• Elderflower Grapefruit Cake
    Baking,  Food

    Elderflower Grapefruit Cake

    “The only other sound’s the sweep Of easy wind and downy flake.” – Robert Frost After a string of blustery, gray, flurry-filled days, I was in the mood for bright flavors and created this elderflower grapefruit cake. With a floral sweetness from St. Germain and a vibrant touch from ruby red grapefruit, this cake disappeared from my counter so quickly that I regard it with a rather magical quality. I love it warm, but the flavors intensify as it cools. From cider poached pears to citrus desserts, crisp fruitiness is the perfect match to classic winter days. A decadent hot chocolate is warming, but bright flavors are a true mid-winter…

  • Crostini with walnut cream cheese
    Food

    Date Crostini with Walnut Cream Cheese

    When it comes to natural breakfast sweets, maple syrup and honey may come to mind first, but dates are another great option. With a flavor that is deeper and tends toward caramel, they have been significant to cuisines throughout the ages. One of the oldest cultivated plants, date trees also have rich symbolic value, with the fruit representing life and fertility and the leaves being part of many cultural traditions. Among his wishes for marriage, the 13th century poet Rumi hopes that the union may “offer fruit and shade like the date palm.” Full of natural sweetness, dates make a healthy alternative to refined sugar, but I love them for…

  • Shimomura Kanzan Fox Painting
    Food,  Living

    Foxes, Burning Love & Venus

    Image: Shimomura Kanzan / Public Domain / Wikimedia If a bowl of kitsune udon is your ideal comfort food, you may have the palate of a fox. According to Japanese legend, foxes (kitsune) adore fried tofu, which is why your dish of udon topped with the thin golden slices bears their name. While eating my way through the weekend, I learned this tidbit, which is the kind of fact that makes me enjoy what I’m eating even more. Inside the red gates of an Inari shrine, fried tofu may sit beside fox statues as offerings to messengers of the Shinto deity. Not all foxes are benevolent, but even those that…

  • purple carrots in peanut sauce
    Food

    Purple Carrots in Peanut Sauce

    With names such as Cosmic Purple and Purple Haze, the purple carrot is prized for its gorgeous tones, which include a skin that ranges from reddish to indigo. When you slice into some varieties, you will find a yellow or orange interior, which gives these delicious vegetables a great visual appeal. Even more appealing is the complex sweetness that makes them a tasty alternative noodles in a dish such as this one, which features roasted carrots in a peanut sauce. Ingredients 1 bunch of purple carrots (about 6 medium) ¼ teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar 1 tablespoon lime juice 2 teaspoons chile oil…

  • Earl Grey cocoa pecans
    Food

    Earl Grey Cocoa Pecans

    Lately I have been combining chocolate with earthy ingredients like smoked salt. While enjoying some chocolate covered pretzels I had sprinkled with an applewood variety, I had a craving for a strong cup of Earl Grey. Later that night I found myself coming up with these delicious cocoa pecans. As a poet, I love delving into the meaning of words and the connection between strings of words. Playing with ingredients and their qualities is a process that can be similar to the act of writing. Understand and test the limits of individual parts. Combine them. Take them apart. Often poets and novelists will say they have to write – that…