Yogurt Plum Coffee Cake

Let me ask you a question. Do you eat coffee cake for breakfast or for dessert? I've always thought of it as an a.m. food—surely because that's how we ate it in my house growing up. It's just like having a Danish or something. A nice slice alongside your...duh...coffee!

I only ask because I've noticed a fair amount of people who consider coffee cake dessert here in this wide world of food blogging. Is it a regional thing? A family-specific thing? A who-gives-a-f*ck thing? (I'm guessing that last one is the majority.) For me, it will always be a breakfast or brunch offering, though.

Cake in the morning just makes sense anyway. You know, more hours to burn it off.

Whole Roasted Trout w/ Sake and Plums inspired by Flask of the Drunken Master

I'm so excited to be hosting a tour stop for Susan Spann's latest release in her Shinobi Mystery series today. I'll admit, it was initially the title that drew me in: Flask of the Drunken Master. I hadn't read (or even heard of) the books before, but I'm a huge kung-fu fan, and Drunken Master is one of my favorite kung-fu flicks, so I couldn't wait to read the book. Now, there's actually no kung-fu involved in the book, and it's set in Japan, not China...fortunately, that didn't stop me from enjoying every minute of it!

So, I mentioned that this book is actually part of a series; it's book three. I ordered the first two books in the series with the intention of reading them before this one, but time got away from me and I didn't get the chance. Now that I've read Flask of the Drunken Master, I can't wait to go back and get caught up with the first two books, but my experience wasn't lacking for not having read them already. It can stand on it's own if you want to dive right in.

Flask is a mystery set in Japan in the year 1565. Our main characters are the Hiro, a translator who, unbeknownst to most, is actually a shibobi (ninja), and Portuguese Jesuit Father Mateo. Together they are working to prove sake brewer Ginjiro innocent of the crime of murder, and find the real killer before he is executed for the crime.

Red Fruit Salad

Red. The color of love and passion. It's bold. It's exciting. It draws the most eyes in any crowd. It disappears first in any candy jar. So, while it's important to eat the rainbow in order to get the best variety of nutrients and antioxidants, sometimes you just have to throw caution to the wind and embrace the intensity that is RED!

Who doesn't go crazy for sweet, juicy red fruit and berries at their peak? Who else has to purchase an extra pint of wild strawberries from the farmers market...just so that you'll actually have some left by the time you get home?

I've probably mentioned it a time or five before—for me, there's no season like cherry season. Is it wrong to eat one's weight in cherries? I think not.

Sugar Plum Cake | Confections of a Closet Master Baker

As a recent participant in the Edible Word, a foodie book club (hosted by Cath of A Blithe Palate and Stephanie of Dispensing Happiness), I was able to obtain an advance copy of Confections of a Closet Master Baker by Gesine Bullock-Prado. Plus, Edible Word is pairing with Cook the Books this month....ah, a melding of the minds, a pairing of the passions...wink wink. Bullock-Prado once lived life in the Hollywood sun...shmoozing...daily interaction with the "beautiful" people...head of a production company (along with her sister...famous sister...recognize the last name?)...constantly having to appear perfect and put up with a*#holes. But in the midst of it all, she made shopping shopping lists...baked goodies for friends and loved ones...and dreamed of a more fulfilling lifestyle.

So, she finally did something about it. It's not something we can all do...but it's definitely the subject of many a fantasy. She left Tinsel Town and moved to a quirky little town in Vermont where she opened a bakery. In a timely interview with her sister by InStyle magazine where Gesine's macaroons were mentioned, her shop gained instant success (ie...overwhelming amount of orders that you are unprepared to handle).  My favorite moments in her book were the memories and recipes inspired by thoughts of her mother and grandmother. Did I mention the book includes recipes! In one chapter, she reminisced about Zwetschgendatschi, a German tart she had eaten with her mother every summer. It was her mother's comfort food...and one that Gesine could not bake or even bare to think of after she lost her mother.

Rustic Plum, Ginger and Almond Tart for BSI

When I saw these 3 types of beautiful plums at the market this week, I secretly sent a little wish to the foodie-fairies for this week's Blogger Secret Ingredient to be PLUMS...and it came true!!! This weeks BSI host is LK from Healthy Delicious (did you read my mind LK?). I didn't write down the names because I just knew I'd remember them...guess what? I don't remember them. Typical! They were something like...Red Star, Purple Moon, Yellow Rain...I don't know...they were dreamy, though! A quick side note...have you ever seen or taken a photo of food that you just know should be featured somewhere? Showcased? Seen? Well, Laura from Hey What's for Dinner Mom? has a new event over at her place for just this reason! It's called Best Foodie Foto...simple as that. Send her a picture (or 2 or 3) from your posts for the week...it's a weekly roundup...with a link to the post it was in and she will post a roundup. Get your readers to vote or leave it all to chance and you could win a prize. Cool, right? Right! So, just click on the name of the event above to find out the more detailed rules and start photographing your food...or keep photographing your food! You may be too late to enter this week...hmmmm, perhaps I subconsciously waited to tell you about it until last minute so that I would have a better chance this week... so if you just happen to be visiting her site sometime between mid-Sunday & mid-Monday and you didn't get a chance to enter a photo... I'll have a few on there (hint, hint)... but seriously, vote for somebody because don't we all like to win prizes? Back to Blogger Secret Ingredient: Plums! I knew I wanted to make a dessert, so I went for a "rustic" tart. I was feeling a bit lazy. I did not want to make a crust (I know, it's not hard and usually I like making it from scratch, but...) so I decided to use a sheet of puff pastry that I had in the freezer instead. Rustic Plum, Ginger & Almond Tart by girlichef 1 sheet Puff Pastry flour for rolling 8 plums, any variety 1/2" pc. of ginger, minced zest of 1 orange 1 Tbs. cornstarch freshly grated nutmeg- to your taste 1/2 - 3/4 c. raw sugar (depends on the tartness of your plums) + more for sprinkling ~1/3 c. almond paste 1 Tbs. chilled butter, cut into small pcs. for egg wash: 1 egg splash of cream or milk Preheat oven to 400 degrees f. Cut plums into 1/8's. Add ginger, oj zest, nutmeg, cornstarch and sugar. Toss well to combine. Let sit ~15-20 minutes. Sprinkle your work surface with some flour and roll out your puff pastry dough to ~14". It doesn't have to be circular...I'm going for rustic. But it can be if you wish. Transfer to baking stone (or inverted cookie sheet). Roll out almond paste until thin and ~12". Place in center of rolled dough. Mound your plum filling on top of the rolled almond paste. Fold edges roughly over the topping, leaving the center exposed. Dot fruit with butter. Combine egg wash ingredients and brush over crust. Sprinkle with raw sugar. Bake for ~35 minutes or until crust is golden and fruit filling is bubbly. You probably want to line the bottom of the oven with foil...some of my filling seeped through...or alternately, bake it in a pie plate if you wish. Serve alone or with ice cream! Don't forget to head over to Healthy Delicious to what other delicious PLUM recipes everybody came up with! And send your "best food fotos" over to Hey What's for Dinner Mom? while you're at it!