2009 « We are not Martha

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Thursday, December 31, 2009

Chels’s 2009 Recap… what.a.year!

This year has been… interesting, in every possible sense of the word. Good, bad, up, down, horrible and absolutely wonderful all at the same time. We never really delve deeply into our personal lives on here so I think the best way to recap the past 365 days is a photo filled month-to-month breakdown. I met fantastic people, traveled a ton, and ate… a lot. I’m also positive I’ll wind up forgetting a bunch of things, but I can comfortably say throughout this past year, through all the ups and downs, it has been one of the best, and the one thing I always say that has really proved itself to be true is… everything happens for a reason, things almost always work themselves out and you’ll eventually be in the right place.

New Year’s Eve, December 31, 2008

January

I flew to Germany all by my lonesome for an impromptu trip to visit a friend and her husband. It was a great week, I skied and snowboarded in the Bavarian Alps, and I learned a lot about the country… and myself. It was completely breathtaking and I’d love to go back one day.

As much as I love the beach and summer, there’s something about a snow-covered mountain that always gets me!

February

I’m not going to lie… I really can’t remember a single thing I did in February of this year besides work. I’m guessing I hibernated as well?

March

Came out of hibernation to head down to sunny St. Augustine, Florida with Kate and Melis! This trip always seems to come at the right time. Ciao ciao snow, hellooooo shorts, sand, and the Atlantic!

Us with our buddy Fredrico, from Portugal, who we’ve bumped into every time we’ve visited St. Augustine!

April

I was laid off from my 9-5 job at the very beginning of the month. I was in shock for about… 3 minutes then quickly moved on when I remembered that everything happens for a reason. As I look back at my calendar from January-April it was close to empty because I think all I did was go to work. After being laid off, my calendar started to fill up with even more trips, opportunities that were better catered to what I want to do with my time and my life, and blogging events that I otherwise would have had to turn down had I still had a “traditional” job.

My friend Sarah also brought an adorable baby girl into the world and we all went to visit in the hospital shortly after she was born. This is a group of girls I’ve been extremely close with since freshman year of high school and I love that we’re all still close enough to be around for events like this.

May

I got my wisdom teeth out, eww to the tenth power. Sues’ sister Beth’s bridal shower happened and I stuffed my face even though my mouth was still sore from the surgery. I will never turn down food at Sues’ parents house regardless of any horrible physical condition I’m in!

I designed the invitations for the wine and cupcake themed shower, too

Me and Sues at the shower

Also got out of a not-the-best “relationship” situation. Thankfully. Moved on. Learned a ton about myself, thanked my lucky stars for a solid family and unbelievable friends. Because everything happens for a reason…Phew.

I also visited my aunt and uncle’s new puppy, Sasha, for the first time. And I fell in love with her!

My friend Nicole had a Memorial Day party and Sarah brought her new baby, Madison, with her! This month was filled with lots of cute things

June

We met the Mayor of Boston (Tom Menino) at an event at Bella Luna… neat!

I also went to DC to visit my brother for a long weekend since he was working down there this summer. I think it hit me that I was getting “old” when I went to see him at his office on Capitol Hill and he was wearing a suit. woah. Someone please tell me where time goes!

I also had the best eggs benedict of my life at Art and Soul…

July

Spent the 4th of July weekend down the Cape with Melis and her family. Guaranteed good times.

We had a family reunion. I met so many new relatives, ate delicious bbq food, hung out with all the kids, and had a blast

Blogging this month also brought us each a Nintendo DSI (thanks to our fellow Bostonian blogger Julie Q) and we each got hooked up with our own Nikon P90s to play around with

Also met a nice boy

August

Celebrated my sister’s birthday with the family at The Fireplace, one of our favorite restaurants in Brookline.

Of course made time to stop by Crane Beach and the Clambox with my sister this month, too!

Celebrated my 26th birthday, which turned out to be the best one yet!

September

The wedding of the year happened…Beth and Adam got married and it was such a great night! I’ve known Sues, her sister, and their family since I was 7 years old…My, we’ve grown up fast!

I also went up to Ithaca, New York for a sibling trip to visit my brother… the week after he turned 21. Wowza, there we go again with the whole “time is flying” thing!

Realized I needed to prolong Summer a little more and headed back down to Florida for a week with Melis! I also shot a gun for the first time in my life… that’s some serious stuff!

October

Went to NYC to spend some quality time with my grandmother and bumped into my sister on my way out

Found this old photo of me and my siblings while at my parents house… PRECIOUS! Love these two! We all look so cute and innocent, muah ha haaaa.

Chef Brian Poe also cooked a wonderful multi-course meal… in my apartment and it was all kinds of delightful!

Sues and I (along with three other bloggers) were sent to Chicago to learn all there is to know about turkey at Butterball University! Hands down one of the coolest experiences of my 26 years!

The nice boy I met built me an office in my apartment... sweeeeeet!

November

Jetted to San Francisco via Virgin America for the Foodbuzz Festival! I can’t think of a time I’ve eaten more food than this weekend. It was well worth it! We discovered lots of new blogs to read, tons of new companies to fall in love with, and even made time to get an “express” tour of the city from my friend Corey before heading back to Boston!

Then there was, of course, Thanksgiving

December

This month was filled to the brim with blogging meet-ups and holiday parties! It’s neat that the friends we’ve met through blogging have become real life friends who we get to see and talk to all the time. Beholdddd the powers of zee internet

Christmas came and went! We went to my aunt and uncle’s house which means lots of time with my adorable cousins… and lots of Wii

And now it’s New Year’s Eve! I’m sitting in my living room with my good friend Nina, who I’ve known since high school, sipping wine, watching movies, and finally catching up! It’s a very appropriate way to wind down a hectic year It’s funny how things fall into place… I’ve never been more excited for the start of a new year! Bring it on, 2010

Happy New Year, everyone, have a wonderful twenty-ten, and thank you for reading!

2009, OUT!

[Chels]

Related Posts: About We are not Martha, It will be a fabulous thing!, I Want Hi-Hat Cupcakes, Contact, Shop,

Labels: 2010, family, friends, new year

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Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Turkey Burgers With Apples, Gruyere, and Sage Mayo

After eating delicious food at my parents’ house for 5 days straight, I couldn’t just come back to my apartment and go hungry. So, even though I had a ton of cleaning and present putting-away to do, I decided to cook up a quick meal. I wanted something easy and I’ve had Food Blogga’s Turkey Burgers with Apples, Gruyere, and Sage Mayo bookmarked on my computer forever, so I decided to give it a go. I’m glad I did because it was super quick and not too heavy after a few days of serious indulging (and cinnamon roll eating!).

Turkey Burgers With Apples, Gruyere, and Sage Mayo (serves 2):

Sage Mayo:

2 T mayo
2 t stone ground or spicy mayo
3-4 sage leaves, minced

Burgers:

10-12 oz. lean ground turkey
Generous amount of salt and pepper
1 t dijon mustard (I used the same stone ground as above)
4 t olive oil, divided
1/2 yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 small tart apple, thinly sliced, such as Granny Smith or Pink Lade
salt and pepper
2 oz. gruyere cheese
2 ciabatta rolls, or whatever kind of roll you like

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In a small bowl, stir together all the ingredients for the mayo (mayo, mustard and sage).

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I don’t know about you, but I LOVE stone ground mustard!

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Set it aside when it’s all combined.

Now, put the turkey in a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Mix in the dijon or whatever mustard you use, too. I used the whole 1.2 pounds of turkey, so I had some leftover.

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Form two equal-sized burgers (or however many you want… I froze a couple!). Heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat and place burgers in the skillet.

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Cook about 3-4 minutes per side until browned and cooked through. Mine took a little longer, since I made the burgers thick.

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In a warm skillet over medium-high heat, heat the remaining 2 teaspoons of olive oil. Add the onions and saute for about 3 minutes or until lightly browned.

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Then add the apples and saute for 3-5 minutes until lightly browned and tender. Mmm apples cooked like this are so delicious!

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Season with salt and pepper and remove from heat.

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When the burger is just about done, top it with some gruyere cheese.

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Split open your ciabatta roll (I kind of wish I toasted mine…)

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And spread some of the sage mayo on the top half of the roll. And put the burger on the bottom half, topped with the onions and apples.

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Next time I probably won’t make the burger so thick. My pile was high, but didn’t take up too much of the bread.

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Um, yum. This was a delicious twist on a typical turkey burger. The apple and onion combination totally hit the spot. And it’s definitely a seriously underrated flavor combo.

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I could actually probably eat a grilled onion and apple sandwich (especially with the sage mayo!), but the turkey burger added a nice little touch!

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So, it’s not my parents’ cooking, but this turkey burger hit the spot for something a bit lighter during these crazy holiday times! And the perfect “on a whim” meal!

[Sues]

Related Posts: Lighter Sesame Chicken, Golden Gazpacho with Feta, Apple and Walnut Risotto with Gorgonzola, Late-Summer Vegetable Soup, Brussel Sprouts!,

Labels: turkey burger

7 Comments »

Friday, December 25, 2009

Cinnamon Rolls

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all our amazing readers! We hope you’re all having lovely holidays with your friends and families. With lots of awesome food, of course.

For the past year I’ve been scoping out cinnamon roll recipes. But ugh, they’re so much work, there’s so much waiting, and I don’t have enough space in my kitchen! But then I got The Pioneer Woman’s cookbook. If you don’t know The Pioneer Woman, get to know her! She and I have kind of different cooking philosophies, but I’m totally obsessed with her. She believes in butter, butter, and more butter. I also believe in lots of butter, but I often try to make my recipes a bit healthier. However, I fully acknowledge there are some dishes that absolutely should not be made healthier. Like cinnamon rolls. And indulging is totally OK, especially on Christmas.

So when I saw Pioneer Woman’s cinnamon roll recipe in her cookbook, I knew they had to be made for Christmas. And I’m actually quite glad I waited until I was at my parents’ house to make them because you need quite a bit of room and my kitchen would have been a disaster!

I cut Ree’s recipe in half because hers made 40-50 cinnamon rolls and, um, Christmas brunch is simply my mom, dad, and me, so 50 seemed a bit excessive. Though after tasting how good they were, I would not have minded having 50.

Cinnamon Rolls (makes 20-25 rolls):

Dough:

2 C whole milk
1/2 C vegetable oil
1/2 C sugar
1 package active dry yeast
4.5 C flour
1/2 heaping t baking powder
1/2 scant t baking soda
1/2 T salt

Filling:

1 C melted butter, plus more as needed
1/8 C ground cinnamon for sprinkling
1 C sugar, plus more as needed

Maple Icing:

1 pound powdered sugar
1/4 C whole milk
3 T butter, melted
1/8 C strongly brewed coffee
Pinch of salt
1/2 T maple flavoring or maple extract

Here’s her full recipe for the 40-50 cinnamon rolls, in case you’d rather have cinnamon rolls for life. Or at least a week or two.

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I actually made the dough last night, on Christmas Eve, after returning from our family friends’ annual Christmas Eve party. It had to sit for an hour and I knew we wouldn’t wait that long in the morning, so I figured I’d get it going the night before.

Heat the milk, vegetable oil, and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Make sure it’s really hot, but don’t allow it to boil. Set it aside and cool it to luke warm. FYI: I’ve never boiled milk AND oil together… It was interesting.

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I ended up moving the mixture into a mixing bowl at this point, too.

Sprinkle the yeast on top and let it sit on the milk for 1 minute.

Then add 4 cups of the flour. Stir until just combined, cover with a clean kitchen towel, and set aside in a relatively warm place for an hour.

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This is where I realized I was going to be up pretty late… Perfect opportunity to finish wrapping Christmas gifts!

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Remove the towel and add the baking powder, baking soda, salt and remaining 1/2 cup of flour.

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Stir thoroughly to combine.

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Now, you can either make your cinnamon rolls right away with the dough. Or you can put it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. I put mine in the fridge until morning. I covered it in saran wrap sprayed with cooking spray, just in case it started rising a lot.

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I was a little bit worried it would rise out of control through the night. But my mom said it was fine when she got up in the morning. She punched it down for me and left it until I got up.

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Place the dough on a floured surface and roll into a large rectangle, about 30×10 inches. This is where I’m really glad I had my parents’ nice big granite countertop. While my kitchen isn’t a bad size, it’s kind of lacking counter space. Plus I wouldn’t really want to put my dough right on my countertop. However, you could always cut this batch of dough into 2 and make 2 separate rolls if space is an issue.

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Melt your cup of butter (2 sticks) on the stove.

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And pour the butter over the surface of the dough and use your fingers to spread the butter evenly. It’s so much butter, it will probably start running onto the counter. Or maybe that’s just me. Oops.

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Generously sprinkle the ground cinnamon and the cup of sugar over the butter. Ree says you can also add more butter if you so desire, but um, the counter here was already getting covered in butter.

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Now you need to roll the dough. My mom helped me with this (she kind of has a hard time watching me cook in her kitchen and not getting involved hehe), but it wasn’t as hard to do as we thought it might be.

Start at the end farthest from you and roll the dough tightly toward you. Use both hands and work slowly. Pinch the seams together.

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Now transfer the dough to a cutting board and slice 1 1/2 inch slices. Use a sharp knife! My mom and I ended up cutting the roll in half so we had 2 to work with.

Pour a couple of tablespoons of melted butter into desired pie pans or baking dishes. Place the rolls in the pan, but don’t overcrowd them.

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Don’t they look totally delicious already?? I’d probably eat them raw. I ended up getting 2.5 pans of cinnamon rolls.

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Now you want to cover the rolls with a kitchen towel for about 20 minutes, so they can rise. Then pop them in the oven at 375 degrees for 13-17 minutes. My mom told me if you’re using glass pans to lower the temperature by about 15 degrees, so I actually baked mine at 360 degrees.

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While the rolls are in the oven, you can start making the maple icing.

In a large bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, milk, butter, coffee, and salt.

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Then splash in the maple flavoring and whisk until smooth.

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Taste it and add whatever you think is needed. I added more maple flavoring for a stronger maple taste. Ree says the icing should be thick, but still pourable.

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Take your cinnamon rolls out of the oven!! Yup, your whole kitchen will smell amazing!

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Honestly, right when I took them out of the oven, I wanted to dig in. I was thinking the icing was totally not necessary.

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But I put it on anyway because why not? And I do whatever Ree tells me to do. And yes, I actually think it is kind of necessary. It was so gooey and good.

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I don’t even know what to say here. These completely STUNNED me they were so amazing. SO flavorful and moist and sugary and gooey and everything else you want your cinnamon rolls to be.

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I have definitely NEVER had better and highly doubt I ever will. Ree isn’t lying when she says when you make these you’ll become famous. And then, “On a less positive note, people will forget everything else you’ve ever accomplished in your life.” Totally agree.

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We had a really lovely Christmas brunch, just my mom, dad, and me. Though we really, really missed my sister and Adam who are celebrating Christmas in Hawaii and Chris who is home in Virginia with his family.

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My dad made eggs benedict, minus the hollandaise sauce, which was actually a good thing since the cinnamon rolls had enough butter for life in them.

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SO decadent and crazy amazing.

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So, you really NEED TO MAKE THESE RIGHT NOW! Seriously NOW! I don’t even care if you don’t have enough room in your kitchen; make them on the floor or something. Just do it. You will thank me. And you will thank The Pioneer Woman. And life will be good. So, so good.

I may or may not be eating more right this moment. OK, I totally am.

I hope you all had wonderful holidays with your loved ones!! But I promise, they’ll love you even more if you make these for them

[Sues]

Labels: cinnamon rolls

14 Comments »

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Peppermint Sugar Cookies

Do you need a last minute holiday dessert idea? I made these Peppermint Sugar Cookies, that I found on one of our favorite blogs, Recipe Girl, for a holiday party I attended last weekend. It’s a very basic cookie dough that sits in the fridge for at least an hour and bakes for about 20 minutes. So it’s the perfect “toss in the oven while wrapping gifts because I do everything last minute” dessert! I think I’m actually going to whip up another batch before I head to my parents for Christmas Eve!

Here’s what you need:

• 2½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• ¾ cup powdered sugar
• 1 large egg yolk
• 2 large egg whites
• ½ cup finely crushed hard peppermint candies or candy canes (about 5 regular sized candy canes). I broke the candy canes into smaller pieces then used a food processor to finely chop them. Depending on the intensity of peppermint you’d like, add more or less.
• additional powdered sugar for rolling

Here’s what you do:

• Sift together flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.

• In a large bowl beat butter and powdered sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. Incorporate the egg yolk and beat until well blended. Add egg whites and beat well. Slowly beat the dry ingredients into butter mixture. Stir in peppermint candies.

• Gather dough into a ball and wrap in plastic to chill in the refrigerator for about an hour.

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Position rack in middle of oven. Line two large baking sheets with parchment.

• Form cookie dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in remaining powdered sugar and place on baking sheets, spacing about 2 inches apart. Using the tines of a fork, flatten each cookie, to create a crisscross pattern.

• The recipe says to bake until the cookies are golden on the bottom, for about 20 minutes and transfer cookies to racks to cool. I would have liked to have seen mine be a liiiiitle less crunchy so I’ll probably pull them out of the oven a few minutes before, although some people at the party said they were perfect the way they were… I think it’s just a personal preference.

These are a great wintry and festive holiday cookie with a nice touch of peppermint. For some reason when I was out with Sues looking for candy canes they had every flavor under the sun besides peppermint! Maybe I’m getting old, but I was never aware of all the varieties of candy canes! After some searching, I finally found the traditional peppermint candy canes at a different store. Moral of the story: read the packages. If Sues wasn’t with me to point it out, I would have ended up with fruity candy cane cookies… which could be interesting???

Happy, happy, happy holidays everyone… I can’t believe 2009 is already winding down!

[Chels]

Related Posts: Almond Fruit Bars, Chocolate Peppermint Bark Cookies, Grilled Peaches!, Pumpkin-Swirl Brownies, Pumpkin Fudge,

Labels: cookies, holiday, peppermint

4 Comments »

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Stir Boston, Round Two

Last night, Chels and I attended our second ever class at Stir Boston. She signed us up for the class as my September birthday gift and we’ve been anxiously waiting to attend since then! We said it before and I don’t think we changed our mind from last time, but attending a class at Stir is one of the best things we’ve ever done in Boston.

Stir is a demo kitchen and cookbook library. It’s tiny and intimate and only 10 people are in each class. It’s owned by the famous Barbara Lynch who also owns restaurants like No. 9 Park, The Butcher Shop, B&G Oysters, Drink, and Sportello. Clearly she’s one incredibly talented lady (she also just wrote that Stir cookbook you can see on the bookshelf)!

Our class was based on Thomas Keller’s cookbook Ad Hoc at Home and was taught by Robert Grant, the Chef de Cuisine at The Butcher Shop, and Molly Loveday, Stir’s Executive Sous Chef. Molly was also teaching our last class, so it was great to see her again. Both chefs were awesome and more than happy to answer any questions and show us anything (including a chive-cutting demonstration when we marveled over how finely the chives were sliced).

On to the food! We started off with Chicken Soup with Dumplings and a Farro and Black Rice Salad. I honestly don’t think either of us realized soup could be as good as this chicken soup with dumpkings was. It was deliciously rich and flavorful without being heavy or too filling. And the chicken was probably the best we’ve ever had! It turns out it was Giannone Chicken from Canada. Any chance we can get our hands on some of that?

Nor were we aware a salad could be so wonderful. The addition of the squash, dandelion greens, and bacon really made the dish perfect for a freezing cold Boston evening.

You better believe us when we say out plates were completely clean at the end of the first course.

Each course was also paired with a wine. We started with a 2004 Laureau Savennieres. And for our second course, we moved on to a 2007 Lapierre Morgon.

The second course was Pan-Roasted Sturgeon with Peperonata Rutica and Rainbow Chard. Chef Robert showed us a sturgeon Stir had just got in that day and it was huge (and beautiful)!

Neither of us have cooked sturgeon before, but it’s definitely on my list of must-cook fishes! This fish was incredible! The flavors of the fish, perperonata, chard, speck, and soffritto went so well together and I found myself trying to get a little bit of each in every bite.

Rainbow chard is one of my favorite veggies, but I’ve never tasted such an incredible chard with the addition of golden raisins and pine nuts.

And yes, again, plates were cleaned.

Next we were treated to some cheese, a Delie de Bourgogne. Wow! It was so creamy and could have sufficed as a meal in itself for me (but then, I could live off cheese). There were a whole lot of “mmmms” at this point.

The cheese was paired with candied apricots.

That one was easy.

Lastly, we were treated to a Pineapple Upside-Down Cake with Caramel Ice Cream.

I would never think pineapple and caramel are such a good combination, but they were amazing together! The cake was perfectly moist without being soggy at all. And the 2008 Borgo Magliano Moscato d’Asti we sipped on while enjoying was just the right match.

Obviously.

After an amazingly satisfying meal, we chatted with some of the other people in our class. Most of them had been to at least one class before (and many of them are considered regulars); that’s how fabulous of an experience Stir is. Once you attend one class, you can’t help but come back!

As if the amazing class wasn’t enough, we all got to take home a copy of Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc at Home! The book is beautiful and we’re both incredibly excited to pick out our favorite recipes and get cooking. Fried chicken, anyone?

Thank you so much to Chels for allowing us to have this amazing experience once again (yes, this was her present to me last year as well… can you say best friend ever?). One of the best things in life is having friends who share your interests and get completely excited over the same things that you do. With every “mmmm” and “oooh” we uttered last night, we both understood exactly what the other meant.

And thanks to Stir, as well, for letting us partake in another fabulous, food-filled evening. I have a feeling we’ll be back!

[Sues and Chels]

Labels: stir

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