Cinco de Mayo. . . but not.

Last week, I had a lovely dinner with an old friend at the Border Cafe. I had only been there once before, back in high school, so I was interested in trying it out again. One word: YUM! The only problem with going to the Border Cafe was that it left me craving MORE Mexican food. So the very next night, I decided to make my own.

I've never made quesadillas, but you know, cheese and tortillas. . . not that difficult. Looking to make it more interesting, I made black bean and corn quesadillas, with monterey jack and cheddar cheese. They took all of about five minutes. I made them as I cooked them, right on my electric griddle, with just a little canola oil. I flipped them only once, and as soon as I did, added a little more cheese on top while it was warm. I then covered them lightly with foil just to keep the heat in and melt the cheese on top. I served them with salsa, guacamole, and tortilla chips -- all care of Whole Foods.

For an easy side dish, I made Rice a Roni (yes. . .) Spanish Rice. You can either make it with a 14.5 ounce can of diced tomatoes or a 16 ounce jar of salsa. I went with the salsa. Talk about semi-homemade. . .

What's a Mexican meal without a good margarita? Now this whole meal was a little spur-of-the-moment. I was thinking about it while I was at work, and actually bought what I thought I might need on my way home. I thought in my head that I had some frozen limeade concentrate from the last time I made margaritas. I was wrong. What I did have was some Mango Tango. . . for Scott. Luckily, at the time I needed something to mix with my tequila and triple sec, Scott had merely tasted the Mango Tango. He thankfully decided it was giving him a stomach ache. So I had a Mango Tango Margarita. . . and a very good evening.

is it Friday somewhere?

So, it's Wednesday. Yesterday, all day, I thought it was Wednesday. I was recounting a story today, about this awful day I had last week. Come to remember, that awful day was actually Monday, not last week. It's been a long week already, and there has been a lack of anything culinary over here. Heck, there's been a lack of anything resembling eating for a while too.

But, I will have the need to bake twice next week. I need to make a German Chocolate cake for Tuesday, and something else for Thursday. Birthdays abound! I've never tried a German Chocolate cake, has anyone? Do you have a recipe? Tips? Well-wishes? Also, any yummy ideas for the other baked good - my friend Ryan's birthday, which will be brought to our kick ball game.

Just call me Goldilocks.

38 days until the local Farmers Markets open for the season. That just seems SO far away.

Other than continuing to make my own yogurt, I have been so uninspired to cook. I think in general I live on the more minimalist side, but somehow I still manage to have ZERO cabinet space in my galley kitchen. I want to rip out the dishwasher so I can have more space. Plus, my counters are about an inch or two too high for me, which makes working at them a chore and ergonomically unfriendly. I have to wear heels and go into relevé just to look out the peephole. My bedroom closets are divided by those half-bars that are great for hanging up hundreds of shirts and pants that have to be folded in half on a hanger, but that also means that I have to hang all of my dresses and long skirts next to the coats and jackets in the small hall closet. So, you see, I'm convinced that my apartment was designed for a man, or at least anyone taller than 5'6" in her bare feet who doesn't have a fondness for dresses.

So if I continue to subsist on cold cereal, the occasional piece of fruit that actually has a taste, hummous, raw vegetables that looked marginally good at the store, and homemade yogurt for the next 38 days, you'll know why.

Cupcakes, take II

Oh wow - I think these are my new favorite cupcakes. I set out to make them as penance for screwing up so many batches of cupcakes last weekend. I first found this recipe in the Rachel Ray magazine I bought while stranded in Houston on my way to Wales in September, and finally, 7 months later, I've made them. The recipe turned out 20 cupcakes, and I ate one right out of the oven - you know, to see if they were any good. I actually made them late last night, and there was no time to frost them before I needed to go to bed. In the morning I decided to freeze a bunch, so there are now 12 unfrosted cupcakes in my freezer (YUM!) and this evening I mixed the frosting and frosted them. Lately I've been choosing to use my giant plastic spatula to spread frosting, it's been really useful! Once frosted and photographed, I ate one. And now - I want another!!

Chocolate Red Wine Cupcakes with Mascarpone Icing

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 4 ounces chocolate, broken into pieces 1/2 cup boiling water 2 sticks (8 ounces) butter, at room temperature 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar 4 large eggs 1 1/4 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup medium- to full-bodied red wine, such as cannonau** Two 8-ounce containers mascarpone cheese, at room temperature 2 cups confectioners' sugar Red grapes, halved, for garnish

1. Preheat the oven to 350º. Line 2 muffin pans with baking liners.
2. In a medium, heatproof bowl, combine the cocoa powder and chocolate pieces. Whisk in the boiling water until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is combined.
3. In a large bowl, cream the butter and granulated sugar. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until blended. Sift in the flour, baking powder and salt and mix until just combined. Alternating, add the chocolate mixture and wine in batches, mixing well between each addition, until the batter is smooth. Divide among the muffin cups, filling each about three-quarters full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Let cool in the pan.
4. Lightly beat the mascarpone, then add the confectioners' sugar and beat until creamy. Remove the cooled cupcakes from the pan, spread each with icing and top with a grape half.

**I used Yellow Tail Shiraz-Cabernet

It's Chefography week

Not that I think ya'll don't know this too - but it's Chefography week on the food network, and my TiVO is working over time. I've already got episodes on Julia Child, Rachel Ray, Sandra Lee, and Wolfgang Puck recorded. And as I type this the episode on Mario Batali is recording away. I'm looking forward to a self-made marathon this weekend!

Introduction by way of haiku.

Self-confessed food snob
Likes to do things the hard way
Lives to tell stories

cocktails on the patio for one

cocktails on the patio for one
Originally uploaded by with an eye

After my disasters I needed a pick-me-up, so I purchased some patio furniture (retail therapy!) and mixed myself a cosmo, a plate of grapes, and grabbed a corner of sunshine!

A Kitchen Snafu!

That about sums up my weekend - the only thing I was successfully able to make was Annie's Shells and Cheese, which, let's be honest - YUM! I set out to make cupcakes, as a "welcome new baby" surprise for the family I babysit for. I was undecided, chocolate or vanilla, so I tried to make a half batch of each. I was trying new recipes, which, in the end I will try again - and follow a little bit better. I tried the "Silver White Cake" and "Best Chocolate Cake" from Betty Crocker's New Cookbook. I mixed both batters, poured the cupcakes and put them in the oven. They smelled yummy, and in 15 minutes were perfectly done. I decided to sample one of the silver white cupcakes, and it tasted LIKE EGG! It's then that I realized that I halved everything in the recipe EXCEPT the egg whites. FIVE WHOLE EGG WHITES, gross. They all got tossed. Now, the chocolate cupcakes had something already working against them, as I ran out of sugar while making them. I tried to supplement with some confectioners sugar - between that and my egg faux pas (yes, I forgot to half the eggs in BOTH recipes) they weren't great. Pretty bland. But, a true cook keeps going, right?! So on with the frosting. Yes, Mel - I fight with it too. I have no idea why. I dread it. And it gets everywhere - I had some behind my ear this time, no lie. I made a new frosting, that I should have realized would taste like Fluff, as it required me to boil sugar and corn syrup to 242 degrees (aka, soft ball stage). The idea to use my mechanical pastry bag to "pipe" the frosting was a horrible one, as this "frosting" just oozes - everywhere. It was disgustingly sweet, but worked to hide the blandness of the cupcake itself decently. In the end it was a mediocre mess of cupcakes, that I embarrassingly delivered as a present. I'm so thoughtful!

Two Cakes for Karen's Birthday

I made this six inch cake, that I have since referred to as "The K Cake" last weekend, just days after I fought with swiss meringue buttercream. . . for this cake however I was luckily able to use my trusty cream cheese frosting recipe. What's up with frosting anyway? Why am I ALWAYS fighting with it? Jenni, I'm so glad that you've been there too. It's never the cake that's the problem either. Anyway, with this cake, I decided to try an easy piping technique that I've been wanting to experiment with for a while. On the bottom there, I simply used a medium-size round tip (#12) to make those little pearl-like balls. It did leave a point on some of them, so I used my finger to make it more round. If your finger sticks to the frosting, you can try dipping your finger in a little corn starch first. I didn't want to go too crazy with the top, as I was also making a larger cake, so the simple "K" for Karen seemed to be just fine. . . and The K Cake was born. How easy was that?

Now onto the chocolate cake. I definitely fought with this frosting. I've made it before, and I continue to make it -- probably because it tastes so freakin' good. No matter what I do though, the cocoa powder never gets completely combined. So there were shades of brown throughout. I tried to cover it a bit with the chocolate chips on the side, but who was I trying to kid? Arg.

Ravioli Goodness

So here it goes, my first blog post!

I started making this ravioli dish maybe a year and a half ago. It's a good comfort food dish for those cold winter days we have way too many of in Boston. I guess my inspiration came from a lot of my favorite things. . . cheese, spinach, garlic, CHEESE. . . you get the idea. I first cook a package of frozen chopped spinach in the microwave for a few minutes. Then, I heat some EVOO with maybe two tablespoons of butter in a large saute pan. Once the butter is melted and a little bubbly, I add about four cloves of chopped garlic and half a package of roughly chopped crimini mushrooms. Meanwhile, I have a large pot of water on the stove at a high temperature, awaiting the frozen Mamma Rosa ravioli (at least I think that's the brand -- two packages, in a white and red bag). After the mushrooms and garlic have been in the pan for a few minutes, I add a little salt and pepper, and let them cook a little longer. Next comes the spinach (squeeze that liquid out, please!) and a can of rinsed petite cut tomatoes. Yes, rinsed. I tried to add the whole can as is once and it had a funny taste. (As a side note, I think it's a good general rule to rinse ANYTHING that comes out of a can!) Add more salt and pepper to the pan. Once the veggies are cooked, add another two tablespoons of butter, and sprinkle maybe two tablespoons of flour on top. Stir and cook the flour for a couple minutes, then add 1 3/4 cups of whole milk. Bring this to a light boil, stirring often. This is a good time to add the ravioli to the pot of boiling water. Cook the ravioli according to the package -- six minutes I believe. Drain. Once the milk comes to a light boil, keep it at that temperature for a few minutes, or until it has thickened a bit. Turn the heat off, and add some freshly grated nutmeg and Parmesan cheese into the pan to taste -- I've never measured either of these, but for the cheese, I would guess about 1/3 or 1/2 cup. You'll likely need to add more salt and pepper at this point too. Toss the ravioli with the sauce, and enjoy!