Daily-Craft

Tuscan Pumpkin Bean Soup

2009-11-08T07:19:00.000-08:00

I'm experimenting here. I've missed this blog so much, but have been extremely busy to post. Trust me, I've been as crafty as I have ever been - the amount of wedding crafts to be posted after the wedding is somewhat startling, let me assure you. I am being extremely secretive about all of these project and they have kept me so busy, there has been little time to update. So, I am trying something a little new. I am blogging on the go, via iPhone. Well, not completely just yet. I am at my laptop now (about to go running 7 miles in my marathon training), but have used my iPhone to photograph and upload images of my latest food adventure. Not the best photographs... the iPhone definitely can't do what my little Canon does, but not bad? And at least it makes posting a lot more doable! So, let's see how this goes.

I was super excited while making this meal, particularly because I got an excuse to use my new 16 qt. All Clad stockpot! And let me tell you... it was love at first saute. Love!

After the onions got a little soft, I added chicken broth, white beans, a can of pumpkin, and some spices. I let those simmer for about 15 minutes, then moved them to the food processor to puree, then topped with a tiny bit of Parmesan cheese. I knew Mr. B would not be satisfied with just soup, and since we're on a diet, I tried to avoid the carbs. I ended up getting some turkey sausage, for only 160 calories per big link!

Mr. B was very pleased.

Spaghetti And Turkey Vegetable Sauce

2009-08-22T06:30:00.000-07:00

Is anyone getting sick of my turkey dishes? Somehow I'm not. Turkey is so fun to experiment with. It all started with a little extra virgin olive oil, garlic, onions, and fresh basil.

That will get your kitchen smelling real good.

Looking at this picture just reminds me of that yummy smell.

Add a little ground turkey, some spices, and a can of tomatoes.

I probably should have cut these a bit more before putting the can in, but it wasn't too much trouble crushing them down with my wooden spoon.

But, it's not over yet, time for the mushrooms and eggplant!

My pot was a bit small, but I somehow crammed all the veggies in.

Once they settled in, the veggies started to shrink down anyway.

Can you tell I love mushrooms?

I probably could have eaten the sauce on it's own.

Empty little bowls awaiting their meal.

First, a little whole wheat pasta.

And I bet you can guess how we topped it off?

More turkey dishes to come soon!

Tag! You're It!

2009-08-21T12:01:00.000-07:00

It's Friday! Time for another super busy, action packed weekend. Last weekend included pancakes, twice! These are some whole wheat pancakes. They were... wheaty.

Not my favorite pancake this time, but they sure were super healthy!

As mentioned in my last post, I have been tagged! The lovely Caren presented me with this, the "Premio Meme Award", so I must reveal 10 fun facts about myself and tag other bloggers to do the same! So here it goes...

1. Just recently, I signed up to run the 2010 Los Angeles Marathon, with Project AIDS Los Angeles! I have never done anything like this before, so I'm super nervous, but extremely committed. It's for such a great cause and I've been lucky to get lots of support from my friends and family. My goal is to raise $1600.00 and I still have a long way to go, please click here to help!

2. Quite possibly the silliest fun-fact about me is that I am allergic to allergy medication. It's true! They give me hives and makes my blood pressure so low, that I often pass out! Odd, isn't it?

3. I naturally have brown, curly hair. It's pretty out of control and often kept a secret. I don't even think Brian has seen my hair as curly as it can be - or brunette for that matter. I've been blonde for about 7 years now and I don't see myself ever going back.

4. I used to play in lots of bands. When I was 19, I took my guitar, and toured Hong Kong (by myself), then came back and toured the US and Canada for a month with a group of friends. I've played guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, and a slew of other toy-like instruments. Brian just got me a trumpet for my graduation present and I plan on taking lessons soon and joining his band too!

5. I only wear dresses. A few years ago, I made the decision to stop wearing pant or shorts and only sticking to dresses. Earlier this year, Brian and I went to Portland, where it was snowing... and even then, I wore a dress.

6. I'm only 5'2", I have small hands, small fingers (5.5 ring size), but for some reason, I ended up with some long feet. I don't know how that happened, but I wear a size 9.5 in ladies shoes! It's strange, because they don't look that big when you look at them... but somehow, I got these long, skinny, big ol' feet. Strange.

7. I have a very extreme fear of spiders, and most other rodents for that matter. It's pretty bad. I won't even go bed at night, if there's a spider in my apartment and I can't get rid of it. It's true.

8. I really like eating spaghetti sandwiches. So good.

9. I'm a fainter. I have the rare problem where my blood pressure is often way too low. The last time I fainted, I was presenting a power point in my classroom! Embarrassing...

10. English is not my first language, I actually grew up speaking Armenian first. And even though I mostly speak English now, when I get nervous, I start to forget my English and think all of my thoughts in Armenian.

The other part of this process is to tag a few fellow bloggers! In an effort to get to know all the wonderful bloggers, who follow my blog, I decided to scroll into my followers list - and wow, you are all so talented! I picked 10 of you, so if you see this... start typing, friends... you've been tagged!

1. Tell Your Sister
2. Messy Jesse Crafts
3. Skull Mod Kitten
4. 1167 Little Bird
5. Bansheemoni
6. Good-Posture
7. From My Motor Home To Yours
8. Bag Lady Design
9. Magpie Sparkle
10. This Mom's Life

Pita Pizza

2009-08-20T21:29:00.000-07:00

One of the hardest things about dieting is sacrificing pizza. Real pizza. More specifically, pizza from Foliero's. Oh how I miss thee. So, I came up with my own low-calorie take on pizza, and it actually hit the spot just right! I started with a 130 calorie pita, some low calorie tomato sauce, and lots of mushrooms.

Then added some fresh basil. Lots of low calorie toppings!

To top it all off, I added some low-fat Mozzarella and a quarter ounce of feta cheese.

In the oven for a few minutes, and not too shabby!

The whole thing came out to approximately 195 calories.

It was no Foliero's, but it really took care of that craving.

Next craving problem to solve? Ice cream! I think I might be experimenting with this pretty soon. Also coming soon? I've been tagged....

Taking It To The Street

2009-08-15T20:35:00.000-07:00

Last May, I received the prettiest Orchid from Brian's sister. I had noticed recently the blossoms started to look a bit sad, one by one, they were dropping. On Friday, it finally happened. They last bit of blossoms were frowning.

I was so confused, because I followed all the instructions on how to care for Orchids! At closer inspection, I came to a realization.
It was so clear!

All of the roots were above the soil! Some were even out of the pot! How could I be so oblivious?

I had to make a last attempt to save the Orchids! So, I trimmed the roots and decided to re-pot. Though, I didn't really have a handy pot around, one with holes to let water drain through. So, I improvised!

This cup just happened to be sitting on my counter, a water cup from a fast food restaurant. I figured, why not recycle it? I got my handy awl and poked a few holes.

All ready for some dirt!

What next? Taking it to the street! That's right, taking it to the street! Time to get the hands a little dirty. Now, I'm not really sure if this regular dirt will cut it, but it's all I had.

I didn't really have any potting soil at home, so I just went around the corner and found a spot with some dirt. I needed to work quickly, if I wanted to save the plant! I put a little dirt on the bottom.

Then, removed the Orchid from it's previous pot....

...placed her in her new home...

... and made sure to top her roots off with some more dirt.

It was fun taking my little craft out for a walk. I had a mini exploration session and found this cutie!

It was pretty fun! Eventually, I brought little Orchid back home, to her new spot and sprinkled the top with a little bit of water.

I'm not sure if she'll make it, but here's hoping! She had a good run... either way!

Old Fashioned Lemonade

2009-08-12T16:55:00.000-07:00

It's hot in Los Angeles. Really hot. Whenever it gets this hot, I always crave lemonade.

Just your basic lemonade here....

I left it to refrigerate overnight, and woke up with a surprise treat!

That's some frozen lemonade! Well, it appeared that way, until I smashed up the top and got a slightly frozen, super cold, amazing tasting lemonade.

Super refreshing!

Spaghetti & Turkey Meatballs

2009-08-11T17:19:00.000-07:00

We've been kinda-sorta dieting around here. So, to make every calorie count, I've been spending lots of time planning our meals so that we get the best meal we can for the calories we're eating. Extra lean ground turkey is a good meat option, it's super low in calories and easy to flavor. Last night, I used 4 ounces of ground turkey to make all of these lovely Italian meatballs.

I then used 2.5 ounces of whole wheat pasta for 260 calories and half a cup of low calorie pasta sauce for only 45 calories. The entire meal was only 425 calories, not too bad!

Brian is requesting an encore for the same meal tonight... better get cooking!

Hanky Pancaky

2009-08-10T21:46:00.000-07:00

Mondays are hard. Especially when you have a great weekend and you don't want it to end. This weekend was filled with lots of cooking, giggling, and hugs. Some of my favorite things! And of course, pancakes. Can you tell I like pancakes? It seems that I blog about pancakes very often.

These are a little different than the pancakes I've made before. These flapjacks are actually healthy! They were fluffy, airy, and really hit the spot.

More healthy food on the way....

Banana Muffins

2009-08-04T05:26:00.000-07:00

Why is it so easy to turn something as healthy as a banana into something so bad for you, like these yummy banana muffins. Every time bananas go bad, I just have to turn them into muffins. Maybe I should stop buying bananas? The older the bananas, the better they are for the muffins.

I've been using this recipe for a while now and I think it's stuck. I love the cinnamon, sugar, buttery crumb on top.

And it's pretty fluffy in the middle!

But for now, no more bananas! It's too risky!

You Say It's Your Birthday

2009-08-03T05:32:00.000-07:00

This post is a little overdue. Brian and I both had our birthdays last May (4 days apart from each other) and we decided to have a big gathering with our friends, over at The Griffin. For the occasion, I decided to make a cake.

Personally, I'm more of a white/vanilla cake type person, but Mr. B loves the chocolate.

Since he got to choose the cake, I got to choose the filling.

My favorite way to eat chocolate cake is when it's filled with bananas and cream.

Uhhh, huhhh. Then another layer of chocolate cake. Did I mention this is triple chocolate cake? Chocolate cake, with chocolate pudding, and chocolate chips...

... oh yea, and tons of chocolate frosting.

What's this you ask?

Well, it's chocolate frosting with lots of food dye. I spread a thin, even layer of the frosting on some parchment and let it freeze for a bit. In the meantime, I also
melted some white chocolate with red food dye, placed it in this yogurt lid, and let it refrigerate until hard.

What's the point of all of this? Well... after the black frosting was good and stiff,
I peeled away the top layer of parchment and cut it into a nice circle.

I did the same with the red chocolate, making a smaller circle within the big red circle.

And what does this all make?

A cake for two record nerds like Brian and myself. I couldn't find my piping bag anywhere, so I made one out of a ziplock bag and messily piped a Happy Birthday.

The record portion of the cake was a bit frozen and stiff at first, but once it was out for a while, it started to just fit perfectly onto the cake.

Of course, when we got to the bar, I totally forgot to take utensils or plates... but that didn't stop anyone from eating the cake! Bar napkins, hands and mouths were all covered in birthday cake goodness. It was a very memorable night!

Baklava Ice Cream

2009-07-31T05:21:00.000-07:00

I can't take all the credit for this one. My lovely, talented baker of a mom made some homemade Baklava, and let me tell you, it's some of the best Baklava in the world. So sweet and rich, it just melts in your mouth. She sent me home with a big bag, which would be way too easy for me to eat in one sitting, so I decided to make a little ice cream out of it!

I gotta say, crushing the Baklava was really hard. It hurt to hit something that tasty!

I used my old faithful vanilla bean ice cream base.

And so it churns...

Who knew this ice cream would come out so attractive?

I saved a little of the crushed Baklava as garnish, which would probably also double as a great topping on plain vanilla ice cream too!

Okay, last one! This ice cream was just too photogenic... and tasty!

Amish Friendship Bread

2009-07-30T05:20:00.000-07:00

How cool is this? A chain starter for bread! Genius! I was pretty excited when a friend from work offered me a starter, I hadn't even heard of Amish Friendship Bread before, but after she told me what it was all about, I couldn't refuse! Who knows how long this starter has been passed around? I just love the concept!
It all starts with a bag.

Mush the bag one day. Add ingredients the next day. Another mush here, another mush there, and after ten days, my starter was ready for some baking.

It was started to smell kind of good, which was weird, since it was still in a doughy state, but yes, this dough smelled amazing. And there's not much better than a pan lined with cinnamon and sugar....

Well, okay, this is much better. Freshly baked Amish Friendship Bread.

Oh, I love this.

And this. Look at that sugar!

This bread is definitely dangerous. It tasted like cinnamon donuts. Light, fluffy ones.

It was so moist and wonderful... and gone in 2 days.

I swear, it wasn't all me... there were friends and coworkers and boyfriends all sharing the friendship bread. Though, it wouldn't be difficult to finish these loaves on my own in two days either. The next time someone offers you Amish Friendship Bread starter, I say TAKE ONE. As for me, I can never take one again, because I will eat the entire thing in one sitting, guaranteed. It's just that tasty. It really, really is.

Out Of Hibernation

2009-07-29T20:09:00.000-07:00

I am back! Oh dear friends, the past two-three months have been a whirlwind of activity and I am tired. What have I been up to? Well, I finally graduated! Just about one year ago today, I started my first day of school, and here I am today... a little bit smarter and a whole lot more exhausted. Oh yea, and I have a new quilt! Remember that little scrappy library school quilt I started when I began my library school courses? Well, that's done now!

Some of the detail...

And the back...

I left a yellow polka dot border on the back, so that I may eventually embroider over. Not today, but eventually. Like I said, I'm still pretty exhausted and am slowly coming out of my hibernation period. Yet, I have a lot to update you all on, and I can assure you it won't take 3 months next time!

Homemade Chicken Soup

2009-04-23T12:20:00.000-07:00

I know it's too hot for soup now. Well, at least in LA it is. In my apartment it is. But I made this soup, long ago, in February. The weather was chilly, the classes weren't as demanding, and I had a sick Brian on my hands, who had never ever had homemade chicken soup. Ever. This made me sad. Everyone should experience homemade chicken soup! But of course, I had never made homemade chicken soup. A little blog here, some google there, and a few calls to mom later, I came up with something pretty good.

Nothing to it! A turnip, some parsnips, carrots, celary, onion, and some parsley made up the base of the broth - along with some chicken, of course.

I let this boil for a few hours, and eventually got this...

Once the chicken was cooked, I removed it, along with all of the vegetables. At this point, the veggies are good to go, becuase the flavor is pretty much gone into the broth. So, I shred the chicken, added some egg noodles, and some freshly chopped celery and carrots and let that boil until the noodles were ready.

It was pretty delicious. And, I do think it made Brian feel better!

My only regret is that I wish I made more in a bigger pan, because for all the hours
it took to make, it was gone in minutes.

Easter Macarons

2009-04-22T20:19:00.000-07:00

Today, I blog about Macarons, but around this time next year, I hope to be eating them during my honeymoon in Paris! I've been a little quiet on this little blog, but I think Mr. B said it cutest, "Your like a little kitty in a tree... hang in there kitty!" This is referring to the fact that I have 6 weeks left to graduate and all I am stuck doing is writing papers and presentations, non-stop. Oh yea, and we are planning a wedding! Luckily, my sister-in-law has graciously offered her wedding planning services, so she has booked just about everything Brian and I wanted. I feel so relieved. And now it's time to start thinking about the details. One detail I know I'd like to somehow include throughout the wedding festivities are lovely French Macarons.

I really have my heart set on making the all the Macarons myself, but people tell me I must be crazy to make Macarons for a wedding for about 200+ people. You know that just makes me want to do it more, right? So, I decided to start practicing now. And the timing was perfect, I made these for Easter.

After making the batter, I piped the Macarons into petite circles onto parchment, raped the baking sheet, and let the batter set for about 15 minutes, until I noticed a sort of skin form.

Make sure the oven is super hot. It may take some experimentation with your oven, but my oven worked perfectly at 375 degrees. Why is this so important? One word: Feet. Yes, feet.

See the little ruffles at the bottom of that cookie? Those are your Macaron's feet! And they make all the difference! Once the pan cools, gently peel the Macarons off the parchment paper and start to match them up by size. I line the table with foil or parchment for this step.

But, before filling the Macarons, I make the filling. I made 4 types of Macarons and 4 types of fillings. First, I made Milk Chocolate Ganache to go with my Banana Macarons:

Then, I made a White Choclate Ganache and seperated it between three cups. From the left to right, the cups contained honey, Green Tea Matcha powder, and Rose water.

Did I mention I made quite a bit of them?

I think there must have been around 120 Macarons or so. A lot.

So, all in all, the flavors are:
Yellow = Banana with milk chocolate ganache
Green = Green tea with white chocolate green tea ganache
Pink = Rose with white choclate and rose ganache
Lavender = Lavender with white chocolate and honey ganache

It's really hard to pick my favorite - they were all so different and so good. Everyone had a different favorite, but I think majority ruled on Banana-Chocolate.

My recipe was pretty basic...
190 g. almond powder
310 g. confectioners sugar
150 g. aged egg whites
95 g. fine sugar
*flavorings, powder food coloring

Whisk together the confectioners sugar and almond powder and set aside. Beat the egg whites, then slowly add in the sugar, food coloring and flavoring. Beat until you get peaks - slightly less than firm, but almost firm. Basically you want thick lava texture (cause, we all know what lava feels like, right?) Then, fold the dry ingredients in, just until they are blended. Pipe using a pastry bag. Rap the baking sheet. Let rest until a skin is formed. The baking part is really tricky - on my oven, I bake for 375 degrees, then slightly open the oven door after about 5-7 minutes or so later. Then bake until slightly browned. It's tricky. If the oven is too cold, you'll get cracked Macarons and no feet. Not good.

I think I could definitely see myself doing some baking a few days before the wedding... maybe not 4 flavors, but definitely 1 or 2.

Let Them Eat Cake!

2009-03-27T14:09:00.000-07:00

I sure do deserve a piece of cake right now! It's not quite my birthday yet.. but it feels a bit like Christmas! Why? Well, I just finished writing my graduate portfolio! What's that you say? It's 143 pages of photograph preserving librarianship all done and ready to go! I can't believe it. In 10 weeks, I will be done with school and back to blogging on a regular basis! Somehow, I have managed to craft during all my school-madness, so I have a lot to catch the blog up on. Since I'm celebrating over here, I thought the first piece of business to get to is this cake! I made it about 2 weeks ago, for Mr. B's mom's birthday.

I made a chocolate cake, loosely based on this recipe. Anyone notice my new toy in this picture? Uh huh... I got a brand new Kitchenaid! I had been holding out for years, because I couldn't decide what color I wanted - but when I saw Martha Stewart blue, I knew it was meant to be. We're so very happy together.

With my batter, I made 2 cake rounds. I then took little Kitchenaid for another spin to make some cream cheese frosting. With a quick, thick layer of frosting in the middle, I sandwiched my two cake layers.

I gave the cake a crumb coat and let it set for about an hour in the refrigerator.

Once set, I slopped on the rest of the frosting, all nice and textured.

I have to say, a cake like this would normally take a lot of out me to bake - but with the help of my new Kitchenaid, it was really quick and simple! And, I do believe everyone thought it was tasty too!

Full Bellies, Happy Hearts

2009-02-17T20:53:00.000-08:00

Hi There! My name is Brian, and this is my first go at writing on Daily-Craft. Last Friday (the 13th), I asked Miss Annette to marry me and she said YES!!!!

That night, I told Annette that we were going out to one of our favorite restaurants, Cafe Beaujolai in Eagle Rock, but decided to cook dinner myself for the special occasion.

Our meal started with tomato basil bisque with grated parmesan and rosemary bread.

After a recent conversation about how much we
love pork chops and apple sauce, I decided to go on AllRecipes.com to see if anything looked good. One of the first things I came across was "Caramel Apple Pork Chops". I followed the recipe to the letter, but decided to marinate the chops overnight in mixture of apple juice and soy sauce. After frying the chops on each side for about 5 minutes, I baked them with the sauce for an additional 25 minutes at 325 degrees.

We were definitely pleased... they came out so delicious and moist! I wanted to make this
recipe for cranberry apple sauce, but couldn't seem to track down any cranberries, so I resorted to a
mixture of half Mott's and half pureed fresh apples and cinnamon, which actually tasted really good! I added french green beans with almonds to complete the main course.

Unlike Annette, I'm not much of a baker. So for dessert, I found a yummy Ghirardelli Double Chocolate brownie mix. I topped the warm brownie with Breyer's Chocolate Stripe ice cream, fresh strawberries and a little chocolate sauce.

This simple dessert was ridiculously tasty and provided the perfect ending to our lovely
candlelit dinner.

Pancakes For One

2009-01-26T05:18:00.000-08:00

Pancakes are the best.

They make everyone smile! Have you ever been sad to see pancakes? I didn't think so. I like mine super thick and fluffy, which makes me really want to purchase this someday. I was recently talking to a friend about Chocolate Chip pancakes. I'm not sure I've ever had one before, but for some reason, it doesn't sound as good as wheat and/or fruit pancake. Can anyone convince me I'm wrong? Should I experiment? Has anyone ever tried putting cheese in their pancake? I'm thinking of experimenting with a savory rosemary and cheese pancake. I once ran of of flour while I was making pizza and made a pizza pancake. It was interesting. Fluffy, sweet, and savory. So much a person can do with a simple pancake!

Vacation, All I Ever Wanted

2009-01-18T21:34:00.000-08:00

A very happy and belated new years to everyone! Things have been non-stop since I got back from my west coast trip. I'm in my last 5 months of graduate school, so things might be hectic in the Daily-Craft household, but rest assured, I will continue to post with every free moment! The abundance of homework and heavy work schedule have got me feeling a bit stressed. I find myself daydreaming a lot about the vacation I just got home from. It was so absolutely wonderful. Included below are a few of the culinary highlights of the trip...

We didn't spend enough time in Seattle! We really only had a day there, so I had 2 very special requests. I had to see the library and go to Trophy Cupcakes. Ohhh, Trophy Cupcakes, how I love thee! That coconut cupcake was heavenly. If I could, I'd have one every day! I've had quite a few cupcakes in my day, but the coconut cupcake from Trophy was by far my favorite. Also photographed, Sweet Potato and Hummingbird Cupcakes - also tasty, but the coconut really left an impression. How tasty?

Two people and 3 cupcakes later, I think you could say we did pretty good. The sweets didn't stop at cupcakes, we also got a few crazy doughnuts over at Voodoo Doughnut in Portland.

This place was amazing! I think I will go back every time I visit Portland. Believe it or not, we did also eat some substantial food too. We had a lovely Swedish breakfast at Broder I ordered the very cupcake-doughnut like, Aebelskiver! These little puffs of heaven are Danish pancakes.

They came with maple syrup, ingonberry jam, and my favorite, lemon curd. Also of interest on the breakfast table was the baked scramble with potato pancake.

I was lucky enough to steal a few bites, and I must say, that potato pancake was almost as good as my Danish pancake. I must try to recreate both of these someday! One of the last stops on the road trip was to San Francisco. We really only had time to have dinner there, so we thought we'd do it right. We took a walk over to House of Nanking. There seems to be so much controversy over this place and I was curious. Unlike what the reviews say, we didn't feel rushed at all. We did have to wait in a long line, but were rushed to the front within minutes, due to a table opening up with the perfect amount of seats for us. We were all full after devouring the first dish of Sesame Chicken, but I was also there to fulfill another mission. Noodles. Last year, my most favorite restaurant for noodles closed down, Veggie Bistro. Since then, I've been searching for an equivalent noodle to make the closure of Veggie Bistro a little more easy to handle. Did House of Nanking match up?

It was good, but it was no Veggie Bistro. Very few are. One thing I will say about House of Nanking, they served me the most wonderful hot tea that I have ever had. It was a mixture of many different types of tea, but they came together so harmoniously. It was a good night in San Francisco. As much as I wish I was still on vacation, it's good to be back home in LA. I've got lots of craft projects piling up, so as soon as I finish my homework, I will get to it!

Coconut Ice Cream

2008-12-28T04:30:00.000-08:00

This was the last of my holiday kitchen adventures. My mom personally requested my Coconut Ice Cream for Christmas Eve, I just forced the Egg Nog on them too. The room was split between Egg Nog and Coconut fans, but I think my personal favorite is the coconut. It was a good batch, super rich and creamier than I could have ever hoped for.

My super cute mom even bought ice cream cones in anticipation! Isn't that adorable? It was about 40 degrees outside, but everyone had a cone in hand. It's also a good sign when you get emails asking for the recipe the next day. Something about me and coconut, we just work well together! My next ice cream flavor idea is a bit more tricky... let's just say it involves a little bit of alcohol and little bit of fruit. Though, this may have to wait a while, since tomorrow I will be headed out on a road trip! I'll be making stops in Ashland, Seattle, Portland, and San Francisco, so send fun restaurant tips and sights to see my way! Everyone have a happy and safe new year!

Egg Nog Ice Cream

2008-12-27T04:30:00.000-08:00

I'm generally not the biggest Egg Nog fan. I like it, but I can usually only stand a few sips before I realize it's just too much. I have to say, I don't feel that way about Egg Nog Ice Cream. I think it's because Egg Nog as a drink is too creamy, but how is it possible for ice cream to be too creamy? It's just not possible! Needless to say, I really did love how the Egg Nog Ice Cream came out.

I paired it with some of my cracked Macarons that did not quite make it to the holiday parties.
I even experimented with Macaron-Egg Nog Ice Cream sandwiches!

The almond flavor of the Macarons went nicely with the Egg Nog flavor! I think Macarons and Egg Nog Ice Cream might be repeats for years to come on the holidays...

Christmas Macarons

2008-12-26T21:07:00.000-08:00

Happy holidays everyone! Sorry for the lack of updates, but as I will be posting in the next couple of days, I've been super busy baking, ice cream churning, and quilting lately! My most favorite holiday baking was done in my super talented friend, Jill's kitchen, where she taught me how to make one of the tastiest cookies I've ever had... a French Macaron! If you've ever attempted to bake these before, you will know how temperamental these cookies are. Everything needs to be measured exactly and the temperature has to be right on, or else you get a cracked cookie. Not a good thing for Macarons. Since it's the holidays, I wanted to go with some red, green, and white sprinkled cookies. We started with the green.

Not only did we put a little powdered food coloring in the dry portion of the mix, but also in the wet portion, of egg whites and sugar.

This gave us a very pretty, saturated green color, perfect for the holidays.

Waiting patiently for the moment of truth. Do our Macaroons have "feet"? Oh yes they did! Those little crinkly bottoms are the feet of the cookie, such an important detail of the perfect Macaroon.

I was squealing with excitement. Really, I was! I mean, look how cute they are..

Next was the red set.

I have to admit, we did end up throwing out a whole tray of red cookies, because the temperature was a bit off and there was some definite cracking. The cookies were still good, just not as pretty as the ones below.

Sitting all pretty, waiting to be frosted.

Next came the white Macarons with sprinkles.

And then some more..

I made a buttery buttercream frosting for the filling of these little guys. Unfortunately, I had little time to photograph these before taking them to 3 separate parties, though, I did get to sneak away a couple of white ones for this photo opp.

Tomorrow, more on Macarons, and another little holiday kitchen adventure...

It's Pumpkinini!

2008-12-17T05:40:00.000-08:00

I've been meaning to post this since Halloween, but I guess now is a better time than never. I'm not the biggest Pumpkin flavoring fan, but I did enjoy this cup of Pumpkin Ice Cream!

I'm not sure I've ever had an ice cream I didn't like, to be honest. It just might be my favorite food. Even though it's raining out and winter is here, my mother made a special request for me to make a few batches of homemade ice cream for Christmas dinner this year. After trying my Coconut Ice Cream, she insists on me making Coconut again. So I've prepared a few batches of Vanilla base to make her Coconut, but also to make something a little more holiday inspired, Egg Nog Ice Cream! It's coming along, so pictures will be posted soon.

My Thanksgiving Baking

2008-12-05T07:33:00.000-08:00

I know it was last week, but I never did post the two Apple Pies I baked! After a being at the multi-cultural potluck until 3am, I woke up bright and early the next morning to bake pies. I got started at 8am with the crust. Once that was ready, I chopped up approximately 9 large apples.

Sometimes I'm tempted to just bake it like this.

Better yet, like this, after it's been dotted with butter.

But in the end, what harm would another layer of a buttery crust do, really?

Did I mention I made two pies?

Here is pie number one in all of it's baked glory.

And pie number two, fresh out of the oven.

Notice the bubbling juices..

Those bubbling juices left my house smelling like apple pie for days! Torture, because after Thanksgiving, I had no pie left!

Holiday Baking Begins

2008-12-04T20:52:00.000-08:00

The holidays have left me baking up a storm in my kitchen. Before Thanksgiving, I went to a multi-cultural potluck/dance party. There was such a great range of cultural dishes, Japanese, Philippine, Swedish, American, and my contribution, Armenian Cheese Boereg. I made this dish a while ago, and I was really starting to miss it. It all starts with a mixture of Mozzarella, Feta, eggs, and parsley.

Once that gets mixed, it turns into this lovely, mushy, squishy cheese filling.

When taking the fillo out of the package, make sure to cut it in half lengthwise. Use half for the bottom and set aside half for the top portion.

Scrunch the fillo and layer with butter.

When half of the fillo is done, begin layering the cheese mixture.

Spread an even layer of the cheese mixture, then finish off the rest of the fillo dough.

When you get to the last 2 layers of fillo, layer those flat, not scrunched. Refrigerate prepared boereg for a few hours (or up to a day) to chill. After chilling, pre-cut the boereg into squares. Mix an egg and some milk, pour over cut squares. Bake for about an hour at 350 degrees, or until golden brown.

I think I used about 2 sticks of butter in this particular boereg.

And it was pretty good!