Rooibos-Poached Pears with Raw Chocolate Olive Oil Sauce

First off, this chocolate sauce is Incredible. I think I'm going to eat it on absolutely everything. The pears are also tasty. Very nice, elegant dessert. Feels like it should be eaten on fine china when the queen comes over. 

Trippy Tie-Die Soup

Impressive looking with the swirl! Dinner at Grandma and Pap's with Katie. 

Salt 'N' Pepper Chocolate Chip Cookies

Made these for my final Denver Bookclub. This is my favorite thing I've made from this book so far. Love the black pepper flavor. But they spred out a ton. Be warned, they are an extremely thin cookie. 

Four Corners Lentil Soup

                                Four Corners Lentil Soup                            

Will you look at that - we used the same bowl.

Sarah talks in My New Roots about "the holy trinity of flavor" - salt/sugar/acid.

This soup is a nice example of that. The lemon provided the acid, and the squirt

of maple syrup at the end truly balanced the flavor.

Four Corners Lentil Soup

Warming and nice. Would be lovely eaten with a chunk of doughy bread. 

Leek "Scallops" and Chanterelles on Black Rice

                                  Leek "Scallops" II

Here is my attempt at the same recipe. I enjoyed making this recipe, and even my meat eaters seemed to find it tasty and satisfying.  I had the same problem finding the Chanterelles mushrooms, but substitutions were fine.  I loved the black rice and found it very versatile when combining it with other ingredients to use up the leftovers. 

Coziest Banana Bread

                     Coziest Banana Bread

In anticipation of beginning our cooking adventure, I began to read through the cookbook.  I was so inspired that I had to make something.  Since it was not yet 2016, I chose to make Coziest Banana Bread from Sarah's "My New Roots" Blog.

The bread has a rich banana flavor, is wonderfully moist, and is filled with goodness. A cozy addition to a cold winter's day.

The Perfect Gift to Last All Year

             The Perfect Gift to Last All Year

For my birthday last year I received "My New Roots" cookbook from my daughter, Jillian, complete with her own added illustrations and comments. Along with the book came an invitation to join her in this cooking adventure. So... across the miles, and with the help of Sarah Britton's inspired recipes,  we will connect our Kindred Spirits as we cook through this book in 2016.

Leek "Scallops" And Chanterelles On Black Rice

Shiitake and Crimini mushrooms instead of Chanterelle because I couldn't find any fresh.  I did try to plump up some dehydrated chanterelle, but it didn't quite work.  But the shiitake were very good anyway. 

 

This was a nice way to bring in the new year.  Tim called it very 'woodsy,' but we both thought we would eat it again.  The seasoning and olive oil at the end were very important.  Next time I would make even more mushrooms.

I have so been looking forward to trying out recipe number one!  I think this is going to be a grand cooking adventure!

New Year, New Roots