Lemon sour cream bundt cake

We had leftover creme fraiche and sour cream, so tried this recipe: https://bakingbites.com/2019/03/lemon-sour-cream-bundt-cake/. We used ½ cup creme fraiche and ½ cup sour cream. For the sugar, we used a 2:1 ratio of citrus-infused sugar to plain white sugar. For the batter, we used zest from 2 lemons and juice from 1 ½ lemons (which… Continue reading Lemon sour cream bundt cake

Creamy lemon bars with graham cracker crust

We tried this recipe from Yummly: https://www.yummly.com/recipe/CREAMY-LEMON-SQUARES-9125801 The ingredients are simple: 1.5 cups graham cracker crumbs, 4 Tbsp melted unsalted butter plus 1 ½ tsp for buttering the casserole dish, ¼ cup sugar (we used vanilla-infused), 14 oz sweetened condensed milk, 2 egg yolks, and ½ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice. We found the crust… Continue reading Creamy lemon bars with graham cracker crust

Concord grape jam

Our friend Leah gifted us kyoho grapes, a type of Concord grape commonly found in Japan and Korea. We tried this recipe: https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2011/09/concord-grape-jam-recipe-grape-jelly.html Our modifications: because we had 3 ½ cups grapes (not 8 cups), we roughly halved the recipe. For the sugar, we reduced to 1 cup citrus-infused granulated sugar and 1 ¼ cups… Continue reading Concord grape jam

Vinegar-braised chicken legs with shiitakes, star anise, and dried fruit, pressure cooker style

We tried this recipe: https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/vinegar-braised-chicken-legs Our modifications: first, to cut down cooking time, we used a large (10 qt) pressure cooker. Second, based on our pantry, we used 10 skin-on drumsticks (about 2.5 lb) instead of 4 drumsticks and 4 thighs. We also substituted 6 dried apricots for 1/3 golden raisins and 2 small dried… Continue reading Vinegar-braised chicken legs with shiitakes, star anise, and dried fruit, pressure cooker style

Bacon-wrapped dried apricots with sage

Details here: https://www.reluctantgourmet.com/bacon-wrapped-dried-apricots-sage-recipe/ We didn’t have enough sage, so we cut the sage leaves into 2 pieces and then placed one piece of sage on each apricot before wrapping it in 1/3 piece of bacon. We found 375 too low to crisp up the bacon, so we increased to 400. (May 2019) Note: While making… Continue reading Bacon-wrapped dried apricots with sage

Homemade blueberry pie filling

We tried this recipe: http://chocolatewithgrace.com/homemade-blueberry-pie-filling/ The recipe called for 2 cups frozen or fresh blueberries. Because we had 2 ½ cups frozen blueberries on hand, we increased the other ingredients by 25%: 2 ½ Tbsp (2 Tbsp plus 1 ½ tsp) cornstarch, 5/8 cup (½ cup plus 2 Tbsp, but we reduced by 1 Tbsp)… Continue reading Homemade blueberry pie filling

Blueberry crumb pie

We had about 14 oz fresh (but too soft) blueberries and a frozen pie crust, so we tried this recipe: https://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/blueberry-crumb-pie-34185 Because we used frozen pie crust, we let it come to room temperature for 10 mins, and then poked the bottom of the crust a few times with a fork before scooping in the… Continue reading Blueberry crumb pie