Let Them Eat Cake!

This is Grace, my goddaughter and niece, our little dreamer girl who's been stealing hearts since day one. I don't know anyone who loves sugar more than Grace. If the amount of sugar consumed had a direct effect on the sweetness of the soul, Grace is proof in the pudding. She is one of the most loving, gracious people I know, big or small.

This week, Graced turned ten, and to celebrate the occasion, my mom made her famous chocolate cake, icing it in careless peeks and swirls as a band of little people (my best friends' kiddos) circled her kitchen in mischievous play. Watching mom carry the cake to Grace's spot at the head of the table, I remembered all the birthdays mom loved on me with that cake, and just how special it felt to sit in front of her layers crowned with glowing candle glory, and know the taste of what was to come -- love, in hefty chocolate portions. So despite my decade-long efforts to interest Grace in all things green and good-for-you, on her birthday, I wanted nothing more than to watch her enjoying her cake, and study the sweet mouths of the  little ones around the table (including Greta) when they got a taste of it too.

After all the years I've spent working with kids and nutrition, how do I feel about sweets for kids? Fill their bellies with wholesome foods each and every day. And on the most special of occasions ~ let them eat cake!

Happy Birthday, Gracie baby.

xo
Sarah

signed copies of The Newlywed Cookbook {+ free shipping for 4 days!}

I've waited too long to tell you about my darling cousin Allison Jagtiani, creator and founder of Goji Gourmet, a lovely line of all-natural, mostly organic cookies and sweets. She's a dynamite entrepreneur, and one smart cookie, so when she introduced me to Grace Kang, the creator of Pink Olive, an absolutely charming brick-and-mortor and now online boutique in New York City, I was thrilled. Even more thrilling was to find out the Pink Olive already carried The Newlywed Cookbook in Grace's Picks, her list of favorite new things. 


Pink Olive is absolutely loaded with whimsical goodies for happiness and home, and as of Monday, she'll be carrying signed copies of my books for anyone who needs that extra special touch for a sweet newlywed or bride-to-be. Pre-order now {order here!} through Tuesday, February 28, and enjoy 10% off and free shipping on orders over $50. There are plenty of sweet little whimsies to add to your order for any of your beloveds. 


Stay tuned for news about our event together in April! 


Thank you, Grace! 


xo
Sarah 

Charleston Wine & Food Festival

I've told you all that I'm a southern girl at heart, right? And, if you have my new book, you might have noticed the shrimp-and-grits-spirit sprinkled throughout. It started long ago around Grandma Copeland's table in southern Missou-rah, which us Northerner's considered the south. There, I ate enough hot biscuits and sausage gravy, butter beans and cherry cobbler to make me an honorary G.R.I.T.S (Girls Raised in the South). But I got southern bug the first time I attended an oyster roast in Charleston about five years ago. I've been thinking about it ever since, so I'm headed back next weekend for a southern cooking fix and a good, long, overdue visit with one of my best girlfriends, Anjee, who recently made Charleston her home.


For anyone who grew up with even a little southern bone in their body, Charleston is a one sweet tea away from Heaven. Which is why I'm tickled pink (seriously) to be spending next weekend at the Charleston Wine + Food Festival, signing books alongside Nathalie Dupree, the queen bee of Charleston cooking herself. 


Here's where you'll find me: 

Author Book Signing

Saturday, March 3, 1 to 2 PM

Sunday, March 4, 1 to 2 PM 

buy tickets here! 


Come on down, ya'll! I'd absolutely love to see you there. 


xo
Sarah

A Valentine's Resolution + Menu

{photo by Sara Remington}

"In the end, the love you get is equal to the love you give." 

John Lennon {a famous misquote} 

Last year, between raising a baby, renovating a house and preparing to launch a book, I felt like we hardly saw our friends. As is my busy nature, I usually launch into the new year, skipping resolutions and racing right toward the next big project. This year though, I made just one resolution—to make more time to spend with the people we love. And as soon as I said it, something started happening. Our pals Kirsten, Dario and their girls spent the whole first weekend of the year with us. My friend Erin moved to our neighborhood, and Carrie had a whole free weekend to come spend with us upstate. Jocelyn came from Philly for a Sunday and I got to rock her new baby boy. Two of my oldest girlfriends planned a trip from LA and I got not just one but three meals out with them this very week! I started taking weekends completely off {novel idea} to just hike and play and soak up every minute with sweet Greta and András. And, András and I moved Greta to a little jewel box nursery here at home, which means there’s more time for each other while she sleeps, too.

Right smack in the middle of this resolution, came the idea to host a virtual valentine’s party for the launch of my book. Which, of course, brought it’s own set of craziness and coordinating details. But with them, came this other amazing feeling of being a part of all these new and old friendships, of actually spending more time with the people I care about, of peering into their lives and learning from them.

I got a peek into Katie and Joe’s sweet marriage, three girls and 18-years deep, on Mom's Kitchen Handbook and shared my Two-for-Two Cheese Soufflé with them. I spent the day making Better Than Boxed Chocolate Cake with Nancie McDermott and felt in very good company that I’m still working on my wedding thank you notes! And I finally got to meet her sweet {"the sweetest man"} hubby, too!  I fell completely in love again with my own beloved, and charming almost-newlyweds Laken and Tyler over Grilled Lamb Chops and Melted Polenta at Farmhouse. I reconnected with my friend Tim Vidra, whose Etsy shop Behind The Screen Door supplied a few props for my book, and finally met his fiancé Mary, for whom he prepared a killer rendition of my Skillet Steak with Thyme Butter on his blog E.A.T.  I learned that sometimes you have to pick up and drive across country for love like Carolyn, from Spoonful of Cake, and bake your man a batch of Rise & Shine Muffins to help him get settled. 

I came to breakfast in my PJ’s with Tara, Topher and tiny Abigail for a stack of Multigrain Pancakes with Chocolate Shavings at Crumbs on My Keyboard and was reminded that though we can live life forever newlyweds, “It’s a real privilege, in fact, to graduate on to a love deeper from the sweet spot where you start.” And, since I never tire of chocolate pancakes, I enjoyed them again with Katie Hamm at Healthy and Happy Hour, who is getting married in October! Congrats Katie! I ate Seared Halibut with Coriander and Carrots with Luisa and James {at LucidFood}, my newest newlywed friends who live just a skip, hop and jump away from us in Brooklyn. I learned a clever new way to serve my Chocolate Bread and Butter Pudding from Martha at CherrySpoon and enjoyed a chocolate hiatus with Maia at Dessertolicious, who made her hubby my Olive Oil Cake with Tangerine Marmalade. Sure, there were a lot of dishes {thank goodness for the grateful husbands!} but it was worth it for that full-heart-and-home feeling that’s surrounding us today.

Which brings me back to resolutions. I’m taking a moment to make another, a Valentine’s Day resolution which is this: To bring the spirit of loving and giving to another, be it my beloved, my babe or my bestest of friends, into everyday moments. To dote over another with a good meal. It need not be fancy or fussy, or even as ambitious as Just A Little Organic’s Suppa Club fete {they baked my Dowry Dinner Rolls, AND my Better-than-boxed Chocolate Cake on the same day!}. It can simply be a plate of Roasted Beets with Ricotta and Pistachios, a lunch for my love, like Elspeth from Diary of a Locavore made for hers this week. Or a perfect stack of 1000-Layer Chocolate Chip Cookies  as cookie-queen Dorie Greenspan and the lovely Aida Mollenkamp both shared with their beloveds this week. In Aida's words, when we “strive to punctuate our lives with gatherings that involve lovingly-prepared, handcrafted food” there are rewards. Those rewards come in the form of friendship, feasting, and often, love.  

That, my friends, is the best part of Valentine’s Day, and the lingering {I hope} message of The Newlywed Cookbook.

With this meal, I thee love.

xo

Sarah 

Bubbly + Books {A Book Signing for The Newlywed Cookbook}

i'm over the moon excited to be toasting and signing books tomorrow night at Chelsea Market Basket, and guess who is invited. why you, of course!

{gift guide} a few ideas for valentine's

          {photo by sara remington}

serve her breakfast in bed {dutch babies, the newlywed cookbook} ~  promise to keep her juice glass always half full {anthropologie}

melt her heart with this bashful lamb {abc carpet kids} ~ then go in for the kill with The Cheesemongers Kitchen, {chronicle books} and a wheel of stinky bliss {saxelby cheesemongers}

put your crush for him in print {luxe paperie} ~ and give him his fave on the rocks {vital, etsy}

serve her dinner with bronze {anthrolopologie} ~ then give her some gold {ariel gordon jewelry}

send her flowers that last {etsy} ~ spoon feed him pudding from pretty bowls {west elm}

this valentine's day, don't spend every dime, but do spend every minute with the one you adore.

xo
Sarah

{you're invited} The Newlywed Cookbook Valentine's Tour, and a Bittersweet Chocolate Tart

{photos by sara remington}

It's Thursday, which means there's still plenty of time to go out and buy loads and loads of bittersweet chocolate before the weekend. That's a very good thing, first, because it's February, the month of Valentine's! And second, it's the start of the official Valentine's launch party for my new book, The Newlywed Cookbook. And where there is a Valentine's party, there will be chocolate. 

Sometimes, when I close my eyes, I dream myself in an airy Soho loft, where I'd invite you all to come for slender slivers of my Bittersweet Chocolate Tart with Smoked Sea Salt and a glass of pink champagne. We'd celebrate in high style, we would. But as I write from our snug new york city studio {we are newlyweds, after all}, it's hard to imagine more than two or three of you here at once. Still, our hearts are big and full of the love and joy that always precedes a feast among friends, so, feast we will!

For the next thirteen days, many talented writers, some old friends and many new ones, will be cooking from The Newlywed Cookbook,  sharing their story of food and love along with one of my recipes for you on their blogs! We, whether married two years or twelve years or not-yet-married-at-all, are toasting to the spirit of newlyweds ~ to the the joy and curiosity and abundant love that is at the heart of this book.

The menu, if I do say so myself, is quite delightful, and includes all the major valentines food groups. On it you'll find....

Rise and Shine Muffins ~ Oatmeal Yogurt Pancakes with Blackberry Crush ~ Ricotta Silver Dollar Pancakes ~ Multigrain Pancakes with Chocolate Shavings ~ Roasted Beets with Ricotta and Pistachios ~ Two-For-Two Cheese Souffle ~ Halibut with Coriander and Carrots ~  Grilled Lamb Chops with Melted Polenta ~ Cast Iron Skillet Steak ~ Dowry Dinner Rolls Chocolate Bread & Butter Pudding ~ 1000-Layer Chocolate Cookies~ Olive Oil Cake with Tangerine Marmalade

We invite you to come taste these recipes and hear the stories of these talented writers and friends here...

Dorie Greenspan ~ Diary of a Locavore ~  Aida Mollenkamp ~   Just A Little Organic ~ E.A.T. ~ Mom's Kitchen Handbook ~ Spoonful of Cake ~ Nancie McDermott ~ Farmhouse ~ Lucid Food  ~ Crumbs On My Keyboard ~ Dessert-o-Licious ~ Dallas Food Nerd ~ The June Cleaver Blog ~ Cherryspoon ~ Healthy And Happy Hour

To show our love for our readers and hopefully inspire some loving feasts in your home, each of us will be giving away a copy of The Newlywed Cookbook to one lucky reader. Kindly leave me (and them) a comment and tell us your story of food and love for your chance to win.


Meanwhile, while I regret that I can't cook you my Bittersweet Chocolate Tart myself, I'm so happy to share the recipe with you. I promise that your skill-set in the pastry department is of no matter; this is one simple, sensational valentine's treat you and your love won't regret embarking upon. 

Come, bring your beloveds, bring your friends as we toast to love. May your hearts and tables be filled!

xo, 
Sarah

Bittersweet Chocolate Tart with Smoked Sea Salt

~

Despite its handsome finish, this tart couldn’t be easier. The crust gets its tenderness from sugar and melted butter, pressed in instead of rolled for ease. It is completely simple, and sinfully elegant. The flavor comes from the chocolate and the cream, so splurge on the highest quality of both you can find.  Your loved ones are worth it.

Serves 12
{Crust}

1/2 cup/115 g unsalted butter, melted

3 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Pinch of fine sea salt

1 cup/115 g all-purpose/plain flour

{Filling}

1/2 cup/120 ml heavy cream

1/2 cup/120 ml whole milk

2 tbsp sugar

Pinch of fine sea salt

7 oz/200 g high-quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped {1 heaping cup}

1 large egg, beaten

Smoked sea salt {optional}

Preheat the oven to 350˚F/180°C/gas 4.

Make the crust: Whisk together the melted butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt. Add the flour and stir until it feels like damp sand. Press the dough evenly along the bottom and up the sides of an 8-in/20-cm square or 9-in/ 23-cm round tart pan/flan tin with a removable bottom {which makes it much easier to remove the tart in one piece. If you don’t have a tart pan/flan tin, you can make this tart in a springform pan; press the dough evenly across the bottom and only about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 in/3 to 4 cm up the side of the pan}. Use wax/greaseproof paper or buttered fingers to even out and press the dough tightly into the corners. Prick the crust all over with a fork and chill in the fridge until ready to bake, about 30 minutes.

Set the pan on a baking sheet/tray and bake until the crust is golden brown, about 25 minutes.

Make the filling: While the crust bakes, bring the cream, milk, sugar, and salt to a simmer in a medium saucepan over low heat. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate. Let it sit for about 2 minutes, without stirring. Starting in the middle of the pan, whisk together until the chocolate is evenly melted and the mixture a smooth and a shiny dark brown.

Whisk the beaten egg into the chocolate filling and pour the filling directly into the hot crust. Decrease the oven to 300˚ F/150˚C/gas 2 and return the tart to the oven. Bake until the filling is set, but still a little wiggly in the center, about 12 to 15 minutes (temperatures vary from oven to oven, so the visual clue is more important than time}. Set your timer for 12 minutes. If it looks mostly set at that point, test it by opening the oven door a crack and carefully jiggle the tart pan/flan tin with the edge of your oven mitt. Only the center third should wobble. If it wobbles all the way to the edge, close the door quickly and continue baking about 2 to 3 minutes more.

Remove and cool the tart completely on a rack at room temperature. Just before the tart cools and sets completely, sprinkle a few large flakes of smoked salt on the surface, or leave plain.

Remove the tart from the pan sides and carefully transfer to a platter before serving. Let it cool just until it slices easily. It melts in your mouth when served slightly warm, with a dollop of crème fraiche, if you wish, for extra decadence. Or cool completely, and serve by itself. 

P.S. The deep, smoky flavor of smoked sea salt is a fine complement to the rich chocolate, but this tart is just as elegant with big flakes of white sea salt, or if you’re a chocolate purist, no salt at all. 

1000 Layer Chocolate Chip Cookies {a thousand layers of love...}

It seems to me that January is a cookie baking month. That is why I am really, really, REALLY excited about sharing my recipe for Thousand-Layer Chocolate Chip Cookies. This is is 30 years of chocolate chip cookie research baked and stacked, for your pleasure. Head over the to Chronicle Books' Blog today for the story behind how it came to be, and for a chance to win a free copy of my book, The Newlywed Cookbook. 

When you make these, be sure to fold in extra layers of love. And come back to tell me what you think, pretty please. 

x

Sarah  

~

Thousand-Layer Chocolate Chip Cookies

from The Newlywed Cookbook 

Imagine the countertop of your favorite bakery piled high with generous stacks of crunchy cookies marbled with sheets of chocolate. Now imagine that in your very own kitchen. These beauties are worth the extra effort you put into them. The layered chocolate provides unparalleled texture, flavor, and a bakery-style finish that will make you very proud to call these your chocolate chip cookie.

Makes 20 cookies/biscuits

1 cup/ 225 g unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup/150 g packed dark brown sugar

3/4 cup/150 g granulated sugar

4 egg yolks, at room temperature, plus 1 large egg, lightly beaten, for brushing

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 1/4 cups/ 280 g all-purpose/plain flour, plus more for dusting

3/4 tsp baking soda/bicarbonate of soda

3/4 tsp fine sea salt or table salt

9 oz/255 g high-quality bittersweet chocolate

1/4 tsp fleur de sel {optional}

Preheat the oven to 375˚F/190°C/gas 5. Line two baking sheet/trays with parchment/baking paper.

Cream butter and both sugars together with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in egg yolks, two at a time, followed by vanilla.

Whisk together the flour, baking soda/bicarbonate of soda, and salt. Stir dry ingredients into butter mixture on low speed until just mixed. Stop and scrape down the bowl to make sure all the butter is evenly incorporated and give the dough a final mix.

Divide the dough into 3 portions. Put each dough portion on large piece of plastic wrap/cling film, and pat into a 4-by-6-in/10-by-15-cm rectangle. Wrap and refrigerate on a flat shelf in the fridge until well chilled, about 30 minutes. {This helps to set the butter and make the dough easier to work with. Chilling cookie dough also helps cookies/biscuits keep their shape when they bake, the secret of most fine bakeries!}

Meanwhile, coarsely chop the chocolate into thin shards using a serrated knife. Set aside.

When the dough is chilled, lay one portion on a lightly floured countertop. Sprinkle with half of the chocolate and top with another piece of dough. Repeat with remaining chocolate and dough until you have a slab of dough with two layers of chocolate. Dust lightly and evenly with flour and roll gently with a rolling pin into a large 9-by 6-in/23-by-15-cm rectangle that’s about 1 1/2 in/ 4 cm thick.

Using a 2-in/5-cm round cookie or biscuit cutter or a thin rimmed glass, cut out ten rounds of dough. Gather the scraps together, pat lightly, and cut out remaining cookies.

Divide half of the cookies/biscuits between the 2 prepared baking sheet/trays, leaving about 3 in/7.5 cm between cookies/biscuits since they will spread. Brush the tops of each cookie with the beaten egg, and with a light hand, sprinkle with a few grains of sea salt, or leave plain.

Bake until the cookies are set, 12 to 15 minutes, switching the sheets halfway through top to bottom if you’re baking two sheets at a time. Let cookies/biscuits cool slightly, about 3 minutes, then transfer the cookies with a thin spatula to a wire rack to cool completely {or, just slide the parchment/baking paper directly onto the cooling rack}. Let the baking sheets/trays cool completely before using to bake the remaining dough (lining with more parchment/baking paper if needed). Bake as directed, switching sheets top to bottom half way through baking, and cool.

Store in an airtight container for up to 4 days. 

{a date night show & tell} The Newlywed Cookbook Trailer

it's not supposed to snow in october. not when there's still tomatoes and zucchini at the market. not when the table's set for two on the little cafe table out back. but it did. just a few days after our anniversary. so we had our picnic anyway, on the living room floor. it was one of the best date nights we've had in ages.....

{tremendous thanks to our friends jim & iri, of brakethrough media and panforte productions, who were there too, with their cameras, to give you a peek into what lies inside the pages of The Newlywed Cookbook}

The Newlywed Cookbook ~ a preview

{photos by Sara Remington}

I'm so excited, honored and grateful for all the calls, emails, tweets and posts from friends and family whose copies of my first book, The Newlywed Cookbook: Fresh Ideas and Modern Recipes for Cooking With and For Each Other, landed on their doorsteps in the last few days, just in time for Christmas. We didn't expect the pre-orders to arrive until the last day of December, and books to hit the book stores  until the first of January.

Surprise, they are here! In bookstores {like Barnes and Noble}, online {Amazon} and wherever books are sold, as they say. I'm overwhelmed and beyond delighted by all the people who've told me they've found the pages to be beautiful, delicious and inspiring.

My New Year's wish and hope is that everyone who loves to cook ~ whether they be a newlywed, oldywed, almost wed or never wed, a twosome or a family ~ could have their own copy to dig into {this book is about so much more than cooking; it's about really living!}. In the meantime, here, a preview of a few of my favorite spreads and recipes, to wet your appetite. Please, enjoy, share and treat yourself to something truly satisfying with someone you love.

{get dirty, get growing and get green!}

{farm fresh. in every color, shape and size you dream of}

{a fat stack you won't soon forget}

{a luscious egg sandwich, pretty please}

{swirls of spaghetti, darling? Just one of the ways to treat the ones you love}

{well hello there. you're not quite like any other chocolate chip cookie I've ever seen}

 {let's run away together, just for the day}

 More previews, recipes and a schedule of when and where I'll be signing books to come.

xx

Weekend Project: Peanut Butter Chocolate and Pretzel Fudge

{a DIY candy bar}

Okay, ya'll, you know there's nothing more generous to give at the holidays than the gift of your time and something decadent handmade in your kitchen. It's time to up the ante. The food-lovers in your life are way beyond chocolate. It's peanut butter, chocolate and pretzel time.

This year, I created ten delicious, hipped-up riffs on some classic homemade holiday food gifts  for Cooking Channel, and my favorite is this Triple-Decker Peanut Butter and Pretzel Fudge topped with ganache and sourdough pretzels. I'm not normally a fudge gal. Not for the making of nor the eating of (caveat, this is cheater's fudge, the kind made with melted chips). But this is so easy it hardly befits the Weekend Project category. All you need is an hour.

I like to think of it as a chic DIY candy bar, the kind my buddies at Baked would make. In fact, one of their books would be the perfect pairing for this gift if you want to up the ante yet again.

Click here for the recipe. Now hit the kitchen.

x
Sarah

birthday hoopla

{click to enlarge}

The first year in a child’s life is an incredible journey, not just for the baby, but for the whole family. As a mamma, I have felt this quite profoundly, but never more so than when I realized it was time to plan Greta’s first birthday. I resisted at first. The turning over of the first year of a baby’s life has so many implications. The baby is becoming a toddler, independent in so many ways. The new mamma is on her way to becoming a seasoned one. The baby weight should be gone. The sleepless nights, over. Life back to normal. Except none of it is. It is better and more chaotic and more simple, all at once.

 Somewhere around the time I fully embraced this forthcoming milestone and started planning for the big day, I realized that Greta growing up means good things for all of us. She gets more and more fun, and hilarious every day. And us too! We sleep less, but laugh more. I’m more balanced, more accepting of others, myself, and f life just as it is. More able to let go of what I can’t accomplish, and embrace what I can, like a magical, memorable day for celebrating this major milestone. 

Hers was a day of soothing squash and farro soup and roasted baby acorn squash with pomegranates. Of Pumpkin Cupcakes with Creamy Cheese Frosting. Of balloons and garlands drifting from our old apple tree. Of hot Whole Grain Bavarian Pretzels, local beer, hot cider. Of endless little girl giggles, and apples. Of soaking up every available second of joy that this baby showers on her tiny world.

 

Greta’s beyond wild about apples, likely for the independence they represent {she can eat them without any help!}, and her mamma’s wild about apple orchards, so we brought the orchards of the Hudson Valley to our house with a half dozen varieties of fresh apples, hot cider, cider donuts and touches of roma red and blushing pink lady pink everywhere. This party is as easy to reproduce as are the recipes below, perfect for any fall occasion, or the simple milestone of learning to live, fully present, in every moment of your little one’s life.

{Sources: invitations, Sponge Cake Press. Vases and drinking cups, Ball jars. On Etsy: Party hat,  Tradewind Tiaras; felt garlands, Benzie; vintage baby dress, Stop the Clock; cupcake liners, straws and straw-toppers, Hey YoYo; 

~

~

Pure Pumpkin Cupcakes with Creamy Cheese Frosting

These cupcakes are the perfect first sweet for little ones. Arguably wholesome and undeniably delicious, made with pure pumpkin and rich Neufchatel cheese frosting, these beat sugary sweet cupcakes in any season, but especially for fall.

cupcake

2 cups all-purpose flour or whole wheat white flour

1 cup light-brown sugar

1 cup raw organic sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon ground roasted ginger

2 sticks unsalted organic butter, melted

4 large organic eggs, beaten

1 15-ounce can organic pumpkin puree

frosting

1 pound Neufchatel cheese, softened

1 stick unsalted organic butter, softened

1/3 to 1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar, or to taste

1 to 2 tablespoons honey or agave nectar

splash of pure vanilla extract

makes 1 1/2 dozen cupcakes, or about 3 1/2 dozen minis

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line three cupcake pans or four mini cupcake pans with cupcake liners and keep handy. Set out the Neufchatel cheese and butter for the frosting to come to room temperature. 

2. Whisk together the flour, sugars, baking soda, powder, salt and spices in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the melted butter and eggs. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and stir in the wet ingredients with a rubber spatula, stirring until some dry bits remain. Add the pumpkin puree and stir to completely combine.

3. Use a cookie or ice cream scoop to fill each muffin liner about 2/3 of the way full. Bake in the center rack, rotating tins back to front and top to bottom {if using more than one rack} once until muffins spring back lightly when touched and are just baked through, about 25 minutes for large cupcakes and 18 for minis. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.

4. Meanwhile, make the frosting. Beat the Neufchatel cheese and butter together with an electric mixer or the whip attachment on an immersion blender until smooth and fluffy with no lumps. Add sugar and honey or agave to taste {start with a little ~ the rich cheese, butter and pumpkin are decadent and tasty with just subtle amounts of sugar!}, plus a splash of vanilla. Beat until fluffy. Frost the cooled cupcakes, using the back of a small spoon or off-set spatula to swirl the frosting into careless swoops.  Top with your favorite cake topper or candles and celebrate!

~

Whole Wheat Bavarian-Style Soft Pretzels

These are really quite simple {no proofing required}, and just the thing for a first birthday. Babes of almost any age will love to hold these in their hands, nibble, suck or teethe on the soft whole wheat hiding beneath the shining, golden crust. Add coarse sea salt for grown-ups, and sides of mustard for dipping.

Pretzels

1 1/2 cups warm water {about 100 degrees F}

2 1/4 teaspoons {one packet} active dry yeast

2 tablespoons light brown sugar

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour

1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons fine sea salt

1/2 stick {4 tablespoons} melted butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 egg, separated

2 tablespoons baking soda

coarse sea salt, for sprinkling

makes 6 giant pretzels or 12 small ones

1. Preheat the oven to 415 degrees F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment or silpats.  

2. Test the water temperature with a thermometer or your fingertips. It should feel like a warm Jacuzzi, between 100 and 110 degrees F. Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and set aside to soften. The yeast should spread and begin to expand across the surface of the water. Add the sugar and stir together.

3.  Whisk together the bread or all purpose flour, and 1 1/4 cups of the whole wheat flour and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the melted butter, olive oil and egg yolk. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and stir in the wet ingredients with a rubber spatula or the dough hook of a stand mixer, stirring until just a few dry bits remain.

4. Remove the dough to a lightly floured surface {or continue with the dough hook} and knead the dough together, adding up to 1/4 cup more of the whole wheat flour as needed. Continue kneading until the dough is smooth and elastic, and in one uniform ball. Set aside to rest.

5. Mix together 2 cups warm water and the baking soda in a shallow pan. Divide the dough into 6 or 12 equal size portions. Keep the dough covered and working with one portion at a time, roll the dough between the heels of your hand and the floured bowl to make a long, skinny rope, about 1/4 inch in diameter. Holding both ends, cross the ends over each other, make one twist and then press the ends into the curved edge to create a pretzel shape. Dip each pretzel into the baking soda water then lay out evenly on the baking sheet.

6. Beat the egg white until frothy. Brush the tops of each pretzel with egg white and sprinkle with coarse salt or leave plain, for babes. Bake in the center racks of the oven, rotating the trays once, until the pretzels are evenly golden brown and slightly shiny, about 15 minutes. Let cool slightly before stacking and serving.