Whisky Glazed: Maker’s Mark Pecans

What’s up? Whisky is what. Let’s douse something in Kentucky bourbon.

whisky pecans light

Get on your Maker’s Mark!

makers glazed pecans ingredients

You need bourbon, pecans, dark Muscovado sugar, butter (of course) and salt for this bourbon-tinged midweek moment.

The hardest part of making Maker’s Glazed Pecans is trying not to eat them while they cool from a warm, gooey state and get set into glazed chunks of slightly salty sin.

Maker's Mark Pecans

Maker’s Glazed Pecans are quietly sweet, softly crunchy with a snap of salt. The whole nutty experience is underlined by the mellow caramel of Maker’s Mark. They contrast well against bitter greens like arugula. Add in some crumbled blue cheese, a simple vinaigrette and you have one of my favorite simple salads.

Maker’s Glazed Pecans on top of pure vanilla bean ice cream…I expect that needs no further explanation.

They disappear quickly if you sit around eating them so you can best describe their flavor on an oinking blog. My commitment to wooing you with snacks on Wednesdays is fierce.

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Shine a Light: The Art of Ann’s Greenlake

My friend, Jodi, is the kind of person who brings thoughtful gifts like homemade granola and Italian plums plucked from the tree in her backyard when you invite her over to drink wine and deconstruct Project Runway.

wine for girls night

A giant bag of locally grown Concord Grapes she gave me inspired my Concord Grape Extravaganza last year.

Jodi’s hand has made a cameo appearance on this blog before. Her hand is the one with the graceful fan of fingers, slim wrist, nice manicure. The one near the corks with the purple polish, pink ring…that’s my paw.

Jodi is the daughter of an artist, Ann Norton, who resided in the Seattle’s Greenlake neighborhood for over thirty years. I love Ann’s paintings.

anns greenlake shelves

This black cat should be an art studio muse or a reading nook companion.

black cat by Ann Norton

Ann Norton’s paintings are whimsical, emotional, vibrant. They speak for her now since her own voice has been fogged by Alzheimer’s disease.

My friend is shining a light on the world by sharing her mother’s art. Shine your light for the world to see.

I’d like to let Jodi’s words tell you more of their story:

My mom, Ann Norton, has always been a proud woman, one who let very few people if any get close to her, including me.

Ann Norton Vancouver 1950s

When the reality of her Alzheimer’s diagnosis finally sunk in I knew the road ahead was going to be a long, treacherous one for both of us.

Bright Spot by Ann Norton While going through our family home, to my surprise, I discovered hundreds of paintings my mom had created. As I looked through them, I remembered seeing her sit in her window seat, dabbing paper with a paintbrush. I asked her once what she was doing and she simply replied, “Oh, just doodling.” As I went to take a closer look, I was amazed at how beautiful her “doodles” were. I told her so. She said, “It just helps calm my nerves and keeps my mind at ease.”

What was so amazing about her art was the emotional connection I felt immediately just looking at it. Her art spoke to me like she never had.

Bubble Gum Tree by Ann NortonThere is a quiet serenity about her paintings though they harbor powerful emotions. They hold a sense of humor, a personality, perhaps a piece of her soul that communicates the joy and charm she didn’t express in her everyday life. When she felt compelled to paint, she simply grabbed any nearby scrap of paper, back of a product carton, or a piece of a cardboard box to get started.

I am blessed to feel this connection to my mom through her art. This connection as well as the emotion and beauty of my mom’s paintings are what drove me to share Ann’s Greenlake with you.

~Jodi Norton, daughter/curator

Prints of Ann Norton’s work are available for purchase here on Etsy. And Jodi has designed greeting cards from her mom’s paintings which are also available at the Ann’s Greenlake Etsy store. Ten percent of sales are donated to The Alzheimer’s Association.

Selected works from Ann’s Greenlake are currently on display through the end of May as part of the Freemont Art Walk. Several Seattle neighborhoods host art walks every month. Local galleries and businesses show art, serve wine and cheese and snacks. It’s cool and laid back. Art and snacks…I’m in!

Happy Mother’s Day! Oink for art. Oink to daughters and sons who give clarity and conjure beauty, life, a voice from what might otherwise undo them.

Anns Greenlake sunflower paintings

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As the Bacon Sizzles

Morning light and sizzling bacon go well together. Bacon cooked slowly on low makes a morning good.

bacon sizzling

Chocolate goes with soft sunlight too, right? Just to be sure…we’ll use two types of chocolate.

cookie making morning

This is the opening moment of a bacon baking mystery morning.

chocolate chopped

Hunks and slivers of chocolate are gonna get folded into fluffy batter along with crisply cooked, roughly chopped bacon.

Dough will be rolled while pigs watch, eyes wild from three successive espressos.

cookie dough balls

Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Bacon Cookies: mystery solved. Mouth made happy.

Oatmeal Chocolate Bacon Cookies

Soft-centered oatmeal cookies with crisp edges and melty pools of semi-sweet and dark chocolate are sweet and thick enough to quiet the bacon a bit. You get a salty, smoky pop every once in a while. It’s just enough bacon-y goodness to make it seem totally okay to have cookies and three espressos for breakfast.

cookies and mr bacon

May the dawn bring you thick, soft cookies with two types of chocolate and bacon.

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IOU Wednesday

I owe you. It’ll be worth the wait. Promise.

oatmeal chocolate bacon cookies and mr bacon

See you tomorrow for chocolate of many sorts and bacon. Oink!

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What’s That Wednesday Kaffir Lime Leaves

Kaffir Lime Leaves are my new crush.

Kaffir lime leaves

I saw them standing there by the refrigerated machine when I was cruising the produce department at Uwajimaya.

Kaffir lime leaves on slate

Kaffir (pronounced kay-fer) lime trees are native to Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia. They’re grown mainly for their hauntingly fragrant leaves which are essential in Thai cooking.

If you’ve sipped some Tom Yum or Tom Khaa soup you’ve sampled the citrusy magic of Kaffir lime leaves. Or at least I hope you’re sipping and souping at places that serve authentic lime leaf love because Kaffir lime leaves are divine…and really hard to define.

Kaffir lime leaves on bamboo

Kaffir lime leaves are intensely fragrant. Tear one and rub it on your hands or across your cutting board. Their scent is clean and sparkly but not in a light-handed way. It is lingering, lush, vividly citrusy.

The Kaffir lime fruit is small with bumpy skin and a somewhat bitter juice that’s used in cooking but not with the same frequency and enthusiasm as the leaves. The juice and rind are used in medicinal tonics for the blood and digestive system as well as in natural cleansers. Rubbing the leaves on your gums is supposed to be good for your mouth zone. And the juice is supposed to be wickedly good at getting out tough stains.

Kaffir lime leaves are pretty. I love the contrast of their shiny, dark green fronts and their bright, chartreuse backs; their almost heart-shaped leaves.

kaffr lime leaves back and front

They impart a flavor that’s a mix of lemon, lime and mandarin yet it is disctinctive. Whole leaves, fresh or dried, are used to flavor simmering stews and broths in much the same way as Bay leaves are used. The leaf is removed after the simmering or pushed aside in a curry…not eaten.

When fresh leaves are young and tender they can be slivered finely and used in salads. The sturdy center rib should be removed first if you’re going to try them that way.

Kaffir lime leaves can be dried and stored just like other dried herbs. The fresh leaves keep well frozen.

Have I convinced you to track down fresh Kaffir lime leaves yet? Did I tell you I read that you can throw a few in your bathwater for a refreshing spa moment? Trying it!

Kaffir limes leaves are rumored to be good for warding off evil spirits and banishing gloomy moods. I like both those qualities.

This might turn into a Kaffir Lime Leaf Palooza.

In the meantime…if you pick up Kaffir Lime Leaves try throwing one in coconut water or stock and poaching fish in it which I did with cod. I also added a fresh Kaffir lime leaf to red beans while they simmered and those red beans rocked. Kaffir lime leaves will impart a mysterious, deeply citrus note into your concoctions. A few leaves simmering in water will cleanse the air and make your home smell spiffy. Plus…it’ll keep the gloomsters and ill-willed spirits away. Win win and what what!

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With and Without: Strawberry Soda and Heavy Cream

Bright moments happen when strawberries, Meyer lemon, vanilla bean and seltzer meet.

strawberry meyer lemon soda

I’m a fan of bright moments and stripey straws.

strawberry meyer lemon soda with striped straw

Strawberries were on sale and looking good this week at my local market. Meyer lemons were hanging out in yellow mesh bags…acting affordable. Plus there was sunshine.

This is a serious miracle in the Pacific Northwest where the sun is coy.

dramatic northwest sky

Seize that serious, sudden, bright moment!

Fresh vanilla beans bring a calm smoothness to this beverage. Meyer lemon juice brightens and highlights the fruity sweetness of fresh strawberries.

meyer lemon halves

In case you haven’t tried one…Meyer lemons have the crisscrossed taste of mandarin orange and lemon. They are aromatic, sweet, slightly tart and rounder than straightforward lemons. That’s how Meyer lemons roll.

meyer lemons rolling

Since we’re seizing the moment we should add some heavy cream to this concoction.

heavy cream in strawberry meyer lemon soda

Heavy cream poured into a crisp, fruit-sweet strawberry soda is totally good for truly appreciating a bright moment.

strawberry meyer lemon vanilla cream soda

Strawberry Cream Soda. Sparkly, light milkshake.

It’s like you listened to the devil on your devil shoulder just a little bit but you didn’t sell your soul.

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A Wolf in Beets Clothing

I’d call this a ladylike lunch but considering the zeal with which I consumed this Golden Beet Crème Fraiche Salad, Wolf Snack might be more accurate. At least I set out flowers and a tablecloth.

three vases spring flowers

p.s. I believe in the beauty of rumpled linens.

This dish is NOT a quiet side of sad veggies waiting like a wallflower for a little attention.

golden beets backlit

Thinly sliced, raw beets are sharpened by a lemon shallot vinaigrette and soothed by the calm cool of crème fraiche in this simple salad. I wolfed down a whole plate of Golden Beet Crème Fraiche Salad and called it lunch.

golden beets on blue

A few simply prepared ingredients create a play of flavors and textures that makes you want more. Finely minced shallots sharpen up the earthy sweetness of golden beets. A sweep through luscious crème fraiche calms that high note down. Raw walnuts underline a smooth earthiness. And fresh lemon juice brings on citrus clarity.

I’m tempted to compare the addictive crunchiness of raw beets to the heaven-sent crackle of Doritos. Sliced raw beets are crunchy with just the slightest veggie give at the finish. Okay…they’re not as crunchy as Doritos but beets of all colors are good (and good for you).

Doritos truck

I’m also tempted to paint a wall this color and name it Pavlovian Gold. Living with it will make me fierce, hungry, instinctive. It’ll be a lair, a den. Call it home.

Home is here where I howl at night lights…

night lights san francisco

and hunt sunstruck streets

nyc street sunstruck

Home is my weightless heart, gone loopy, drawing on the sky.

stunt plane over Lisbon

Happy Anniversary, Mr. Bacon! You are my home.

Howl.

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Spring Vegetable Soup with Slivers of Sizzle

This is an art studio luncheon. A simple bowl of soup on a rickety, round table gussied up with vintage linen and a milk glass cake plate. A Spring bloom in the delicate, glass vase my buddy and former roomie, Betsy (hello Betsy Loo…I miss you!), gave me. Busy city street.

spring soup city street

Paper thin slivers of potatoes and carrots are the magic in this soup. I do my best to slice them super thin…translucently thin. Use a mandoline if you have one. I need to get one of those suckers.

Thinly slivered veggies cook quickly. And you’ll get a little bite of each ingredient in every spoonful. There’s a supporting cast of tender leeks, crisp green beans and one sumptuous piece of slab bacon because good things begin with bacon.

spring vegetable soup

Spring Vegetable Soup starts up with sizzling bacon slivers which gives this soup a lightly smoky, slightly sinful taste. Bacon is the mischievous background player in this production that you just can’t help noticing.

I throw in whole pink peppercorns while the soup simmers to add a quiet, subtly floral note. This is a Spring soup after all.

Spring Vegetable Soup close

It’s time for light, bright, veggie-loaded soup with a tinge of naughty richness. Time to savor a view, buy a bloom from your favorite flower shop, watch the city buzz by and sup soup.

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The Easter Tree

My grandmother, Bootsie, wore skirts, heels, hose, herringbone blazers and chic, wide leather belts when she went out to lunch every day. Bootsie carried a small, silver flask of gin in her handbag and she’d jazz up her lunchtime martini with quick, covert douses.

Grandma Boots believed in gin (very dry, up with a twist), classic fashion, statement belts and the obvious health benefits of sneaking a single piece of chocolate in the late afternoon. Boots had mad stashes of chocolate hidden around her house which may have been how she got the idea to make an Easter Tree.

easter tree start

I think I’m the only member of my blown apart family who loved (and remembers) Bootsie’s Easter Tree tradition. I thought it was genius. Still do.

The Easter Tree is a casual, bohemian, chocolate stashin’ relative of other arborous holiday décor. An Easter Tree requires no big whoop, no stress. You can use a houseplant like Bootsie did when she started this awesome tradition. Houseplant plus ribbon plus chocolate tied onto houseplant with ribbon equals Easter Tree. Done.

You can use branches, drink umbrellas and kitchen string. No worries. Got it? Decorate with it!

paper umbrellas on tree

Pretty little things should appear on and around the tree…you know…whenever you come across something pretty and feel like adding onto your tree.

hummingbird and easter tree

The tree shall bloom and those blooms shall be chocolate.

chocolate on the easter tree

When other family members get bent up about religions and start dissing Easter just call it a Spring Tree and carry on. Chocolate is a religion.

Frog chocolate easter tree

You could totally spend an hour with an origami instruction booklet trying to make a pig from a square of pink paper that’s softening along refolded seams. It’ll be that je nais c’est pas your tree was pining for. Plus Spring is best enjoyed with a jazzed-up martini on the deck and that whole origami thing will give you something to fidget with during happy hour.

origami pig

The Easter Tree should be fun, sweet, whimsical and absolutely NOT formal or fussy.

Grandma Boots always preferred the Easter Tree to the Christmas one. Everyone would complement the big-ass, bauble-loaded Christmas tree and she’d always say, “I like my little Easter Tree best.” And then no-one would remember that we had an awesome and genius houseplant that morphed into an Easter Tree every Spring…except me.

Later Grandma Boots and I would agree on the superiority of The Easter Tree while nibbling mad-stash chocolate in the kitchen and wondering if anyone would help us untangle the Christmas tinsel they claimed to love so much.

decorated easter tree

Dear Grandma Bootsie…spirited chocolate and pretty little things whisper your name while bright green stems break ground. I remember you.

I drape my navy blue blazer over my shoulders when I get a chill because you always did that blazer-drapey thing and you were so damn chic. I got you, Bootsie. I buy a well-fitting blazer every fall and one excellent belt per year. I shall maintain your sweet and classically stylish traditions. When I hit sixty I’m totally buying a flask.

Happy Springtime, people! Happy mad-stash, Bootsie-worthy chocolate! Happy Easter Tree…because chocolate is so much better than tangled tinsel. Represent!

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Muscovado Mini Cupcakes with Grapefruit Ginger Icing

I’m ready for sunshot skies and fluffy flowers. Springtime, get here!

cherry blossom tree Seattle

I have many mini cupcakes sweetened with deep, molasses-rich Dark Muscovado sugar.

bear and muscovado sugar

Muscovado Mini Cupcakes with Grapefruit Ginger Icing is one of the first recipes in my new recipe-scribbling, brainstormin’, black bear notebook.

cupcakes icing grapefruit

I have many mini muscovado cupcakes less three (or seven).  Three (or so) is the number of mini muscovado, coconut milk cupcakes dolloped with grapefruit, ginger, cream cheese frosting that one needs to eat in order to definitively decide that they are good.

the three muscovado minis

Good enough to oink about. Good enough to tempt the sun.

muscovado cupcakes with grapefruit ginger icing

All for you, Springtime, because you are on the way here…right? Good!

Copyright © fatpiginthemarket. Recipe by fat pig. Microformatting by hRecipe.
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