CHANGE

ALWAYS WITH BUTTER HAS MOVED!!!

I have long been unhappy with the format/layout/the entire look of the site. So the past few months the lack of posts have been for a good reason. I redid the entire site. Every post redone, on a new site that I am actually proud to call mine. This will be the last post on this site, all new post with be on:


www.alwayswithbutterblog.com

asparagus tartine.

The other day I went to Mustard's for the first time. I have lived just a few miles up from it for over a year now, have heard rave reviews but never bothered to go because I just assumed it was some fancy place. Like so many around here, where a plain salad is one of their only vegetarian options and I don't feel like paying an arm and a leg for one.

I've been hanging out with one of my old work buddies, and he kept telling me how Mustards had the best veggie burger. I didn't know how good the best was going to be since normally a 'veggie' burger any where was the same frozen boca burger that it nothing special. So we finally made the trek a few miles down the road and got split a few of the veggie dishes. Asparagus tartine, salad and a veggie burger. And it was one of the best tasting meals I have had in a while. The veggie burger was amazing, no frozen patty in sight, just a mound of onions and mushrooms with the usual accompaniments in a giant bun. 

Definitely a contender for the best in my book. But my favorite part of the meal, apart from the alcoholic beverages to start, was the asparagus tartine. Perfectly tender asparagus sitting atop Bellwether farm ricotta, which taste not like any other ricotta on the market, with a crusty, toasted bread slice holding it all up. Simple and pure perfection. I instantly probably yelled out some obscenity and proclaiming that I need to eat this everyday. 

So I made my 'homemade' version this weekend. Definitely not as good, but will suffice until the next Mustard's outing. I didn't get my bread as crusty, the ricotta wasn't Bellwether and I don't think I still know when asparagus is done. And that was about all I did this weekend. My head was pounding, I would go from hot to cold within a few minutes and just generally wanted to pass out. But after lots of nyquil and various other pills, I am finally feeling less like I'm dying. 

So there was your recipe within the story and you don't really need one anyways. Get some good bread, cover it with cheese and throw on some roasted veg. You will make any vegetarian's day. 

The entire time I was taking photo's, Christmas was doing this. 

pumpkin cake

I made a pumpkin cake. Because I had a can of pumpkin.

Pumpkin Cake
recipe found online....

2 cups (400g) sugar
1 cup (236ml) vegetable oil
4 large eggs
2 cups (250g) all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1-15 oz can of pumpkin puree

Oven 350F.
Grease a traditional size bundt pan. 
Whisk sugar, oil and eggs for a couple of minutes until well combined.
In a separate bowl, combine all the dry ingredients.
Slowly add in the dry ingredients into the sugar mix, until well mixed.
Stir in pumpkin puree until just combined.
Pour batter into pan.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the top sptings back when lightly poked.
Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes in pan, then unmold onto a plate and cool completely.




My LA trip has come and gone and it didn't quite work out as expected. My flight in was nearly an hour late because they 'couldn't find the plane' for a bit. The friend I was staying with ended up having to work most of the weekend and the pouring rain made walking around kind of miserable. I did end up going to a few cool spots that made the trip. 

First was Intelligentsia coffee in Silver Lake, which was about a half hour walk from the apartment. The most hipster of hipster places I have been in quite a while. The location was awesome, right next to a cheese shop and across from Mohawk General. I ordered a Red Eye, which at 6.50 was probably the most I have ever paid for a cup of coffee. But despite my initial reaction to tell the mustached guy behind the counter to go F off when he told me the price, I paid and waited the few minutes for my coffee. And it was a pretty damn good cup of coffee. I sat outside on their covered patio area and watched all the tattooed, vintage wearing kids walk by. 

Another place was the Annenberg Space for Photography. My friend said he was taking me somewhere on Sunday that was going to be a surprise. Despite all my pestering, he wouldn't tell me where we were going. Even on the drive their. So we pulled into the parking garage, and he led the way. Then I saw the sign and instantly got excited. I had never heard of this place but I was intrigued. They are all National Geographic images, plastered over all the walls, on screens playing with short descriptions and a film going on in the back. The images were gorgeous. They all showed so much emotion and life. The colors were vibrant. And the Martin Schoeller portraits of twins and people of mixed races were some of my favorites. They showed so much of the person.

My last enjoyable moment of the weekend was walking around the Original Farmers Market next to the grove. It was like a little maze of amazing food, produce and lots of people. By the New Orleans food one, their was live music and people dancing. Their was an ice cream shop that I had seen mentioned on some food program before. One with a bunch of pastries and giant croissants. It was impressive. I found the LA Market cookbook to bring back for a friend. For my last day their, when the rain had stopped, this was a good final stop.

boysenberry jam thumbprints

I made some cookies. Last weekend to be honest. I found a recipe which I had all the ingredients for, or ones that were similar enough that I could substitute in what I had. They came out nice. The cookie is very buttery and crumbly, the nuts add a nice crunch and the jam bakes into a sweet sticky center. Use any type of nuts or jam combo you want.

Boysenberry jam thumbprints

Adapted from a better homes recipe.

2 1/2 cups (312g) AP flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup (114g) soft butter

3/4 cup (150g) brown sugar, packed

1 egg

2 cups (240g) walnuts, finely chopped

1/2 cup (150g) boysenberry jam

Oven 350. 

Sift flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

In a stand mixer, beat brown sugar and butter until very light and fluffy. Add in egg.

Slowly add in dry mix until just combined.

Using a small cookie or ice cream scoop, scoop out all dough. Roll into balls and then coat all in walnuts.

Place on a lined cookie sheet and make an indentation with your thumb in the center.

Fill centers with jam.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until edges are just golden brown.

Let cool on a rack, completely.

Makes about 2 dozen depending on scoop size.

In 4 days I'll be driving down to my parents house, dropping off Christmas, then heading to the airport. I'm going to LA for a long weekend. I'm staying with a friend who I haven't seen in over a year and get to explore the city. You would think living in Northern California, I would have been to LA before. But I never have. It was always that city full of traffic and smog that we drove through to get to San Diego. I'm excited for a break from work and to see a new city. LA seems like one of those cities that you either love or hate. I don't really know what I'm going to do there. If anyone has any last minute recommendations please send them my way. I was looking up a few things online to do and I came across one really random thing that intrigued me. The museum of death. Filled with letters, artwork and photos of serial killers and such. I told my coworker about it and she looked at me like I was insane. Yes it does seem like a really weird place to go. But such a weird once in a life time crazy experience too. Mind blowing craziness. Or maybe I just have been watching too much Dexter lately. 

stew and a castle

Last weekend I turned 26. Last twenties, now? Very strange. Not that anything changed at all. I spent the weekend in San Simeon at Hearst Castle. My Dad is still off of work so it was another weekend adventure for us. We left Benicia around 8am on Saturday and I drove the more than 4 hour trip down there. We had tours booked for the afternoon so we could take the leisurely route and drive down the gorgeous Highway 1. The GPS arrival time kept creeping farther and farther back as the curvy slow road seemed never-ending. I kept noticing my Dad peering over at the clock. We were cutting it close. What was supposed to be an extra hour of free time before we had to get to the castle, became us rushing to get there. We made it with a few minutes to spare. With two different hour long tours and wandering the grounds, we barely saw part of the castle. Room after room, all elaborately decorated with the most extensive art collection that I've ever seen. The place is really what it say it is, a castle. With gorgeous imported ceilings. Ceilings. Who buys an antique ceiling and builds it into their mansion? William Randolph Hearst did. It is definitely work a visit. 

I mainly used my old film camera on the trip, so here are a few digital snapshots but the reset will have to wait for my ever growing pile of used film to get developed. 

There were many articles of clothing spread out amongst the 'house.' Party dresses for the women laid out on the beds, robes still hanging in closets and men's suits laid out in their quarters. The women's shoes were so small! Beautiful but they looked like child's shoes compared to mine. Being size 10 at only 5 feet and barely 5 inches tall, I know I'm not exactly proportionate. I envy those tiny little shoes that look so delicate and feminine. 

The view from the castle was amazing. All around you, all you saw was either hills covered in tree or sprawling views of the ocean. The first day we got their it was a chilly, but clear day. You could see everything in sight. The view made you wish you could stay up in the castle for more than just a few hours. The next day we went back to see the movie that was included in our tour and possible tour a few more areas of the castle that we had not seen. But the rain had started. It was not a great storm but you could definitely get soaked if you were outside for a few minutes. So we decided to do the movie first and probably not another tour but just play it by ear. So we sat down in the theater, the lights dimmed and the movie began to play. And then about 90 seconds later, the screen went dark and the lights came on. Everyone looked around, throughly confused, thinking someone had accidentally hit a wrong button. Then the old man who had let us into the theater informed us all that due to the extreme weather their power had gone out and try to come see the movie in a few hours. We weren't going to wait around to possibly see it in a few hours. So we bought a copy of the dvd they were selling in the lobby and got in the car and headed for home. With a lunch stop in Carmel then we made it back to Benicia a few hours later. I grabbed up little Christmas who got to play with my Mom and Sister then head back on the road to St. Helena.

Spring lamb stew. Probably a month back my friend Raoul drove down from Sacramento, to hang out for the weekend and to help me make and shoot this recipe. Don't worry I haven't abandoned my vegetarianism, it was meant for a magazine. But then the story got cut so now it is all just for the internet to see. I have to admit, this stew smelled awful. And I threw it out and opened all my windows right after the photos were done. Now thats not saying it doesn't taste good, if you like lamb it probably tastes great. But I do no and couldn't find anyone I know who does so into the bin it went. Wasteful, yes but the smell was making me sick. Many thanks to Raoul for handling all the meat for these photos.

Spring Lamb Stew 

by Rachel Khoo

2 lbs lamb, cut into 6 pieces

2 cloves of garlic, crushed to paste

1 onion, finely chopped

1 tbsp olive oil

1 bay leaf

2 sprigs thyme

4 carrots, cut into chunks

3/4 cup fresh or frozen peas

3 1/2 oz green beans, chopped

salt and pepper

Oven 325F. 

Brown the meat, garlic and onion with the olive oil in a large Dutch Oven. Add the bay leaf, thyme and carrots and enough water to cover the meat by at least an inch. Bring to a simmer and remove any foam that rises to the top. Once all the foam is removed, cover the pan and transfer to the oven. Cook for 1 1/2 - 2 hours or until the meat is tender.

Ten minutes before serving, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add the peas and beans. Cook for 5 minutes or until the vegetables are tender, then drain. 

Take the casserole out of the oven and remove the bay leaf and thyme. Add the peas and beans to the lamb, season with salt and pepper and serve immediately. 

waffles on a sunday.

    

This sunday I made waffles. Just plain old fashioned waffles like I used to have as a kid. I had gotten all the ingredients the night before, determined to spend the whole day at home to give little Christmas Kitty some attention. Working 8 hour shifts during the week, and even while running home on my lunch break to feed her; I still feel like she deserves one full day on the weekend. So I woke up on Sunday, to her as usual licking my face and trying to catch my toes that were wiggling around under the covers. After cleaning my kitchen from the disastrous wreck I leave it during the work week, it was waffle time. It was all mixed by hand, even the egg whites to stiff peaks which scared Christmas to no ends from the metal whisk hitting the bowl. Then it was time to cook up all the batter in the waffle iron, dousing the final results in raspberries, powdered sugar and maple syrup. Crisp waffles, tart raspberries and sweet syrup. A classic and great combination. So after spending the day with here, playing with every string that's in my apartment, it's back to the work week. I'm now spending all my day's photographing all of our inventory for our website. Photos of shoes all day long. It's nice to be behind a camera so often but it is still photographing shoes from all angles on a white background, all day long. But it's something. Hopefully more baking will come this coming weekend and then the next is my birthday and I'm off to see Hearst Castle with my Dad. 

XOXO
Jules (as I have now become known at work)

plain belgian waffles
from the little recipe slip inside an old waffle iron

4 eggs, separated
1 tbsp (14g) sugar
1/4 cup (57g) butter, melted & cooled
1 cup (237ml) milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups (250g) flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Beat yolks and sugar with a whisk until light. 
Whisk in butter, milk & vanilla. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder & salt. Then whisk into yolk batter. Beat well until there are no lumps. In a separate bowl whisk egg whites until stiff peaks. Then gently fold into your batter. Cook according to waffle iron directions. Generally 1/4 cup batter on highest heat for a standard waffle iron.
Serve with raspberries, powdered sugar and maple syrup.

cornmeal cake with blueberry jam.

 

A new year. I started this one off snuggled in bed with my new kitten watching some show on Netflix. It was a typical night for me. Nothing remarkable happened, no one kissed me at midnight or shoved champagne at me to celebrate. I am alone in this small town. But now I have a furry little friend to hang out with. 

While in San Francisco with my dad the day before Christmas Eve, we went to see the Christmas Carol. Rather than having to drive home after the play got out, we decided to stay the night since we both had the day off the next day. So the next morning, after breakfast, we walked by the trolly to maybe take a ride. Neither of us having done this tourist must have for years, we were going to go for a ride about town but once we got their, the line up was so long. So instead we walked up towards Union Square, and I suddenly remembered that Macy's partners with the SPCA on holiday and has kittens and puppies in their windows. After admiring their cuteness, awing at the little ones asleep and laughing at the ones playing with each other, a little kitten caught my eye. She was sitting up near the top of one of the displays, just staring at the crowd, watching everyone. I thought she looked like a lion. Now I have wanted to get a kitten for a while but just haven't. So I looked at my dad and go 'Can I adopt one of the kittens?' He just looked at me and said 'Your an adult, why are you asking me?' It didn't occur to me. I still feel like a kid sometime so it was just instinct for me to ask his permission. So we went inside Macy's and right next to the MAC counter was the SPCA booth. After a filling out a questionnaire, talking to the woman and having her watch us as we played with 'Yahtzee' she was ours. Now her name was Yahtzee. We asked her why, well the little kitten didn't really have a name but they don't want to put any of them in the window with out name, so she became Yahtzee. This couldn't be her name, she wasn't a Yahtzee. Plus Yahtzee seemed like a name for a mischievous little boy cat. Not this girl. But then I couldn't think of a name that fit her. So we just called her 'Christmas Kitty' and it just kinda stuck so now her name is Christmas. She is my beloved. Snuggly at night, always looking for a string to play with and currently chasing around a roll of washi tape that fell on the floor. She has already infiltrated my instagram account and will undoubtedly end up in some of my photos on here.







I made a cornmeal cake and dotted it with some blueberry jam before baking. It was good, light and simple. It was my intention to have the jam more swirled in the batter but it all just fell to the bottom. I think added it in after baking for a little bit will achieve this. The recipe is written out to hopefully reflect his change:

Cornmeal Cake with Blueberry Jam 
adapted from a Bon Appetit recipe

1/2 cup + 2 tbsp (78g) AP flour
1/2 cup (85g) yellow cornmeal
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup (100g) sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup (50ml) oil
6 tbsp (90ml) buttermilk
2 tbsp (30ml) honey
1/2 jar of Bon Maman blueberry jam

Oven 350. Butter and flour a 8inch round cake pan or skillet.
Whisk together sugar, vanilla and oil until combined. Add in eggs, buttermilk and honey. Stir in flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt until just combined. 
Pour into pan. Bake for 15 minutes then remove from oven. Using a spoon, drop dots of the blueberry jam all over. Place back in the oven and bake for an attentional 25-30 minutes until center of cake is set. Let cool for 15 minutes, the remove from pan. Let cool completely before serving.

{fresh} cranberry scones

It was my day off yesterday. I woke up to a chilly apartment, I had left the window open all night, and decided to make some scones. I had been thinking the day before about something to make, something in which I wouldn't have to go to the store for ingredients. I have had these cranberries in my freezer for what seems like forever, and with no eggs but a ton of butter, scones seemed like the best option. And after seeing Kamran's lastest post, I have been craving scones like you couldn't believe. So warm cranberry scones, black coffee and a few chapters of Hemingway was my morning. 

The scones came out buttery, flaky with juicy cranberries just popping with flavor. Indeed a success. Perfect for morning, tea or just a simple afternoon snack. 

The prior weekend I went to the Carmel/Monterey area, and this coming weekend I'm going to San Francisco with my Dad. To see a Christmas Carol, a tradition for us, and to wander around sight seeing. I love seeing a Christmas Carol, it is the same every year. Perfectly the same. Always a brilliant showing and I can't wait to see it again. It used to be the whole family but year after year they all got tired of it, so now my Dad agrees to take me because I love it so much. Tis the season.

{fresh} cranberry scones

based on a Bon Appetit recipe

3 cups (375g) AP flour

3/4 cup (150g) sugar, extra for sprinkling

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 cup (170g) butter, cold and cubed

1 cup (120g) fresh cranberries, frozen

1 cup (8oz) cold buttermilk, extra for brushing

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

Oven 425F.

Whisk all dry ingredients together. Add in butter and cut in until small, pea sized cubes. Stir in frozen cranberries. Mix vanilla and buttermilk together in a separate bowl. Stir into dry mix until just incorporated. Do not overmix. 

On a lightly floured surface, gently roll out dough to 3/4 inch thick. Cut into rounds, about 3 inches in diameter, or whatever desired size. 

Brush tops of scones with buttermilk and sprinkle with sugar. Place on baking sheet, leaving space between them. Bake for 18 minutes until sides are golden and center is set. Let cool slightly and serve with butter.

kinfolk.

Back in August I got an email from Kinfolk magazine. When I first saw the sender I just thought it was one of their mass emails about a new magazine or article or something. But it wasn't. It was the art director asking me if I would like to shoot a photo for their winter issue. I was in a utter state of shock. Kinfolk is that kind of magazine that I would dream to shoot in, but never though my photos would get in. I like the photos I take, but Kinfolk has just such a certain kind of beauty in it's photos, that I didn't think mine would be up to par. But they wanted me. AMAZING. I immediately replied back of course! So I shot two photos for the issue, gingersnap cookies all packaged up for giving and a hot toddy drink. Nerves took over the day of the shoot but I somehow managed through, with the help of my mom coming up, with my little cousin, to help out. 

They sent me the new issue last week and to see my photos in print was such a dream. To have photos with the likes of Alice Gao and Nikole Herriott made me feel like I was finally doing something right. Here are the photos and a few of the outtakes as well, my favorite being the one of my mom holding little Alana. 

The Outtakes:

Gingersnap Cookies         

1 stick (114g) butter, soft
1 cup (200g) brown sugar
1/4 cup (85g) molasses
1 egg
2 cups (250g) AP flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ginger
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
white sugar for rolling

Oven 350.
Cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and molasses. Sift in flour, soda, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Mix until combine. Chill in fridge for 1 hour.
Scoop out into 1 tbsp balls and roll in white sugar. Place on baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes. Let cool slightly on sheet then let finish cooling on rack.

On a sadder note, my beloved little cat, Cosmic has past away. She has been my cat for more than half my life and was my love. I begged my parents for years and years to get a pet when I was little, every birthday and christmas it was the only thing I wanted. It was always 'No, our condo is too small" etc etc. Then one day my Aunt called us up and her neighbor's cat had kitten, seeing if we wanted one. Somehow the answer became yes from my parents and we drove over their to pick out one. This little grey kitten with a white milk mustache became ours. I loved her from the moment we saw her. She was not the normal type of cat that most people fall in love with. She was really tough, acted like she didn't need anyone and was so fiesty she would even sometimes nip at my ankles walking by.  But if I was really still, just laying on the couch watching tv, she would sneak up and crawl onto my stomach and purr while I pet her. It made those little moments more special. We were just alike. Tough and aloof on the outside but really just a little softy at heart. I will miss her more than anything. She has been slowing fading away this past month. When my parent's came back from a trip, she had lost so much weight and just slept on a chair all day long, barely eating or drinking. Luckily my dad is home from work recovering from a surgery, so he was their with her all day long until the end. She will be greatly missed.