Happy Halloween Goodies

 

                                  Deep dark chocolate and ghostly meringue cupcakes

Here's a recipe for some sweet halloween fun from Anita Chu's Dessert First blog. Even if you don't make these ghostly goodies you can smile at their goofy faces. And remember, as I said three years ago, ghosts are compostable too. 

Halloween-Ghost-Cupcakes 

 

Go Kamala

 

My sister models her new , LA shirt in New York

Transamerica Pyramid from Wayfare Tavern

Pyramid at 5:40 PM Oct. 17th 

    It's hard to take a bad picture of the Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco's financial district. But on Saturday evening, from our table outside the Wayfare Tavern, the upturned camera angle and the late afternoon light aligned to create some stunning shots. Even taken by an iphone.

                           And the cocktails, fried chicken and popovers weren't bad either

photo taken at 6:10 PM

 

Danish Oat Cakes

Completed oat cakes, slipped out of their muffin pan and ready to eat

 

Like so many others, I've been baking my way though these stressful times. Here's an old favorite that's perfect for late summer heatwaves because it doesn't require baking at all. I'm talking about Danish Oat Cakes

     

                               They're super-comforting if you're freaked out about nearby wildfires,

                               the Pandemic, smoky air---or all three!

   

The recipe comes from The Complete Book of Breads by Bernard Clayton, Jr.  I've been making them since I bought the book in 1973, when it was published. The oatcakes are called Havregrynskage in Danish, "They're fun to make, good to eat and a conversation food." Here's the recipe as it appears on page 489 of my first edition.

In a large skillet, over moderate heat, melt 1/2 cup butter and stir in 1/4 cup sugar with a wooden spoon. Let them cook together for about 30 seconds. Add  2 cups instant oatmeal and, stirring occasionally, cook for 10 minutes or until the oatmeal is a golden brown. Remove from heat and stir in 1/4 cup corn syrup. It will be quite thick and sticky

Then rinse a muffin tin with cold water, shake out any excess  moisture and pack the cups firmly with the hot oat mixture.

Place the filled muffin pan in the refrigerator for at least three 

hours. When the oat cakes are cold, loosen them by running a knife around the edges and slip the cakes out of the pan. Now they're ready to eat. The Danes sometimes serve them with a chilled buttermilk soup which they pour over the cakes. I guarantee that the buttermilk is not necessary. They're perfect eaten alone with only a plate underneath to catch the crumbs, accompanied by a cup of strong coffee or a glass of wine.

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Aperol Spritz

For our second outdoor lunch at Belotti, we were seated on the roomy, shady side of the restaurant and our table faced this bright Italian sign for Aperol Spritz---"Italy's #1 cocktail." We can attest to it's popularity, having visited Italy's Piemonte region last September.

In Alba, I was intrigued by a happy table full of Scandinavian tourists (pre pandemic, of course) drinking bright orange aperitivi. What could they be?

A few days later, wandering the hilly streets of La Morra, I got a chance to find out. We stopped for lunch at a trattoria, nabbed a table on the lovely patio and ordered what everyone else was having--Aperol Spritz!!  They were delicious.

So refreshing on a hot summer afternoon in La Morra

                                   

Back at our Belotti lunch last week, excited by the bright orange poster advertising Italy's #1 cocktail, we ordered Aperol Spritzes, but to our dismay we were served a dispirited watered down version of the cocktail in a short glass

After a few sips, we complained to our waiter and he cheerfully brought us two new drinks which he called biciclettas. These hit the spot and we happily drank them with our fabulous salad and pastas.

Biciclettas at Belotti

 After a bit of research I found out that a bicicletta is a cocktail made with Campari instead of Aperol, so  it's really a Campari Spritz. Chowhound's website offers a thorough comparison of the two liqueurs for those who may be interested. I am paraphrasing their comments below:

Both Campari and Aperol are part of the amaro family (amaro means bitter in Italian) which are consumed neat as an after dinner digestivo or before a meal as an aperitivo to stimulate the appetite. Aperol, created in 1919 by two brothers from Padua, is the sweeter of the two, with a higher sugar count and an alcohol content of 11%. It's signature blend is dominated by bitter and sweet oranges, rhubarb, plus a secretly guarded ratio of herbs and spices.

Campari, created in 1860 by Gaspari Campari in Milano, is significantly more bitter and boozy at 24% alcohol. Its flavor profile features orange zest and a pronounced herbaceousness as well as intense quinine, floral and tart red berry flavors. In cocktails the tartness is usually balanced with something  like sweet vermouth.

As for color, Aperol has a significantly lighter orange hue, while Campari is known for its bold electric red tint. Both colors are achieved by a coloring agent.

So when our waiter substituted a Bicicletta for an Aperol Spritz, he was plying us with a more alcoholic cocktail and hoping we would enjoy our lunch and go away happy. It worked! We are looking forward to returning and next time we'll order a Bicicletta straight away.

Challah for Rosh Hashanah

The traditional Jewish Sabbath bread, Challah, is typically oblong, but for Rosh Hashanah, everyone serves a round Challah to symbolize eternal life. Once an ethnic Eastern European food, challah has become as mainstream as bagels. Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year Festival and is always held in September. This year it's September 18th-20th and the Cheeseboard in Berkeley made a fruited loaf for the holiday. It sold out early on Friday so I was first in line on Saturday the 19th. I love their special holiday offerings--my favorite is their saffron bread sold at Christmas. They're very nondenominational.

Mid-August Lunch at Belotti

 

Lattuga ( living butter lettuce, toasted pine nuts, lemon dressing) plenty for 2

          

            To celebrate International Left Hander's Day, I took Dean out to lunch at Belotti in Oakland

This could be Italy but it's College Avenue in Oakland

Casoncelli Bergamaschi

Dean ordered casoncelli, a scrumptious, rich pasta dish that the chef describes as "my mom's Bergamo style stuffed pasta with beef, prosciutto, pork shoulder, grana padana, smoked pancetta, butter and sage."

 Dessert - an americano with a rich version of tiramisu. I had a traditional espresso

     Speaking of mid-August, I love this Italian movie. It's the perfect entertainment for hot summer nights! I saw it in the theatre a few years ago but it's now available from Netflix, so I sent for the DVD  and watched it again (and again!)