5 Easy Homemade Staples I’m Bringing To The July 4 BBQ (And You Should Too)

Move over Bomb Pop, there’s a new patriotic popsicle in town!

Have Yourself A Very Crafty Christmas With This Guide To The Perfect DIY Holiday

[rebelmouse-proxy-image https://thefederalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Screenshot-2024-12-03-at-3.23.11 PM-e1733264697945-1200x675.png crop_info="%7B%22image%22%3A%20%22https%3A//thefederalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Screenshot-2024-12-03-at-3.23.11%5Cu202fPM-e1733264697945-1200x675.png%22%7D" expand=1]How refreshing would it be to escape the bustle to intentionally create something original with family and loved ones in mind this Christmas?

Blackberry peach salad adds zest to dog days of summer



This week’s Let Her Cook honors the fact that we are in the dog days of summer. Pair this seasonal fruit and herb salad with a grilled chicken or white fish entree. This serves six, and it doesn’t keep. But that’s okay; you’ll probably want to finish it and then double it on the second try!

Lemon vinaigrette ingredients

  • 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed
  • 1 clove garlic, grated
  • 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
  • 1/2 tablespoon honey or maple syrup
  • 1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped very finely
  • 1 teaspoon vinegar (I prefer apple cider vinegar)
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Salad ingredients

  • 6 oz baby spinach and spring mix
  • 1 bunch of fresh basil, chopped
  • 1 bunch fresh mint, chopped
  • 8 oz feta cheese, crumbled
  • 1/2 cup almonds, sliced
  • 1 pint fresh blackberries
  • 3 medium peaches, sliced

Instructions

  • Combine dressing ingredients with an immersion blender or in a Mason jar by shaking vigorously for five minutes. Store in the fridge.
  • Toss spinach and spring mix with basil and mint in a large bowl.
  • Top greens with feta cheese, nuts, blackberries, and sliced peaches.
  • Pour dressing over salad and gently toss.

Sourdough cinnamon rolls



With my recent foray into the world of sourdough, it’s becoming harder and harder to deflect accusations of tradwifery. Watch out, Ballerina Farm. Your implicit right-wingedness is about to be made explicit.

Anyway, my kids and their friends love this recipe. It’s sure to please, but be sure to keep an eye on them while in the oven, and test to make sure the center is baked through. For whatever reason, my sourdough experimentation has taught me to watch carefully toward the end of the baking process. My theory: Each starter is alive and thus relatively hard to predict.

This surprised me about sourdough. Catherine Pakaluk recently brought to my attention that sourdough is a rich metaphor for motherhood. Much like the common life, proscriptive principles provide something of a foundation for the novice baker, but knowing the unique texture and readiness of what’s actually in front of you calls for a sense of particularity and prudence. I love that idea. It’s obsessing me at the moment.

You’ll need to let this dough sit overnight, so begin this process the evening before you want cinnamon rolls.

Ingredients

Sweet dough

  • 2/3 cup buttermilk
  • 6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 tsp of vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/2 to 3/4 cup bubbly, active sourdough starter
  • 4 tbsp granulated sugar
  • 3 cups King Arthur all-purpose flour
  • 1 tbsp salt

Cinnamon-sugar filling

  • 3 tbsp butter, softened
  • 1 tbsp maple syrup
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 3 tbsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 level tbsp flour

Glaze

  • 2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/3 cup cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup powdered sugar
  • 1–2 tbsp heavy cream

Make the dough

  1. In the evening: Combine the melted butter, vanilla extract, and buttermilk in a bowl. Cool slightly before using.
  2. Add the eggs, sourdough starter, and sugar to the bowl. Mix to combine. Slowly pour in the milk mixture as you are mixing it in (this can be done with or without a stand mixer). Add the flour and salt. Continue mixing until a rough, sticky dough forms. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Cover with a damp towel and let rest for 30 minutes.
  3. After the dough has rested, knead until the dough is soft, supple, and pulls away from the sides of the bowl when ready. If it’s too sticky, add flour until you reach desired consistency.

Bulk rise

  1. Transfer the dough to a medium-size bowl coated in butter or tallow (or even olive oil, if that’s all you have). Cover with plastic wrap. Let rise overnight until doubled in size, about 8-12+ hours at 67-68 F, depending on temperature.
  2. (optional) To aerate the dough, about 30 minutes to one hour into the bulk rise, stretch and fold the dough. Grab a portion of the dough and stretch it upward; fold it over toward the center of the bowl. Give the bowl a 1/4 turn; repeat. Do this until you’ve come full circle around the bowl (four folds total).

Roll the dough

  1. In the morning: Grease a 9-inch springform pan, pie tin, or cast iron skillet with preferred oil (butter or tallow work too).
  2. Lightly oil and flour your countertop to prevent sticking. Coax the dough out of the bowl. Gently pat into a rough rectangle. Let rest for 10 minutes for easier rolling.
  3. Dust the dough (and your rolling pin) with flour. Roll the dough into a 16 x 12-inch rectangle. If the dough resists, let rest for 5-10 minutes and try again.

Make the cinnamon-sugar filling

  1. Whip together all the ingredients for the filling.
  2. Cover the entire surface of the dough, including the top, bottom, and sides with the filling mixture. If too viscous, add more maple syrup.

Shape & cut the dough

  1. Starting on the long side of the dough, roll it into a log, pressing down gently as you go. Take your time; the log needs to be airtight so the swirls stay intact. You should end up seam side down. TIP: If the dough starts to get sticky from the heat of your hands, lightly oil or flour your fingertips.
  2. Cut the dough into 2-inch sections using an oiled knife or dental floss.

Second rise (optional)

  1. Place the rolls into the greased pan and let rest for 1- 2 hours or until the dough puffs up. You could also freeze at this point for future use.

Bake the cinnamon rolls

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
  2. I learned from TikTok that if you add heavy cream in between the cracks of raw cinnamon rolls before they go into the oven, they will come out super delicious and moist. This works! For even more deliciousness, you could melt cutter and maple syrup and drizzle over the tops before putting them in the oven.
  3. Place the pan onto the center rack and bake for 45 minutes (check at the 30-minute mark). If you added heavy cream at the end, bake time may be longer.
  4. Remove from the oven and let cool.

Make the glaze

  1. While the rolls are baking or cooling, make the glaze. Whip all glaze ingredients until smooth, thinning out the consistency with a little heavy cream as needed. The ingredients must be soft and at room temperature for best results.
  2. After the rolls have cooled, top them with some of the glaze or lightly dust with powdered sugar.

I adapted this recipe based on one by the Clever Carrot. Enjoy!

Something baked, something brewed: Maple bourbon pecan pie



Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

OK … not to overwhelm you, but it’s time to start thinking about Christmas. This year, I am hopping on the anti-consumerist Christmas bandwagon. That is to say, most everything I give will be crafted or cooked. And so, in that spirit, I thought I’d share the pie recipe I make every year for my husband. This is what I plan to give my neighbors and friends.

It’s a bourbon pecan pie sweetened with maple syrup instead of corn syrup. I am unfortunately one of those people whose hormones are extremely sensitive and have been decimated over the past three years by multiple back-to-back pregnancies. It’s a blessing in disguise, though — I have to be careful about ingredients, and we’re all healthier for it.

This is a perfect food item for neighbors and friends because it keeps for a while and you don’t have to worry about a soggy crust. You’re going to want to use disposable aluminum tins like these. I double up to ensure a sturdy base. Consider investing in bakery boxes for transport. This keeps things neat and clean. You can line the inside of the box with gift wrap, and I like to wrap the boxes with a simple ribbon that matches our custom monogrammed stationery gift tags from Etsy. These, I think, are a fantastic investment. You can slip them over the neck of a bottle of wine for a hostess gift; it really adds thought and personality to any gift. Either way, make sure to include a Christmas card and write a personal note. We’re living in an era of broken families and chronic depression. I don’t really care if it’s cheesy; people need to be reminded that they are loved. Without further ado … the best pie you’ll ever taste. Adapted from Ginny Dyer’s recipe.

INGREDIENTS

Pie crust (only if you are ambitious. I’ll probably be outsourcing this to the grocery store).

  • 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon granulated white sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes
  • 2-3 tablespoons bourbon, cold
  • 1 egg, whisked, for the egg wash

Pecan filling

  • ¾ cup pure maple syrup
  • 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
  • ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
  • 2 tablespoons bourbon, at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or extract
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 3 eggs, at room temperature and whisked
  • 2 cups whole pecans

INSTRUCTIONS

Pie crust

  1. Add flour, sugar, and salt to a food processor and pulse to combine.
  2. While the food processor is running, add in the cold butter a few pieces at a time until all is combined.
  3. While the food processor is running, add in the cold bourbon. Start with two tablespoons and increase from there just until you see the dough pull away from the sides and come together.
  4. Divide the dough in two, form into disks, and wrap tightly with plastic wrap.
  5. Chill the dough in the fridge for at least two hours and up to three days.
  6. Once the dough has chilled, remove one disk from the fridge and allow it to sit out of the fridge for 15-20 minutes until it is soft but still cold.
  7. Roll the dough out on a floured surface until you have a 10-inch circle.
  8. Carefully transfer the dough to a 9-inch metal pie pan.
  9. Press the dough into the bottom of the pie pan. Roll the outside edges of the dough toward the edges of the pie pan and tuck them behind the rest of the dough so you have a double layer, and slightly press together. Press the edges of the dough together so they form a scalloped shape.
  10. Poke a few holes with a fork on the bottom of the pie crust, then place the prepared pie crust in the fridge for at least 20 minutes while working on the filling.

Pecan filling

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place a cookie sheet in the oven while it is preheating.
  2. Add the maple syrup and flour to a large bowl and whisk to combine.
  3. Add in the brown sugar, melted and slightly cooled butter, bourbon, vanilla, and salt and combine.
  4. Add in the eggs and gently mix just until combined.
  5. Add in half of the pecans and stir to combine.
  6. Pour the filling into the prepared pie crust.
  7. Arrange the rest of the pecans on top of the pie. (This is optional. You can also just add all the pecans to the filling mixture and then pour into the prepared crust.)
  8. Brush the edges of the pie crust with egg wash.
  9. Place the pie on the preheated cookie sheet in the oven. Bake the pie for 40-45 minutes, just until the edges are set and the center is slightly jiggly. KEEP AN EYE ON IT. Pecans burn easily.
  10. Once the pie is done baking, transfer it to a cooling rack. Allow it to cool completely, at least five hours.