- Photos: hardlikearmour herself and her Pickled Prunes, a cardamom contest finalist.
We were literally gleeful to discover that hardlikearmour had yet to be featured in Cook Spotlight. Cue the trumpets: with a contest winner, two runners-up, and 16, that's right, 16 Editors' Picks in her recipe box, hardlikearmour is a home cook of the cleverest sort, whose kitchen instincts seem innate -- after all, she grew up at the stove and at the family supper table. As she writes in her Winners' Q&A, "[Cooking] just seemed like a normal skill to have." Are you surprised? We're not.
Hardlikearmour is a veritable melting pot of crafty and delicious ideas. From her tasty small bites of Pickled Prunes and Marinated Mushrooms to her award-winning Chocolate Cajeta Fondue and EP-tested and adored Pan-fried Dandelion Flowers, she has a knack for tricky ingredients (let's face it, it ain't that easy to make these simple suckers sing.) And, while her recipe repertoire is, dare we say, stacked, she is also an eager community tester and compositeur of truly beautiful headnotes (ah, the beauty of reading all EPs for a living). Deft simplicity coupled with culinary curiosity are hallmarks of her style -- and her native Portland's food scene, too. Creamy Raw Asparagus Pesto and Smoked Tea Caramels, blowing east as if brought to us by a breath of Pacific Northwestern air. And we're thrilled to have a taste.
p.s. What's in a name? We've been dying to ask ...
See more of of hardlikearmour's recipes and fan her here and read her profile Q&A below:
- What is the strangest food you have ever eaten?
Witches butter (aka Tremella mesenterica) - I ate a big glob of it in an attempt to disgust my brother. - What do you cook when home alone?
Soft scrambled eggs and toast. Salerno-style spaghetti with eggs. - Your most treasured kitchen possession:
My Kitchen Aid mixer. - Your ideal meal:
Wood oven or grilled pizza with a bottle of wine or beer. - Something you'd like a chance to eat or cook:
I'd love to eat at Alinea in Chicago. - The number of bottles of wine you own:
12 - The ideal number of guests for a dinner party is:
4 to 8 depending on the party - Kitchen pet peeve:
There is never enough counter or cupboard space. - Your favorite cookbook:
I love the Cooks Illustrated series and the Cake Bible.
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hardlikearmour
I am an amateur baker and cake decorator. I enjoy cooking, as well as eating and feeding others. I live in the beautiful Pacific Northwest with my husband and our menagerie. I enjoy outdoor activities including hiking, mushroom hunting, tide pooling, beach combing, and snowboarding.
Some past articles from this author you'll love:
Pear Rosemary Danish
Winner of Your Best Fair Food
State Fair Cream Puffs
38 Comments on hardlikearmour:
Congratulations! I always enjoy your advice and great ideas. I hope you get to Alinea!
Was traveling this week and missed this! Congrats! So nice to see you and your absolutely wonderful recipes highlighted here. VERY well deserved. I adore the Portland area and love to read your posts about it. Piper and Ben Davis of Grand Central Bakery are the niece and nephew of my neighbor. We get regular shipments of their wonderful products.
Congrats, hla! So happy to see you in the spotlight. I love reading your inventive recipes, your lovely headnotes and your warm comments to fellow cooks. You are a great cooking ambassador of the PNW. Hope that we can organize a gathering soon -- it would be great to meet you in person!
Congrats! It was such a pleasure to test your luxurious and delicious avocado shake recipe this week (I actually ruined my appetite for dinner one night because I tested it in the afternoon and couldn't stop drinking it). Props well deserved!
Congratulations - oh and so with you on the lack of table top space!
Great to see you in the spotlight and loved learning about the origins of your name (in your comment below). Off to listen to the song :)
So happy to see you featured, HLA! Your recipes are always so clever and inspired. And lucky me, It was so fun to meet you in person last week!
I'm the lucky one!
Congrats on the well deserved spotlight!
Oh yeah, great to see this. So happy to see you in the spotlight. Congratulations
Congratulations fellow Oregonian! I love your recipes.
Will you, ummm, marry me?
Finally! Great to see you n the spotlight. You're amazing!
Thanks to everyone for such lovely comments - it really made my day. I feel like I'm amongst friends here. ♥ ♥ ♥
I like everything I read about you, all your recipes, comments - everything. Brava.
Yay, hardlikearmour! <3 you and your recipes! xox
Congratulations hla! I love reading your recipes and comments, and I love your cake photos, I'm so happy to see you in the spotlight.
Well done HLA! You are going to love that stick blender. I've become a convert.
Woo woo, yeah, yeah! Hardlikearmour rocks...hard...like armour! Such a fan! I'm so happy to see you spotlighted.
Yay! So nice to see you in the spotlight, too.
Congratulations on the spotlight! Well deserved!
YIPEE! I can't think of a more well deserved spotlight! You are a great inspiration and friend, hardlikearmour! xx
Yippeee!!!!! So nice to see you in the spotlight, hla!!!
Congratulations Hardlikearmour.. its a delight to read about your inputs & recipes on Food52!
Wow! Thanks for the spotlight. I never expected to be in it since I don't have a blog! I've truly enjoyed becoming a part of the food52 community - it really feels like "home." The name is from a song lyric - my all time favorite song, from my all time favorite band - "When You Come" by Crowded House. The line is "and when you come to cover me with your kisses hard like armour, the sooner the better now." I think Neil Finn is an amazing lyricist.
Thank you for sharing the background of your name! And congratulations! I am one of your many fans.
Thank you for a good music tip. It puts you and your name in a whole new lovely context.
That cat is out of the bag :( I'm with HLA, and it's been fun as our friends talk with bravado about her screen name, laughing around the firepit after Deborah, for example, says "They have names like Spongecake, RoseLily, and CatPurr, but not you... no. You're Hard...Like...Armour!" They never ask "What's in the name?" and it's been fun letting them think it was some kind of statement about how bada$$ she is. Don't get me wrong, though... the name certainly befits her strength of character and strength of heart.
Thanks to the Food52 community for being so passionate and supportive of all contributors. I appreciate you even if there's been a strong correlation between contests HLA enters and my waistline.
* blush *
I have often found your recipes and food pickle contributions to be a little "bada$$". But in a wonderful way! Congrats! Much deserved spotlight!
Hurrah for HLA! Such a great member of this community in all ways. What IS in a name?
I'm so excited for you! Congratulations! You definitely deserve a little spotlight.
Congratulations! You're a true inspiration!
And I am literally gleeful to see you in the spotlight! You have brought so much to this community--your great recipes and love of food of course, but also your generosity with sharing ideas and tips, your stories and your humor. So good to see you here!!
So nice to see you highlighted here!
Congratulations, so happy you are in the spotlight. You rock!
Oh YAY for you! I had no idea you'd never been under the spotlight. You turn up everywhere - with great pickle answers, wonderful food, and generous comments on everyone's recipes. You keep the PNW in everyone's minds, and I truly hope for a fall meetup. Warmest congratulations!
yay! i'm already a fan!
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