Blue Cayenne

You have to eat this one fast.

This wonderful (and easy!) Pear Cake is exceptional on the day it is baked, full of caramelized pears suspended in a vanilla and almond-flavored tender almond flour cake.  Starting on the day after the cake is baked, the moisture from the pears quickly softens the cake. Don’t get me wrong, the cake is  still delicious but it’s pretty moist.

The way I look at it, this gives you permission to eat a lot of cake quickly. How bad can that be?

This is a David Tanis recipe which appears in the New York Times. You can find the original recipe here..

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.