Buy a Doughnut [/Donut] Today... or Make One Yourself!

Today we celebrate "Buy a Doughnut Day," but as the folks at CDKitchen suggest, why not modify this day to be "Make a Doughnut [/Donut] Day"? In honour of the donut, I finally got around to making Chinese-style donuts which fed perfectly as a dessert to a dinner I had last night with four Denison students who live in my residence hall. Just as these recipes suggest (links 1, 2, and 3), the easiest way to make homemade donuts is to shape them out of the pre-made buttermilk biscuit canisters you can find in the grocery store. But with successive failed attempts at working with yeast, I was determined to finally master its use in creating homemade, from-scratch, donuts fit for celebrating. By combining these recipes (here and here) along with the brilliant recipe found at the Pioneer Woman's blogsite, I got around to making light donuts that were warm with doughy goodness. I have made donuts before using the pre-made stuff, but with a little patience, the from-scratch variety is much more meaningful. Along with my Chinese-style donuts with spiced chocolate sauce and whipped cream, the rest of the dinner menu included a Vienna pizza bread on my part, and by Joy (one of the students), soy sauce chicken and mushrooms, spicy sliced pork and cabbage, and "real" rice(!).

Stone Hall Potluck Kicks Off Food and Culture Programming

Good morning! If you're reading this and didn't know by now, I'm embarking on new programming here on campus focusing on food and culture. In the last few months, I've learned there are faculty on campus that teach about food but not much has been done by way of non-class-related programming... until now. Certainly a means of getting residents to meet each other in a more pseudo-formal structure, the Resident Assistants in the residence hall I'm living in organized a potluck for the building, with our charge that residents who participate in the dinner need to bring food that somehow represents the residents in the room in some way. Not only was there a great turn out, but there were great explanations and conversations that joined the eclectic mix of identity represented in food.

One of the Simplest "Recipes" in My Collection

I distinctly remember one rainy afternoon in New York, during the summer of 2009. And by raining, I mean there was a total downpour and those of us running around the city to grab last-minute groceries didn't have umbrellas with us. We eventually got to a wonderful apartment and I somehow found myself at work in a kitchen just barely larger than the cooking space I had in Paris. Among the courses were chicken cordon bleu, ravioletti, wedge salad, bread, cheese, and forgettable store-bought chocolate mousse and (Americanized) chocolate croissants. Yet, one thing stood out amongst them all: Nutella-filled strawberries, a revelation of sorts it seemed, but for some reason still holds true today as I re-share this recipe.

An El Salvadorian Dinner and a "Rustic" Dessert

Tonight, more than any other night here at Denison, served as a reminder why I enjoy cooking with others. And despite the hours of searching for recipes, perfection and understanding only arrive upon trial and error.

Yesterday, I was talking to one of the student workers and explained to him that I had been thinking about what to cook next this weekend. After some convincing, I took on the challenge of making pupusas. Little did I know until last night's research that what I had signed onto was actually making a staple dish of El Salvador. I had agreed to attempt to cook something that he, and the rest of El Salvador it seems, holds very dear and true to his heritage.