Chocolate babka. I said it. I'll do it again. Chocolate babka. I did it, I spoke of this insanely delicious dessert without running to my car and driving to Scratch Baking Company to satisfy my addiction. I am getting better. You see a few weekends ago I bought babka on Saturday and Sunday. Then the following Saturday and Sunday. And then again the following weekend. I asked the cashier if it was possible to put me on speed dial at the store and call me when the babka was coming out of the oven. He laughed, and said no. I think he also advised his coworkers that the store had its first stalker. Imagine that. A chocolate babka stalker.

Have you had the stuff. It's a yeasty cake with layers and swirls of chocolate. At Scratch, the dough is buttery and incredibly delicate. The best way to eat it is to pull it apart into buttery pieces. It melts in your mouth.

I remember eating a cake like it as a kid. It was Easter Cake. Eggy, doughy, no chocolate, usually with a white icing. It too was a pull-apart kind of cake. Not made for the knife and fork set. Instead designed for kids -- messy, overly sweet, great warm, great cold, memory making.

If you've read my other blogs, you know that I tend to hunt for good stuff. In this case however, Scratch has everything I need. It's nearby. The babka is stellar. I love going into the place. What else could a babka addict need. One thing I need is to try baking my own babka. Sadly the cookbook I am baking my way through, James Beard's "Beard on Bread," does not have a babka recipe. He does have a recipe called "Monkey Bread." Which looks like it could be redesigned into babka. I am going to head over to Aurora Provisions to buy some nice baking chocolate and have a go at crafting my own babka. I'll let you know how it goes.

If you have a babka that you'd like to let me know of, please do. This is one hankering that I can't seem to satisfy.

Cheers.

Babka disclaimer -- Scratch only bakes babka on weekends. Here's what I suggest. Arrive at Scratch around 9AM. That's when I have had the best luck finding warm babka. Also ask them to make babka more days of the week. If enough babka lovers add their voice, maybe they'll budge.

Hi again -- when was the last time you traveled in the southern US? I have traveled there just a handful of times. Each time though, I have come home with a new favorite treat. I ate all the BBQ and fried foods you could imagine, but it's the sweets of the south that stuck with me. Southern food is on my mind because a couple of my favorites, chocolate GooGoos and Southern Pecan Pralines, are presently headed my way. Not because I ordered them online. My mother- and father-in-law are road tripping their way across the south. They're due to return to Maine, next Saturday. Not soon enough. We have a standardized in-law relationship, the love/hate variety. But when you're coming to my house with GooGoos and pralines, you get nothing but love. 

What is it about the southern US that makes the food so much fun? The fryolater, in a large part, does have a lot to do with it. Here's a little poem to reinforce that idea. Submitted by my father-in-law from the road, somewhere in GA, I believe.

All things fried are wonderful
All creatures great and small
All things cleaned and dipped
The fryer makes them fine.

Then there's the history of the south. The many cultures and regions and varieties of veggies and meats -- the fryer makes them all taste good. In truth, it's the creativity and adaptation of the southern people that really makes the difference.

I grew up in Warren, Ohio -- the capital of the Western Reserve. A pretty little place with some good food. Not far from the south, I suppose. Just one state away. So it makes sense that some of my family summer vacations were in the southern states. As I mentioned above, I ate a lot of BBQ and fried food. But I really don't recall what we ate beyond that, other than the GooGoos and Pralines. I do remember a few gems -- one was called the Hot Brown. It's roasted turkey on toast, topped with a cheesy, mustardy, peppery sauce. A Hot Brown with sides of mashed potatoes and cole slaw. That was living.

I have such fond memories of an amazing Peanut Soup. This delicacy felt and tasted like melted peanut butter in a bowl. It was always served with fresh baked bread for dipping (kind of a deconstructed peanut butter sandwich). At the time I lived for peanut butter sandwiches. I suppose I still do. I know my kids do.

The flavors of the south are very special. It's kind of sad that I have so few favorites. I wonder if there is anywhere in Maine to get good southern cooking? Maybe I'll tune into Paula Dean's show on the Food Network for some good ideas. I'll be watching as I live in the moment with my chocolate GooGoos and Southern Pecan Pralines.

Cheers,ya'll.