I adore food. So many of my memories are based around food. I keep a diary of things that I’ve done and things that I need to be doing, and inevitably food is a thread throughout them. For example- April 17: Make brioche and magic sauce. Get an email. Get jeans hemmed. Groceries. Run 8K. Relax. Pasta for dinner. Buy pens. Do taxes. This is a running list – not chronological by any means.
The thing is, as much as I adore food, it is not the first thing I think about when I wake up, nor the last thing that I think about before going to bed. Unless I’m really hungry. I think that’s a bit what I’m trying to reconcile in my writing at the moment: I can’t write about food all the time, because frankly I don’t want to think about food all the time.
So instead, please allow me the pleasure and privilege of introducing you to two fantastic bloggers who are more passionate about food than pretty-much-anyone-I-know. Both of them deserve all the success in the world in their food writing efforts, and both of them are on the cusp of getting it.
Lynne is responsible for a lot of good things that have come into my life. Like chocolate crack bars. A friend recently tried a batch of these ridiculous easy bars and was floored. I’ve never seen someone’s knees actually buckle under the taste of a pastry.
Lynne writes with sincerity and the authenticity of someone who loves to be in the kitchen, and especially be in front of the oven baking up something sweet. I would liken her to Christina Tosi, in that there’s no amount of sugar and butter that is too much for Lynne. Oreo frosting? Check. She’s not just hot for chocolate. No. Lynne has a deep love for lemon, so of course she and I would get along.
Lynne is also a marvelous person in-person: Bright and bubbly, and sweet as can be. She’s really good at connecting with people. She’s also very chatty. Which suits her really well, given that she’s the new presenter for Rogers TV’s Must. Love. Food. According to Rogers, every week, Must.Love.Food. will feature different local guests preparing their favourite recipes, plus food preparation segments with local ingredients and ideas. From the best in pies to the
most delectable cakes and spicy dishes that will leave you wanting more, Must.Love.Food. is the new TV destination for Ottawa’s best-kept recipes.
Kelly is the perfect compliment to Lynne, the more that I think about it. Her wit is a bit drier, her dishes a bit saltier, her words are more seasoned as it were. That said, I think if I could have any two ladies cooking for me, it would be these two. Also – truth be told – Kelly and I have a similar palate in terms of what we like (everything and anything that’s a bit salty, savoury) and what our partners don’t like. I go to Kelly when I want something that’s delicious, hearty, and feels right at the moment. As a mutual friend has said, she knows what I want to eat before I even open the fridge. If you haven’t been to her blog, The Gouda Life, you should. No, really. Now.
Kelly has the chance to do what she dreams of: Tourism Richmond is hiring a food blogger and they’re doing it by consensus. Kelly was one of 12 finalists, from over 1500 applications, in the competition to write for Tourism Richmond for one year. She would be undertaking the daunting task of eating out everyday for 365 days and writing about all of her experiences. Like I said, I’m not cut out to do that. But Kelly is. She is all kinds of cut-out. (Except for the cardboard cut-out.) There’s some amazing talent that made the cut, but I’m rooting for Ms. Kelly. The next stage is voting: Between now and May 1st, you can vote for Kelly daily here.
Please do. She’s a very talented food writer, as is Lynne. Watching them succeed in their passions has been an absolutely lovely, exciting, tasty process.
I’m terribly grateful to have both of these ladies in my life, and truly I’m so excited about their future successes. My sacrificial offering for your support? Why, peanut butter oreos of course. The perfect combination of salty and sweet, gooey, deliciousness.
Peanut Butter Oreos
Adapted from Flour
Icebox cookies
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, melted
1 egg
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
In a medium bowl, whisk the melted butter and the sugar until combined.
Whisk in the vanilla and melted chocolate. add the egg and stir until well blended.
In another bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Using a wooden spoon, stir the flour mixture into the chocolate mixture. The finished dough should feel like Play-Doh.
Place the dough on a long sheet of parchment paper. use your hands to shape it into a rough log, about 10 inches long and 2 1/2 inches in diameter.
Place the log at the edge of the parchment and roll the parchment around the log completely.
Refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours, or until it is firm enough to slice without crumbling.
Set the oven at 325 degrees.
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Remove the dough from the paper. Cut the log into slices, each a quarter-inch. set them on the baking sheets 1 inch apart.
Bake the cookies for ~20 minutes, or until they are firm when touched in the center. (My oven runs a bit hot, so this is usually closer to 15 minutes.)
Remove from the oven and allow them to cool slightly, but not completely.
Peanut butter filling
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon milk
pinch salt
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter on low speed for half a minute.
Add the vanilla and confectioners sugar and beat until smooth. beat in the milk and salt.
Once the cookies have cooled, place a heaping 1 tablespoon of filling on the flat side of half of the cookies.
Gently press the remaining cookies on the filling, flat sides against the cream, to evenly distribute the filling.
Eat.
Alternatively, store in an airtight container until your cravings can’t take it any longer.
Heartful Mouthful 