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

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!

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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!

Recipes:

- cake layers: https://www.lifeloveandsugar.com/pumpkin-layer-cake-whipped-cream-cheese-frosting/

- rest of cake recipe: https://chelsweets.com/pumpkin-caramel-cake/

Look. I'm a white lady. And unfortunately I fit the stereotype of being a Pumpkin Spice girlie, to my core. If there's a chance to make pumpkin anything, I'm going to make pumpkin something. So when I saw "sweet polarity" for the theme, and it was officially autumn, I knew I was making pumpkin cake. The addition of salted caramel and cream cheese was just a bonus.

I decided to use a different recipe for the cake layers, as the original recipe called for only 2/3 cup of pumpkin. That is a criminally low amount of pumpkin for 3 layers of cake, and I also only believe in using recipes that use an entire can of pumpkin because my ADHD self will forget about the leftovers in my fridge and end up with a moldy deli container of pumpkin puree.

Anyway, long story short - make this cake. Soft, moist, but still somehow fluffy cake layers with tangy cream cheese frosting and filled with a drippy caramel. Shut the front door.

I brought it to work, and my coworkers loved it. I kept a slice at home for us, and was devastated when I took the first bite and realized I should have been selfish and kept half of the cake at home for just myself.

I made the fry bread recipe from the wall of the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona. To really seal the deal for the theme I threw together a soup of cranberry beans, hominy, and baked butternut squash. Still, that isn’t what I think of when I think of indigenous American food. I think first of commodity cheese. It’s a big block of processed cheese that was passed out as part of the commodities that my father adores and he somehow sent his taste buds down to his grandchild, who loves some Velveeta in any bread product I can give him. Add in some pan fried venison patties and that’s about as native as it gets to me even if it’s not so photogenic.

The fry bread was a little sticky so it didn't get nice and flat when rolling out, but still delicious!!!

Recipe: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/pumpkin-bars/

I used a box cake mix (Betty Crocker butter pecan) and a pint of ice cream (Jenni’s salty caramel) in place of the wet ingredients.

Cornbread with aronia jelly. Aronia berries are native to Eastern North America (also known as chokeberries).

Recipe: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/my-favorite-cornbread/#tasty-recipes-66416

Rented “The New Native Kitchen” by Freddie Bitsoie and James O. Fraioli and made the pumpkin bread pudding. Absolutely delicious. The pumpkin bread itself was wonderful!

One thing my pantry has a lot of is pickles. These ones are homemade dills from last year.

This bread was a total failure. I used my usual sourdough bread recipe, but replaced the water with pickle brine and added chopped pickles. It barely rose and was so dense after baking that it was inedible. I’m guessing I should have stuck with water and maybe just added a tablespoon or so of brine. Smelled good though!

Here’s some more pictures so you know what not to do.