busy busy busy!

Hard to believe that it’s been over a month since my last post, but, in my defense, the past few weeks have been busy with exciting milestones and delightful visits from friends and family. October brought with it my fifth marathon, a weekend with my parents, another weekend with one of my oldest and dearest friends, and a boatload of quality time spent in the company of my main squeeze. And, since my folks were so generous as to drive out my last remaining essential possessions (my beautiful bookshelf and a ton of kitchen stuff–pots and pans and my 24 PIECE PYREX SET!), I’ve been happily putting my newly re-acquired baking tools to use.

Although there are, I’m sure, a few odds and ends still left at my parents’ house, this last carload marks something pretty exciting–I’m good and settled. And entertaining out of town visitors is a pretty sweet way to reinforce this realization. I’m so glad to be able to share a small part of my life out here (and the important places and people in it) with my loved ones from back home.

I was chatting with a friend the other day, and, after catching up on the aforementioned recent events, he asked me what else I’ve been doing that has nourished me lately. His choice of words really stuck with me–as did the reflection that even small and simple actions carry weight. Pretty timely conversation because, guess what? This little project of mine is now a year old! While this blog is certainly nothing fancy (and at times quiet), it has been something meaningful for me. I’m in a bit of a challenging stretch these days, and having an outlet has really meant the world to me. I created apron-clad because one day last fall, after a summer abroad, I baked a loaf of bread for the first time in MONTHS. And holy hell did it feel good–the warm dough in my hands, the comforting smell sneaking out of our oven, the satisfaction of creating something. This blog has always been a reminder of that moment, and I’m grateful to those of you who have read my entries, posted comments, or even shared a link to my blog with others (thanks, Mom!).

The following recipe comes courtesy of the boyfriend (or, more accurately I suppose, his mom)–I’ve had it for some time now, and was really stoked to be able to try it out (and break in one of my pyrex pans). I had to make a few changes, mostly due to what I had (or didn’t have) handy in my kitchen. Chief of these substitutions was the flour; the recipe calls for spelt, but all I had was good old all-purpose. Pecans were also used in lieu of walnuts.

This is a great recipe because (1) you only need to use one bowl and (2a) it is basically thin bars of banana bread covered with chocolate chips, which means that (2b) I feel somewhat less guilty eating it for/with breakfast. Hell yeah. Also, like the recipe says, it’s totally better the longer it sits after baking–days two and three were awesome.

Banana-Chocolate Chip Squares
From: King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking: Delicious Recipes Using Nutritious Whole Grains, Countryman Press, Woodstock, Vermont, 2006

¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter
1 ¼ cups packed light or dark brown sugar
3 very ripe medium bananas (about 8 ounces, peeled; about 1 cup, mashed)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 large egg
1 ¾ cup whole spelt flour
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup (4 ounces) chopped walnuts

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Lightly grease a 9 X 13 inch pan.

Cream the butter and sugar in a medium bowl till smooth.  Beat in the bananas, lemon juice, vanilla, baking powder, salt and spices, scraping the bowl.  Add the egg, beating until smooth and scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl again.  Sir in the flour, mixing thoroughly.  Spoon the batter into the prepared pan.  Allow the batter to rest for 15 minutes; it’ll thicken a bit as it stands.  Sprinkle the chips and nuts on top.

Bake the squares until the center is moist but not liquid, 35-40 minutes.  Remove them from the oven and let cool on a rack.  For best texture, allow them to rest overnight, covered, before cutting and serving.

 

Normally, I’d post a picture of the baked good in question, but the only photo I managed to take before gobbling up the last square is kinda sub-par. Instead, I leave you with this:

 

They look goofy, but we had fun. Happy (almost) Halloween!

 

weekly fix

It has been a busy week of helping my guy move, chugging away at marathon training, and cover letter revamping. This week’s inspiration has been another hodgepodge of random little things. Happy weekend!

• I love StoryCorps, and this piece is so so beautiful.

• An  interesting NY Times article about combat meals as small reminders of home and comfort.

• How do you see your city? A neat project that maps where photographs are taken in various locations–and whether the photographer is a tourist or a local.

• And the most exciting of all — the weather we’ve been having here in Chicago means that autumn is just around the corner! So excited for apples, pumpkin, and warm, comforting spices.

weekly fix

I regularly come across miscellaneous tidbits online that I find really inspiring — this ranges from recipes, articles, other blog posts, and more. Instead of merely bookmarking them in my browser, I thought I’d share a roundup of some of my favorites. What bits of creativity have caught your eye lately?

a really beautiful post about genealogy and gender

a neat idea for prettying up your canning jars

a fantastically clear and straightforward post on how to reduce a canning recipe

sweet little cakes inspired by children’s books

my very first solo jam endeavor: success!

In addition to knowing where the food I’m buying is coming from and being able to support local farms, one of the things I love the most about getting my produce from farmers’ markets is that there is always something intriguing that catches my eye. One time it was a small lavender plant (which I, regretfully, failed at keeping alive), another time it was fresh chamomile flowers, and yet another time it was a purple bell pepper. On my most recent trip, I came across gooseberries and, $6 later, had a bag of mysterious new fruit to try out.

I debated and debated what to do with my new purchase. Should I make some sort of tart? A pie? Just keep peeling these tasty little things and pop them into my mouth? I didn’t have a super large amount of gooseberries to work with, and I wanted to be sure to use them for something special. Thinking it over again the next morning, as I scooped the last precious bit of homemade strawberry jam out of the jar, it hit me — I wanted to make jam!

Because I only had a bowl of gooseberries at my disposal, my jam also included two plums and a peach (also from the market). I didn’t add any pectin because 1) I didn’t have any 2) I knew this was going to be a super small batch and 3) I had read that gooseberries are already fairly high in natural pectin. I did add the juice of one lemon to help thicken things up.

First things first — I thoroughly washed two canning jars (one 16 oz pint jar and one 8 oz half pint) and their lids and bands. Because I was not planning to process my jars in a water bath (knowing that I’d end up with a super small yield of jam) and would, instead, just be making refrigerator jam, I felt okay reusing the lids and bands. Ordinarily, while it is okay to reuse canning jars that are still in good condition, you must purchase and use new lids to ensure a proper seal (and safe preservation). While my jam was cooking, I put the jars and lids/bands into separate pots of water, which I then brought to a boil. Ten minutes of sterilization later, I turned the heat down super low to keep the jars warm (if you put hot jam into a cool jar it can sometimes crack).

After washing my fruit (and removing the pit from the peach), I cut the peach and plums into sections and tossed them into my food processor along with the gooseberries (which I had cut in half). I gave the fruit a few quick pulses to chop it all up, but still left it a bit chunky — I like jam that still has bits of fruit left in it. In a large pot, I added my fruit mix (which came to about 1 1/2 cups) and 1 cup of white sugar. Stirring all the while, I brought this to a rolling boil (which means that the fervor of the boil does not reduce during stirring) over medium-high heat and then added my lemon juice. Next, I turned the heat down to medium and let my jam cook for a good 40 minutes, still constantly stirring. I was nervous about how thick my jam would end up (because in all honesty, I was totally winging my measurements) and in hindsight could have cut my cooking time a bit short — my jam ended up plenty thick. Next time I’ll be sure to use a thermometer to cut out the guesswork.

When my jam was done cooking, I pulled the 16 oz pint jar out of the warm water (using tongs that also had been cleaned and sterilized in boiling water). I poured my jam inside (it didn’t quite fill the jar entirely — it ended up being maybe a little more than 3/4 full) and wiped the mouth of the jar clean with a damp paper towel. If I was going to be processing the jars, at this point I’d put on the lid and band.  Since this was just going to be refrigerated, I kept the lid off and let the jar cool to room temperature before sealing and putting in the fridge. Refrigerator jam will generally  keep for about 3 weeks.

And there you have it — peach/plum/gooseberry jam! I’m super stoked that it came out okay and am even more eager to make another batch of jam. While canning up a whole mess of jam is really rewarding, I think I’ll mostly save that for my trips home, when I can share the project with Mom. I’m quite smitten with small batch canning; it’s easy, doesn’t require a buying huge amount of fruit, and is a perfect opportunity to experiment (note: check out this awesome article).  And yes, I know I didn’t technically can my jam, but I’m still hooked and, best of all, excited to keep at it.

years that ask questions and years that answer

It has been quite some time.

The truth is, like my last post suggests, I seemed to have slipped into a bit of a rut this winter. Winter in Chicago is a long, dreary, dreadful crucible, and for the first time in three years, I fear it got the best of me.

There are several reasons for this, the majority of which don’t really merit enumeration. But, like the title of this post suggests (which is taken from Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God), much of 2009 and a bit of 2010 was spent wondering when things would begin to fall into place…however it was that they were meant to fall.

This is not to say that there were not people or events that helped make those months bearable. Indeed, there were truly fabulous things that happened–birthday celebrations (I think Joliet is still recovering), exciting new plans for roommates and friends, running my fourth marathon, visits from family, a dear friendship that blossomed into a delightfully sweet partnership. Hell, I even got a library card! I am grateful for the things and people in my life who make even gloomy days seem a little brighter.

Through this past winter and spring (in Chicago, those two seasons blend together in a really frustrating way), there was, of course, baking. I used up the last frozen reserves of the apple pie filling I made back in the fall. I made cookies. Brownies. Celebratory cupcakes. A carrot cake-like version of my stud muffin zucchini loaf. Banana bread (with a chocolate ganache ribbon through the center!). But I just wasn’t feeling very inspired–at least not inspired enough to write about my experiences.

But seasons change, life muddles on, and, like Ms. Hurston writes, answers really do start trickling in. And here I am, sweating in my hot little apartment, enjoying the hell out of summertime in Chicago, and happier than I’ve been in oh so long.

Best of all, I feel creative and inspired again! I’ve really been meaning to get back to baking bread regularly–I’d like to challenge myself to maintaining a consistent project…something like weekly baguettes, just to really get my technique down. I’ve also wanted to create my own starter, and see how much more nuanced a flavor I can get in my loaves. Likewise, a nice sourdough seems like a good project.

And, of course, summer means fresh fruit and vegetables! Pies and tarts and crumbles and all sorts of delicious treats. Summer also calls for impromptu cookouts, seasonal celebrations and lazy afternoons full of food and friends. It’s about time I get started, no?