The Hunger Struck - Confessions of a Food Fanatic.

Several weeks ago I bought a huge butternut squash and because I’m somewhat indecisive, it has been sitting on my counter untouched ever since. I found myself staring at it everyday, uninspired by the thought of making soup or roasting it as is, just bored of my usual recipes. Bored, bored,  bored.

What to do?

After a few weeks I decided that it was time to search around a bit and hopefully get inspired by what others have made and maybe find something that is a bit out of the ordinary from me. Something sweet like muffins but better, it definitely had to be better than muffins.

Well I didn’t have to search long before I found the answer tucked away in the 2006 archives of La Tartine Gourmand. The second I read Squash Harvest Loaf I was captivated and knew what had to be done.  Sometimes all it takes is a quick glance through the ingredients of a recipe to feel completely confident about how it will turn out. Pureed roasted butternut squash + buttermilk + Roasted Pumpkin Seeds, Pecans, Walnuts… what could go wrong?

Kolaches are something one doesn’t find too often on bakery shelves in Vancouver. These little pastries originated in the Czech Republic, and consist of a sweet yeast dough with fillings ranging from different types of fruit preserves to cheese. I first discovered these little things years ago when I still lived in New York, but until recently have not really had any strong desire to tackle these in my kitchen.

I’m not one of those people who is easily intimidated by making yeast breads of any kind, but there is something I can’t quite put my finger on that happens when I make sweet breads involving yeast: they never taste quite as good as when they’re made by other people.

Similar to when I was a kid, I always thought my friends sandwiches tasted way better than mine. Not because my mother didn’t make a good sandwich, because she did, but for some completely random reason that makes no logical sense.

I have a tendency to have very unseasonal food cravings. I try to keep them under wraps, or at least attempt to control them, but one way or the other they always find a way to crawl out.  It can be the dead middle of the hottest summer in the last ten years and 3 months from flu season and I will be trying to stifle an out of control urge for chicken soup with matzah balls.

Wrong, I know but completely out of my control.

Unlike some people who insist that they can’t eat anything thats not light during those hottest months of the year, I have a tendency to crave these winter foods more intensely and then ultimately give in. I find that the easiest way to get a handle on cravings of this intensity really is just to give in to them. Which is why occasionally you can find me in my kitchen doing extremely unseasonal things that most people in the food world actively frown upon.

One of the very first things that I baked, completely by myself without any help from my mother were scones. I’m not exactly sure why it was scones that I chose. I know these were a favorite breakfast growing up, and they were one of those things that I made every morning during a summer job I had at a bakery in my early teens, but I can’t put my finger on exactly what it was that attracted me to the scone in the first place. Not that they aren’t wonderful, and the most perfect accompaniment to a lovely cup of tea at anytime of day or night, just not something you would imagine a kid really wanting to make.

I think that one of the reasons I love them so much today is that they are a neutral canvas and can be mixed with many a different fruit either fresh or dried, cheese both mild and strong (Stilton and Pear Scones are one of my favorite combinations) and are extremely easy to pull together. So easy in fact that it’s quite possible to get these together in the morning while your coffee is still brewing and have one of these beautiful little things in your mouth before your first cup is empty.