Deb adapted this recipe from Martha Stewart’s Original Classics Cookbook. Martha yielded 9 6-inchers, Deb yielded 16 4-inchers, and I yielded 8 6-inchers.

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 cups buttermilk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus 1 tablespoon extra for brushing griddle

1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen and thawed (optional)

1. Preheat an electric griddle to 375°F, or place a griddle pan or cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar in a medium bowl. Add the eggs, buttermilk, and 4 tablespoons melted butter, and whisk to combine. The batter should have small to medium lumps.

2. Test the griddle by sprinkling a few drops of water on it. If the water bounces and spatters, the griddle is hot enough. Using a pastry brush, brush the remaining 1/2 teaspoon butter onto the griddle. Wipe off the excess with a folded paper towel.

3. Using a 4-oz. ladle, about 1/2 cup (for a 6-inch pancake), pour the batter in pools 2 inches apart. If you wish to make blueberry pancakes, arrange a handful over the cooking pancake, pressing them in slightly. When the pancakes have bubbles on top and are slightly dry around the edges, about 2 1/2 minutes, flip over. If any batter oozes or blueberries roll out, push them back under with your spatula. Cook until golden on bottom, about 1 minute.

4. Repeat with the remaining batter. You can keep the finished pancakes on a heat-proof plate in the oven at 175°F. Serve warm.

Recipe via Smitten Kitchen.

I had 3 overripe bananas so decided to make this banana bread. It turned out so delicious it’s one that I’ll be sure to make more of in the future!

Recipe:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 1/3 cups mashed overripe bananas

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.

Recipe via Allrecipes.

I loved, loved, loved Buckeyes as a little kid. My mom and aunt both made them and I remember going wild when I got my hands on them. The chocolate yin to the peanut butter yang. I tried my hand at making them this year and they turned out spectacular! I think they will become the thing I make every holiday season.

1/4 cup (2 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups smooth salted peanut butter
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
3 cups confectioners (powdered) sugar
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
12 ounces dark chocolate (60 to 72%) coarsely chopped

Make the filling: In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and peanut butter together until combined. Add the graham cracker crumbs and beat for 10 seconds. Add the sugar and butter, and mix on the lowest speed until it stops floating off everywhere, then increase the speed until the ingredients are combined. Scrape down the whole bowl well, then mix again. The mixture will be quite sturdy and a little dry — perfect for shaping. Set it aside while you prepare the coating.

Make the coating: Melt the chocolate either over a double boiler, stirring until it is completely smooth or in a microwave in 30 then 10 second increments, stirring before you start it again until it is completely smooth. Let it cool to tepid (about 100 degrees) while you shape the peanut butter centers.

Assemble the candies: Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Scoop out slightly more than one tablespoon’s worth of filling and use your hands to form it into a ball. Place the ball on the prepared sheet and repeat the process until all of the candies have been shaped. They can sit close to each other but make sure they are not touching. Using a fork or large skewer, dip each ball into the chocolate and roll it about so that almost the entire candy is coating, leaving a small circle uncoated.

Chill the buckeyes until they are set, about 30 minutes.

Recipe via Smitten Kitchen.

It’s fall and that means I make my pie for the year – an apple pie with Granny Smiths. These sour apples go perfect with sugar.

Recipe:
1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 lbs Granny Smith apples – peeled, cored and sliced

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in flour to form a paste. Add water, white sugar and brown sugar, and bring to a boil. Reduce temperature and let simmer.
2. Place the bottom crust in your pan. Fill with apples, mounded slightly. Drizzle the sugar and butter liquid over the apples and save a small amount for the top crust. Cover with top crust and make 4 or 5 slits to allow heat to escape during baking. Pour the remaining sugar and butter liquid over the top crust.
3. Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees. Continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes until apples are soft.

Recipe, slightly modified, via Allrecipes.
Recipe, for a 9 inch double crust pie, via Simply Recipes. If in a pinch, Trader Joe’s sells decent ready-made.

I’ve made this super easy bread a few times now and plan on making it regularly.

Recipe:
3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.

1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.

2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.

3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.

4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

Recipe via The New York Times.
Video on YouTube.

Ingredients
• 1 block of extra firm tofu, patted dry, cut into 1/2″ cubes
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• fresh black pepper
• salt

Directions
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Toss cubes in a bowl with the oil.
• Spread the tofu cubes in one single layer on a baking sheet.
• Season with generous amounts of fresh black pepper and a desired amount of salt.
• Bake for about 50 minutes or until golden.

Breakfast
Bradbury’s – awesome crepes and great espresso
Gotham Bagels – best bagels in town
Lazy Jane’s – delicious scones, good scramblers and strong coffee
Marigold Kitchen – always good fresh food
Sophia’s Bakery & Cafe – small space but awesome brunch on the weekends

Pizza
Buck’s Pizza – cheap takeout pizza
Cafe La Bellitalia – traditional mom and pop restaurant
Cafe Porta Alba – authentic Neapolitan pizza
Greenbush Bar – the best thin crust pizza in town
Natt Spil – not only my favorite bar but they have good thin crust pizzas

Italian
Lombardino’s – my favorite Italian restaurant
Osteria Papavero – my second favorite Italian restaurant

Gastropub
Brassiere V – kind of like jacs
Coopers Tavern – kind of like jacs and Brasserie V but with poutine
jacs – kind of like Brassiere V
The Weary Traveler – great atmosphere and tasty tom ka tofu soup

Mexican
La Zacatecana – Mexican grocery with cheap authentic eats in the back
Tex Tubb’s – this fills my Tex-Mex cravings

Japanese
Restaurant Muramoto – Hands down my favorite, love the food and the space

Upscale
Restaurant Magnus – My favorite fancy schmancy restaurant (also love the bar)
L’Etoile – My second favorite fancy schmancy restaurant

Ethnic Cuisines
Chautara – I like it a bit better than Himal Chuli
Himal Chuli – a classic
Lao Laan Xang – I could eat here every day
Mediterranean Cafe – cheap and excellent food
Monty’s Blue Plate – okay, not ethnic but the Sheldon is so good
Shish Cafe – for dinner, when Mediterranean Cafe is not open

Outdoor Dining
Mickey’s Tavern – I love this patio and the veggie burgers
Lake Vista Cafe – one of the best views in Madison

Original – straight up kombucha, a little boring but a good introduction to the tea
Citrus – this one is really heavy on the citrus, almost to the pucker point
Gingerade – it has that ginger zing to it, I really like this one
Multi-Green – tastes like Original but with blue-green algae, spirulina and chlorella
Trilogy – with raspberry, lemon and ginger juice but it tastes generically fruity
Mystic Mango – good, but not enough mango taste for me
Raspberry Rush – good, but not enough raspberry taste for me
Passionberry Bliss – fruity but somewhat tart in the mouth
Strawberry Serenity – weak strawberry taste, eh
Cosmic Cranberry – sort of tart, you know, like cranberry, just okay
Guava Goddess – I like the taste of guava and thought this was really good
Divine Grape – a tinge of grape, I thought it was just okay
Gingerberry – I really really like this one, blueberry taste with ginger as well

1990 Dom Perignon
2000 Nicolas Joly Clos De La Coulee De Serrant
1982 Catherine Guyot Chambolle-Musigny Les Charmes
1983 Catherine Guyot Vosne-Romanee
1986 Saintsbury Pinot Noir
2002 Shea Wine Cellars Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard
1934 Chateau Latour ruby in color, sharp and intense fruit on the attack
1962 Chateau Calon-Segur
1967 Chateau Cheval Blanc ruby in color, medium bodied and pretty well balanced (maybe slightly acidic)
1975 Chateau Mouton Baron Philippe
1975 Chateau Duhart-Milon-Rothschild
1978 Chateau Beychevelle
1982 Chateau Chasse-Spleen
1983 Chateau Chasse-Spleen
1975 Ca’ Del Bosco Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva lovely fruit and long finish
1980 Diamond Creek Cabernet Sauvignon Red Rock Terrace
1983 Grgich Hills Cabernet Sauvignon very concentrated fruit differing from the nose
1984 Diamond Creek Cabernet Sauvignon Red Rock Terrace
1988 Beaulieu Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve Georges De Latour great fruit, medium complexity, great finish
1989 Diamond Creek Cabernet Sauvignon Volcanic Hill
1990 Diamond Creek Cabernet Sauvignon Volcanic Hill
1991 Diamond Creek Cabernet Sauvignon Volcanic Hill
1992 Dalla Valle Cabernet Sauvignon
2001 Atalon Merlot
1987 Burgess Zinfandel spicy with a long finish
1975 Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle very smoky, blood, not much fruit, good harmony
1995 Turley Zinfandel Black Sears Vineyard
2002 Williams Selyem Zinfandel Forchini Vineyard a fruit bomb on the palate, very good
2002 Branson Shiraz Coach House Reserve
2004 Glaetzer Shiraz
1971 Von Plettenberg Kreuznacher Osterholl Morio-Muskat Auslese
1999 Allegrini Amarone

Honey Ale – simple beer that has just a mild hint of honey
4 lbs Alexander’s Pale Malt Extract
1 oz 5.4% alpha acid Cascade pellet hops
1 oz 3.6% alpha acid Saaz pellet hops
3.5 oz Wyeast #1056 American Ale yeast (also known as Chico)
2 lbs light clover honey

Cream Stout – creamy tan head with a sweet roasted malt flavor
1 lb roasted barley grain
4 lbs Malt Extract
1 oz Fuggles hops
1 oz Hallertau hops
1 tsp Irish Moss
Wyeast