Blue Cayenne

Comfort food. 

In normal times, whether it’s an oatmeal cookie or a bowl of this Cream of Mushroom Soup, there is always  a place in our lives for the comfort of food. 

But, these are not normal times. 

Fierce wildfires are raging here in Southern California. People have died. Whole communities have been turned to ash. 

Safety.  Shelter. Services. Compassion.  Those are the critical needs when disaster strikes, of course. But people also need normalcy. Familiar foods provide some of that normalcy.

Fortunately, World Central Kitchen is on the ground in Los Angeles providing sustenance to  fire victims and to the courageous men and women who are fighting the fires and protecting the peace.  In their short history, World Central Kitchen has provided more than 450 million meals to people in desperate situations and now they are here in Los Angeles. 

If you can, give them some help. Here is a link to their donation site: World Central Kitchen.

For those of us on the periphery of this disaster, there is a place for the comfort of food, too. Here is a recipe that I’m finding some comfort in during these frightening times–a cookbook written to aid people in an earlier unimaginable crisis. This recipe is from Barbara Abdeni Massad’s cookbook, Soup For Syria, a collection of recipes by chefs ranging from Anthony Bourdain to Sami Tamimi, compiled to raise money for humanitarian aid to Syria back in 2016. Of that book,  former CNN Correspondent Jim Clancy, wrote: “Soup for Syria may be the most compelling cookbook ever created. Through her photographs and collected recipes, Barbara Massaad directly connects us with a people in dire need of our help. Just holding this book is nourishment for the soul.”

Here is the recipe as I prepared it in my kitchen. 

Need a delicious appetizer for your New Year’s Celebration?

This Bits and Pieces Party Cheese Ball recipe from Blue Cayenne’s archives might just be the thing! It’s delicious and it uses ingredients that you probably have on hand.

While we’re here wishing you a Happy New Year, here is a year-end-photo of Blue Cayenne’s Chief Quality Officer, Juliet. Looking good, Sweet Juliet!

Here is the recipe for the Bits and Pieces Party Cheese Ball as I made it in my kitchen: Bits and Pieces Party Cheeseball.

What’s better than enjoying freshly-baked donuts as the early morning sun streams into your kitchen and you read your morning newspaper. Throw in a cup of steaming Darjeeling tea. Just wow. 

You won’t be alone enjoying. your donut, either. According to an article about the history of donuts in Smithsonian Magazine,  Americans enjoy 16 billion donuts a year. (Another wow!) 

The origins of American donuts are interesting, too–yet another immigrant story.  

Most sources credit the introduction of donuts to Dutch immigrants who made olykoeks (oily cakes) in 17th Century Manhattan.

By the 20th Century, donuts were fully embedded in American food culture to the extent that volunteer “donut lassies” traveled to France to bring that taste of home to American soldiers in World War One. 

This is a New York Times recipe by Erin McDowell. You can find the original recipe here.

‘Tis the season.

Make these!

Here is the Apple Cider Donut recipe as I prepared it in my kitchen. 

P.S. National Donut Day is November 5.  Don’t wait until then to make these.