bell & basket

cooking. baking. home.

Gold Leaf Jam Jars

My favorite toast condiment–after butter of course–is Bonne Maman raspberry jam. It’s tart, not too sweet and has the perfect consistency for spreading on toast. I also love to use it as a filling for cookies, cakes and swirled in vanilla ice cream. Every once in a while I’ll go out on a limb and buy fig, mixed berry or the occasional apricot but I always come back to the classic raspberry.

It’s an understatement to say that I’ve gone through a few jars of this jam.

After filling the empty jar with leftover bacon grease and storing it in the back of the fridge (great for sautéing brussels sprouts or adding to cornbread), I realized that these jars are just TOO cute to not use on the daily.

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Wings, Wheat Berries and Watermelon

As I breathe in my last whiffs of our neighbors’ charcoal grills it’s finally setting in that summer is coming to an end. As the sun sets (earlier and earlier) and the temperature shifts (cooler and cooler) those dormant “back to school” feelings somehow rise from the dead. But when I catch an earthy, fire-y waft drifting through our apartment windows, I remember that summer will eventually make its way back around again.

Until it does, I’ve discovered a way to grill year round! If you’re imagining me shoveling the fire escape and setting up a mini weber camping grill in a puffer jacket, stop right there.

I’ve discovered a tool so simple and wonderful I’m embarrassed to say I’ve never owned one before. Yes, yes, yes–a grill pan!

This particular cooking method imparts flavor, texture and beauty. Grill marks are beautiful on any protein, vegetable, cheese or even fruit. Grilled poundcake? Awesome. But more important than physical beauty is the ability for the grill pan to create char and contrast you can’t otherwise get in a standard pan. Char + Contrast = FLAVOR.…

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Camping Pancakes

Two of the many things that I love in this world are pancakes and camping. So when we embarked on our Fourth of July camping extravaganza (you should have seen our trunk) to Provincetown, Massachusetts, I brought along my whisk, cast iron pan, pancake mix and blueberries for early morning camping pancakes.

When I say campfire, I’m actually referring to a mini webber charcoal grill our friends brought with them (the campsite doesn’t allow open fires). Because it was my first time making pancakes on a grill there were some bumps along the way. Bump number one was getting the cast iron pan temperature right.

Charcoals are HOT when they’re white and smoldering so I’d recommend not waiting this long. Really high heat is great for meats but for pancakes you want nice, even, medium heat. We did NOT get that on the first try. Our butter scorched and smoked causing us to have to clean out the pan and start all over again.

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