Every time I move I make some sort of clean out the pantry dish. Trevor reminded me of the first one the other day when I was starting to clean out the fridge. I’m almost embarrassed to show you –  not only does it look awful, if I’m remembering correctly, it also tasted awful. But hey it’s on the Internet so it’s fair game. I was just a little baby blogger then, wasn’t I?

The second time was not so bad: Cranberry Cornmeal Cake (warning, that post comes with a lot of emotions about graduating from Duke) and a less-thrilling but still decent Corn Broth Quinotto. Coincidentally, I have a lot of cranberries, cornmeal, and quinoa in my pantry now, too – aparently I always hoard cranberries in the freezer in October and it turns out I almost never use them after November. The third time I moved was when we moved to this apartment – only two years ago – during a summer that was almost as hectic as this one, with me away in Russia at least once a month. I made this Baked Blackberry Oatmeal to help me stay sane and somewhat energized during the move (still a favorite recipe) and also these Corn, Goat Cheese, and Jalapeno Tartines (which I can’t imagine particularly helped me clean out the fridge, but maybe I was just planning on leaving all my extra food for my roommates).

I’d like to think that both my cooking and photography skills have improved since then but I’ll let you be the judge. This time around, some of the fridge languishers were rhubarb, cream cheese, half a package of frozen puff pastry, and a few splashes of rosé. A tart seemed the obvious way to use up the puff pastry, and from there I worked backwards to end up with a cheesecake filling topped with rosé-poached rhubarb stalks. I left the rhubarb stalks whole and poached them just to the point of tenderness for presentation’s sake, but the flavors will be just as good if you let the rhubarb soften a little bit more. The tart was delicious, but between the puff pastry and the cheesecake filling it’s very rich – a small slice is perfect after a long day of packing and moving but it’s definitely a little indulgent!

I hope this is the last time we move for a long while. It’s funny, reading my post from the last time I moved; there’s a lot more sadness about what I was leaving behind. This time, I’m mostly just looking forward to turning our new house into our home. Perhaps I’m not sad because I’m not leaving any people, but I have to admit that I’ve never really loved the apartment that we’re in now. At least not the way I loved my house in Somerville – although I only lived there for 2 years, it felt like home from the first night on, maybe even more so than my childhood house. Our new house needs a lot of work and love before it will be even close to as nice as my Somerville house, but I hope that it starts to feel like home soon.

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Rosé-Poached Rhubarb Cheesecake Tart

• 1 c. rosé wine
• 1 c. water
• 1 c. sugar, divided
• 1 lb rhubarb, trimmed to the length of your baking dish
• 8 oz. cream cheese, softened to room temperature
• 1 whole egg
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 7 oz. / 1 sheet of frozen puff pastry, defrosted according to package directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Butter a small rectangular baking dish with 4-6 cups of capacity and set aside
2. Add the wine, water, and 1/2 cup of sugar to a wide-bottomed saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat, then add the rhubarb to the pan. Simmer the rhubarb until just tender, about 3-5 minutes depending on the thickness of the rhubarb. Check the tenderness of the rhubarb frequently by squeezing gently with tongs, removing each stalk of rhubarb as soon as it begins to give way to pressure from the tongs. Place the rhubarb on a plate and set aside. Continue simmering the syrup until it has reduced to 3/4 of a cup and is very thick, then remove from heat and let cool to room temperature
3. To prepare the filling, beat the softened cream cheese until smooth. Beat in the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar, the egg, egg yolks, and vanilla until a smooth batter is formed.
4. Unfold the pastry sheet and line the prepared baking dish with it, stretching the pastry out as necessary to cover the bottom of the dish. Poke the pastry all over the bottom with the tines of a fork. Pour the cheesecake filling into the pastry and bake until the filling is almost set and the puff pastry has begun to brown, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and carefully press the rhubarb stalks on top of the cheesecake filling, then continue to bake until the filling is fully set, another 5-10 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool completely.
5. Serve the tart chilled with the reduced rosé-rhubarb syrup.

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This week has my head spinning. I don’t want to jinx it by writing about it but we may have found our first house. Saturday night I arrived home from Chile, Sunday we went out for a round of open house visits like we’ve done almost every weekend since the beginning of February, Monday we went back to one of the houses for a second visit, and Tuesday we made an offer… which was accepted! Now we’re gearing up for several weeks of legalities and formalities – the inspection, purchase agreement, appraisal, and so on. It’s all new to me and completely overwhelming. I’m stressed to the point of exhaustion but also really excited (although I’m trying to keep my excitement somewhat in check until it’s a sure thing). It doesn’t help that I fly back to Colombia for a week on Monday morning. There’s so much going on! But before then, I’m going to do my best to enjoy the long weekend and celebrate my 26th birthday (tomorrow!) in style, starting with this springy pink cocktail.

This cocktail is inspired by our long weekend in New York this winter. The trip was Trevor’s Christmas present to me, and it was wonderful – we spent the first night in a beautiful old inn in Newport, where we had a superbly elegant French dinner and slept in a room that made me feel like a complete princess. The next morning we continued the drive into the city, arriving in time for the matinee of Les Miserables, which was incredible – I was in tears basically every time Val Jean opened his mouth. We spent the evening restaurant hopping, sampling big soft pretzels and candied pork belly at Pony Bar, incredible pizza at BSide Brick Oven Pizza, and a series of whiskeys at  On The Rocks. I’m not a huge whiskey drinker and actually had sort of a difficult time convincing the bartender there to make me a cocktail (“it’s a whiskey bar, not a cocktail bar”), but once I did, I very much enjoyed the Bourbon Sour he made me. Although I know a Whiskey Sour is about as classic as it gets, it was new to me and I felt a bit more grown-up then I usually do at bars, since there was no fruit, champagne, or sugar rim to be found in my cocktail for once. I’ve made my own spring version here, adding rhubarb and a dash of vanilla to the sour mix for color and a hint of sweetness. This drink is super easy to make and will liven up any spring gathering, so give it a go.

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Rhubarb Bourbon Sour

A refreshing spring cocktail made from fresh rhubarb syrup and bourbon, with a hint of vanilla.

• Author: Katie at the Kitchen Door
• Yield: 4-6

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 c. chopped fresh rhubarb
• 1 c. sugar
• 3/4 c. freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 c. water
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• Bourbon
• few drops bitters

Instructions

1. Combine the rhubarb, sugar, lemon juice, and water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer over low heat and simmer gently until the rhubarb is completely soft and the mixture is syrupy, about 8-10 minutes. Keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn’t boil over. Strain the liquid into a bowl or glass jar. Stir the vanilla extract into the rhubarb syrup. Keep the stewed rhubarb for another use.
2. For each cocktail, add ice, 1 part rhubarb syrup, 1 part Bourbon, and a few drops of bitters to a cocktail shaker. Shake vigorously for 20-30 seconds, until foamy, then strain into a chilled glass. Garnish with extra rhubarb stalks if desired, and serve immediately.

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Because I spent most of last weekend at the office, I took Tuesday as a comp day to try and make up for the beautiful fall weather we had on Saturday and Sunday.  As soon as I had decided that, yes, I really was going to take my first day off of work, my mind immediately started buzzing with all the things I wanted to do to make the most of it.  Sometimes, this can be a bit of a mental trap for me, as I get so bogged down in the planning and the anticipation that I forget to enjoy the actual doing.  This time, though, it worked out great – I knew exactly what I wanted to do when I fell asleep Monday night, the weather was supposed to be beautiful, I hadn’t tried to pack too much into one day, and so Tuesday morning, I just got up and did it.  And it was great.

I knew that to be as awesome as I wanted it to be, my day off would have to involve several things: one, being outside as much as possible; two, delicious food, preferably homemade; three, Trevor, because how good can a day be without a little flirtation; and four, my family, because I really do think that a significant portion of my best memories are just of sitting around the kitchen table with my family, drinking red wine, eating hearty meals, and laughing hysterically.  The solution to all these requirements ended up coming in a single form: apples.  Apple pancakes in the morning, apple picking with Trevor in the afternoon, and apple crisp with my family at night.  Given how many apples I ate yesterday, the doctor should be away for quite some time.

Apple picking is one of my favorite fall activities.  It’s outside, it’s a quintessential New England thing, it’s wholesome, and it involves food.  I grew up going to Smolak Farms, and driving around the corner of the orchard and looking down the hill at the lake and the pumpkin patch and the farmhouse fills me with this great surge of childish excitement.  Trevor and I spent two hours picking almost every kind of apple they had – we must have eaten at least 6 just while walking around.  We decided that apples are truly best just off the tree because they’re at the perfect temperature – refrigerated apples are so cold they hurt your teeth, apples left in your backpack all day are kind of warm and mealy, but just off the tree they have just the right amount of cool crispness.  God, they were so good.  When our bag was packed so full that I may have had to sneak an extra apple into my purse (it would have just rotted on the ground otherwise!) and we had chased some wild turkeys and climbed a few trees, it was time for the real reason for our visit – eating cider donuts.  Because cider donuts are possibly my favorite food groups.  And I still have one left over for breakfast tomorrow.  Win.  After that we headed back to my house for spaghetti with pepper sauce, salad, red wine, and hot apple crisp.  The day was as perfect and fulfilling as I’d wanted it to be, and I fell asleep happy and refreshed.  And very full.

Now let’s get back to breakfast.  I’m really picky about my pancakes – I hardly ever like them at diners, I refuse to eat them if they’re made from a mix, and I think fake maple syrup is inedible.  It’s probably because I grew up with my dad making awesome pancakes fairly frequently – he has a recipe, and he has it down, and now I’m just used to the best.  I like my pancakes thick and a little bit tangy – buttermilk is a must – usually with some blueberries or other fruit in them.  I’ve tried a lot of different recipes, and so far only one has been up to my standards.  It uses buttermilk and a smidge of sour cream, and the result is super flavorful, super moist pancakes.  I adapted it here with some fall-ish spices and chunks of fresh apples, then served them with boiled apple cider syrup and apple slices cooked in caramel.  They.  Were.  Heavenly.  Exactly what I wanted, and then some.  If moist, tangy pancakes and apples and deliciousness are your thing, try these the next time you want to have an awesome day, or celebrate fall, or go to work late, or all of the above.

Apple Buttermilk Pancakes with Cider Syrup

Pancakes adapted from Brown-Eyed Baker.  Makes 6-8 pancakes.

• 2 c. flour
• 2 TBS sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp allspice
• 2 c. buttermilk
• 1/4 c. sour cream
• 2 eggs
• 4 TBS butter, melted and slightly cooled
• 2 apples, peeled and cut into 1/2 in. chunks

• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 c. apple cider

1. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices together until thoroughly combined.  In a separate bowl, gently beat eggs, then add buttermilk, sour cream, and melted butter, and mix until just combined.  Do not overmix.  Add wet ingredients to dry, and mix gently until batter is evenly moist, but still slightly lumpy.  Do not beat or overmix, as that will toughen your pancakes.  Add apple chunks, stir to distribute throughout batter, then let batter sit, undisturbed, for 10-20 minutes.
2. Heat a frying pan or on a griddle over medium-low heat.  Wait 3-5 minutes for pan to heat up – pan is ready when a drop of water flicked at the pan sizzles and evaporates within 2 seconds of being dropped on the pan.  Add 1/2 c. pancake batter to pan/griddle, and let cook for ~3 minutes – pancakes are usually ready to flip when the top side begins to have tiny air bubbles that burst.  Carefully flip, and cook until golden brown on both sides.  Repeat with remaining pancakes.  Serve hot, with syrup!
3. Cider syrup:  mix cornstarch with a small amount of the cider until it is fully dissolved, then mix all remaining ingredients in a saucepan.  Heat over medium heat, stirring frequently, until syrup has thickened to the desired consistency.  If you like a thick syrup, use 2 tsp cornstarch.  Store leftover syrup in fridge.

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