roasted root vegetables with rosemary

Happy Birthday, Blog! One year ago today I made my debut in the blogging world with a recipe for Red Wine Cupcakes. Lots of cupcakes and 68 posts later, I still really love putting figurative pen to electronic paper and tracking my successes and failures in the kitchen. Since I started Dulcedo for a mostly self-serving purpose (no more of those "Did I make this recipe already?" moments), I am continually surprised by all the people who write in to say they like it too. Your comments and emails always make my day - thank you!

Even blogs deserve birthday presents, right? This year my blog is getting a big one: a Canon EOS 40D Digital SLR camera. OK, maybe it's really just for me, and maybe my purchase of it coincides with the gradual puttering out of the Canon PowerShot s300 Digital Elph I've been toting around for the last six years. The point is that there is a new camera coming, which means there are better blog pictures on the horizon. The bad news is I'll have to cut back on grocery purchasing to pay for it, so there will be fewer blog posts. Just kidding. (That would be ironic though, huh?) I expect I'll experience a fairly significant learning curve as I move from the playpen of point-and-shoots to the playground of digital SLRs, so I'll be sure to share the highlights of this trip into the high-tech camera world so you can learn a little about them too.

In case you were starting to wonder if I survive on cupcakes and cookies alone, here is a recipe for the healthy file. I suppose it would have been appropriate to make a cake for this post, but to be honest, I'd choose a fabulous vegetable dish over cake any day. Well, almost any day. Anyway, these roasted root vegetables are so delicious that I'm going to include them on this year's Thanksgiving Day menu. They're unbelievably simple to prepare and they aren't messing around when it comes to flavor. I've left Bon Appétit's original vegetable mix largely untouched in the recipe below, but you can alter it to suit what you have on hand or available at your local store. Consider rutabagas, turnips, fingerling potatoes, leeks, anise, sweet potatoes -- so many options! I actually used a mixture of parsnips, celery root, carrots*, Brussels sprouts**, and red pearl onions. Next time I'll omit the celery root, since it seems that's not my cup of tea, and add more Brussels sprouts and garlic cloves instead. Also, I used a high-quality olive oil and salt (a fancy sea salt from Williams-Sonoma) in this dish because the simple ingredient list really allows the flavors to shine.

*I got the cool orange and purple carrots you see on top of the dish from Pike Place Market.

** They aren't a root vegetable, but if you want to use Brussels sprouts, prepare them by cutting off the ends, removing and discarding any yellow or loose leaves, and then rinsing the sprouts.

[This post was submitted for the October edition of The Heart of the Matter, a monthly blogging event focusing on heart health.]

Roasted Root Vegetables with Rosemary
Adapted from a recipe from Bon Appétit December 2001
Serves 8

Nonstick vegetable oil spray
1 pound red-skinned potatoes, unpeeled, scrubbed, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 pound celery root (celeriac), peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 pound rutabagas, peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 pound carrots, peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 pound parsnips, peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces
10 ounces red pearl onions
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 cup olive oil
10 garlic cloves, peeled
Kosher or other high-quality salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Position 1 rack in bottom third of oven and 1 rack in center of oven and preheat to 400°F. Spray 2 large, rimmed baking sheets with nonstick spray. Set aside.

Bring a medium-size pot of water to boil. Place the pearl onions in the pot and boil for 3 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the onions to a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking. Once the onions have cooled, remove them from the water and pinch the ends to remove the skins.

Combine all the vegetables in a large bowl (do not include the garlic). Add the rosemary and then pour the olive oil over the mixture and toss to coat. Season generously with salt and pepper. Divide vegetable mixture between prepared sheets. Place 1 sheet on each oven rack. Roast 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Reverse positions of baking sheets. Add 5 garlic cloves to each baking sheet. Continue to roast until all vegetables are tender and brown in spots, stirring and turning vegetables occasionally, 30-45 minutes longer. (Can be prepared up to 4 hours ahead. Let stand on baking sheets at room temperature. Rewarm in 450°F oven until heated through, about 15 minutes.)

Transfer roasted vegetables to large bowl and serve.

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pumpkin oatmeal cookies

Sometimes the business world is a rough-and-tumble place...and sometimes it is simply ridiculous. The nature of my position is such that, when an employee has a concern or suggestion, it usually finds its way to me. I'd love to tell you that most of these concerns are well founded, but that isn't quite the case...mostly because 50% of the concerns are born out of overworrying and and behaviors I would categorize as just short of hysterics. Case and point: There is an ongoing discussion in our office about the proper way to evacuate if there is a fire at the front of the office suite. Obviously I recognize that evacuation procedures are important, so I put in a request to the local fire department to have a marshal come out and make a recommendation. However, while I'm waiting for that person to show up, I have to deal with the third of our staff that is convinced that breaking the floor-to-ceiling windows and falling 25 feet onto concrete and glass shards is the best way to evacuate on the highly unlikely occasion that there is a fire in the front of our crackerjack-box-size office that has gone unnoticed long enough to prevent people from making a simple exit through the front door. I think Charles Darwin would have some interesting things to say about people who fail to notice a fire in 15' x 30' office. I won't bring that up, but when the fire department comes and explains why it's a bad idea to punch out a hole and feed a fire in a small space with loads of oxygen, all those glass-breaking tools ordered by the renegade third of the staff are going straight back to the supplier....

Fall's favorite flavor is arguably pumpkin, but you don't often see it in cookie form. The texture and consistency of pumpkin usually lends a cakiness to the baked goods that incorporate it, so when I saw Garrett's recipe for pumpkin cookies over at Simply Recipes, I was a bit skeptical. I'm not one for cakey cookies. However, I was in need of many dozens of autumnal treats for an upcoming meeting, so I decided to give the recipe a go. (Plus, I've been so busy with cupcakes lately that the cookie section of the blog was starting to look a little wimpy by comparison.)

I swapped out regular butter in Garrett's recipe for unsalted (and upped the salt) because I generally prefer it, and I cut the amount of pumpkin seeds in half because a full cup just seemed like too much in a recipe that also called for oats and currants. The cookies had a great pumpkin flavor, but my honest assessment on Day 1 was that I didn't like them. They were overly moist and cakey, with none of the delicious chew of a normal cookie. I was pretty sure that I could save them, though, so I left them uncovered -- for 2 days. And the result? Much better. Really good, in fact. The cookies retained their excellent flavor, but also developed that much-desired chewiness. Apparently age improves men, wine, and pumpkin cookies.

[This post submitted for Sugar High Friday's October challenge: Spices.]

Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies
Adapted from a recipe by Garret McCord
Yields about 4 dozen cookies

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 1/3 cups old-fashioned oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cardamom
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1 cup dried currants

Preheat the oven to 350° F. In a medium-size bowl, combine the flour, oats, baking soda, salt, cardamom, and cinnamon. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg, vanilla, and pumpkin puree and beat for another 3 minutes. Add the flour mixture in two additions and beat until combined. Fold in the pumpkin seeds and currants.

Using a 1.5" - 1.75" scoop, drop dough 2 inches apart on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake for 15-17 minutes. Allow to cool on the sheet for a minute or two to set, then remove them to a wire rack to cool completely. Store, uncovered, between layers of parchment or wax paper for up to 5 days.

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red velvet cupcakes with vanilla bean cream cheese frosting

In our family room at home there are two moss-green chenille chairs. In many ways, their outward appearance -- seemingly brand new -- conceals their history. These chairs, in addition to those surrounding the kitchen table, are the only chairs left that were in the house when I was born. Despite their good condition, it's easy to look at them now and think they don't belong. The green and harvest gold 1970s decor they once matched has long since been replaced with a country blue motif, but judging them by color and style alone overlooks the important role the chairs have played in our home. They've held grandmas cradling babies and served as walls for childhood blanket forts. They've been places of retreat for reading, for napping, for relationship ending, and for relationship mending. And for the past 19 or so years, they've dutifully flanked the Christmas tree, alternately holding presents and people during holiday gatherings.

As we remodel the kitchen and add on to the house, bringing new furniture in and taking old furniture out, I find that I have a renewed appreciation for these misfit chairs. They'll soon resign their post in the living room for newer pastures elsewhere, but I'm glad to know they'll still be available for afternoon naps, evening chats, and the holiday gatherings that develop in a new room of our home.

Kenny Chesney has a great song that traces his life through the moments experienced in a blue rocking chair. Though the moments he sings of are fictional (presumably, since he is from Tennessee and the song is about a chair on the beach), I think the sentiments are strikingly similar:

There's a blue rocking chair sitting in the sand
Weathered by the storms and well-oiled hands
It sways back and forth with the help of the winds
It seems to always be there, like an old trusted friend

I've read a lot of books, wrote a few songs
Looked at my life - where it's goin', where it's gone
I've seen the world through a bus windshield
But nothing compares to the way that I see it
To the way that I see it
To the way that I see it when I sit in that old blue chair

From that chair I've caught a few fish and some rays
And I've watched boats sail in and out of Cinnamon Bay
I let go of a lover that took a piece of my heart
Prayed many times for forgiveness and a brand new start

I've read a lot of books, wrote a few songs
Looked at my life - where it's goin', where it's gone
I've seen the world through a bus windshield
But nothing compares to the way that I see it
To the way that I see it
To the way that I see it when I sit in that old blue chair

When I decided I was going to make a red velvet cupcake, my first task was to figure out exactly what red velvet cake is supposed to be. Many people complain that it is nothing more than a yellow cake with red dye, that it isn't chocolately enough, or that it doesn't have any noticeable flavor, but after much consideration, I decided that red velvet cake is supposed to be like that initial whiff of cocoa you smell when you first open the cocoa container -- light but distinct. Therefore, a high-quality cocoa would be in order. The next decision was equally important: Would I follow tradition and use gobs of red food coloring, or experiment with natural products like beet juice to turn my cake red? After reading a few reviews about the so-so results of using beet juice, I opted to squash my inner baking conscience and throw artificial color into my batter.

You wouldn't even believe how many red velvet cake recipes I read before settling on this one. Thankfully, though, my time was well spent. This cake turned out wonderfully moist with a distinguishable cocoa flavor. The red color was festive and traditional, but deep enough to prevent it from looking shockingly artificial. I was similarly pleased with the frosting. It pairs well with the cake, but it isn't so sweet that your teeth want to stage a revolt (to borrow a phrase from Deb).

Just a couple of tips for making these cupcakes successfully: As mentioned, using high-quality cocoa is important. I chose Scharffen Berger, and though I winced at the price when I pulled it off the grocery store shelf, I really do think it made a positive difference in the taste of the cake. Furthermore, be sure to sift your cake flour, cocoa, and buttermilk, too, if you use the powdered version. Otherwise you may end up with smallish lumps in your baked cupcakes. Additionally, these cupcakes bake up exceptionally well in souffle cups. You'll want to fill them 3/4 full because the batter doesn't rise until near the end of the baking time. Since the internal structure is already developed by the time they rise, they don't overflow and tend to have domed tops. Finally, I noticed some color separation in my first batch of these cupcakes, so I added the note about stirring each cupcake with a toothpick just before sending the batch into the oven. The subsequent batches made this way came out with a much more uniformly red color.

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting
Makes about 30 cupcakes

Cupcakes
Adapted from a recipe from The Confetti Cakes Cookbook by Elisa Strauss & Christi Matheson, via The New York Times and Smitten Kitchen (whew!)
3 1/2 cups cake flour, sifted
1/2 cup unsweetened, high-quality cocoa (not Dutch process), sifted
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 cups canola oil
2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
3 eggs
6 tablespoons (3 ounces) red food coloring, or 1 teaspoon red gel food coloring dissolved in 6 tablespoons of water
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 1/2 teaspoons white vinegar

Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting
Adapted from a recipe from the Cupcake Bakeshop
24 ounces (3 packages) cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
8-10 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste

To Make the Cupcakes:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Whisk together the cake flour, cocoa, and salt in a medium-size bowl. Set aside

Place oil and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater and beat at medium speed until well blended. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add red food coloring and beat slowly to combine. (Take care -- it may splash.) Add vanilla. Add the flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the buttermilk and beginning and ending with the flour. Beat until just combined.

Place baking soda in a small dish, stir in vinegar until dissolved, and add to batter with machine running. Beat for 10 seconds.

Fill your cupcake containers of choice 3/4 full. Give each cupcake a quick stir with a toothpick just prior to baking to ensure even coloring throughout. Bake for 25-30 minutes* or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack before frosting or decorating as desired.

*For 4-ounce souffle cups, which are slightly larger than the wells of a standard cupcake pan.

To Make the Frosting:
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat together the cream cheese and butter until well blended. Add 8 cups of confectioners' sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla bean paste and beat until combined. Add more sugar until you reach your desired consistency and sweetness.

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