My return to the (tiny) kitchen

You may not believe it, but I have returned to the kitchen. This time, with a much different plan in mind.

Over the next few weeks, I'll be taking my baking out of my kitchen and into the homes of others so I can bake alongside them, teach them a few things, and give them some free pies. Just because. Because I can. Because I love sharing with others. Because I love to teach. Because I love to share stories and pass down traditions.

In anticipation, I have made my first pie crust in ages. It's made with all butter and White Lily flour, just like old times.

And daaaaang that thing is beautiful.



I also got out my grandmother's sifter, which has been handed down to me, and used it yet again. I love this thing.

And as it is almost 3 AM, I am off to bed. I have much to share, but I have more to bake. So the baking comes first. With this captured moment, I leave you:

Pictoral Updates to Capture Some Moments

So many, many things are changing in my life right now. I can hardly keep up with how much my perspective changes from day to day. Here is a short rundown...

I've been back in the kitchen, but not as much as I'd hoped. I still keep pie crust on hand.

I moved into an apartment in the Dogpatch, and I love every minute I spend here.

I went to Craftsmen and Wolves and died from happiness after consuming this brownie.

I have this view of the city if I walk up the hill by my house. Lately there's been no fog.

I made one last pie at the end of summer: blueberry-peach lattice

I work here now. I am grateful.

I run here now a few times a week. Also grateful. 

I got up and left the country for two weeks, and it made me realize so many things that are missing or that I have missed.

I spent many afternoons in parks, wandering around Paris by myself.

See? By myself. No one to take pictures of, only my feet. Also grateful for this.

I ended up in Italy too. I had this view in the mornings.

So, yes, baking is still on the backburner. Every time I make a pie, people ask why I stopped doing it. I never have come up with a solid answer except to say that it's exhausting to be so passionate about something, to be so obsessive about it. It's draining. One day, I'll return to it, but for now, I'm wandering the world by myself and sometimes not-so by myself, as I let the changes wash over me and learn to be grateful for love given and received-- in pie form or not.

New Cookies Added to the Mix

Just a quick update today!

I'm now offering several varieties of cookies. These are cookies I've been working on for a while, testing out on my friends, family, and customers. They're now added to my permanent menu page. So if you're curious what authentic southern cookies taste like, you can try:

•  Peanut Butter Cookies
• Peanut Butter & Jelly Cookies
• Chewy Pecan Praline Cookies
• Smoky Mountain Snowcaps

Once fall and the holiday season rolls around, I'll begin offering dark chocolate almond sea salt toffee and bourbon balls again! It almost makes me want it to get cold out again. No, I'm enjoying the sunshine far too much.

Back Open for Business?

The fruits of my long-overdue labor

I'm hesitant to say that I am 100% back open for business (I sometimes work 12-hour days at my other job now), but I have been letting people know that I am accepting orders again with enough advance notice. I think a week is probably realistic, since my weeks vary so greatly.

What prompted this? Actually, it was an order I took with great hesitation. I almost declined the opportunity, worried that I'd never be able to balance the baking with my full-time job. I wanted to make sure the client was happy, as it was for her wedding, and she deserved the absolute best. Since she gave me a month's notice, I took the order on, and I was able to order special packaging for her and put everything together over a week. The result? The above pecan and apple pie pops.

Speaking of pie pops, these really do seem to be the hit right now. They're perfect for wedding and shower gifts, so I've taken a few large orders of them over the last few months. They're super fun to make, adorable to look at, and they taste delicious too.

July 4 and the Peach-Blueberry Cobbler Pie

This fourth of July, I thought I'd put together something a little different for my family. My mom wanted to make a traditional cobbler, but she didn't have the time. I insisted on putting my own spin on her cobbler recipe and throwing some White Lily flour in the mix. What came of it was a pie/cobbler mix that was perfect with some vanilla ice cream.

This is not for the faint of heart though. I cut down on the sugar in the cobbler recipe that my mom gave me, and this was still extremely sweet. To put it together, pick out your favorite fruit pie recipe (this works especially good with berries), bake it at 400F for 30 minutes, then top it with a cobbler recipe (mine is top secret) and turn the oven down to 375F. You'll bake it for another 30 minutes. This is best served right out of the oven. 

Life Changes

Sometimes, I don't know where the time goes! This time, I haven't been baking at all. I've been exclusively working, doing yoga, running, spending what little time I can with friends and family, and trying to get some rest in between. It has not been easy, and so I'm making some changes. 

The change that concerns all of you lovely people is that I'm bringing my mother on board. Yes, my mother. My southern mother who has an opinion about everything. It's going to be an interesting ride, but I'm entrusting her with the responsibility of upholding all of my core values while bringing her amazing baking skills to the fore. 

My mother is an outstanding baker. Her chicken pot pie is other-worldly. Her cookies, which she always makes without a glimpse at a recipe, will have you beating up anyone who tries to lay a hand on that cookie jar. So I know this is the best move for South by San Francisco. I am San Francisco. She is the South. 

In the midst of making this decision, I have also been eating lots of pie and badass treats. 

This pie, for instance, from The Pie Hole. It's called Thai Iced Tea pie, and it actually tastes like (somebody slap me!) Thai iced tea. I don't even know how. It starts with a graham cracker crust, moves onto a coconut cream filling, and then finishes off with a glaze of condensed milk and Thai tea. It disappeared from my plate.

Also, the new Yogurtland opened in Burlingame, which means I'm back at eating weird frozen yogurt-cereal-candy combinations at weird hours of the day and night. This was my first creation: mint and dutch chocolate with gummy bears, cookie dough, strawberries, and white chocolate chips.  

I had Umami Burger for the first time ever in L.A. last weekend. It's one of the few places that has lived up to its hype for me. I've never had a more delicious veggie burger in my life.

Next time, I plan to update with some of my mom's fancywork. She's in Tennessee right now, visiting family and getting me some more White Lily flour. 

Chocolate Chess Pie Pops

Last night, I was working on an order for some pie pop samples, and I happened upon this wonderful discovery: chocolate chess pie makes a bombass pie pop. It can be majorly sweet, so it balances out the crust heaviness of the pop.

How do you do it? All you have to do is quarter a recipe for chocolate chess pie and use it in the recipe I posted a few months back. How does one quarter a recipe for chocolate chess pie? See below. Thank me later.

Recipe for a Teeny Tiny Batch of Chocolate Chess Pie (yields about two dozen pie pops)

Ingredients

1/4 cup unsalted butter (4 tbsp)

1/2 oz. of semisweet chocolate (that is half of one of those Baker's chocolate squares, which is what I prefer to use), chopped into chunks for easier melting

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 egg (you'll use half for the batter and the other half for an egg wash over the pops)

1/4 tsp vanilla

pinch of sea salt

Directions

1. Melt the butter over low heat in a saucepan. Once the butter is melted, immediately turn off the burner and drop in the chocolate. Don't stir. Just swirl the chocolate around until it melts into the butter. 

2. While the chocolate is melting, place the sugar in a small bowl and whisk in HALF of an egg. Just approximate. You don't have to be too crazy about it. Whisk together until blended. Whisk in the vanilla and sea salt. 

3. When the chocolate has melted, whisk it into the sugar mixture. 

4. Place this in the fridge and let it harden a bit (1+ hours). It will be much easier to work with. 

5. Preheat the oven to 325F and bake for about 20 minutes, but otherwise follow all the instructions for making pie pops. I like to use an egg wash and then generously sprinkle granulated sugar on top. 

Note: It's best to bake these near the bottom of the oven so the filling doesn't bubble out. If it does, it isn't the end of the world. You can clean them up after. 

Totally Optional: dip half the pie pop in caramel sauce and top with a few flakes of sea salt. Again, optional, but it will make you a badass.

Southern Inspiration: Cranberry Curd, Buckeyes, Molasses Cake, Banana Bourbon Cake

I'm back in my kitchen full-force making all kinds of new cookies and other treats for people I know and strangers alike. It feels good to be trying out new stuff again!

Here are some of the goodies that I've been making or thinking of making lately.

Cranberry Curd via Kitchen Confidante. Curd (lemon or otherwise) is really simple to make, and it takes a long time to go bad because there's so much sugar in it. As many people know, I make a blueberry lemon curd pie, but if I make cranberry curd, that opens up so many more possibilities! Apple-cranberry curd pie? Yeah, I'd eat that.

Peanut Butter Buckeyes via Real Simple. The recipe I use is actually from Southern Living, but this'll do. 

Molasses Cake with extra creamy cream cheese frosting via the kitchn. This cake looks crazy-moist, and I love cakes that are crazy-moist. Also this frosting is a must-try! I plan to try this out with my molasses from Muddy Pond, Tennessee.

Banana Bourbon Layer Cake via Martha Stewart. I have to say, I probably won't put the bananas on top because they'd get really weird looking if you didn't eat the whole cake right away, but I would deeeefinitely use this as a base for banana bourbon cupcakes sans the caramelized bananas on top. 

Happy weekend, everyone!

Nutella Sea Salt Sugar Cookies

After a long hiatus from the kitchen while in Thailand, I am back in business with these babies: sugar cookies made with White Lily flour, packed with melted Nutella and sea salt flakes. Yes.

Georgia Peanut Pie: Peanut Brittle's Older, More Mature Sister

When I first heard about Peanut Pie from Virginia Diner, I was skeptical. It's not peanut butter pie. It's kind of got a pecan pie base. I mean, it sounds like knock-off pecan pie, does it not? But, as per usual, I was terribly wrong. Peanut pie is its own, independent entity, belonging in a peanut-y, sweet-salty category of its own. Unlike super sweet pies like chess pie or some unmentionable cloying apple pies, the roasted and salted peanuts cut through the rich molasses base and balance the whole mix. I've heard many people say it tastes like soft, gooey peanut brittle in a pie crust. So I suppose, as the title suggests, it's kind of like the mature older sister to peanut brittle.

Unfortunately, it's hard to sell people on the concept of a peanut pie in California. I'm not entirely sure why that is, probably having something to do with the fact that peanuts seem less bougie than pecans. But I can't recommend this pie highly enough. Try it out yourself next time you have a bunch of roasted peanuts laying around that you don't know what to do with. You may end up forming a dangerous peanut pie habit.

This is the "Virginia" version. These peanuts came from VA. I like to get mine sourced from Georgia.

Georgia Peanut Pie

Recipe adapted from the Virginia Diner's Peanut Pie

Note: In the picture, I've made a half-pint jar version. This recipe is for a full 9" pie. If you want to make a jar pie, just press the crust lightly into 3-4 buttered jars. The mix should make 3-4 jar pies, depending on the size you use.

Ingredients

1 partially pre-baked pie crust 

3 large eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup molasses or sorghum

1.5 cups of roasted, salted peanuts (don't get honey roasted or unsalted or raw or anything funny like that)

1 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F

2. Lightly crush or roughly chop the peanuts, leaving them mostly intact and in a variety of sizes of chunks

3. Beat the eggs and then whisk in the sugar and flour. 

4. Stir in the molasses and butter, then add in the peanuts. 

5. Pour the filling into the crust. Bake 40-45 minutes or until the top puffs just slightly and wiggles just a bit when you move it. The edges should be lightly browned.

6. Cool to room temperature. Serve room temp. or cold with whipped cream.

Happy National Pie Day: I Ate All the Pie!

In commemoration of this monumental national holiday, I baked myself an individual pie in a ramekin and then I ate all of it. Because I can. Hey, the holiday doesn't give me the day off of work, so I earned my own mini-vacation in pie form.

What kind of a pie do I eat if left to my own devices? Chocolate chess pie, of course. It's intoxicating when it's fresh out of the oven. Then I warm up some caramel sauce, drizzle it on top, and sprinkle with flakes of sea salt. My second choice would be banana cream pie, but I prefer to leave my banana cream pies overnight in the fridge before I eat them. And we all know I wasn't going to let this pie sit overnight. It had to be consumed immediately. See the evidence below.

Before stuffing it in my face.

Middle of stuffing it in my face.

The last bite. I eated all of it. And I regret none of it.

National Pie Day has me thinking about some new goals for my pie project in the coming months:

• Get my online store up and running. I've run into some obstacles with this, but I just need to bite the bullet and go one way or the other. I've started with Payvment, but it's pretty limited in terms of turning on and off shipping for individual items, so if anyone has suggestions of better online Facebook shop platforms, I'm all ears. 
• Dream up my spring menu. I can't wait for all the wonderful fruit that spring brings with it: 
• Apricots (only perfect honey-sweet ones though, like the ones I read about in Lucky Peach Vol. 2. That article killed me. David Chang and the whole gang continually prove themselves geniuses.)
• Kiwis
• Early cherries
• The best of Meyer lemons, limes
• Juice-filled, blood red, homegrown strawberries
• Start taking more seasonal subscribers. I'm planning to open up orders for cookie boxes, pie boxes, candy and southern treat boxes (for local customers) and any combination thereof.
• Take more photos and share more recipes!
• Go to more events at 18 Reasons. And by more events, I mean start going to events because I've never been, and that is a damn shame. Like these DIY Dessert events that happen every so often. Caaaake.

So that is what has been on my mind in this long break from substantial blogging. I love the blog, but I want to grow myself and this little project of mine in a lot of different directions, so it's been secondary to other things for a bit. But I promise to check in often. As always, keep in touch! E-mail me, Tweet me, Facebook me for anything your heart desires!

All in a Day's Work

Another day of baking complete! Today's treats were:

1. Chocolate-peanut butter fudge. This took me two tries as a) my candy thermometer is broken and registered the wrong temperature during trial 1, and b) I kinda just wanted to make two batches of fudge.
2. Three 4 oz. pies in jars. I got new tiny jars just for this purpose. 
3. Peanut butter cookies. I feel like I'm cranking these out on a weekly basis now. 
4. Peanut butter and jelly cookies (pictured). These make life worth living. This is another top-secret recipe that I will be keeping to myself, since I get constant requests for these. You'll just have to try them to taste them! My motto is that for something as simple as peanut butter and jelly cookies, it is all in the ingredients. I only use the best butter, sugar, flour, peanut butter, and preserves.

Droolsies

Now it's time to get some sleep before another big week. Amber is coming to visit and I'll be making my first three-tier cake!

January Inspiration: Momofuku Banana Cake

Photo from yummyinthetummy

Having recently purchased the Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook, a 6" cake ring, a Silpat mat, and a quarter sheet pan, I will be rolling out my very own Momofuku Milk Bar-inspired banana cream cakes. This may even be something I continue to do on a regular basis by special request.

What will distinguish mine from the traditional Momofuku genius-beyond-my-wildest-imagination recipe? I plan to convert my banana cream pie into cake form for this. Momofuku uses a hazelnut crunch and cream filling that admittedly sounds delicious. But I want real down-home flavor in this one. I want it to taste like my mom's banana pudding that she used to make for special occassions. So I plan to make a nilla wafer crunch layer in between whipped cream and homemade custard. Nom Noms. Photos to come soon.

Reflections on a (Baking) Season

Winter Cardinal  via strawberryluna

The children were nustled all snug in their beds/

While visions of sugarplums danced in their heads

To this day, I do not know what the hell sugarplums are. (Oh wait, I just googled them; those look delicious.) Nonetheless, that line in "The Night Before Christmas" has always brought warmth to me. I can't tell you how many nights I fall into an exhausted sleep while images of lattice pie crust and biscuits and crumble topping and cinnamon-sugar sprinkles float in and out of my mind. Last night's reflections got me thinking that this season is unique in that way. 

Never before have I been able to so freely express myself with food. I feel like I'm now able to translate my passion into something concrete - more concrete than poetry or music or feelings shared after a few cocktails - and it feels so liberating. I feel like I have something that is all my own. When I want to promote it, I promote it. When I feel burned out, I let myself reflect and create without judgment. Then I just come back with better stuff.

But, this year, the holiday season has just about chased me down. It feels like I've been stuck in a race with someone just a step faster than me, running on sand to try to keep up. Then I fall asleep and recharge, wake up, do yoga for 90 minutes, drink lots of coffee, work non-stop all day at the publishing company, drive home, and bake until I can't bake anymore. And I kind of love it. 

I enjoy sharing what the holidays have always meant to me: my mother's cooking, long stories shared over long meals, and spending time with my family, who I simultaneously see too often and not enough (what a contradiction). This year, the holidays also mean variations on the traditional baking my mother has always executed so well. Instead, I'm making  the southern food that comes from my family's heart and transforming it into something oh so San Francisco. Some examples: salt-honey pecan pie, persimmon custard tarts, salted dark chocolate almond toffee, ginger-nutmeg southern tea cakes, sweet potato cupcakes, and heavy cream on top of all of the above. 

I may not have the time to relish every second of this season, but I'm basking in the warmth through the food I'm making for others, through the samples I save for myself, and through the endless flow of new ideas that dance through my head as I fall asleep at night, exhausted, ready to start all over again in the morning.

Peanut Butter Cookies: The Cookie of My Heart

I've been spending a lot of time lately thinking about peanut butter cookies. I recently made an order for a friend, and it sent me on a mission through my mom's old recipe box for the perfect combination of ingredients. I made my first test batch a few months ago, and they've only gotten better since then. Now, I use all-natural peanut butter (I literally go to the store where I can press my own peanuts into peanut butter... it's kind of badass), all-butter, White Lily flour, and roll each cookie individually in coarse sugar. It's a bit of a step above what my mom had in mind when she wrote the recipe in her recipe box, but it still has the heart and soul of the cookie of my heart: the classic peanut butter cookie. 

I'm not sure why, but every time I bite into a peanut butter cookie, I think of Atlanta and my childhood. I'm not even sure if my mom made these cookies much when I was little. All I know is that when she did make these cookies, I went crazy. I felt like I was being rewarded for existing. That's what peanut butter cookies are to me: a reward for living on this planet, where peanut butter exists. Because peanut butter is one of the best things on this earth. Really.

Next up is perfecting my peanut butter and jelly cookie recipe. It's a peanut butter and jelly sandwich but one hundred times more decadent, only it's about 1/8 of the size, so it's not so bad for you.

The holidays have been so good to me so far. Even though a certain someone *coughcough* left for Los Angeles right as all the stress hit, I've still been taking lots of time to myself. My recipe for success as I'm going through all my recipes for other people: yoga at 5 in the morning, meditation, shopping only during lunch hours at work and avoiding the shopping mall, handmade gift certificates, eating lots of avocados and vegetables, and spending time with friends whenever possible. 

This year has been so much different than any year before it. I've found it hard to believe that it's Christmas already, but it's here whether I'm ready for it or not. I feel so much more whole, so much more determined, so much more accomplished, and like I have so much farther to go. I'm looking forward to Thailand and Paris and weekends with Rob and yoga each morning and baking new things every week and making people smile with butter, sugar, flour, and bacon. Lots and lots of bacon.

My Very Own Virtual Home

After weeks - no, let's be real, months - of procastination and worrying, I have finally gotten my South by San Francisco Facebook page up and running. It is modest yet. But I have big plans: deals, videos, better photos, polls, all that good stuff.

If you haven't, please "like" the page. There is much more to come, as small as it may seem right now.

Go to the page at: Facebook.com/southbysanfrancisco

And that's because, if this holiday season has taught me anything, it is that I am ready for the next step. I thrive on the energy and planning and the love and care that go into each of my orders, especially when things get hectic. So I am taking several large gulps of air, sighing, and closing my eyes as I jump off the deep end. No, no, I'm more like wading into the mid-deep end, feeling my way around there, and then possibly doggie paddling towards the deep end. I'm taking calculated risks here, people. And I am calculating the exponential deliciousness of pie as we hit the bottom of winter and make our way back towards spring sometime soon. Just like the Greeks did at some point. Or something.

Sorry for the dumb joke. Like the page!

My San Francisco Quest for the Perfect Southern Pralines

In case you couldn't tell by my terrible lack of updates, I have been running around like a madwoman this holiday season. I've been expanding my selection to fit some custom orders (peanut butter and jelly cookies anyone? Or how about ginger-nutmeg tea cakes? With handmade candied ginger. BAM! You got it!) as well as trying out my hand at making some southern candy for my own gifts to loved ones.

Take, for instance, these southern pralines:

They're aaalmost where I want them to be. I just have to get them a bit thicker, which means moving a bit faster.

What are southern pralines, you ask? I don't know if they have a comparison to California candies... They taste like caramel-drenched, toasted pecans and are a bit chewy, but more crumbly when you bite into them. Then as you chew them, the sugar melts on your tongue. After you've eaten them, the caramel flavors linger, leaving your mouth warm and full of nutty-syrupy sweetness. Oh my, I'm terribly sorry, I got carried away there... The point is: they're worth trying.

But making them at home is another story. Candy is, after all, serious business. It requires speed, dexterity, and a lot of intuition. Candy thermometers are only so accurate. Sometimes you just have to know. Which is much easier said than done, especially in my case.

Each year, I order a praline gift basket for my mom for Christmas. I always order from Savannah Sweets, a waterfront store that we stepped into one day on a trip to Savannah. They look like this:

So, yes, they are much prettier than mine. But I have faith that I will work up to this in approximately three more tries. In the meantime, all my friends are eating up the leftovers. I also happen to be putting the crumbles on top of my yogurt in the morning. Shhhh...

The recipe I am using is the traditional praline recipe from The Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook. It's deceptively simple. Just make sure you have a candy thermometer. And if you don't, they're like five bucks.

Southern Pralines

Recipe Adapted from The Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook

Makes about 24 pralines (just enough for gift-giving!)

Ingredients
2 cups sugar (I'm thinking of experimenting with other types of sugar, but the verdict is not yet out)
2 cups pecan halves
3/4 cup buttermilk (or use a substitute with whole milk and cream of tartar, vinegar, or lemon juice; just Google it)
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1/8 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda

Directions
1. Combine all ingredients except the baking soda in a large saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring gently with a wooden spoon until sugar dissolves.
2. Cover and cook over medium heat 2-3 minutes to wash down sugar from the sides of the pan.
3. Uncover and cook to 234F (aka the "soft ball stage"), stirring constantly.
4. Remove from heat and stir in the baking soda quickly.
5. Beat with a wooden spoon just until it begins to thicken. It will lose its gloss.
6. This is where you have to work quickly: Drop by tablespoons onto greased wax paper; let stand until firm. That'll take at least 30 minutes.

New Treat: Double Chocolate-Pecan Toffee

This stuff is no joke. It starts with a thick toffee center, then has a layer of dark chocolate and toasted pecans on one side. I let that set, and then I pour another layer on the other side. So, yes, this is the real deal.

Now being offered for $5.00 by the box, which is five big chunks (that's a whole lotta toffee for you and your friends).

And I'd give the recipe out for this one, but some things are better kept secret. Hmmm...

That's some hot toffee right there.

New Menu Page is Up!

I just set up a new menu page, so you can see what all the seasonal offerings are as well as prices!

Just in time for the holidays! You can see it here: MENU.

Also to come: a Facebook page, complete with an online store, where you can order by credit card. 

Under Construction

This blog is under construction. I'm actually working on a full-fledged website right now, but for the time being, I will update the menu on this here blog until this are up and running.

Thanks for your patience!