The Best Thing I Ever Made

In the last 25 days 🫢

2024 hasn’t started out exactly how I pictured it. On the writing front, at least. I’m finding myself a little bit stuck. A little bit lost when it comes to feeling inspired. I can’t even tell you all how many times I’ve typed, deleted, rewritten this intro paragraph. But, I’m leaving it how it is now. Hi!

A Ghia mocktail that was cute and delish. Kinda still reeling over the price of the trendy NA apertif though….

We all know what they say about January… The never-ending month. I can’t decide if I feel the same about January 2024. It’s almost over, so in some ways it feels like it flew. Looking back to New Year’s Eve, though? AGES ago.

Some things you might know if you’ve been keeping up with Craveable or watching my Instagram stories: Kevin and I are doing dry January. We’re also trying to eat out & order takeout less this month. Occasions of eating out & opting for an easy takeout meal have been wayyyy fewer and farther between this month, and I’ve reviewed several (some might say too many) NA beverages over on my IG stories.

What I’ve learned is this: No NA beverage will hit quite as hard as a sparkling water or kombucha in a wine glass with some fresh or frozen fruit to jazz it up. Or, an ice cold DC with lime (diet coke for those of you who live under rocks but still manage to read Craveable. In which case, Kudos). The other thing that this January cut-back has allowed me to do is spend some major QT¹ with my kitchen.

If you’re a cottage cheese girlie, pls try this combo of sumo, cottage cheese & fancy olive oil.

I was in Nashville last weekend- soaking up the last few days of ice and snow that all of my fellow Nashvillians were wishing away days before my arrival. I, however, had just escaped Charleston where the weather this time of year is so indecisive, it was refreshing to be in a place that put some respect on the season that is winter. I digress.

OK, sorry for the side track. This is supposed to be a newsletter about the best things I’ve made this month! So that’s what we’re going to talk about!

This loaded bagel photo belongs in a museum.

First up, my big baking feat of the month: Bagels. One of the more controversial breads, tbh. I made bagels twice in one week and used two different recipes. First I hit up my tried and true: The NYT cooking app. I was directed to Claire Saffitz's guide to bagels. An accompanying YouTube video gave me a visual step-by-step to making my very first homemade bagels. Those bagels… They took forever. Were they gorgeous? Of course! Were they crusty on the outside while being deliciously chewy in the middle? Sure. Yeah. But they require 15 minutes of kneading, a two hour rise, shaping time, an overnight nap in the fridge & about 1.5-2 hours of commitment the next morning to boil and bake. Also, They were like really chewy and crusty. Also kind of small. OK I’ll stop slandering my first ever bagels they were good. But, I made another recipe later in the week that I liked better.

@magsmealsLet’s spend so much time in the kitchen this year!!!!!!! #bagels #baking #homemade #nyt #nytcooking #2024 #resolution

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The second bagel recipe came from King Arthur Baking. I made them throughout the course of one Saturday morning, and actually preferred the final bagel to the NYT cooking ones. I want to make a disclaimer that I’m no bagel expert. I’m not really a bagel snob, and I’ve certainly never had a true New York bagel that I can remember. I followed the King Arthur recipe pretty much to the letter, but I did use some of my experience from making my first bagels to guide me. Whatever you do, I recommend watching the NYT bagel video first to really have a visual understanding of what things should look like.

Beet Cured Gravlax

The second bagels also might have been better because of the homemade beet cured gravlax that I made. Now this recipe… was so insanely easy that I can’t wait to make it again. I also (very loosely) followed another NYT cooking recipe for beet cured salmon. The recipe called for horseradish, way more beets, and more salmon- none of which I had- but I used what I had and they turned out so nicely! Ok, I think it’s time we move on to the next great eats of the month.

THE chicken pot pie.

I recommended The Book On Pie in my cookbook roundup newsletter, and this was the first recipe I made from it. Oh my gosh. Y’all- what a delish pot pie! I will admit that it was an ambitious dish to cook for a dinner I hosted for my bosses & fellow kitchen coworkers. First pot pie ever, first time making rough puff pastry, and I doubled the recipe. Woof. Rough puff pastry is my new favorite thing, though, and I can’t wait to use it in more baked goods soon. It was way less intimidating than I thought it would be, and might replace my tried and true pie crust recipe. I don’t really have a ton to say on this, but I did make the pot pie again last weekend and it was just as good. Actually, it wasn’t. But close enough. MOVING RIGHT ALONG!

I’ve made a lot of things things so far this month… But this cake might be my favorite. I first saw a recipe for it on TikTok, and then again in Nigella Lawson’s cookbook, Nigellissima. It’s a French yogurt cake also known as a “Gateau au yaourt”. So. f’in. FANCY!!! From what I’ve read, every French child has this recipe memorized before they’re even potty trained (🧐). I shouldn’t dog on the French and their exaggerations. This cake is splendid. Let me tell you how to make it.

You’ll Need:

• 1 individual cup of plain greek yogurt (if you can find a full fat personal cup of greek yogurt, get it. and then let me know where you found it because I couldn’t find any).

• granulated sugar

• all purpose flour

• 3 eggs

• oil of your choice (I used my fav olive oil)

• a pinch of salt

• a splash of vanilla

• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

• fresh or frozen fruit of your choice (optional)

• bundt pan or eight inch round cake pan

• butter for greasing the pan

How To:

Now THIS is the real draw to this cake- you don’t need any measuring cups 🤩. Everything gets measured in the empty yogurt container! It all comes together in one bowl, and couldn’t be easier

1. Preheat oven to 350 and prep your pan- either with softened butter and a sprinkle of flour or Baker’s Secret spray

2. empty the yogurt container into a medium mixing bowl- try to scrape all of the yogurt out, but no need to wash or rinse out the cup after.

3. measure out two yogurt cupfuls of granulated sugar and add to the bowl

4. crack in three large eggs and whisk everything together

5. measure out one cupful of your choice of oil- whisk again

6. measure out three cupfuls of all purpose flour

7. sift in the baking powder and add the salt

8. give everything one final mix until you have a smooth batter

   1. at this point, add any fruit you might want to throw in there! I used frozen raspberries and found that they distributed throughout the batter easily and baked in perfectly. blueberries, lemon zest, chopped peaches, cherries, the possibilities are endless!

9. bake for 40 minutes-1 hour (I found that the original recipe’s time of 35 minutes was NOT accurate for either of my cakes. Start testing with a toothpick or cake tester around 40 minutes and take it out when the toothpick comes out clean or mostly clean).

   1. Optionally, make a quick lemon glaze with the juice and zest of one lemon, and liiiiike 1/2 cup of powdered sugar? 3/4? I don’t know, I didn’t measure.

   2. The first time I made this cake, I didn’t have a bundt pan, so I sliced it in half and filled/topped it with a sturdy whipped cream also from The Book on Pie.

You guys! That’s it! So far. I really enjoyed letting loose and blabbing/gabbing with you all via my keyboard. So relaxing. I actually just thought of 10 more things to say, so I’m gonna quit while I’m ahead. Toodles! Love you! In a HUGE WAY!!!!

1. Quality time. Keep up.