He Did It...Again!

Sunday was the 32nd running of the Chicago Marathon and Doug was among the 33,000 finishers. Yaaaay, Doug! The race starts and I run (I mean fast walk) off to see him at various points throughout the course. Usually, I search for him among thousands of runners and never see him. This year we were lucky and we saw each other twice. The first time at mile 2 and again between miles 12 and 13. See him in the blue Make-A-Wish shirt?


The way this day works is that Doug runs and runs and runs and runs and in between looking for him, I wait and wait and wait and wait.

It was certainly much easier to be me, sipping tea on a cold, cold Chicago day.

After 26.2 very long miles Doug finished only a bit worse for the wear. Once again, I am so proud of his commitment to this challenge and his amazing mental willpower. He ran on behalf of kids that maybe can't run. Hopefully his efforts will enable a special boy or girl to experience something wonderful, too.

Isn't he the greatest?

Local Raspberry Treats

The last time I posted I was plum crazy. This is another example of similar behavior only in raspberry. We are lucky enough to have a U-Pick Raspberry farm within 15 minutes of our house. I was out in early September with plans to return many times again. Factor in new schedules, work, weather and illness and it took weeks. Monday I finally returned and spent over an hour in the midst of raspberry brambles. It was a gorgeous bright, fall day full of warm sun, chirping crickets and birds, distant train whistles and the occasional "thunk" as a black walnut fell to the ground. So pleasant it was, I almost forget the pain in my back from hunching over in search of berries. The pain was worth it. My freezer is stocked and we've enjoyed many treats since the raspberries hit the yellow house.

After my first trip, I immediately made raspberry liqueur as I had with strawberries. A few cups of raspberries, sugar and vodka shaken and allowed to sit. I haven't checked on it lately, it's in a dark cabinet. I am sure it's ready to strain and sip with friends gathering next week.

Why the eggs? I used farm eggs to make raspberry lemon curd. This picture was irresistible to me and a shining example of the value of farm eggs. Check out that yolk!


I pureed a small amount of raspberries and then strained them - don't want any seeds in the curd. Rather than bust out the Cuisinart, I used the immersion blender with the cup attachment. Very effective and super easy to clean up.

I love these tall wide mouth jars - any thing you put into them looks fabulous. I do love the look of the Weck jars but the simplicity of a good old Ball jar is something special in its own right. The raspberry curd is delicious and has been enjoyed on countless English muffins and spoons. I see a pudding and maybe a few baby tartes in the future, too. If you'd like to try this recipe or an easy straight lemon version check Everyday Food.

I made a beautiful coffeecake dusted with powdered sugar and garnished with fresh raspberries on the stem, too. It was a donation and unfortunately was rushed out the door without photos. However, as good as it looked, I doubt it could have possibly been as good as these muffins. I make a lot of muffins for easy breakfasts and snacks but more often than not I am disappointed. Perhaps my expectations are too high for a humble muffin, but few do I make twice. These Lemon-Raspberry Muffins were amazing and I can't wait to make them again.

Lemon-Raspberry Muffins

1 lemon
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup vanilla yogurt
1/3 cup canola oil,
1 large egg
1 t. vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cup fresh or frozen (not thawed) raspberries

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners

Use a vegetable peeler, carefully remove the zest from the lemon in long strips. Combine zest and sugar in a food processor, pulse until the zest is finely chopped into the sugar. You could use a zester but I feel to best incorporate citrus flavor into the sugar it's helpful to start with large pieces of zest. Add buttermilk, oil, egg and vanilla and pulse until well blended.

Combine flour, baking powder powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Add the buttermilk mixture and fold until almost blended. Gently fold in raspberries. Divide batter equally among muffin cups.

Bake until the edges of the muffins and tops are golden, 20-25 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack. Serve warm if possible but they are yummy at room temperature, too.

Yield: 12 muffins

Plum Crazy!

I tend to be a bit compulsive about things in the kitchen. When I teach a pie class, I am all about pie. When it's pasta I am all about pasta. Happens with ingredients, too. June strawberries, July blueberries and peaches.....get the idea? In September I think of plums. They seem to be the oft overlooked fruit that deserves some more kitchen time. When was the last time you ate a plum?


At the Green City Market on a brilliant September these lovelies called me to take them home. Aren't they pretty?


I made this pretty Plum Croustade with them. It was delicious, sweet and tart.

I turned red plums purchased at local farmer's market into Martha's Plum Cake from the September Everyday Food. A basic butter cake with fruit - tasty for snacking or breakfast.

Finally, I morphed a few recipes into one, picking and choose ingredients that I had on hand and roasted them into.....

...this warm, garnet topping for good vanilla ice cream. Doug, not usually a fan of sweets, was very complimentary. Quite a testimonial from a man who could take or leave anything sweet.

One last late-season raspberry picking trip (if the rain stops) and it's all apple and pumpkin.....

Honey-Roasted Plums

4 plums, halved and pitted
1/4 cup dessert wine of choice, I used Vin Santo
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
Scant 1/3 cup honey
1 strip orange zest about 2 " long
Pinch of cinnamon
2 T. butter, cut into pieces

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

Place plums face down in a shallow baking dish. Combine wine, juice, honey and cinnamon, stirring well. Pour over plums, add the orange zest strip and dot with butter.

Roast until tender but still intact, about 35-40 minutes.

After removing from the oven spoon liquid over plums to coat. Serve warm over vanilla ice cream.

Serves about 4

Chocolate + Zucchini Chicago-Style

No, it's still just us in the yellow house and yes, it's still in a suburb of Chicago. Just an obvious play on words. My work is not as successful (yet!) and geographically my location is not nearly as cool but the cupcakes are really good.


Always in search of interesting lunchbox treats and constantly striving to incorporate (or sneak) vegetables into everything. A collection of zucchini recipes in the September issue of (the soon to be defunct), Gourmet grabbed my attention - specifically the cupcake recipe. Go figure.


They came together very quickly and yet it was one of those recipes that kept me checking to be sure I didn't miss anything - in this case liquid. If you try these the batter is very, very, very thick. I used a hand mixer as suggested, but it would probably be easier in a stand mixer. That would make it really easy to double the recipe since they freeze beautifully.


Rich chocolate flavor and a dense but not heavy texture make these cupcakes certain to reappear in lunchboxes soon. Give them a try. Be sure to spend some time checking out the great blog chocolateandzucchini for some great inspiration, too.

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cupcakes
Gourmet September 2009

1 1/2 cup a.p. flour
2 T. unsweetened Dutch process cocoa powder
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. baking soda
1/4 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
3/4 cup + 2 T. sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
1/2 t. pure vanilla extract
1 cup coarsely grated zucchini
1 6oz. package semi-sweet chocolate chips

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees with rack in the middle. Whisk together flour, cocoa, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Beat together sugar, oil, egg and vanilla in a large bowl with an electric mixer until thick and creamy, 2-3 minutes. At low speed, mix in flour mixture until just incorporated. Stir in zucchini and chocolate chips. Divide among lined muffin cups and bake until tops spring back when lightly pressed, 30-35 minutes. Cool in pan 5 minutes then turn out to cool completely.

Yield: 12 cupcakes

Henry Is (almost) 6!

When Jake started kindergarten I had this great idea to invite his whole kindergarten class to a special birthday party in our backyard. It has, of course, become a tradition for ALL of the Downing kids. We've had many themes including, Harry Potter, Curious George and Princess, for our only girl. This year, I say with more than a bit of sadness, was our last kindergarten bash. We celebrated Henry's forthcoming 6th birthday with a Backyard Carnival!

As we know, the cake picture is the important one. For this special event I have always ordered a party cake from The Cakery. They made our wedding cake, all of our first birthday cakes and many cakes in between. Bob, the owner, is amazingly talented and bakes a great cake. His butter cream includes butter - need I say more? We gave them a napkin and the above is a perfect replica. Did I say he is amazing and his cakes are great?

In keeping with the theme Henry chose, there was popcorn, peanuts, face painting and tattoos. Inspired by Miss Kim, we had to have Bozo buckets, too. The highlight was the moon jump - a big investment but part of the deal for this extra special event.

Here they are - the class of 2023 (gulp) clowning for the camera. Special old friends, neighbors and lots and lots of new friends finding a special place in our lives were on hand to share in the festivities.

It's the beginning, and a bittersweet end, of an era.

The Great Pumpkin Strikes Again!

The book says it all, The Great Pumpkin Strikes Again! For years, the time proceeding Halloween includes weekly visits from the Great Pumpkin, at the yellow house. It's been happening for years and we aren't quite sure why we are lucky enough to be treated to such special visits. "He" arrives at night, long after we've all gone off to bed. Treats are left outside the front door, conveniently sheltered from autumn rains, on the porch.

Always bringing age appropriate and simple treats: window clings, Halloween crafts and books. The excitement builds until about 3rd grade. About this time the thrill shifts from being gifted, to being in on the gift. Henry was over the moon with anticipation of "his" visit and the rest of us are left wondering.....why us, in the yellow house?

Perhaps we should ask Grandma.....

Rainy Day Stew

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday I spent in bed, wiped out with the flu. As I lay there, listening to the rain fall on the roof, my thoughts were of all the food I wanted to be cooking for my family on these rainy days of fall. This morning when I actually felt as though being vertical was an option my body could afford, my thoughts were of stew.

This super easy, super tasty stew began with grass-fed beef I bought at the Geneva Green Market from CC Angus Beef. I have never tried grass-fed beef and was a little leery of the testimonials I've heard. I've been told it tasted completely different than corn fed, was an acquired taste and that some just didn't like it. I decided stew meat was a good place to start. Inexpensive as grass-fed goes and easy to disguise if its flavor was not well received. I am happy to say the rare bit of my grocery budget dedicated to beef, did not go wasted. The flavor (it had flavor!) was rich and clean. Fresh from the package it didn't have any of that weird smell that I often detect, in even fresh(?) organic beef.

A few ingredients, most of which are always at the ready were all I needed.

One of the beauties of this recipe is that the time consuming step of browning isn't necessary. Everything is tossed together in a heavy casserole or dutch oven and lightly covered with foil.
While it spent 5 hours of the afternoon in the oven, I was able to accomplish tons of what had been rattling around my head. I got the house in order, unearthed Halloween decorations and took down the remainder of summer deco, did two loads of laundry, vacuumed, dusted, checked email, picked up Ella and Hen, got Jake from XC practice and stopped at Williams-Sonoma and the bank. Those would be a mere 10 additional beauties of this recipe.


Out of the oven and on the table with quick muffins and homemade applesauce (again!). Jake was thrilled - it's one of his favorites and perfect after a cross country run in the rain.

Slow Cooked Beef Stew
Sarah Leah Chase's Year Around Cookbook - with minor modifications


2 1/2# lean beef stew meat, cut into 1" cubes
12 oz. carrots cut on the bias
1# baby new potatoes, I used Yukons but reds are nice for color, halved or quartered
3) small or 1) large onion, quartered
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 t. celery seed
1 t. thyme
2 t. salt
2 t. freshly ground black pepper
2 1/2 cups tomato juice
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 T. Dijon mustard
2 T. brown sugar
1 1/2 T. tapioca

Pre-heat oven to 275 degrees. Be sure your oven is accurate at this low temperature.

In a large casserole or dutch oven combine the beef with all the vegetables and season with salt and pepper.

Whisk together tomato juice, wine, Dijon, brown sugar, garlic, celery seed and thyme. When thoroughly combined whisk the tapioca into the liquid. Add this mixture to the seasoned beef and vegetables, stirring well to combine.

Cover the pan lightly with aluminum foil and cook 5 hours, without peeking. Serve immediately or refrigerate overnight and re-heat the next day.

Yield: 6 generous servings