Like everyone else, I want to eat better. Trite but true.

In order to aid my evolution towards better eating, I’ve come up with some food oriented goals for 2010 and beyond. I’m posting it here to hold myself somewhat accountable. The good thing is that none of these goals really require giving up anything. I just have to try a little harder and think about what I’m eating.

1. Eat fish (or seafood) at least once a week. We eat it about twice a month now…but I’d like to start eating fish or seafood more often instead of heavier meat-centric meals. Added bonus: fish and seafood are quite often easier (and faster) to prepare than meat dishes.

2. Eat vegetarian at least once a week. That’s vegetarian…not vegan. I can’t promise to go that far. I like eggs and dairy too much. Not much more than a year ago, I scoffed and “icked” at the idea of vegetarian meals. I’m a carnivore at heart. But I’ve slowly come to realize that I’m okay with a lot of vegetarian choices. And if you throw mushrooms into the mix, I’m nearly as happy as I would have been with beef or chicken or pork or duck or lamb or turkey. I’ve also realized that just a hint of meat in a dish can sometimes satisfy my carnivorous ways. A few slices of bacon in a quiche or a little bit of sausage in a bean soup actually gives the dish enough meaty flavor for me!

3. Eat vegetables and lots of them. And make them local if at all possible. Once farmer’s market season is in full swing, I plan for the farmer’s market to be my first source of food ideas each week. We’re also already planning a larger garden this year. We’re trying to learn about when to plant what so that we’ll take full advantage of all of the growing seasons we have here in Virginia. In addition, I’d like to pick lots of fruits (and veggies) at pick-your-own farms when they are in season. There’s a chance we’re going to need a bigger freezer and a very large pot…

4. Eat non-industrial meat and poultry. Yes, it’s going to hurt the wallet but I’d really like to find local sources of grass-fed beef, humanely raised pork and cage-free chicken and eggs. We’ve got plenty of possibilities between the local farms and the farmer’s market. And the somewhat famous Polyface Farms (located on the other side of the state) actually delivers their goods once a month to a home here in Williamsburg that happens to be located only about 10 minutes from my office.

5. Buy even less processed food than we already do. We’re pretty good about this already but there’s always room for improvement. I’d really love to be able to stop buying anything containing high fructose corn syrup and/or a list of ingredients a mile long but I’m not sure this is entirely possible. In trying to accomplish this goal, I’ll definitely have to bake more breads, cookies and other treats. Fortunately I’m not at all opposed to expanding my baking repertoire. This goal is also a way to help cut some costs in the food budget. It’s a lot cheaper to bake a loaf of bread than it is to buy one at the store. Same with cookies and cake and granola and so on. We can then spend the extra money on the more expensive but better for you foods I’ve already mentioned.

P.S. I’m already off to a good start on goal #5 with the bread in these pictures. I baked it myself last weekend for sandwiches rather than buying a loaf of grocery store bread!

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Everywhere I turn, there’s an article in a magazine or a news report telling us to eat more Omega-3 fatty acids. My two-person household has been doing our part for a while with foods like wild salmon and walnuts. But every report touts the extra super goodness of flax seeds and I hadn’t really gotten around to eating them yet. Fortunately for me, I stumbled upon a picture of this granola on Slashfood’s Feast Your Eyes page the other day and I’ve now jumped on the flax seed bandwagon.

Admittedly, it was the maple syrup that sold me on it. I’m a sucker for recipes containing maple syrup and I just so happen to have nearly a gallon of delicious grade B syrup taking up a lot of valuable refrigerator real estate…so maple granola seemed like a good idea.

The original recipe didn’t contain the walnuts or dried cranberries that I added to mine but that recipe did mention that other seeds, dried fruit and nuts were all very acceptable add-ins. I also added a bit more salt than the original recipe used as I really love to eat things that have a mixture of salty and sweet. If you’re not such a fan of salty and sweet together, reduce the salt to just 1/4 teaspoon. If you don’t like walnuts or dried cranberries, leave them out or add something else in their place.

Maple Granola

Slightly adapted from recipe at Sweet Beet and Green Bean

Ingredients

• 2 2/3  cups rolled oats
• 2/3 cup flax seeds
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2/3 cup maple syrup (I used grade B)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to lowest setting (200 degrees Fahrenheit for my oven). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In food processor or blender, process 1/3 cup oats and 1/3 cup flax seed until the mixture is a fine powder.
3. In large bowl, stir together oats and flax seed powder, remaining 2 1/3 cups rolled oats, remaining 1/3 cup flax seeds, dried cranberries, walnuts and salt.
4. Drizzle olive oil over mixture and stir together until olive oil is evenly distributed.
5. Add maple syrup to mixture and stir again until maple syrup is evenly distributed.
6. Evenly spread granola on prepared baking sheet and bake for about an hour. If the granola doesn’t seem quite crunchy enough at this point, bake it a little more.
7. Let cool to room temperature on baking sheet. At this stage, you can break it into large or small pieces (your preference). Store in airtight container at room temperature.

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Yes, I’ve been on a quest for The Holy Grail of chocolate chip cookie recipes. And I think I might have found it!

Published in Everyday Food magazine last fall, Martha Stewart and company dared to call these “Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies”. Ultimate is indeed a good word for these. They really weren’t falsely advertising the goodness of these cookies!

This is where I admit that I’ve wanted a chocolate chip cookie recipe that tastes like the cookies made from the stupid Pillsbury chocolate chip cookie dough that comes in a plastic tube. Despite my baking abilities and my good intentions to eat less processed food, I have to admit that I like the Pillsbury cookies as they are exactly and precisely how I want chocolate chip cookies to taste. I like them crisp around the edges yet soft, chewy and a touch under-baked. Sadly, Pillsbury always delivers on those qualities.

Fortunately this “Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies” recipe came along and I’ll never have to buy Pillsbury again. And neither should you.

The recipe make a lot of small cookies. When I saw how many cookies this recipe was going to produce, I wisely froze some of the scoops of dough for a future dessert emergency. I left them in the freezer for about 6 weeks and honestly the cookies tasted just as good then as they did when the dough was fresh.

You’ll notice that this calls for both milk and semi-sweet chocolate. I’m not a huge fan of milk chocolate but it works in this recipe. Use both kinds!

The recipe also mentions that you can add a couple of cups of walnuts or pecans to the recipe. I did add walnuts to part of the dough and they were a fantastic addition…if you’re the type to enjoy nuts in your cookies.

Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies

Recipe very slightly adapted from Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food magazine

Makes approximately 75 small cookies

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons coarse salt (I used kosher salt)
• 1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups packed light-brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 8 ounces milk chocolate, chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
3. Using a stand mixer (or hand mixer if you don’t have a stand mixer), beat butter and sugars on medium-high until light and fluffy, 6 minutes.
4. Reduce speed to low and beat in eggs, one at a time. Beat in vanilla. Mix in flour mixture just until incorporated.
5. Fold in chocolate chips and chocolate chunks.
6. Using a small cookie scoop or a tablespoon, drop dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet with about 2 inches between each scoop of dough.
7. Bake until edges are light golden brown, about 10 minutes if you like your cookies slightly under-baked like I do, rotating sheets halfway through.
8. Transfer cookies to a wire rack and let cool.
9. Bake remaining dough in same manner as directed above. Or if you’ve got more dough than you need, unbaked cookies can be frozen on a baking sheet until firm; store in a resealable plastic bag in the freezer. Bake from frozen in oven preheated to 350 degrees.

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Actually, I’m not really writing a blog post. I’m just summing up 2009 with photos taken during the last 365 days.

First up are some of my favorites of the thousands of photos I took in 2009. It was really hard to narrow these down to just a handful of favorites and I hope to take just as many (or more) pictures in 2010!

Then there’s me through the year. Putting this together wasn’t so easy as both the boyfriend and I have discovered that we don’t take a whole lot of pictures of ourselves. We’re going to try harder next year…and the mosaic I create on 12/31/2010 will be easier to create!

I hope that everyone has had a great year and best wishes for 2010!

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Like a child, I still get excited about the little things in life. Little things like one of my pictures being used in a segment on The Martha Stewart Show! Yes, The Martha Stewart Show!

They did a segment on Flickr earlier this week and showed a few pictures from a Martha Stewart group on Flickr. When my photo of turkey burgers was shown on the show, Martha made a comment about how I didn’t toasted my burger buns…which made the audience laugh. I’m perfectly content to have been scolded for not toasting my buns.

If you’re interested in seeing the clip, it’s available here. My photo’s 10 seconds of fame is at 5:23.

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As much as I love the fluffy buttercream frosting I’ve been making near constantly for almost 2 years, it was time to make a new friend in the frosting world. Maybe a wordly, sophisticated frosting that isn’t so reliant on powdered sugar? Swiss meringue buttercream frosting is that new friend and possibly a friend for life.

Swiss meringue buttercream is my new favorite frosting and it should be yours as well. The fluffy buttercream has been pushed aside for the not-too-sweet, super smooth and shiny Swiss meringue buttercream frosting. While the buttercream I’d been making called for about a million cups of powdered sugar, the new Swiss meringue buttercream calls for barely a cup. It’s a healthier option…if you can look past the copious quantities of actual butter in this frosting. I have. And so should you.

As my first venture into this new frosting world, I made the frosting to go with a batch of mini chocolate cupcakes. Both the cupcakes and the frosting recipes are from Martha Stewart’s relatively recent Cupcakes cookbook. Just so you know, the One Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes are pretty killer…and the recipe yields a LOT of mini cupcakes. 58 to be exact. It yielded so many cupcakes that we kept a bunch and both the boyfriend and I took lots of them to our respective offices…where they were met with high praise. Praise like “This is my favorite thing you’ve ever made!” and “It was so good, it made you want to slap your mother.” And it’s not like these people haven’t had lots of baked goodies from me in the past…the cupcakes were just that good.

Back to the frosting. For the mini chocolate cupcakes, I made a coffee version of the frosting following Martha’s careful instructions. Since then I’ve also made a batch of white cupcakes with a chocolate version of the frosting. Both versions are super-duper-amazingly delicious. Next I’ll try a plain version.

Let it be known that I made the frosting despite some old fears of screwing up what looks to be a fussy recipe. In fact, it was not a fussy recipe. It’s a little time consuming only because the mixer has to whip the meringue for a long time. Other than that, it couldn’t have been easier. I should probably note that in order to really make this frosting successfully, you should use a stand mixer. A hand mixer might work but you’ll be awfully tired of using it by the end. With the stand mixer, you can walk away and do other things while it’s whipping. If you’re like me, the other things you’ll do will probably be the dishes.

For the number of mini cupcakes I made, I prepared just a half batch of the frosting recipe shown below. Everything divided in half well other than the egg whites…so I used three of those. If you’re planning to use this frosting for a regular cake, make the full recipe. Or if you like your normal sized cupcakes heavily frosted with a bowl of extra frosting just to eat, make the full recipe.

One more comment: If you (or your office mates) love coffee, definitely try the coffee variation. My office mates actually ate their cupcakes in the morning…with their coffee.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Recipe from Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes

Makes about 5 cups

Ingredients

• 5 large egg whites
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons, room temperature
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Combine egg whites, sugar, and salt in the heatproof bowl of a standing mixer set over a pan of simmering water.
2. Whisk constantly by hand until mixture is warm to the touch and sugar has dissolved (the mixture should feel completely smooth when rubbed between your fingertips).
3. Attach the bowl to the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Starting on low and gradually increasing to medium-high speed, whisk until stiff (but not dry) peaks form.
4. Continue mixing until the mixture is fluffy and glossy, and completely cool (test by touching the bottom of the bowl), about 10 minutes.
5. With mixer on medium-low speed, add the butter a few tablespoons at a time, mixing well after each addition.
6. Once all butter has been added, whisk in vanilla.
7. Switch to the paddle attachment, and continue beating on low speed until all air bubbles are eliminated, about 2 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl with a flexible spatula, and continue beating until the frosting is completely smooth.
8. Keep buttercream at room temperature if using the same day, or transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate up to 3 days or freeze up to 1 month.
9. Before using, bring to room temperature and beat with paddle attachment on low speed until smooth again, about 5 minutes.

Coffee Variation: Mix 2 tablespoons good quality instant espresso powder (do not use instant coffee) with the vanilla extract. Stir until espresso powder is mostly dissolved and add to frosting in step 6.

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Post title borrowed from a Ben Folds song of nearly the same name.

Last song I purchased from iTunes: When Will I Be Loved by John Fogerty & Bruce Springsteen.

Made for dinner tonight: Chicken, cheddar and onion quesadillas. The chicken was marinated with chipotles in adobo sauce & grilled with the onions before being turned into quesadilla filling.

Currently drinking: Nothing. But a glass of milk sounds good.

Playing on iTunes right this very second: Glory Days by Bruce Springsteen.

Currently reading: Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely, In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson and Amarcord by Marcella Hazan.

Laughing about: The episode of Mad Men we just watched. We’re at the beginning of Season 2 and Joan is my favorite character. Tonight she discussed why crying in the break room is bad: “This is why I don’t allow crying in the break room. It erodes morale. There’s a place to do that, like your apartment.”

New to me, easy and delicious dessert I recently made: Tarta de Santiago (as pictured here). It’s a Spanish almond cake with a hint of lemon. Yum. Recipe here. I followed it almost exactly.

Song I can’t stop playing over and over and over again: 21 Guns by Green Day.

Currently knitting: Still nothing. But it’s almost cold enough for me to want to knit again. And I’m hankering for a project that will use some of the Noro Iro in my stash.

In need of: A new immersion blender. We had a generic one that mysteriously died/broke when I tried to puree black bean soup. I need to decide what brand to go with for the new one.

Playing on the iPod now: Something to Say by Toad the Wet Sprocket. I still love this song from the early 90s.

Will soon attempt to learn: Adobe Lightroom. It’s installed on my computer at work and I haven’t had a free minute or hour to learn how to use it yet.

Not getting enough: Sleep. I think the changing season has made me want more of it. And I still don’t know how to go to bed early.

Hyped up about: Autumn weather. I like the sorta warm, sorta cold days and I can’t wait for the leaves to change color.

Something I need to do tonight if it kills me: Decide what kind of cookies to bake tomorrow. Yes, it’s important that I decide this tonight.

Craving: A grilled hamburger. We walked around W&M yesterday and there was some sort of barbecue somewhere and the hamburgers called to me.

Trying to learn how to: Stop buying clothes that all look the same. It takes real effort on my part to buy shirts in different styles and to refrain from purchasing something I like in every color made in it.

Something I thoroughly enjoy: Random cussing in songs that don’t seem like they’d have them. Ben Folds and Glen Phillips are both good at dropping random f-bombs in the middle of a song and I love it!

Hell hath frozen over because: I gave up whipped cream on my Starbucks iced toffee nut lattes. And I’m drinking less of the lattes as they’re not as good without the whipped cream.

Best thing I’ve bought this month: New corduroy pants. I love corduroy pants and these Old Navy ones are pretty spectacular.

What I might be for Halloween: Lucille Ball. Or a devil. Or something else that can involve my red hair.

Still bragging about: The wedding cakes I made this summer. I’m proud of me for having the skills to do that.

Looking forward to: Next weekend and the possibility of our first (and last) camping trip to the Outer Banks this year.

Not looking forward to: More painting in our house. It looks nice when it’s done but the process is so long and tiresome…plus I’m only a moderately decent painter.

Playing on the iPod now: Fidelity by Regina Spektor.

Next up on the reading list: The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan.

Can’t believe: That the new season of 30 Rock hasn’t started yet. I need an Alec Baldwin fix.

Absolutely, positively obsessed with: Trader Joe’s dark chocolate covered almonds with sea salt and turbinado sugar. Best new food I’ve tried in a long time. They’re good like dark chocolate covered pretzels are good…only better.

Next in the Netflix queue: More Mad Men Season 2, American Beauty and Away We Go when it’s released.

Must make time to: Get everything ready to get our kitchen inspected by the state so that I can legally bake things for money. After that’s done, there’s a business license to be purchased.

Trying to decide: How to spend less money in October. Less eating out? Less clothing purchases? Too bad it’s fall and I want new cold weather clothes.

Last dessert I baked: Caramel Apple Upside Down Cornmeal Cake from Better Homes & Gardens.

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I love flipping through magazines in search of recipes. Over the years I’ve become pretty selective about which ones I actually clip and file for later. Despite my selectivity, the vast majority of the recipes I clip are never made. Then there are the recipes that look so delicious that I make them before they’re ever clipped from the magazine.

These Peanut Butter Cup Cookies were one of those recipes. As soon as I saw these in the latest issue of Real Simple, I knew they would be made. Quickly. Like 2 days later…which was as soon as I could actually justify making another dessert. This recipe was not one that would linger in the binder for years without ever being made. This was a recipe capable of cutting in front of all the other recipes that have been patiently waiting in line for months (or even years).

If you like Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (and I do), these are for you. The dough in these cookies is secondary to the Reese’s Cups and I’m okay with that. They’re super easy to make. The hardest part is chopping the Reese’s Cups. If you’re not really a fan of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups or peanut butter, you probably won’t enjoy these as much as I did.

I made only a few modifications to the original recipe. I added a little bit of peanut butter to the dough and I used regular sized Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups instead of mini ones. I prefer the peanut butter to chocolate ratio in the regular sized Reese’s Cups. But if you like the smaller ones better, use them.

This recipe uses a LOT of Reese’s Cups and that could get expensive…but Halloween is approaching and you should be able to find a jumbo-sized bag of them on sale soon!

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Adapted from recipe in Real Simple magazine, October 2009.

Makes about 30 cookies

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• about 16 regular-sized Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, coarsely chopped

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
3. Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.
4. Beat the butter and sugars until creamy with an electric mixer. Add the egg, vanilla and peanut butter and beat to combine.
5. Gradually add the flour mixture and mix until just incorporated.
6. Fold in the chopped peanut butter cups.
7. Drop tablespoon-size balls of dough 2 inches apart onto the parchment lined cookie sheets.
8. Bake until light brown around the edges, about 10-12 minutes.
9. Transfer to baking rack and cool.
10. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

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Shockingly, I’ve managed to take a picture of the day for Flickr for 250 days! Even more shockingly, I think I’ve only missed or skipped 2 days in there and I plan to make those up at the end. When I started this back in early January, I thoroughly expected that I would fail or at the very least not do a good job of keeping up. But I have!

If you haven’t been following along on Flickr (and I don’t really expect that you have been), here’s a preview of the last 36 days of photos. The other 214 pictures can be found in the Year in Pictures set on my Flickr page.

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