My hair is in rollers.  Like… kickin’ it old school in Velcro rollers.

No one needs to know that besides the 137 of you who read this  blog, my cat, and any random person who comes to this blog after Google searching “the most awesome biscuits ever made, for real”.

Ah.. the rollers.  It’s amazing how un-cute you have to look to eventually look cute-ish.  Boys don’t do this.  They just put on cardigans and look hot.

Now… there’s a lot of good news I need to tell you about these biscuits.  First:  bacon.  Second:  brown sugar.  Third:  butter.  Fourth:  they’re freaking biscuits!!!  And fifth:  they do not have an un-cute phase.  They’re all cute/delicious/freak-out-worthy, from beginning to end.

Do you really need convincing?  No.  Do I really need these rollers?  Um… today?  Yes.

I love when baked goods start with salty bacon and brown sugar.

It’s really a good path.

Cold butter is the key to big, fluffy biscuits.

It gets incorporated into the dough with fast fingers.

Sweet and salty bacon is paired with very coarsely crushed black pepper.

Every day needs a bite of spice!

Just mix biscuits with a fork… no biggie.

Try not to sneak all of the bacon bits out of the dough and into your mouth.

I could just stare at this picture all day.  It’s like being in love.

These biscuits… besides being completely delicious… are smack dab in the middle of sweet and savory.

You could top them with butter and jam, and feel just right.  Or!  You could add a fried egg and tomato jam and have a perfectly tasty morning.

It’s up to you.  Choose your own bacon biscuit adventure!

Brown Sugar Bacon Biscuits

makes about 8 biscuits

For the Bacon:

6 slices of bacon

1 tablespoon brown sugar

coarse ground black pepper

For the Biscuits:

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 to 1 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper

3/4 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes

1 large egg

3/4 cup buttermilk

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper and spread bacon across baking sheet in a single layer.  Sprinkle with brown sugar and black pepper.  Bake until crisp and cooked through, about 13 to 15 minutes.  Remove from the oven and carefully use tongs to place the hot bacon on a cutting board.  Don’t put the bacon on paper towels or they might stick.  Ick!  Allow to cool until you’re able to handle the slices and chop into medium chunks.  Set aside.

Increase oven temperature to 425 degrees F.  Line another baking sheet with parchment paper or foil, and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, sift together flour, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and black pepper.  Add cold butter and use your hands to quickly break the butter into the flour until mixture resembles coarse meal.  In another bowl, combine egg and buttermilk and beat lightly with a fork.  Add to flour mixture all at once, stirring to incorporate.  Once batter is nearly incorporated, add bacon and mix in.

You may want to dump the shaggy biscuit mixture onto a lightly floured board to knead together a few times.  Don’t overwork the dough and melt the butter, Just make sure it comes together.

Roll or pat dough into a 1-inch thickness.  Cut into 2-inch rounds using a biscuit cutter or cut into 2×2-inch squares.  Reshape and roll dough to create more biscuits with excess scraps.    Place on an ungreased baking sheet and bake at 425 degrees F for 12-15 minutes.  Serve biscuits warm with jam or a fried egg.

I love these biscuits the day they are made.  They can be kept in the fridge and will last for two days.  The shaped, uncooked biscuit can also be frozen.  Thaw in the fridge overnight and bake up in the morning.

Here’s a few things I’ve learned from life… they definitely have nothing to do with cookies:

Don’t laugh when someone asks you out on a date.  They’ll think you’re laughing at them.  They won’t understand that you’re just flattered and awkward and your head is about to explode.  Don’t chew gum in a public restroom.  It sorta feels like you’re eating bathroom air.  Capital Gross.

Lastly, don’t drink wine past 3:30am.  It’s totally past your bedtime and you won’t look pretty in the morning.

It’s just that life is so beautiful, I’d hate for you to make these mistakes.

Can we talk about cookies now?  Geez.

These cookies are with and without.

They’re just like chewy sugar cookies, with brown sugar.  They’re also just like chocolate chip cookies, without chocolate chips.  Wrap your brain around those deep depth thoughts.

These are the gorgeous, sweet, chewy, caramel cookies.  They sound so simple:  brown sugar cookies.  But seriously?  These are some of my new favorites.  They have just a touch of ginger and cinnamon in them too.  These aren’t spice cookies.  The ginger and cinnamon adds a roundness, not a ton of spice flavor.  These cookies are the real deal.

Oh!  If you wanted to add chocolate chips or toffee pieces, we will totally be friends for life.

hi.

hello.  hey.

so.  i made this rice pudding, then i stood in my kitchen and ate it from the pot with a tiny spoon.  a really tiny spoon.

i just stood there and ate half the batch.

i discovered then, that this recipe should just be called The Milk and Stir.

or What To Make When You’re Having a Weird Day and You Need to Eat Something Warm, and Sweet, and Starchy… and You Wish You Could Just Sit Around All Day, But You Can’t…. So You Just Stand in Your Kitchen and Eat This Pudding Like It’s Nobody’s Business… Cause It’s Totally Nobody’s Business.

Ok.  The Milk and Stir is catchier.

Have you ever made rice pudding with risotto rice?

It’s luxurious.  Risotto (Arborio) rice is different from long grain, white rice.  It’s more starchy and cooks into a creamy texture.  The cooking method is different too!  Instead of simmering rice in water, small amounts of liquid are added too cooking rice.  The rice slowly absorbs the liquid as you stand over the stove and stir.  Stir Stir Stir… for about fifteen minutes.  It’s actually the perfect amount of time to zone out and solve the problems that have caused you to stress out and make rice pudding in the first place… but maybe that’s just me.

I like to cook this rice pudding up into a looser texture by adding more milk.  The rice is so starchy that it really thickens, especially when cold.

Oh!  This dessert also has brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice, and vanilla bean.  It’s sweet, starchy, and the rice has just the slightest toothsome bite.

You best believe I’ve made rice pudding before.  If you don’t have Arborio rice, how about Jasmine Rice Pudding or Brown Rice Pudding?  I’ve got you covered.

Oh.  I almost forgot.  I love you.  I mean that.

When I move to a new living space, everything is unfamiliar.  Duh.

I walk into the closet instead of the bathroom.  I reach for the dishwasher when I should be checking on the cookies in the oven.  I stub my toes on the coffee table… a lot.  The sound of the mailman dropping letters in the box is startling.

Soon enough… all of these new home quirks will settle and disappear.

I thought the best way to counteract the newness was to fill my new home with the smell of something entirely familiar:  chocolate chip cookies.

It worked.  I only stubbed my toe on the coffee table twice instead of thrice.

Ps…. Maybe this entire post was just an excuse to work the word ‘thrice’ onto my blog. Hmmm…  think on that.

By now you probably know that I can’t leave well enough alone.

I wouldn’t just make plain old chocolate chip cookies and dump them in your lap.

See, I’m calling these Molasses Chocolate Chip Cookies because I’ve made my own brown sugar and added a good, hearty load of dark, unsulphured molasses.  It’s sexy.  Seriously.

I also used melted butter (instead of the traditional softened butter) and bread flour (instead of all-purpose flour).  This combination comes from Alton Brown.  He knows a thing or two.  The higher gluten content in bread flour helps keep the cookie in control.  Buuuut… the loads of molasses keep this cookie well browned and fairly flat.  Keep that in mind.  These flat cookies.are.delicious.

Intermission…

I found this photo during my move last week.  It was taken by my father in 1982.  It seems to be the very beginning of food blogging.

End Intermission.

These slender little cookies bring loads of flavor.  They’re deep.  They’re caramely.  They’re packed with dark chocolate chunks and topped with just a sprinkling of sea salt.  What more do you want?  Yeesh.

In the background there is my front door.  I’ll give you the home (and kitchen) tour soon.

Now wait just a second.

Why did no one tell me how dang easy it is to make my own brown sugar?

I sorta blew my own mind this morning.  It turns out that granulated sugar and molasses when combined with a bowl and fork (or mixer, if you’re feelin’ fancy) produces the freshest and fluffiest brown sugar.  Man… that’s satisfying.

And!  Bonus!  You can make the brown sugar as dark and flavorful as you like by controlling the amount of molasses.

This is just too good… and I’m just dorky enough to freak out at this kind of thing.

Alright .  Let’s put on out big, fat, brainiac caps.  This is about to get tough.  We’re mixing together two ingredients.  In a bowl.  With a fork… or a mixer.  If you use a mixer, you’ll still need a fork.  Don’t fight it.

Were you wondering how many pounds of Rainier Cherries I’ve eaten in the four days I’ve been in Seattle?  Well… just about six.  Six pounds of cherries.

Were you wondering if you can get a terrible tummyache from too eating too many Ranier Cherries?  Well… yes.  Yes you can.

Wait… I just realized that this recipe is similiar to the Banana Bourbon Bread Pudding I just made.  Yeesh.  I’m on a baked bread and fruit and sugar kick.  Bear with me.

I love a Brown Betty.  They’re so simple.  I imagine this is the sort of dessert I’ll make when I’m eighty, shuffling around the hosue wearing housecoats and slippers and lipstick.

This Brown Betty is cubed whole wheat bread, sugar, fruit and butter.  You have that stuff on hand, don’t you.

My sister saw me cubing bread for this dessert and swore that it would be a terrible waste of cherries.

I called her a good for nothin’ whipper snapper and went about my business.

Pitting cherries is sort of like murder… without the death.

Layers of sugar, butter, bread and fruit bake up to be a simply sweet dessert that is just nutty enough, thanks to the whole wheat bread, and with just the right amount of moisture and richness, thanks to generous amounts of butter.  I love cherries in this recipe, but you might want to try another summer fruit like : ripe peaches, raspberries or apricots.  Win.

Oh!  I had company while I made this Brown Betty.  This is Charles.  He doesn’t mind if you call him Chuck.  He likes tomato soup and potato chips.

I was ready to shovel this Betty in my mouth even before I put it in the oven…

… but warm from the oven, totally worth the wait.  I need ice cream.

I don’t do dishes in the morning.  Dishes are no way to start the day.

While I am all about a big, fat, kitchen wrecking breakfast- morning clean up is absolutely nowhere in my early day itinerary.

The reality is, I may not get to have that perfect, sunny morning weekend wake up experience everyday.  I am convinced, however, that there’s a way to put a smile on my face every morning… even if you have to force it on with a wrench.

When I’m in no mood to get out of bed and start my day I give myself this little speech in my head:  Joy,  stop being such a crabby pants.  Get out of bed, go put on that big robe that feels like a combination of cloud and kitten and make yourself breakfast without setting those robe sleeves on fire.  While you’re treating yourself to a fine morning… go ahead and take a break from those breakfast dishes.  You’ve done enough work just getting out of bed… The dishes can wait.

And just like that, the ugly Monday morning isn’t as nasty a beast as I thought.

Make Monday morning Vanilla Brown Sugar Breakfast Polenta, and let the dirty pan soak in the sink until you get home from work.  Live a little… don’t do the dishes.

What’s the deal with polenta?

Here’s what you need to know:  polenta is ground white or yellow cornmeal.  It is boiled with water or milk and made into a warm and super pleasing porridge.  The mixtures cooks up smooth and creamy and can be made either sweet or savory according to your needs.

The Moretti polenta I used is straight from Italy, although you can find it here it the states.  It’s dreamy.  The Moretti family has been making polenta in Lombardy since 1922.  Their corn is air dried then stone crushed.  It’s the real deal.  The polenta meal comes in different levels of coarseness.  I chose the fine grain meal because it cooks up faster and I love the texture for breakfast food.

Note:  If you have leftover polenta, don’t dump it!  Line a loaf pan with plastic wrap, add the leftover cooked polenta and cover with the overhanging plastic wrap.  Throw it in the fridge for a night or two, and I’ll show you how to make fried polenta sticks next!

I love to cook. I like to share. I have watched countless hours of cooking shows, and I have a camera. All of those things can only add up to one thing: I made a podcast!

My first leap into podcast land is with Brown Sugar Apple Cheesecake. You’ll see the cake made from start to finish. You’ll see my beloved Kitchen Aid mixer. You’ll see my dorky face saying dorky things.

[vimeo 730674]

(If you don’t see a video player above, you may need to upgrade your Flash Player.) I know… don’t shake your fist at me! Just in case, here is a YouTube version (lower quality) of the same podcast after the jump.

[youtube nvP6H1JXUYM]

I’d love to hear what you think! Let me know if you love it, or if I should go kick rocks. You can find the post and recipe for Dorie Greenspan’s Brown Sugar Apple Cheesecake here. Stay tuned for Poddcast 2: Fondant

Serious Apple Yum.