Poor A. has strep and he’s been feverish all weekend. I thought I’d bake a treat for a lazy Sunday breakfast while my three boys tried to unlock yet another character on Mario Kart. I came across a recipe on Parenting.com for Sour Cream-Chocolate Chip Muffins, which looked fast and simple. Only, it omitted the quantity of sugar in the ingredients list. I used a scant 3/4 cup of granulated sugar and otherwise followed the recipe.
G. came running into the kitchen as soon as he smelled them baking, excited to have chocolate chip cookies for breakfast! He was not even a bit disappointed when I told him they were muffins, not cookies (might as well have been dessert with these ingredients, though). We all loved them, and I was tickled by the fact that J. was able to snap off the muffin top from the “stump” — the muffins were just the right balance of substantial heft (not fluffy like a cupcake) but not too dense so that they sat heavily in your stomach. Really delicious, and a treat that made A. feel better, if only for a moment.
I still had sweet potatoes left from my last farm share, and although I kept intending to make burritos with them it just never happened. I was going to make Sweet Potato Buttermilk Cornbread, but didn’t want to buy buttermilk for just that recipe. Instead, I decided to try my hand at another yeast roll (I’d made Pumpkin Dinner Rolls once before — what is with me and orange bread?).
I settled on Sweet Potato Rolls, using the puree from my microwaved CSA sweet potatoes, and they turned out beautifully. They are soft and substantial, with a bit of chewiness when you bite into them. I thought they were texturally perfect, so yay me! However, the flavor was bland. Really no hint of the sweet potato, and not quite sweet or savory. Like white bread. But, hot out of the oven they are wonderful — what could be bad about a freshly-baked roll? A. liked them a lot and G. said they were “pretty good,” but then he only ate a nibble.
I had to start this recipe at 2 PM in order to have them ready for dinner — they need to rise twice. I scheduled them today because I knew I’d be home all afternoon, but I wonder if it’s worth it. It is an easy recipe, and I did feel a sense of accomplish in baking with yeast successfully. Still, even though the hands-on time is low it just seems like a lot of work for not enough reward. A fun project for once in a while, but not something I’d want to do regularly.
Edited to add: These were very good at room temperature the next morning. You could taste more of the sweetness in the recipe, and they made a lovely breakfast.
I had buttermilk leftover from making cupcakes out of my Dr. Pepper Cake recipe, and a bag of sweet potatoes from my farm share, so I headed over to CookThink to see if I could find a recipe to use them up. I got a perfect match: Sweet Potato Corn Bread. Even more perfect because it was spectacularly delicious.
This is a moist, sweet corn bread — but not so sweet that you feel like you’re eating cake. The small amount of cayenne adds a subtle background heat which was just enough so that A. detected it, but didn’t mind it. The sweet potatoes are pureed before being added to the batter, so they were very stealth — perfect for my produce-averse kids. My parents, Jason, and I loved it as well. I might not buy buttermilk specifically for this recipe, but if I had to use some up I would definitely make it again (maybe as muffins next time).
Schmaltz is rendered chicken fat used in traditional Jewish cooking. You can make schmaltz yourself or even buy containers of it in a supermarket that carries kosher products. I’ve never used schmaltz in a recipe — I just substitute olive oil or similar — but tonight’s dinner reminded me of it!
I roasted (at 400° F) two leg & thigh pieces of chicken on top of three bulbs worth of peeled garlic cloves (from my CSA) for about an hour and a quarter. Aside from spraying my glass baking dish with Pam, I didn’t use any oil and because I was cooking the chicken specifically for the boys tonight, I left it unseasoned — I cook it with the skin on and then remove it before serving. I have the best luck getting them to eat chicken this way.
The garlic, since it’s underneath the skin-on chicken, cooks in the drippings as the fat renders during cooking. The cloves become all buttery and smooth, and mild as can be. Once the chicken was cooked, I removed the garlic with a slotted spoon and blotted it with a paper towel. Then I spread several cloves on a piece of challah and… mmmmmm. Heaven. If this is schmaltzy, I’ll take it.
I'm Dara, the Chick in the Kitchen. Living in the suburbs of Manhattan with my two school-aged boys and husband. Feeding my family something more diverse than a different shape of pasta each night. Read more about me and CITK, and keep in touch:
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Cheesy Kale Crisps: We rarely eat kale now that our farm share is over, and I want to fix that. I've wanted to try using nutritional yeast, and this recipe looks like a tasty way to do it.
I'm Dara, the Chick in the Kitchen. Living in the suburbs of Manhattan with my two school-aged boys and husband. Feeding my family something more diverse than a different shape of pasta each night. Read more 
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