What I’ve Written, Baked, and Cooked This Week
It’s Friday. This week felt like an eternity. Here’s a recap:
I wrote my usual smart deal piece for Frommers.com, which went off without a hitch. I also finished up a slideshow piece about Philadelphia public art, and had to cut one (Sorry, “Manayunk Stoops”) because I could not get a photo. I also had difficulty obtaining all the information I needed for my Global Price Index column for Frommer’s. A couple of tourism boards just never met the request.
What I cooked:
I had a loose plan of what we were going to eat for dinner this week, but I wound up deviating a little bit because of the cold, rainy weather on Tuesday. I made a chicken tortilla soup with black beans, tomatoes, some of the corn I’d frozen from the summer, onions and garlic (what else) and fresh bread. I also had fresh cilantro that was going to get all black and wet if it wasn’t used soon. As for the seasonings, I used a freebie fajita seasoning Penzeys sent me (I love this company!) and let the chicken get all coated with that beforehand. I then added a tablespoon of flour to the chicken, which I’d never done before for a thick soup. It added a little thickness to the broth and I will never make a meat-based soup/stew without doing this again. Genius. (Thanks, Nigella Lawson)
Last night I roasted some onions and butternut squash and gave it a good glug of olive oil and a sprinkling of this delicious herbal sea salt I bought at Giacomo’s, and then tossed with penne, some good, sweet, nutty Asiago cheese, and ate it alongside fresh bread as the snow whirled around the house and the wind whipped and roads because treacherous. We had a friend over who lives far away so he did not have to make the commute last night or this morning.
What I Baked:
Two loaves of bread, three dozen schnecken, a dozen scones, a dozen chocolate chip cookies, a batch of chocolate chip-cranberry cookies (for an assignment for my class) and a chocolate yogurt loaf cake. Before tomorrow I think I’ll have baked more schnecken and cookies.
Here is the chocolate-cranberry cookie. 
