlay's "That part was true". To be honest - have not read anything by this author previously, but the back of the cover promised I'd get indulged in a romance, where two people get in relationship through their love for food.

Carrot cake

Large, naked raw carrots are acceptable as food only to those who lie in hutches eagerly awaiting Easter. ~Fran Lebowitz

For anyone, who is not too big of a fan of big, creamy, heavy and frosted cakes, this one is a perfect choice for the Christmas table. And there's always an option to add some frosting on the side to be served for the sweets lovers. I studied several carrot cake recipes and decided to go with a bit of everything, creating my own mix, yet not stepping too far from what the recipe books offer.

Rum baba

"Anybody who believes that a way to a man's heart is through his stomach flunked geography." ~Robert Byrne

Rhubarb pie

“We must have a pie. Stress cannot exist in the presence of a pie.” 

Molten chocolate cake

"Chocolate is the answer! Who cares what the question is!"

Les canelés de Bordeaux

"I think careful cooking is love, don't you? The loveliest thing you can cook for someone who's close to you is about as nice a valentine as you can give." Julia Child

Brownies...

"There are two kinds of people in the world: those who love chocolate, and communists." ~Leslie Moak Murray

Didn't mean to sound political, but loved the quote to describe how I felt about this dessert... Who would not love something like this? Not that I have much of a sweet tooth, but those rare moments when craving for some dessert - it has to be something like this one. Or the flour less chocolate cake... Or the chocolate muffins with cherries... You get the idea, right?

Cream cheese muffins with marzipan and craisins...

"There is no love sincerer than the love of food." ~George Bernard Shaw 

Could not have said it any better! And the love of wine....? Hopefully not to be doomed as an alcoholic - I do sincerely love wine. Not just any wine - chilled, crisp, that leaves a trace of all the amazing mixtures of tastes well after the gulp has flown down the throat.

Got carried away... Back to muffins. Got home after work one of those days, when I desperately needed something good and tasty and couldn't tell what that may be. Decided to go for something sweet - to be made of whatever ingredients I had in the cupboards. Came across all kinds of dried berries and fruit and a huge piece of marzipan. Dediced to go with muffins. Although just the discovery of the marzipan at that moment was plenty enough to satisfy my tastebuds, but I had really gotten in the mood to bake something.

Chocolate muffins with cherries in rum

I take a vitamin every day. It's called chocolate

Well I don't take chocolate every day. Every day would be a bit of an exaggeration. Not THAT much of a chocoholic - I love chocolate once in a while. But when I have something with it, it has to be very rich to be worth having a few bites.

Today started of as a very lazy Sunday. A few cups of coffee in the morning, that lasted till 1 or 2 pm, watching some downloaded TV series. Then the idea to do some cleaning around the apartment turned into something much bigger and it had to be crowned with culmination in the kitchen. The perfect combination of scents in the air now - fresh laundry and chocolate. Mmm...

The best bagels in the world...

...are home made!

"the first printed mention of bagels...is to be found in the Community Regulations of Kracow, Poland, for the year 1610 which stated that bagels would be given as a gift to any woman in childbirth." ('The Joys of Yiddish' by Leo Rosten)

Googling to find some nice or funny quotes about bagels, the search turned up this fact that they may have come from Poland. It always associated with the US origin to me personally - there is even a song by Touch&Go that the best bagels and muffins come from New York. Although the bagel first mentioned in American print only in 1932. They do make pretty good ones there, I must admit. But craving for one for a Saturday breakfast inspired to search for THE recipe that would make it worth a couple of hours in the kitchen.

Olive Oil and Orange Cake, Inspired by Mario Batali

“A man is not an orange. You can't eat the fruit and throw the peel away”. Arthur Miller

First of all, to give heads-up - the photo is "borrowed" for the time being - just to give an idea how my cake looked like prior I poured the glaze on - then it looked like it was sitting in a puddle of the glaze that was spreading all over the table and dripping on the floor. I know what I had done wrong, but now from the beginning...

A few weekends ago we were planning to visit some friends living in the neighborhood and I promised them I will bake a cake, having this particular one in mind. I had made it many times before and it has turned out absolutely lovely! This time I had the glaze (that I had learned from Martha Stewart) in mind and was very eager to try that one on my cake.

Home made bread

"Bread for myself is a material question. Bread for my neighbor is a spiritual one." Nikolai Berdyaev