My Week in Food

Started off the week with brunch at the supremely charming newish 20th Century Cafe in Hayes Valley where we shared a slice of this honey cake made up of about eight heavenly layers.

That night there was more good eats as we hosted a family birthday supper featuring, among other goodies, purple cauliflower, done up with Middle Eastern spices and roasted in a hot oven. Pretty, no?

I sort of hoped all that cauliflower would balance out the fact that we ended our Sunday just like we started it: with cake. In this case, Grapefruit Olive Oil cake from the Smitten Kitchen cookbook.

On the subject of cookbooks, the girls and I dug into the Feast book, starting out with Carrot Soup with Chives.

Followed by Warm Winter Vegetables with Farro. Double thumbs up.

With temperatures dropping it’s time to pull out the slow cooker.  Made this Slow Cooker Pumpkin Bread, excellent toasted, then spread with whipped cream cheese for breakfast.

Tried out a trick for cooking with saffron I learned from an Iranian friend who uses it often: run saffron fronds through a spice grinder or (supremely clean) coffee grinder.  Then, just before using, steep the saffron in a little hot water to make the flavor bloom.

I put my first batch of saffron to work in this Moroccan Chicken with Dates. It tasted dreamy.

It seems lots of folks seem to think this is dreamy, too, since it sells like hot cakes at Trader Joe’s. Just one question, what exactly is “Cookie Butter”? It’s packaged just like peanut butter, but made with biscuits. Anyone?

How was your Week in Food?