February 21st - February 27th
Our bedroom received a facelift this week. After months of complaining about our bed, we decided it was time to replace it. It was our first big purchase together seven years ago. A month after moving into Marco's college house and sleeping on his full bed, I couldn't take it and demanded we upgrade. We spent a few hours in a mattress store arguing about his request for a firm bed and my need for a plush soft bed. Eventually, we walked about with something in the middle and a new line of credit.
This time we went the "bed in a box" route. A concept that my mother-in-law found weird but everyone does it now. The mattress in our guest bedroom was an impulse bed in a box purchase after our belongings took an extra week to arrive during our cross-country move. Four nights on an air mattress and I went out to get whatever mattress was available to bring home that moment. This time we did a little research looking through the "Sleep Better Now" edition of Consumer Reports and landed on the OG bed in a box, Casper. Somehow I convinced Marco we also needed a new bed frame for this mattress and of course a rug. Now measurements for new blinds have been taken and our electrician is coming in two weeks to remove the ugly ceiling fan. No complaints from me. With all the time we spend at home now our bedroom could use the extra love to feel a little more special.
My favorite part about all of this is actually the cleaning. This sick obsession with spotless surfaces and constant organization runs deep in my veins. It was inherited by my grandmother who is always working on a cleaning or organization project. Always! Friday morning I removed everything out of our bedroom, swept, vacuumed, and mopped the floors. This was followed by a good scrub to the window sills and baseboards. I took a magic eraser to any marks on the walls and got every speck of dust off of the ugly fan. By the time the furniture was delivered the room was spotless. A fresh start. I unrolled the new rug into a clean room, assembled the bed frame, and broke our mattress out of his box. I finished the day by ironing my clean sheets, a psychotic thing to do but that brings me infinite amounts of joy. The crisp perfect bed brings me joy, not necessarily the act of ironing. The bedroom aired out for a few hours and I lit a floral spring candle. I'm feeling like a new woman excited to go to sleep in her new bedroom!
I am very excited to share this Spiced Pear Pull-Apart Bun recipe with you guys! I had the idea a few weeks ago for a breakfast pastry, similar to a cinnamon bun, filled with fruit and warm spices. This is what I ended up with!
The dough is a buttermilk brioche dough. It has honey, eggs, lots of butter, and vanilla in it. On its own, it's rich but not heavy and has a pleasant sweetness to it. For the filling, I cooked down pears with orange zest, cardamom, cinnamon, and more honey. When the pears cook they will get liquidy, then start to brown and reduce, and then get thick and slightly caramelized. Keep an eye on them, stir them often, but don't be afraid to keep cooking them until they look thick. I wanted these to be sweet but not a sugar bomb. I ended up adding a sprinkle of brown sugar before rolling the buns. If you are looking for something on the sweet side, sprinkle an extra Tablespoon or two of brown sugar to bump up the sweetness. Toasted pecans and walnuts add texture and nutty flavor to the buns. To finish them they get brushed with simple syrup, just a little, and dusted with spiced sugar. This does two things, when you take a bite you get the cardamon and cinnamon aroma right under your nose and your tongue gets coated with a little bit of sugar. It rounds out the whole experience.
This recipe makes two pans of buns, 10-12 buns total. I tested a half batch and it does work but the full batch had better results. You can use an 8-inch or 9-inch cake pan but I preferred how they baked a little closer together in the 8-inch pan. The brioche dough has to rise in the fridge overnight, making this a two-day project. Plan accordingly. If you start your dough Friday night after work, you'll have Spiced Pear Pull-Apart Buns for breakfast Saturday. Enjoy!
Purim came and went this week. A few days before, I figured I should attempt gluten-free hamantaschen for Marco. I used Joan Nathan's recipe subbing my normal GF flour for AP flour. I added some vanilla to the dough and used extra spiced pear filling. I can't say they came out perfect but they were enjoyable. A little crumbly but the flavors were good.
I went rogue and attempted savory hamantaschen too. The filling was excellent and made of goat cheese, dijon, and thinly sliced scallions. The dough...was a fail. The texture was bad and bland. Marco still ate them but they were not great. I have lots of time to work on a foolproof GF recipe for next year.
Let's have a quick talk about bones. I save every bone in this house. Raw or cooked they get thrown in a bag and frozen until I have a use for it. One of my favorite things to do is to throw a pork shoulder bone into a pot of beans. I often have pork shoulder bones after making a recipe that calls for cubes of pork shoulder meat. The bone and any meat left on the bone will help create a really flavorful broth and you get to eat any leftover little bits of meat. In theory, you could do this with bones from any protein you have. Either way, hang on to your bones and use them to make broth. They are loaded with flavor and collagen and can be used instead of tossed out. Save the bones!!
Along with beans and polenta, add a can of artichoke hearts to your list of pantry staples. This week's Thursday recipe was Artichoke + Lemon Pasta. Made with eight ingredients, using only two pans, this dish comes together in 20 minutes. It's the perfect quick weeknight dinner.
Recipes From This Week:
Mediterranean Grilled Meatball Salad (similar)
Thing Everybody Needs:
Every bed should have bright white crisp ironed sheets on it. I want to feel like I'm in a hotel every night. A few people asked about how to keep sheets bright...Oxi Clean White Revive is the secret.
When I worked in homes as a family assistant my favorite house cleaner shared this tip with me. Every handful of washes add a scoop to your sheets and towels. If they are looking extra dull do a little soak.
Oh, and no dogs on the bed. Dogs are dirty. Have a designated blanket that you put down to keep your dogs off the white sheets.
Animal Cuteness:
Three little beans. These beans should not be kept in the pantry.
Random Thing From This Week:
Texture details from our bedroom facelift.
Book I'm Cooking Through Next Month:
Hot & Hot Fish Club Cookbook, Chris Hastings
I found some bulbs in the garage that we didn't get around to planting in the fall. They started sprouting! We are going to pop them in the ground and hope for the best. What are you doing to get ready for spring?
See you next week,
Marcella
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