My Word with Douglas E. Welch

Chocolate Eclairs

Cal Poly Pomona Golden Leaves Presentation

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Lucious fruit plate

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I’ll be highlighting books that I am reading (or re-reading) on all sorts of topics this year — Douglas

Reading – Toast and Jam by Sarah Owens – 16 in a series

While I am a fairly experienced cook, this book, despite its simple name, was a bit intimidating. Yes, it is truly a book devoted to Toast and Jam, but this is toast and bread unlike you have probably made in your home before.

I would classify this as a cookbook for advanced users — someone looking to challenge themselves and their skills. You’ll learn a great deal about baking by weight, bread made with tahini and sourdough starter and seeds of all description and jams made with melons and sage and sumac. This is certainly not your average, Joy of Cooking, cookbook for beginners.

Still, there is something to be said for taking on a challenge, even if you fail on occasion. If you learn from your mistakes you are sure to improve your baking skills and improve your life, too.

With that in mind, check out Toast and Jam and give it a try.

From Amazon.com…

Bread and butter, toast and jam, scones and clotted cream—baked goods have a long tradition of being paired with spreads to make their flavors and textures sing. As a baker with a passion for plants, Sarah Owens, author of the James Beard award–winning Sourdough, takes these simple pairings in fresh new directions. Spread some Strawberry & Meyer Lemon Preserves on a piece of Buckwheat Milk Bread for a special springtime treat. Top a slice of Pain de Mie with Watermelon Jelly for a bright taste of summer. Lather some Gingered Sweet Potato Butter on a piece of Spiced Carrot Levain for a warming fall breakfast. Make a batch of Dipping Chips to serve with Preserved Lemon and Fava Bean Hummus for an inspired snack. Wow brunch guests with a spread of Sourdough Whole-Grain Bagels, Lemony Herb Chèvre, and Beet-Cured Gravlax. The recipes here offer a thoroughly fresh sensibility for the comfort found in a simple slice of toast spread with jam.

* A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs
** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out!
† Available from the LA Public Library

Previously in (Re)Reading:

• Girl Code: Gaming, Going Viral, and Getting It Done by Andrea Gonzales and Sophie Houser
• The Old-Fashioned: The Story of the World’s First Classic Cocktail, with Recipes and Lore by Robert Simonson
• The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South by Michael W. Twitty
• Cinemaps: An Atlas of 35 Great Movies by by Andrew Degraff and A.D. Jameson
• The Woman Who Smashed Codes: A True Story of Love, Spies, and the Unlikely Heroine Who Outwitted America’s Enemies by by Jason Fagone
• The Beginner’s Guide to Starting a Garden: 326 Fast, Easy, Affordable Ways to Transform Your Yard One Project at a Time by Sally Roth
• Raised Bed Revolution: Build It, Fill It, Plant It … Garden Anywhere by Tara Nolan
• Bread Is Gold by Massimo Bottura
• Mozart’s Starling by Lyanda Lynn Haupt
• Milk Street: The New Home Cooking by Christopher Kimble
• The Wildcrafted Cocktail: Make Your Own Foraged Syrups, Bitters, Infusions, and Garnishes by Ellen Zacho
• 3-Ingredient Cocktails: An Opinionated Guide to the Most Enduring Drinks in the Cocktail Canon by Robert Simonson
• Chemistry: A Novel by Weike Wong
• Back Pocket Pasta by Colu Henry
• Steal like an artist 10 things nobody told you about being creative by Austin Kleon

Gorgeous Chocolate-dipped coconut macaroons

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Learn more about Macaroons

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* A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs
** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out!
† Books available at the LA Public Library

#Honeymee Affogato and original honey with real honeycomb

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Learn more about Los Angeles with these books

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* A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs
** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out!
† Books available at the LA Public Library

Baked It Myself Catering and Cafe, 14539 Erwin Street, Van Nuys

We have walked by Baked It Myself countless times on the way to and from our local library. I always assumed it was a place for cooking classes, based on the name, but today we noticed a new sign that said “Cafe”. Hmmm, cafe? Maybe coffee and pastries? So we decided to finally stop in and take a look.

Baked It Myself is actually a long-running catering concern that also offers light lunch fare from 11am-2pm weekdays. They also do a lot of business through delivery companies like GrubHub. The cafe is well-designed with a nice modern decor that still remains welcoming and includes a big table to 6 for informal get-togethers. Cheryl, the owner, was quite welcoming and we were pleased to let her know that the new Cafe sign worked. We had some coffee (drip only, no espresso drinks), some wonderful cookies and some great conversation. We plan on heading over for lunch sometime soon.

I am so glad they added the new sign or we might never have checked them out! Stop by for lunch and help support your local eateries!

Baked It Myself Menu and Online Ordering

Highlights Include:

• Farmers Market Salad
• Kale Caesar Salad
• Grilled Vegetable Sandwich
• Turkey-Brie Sandwich
• Quinoa Wrap

…and “Orange Dot” Specials each day of the week, including…

• Monday: Stir fry broccoli, carrots, mushrooms, celery, onion, zucchini, yellow squash with jasmine rice, soy sauce and herbs.
• Tuesday: Soup of the Day with Grilled Cheese and Side Salad.
• Wednesday: Mushroom and Vegetable Lasagne with Bechamel, Herbs and Mozzarella cheese.
• Thursday: Tuscan turkey meatloaf with corn, carrots, tomato coulis topping roasted potatoes
• Friday: Slow stewed lemon chicken with olives and smothered onions-jasmine rice

At the table

Memory of a dinner out with friends

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I’ll be highlighting books that I am reading (or re-reading) on all sorts of topics this year — Douglas

Reading – The Old-Fashioned: The Story of the World’s First Classic Cocktail, with Recipes and Lore Robert Simonson – 14 in a series

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“What?”, you say? “An entire book about one cocktail?”

“Yes!”, I say. “And what a cocktail it is!”

The Old-Fashioned takes us through the long and complicated history of what is arguably America’s favorite cocktail. I know, for myself, that this has become my go-to tipple whether at home our out on the town. It is deceptively simple and when well made almost perfect. The woody bite of bourbon, a slight sweetness from your favorite sweetener (mine is maple syrup), a splash of bitter to mellow it all together and a slice of orange to complete both the taste and visual profile. Yum!

What started out as a relatively straightforward combination went through many changes over the years including the changing of ingredients, overburdening the drink with fruit and changing tastes, but a group of old-fashioned purists wrestled back the Old-Fashioned into something eloquently playable and ready to be experimented with once more. You’ll find old and new recipes here, showing you a place to start as well as excellent places to travel with your favorite cocktail.

** My version of this book was available from the Los Angeles Public Library in print and ebook versions.

From Amazon.com…

A complete history of one of the world’s most iconic cocktails–now the poster child of the modern cocktail revival–with fifty recipes for classic variations as well as contemporary updates.

No single cocktail is as iconic, as beloved, or as discussed and fought-over as the Old-Fashioned. Its formula is simple: just whiskey, bitters, sugar, and ice. But how you combine those ingredients—in what proportion, using which brands, and with what kind of garnish—is the subject of much impassioned debate.

The Old-Fashioned is the spirited, delightfully unexpected story of this renowned and essential drink: its birth as the ur-cocktail in the nineteenth century, darker days in the throes of Prohibition, re-ascension in the 1950s and 1960s (as portrayed and re-popularized by Don Draper on Mad Men), and renaissance as the star of the contemporary craft cocktail movement.

Also featured are more than forty cocktail recipes, including classic variations, regional twists, and contemporary updates from top bartenders around the country. All are accessible, delicious, and elegant in their simplicity, demonstrating the versatility and timelessness of the Old-Fashioned formula. 

With its rich history, stunning photography, and impeccable recipes, The Old-Fashioned is a celebration of one of America’s greatest bibulous achievements. It is a necessary addition to any true whiskey- or cocktail-lover’s bookshelf, and destined to become a classic on par with its namesake beverage.

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* A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs
** Many of these books may be available from your local library.
Check it out! † Available from the LA Public Library

Previously in (Re)Reading:

• The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South by Michael W. Twitty
• Cinemaps: An Atlas of 35 Great Movies by by Andrew Degraff and A.D. Jameson
• The Woman Who Smashed Codes: A True Story of Love, Spies, and the Unlikely Heroine Who Outwitted America’s Enemies by by Jason Fagone
• The Beginner’s Guide to Starting a Garden: 326 Fast, Easy, Affordable Ways to Transform Your Yard One Project at a Time by Sally Roth
• Raised Bed Revolution: Build It, Fill It, Plant It … Garden Anywhere by Tara Nolan
• Bread Is Gold by Massimo Bottura
• Mozart’s Starling by Lyanda Lynn Haupt
• Milk Street: The New Home Cooking by Christopher Kimble
• The Wildcrafted Cocktail: Make Your Own Foraged Syrups, Bitters, Infusions, and Garnishes by Ellen Zacho
• 3-Ingredient Cocktails: An Opinionated Guide to the Most Enduring Drinks in the Cocktail Canon by Robert Simonson
• Chemistry: A Novel by Weike Wong
• Back Pocket Pasta by Colu Henry
• Steal like an artist 10 things nobody told you about being creative by Austin Kleon

Clutch of eggs from our friend’s chicken coop

#chicken #eggs #home #garden #animals #la#losangeles

Half empty/half full

MacLeod Ale Brewing Co as a belated birthday present. 

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