I saw this Weber Smokey Joe Grill while I was waiting in line at Crate and Barrel the other day. I think I neeeed to have it asap and for only $49.95 why wouldn't I want it even more? It would be perfect for my deck, the beach, or anywhere else the wind takes me this summer! It's small and easy to carry but large enough to toss a few burgers on at once. And it comes in my favorite shade of green... no brainer!
My sister and her fiancé, Adam, moved to Boston this weekend and since they have never had the pleasure of indulging in my cupcakes, I made some to take to my family's house for dinner on Friday evening.
I made my traditional vanilla cupcakes, and I also made a chocolate chunk (chip) cookie cupcake. Though we had a huge dinner cooked by my parents (Chilean sea bass and whipped sweet potatoes), we still managed to eat the cupcakes for dessert!
The vanilla cupcakes come from a Magnolia recipe that I adjusted a bit. If you follow the recipe exactly, they really don't taste anything like Magnolia cupcakes, but it is a good start.
I'm a big fan of self-rising flour, but if you don't have any and the recipe you're using calls for it, make sure you add some baking powder and a little bit of salt.
I add A LOT more vanilla than the recipe calls for. I don't really measure it; I just keep adding it and tasting it (oops) until it tastes perfect to me. The vanilla extract you buy at the store is fine, but my mom makes her own vanilla and gives bottles of it to me, and nothing really compares.
Pretty cupcakes holders can make all the difference. Chels gave me these Martha Stewart ones for my birthday.
It was my first time making chocolate buttercream frosting and it was really delicious. Since you need a double boiler and I don't have one, I made my own by putting a heat-resistant bowl over a pot of boiling water and putting the chocolate chips in the bowl. 
Keep stirring and the chips will melt nicely:
Then add confectioners' sugar, milk, and vanilla (again, I add lots!) and beat on a low speed.
The final frosted cupcakes:
I made vanilla buttercream frosting too, which is made the same was as the chocolate, without the melting of the chocolate chips. I usually try to make the frosting pretty colors, but I left it white this time.
Chinese food is one of those things that sounds like a really good idea until you eat way too much of it and you realize it's overly greasy and just not good for you (yes, it takes eating lots of it for you to realize this common sense fact). But lo mein is just so good, right? When Sara and I were in Russo's last week, we saw lo mein noodles and I realized I it was possible for me to make my own.
I found a simple recipe for chicken lo mein and changed it a little bit. Also at Russo's I found enoki mushrooms, which I've never seen in a store before but love whenever I'm eating at a Japanese restaurant.
In a large pot filled with water, add whatever you want in your lo mein. I added carrots, snow peas, the enoki mushrooms, and the lo mein noodles and boiled until the pasta was al dente.
Then I mixed the cornstarch (2 t), sugar (1 t), and water (2 t) together. And added some sprouts (1/2 C), chicken broth (1/3 C), soy sauce (1 T), garlic (4 cloves), and ginger (2 t).
My wok was a bit too small so I got out Nina's giant one and cooked the chicken in it. Then I mixed in the broth mixture and the vegetables and pasta, and cooked for 2 more minutes.
[Sues]
I'm a big tea drinker. Well, if I could I'd drink coffee all day long, but I know tea is better for me so I try to stick to that after my morning coffee. I've also been trying to cut down on my caffeine intake because God knows I already don't get enough sleep. So I try to drink decaf after 8 p.m., which is when I get a majority of my work done.
I'm also a big fan of grapefruit and loved the idea of making my own tea from it. Making tea is something I never even considered before, and while this isn't your traditional tea, it was totally easy. Martha's ended up looking a lot prettier than mine, but what did I really expect?
You'll need two ruby red grapefruits. Squeeze all the juice out of them, which should give you two cups.
You'll also need honey, whole allspice, and cinnamon sticks. Combine the juice and other ingredients with 1/2 cup of water and boil in a pot over high heat. Strain the mixture and serve with a cinnamon stick!
With the nice weather... slowly.. approaching, I figured I should begin the Spring organization process. I started with my big dresser since that's where the majority of my clothes are and I find myself searching for something in there about 5 times a day.
I decided to be a huge dork and color code my shirts... (at least the ones that fit in the dresser)... clearly I have too many. I love this idea because it gives me an instant inventory of what I have too much of, too little of... and when I need to stop shopping altogether (never) ;) It also makes getting dressed in the morning a heck of a lot easier knowing exactly what drawer to look in.
(reds, pinks, greens, yellows)
(blues, purples, grays)
(grays, blacks, browns)
(this equals organized for my accessories... meaning all in one location and not scattered around my apartment)
(all packed up for Salvation Army... and now I'm trying to figure out how all of that stuff fit in my room...)I went to visit my parents yesterday and got an amazing home-cooked meal and tons of help with my taxes (thank you, Dad!!). I also got a whole lot of leftovers to bring back to my apartment and I'm not at all disappointed to eat the same meal for a few days straight. I hope my parents don't mind me exploiting their house, but in the Tumblr I contribute to,
My mom made Barefoot Contessa's Lemon Fusilli with Arugula and I'm afraid the pictures don't really do the meal justice. But this pasta dish is most definitely the closest I've come to tasting spring. The lemon flavors burst in your mouth and, though there is some cream involved in the dish, the pasta is extremely light and delicious. Mom says she added 4 times as much garlic as the recipe called for. What? We're a garlic loving family.
You could most definitely add chicken or shrimp to this pasta dish and make a meal of it. However, my dad made steak to go along with it. The steak basically made this meal a dream dinner.
So, now you see what a foodie family I come from and why I love cooking and food as much as I do. I was brought up surrounded by cooking, love, and family.
I bought my parents this Story People print a couple years ago because I think it describes my family perfectly:
"There are things you do because they feel right & they may make no sense & they may make no money & it may be the real reason we are here: to love each other & to eat each other's cooking and say it was good."
Thank you, mom and dad, for giving me all the tools I need to be happy, including food, cookbooks, and recipes; but mostly love, the courage to follow my dreams, and endless support.
[Sues]
Though it's definitely warming up, the weather's still a bit nippy in Boston (until tomorrow when it hits 68 degrees!). By the time I walk home from my local coffee shop in the evening, my light jacket isn't enough and I'm craving something to warm me up. One of my favorite comfort foods, macaroni and cheese, sounds good to me at any time, but it's always nice to find a recipe that's a bit lighter.
Not only is Martha Stewart's Lighter Macaroni and Cheese somewhat better for you than the typical mac & cheese (1% milk, less cheese, less butter), but if you bake it in ramekins, it's perfectly portioned for you, which keeps you from going back for more...and more...and more.
First cut the tomatoes (6) into 24 slices. Sprinkle olive oil, thyme, and salt and pepper on them. I forgot to buy thyme so I just used parsley, which I always have in my fridge. If I were Martha (or my parents for that matter), I could just go out in the herb garden and get thyme, but I live on the second floor of an apartment building in the city, so I am out of luck! Pop the tomatoes in the oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Take them out when they're done, but leave the oven on.
While the tomatoes are cooking, you can make your breadcrumbs. The recipe calls for 5 slices of white bread, but I made them with whole wheat bread instead (why not?). I used my adorable little Cuisinart food processor to make the breadcrumbs, but if you don't have one, you can always just buy pre-made breadcrumbs, no problem!
You can start cooking your pasta now (1 lb). Don't cook it fully, just until it's almost al dente (around 5 minutes). And when you're draining it, run it under cold water so it stops cooking. Then put it in a bowl.
Pour this mixture over the pasta, and stir it. Yum.
Put the macaroni and cheese over the tomatoes and then top with breadcrumbs, another tomato, and more thyme (parsley).
Put these on a tray and into the oven for about 30 minutes (a little longer if you're making a big one), until they're "bubbling and golden brown." Like this:
Aren't they cute and delicious looking? And here's the big one that went straight into the freezer:
I love my little ramekins because they have covers, making them easy to stick in the fridge.
Once the leftovers were all stored away, the roommate and I dug in.
Last week, my favorite ex-coworker (and newly engaged woman!), Kerry, and I went out to lunch. She works in the Boylston St. area of Boston, which is full of great restaurants, so we get to try somewhere new every time we meet up.
This time we took a stroll down to Newbury St. and had lunch at Bouchee, a cute little French restaurant. I'd say we made a good choice as we both had fabulous meals that left us feeling full and satisfied.
As we usually do when we meet for lunch, we each chose a meal that we were both somewhat interested in, so we could share. Kerry ordered the macaroni and cheese with smoked ham and parmesan breadcrumbs. It was simply amazing. The mac and cheese was nice and rich, but not too heavy; while the parmesan breadcrumb topping added the perfect crunch. 
I ordered the flatbread with sweet sausage, bleu cheese, grapes and tarragon. Generally, I'm not an alternative pizza kind of girl. When I get a pizza craving I want the real thing with tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, and pepperoni. But this sounded appealing to me, and I'm telling you, I could have eaten the entire thing (and it was really large). The sharpness of the bleu cheese was nicely cut by the cinnamon flavor of the sausage and the sweetness of the grapes. The crust was thin and crispy just the way I like it.
Bouchee's lunch menu is large and filled with mouth-watering French delicacies, like escargot, foi gras, and duck confit, as well as delicious-sounding salads and sandwiches. The Croque Madame sandwich is smoked ham, gruyere, bechamel, and fried egg; sounds like a heart attack waiting to happen, but like it might be worth it.
Prices range from about $10-$17 for lunch entrees, while dinner entrees are $13-$35. I can't wait to go back for lunch at Bouchee later this spring to enjoy the outdoor seating right on beautiful Newbury.
Bouchee Brasserie
159 Newbury St.
Boston, MA 02115
617.450.4343
www.boucheebrasserie.com
[Sues]
I saw this recipe for Goat Cheese and Mushroom Stuffed Chicken on foodnetwork.com and since I was craving something with goat cheese in it I decided to make it. Not to mention I loved Amy Finley on The Next Foodnetwork Star so I was excited to make something of hers :) The recipe was pretty simple to make, tasted sooo good, and like Sues always says, there were plenty of leftovers.
recipe hanging and ready to gooo...
Melt butter in saute pan and add the mushrooms, cook until they have released their liqued, saute until liquid is evaporated (called duxelle), and season with salt and pepper.
Spread goat cheese on chicken breasts
Top with the duxelle
Use the kitchen twine to tie each piece of chicken
After seasoning with salt and pepper saute for about 10-15 minutes until chicken is cooked through and golden brown. Let the chicken sit for about 5 minutes before removing twine.
The potatoes (at the end of the recipe) were simple enough. Slice evenly (using a knife or mandoline) and season with salt and pepper, I also used a little Lawry's season salt, because that's what my grandmother uses :)
Great way to end the weekend ;)One of my best friends/favorite college roommate just started a website featuring her very own unique line of greeting cards at Clipped Greetings. Kyle is one of the most talented people I know, and from the time I met her (the 1st day of freshman year at UNH), she has been doing something crafty and creative. Whether it was on the floor of her dorm room, her sorority day room, our apartment, or the 5-person suite the 2 of us shared, I could always find her sitting there cutting, rearranging, painting, gluing, etc. and creating amazing works of art. The summer after senior year she tried to teach me to knit and, though she was a fabulous teacher, I currently have the half-done blanket in my apt. closet (3 years later...I still vow I'll finish it, but Kyle? I might need a refresher course).
Here's what Kyle says about her cards:
Clipped Greetings is what I like to think of as a unique alternative to mediocre chain store cards. Sorry, you won't see any dogs holding balloons here or obnoxiously loud "singing" cards. Every Clipped Greetings card is handmade with great attention to clean lines and aesthetics with a touch of humor. Designs are rarely duplicated making each mini-canvas a true individual. I find that most people enjoy touching the different layers of paper, so the pictures here don't really do them justice. Of course they're great for sending but I may just frame a few as well. Enjoy!
And here are some of my personal favorites:
But really, you should check her site out...and be sure to bookmark it, because she's going to be updating all the time!
[Sues]
I think eggs are a fabulous food because a) you can eat them for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snack (also known as any time at all) and b) you can do a billion different things with them. And they're good for you too (in moderation)!! Remember when eggs had a bad name? And then all the sudden it became "the incredible edible egg" and "I love eggs from my head down to my legs." They can be so incredibly easy (scrambled) or fancy schmancy (souflee).
Last week when I was looking for recipes that involved asparagus and goat cheese, I got a little too excited and found a few too many. I couldn't decide which to make so I figured I'd just make them all. Why not?
So today I made what I like to refer to as an omelet, only more complicated- Martha Stewart's Souffleed Omelet with Goat Cheese, Asparagus, and Ham. But I couldn't find Serrano ham anywhere (why not??) and had to use prosciutto. So, this is basically a combination of all the dinners I've been making lately.
The first step of this recipe is one example of something complicated that I'm not sure is absolutely necessary. I boiled my asparagus for a few minutes and the put it in an ice water bath like Martha told me to. This supposedly stops it from cooking. Well, obviously it stops it from cooking, but I'm not sure how much better this is than simply removing it from the boiling water. All the same, I followed the recipe:
Now, the 5 eggs must be separated. It's a good idea to crack the eggs into a separate bowl, just in case you screw up; you don't want to screw up on the 5th egg and ruin all the rest of your hard work. So I crack the eggs one by one and put the white in the middle bowl and then transfer it to the egg white bowl before cracking the next.
Then I folded the two mixtures together, which was a bit difficult considering the egg yolks were so thick. So, basically I just stirred them together. It worked. Then I spread this mixture into my frying pan, which already had some butter melted in it.
I cooked it for about 6 minutes and added goat cheese (a lot), parsley (instead of mint, which I forgot to buy), asparagus (drained from its "ice water bath" and cut in half), and prosciutto (a lot).
I basically added too much filling, and it was a bit difficult to fold the omelet over. But that's OK because too much is better than not enough.
Then I stuck it in the oven (heated at 375 degrees) for about 4 minutes. I'm not too sure what the point of that was, but it tasted quite good so I'm not questioning it.
Slice it up and serve it. Mine didn't come out as the prettiest thing in the world, but honestly, I think adding less flour to the egg yolk would have made all the difference.
Now you're probably thinking, that much work for an omelet? But trust me, this is not a typical omelet. It is so incredibly light and fluffy...even if it didn't have all of the amazing filling, I would have been happy just eating the souffleed egg!I was driving home from my parents' new place the other afternoon and decided to take the scenic way back to the city to head home, the roomie came with! So glad I didn't hop on the highway because I found a potential new favorite place to chow down!
On a pretty quiet Route 117 in Weston, Massachusetts between lots of farm stands, houses, and a pretty country like landscape we stumbled across a little Cape Cod looking place called Dairy Joy. I was starving so I pulled into the parking lot to find quite a line for a chilly March afternoon. I figured the place must be good if people were willing to stand outside in the cold. After reviewing the menu for a minute (clamstrips and other seafoods, lots of frappes, onion rings...) I decided to get a burger.
I like a good burger... add some cheese and bacon... and bbq sauce... and I'm likely to love it, which I did! The fries at Dairy Joy were great too. The roomie got a creamsicle frappe which i KNOW for sure I'll get the next time I go... it was the perfect thickness and tasted so good... it reminded me of those little Flinestone's push up pops that I quite possibly was addicted to when I was younger!
And even though it was only about 40 degrees out, the sun was shining, the customers were happy sitting in their cars eating their burgers, and it reminded me of summer. I can't wait to go back and eat outside on one of the many benches they have set up! Everything down to the packaging of the burger in Dairy Joy newspaper wrap, to the Cape feel of the building, to the friendly employees, everything gave off such a great feeling. It's just simple. I love that.
Dairy Joy
331 North Ave.
Rte 117
Weston, MA 02493
781.894.7144
[Chels]
I think I just had the best dinner ever. For real. It was amazing. Remember when I bought chicken breast for my pasta the other day and then forgot to use it? Well, I figured I'd use it tonight, but needed to get a fab recipe as I find chicken breast quite boring if not done really well.
Well, I found an awesome recipe, and it actually came from Cooking Light. The recipe was for Gruyère , Arugula, and Prosciutto-Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Caramelized Shallot Sauce. But I substituted the arugula for spinach. And...Yum. I know I keep saying, "Oh my God, this is SO easy," with everything I make...and you're probably saying, "yeah, sure." But his really was easy. And I think that, like everything in life, you get better at cooking the more you do it. With each meal I make, I get faster and more confident, even when doing something completely new. So cook a lot! And you'll see how easy it becomes.
This recipe called for 6 chicken breast halves, but I only made 2, which meant cutting down on everything else in the recipe. I put the chicken between saran wrap and used my meat mallet to pound the chicken until it was flat.
Then I simply topped each chicken breast with a piece of prosciutto, slice of Gruyère, and some spinach; and sprinkled with salt and pepper. I folded each chicken breast in half, wrapped them in saran, and put them in the fridge. You don't have to let them sit in the fridge before cooking them, but I think it makes them a bit easier to cook later. 
Now you can start on the shallot sauce. I made less than the recipe called for because I had less chicken. I chopped a couple of shallots up and sauteed them in a pan with some oil until they browned. Then I stirred in some tomato paste. I added about a cup of white wine and let it boil and reduce to about 1/2 cup. Then I added a little over a cup of chicken broth and let it boil and reduce to about half.
Make a little slurry (I LOVE that word) with cornstarch and water and add it to the sauce, stirring for about a minute. This will thicken the sauce right up!
When you're ready to cook the chicken, coat it in some flour and put in a pan with some olive oil. Cook medium-high on each side for about 5 minutes. I may have overstuffed my chicken just a bit, so I just stuck a toothpick in each of them to hold them together. 
Then put the chicken in a shallow baking dish and bake at 350 for another 5 minutes or until it's fully cooked.
Be sure to spoon some of the shallot sauce over the chicken. I served with a little spinach salad and seriously chowed down. The chicken was so extremely flavorful and juicy. I'm not quite sure how this qualifies as "Cooking Light," but I would make it again in a second.
2 Guys Uncorked recommend you try a Sainte-Croix 2006 Syrah-Merlot blend or possibly a Ravenswood Chardonnay 2006 with this lovely chicken. While cooking, I listened To Bon Iver's For Emma, Forever Ago, which was perfectly mellow and calm for being in the kitchen on a rainy Monday evening. And now I'm going to bed to dream of my leftovers. Seriously.
