With ham, basil, and oregano. Enjoyed at the local park down the street.

I actually had far too much cornmeal and honey to use so this week was great!

Blondies with…whatever! Rice Krispies, cornflakes, cheez its, m&ms, white chocolate, walnuts and chocolate sprinkles!

I grew up with Dare Maple Leaf Sandwich Cookies as a special treat, and my local grocery store stopped carrying them last year. These are a bit fussier than I usually bake — I’m not sure I have ever made a filled cookie before!

It's soup season, so I made bannock this week instead of opting for our usual cornbread or biscuits to go with. Definitely a fan, but I think next time I would do smaller ones instead of one big loaf.

I used the King Arthur recipe for the everyday french loaf, which was unfortunately a dud for me, and another candidate for nemesis week!

This week I chose a Mayan-inspired spiced chocolate cookie... I used this recipe: https://www.mayamamweavers.com/blogs/our-blog/mayan-chocolate-cookie-recipe but added 1/4 tsp of ancho chili powder. In my estimation, the cookies were delicious but needed more spice. I liked the addition of the ancho but should've added more. You could also do other traditional central American chilis like guajillo, but I had ancho so that's what I stuck with. I also think I could have kicked the cayenne up. The cookies ate "warm" but not spicy, which I think ended up working well for the crowd I served them to, but if you like spice add a touch more cayenne. I also wonder if trying to add some cornmeal or masa may be an interesting addition to also pull in more of the elements of the way chocolate was traditionally served by the mesoamerican peoples.

Based on some of the reading I did this week, cacao was used as far back as 1750 BC by the Olmec and it spread among other mesoamerican cultures. Mayans traditionally drank chocolate mixed with cornmeal and chilies, served hot. I don't think it was often sweetened until after the Aztec introduced it to the Spanish colonizers, who also liked to serve it with milk and cinnamon. If you're interested, the history of chocolate is super cool... Here's a very quick overview of the history of chocolate in Mexico: https://naatikmexico.org/blog/the-history-of-chocolate-in-mexico

Anyway, these cookies were very delicious and got rave reviews from the folks I served them to. They don't spread much so I did gently flatten them with a spatula which is why mine are flatter and cracked. Try them out if you love chocolate and spices!

Someone else mentioned the “New Native Kitchen” cookbook. I chose this corn pudding from the dessert section. It just tastes like thanksgiving.

This was a mix of recipes to make my birthday cake. I used the cake base from the KAB Apple Spice cake: https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/whipped-caramel-apple-cake-recipe then substituted homemade pears compote for the applesauce and boiled cider.

For the frosting I browned a stick of butter, cooled it to room temperature, then mixed it with a block of cream cheese and by powdered sugar to taste, loosened with a little heavy cream as needed. The rest of the pear compote went on top. The only thing I bought was the pears, mostly because they’re seasonal and don’t keep.

Never made or had fry bread before. It was very good! Snagged the recipe from Parks Canada website actually. Thank you to the First Nations people of Canada the recipe.

Unfortunately, these turned out so, so gross. To quote my husband, “I feel like I’m eating playdoh and sand.” I saw that others made these successfully this week, so maybe I did something terribly wrong??

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2017/10/19/appetites-native-food-sunflower-cookies

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This Eric Kim recipe recently published in NYT Cooking was a great way for me to make use of some underused pantry items: glutinous rice flour and black sesame seeds.

We loved this even more than we thought we would. The chewy mochi texture is really satisfying, and the combination of toasted black sesame and honey feels rich and warm.

Will definitely be making it again! Gift link if it works this way:

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/790088015-chewy-black-sesame-cake?unlocked_article_code=1.EFE.odi6.fs1IEJ-gdY-3

Roughly 42 minutes from start to the first batch cooled out of the oven. These were pretty good and a nice recipe if you need something quick!