Suburban Apron Company is Moving...

Suburban Apron Company is relocating to Wordpress:

http://suburbanaproncompany.wordpress.com

I will start posting again soon!

Juliebean

Zen Found in a Cookie

Can zen be found in a cookie? After tasting these delightful Ginger-Cinnamon cookies from a recipe posted over at the Tao Bums, I say (with an enthusiastic YES!) zen can most definitely be found in a cookie. These delicious and very quick and easy to bake cookies, posted by Karen from guideforselfhealing.com, are free from both grains and refined sugar. For those of us who are attempting to maintain an anti-fungal diet, these cookies provide another snack food option, in addition to the raw almonds, walnuts, berries, green apples, and grapefruit. Sometimes finding that perfect moment of bliss is as simple as eating a cookie.

Cinnamon-Ginger Cookies

(recipe posted with permission from Karen)

4 tablespoons butter, melted

1/3 cup honey

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ginger

1/8 tsp salt (I used a little less than 1/8 tsp.)

1/4 tsp baking soda

2 cups almond flour (I used 1 3/4 c. + 1/4 c. soy flour)

1/2 cup grated coconut (optional) (I did not use coconut)

Preheat oven to 300F.Place butter in mixing bowl. Add all other ingredients, stirring flour in last. Form dough into 1-inch diameter balls and place on a buttered cookie sheet. Bake 10-15 minutes, or until done. Watch that they don't burn around the edges. You can adjust the spices to taste, or add others like nutmeg, cloves, etc.

(I also added extra nutmeg, cloves, ginger, and cinnamon, to taste.)

Until we meet again,
Juliebean

I HEART LARABARS!!!

Yes, yes, I realize that I haven't posted any new recipes in a very, very long time. And yes, I know I promised to do some new entries to coincide with my new healthier lifestyle, but...life happens (I've moved twice this year and have a new job, but I will eventually get back to the recipe posting soon). Despite my lack of blogosphere activity, I have managed to maintain the new healthier lifestyle, with only a couple of falling down and eating junk moments, which immediately resulted in an even more intense appreciation of healthier cooking, baking, and eating. Avoiding refined sugars, grains, inorganic and processed foods has simply changed my life--for the best! I'm much, much leaner and my overall health (physically and mentally) is better than it was ten years ago. I personally recommend that everyone strive for a healthier diet, sans refined sugars, chemicals, and mycotoxins.

With all of that said, my newest healthy foodie obsession: LARABARS! LaraBars come in a multitude of yummy, tummy flavors with happy, colorful packaging and they are simply wonderful. These bars are made from pure, raw food and are truly delicious!!!

Lara's right, you will be humming happily while eating LaraBars!!!

Knowing the Causes...

Despite my prolonged absence from the blogosphere, my love for the kitchen has not ceased. However, since I last posted, my dietary lifestyle has been dramatically impacted by Doug Kaufmann. While Doug has been around for years preaching the gospel of good nutrition and warning society of the dangers of toxins in our food and drink, thanks to modern technology, I've recently rediscovered his teachings.

I've also found myself revisiting my former days of frequenting natural healthfoods stores and attempting to be more environmentally responsible on the whole. I'm attempting to live a simpler, greener personal existence. While I'm not going to pretend that I have completely transformed into a eco-activist, I am simply changing some wasteful habits, buying organic--foods, personal, and household--and making more of an effort to, 'reduce, reuse, and recycle.' This simpler lifestyle complements my attempts to live healthier without the toxins.

My apologies to former fans, but no more will I post recipes laden with refined sugars, chemicals, starches, and yeasts. The Suburban Apron Company is detoxing; future posts will be dedicated to non-toxic treats and healthier living.

Knowing the cause of so many ills, I will strive to remedy them, one meal and dietary supplement at a time. Thanks, Doug!

Until we meet again,

juliebean

Michael Hedges - Cello Suite #1 in G Major (Bach)

The Goodbye Girl

This will not be unexpected news to anyone, but unfortunately, I am finally going to bid my farewells to the blogosphere. I have become increasingly involved with volunteer work for my church and its academy. It has basically become a full-time endeavor, leaving me little time for blogging. I had hoped to be able to find a balance between the dual pursuits, but as I tend to do things in an all-or-nothing manner, this simply cannot be.

I apologize for this seeming careless abandonment of my blog, but this is what I must do. I have and will continue to truly miss you all.

Thoughts and prayers (with coffee),

Julie

This is not goodbye...

Because my volunteer work has very nearly become a full time endeavor, and also because I will be out of town for part of November and all of December, I am suspending The Suburban Apron Company (at least temporarily). Sporadic entries and/or entries without 100% dedication are unfair to everyone involved, therefore, suspending this blog is the only fair and reasonable option to consider.

You've all been great and I hope to be back sooner, rather than later. Thanks for everything!

Until we meet again for coffee,

Julie

Prayer and Farming in the Kitchen

Another week has passed without any particularly extraordinary or significant personal contribution to the various causes of the world. I realize that a certain patience is required; that I cannot individually change the present condition of humanity. Instead, I must do what I can, when I can. By starting small and starting local, I can offer personal aid and assistance, little by little, to those around me. And so, today's prayer is for serenity, courage, and wisdom:

"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference." ~Reinhold Niebuhr

Still, in a place far, far away from Illinois, somewhere close to the equator, there is a small family-owned cocoa farm, where the harvest remains shade grown and its crop is used to make rich, delicious chocolate bars. Shade grown farms promote a harmonious balance within the sustainable forest environment, where plants and animals indigenous to this natural habitat remain supported and protected. Despite the trend toward mass production of cocoa beans in larger, open sun grown farms, there are some smaller farms that still practice shade grown cocoa harvesting. Endangered Species Chocolate concerns itself with organic, fair traded products, supporting global efforts to ensure environmental protection, enable sustainable natural habitats, and empower the farming populations of these habitats. And somewhere else far, far away, on another small self-sufficient farm, fair wages are being paid for a modest coffee bean harvest, because of the efforts of Seattle's Best Coffee.

Having chocolate and coffee, I decided to bake. To bake and offer help globally, in a very, very, very small way, by incorporating ingredients which support the labors of small, self-reliant family owned farms and promote fair wages paid, in places far, far away from Illinois. And so I baked a batch of mocha tartlets, using an Endangered Species Dark Chocolate Bar with Espresso Beans. This chocolate is especially rich and creamy, making the tartlets that much more delicious than ordinary baking chocolate. And instead of using the liqueur included in the recipe ingredients, I chose to use Seattle's Best Fair-Trade Certified Organic French Roast. Since the chocolate bar already contained espresso beans, this rich coffee was the perfect complement and worked beautifully for these tartlets.

More small steps...

MOCHA TARTLETS
(recipe courtesy www.epicurious.com)

Ingredients:

For mocha custard:

2 large egg yolks

2 1/2 tablespoons sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

3/4 cup whole milk

2 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), finely chopped

(I used 2 oz. from an Endangered Species Chocolate® Dark Chocolate Bar with Espresso Beans)

1/2 tablespoon Tía Maria or other coffee liqueur

(I used brewed Seattle's Best Fair Trade Organic French Roast Coffee, instead of a liqueur)

1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened

1 teaspoon instant-espresso powder

(omitted since chocolate bar was heavy with espresso beans)

For butter cookie dough:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Make custard: Beat together yolks, sugar, cornstarch, and a pinch of salt in a bowl with an electric mixer until thick and pale, about 1 minute. Heat milk in a 2-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat until hot but not boiling. Add one third of hot milk to yolk mixture in a slow stream, whisking constantly. Pour remainder of milk into yolk mixture, whisking, then transfer to saucepan. Simmer, whisking constantly, until very thick, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add chocolate, liqueur, butter, and espresso powder. Let stand until chocolate is melted, about 1 minute, then whisk until smooth. Force custard through a fine sieve into a bowl. Cover surface of custard with wax paper and chill until cold, at least 4 hours.

Make tartlet shells while custard chills: Pulse together flour, sugar, salt, butter, egg, and vanilla in a food processor until dough is smooth and begins to form a ball (it will be soft, like cookie dough). Turn out dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap and gather into a ball. Flatten dough into a disk and chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 30 minutes and up to 8 hours (overnight).

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Break off 1-teaspoon pieces of dough and press evenly into molds with floured fingers to form shells about 1/16 inch thick, pinching off excess from rim and making bottoms slightly thinner than sides. Arrange molds 1 inch apart in a shallow baking pan and chill until dough is firm again, about 30 minutes.

Bake in middle of oven, rotating pan halfway through baking, until pale golden, 12 to 15 minutes total. Transfer molds to a rack to cool, then carefully remove shells from molds. Make more tartlet shells in same manner if desired.

Assemble tartlets: Fill pastry bag with custard and pipe decoratively into shells. Makes 24 tartlets.

Until we meet for coffee,
Julie

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." ~Lao-tzu

In the previous post, I wrote about offering assistance to others in need. "To simply help." Somewhat overwhelmed by so much need, I wasn't quite sure where or even how to begin offering my particular personal assistance. And so, I've continued doing volunteer service work for my local church and its academy library. My physical contributions of service have not yet progressed to broader aid, as I've not yet swung a hammer for Habitat for Humanity or ladled soup at a Salvation Army shelter. Still, in the spirit of simply helping, I stopped and bought some apples at a local farmer's market this weekend. Although it wasn't an extraordinarily significant step in culinary activism, it was my first step. First small steps on a personal culinary journey toward a greater social responsibility. And while national and global agencies remain farther along the journey, at least my single farmer's market purchase helped, however minimally, to support a local farmer and strengthen the economy of local agriculture.

So I bought some apples. And using a simple recipe from Local Flavors: Cooking and Eating from America's Farmers' Markets (Deborah Madison), I chose to bake a Caramelized Apple Tart with Cinnamon Custard. Rustic comfort food for these first days of early Fall, as I take first steps on a more purposeful journey.

Caramelized Apple Tart with Cinnamon Custard

(recipe courtesy Local Flavors: Cooking and Eating From America's Farmers' Markets, from Deborah Madison)

Ingredients:

For the Apples:

3 apples (mine were smaller, so I used 4)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons sugar

For the Batter:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature, plus extra

1/2 cup sugar

3 medium eggs, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

pinch salt

1 cup all-purpose flour

For the cream:

1/2 cup crème fraîche or heavy cream

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 egg yolk

Confectioners' sugar (for dusting)

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Butter a 9-inch tart pan. Peel and core the apples, then slice them into 1/2-inch wedges. Melt the butter in a wide nonstick skillet, add the apples, and sprinkle them with the sugar. Cook over high heat, occasionally flipping the apples, until they start to caramelize, then reduce the heat to medium. Keep a close eye on the apples, turning them frequently so they don't burn. This will take about 15 minutes in all. Turn off the heat.

To make the batter, cream the butter and sugar in a mixer with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until each is incorporated before adding the next. Add the vanilla and salt, then stir in the flour. Smooth the batter into the tart pan with an offset spatula, pushing it up the sides to make a rim. Lay the apples over the batter.

Mix the ingredients for the cream together, then pour it over the apples. Set the tart on a sheet pan and bake until the crust is golden and starting to pull away from the sides, about 35 minutes. Let cool for at least 20 minutes before serving. Remove the tart from the rim, place it on a serving plate, and sprinkle with confectioners' sugar. (When making this tart, my fresh-from-the-farm-small-apples seemed too fragile for pan caramelization, so instead, I simply coated them first with the custard mixture and second with a layer of sugar before baking.)

Until we meet for coffee,

Julie

Prayers for Anderson Cooper

It all began with Oprah Winfrey. First, however, I must admit to not being a historic fan of her television show, but I am an insomniac and her show re-airs latenights, here where I live, and there has been more than one occasion where I've found myself switching channels and pausing on her show. Recently, I've noticed the show has become more socially responsible, with topics that are actually relevant and considerable. Perhaps the Oprah show has always been devoted to public service, with myself unaware? In my defense, whenever I had seen the show in times past, episode subjects were generally fashion trends, makeover shows, or celebrity interviews. But again, lately I've notice a trend towards episodes that matter and so, I can no longer absolutely declare myself, 'not a fan' of the show.

With that said, let me start over. It all began with Oprah. And insomnia. It began with another one of my many late nights, incessantly channel switching. On this night, when I switched past Oprah, I quickly switched back to make sure I saw what I thought I had seen: Anderson Cooper. Anderson Cooper on Oprah? Anderson Cooper on Oprah! Considering Anderson Cooper is a journalist whom I greatly respect and admire, I was both immediately surprised and extremely pleased. Dispatches from the Edge: A Memoir of War, Disasters, and Survival had just been released and Anderson was on the show to discuss the powerful book with Oprah Winfrey. His mother, designer Gloria Vanderbilt, was also on the show to lend support and briefly discuss a terribly tragic family event that is embedded within Anderson's deeply personal story, which underscores the overall theme of the book.

Like so many others, I also identified with Anderson's personal losses. Myself having been on a sort of auto-pilot-course since last spring, when my father died following a brief, unexpected illness, I was only partially coherent during 2005 and for much of this year as well. Dispatches from the Edge: A Memoir of War, Disasters, and Survival reminded me of how universally tragic the year 2005 really was and how geographically far reaching suffering and loss really is. Human suffering is global: while there are obvious measures, not a single human has ever, nor will ever escape a personal time of suffering. Pain is ubiquitous.

Having been abruptly reawakened from my adopted routine of mechanical-sleepwalk, my own personal coping defensive, by this powerful book, I, like so many others, felt immense sadness, a certain guilt, and an overwhelming sense of helplessness for those thousands and thousands victims of war, natural disaster, and unfortunate circumstance, as I read page after page of such painful suffering and struggle (the struggle often concluding in vain). I also shared the heavy grief, anger, and urgency that Anderson carried through these pages. And so, I despaired and my despair resulted in an identity crisis of sorts for The Suburban Apron Company.

This identity crisis has resulted in less frequent posts and an unclear sense of direction. While I have no plans to suspend The Suburban Apron Company, I do plan to alter my posts to reflect a more socially responsible blog. However, I am not changing the blog's theme; it will continue as a food blog. I apologize for any seeming alienation of my readers--it is not intentional. I simply need to find a courageous voice to pursue more purposeful writing. I need to make a difference, no matter how insignificant. I also apologize if this seems somewhat narcissistic--again, it is not intentional. After reading Anderson Cooper's sincerely honest memoir, I can no longer personally justify the irrelevance of writing solely about cooking and baking, without meaningful contribution. I can't seem to justify so much writing about savory dishes and comfort food, when war, famine, tsunamis, and hurricanes have destroyed so incredibly many lives. Human destruction, whether manmade or natural disaster, is still life destroyed. I can't seem to defend so much time spent writing about decadent desserts, when there are so incredibly many people dying horrifically slow, tortured deaths due to starvation and disease. I cannot defend a primary activity of leisurely writing about cooking and baking, when so incredibly many people are without basic amenities, including shelter, hot or cold running water, clothes, or in some cases, life itself.

What is going to be the revised, relevant direction of this food blog? I'm not sure. I simply plan to continue cooking, baking, and writing about food, in a manner that will lend some support to readers seeking to nourish body and soul. Perhaps writing about comfort food can be made relevant, by providing brief distraction from the heavy weight of incessant, current news events. Again, I'm not sure.

And so, I will simply cook, bake, volunteer, and pray. Prayers for guidance to be of help and for graceful mercy to be shown toward those in need. And prayers for Anderson Cooper, who has undoubtedly influenced many more than just myself to awaken from their protective, yet vacant, mechanical motion and actively seek ways, however small, to offer help. To simply help.

Until we meet for coffee,
Julie