Sugar and spice and everything nice

You know my predilection for putting just a dash of this and a hint of that in everything I make. Spices are the joy of life. I mean, don't get me wrong - I'm all for the true flavor of things and enjoying the freshness and tasting the dew that quivered on the leaf just that morn and all of that. But now that I've started learning how to use spices not to cover up, but to enhance, I see how the right spices and herbs can really wake up the food you make - bring out the essence of even the dew, if you will - and take a dish from tasty to scrumptious in 2 seconds flat.



And so, when the good folks at Aromatic Spice Blends sent me a heap of spice mixes to try, of course I was excited! They use quality ingredients and all the blends are small batch and freshly made, which is pretty much the key to a good spice blend. And after trying these, I can't wait to get to the other little packets!!

Combine that with just a little time on hand (enough to cook, but alas not enough to freshly grind my own spices - as is most often the case) and a certain husband's upcoming birthday, and I was hopping around with delight.



Plus, MIL had gifted me a Bundt cake pan (Bundt! Oo! Doesn't the word just promise fun?) that's been giving me a come hither look ever since Christmas.

So first up, a little spiced bundt cake. And then, a quick curried eggplant that comes together in under half an hour with the help of a pre-mixed spice blend.

Travel Tuesdays: Molasses and Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Writing about ginger cookies and gingersnaps made me realize I've been deprived of molasses, and I finally went and bought some. And now that I think about it, I've actually seen molasses being made!

It was on a family road trip to Ratnagiri - a fascinating place on the west coast of India, with a history that includes everything from delicious mangoes (I could wax poetic about Alphonso mangoes for days, and would recommend that everyone should brave the Indian summer heat to drown themselves in their deliciousness - even if you melt to death, it will be a sweet sweet way to go) to being the birthplace of Lokmanya Tilak to having been the home of exiled Burmese King Thebaw.

Maple Olive Oil Gingersnaps

These cookies were in response to a special request from my mom, who, upon reading about my Ginger Honey Cookies, suddenly realized that it had been years since she has had homemade gingersnaps. She requested actual gingersnaps, but, even though I'm a wonderful daughter (of course!!) I had to go and mess with a good thing. Once again, I took up the Kitchenaid at the very last minute, so when I discovered (yet again) the lack of molasses I shrugged my shoulders and reached for the honey. But when I found that I only had a measly 1/4 cup of butter left over in the fridge, I figured - what the heck, let's throw the ol' honey gingersnaps into the wind and just go all out in trying something totally different.

To replace the dark syrupy sweetness of molasses I reached for maple syrup - this was going to be a strong, powerful cookie. A little richer than the ginger honey cookies. If you make these, be sure to use the good stuff - that cornstarchy nonsense that passes for syrup won't do you any favors. And instead of butter, I've used olive oil in the past for cakes with excellent results, so olive oil it was. Nudge the ginger honey cookies here and there, and this is what you get:

The result? Rich flavors from the maple syrup and ginger, more crispness because of the olive oil, and still a bit of nice chew and bite. Delish.