Apologies

Well, I came to apologize. This summer I've been without an operating camera and, frankly, I've been too busy having fun to document all the summer goodies I cooked up. Living with my grandparents, I had access to so many baking and cooking supplies, I was overwhelmed. I won't tempt you with all the fresh pesto, tomato sauce, a favorite muffin recipe I made too many times to count with all the wonderful summer fruit you could imagine, this cake, oh, and this one too, twice! My grandfather, being a baker, also gave me a few pointers and lessons in bread baking, which was awesome! I truly enjoyed my summer and when I wasn't in the kitchen (cuz let's be honest, I wasn't THAT often) I was eating my way through the town, visiting all the fabulous restaurants. Man did I eat well!

So while I don't have any pictoral evidence of the summer, I do have good news! I've been at the beach this week, and man, have we eaten well! From chicken lasagna and homemade waffles, to bubble tea and grilled pizza. We've been eating some wonderful dishes, and I have two new posts to bring in the weeks to come. So while you wait, and I hopefully don't procrastinate, keep eating yummy seasonal local foods and I'll be back to a very humble hall kitchen since I'm back in the dorms this year. Hopefully that won't slow me down too much, I'm sure it won't considering the chocolate cake with homemade buttercream and a chocolate ganache I made literally by hand my freshman year. Bon Appetit!

Colorful Birthday Surprises!

***WARNING: This post is riddled with pictures!***

Consider yourself warned. A few weeks ago, Laura and I traveled to her home to surprise her dad for his birthday. We had a blast planning out the menu and executing, as we were both officially DONE with school. Summer is in! So we celebrated by spending all day in the kitchen. It was heaven to me! Plus, Laura and I have learned to be a pretty bang-up kitchen team. She's the cook, I'm the baker. It works out nicely.

EDad really likes spaghetti. It's standard fare for most American households, and he's happy as a lark when spaghetti is served. We wanted to give the spaghetti a nudge of excitement, as this was a party we were throwing! Our spaghetti came with homemade tomato sauce, sauteed veggies, and turkey meatballs. And everyone seemed to enjoy it! Sometimes ground turkey can turn out dry, but our meatballs were really good, if I do say so myself.

We also made another one of EDad's favs - Frozen Pea Salad. We omitted the step about warming the bacon bits, but apparently it was a crucial step that allowed the flavors to meld together Whoops! We'll know for next time.

Finally, the cake of all colorful cakes was made for dessert. EDad's favorite of all favorites is M&Ms, so we, naturally, HAD to incorporate them. Laura found a great little recipe for M&M cake, and it turned out quite nicely. The batter was more of a pound cake consistency, and M&Ms were baked right in, so a layer of candy-coated chocolate formed on the bottom. There was a simple lemon-y glaze that went over the cake and created the glue for more M&M decorations. It was pretty tasty if I do say so myself!

We had a great time! Thanks to Laura's family for allowing us free-range in the kitchen! I love birthdays!

I leave you now with just a little bit of ambiance (haha!) and a recipe.

Christmas M & M Cake or...Anytime CakeCAKE:

1 cup butter -- softened

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar

3 eggs

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 1/2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1-16 oz. pkg. red and green M&M's (Any Color Will Do)

FROSTING:

1 cup powdered sugar

juice of 1 lemon

2 teaspoons water

1. Cream together butter and sugars until light. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

2. Stir together milk and vanilla.

3. Mix together flour, baking powder, and salt. Alternately add flour and milk to creamed mixture.

4. Reserve 1/4 cup M&M's for topping. Stir remaining M&M's into batter. Pour into greased and floured 12-cup bundt or tube pan.

5. Bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes. Cool 15 minutes before removing from pan.

6. Mix together frosting ingredients to make glaze. Drizzle over top and decorate with reserved 1/4 cup M&M's.

NOTE: The chocolate from the M&M's melts and goes to the bottom of the pan (top when turned out of pan) and the red an green M&M's leave colorful trails throughout the cake.

Tummy Tea

Sometimes you just don't feel good. It's not exactly a sickness of any particular sort but you just feel crummy, whether is due to stress or lack of sleep. Laura came back with my new favorite home remedy for tummy aches and general crummy-ness - Ginger Tea. It's really all quite simple, but she made this concoction several times for me in the last few weeks of school during the late night study sessions (hence the picture below of my messy desk.) And now I'm sharing it with you!

Ginger Tea

1 T. grated ginger root
1 pinch of black pepper
1 1/2 c. hot water
1 T. honey
1 t. lemon juice

1) Heat the water in the microwave
2) Bundle ginger and pepper in a tea steeper (or a small sac made of paper towel and dental floss like Laura did)
3) Let the ginger steep for several minutes
4) Stir in honey and lemon juice
5) Enjoy!

Strawberry Dancing

If you haven't taken advantage of the bounties of the season, I suggest you head to your local farmers market and scoop up all the goodies you can! Spring is fraught with fresh, yummy produce just aching to be eaten. From asparagus and artichokes to rhubarb and strawberries. It's really incredible how spring brings forth beautiful, edible wealth! I went to the farmer's market last Saturday and stocked up on asparagus, carrots, cabbage, and more. It was wonderful!

But I digress... this post is specifically about strawberries and before I got off the bloggers deep end babbling on about how I love spring foods (and trust me, I could babble), I will get back to the point. I have a not-so-secret obsession with strawberry picking. Aside from desperately wanting to have my own garden/farm of wonderful foods to tend to and appreciate and EAT, which I'm pretty sure is just an excuse for me to play in the dirt no matter what age I am, I satisfy my craving for digging in the dirt by picking seasonal foods from You-Pick farms. This spring (well really just in the past month) I have picked strawberries 4 different times. Twice near my home, once near school, and once in my current town. Each time I have thoroughly enjoyed the direct farm-to-table bounty, and knowing that I am supporting local agriculture and taking responsibility for my food chain make me feel good. There is just something about talking to the farmers that makes you feel secure about the food you consume. (Instead of some of the produce in the grocery store that has to travel all around the world to get to you.)

But I digress yet again... Phil and Laura accompanied me on this particular strawberry picking trip. We had a blast surveying the rows and rows of berries and finding 3 beautiful baskets of plump, juicy ones. Most of them were consumed as is, but Laura did make a strawberry cake, and I made some strawberry bread with another bunch I picked near home.

I think I might freeze a bunch so I can have more throughout the summer! Yum!

It was just a little fire...

...we promise it wasn't intentional! On Wednesday, study day no less, we had quite an exciting day. After coming back to the apartment, I found Jenn happily sitting in the living room. I knew Laura and I were heading to dinner at the DH, so I invited her along. Unfortunately, I forgot to remind her to turn off the pasta she was cooking for dinner... You can imagine our surprise upon returning around an hour later to find about 7 firemen and a police officer in our apartment! Luckily the pot had really only begun smoking heavily and set off the smoke detector without triggering the sprinklers. We are all VERY thankful no water was involved! And while the police officer wasn't very nice, a really friendly, chipper fireman comforted us and even took a cupcake! Really no harm was done. We just have been keeping our doors and windows open as much as possible to let the smoke smell fade away. Hopefully there won't be any more fires any time soon in this kitchen!

Ask Not What Your Country Can Do For You, But What You Can Do For Your Country

One messy turtle. That's what I ended up with in the 2nd disaster to reach this kitchen since last week's granola mishap. He started off well intentioned and even had dreams of looking like this, I solemnly swear! (holds up 3 fingers like a good Girl Scout) But this turtle was hastily thrown together after a late night run for cake. Admit it, we all get those cravings, the ones that just make you think , but it's really only college kids that get to act on the impulse with abandon and make cupcakes at midnight. And that's exactly what H-103 did! I carefully mixed (ok, well I threw) some eggs and oil into a bowl to make a glorious box-cake batter. In my hastiness to fill the cupcake molds, I accidentally forgot to spray them which meant imminent disaster! Poor Mr. Turtle looked more like this, than an honest to goodness reptile... (See pic below) So Laura decided she could probably fix him, which I had a minor freak out. **NOTE: I do not handle kitchen mishaps well. I kind of become a big baby and want to throw the damaged goods on the floor or in the trash, which I have on several occasions just like a regular old spoil sport. Thank goodness for Laura's ingenuity (and multiple birthday cake misfortunes!) She salvaged what we had and made a scrumptious cake/frosting/sprinkle scramble I'll call Monkey Toes. She also named this post after interjecting the silence in the kitchen with this emphatic quote from John F. Kennedy.

Anyway, I finally pulled myself together and used the remaining batter to fashion another turtle. Now Mr. Turtle didn't turn out like this fine fellow, but he really hit the spot! And you might even see him reappear in another post soon to be up!

Happy Studying! May it be filled with cupcakes!

A Falafel Only A Mother Could Love

My friend Alex had this brilliant idea to make something together a while back, and when I started the food blog, I knew it was necessary that he make an appearance. You see, Alex is one of those really good "idea people." He comes up with fantastically creative party themes (i.e. Old People Night, Lumberjack Party, 80's Gym Teacher Party.) I knew the opportunity was too good to pass up, and since he lives all the way on the other side of the US, it was imperative that we make our meal together before summer vacation arrived. Fortunately, we squeezed it in.

Alex also came back from Easter break with a food jewel -- organic falafel mix from an awesome market in Boston. Thus, our middle eastern meal commenced. First we mixed the falafel mix with water until just the right consistency was reached. Then we heated oil in a pan and rolled the mixture into falafels. Soon the oil was ready and we put our first falafels in the pan. Alex almost mastered it on the first try, but we ended up with some kind of lumpy looking falafels. He commented that they were 'falafels only a mother could love,' but I sure gobbled them up! They tasted sooo good!



On the second go-round (see the first picture), Alex really figured it out! The falafels were picture perfect and tasted just as good! We planned out a whole menu in addition, which included pitas, hummus, couscous, tomatoes (of which I did not partake), strawberries, and Greek yogurt. What a fun way to spend a Saturday!


My pita (top) and Alex's (bottom)



Thanks so much to Alex for the wonderful suggestion and the tasty meal! We should do it again really soon!

Granola Two Ways

In the midst of a very busy week here at the end of the term, I decided that I needed to make something for the picnic given for students in my major. Last names beginning with A-H were designated to bring desserts, and since we are in a health-related field, I had the perfect thing - granola! I even have a go-to recipe for granola that I found and used this summer with great results. Unfortunately, this time granola wasn't so easy... I ended up with granola two ways: 1) Burnt and Bitter 2) Golden Brown and Just Right

(Is it A or B, 1 or 2...)

A1

B2


If you matched Burnt and Bitter with A1, you just won this! If you matched Burnt and Bitter to B2, well, we've only got these for you, one in every color.

Anywho, I followed the recipe, I swear I did! I toasted the nuts beforehand. I mixed the nuts and oats together and coated with honey and oil. I even preheated the oven to 300 degrees and stirred the mixture every ten minutes. I guess sometimes even when you follow the directions, things don't turn out just right... This batch of granola was CRAP! (roll the "r" in the preceding word for the emphasis I would like to achieve through typing) Sure, the color was great. Sure, it smelled good. Sure, I couldn't resist popping some of the visibly burnt pieces into my mouth only to roast my tastes buds to smithereens. I had followed every line of the recipe perfectly. Still, this batch was bad news!

No one wants burned nuts. They taste like bitter paper.

As I looked down at the mess, I thought of salvaging it. "The oats don't taste that bad, and I didn't toast the almonds beforehand, so maybe I can pick out all 20 of them... Hmm... there are a LOT of pecans in here. I don't think I can quite, OUCH, pick, OWW, out the burnt ones." Separating oats from nuts in a nut-heavy load of granola=virtually impossible. I tried. You only end up with burnt taste buds (i.e. tongue) and reddened, almost-burned finger tips. It's not worth the time or trouble. Instead, throw the first batch in the trashcan. Just go back into the pantry and start over again. You learn a lot from your mistakes and the second batch will be far better (even though you can't really taste it due to the burned taste budes mentioned above.) I quickly recovered my blunder and whipped up a new batch. This time I did not pre-toast the nuts. They get enough toasting in the 30 minutes in the oven. I did, however, add in some steel-cut oats to this batch, just to experiement a little bit with texture. My result was stunning. A perfect golden brown granola with lightly toasted nuts and a crunchy texture. The honey makes the granola just sweet enough. Plus, the addition of dried fruit at the end leaves the granola plump and ready to fuel the energy hungry!




Paul (a faithful blog reader, dare I say #1 fan???) enjoyed the granola, and so will you!

Granola is a great staple to keep around for breakfast, snacks, yogurt and ice cream topping, etc. And the beauty of it is that you can put in it any nuts and dried fruits you want!

Adapted from a Slashfoods recipe:

Granola:

2 cups rolled oats (not quick cooking)
1 cup peanut or almonds (I always use almonds)
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/2 toasted sunflower seeds (do not need to pre-toast)
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut (I omit this as many people do not like coconut)
1/4 cup toasted wheat germ (didn't have any on hand, so didn't use it)
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup dried fruit (apricots, craisins, cherries, apples, pears, peaches, etc.)
scant 1/4 cup oil (I used canola, do not use olive oil)
1/2 cup honey (I use local honey, which has a rich, dark flavor)

1. Mix the oat, nuts and grains in a large bowl.
2. Measure oil into the measuring cup and swirl it around before pouring into bowl.
3. Then measure out the honey in the same, unwashed cup. The oil will help the honey exit the cup.
4. Toss everything together until evenly coated and then pour out into a baking pan. I use a large roasting pan, as it keeps everything contained. A cookie sheet with a lip also works, but you have to stir it slightly more carefully if you use that.
5. Bake at 300 degrees for 30 minutes, turning it with a spatula every ten minutes or so. You want everything to be an even golden brown.
6. When it is finished cooking, returned the baked granola to the mixing bowl, add the raisins and fruit and stir to combine. Stir gently several times as it cooks, so that it doesn't clump together too much.
7. Enjoy!

A Meal from the Blog-o-Sphere

I realize more and more how schedule-oriented my life is. In a recent conversation with Manning, we discussed the differences between our universities. While his friends can more easily call one another up and hang out or go to dinner, at my school, it's hard to catch anyone spur-of-the-moment to hang out with. We require a weeks notice and can't commit without planner in hand. I also am a notorious list maker. I have at least 3 lists for different things on my desk at any given time. So, naturally, when it was time to come home for Easter, I made a list of all the things I wanted/needed to do. One of the top items on the list was to have a dinner party for Manning's family and my family. And after all the great recipes I found last week, I knew this meal was going to become a Blog-o-sphere meal, inspired by recipes from several different blogs.


First there was smitten kitchen's artichoke and olive crostini recipe. I thought this would be a perfect appetizer. And the weather was beautiful, so we were fortunate enough to have our appetizers on the porch. The flavor combination of artichoke, olive and caper was delightful! Just salty enough. This is a great, quick recipe for appetizers that would even be good for a pasta sauce or dip.


For our main course, Manning and I cooked our favorite new recipe that I want everyone to know about! It's the BEST broccoli you'll ever eat! I discovered the recipe at The Amateur Gourmet site. Manning and I made it one night and could not get enough. We gorged ourselves on the Roasted Broccoli and Shrimp. We fell in love! It's so simple, fast, and easy. And the combination of spices is impeccable! This dish is a real winner, and I forsee it on the menu very soon! Here's a shot of the broccoli before it went into the oven.


While the broccoli roasted for 10 mins, Manning zested lemons for the shrimp. We've both done that by knife before, and let's just say, we were glad to have the handy little zester gadget my mom owns at our disposal.

We plated the broccoli and shrimp attop brown rice and served it alongside a Caprese Salad put together by my mom.
For dessert, we wanted something special and light that would be a nice compliment for the strawberries we picked. I saw a panna cotta recipe on David Lebovitz site and knew that was the dessert I had been looking for. When I describe panna cotta, I always say that it's like Italian flan. But panna cotta has it's own unique identity. It is a dish made with only creme, no eggs. It is light and refreshing -- a perfect pairing with vanilla and strawberries. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed it!

It was a great meal with great company and conversation (I think I just completed my reqs in 'About Me.') We even got to share it with our new friend Mark! I hope we get to do it again soon! I'll have to keep scouring the blog-o-sphere!


***NOTE: There have been several changes to the format of the blog. I'm playing around with different stylistic layouts and will continue to throughout the duration of this little experiment I call a blog. But I wanted to give credit where credit is due, so thank you Manning for the AWESOME header!!!