PANTRY PEANUT SAUCE

This is the peanut sauce that was intended to be easy, quick, every day sauce and then things just kept getting thrown into the blender. Lots of finger dipping, tasting...more ginger! dip. add coconut! dip. more spice! What I have below is a general recipe, but you'll need to taste and adjust as you wish. I may have lost track of a half teaspoon here or there. We didn't want it so peanuty that it resembled more of a spread for toast than an asian sauce, so the coconut milk and bit of toasted sesame oil help rein that in (see note). We like lots of ginger, always citrus, just enough spice to warm your throat and poof, a great sauce that will be used for a number or quick dishes this weekend. The photo here shows it on a simple asian sandwich with seared tofu, cucumber, carrots and scallions but I also plan on using it as a dressing for a quinoa and kale salad or making some spring rolls packed with veggies with this on the side for dipping. However you wish, meals seem to come together quite quickly with a good sauce on hand.

PANTRY PEANUT SAUCE // Makes about 1.5 cups

I imagine this would last a good two weeks in the fridge without compromising too much on flavor. Don't quote me, I don't see it lasting long enough to tell, but it's an educated guess.

• 3/4 cup creamy, unsalted peanut butter

• 2 cloves garlic

• 3 Tbsp. fresh grated ginger

• zest and juice of one large lime

• 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes

• 2 Tbsp. honey

• 3 Tbsp. soy sauce or tamari

• 1 Tbsp. rice vinegar

• 2 tsp. toasted sesame oil

• 1/3 cup light coconut milk or water, more as needed*

• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro, optional

Add all of the ingredients besides cilantro to a powerful blender or food processor and run until smooth. Taste and adjust as preferred. Add the cilantro, give it another few pulses and keep in an airtight jar in the fridge.

* I used coconut milk for thinning because I had some open. It also helped cut the peanut butter flavor and made it a bit more savory. Water will work fine to thin, just expect the peanut flavor to be more forward. It will firm up a bit in the fridge, so keep that in mind while choosing your consistency.

AT LONG LAST

When you're on a swing, without a push start from the ground, you begin pumping your legs to get the thing moving. Leaning far back to move the swing forward, and then bending the knees back trying to generate some momentum. At first it feels like you're going nowhere, that people are watching you laboriously thrust yourself back and forth, barely off the ground. Awkward as it is, you are moving, you are gaining energy. We started this cookbook nearly two years ago, and in just a couple weeks it will be out in the world. It started with lots of work and food and research and mistakes and emails and more food - the pumping of our legs. With a blog, you get a response almost immediately, but you have to sit on a book for awhile before it generates feedback. That time that we've been sitting with it has made me anxious, so I'm thrilled to set it loose. We are no longer flailing our legs to get off the ground, we're moving, really swinging, on this ride of writing a cookbook. I have a big stack in our office for family and friends, copies are in the mail to my recipe testers, and there are a number on the desks of media folks. This is the part where you just allow the momentum to take you. And even if it's been years since you've found yourself on a swing, you know that feeling - once the cadence takes over, the woosh of speed, the moment of weightlessness, arcing back again - and the freedom of giving in.

Below is our homemade promo video. We improvised some material and Hugh did a fabulous job of teaching himself how to shoot and edit, if I do say so myself. It's so "us," incapable of taking ourselves too seriously,  and it makes me happy. 

Ten Speed Press also put together a great sampler of a few of the recipes from the book so you can get a taste of what's inside.

BLUEBERRY-OAT BISCUIT COBBLER

I'm guessing I'm not the only one who's been on a fruit bender as of late. My favorite is strawberries (the best of which have passed in my particular opinion), with cherries, peaches, nectarines and blueberries tied for second place, which means this time of year I am in fruit euphoria. Most of it is getting eaten raw, but in order to get my better half to really get into this goodness, it needs to make it's way into a baked good or dessert of sorts. I found this recipe while flipping through the recent Bon Appetit and the simplicity of it caught my eye. I reduced the sugar, added in some whole grains, and now have a wonderful cobbler that dishes up beautifully as dessert with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, but can also be excused as a breakfast treat with a dollop of yogurt on top.

BLUEBERRY OAT BISCUIT COBBLER // Serves 6

Adapted from August 2012 Bon Appetit

The magazine also suggests that this can be done in six 6 oz. ramekins which sounds perfect for having people over. I think this would work great with a mix of fruits too - maybe mix in some blackberries or peaches.

• 1 cup plus 3 Tbsp. white whole wheat flour (I imagine spelt or quinoa flour would work)
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 3 Tbsp. plus 1/2 cup natural cane sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 5 Tbsp. chilled, unsalted butter, cut into 1/2'' pieces
• 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
• 6 cups blueberries (about 2 lbs.)
• 2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp. fresh lemon zest
• vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt for serving

Preheat oven to 375'. Whisk 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup oats, 3 Tbsp. sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Add butter, using your fingers and smush it in to make pea-size clumps. Gently mix in yogurt. Knead until biscuit-like dough forms, being careful not to overmix.

Combine remaining 1/2 cup sugar, remaining 3 Tbsp. flour, berries, juice and zest in a large bowl. Toss to coat. Pour into 8x8 baking dish (or ramekins). Tear biscuit topping into quarter sized pieces and scatter over berries.

Bake cobbler until juices and thick and bubbling and topping is cooked through and golden brown. 20-25 minutes for ramekins and 40-45 minutes for baking dish. Let is rest at least 45 minutes.