-- I've been running my grandma (my dad's mom) on more errands lately, and she always does her grocery shopping at Byerly's, which is fancier than the supermarket I usually go to. They have a really amazing bakery (it's where I got this bear claw last month), so I snagged a 'maple stick' yesterday. It was basically a cinnamon roll that was twisted instead of rolled, and it was so, so good. I was looking forward to the maple-iness, but actually the maple icing on top was the only thing I would have changed -- too sugary-sweet for me.

-- You know how you can become a Master of Wine? I want to become a Master of Apples, except I'm not sure such a thing exists. It would involve intense training and studying, and at the end, I would be able to bite into a slice of apple and tell you what variety it was, whether it was grown organically or conventionally (although, please, Masters of Apples only eat organic), which state or country it came from... and what kind of rootstock was used for the graft. Okay, maybe not that last one. (Although now I wonder if it does matter. Flow of water to the fruit, etc, etc.) So, people of the internet, where can I get a master's in Apple Science. And do they offer full scholarships?

-- Because all I eat are sweet things (I know you know that's not true), I made some cookies the other day. I used an oatmeal cookie recipe, but I tweaked it a bit and used Bob's Red Mill 5-Grain Cereal instead of rolled oats. That was all I had on hand, and it gave the cookies a much more interesting (in a good way) texture. I halved the amount of sugar called for in the original recipe, and I like how a lot of the sweetness now come from the add-ins. Click on the full post to see the recipe.

Here's the recipe for the apple-raisin bread I made the other day. It makes great toast, and it would have been really good with walnuts mixed in, as well. I used a Honeycrisp apple, because that's what I had on hand, but a tart baking apple would probably be more appropriate. When my mom got her Kitchenaid stand mixer, I inherited her old (non-Kitchenaid) one, which I've found useful only for 'kneading' bread. This dough is sticky enough that I wouldn't really recommend kneading by hand unless you add more flour, but that will probably change the finished product.

Also, I don't usually grease the pan when I make bread, but I baked this in a cast-iron crock, and it stuck something fierce. I still can't believe I got it out in one piece, so you might want to grease the pan, unless you're confident that you can bake bread in it without it sticking. You can probably use a decent-sized loaf pan and get a taller loaf; I used the round crock because I wasn't sure how much it would rise. Click the link for the recipe.

The other day, I tweeted that I had been wrong about the grilled cheese thing being my Best Idea, because I'd thought of a better best. This is it. I mean, what's better than a cookie? Two cookies! Sandwiched together with a cream filling (I cannot bring myself to spell it 'creme', the way Oreos like to).

I actually went to two different stores to find the perfect little cookie cutters, and the set I wound up with (this one) changed my game plan with its tiny apple cutter. I'd originally planned on one design, but in the end, I made maple-leaf-shaped biscuits with a maple cream and apple-shaped biscuits with cinnamon-apple cream. The one I prefer is whichever I happen to be eating at any given moment.

The shortbread recipe is more or less taken from Breakfast, Lunch, Tea, although I should note that the recipe has an error (in my edition, at least) -- they say 225g = 1 1/3 cups flour, which is incorrect. I used 225g, and I 'translated' it correctly in my rewriting of the recipe. You're better off using weight measurements, at any rate! The rice flour gives the biscuits a lovely crispness, so I'd recommend not substituting it for more AP flour. For the filling, I made one batch of the cream recipe that follows, but I split it in two before adding the flavorings (using only half of what's called for in the recipe, obviously). The maple flavoring can be bought at most supermarkets; the concentrated apple flavor came from a specialty cake shop. I don't particularly like using shortening in recipes, but it really is essential to get the right texture.

The recipes are in the extended post, so click through to read.

I've been out of store-bought veggie burgers for a little while now, but there was a can of pinto beans in the cupboard, so I thought I'd take a stab at making a bean burger. These are fairly soft, but the vital wheat gluten keep them together and makes them a bit, well, glutenous. I like the texture, but I pretty much regard wheat gluten as a miracle ingredient. At any rate, I actually wrote down what I put into these burgers (how novel!), in case anybody else would like to try making them.

Ingredients

1 can pinto beans (= 1.75 cups, rinsed and drained)
1/2 C onion, diced
1/2 C green bell pepper, diced
1/4 corn kernels
1/4 cup carrot, diced
2 Tbsp salsa
3/4 C vital wheat gluten
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt

Directions

In a skillet, with the oil of your choosing (I just use Pam), sautee the onion, pepper, and carrot until tender. Add the corn and the beans. Once the beans are warm, remove the skillet from the heat and use a potato masher to mash everything until there are very few intact beans left. Stir in the salsa.

In a bowl, mix together the wheat gluten, spices, and salt. Add the mashed bean mixture and stir to combine. Once it's cooled enough to tough, use your hands to knead everything for a couple of minutes.

Divide the mixture into six balls. You can either free-form them into patties, or, if you've got too much time on your hands, you can do what I did. Place a ball of burger mix in the center of an English muffin ring and use the potato masher to flatten it out. Voila -- perfectly round bean burger!

Wrap each patty individually if you want to store them in the freezer. To cook, simply place the (room temperature or refrigerated) patties in an oiled skillet and brown both sides -- a couple of minutes per side, probably. Given their texture, I'm not sure how well they would grill, but I'd be willing to try it!

Hello! Just a quick post with a recipe. I had a block of tofu in the fridge that I needed to use, but I didn't feel like making any of my usual dishes. There are lots of tofu 'egg' salad recipes out there, but here's what I did:

Ingredients

-- 1 package firm or extra firm (water-packed) tofu
-- 1 Tbsp nutritional yeast
-- 1/2 tsp turmeric
-- 1/4 tsp paprika
-- 1/2 tsp salt
-- 1 green onion
-- a few fresh chives
-- 1/2 a dill pickle spear (or one baby dill)
-- 1 tsp yellow mustard
-- 5 Tbsp mayonnaise
-- more salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Drain the tofu and press it in a towel (I use flour-sack towels, but paper would do) for about an hour. Place the pressed tofu in a bowl and use a fork or potato masher to mash it up. Add the yeast, turmeric, paprika, and salt and stir well. Chop the green onion (I used about three big 'spikes' of green onion from the garden) and chives, and finely mince the pickle. Add those to the tofu mixture. Lastly, stir in the mayonnaise (or Vegenaise or Miracle Whip) and mustard. Mix well and chill before eating. Makes four servings (or however many it takes you to eat it all).

I ate some of mine by stuffing it + salad into the pita halves. Nom.

-- Guess what I did today! I ran ten miles! It was horrible and rainy out, but I really wanted to fit in my long run before the weekend, so I turned up my determination to eleven and decided to run in the chilly rain. I always get so nervous and excited before long runs, and today's had a very race-day quality to it, because I set everything out the night before and then drove down to the Chain of Lakes in Minneapolis. I was only 'scheduled' to run nine miles, but I was pretty sure I'd go for ten if I could, and by mile eight, I knew I had another two miles in me. Ten is definitely a milestone, and I'm almost positive that if I had to run a half-marathon next weekend, I could.

-- Since there's a Whole Foods near where I ran, I decided to stop in afterward. (I brought a fleece and skirt and flip flops, so I wouldn't have to wear my soaked clothes, and I thought I looked surprisingly refreshed for having just run around three lakes.) The idea was to treat myself by bringing back lunch from the salad bar, and that's what I did... but the truth is... I don't like the Whole Foods salad bar. I always think I do, but you know what? None of that food has any flavor. It all just tastes of oil. And the curried cauliflower was PACKED with horrible fennel seeds, but other than that, it was bland. What a waste of money. Please learn from this (for once!), Future!Anna.

-- I was thinking about guilty pleasures earlier, which led me to the TV programs that I find surprisingly enjoyable. There's quite a collection of sitcoms I wouldn't have guessed I would like, but I do. The list includes Community (this week's episode was brilliant), Parks and Recreation (very similar to The Office, only I like the characters a lot more), and Cougar Town (the guiltiest pleasure of all -- but I can't help loving it!). On the flip side, I've decided I really will not waste another minute of my life watching Glee. I wanted to like it, but I can't stand any of the characters, the plotlines, or the singing. I watched the premier of this latest season, and the filtering (or autotuning?) of the voices was so awful that I promised not to inflict any more of that series on myself. I know everbody loves it. I don't.

-- It's the weekend, people! Ack! A (fairly large) house centipede just ran past the coffee table and under the sofa. I actually cried, 'Ay-ai-ai-ai-aiiii!' and ran across the room. Thank god I was then able to get it with a broom, or I would have had to burn the entire house down. Anyway, I hope your weekends are off to a less creepy-crawly start. Got any good plans?

Hello, everybody! I feel like this is the first Saturday in a while that I haven't had a brunch/lunch engagement, and it's a little hard to figure out what to do with all these morning hours. It doesn't help that I woke up extra early today. So far, I've made apple pancakes for breakfast (they demanded a repeat after the other day) and had a thin slice of zucchini cake, just to tide me over until lunch. That's pretty much it. Beany and I had a lie down on the sofa, too; weekends are hard work.

So, I made this zucchini cake for my tomato party yesterday (I think everybody had a nice time sitting out on the patio, and I managed to offload a couple dozen tomatoes), and it's really something special. I had started my search by looking for a chocolate zucchini cake that didn't go crazy with sugar or oil/butter, but then I found this Zucchini Olive Oil Cake and knew I had to try it. Luckily, about half of it was consumed during the get-together, and I was able to send some home with friends, so I'm only 'stuck' with a modest wodge of it now.

That cake is definitely going in my file of 'tried and true' recipes, and I thought I'd share some of the other stand-by recipes I've come across on the internet. These are all things that I've made more than once, and for which I'm not tempted to seek out a 'better' version.

-- Rhonda's Bread Recipe: Makes a great loaf of sandwich or toasting bread. I often sub in a cup of rye flour for the same of white.

-- Heidi's Special Zucchini Bread: A true zucchini bread. I usually cut back on the amount of poppy seeds and nix the cinnamon and curry powder, and I use all purpose flour. I love, love, love the crystalized ginger!

-- Susan's Pumpkin Spice Bread: I use the oil called for in the recipe (she also makes it without) and use an egg instead of the substitute. I've made them several times now with my own pumpkin or butternut puree, and everybody always loves it. Add chocolate chips, and you've got a super-double winner.

-- Laura's Gingerbread Cut Outs: I've made these a few years running, now. I use an egg (instead of a substitute), and I don't use black pepper. It could just be my oven, but I've found they usually only take about six minutes' baking time; any more and they get too dark on the bottom and don't stay as soft. A perfect, spicy gingerbread cookie that isn't too sweet (so stands up to lots of icing!).

-- Caramel Corn: I actually lost the link to the recipe I've used a few times (one of the smaller losses of the MacBook crash), but this is pretty similar. Adding salted peanuts is amazing. It's a good potluck recipe!

-- Rachel's Refrigerator Pickles: I posted my slightly tweaked version a while back, but I figured out that this is where I originally found it. I made some a while back and used slightly less vinegar, which I found is better to my taste buds.

-- Alton Brown's Bread and Butter Pickles: Just a good, solid recipe.

-- The Post Punk Kitchen's Tahini Dressing: I was crazy about this all last summer! According to the notes I made, I added onion powder and a pinch of cumin. Very good!

That's it for now! I hope you get a chance to try some of these.

Hello! You thought I'd forgotten about posting my pickle recipe, right? Not so. Fine, I did forget -- but then I remembered. I'm posting it right now, in the 'continue reading' section. I originally got the recipe from one of the big recipe sites, but I've tweaked it a tiny bit and do things differently than the original instructions indicated.

Last summer was all about kitchen DIY, for me. I baked my own bread, made my own yogurt, turned lots of berries into jam, and just generally wasn't satisfied unless I'd made or grown as much of my meal as possible. In an effort to relaaaax, I'm trying to let go of that urge, so lunches like today's seem special rather than mandatory.

Now that all my rocket/arugula has bolted and been torn out, all the other lettuces that were in the seed mixture have grown in pretty well. So I had a salad made from garden lettuce and added to it some of my pickle chips, a bit of purple bell pepper (which lost its purple when I cooked it, as all the purpliest vegetables do), sliced zucchini, and my first yellow pear tomato (!!!). I had a hearty portion of garden green beans on the side, along with a piece of Irish brown bread (baked yesterday from a mix I brought back in April) with homemade raspberry-rhubarb jam. Oh, and a fake sausage patty, but I had no hand in making that, aside from popping it in the microwave.

I guess, to be fair to my garden, I have to admit that it delivered its first tomato on the exact same date this year as last year. But a cherry tomato doesn't seem as impressive as a 'real' one (which are all very much still green). It was delicious, though -- I'm really glad I chose this yellow pear variety. Two years ago, I tried standard cherry tomatoes and hated their flavour, but these are much more mellow. And they're yellow and pear-shaped, so they can't really get any better than that.