HAPPY EASTER!

As most of you know (haha, all two of you), Scott and I spent the past year living in a really SMALL apartment out in the boonies. It had a lot of pluses (cheap, quiet) but it was time for a change. We just moved last Thursday to a larger apartment that will be better for many reasons, so we're really happy! We're all unpacked and it already feels like home. So much like home in fact that we hosted a small Easter gathering today! It was super great! Here's what was on the menu. . .

A delicious Sangria that I've made a few times before. I love the fresh lemon and orange juice. Also, I use Triple Sec instead of Grand Marnier. It's less expensive, you can't tell the difference, and I can use the left-overs for future margaritas. Thanks, Emeril!

My mother-in-law brought her famous Easter Bread. It's not Easter without it! Unfortunately I don't have the recipe, but I do have a picture:


Isn't it pretty? And around the edge of the plate are her yummy Egg Biscuit cookies.

I made a new recipe today too: Baked Asparagus with Balsamic Butter Sauce:


I took a recommendation from some of the reviewers to brown the butter a bit. I also used olive oil instead of cooking spray. It was really good! Definitely a recipe I'll use for another holiday. For everyday though, I prefer my asparagus a little more plain.

I made a chickpea salad too that I wrote about in the post below this that was tasty. Also on the menu was my mom's rice pilaf. You want that recipe? You got it!

Mom's Pilaf:

3 Tbs. butter
1/3 c. orzo
1 c. long grain rice (I use Jasmine, my mom uses Uncle Ben's)
2 1/2 c. vegetable broth (or chicken) -- I use Better Than Bullion in water

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan on medium heat. Add the orzo and cook until golden brown, making sure not to burn it. Add the rice and stir to combine. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir, remove from heat, and enjoy!

Diane made delicious Spinach Beregs, an Armenian appetizer similar to Spanikopita. Buttery, cheesy, yum.

I had a bit of a snafu with my Vidalia Onion Quiche. It's hit or miss really, and Diane has experienced the same thing. Sometimes it comes out soupy (like today!) and sometimes it's fine. Up until today, I thought that using half and half instead of 2% milk was the right choice for a more firm consistency but maybe not, unless I just didn't cook it long enough which is definitely possible. So I won't give you that recipe, though it's DELICIOUS. . . it's just kind of a mess sometimes. I can give you a picture though!


Sure, it LOOKS all innocent, right? OH, and I forgot to mention that I made two of these but one of them was a complete fail. Apparently when I was poking a few holes into the frozen pie shell with a fork (while still partially frozen, before adding the filling, so it wouldn't bubble up while baking) I may have poked a hole in the bottom that went all the way through the tin foil pie plate. . . so all I was left with in that quiche was, well, onions. I'm sure it tastes good, so I saved it. Good thing I put it on a cookie sheet before putting it in the oven!

We finished off the meal with my favorite carrot cake -- which I added 3/4 cup of raisins too because I think in the past that a whole cup is too much. I decorated it with my mother-in-law:


She did the egg and border, I did the writing :)

Wow, how's that for a long post to catch up for lost times?! I just hope I don't take an unintentional hiatus after this. I've really missed being able to host holidays and other food gatherings, so now that we have SPACE to do it I think we'll be hosting more often. You know what that means -- more cooking (and blogging!) YAY!

Catching Up!

Hi, my name is Mel, and I suck at blogging. (Look, Jenni! I'm back!)

Let's rewind a few months. . . I'm always a bit stressed and busy over the winter at work, but now that things are starting to wrap up for the year I'm ready to do some REAL cooking. For the past couple of months, I've gotten into the habit of really easy, fast, cheap meals. For breakfast it has been fruit, toast, maybe cereal (cold, I can't even be bothered with my usual beloved oatmeal!) Lunch has been peanut butter and jelly or spaghetti/ravioli (if I'm teaching a lot and need the fuel), and dinner is either salad, spaghetti (if I didn't have it for lunch!), pizza. . . oh, and if I REALLY want to go crazy, I'll heat up some fake chicken nuggets, make my mom's pilaf (see that recipe on this post), and cook some frozen broccoli or sugar snap peas. Yes, a three-part meal. Shocking, no? I did come up with some great salads though during this whole salad phase. I have rediscovered my love for salad in a bag, namely the Camps Elysee blend from Trader Joes that has mixed greens, radicchio, and shredded CARROTS for only $1.99. . . yeah, who wouldn't love that? So with that mix, I'll add cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, bell pepper, pre-marinated and grilled tofu that just needs to be cubed (easy AND delicious. . . ), honey roasted sliced almonds, and some kind of light dressing. Mmmm!

Here's a salad that Diane and I came up with over-the-phone that I made for Easter today. I cut some cherry tomatoes in half (maybe three packages?), rinsed and pinched the skin off of two small cans of chickpeas (yes, I pinched the skin off -- because I'm crazy), one English cucumber, three scallions, a small handful of shredded carrots, chopped, a small bunch of fresh basil, a smaller bunch of fresh mint, the juice from one lemon (could've used more but that was all I had), a good drizzle of EVOO, kosher salt, and freshly ground pepper. It was delicious! I'm not sure how long a salad like this, pre-dressed, will last though. But hey, it might not last too long anyway!


Okay, time to blog about the rest of Easter. This requires a different post all together! Stay tuned. . .

Something old, something new

When I was little, I can remember going to my cousin's house on Christmas morning, after we opened our own gifts at home and before the rest of our family came over. It was either my aunt or my cousin, and sometimes both, who made the most delicious and special breakfast treat. It only came out on Christmas morning. Served with butter, jelly, a side of fruit (and probably a side of bacon and/or sausage that I'd rather not discuss. . .) this fabulously fantastic treat was in fact a popover. We sadly haven't seen our cousins on Christmas day in several years however I have since carried on the Christmas morning popover tradition for whoever is around. I've gone through maybe three or so popover pans since I started making them (back in high school?) usually because I scratch them up for whatever reason. My mother-in-law reminded me this past Christmas of one a few years back when I was apparently in between popover pan purchases. . . and we made popovers with a muffin tin. I don't recommend trying this at home, but I DO recommend getting yourself a popover pan, buttering it well, measuring your ingredients well, and not over-mixing your batter. Whether it's for Christmas or just a special kind of Sunday at home, they are certainly delicious:


I really hate to post this, especially right after Jenni's last post, but do keep this in mind. . .

After Jenni's first roulade, I thought, Hey, if Jenni's not afraid, then maybe I could give it a try too. I had that new Ina Garten book (and signed!) which had a great-looking recipe. It was a Pumpkin Roulade with Ginger Buttercream. I figured Christmas would be a great time to try this, and so I did. It was truly a scary experience, which thankfully turned out well, but seriously. . . you roll the cake up as soon as it comes out of the oven, let it cool, unroll it, fill it, and re-roll it. You're taking a lot of chances there, right?! So I'm sure if I try it again, I won't have as much luck. . . right, Jenni?! (For the record, Jenni, I think that in the end, YOU won, not the cake -- it sounded delicious, and didn't completely fall apart. You were still able to eat it, so there you go). So now, again, I really hate to post this, but I still kind of. . . sort of. . . want to share :/


Happy Holidays!!!

Christmas Baking Madness

I've been pretty busy over the past week or so, and most of my business has involved BAKING, so I figured I'd write about it! Of course we're all busy around this time, trying to find time for holiday cards, gift shopping, seeing your friends and family, etc. On top of this, throw in baking five different kinds of holiday treats, fighting with your dishwasher, breaking your only large microwave-safe mixing bowl, recital time kicking in, and you've got my week. Oh, did I mention the disco ball cake? That's another post. . .

Let me fill you in on the baking because that's probably the most exciting of the above list. Several years ago, Scott and I journeyed to the White Mountains' annual Inn to Inn Christmas Cookie Tour (yes, I said COOKIE TOUR!) We checked in to whichever Inn we were staying at for the weekend, and they gave us a map of all of the other Inns. We went around to each, via car, and it was really fantastic. They were all decked out for the holidays (haha, pun intended). There were Christmas trees, wreaths, Nutcrackers, and of course they also had two or three different signature COOKIES to sample! So my point is, a few of the cookies I've made for the holidays since this memorable trip have been from the little cook book that they give you at the Cookie Tour for FREE. It's nothing fancy on the outside, but it's really all about the little treasures inside. This year I'm making the Peppermint Crunch Cookies (thanks to the Tamworth Inn), Inn at Crystal Lake's Crystal Lake Everythings, and Lavender Flower Inn's Pecan Balls. My own personal additions will include sugar cookies, Jenni's two-bite brownies with my mom's brownie recipe, and my own simple creation of white chocolate bark with sliced almonds and dried cranberries. I'll take a picture once I have a Christmas tin of these assembled for your viewing pleasure! Happy two weeks before Christmas!

Thanksgiving a la Mel

Overall, Thanksgiving was quite successful here at my place. Everyone was really helpful with their contributions, from side dishes to desserts to even cleaning up. Here's what was on the menu (if you'd like any of these recipes, let me know and I can write them out):

We started out with just a couple of appetizers. There was fruit as well as Jenni's famous brie bites that I made with homemade cranberry sauce instead of jelly. The fruit:


Mmmmmm. Thank you, Whole Foods! We had a few beverage options, but when people arrived, they mostly went for the hot beverage: mulled cider. I kept this warm in the crock pot, which was great because it eliminated the need of an additional large pot (my only one was already in use). I get the mulling spices from Williams Sonoma. It's quite delicious! I also made a Sangria with a mulled simple syrup, Spanish rose wine, red port, and triple sec. That was a new recipe, from Food and Wine magazine, and it turned out really great! Definitely a keeper. In addition, there was red wine and the left-over port from the sangria available.

For the meal, we did NOT have turkey because my brother-in-law is allergic (which is great for me because I wasn't about to cook a bird in MY oven!) so my parents brought ham instead. We also had delicious mashed potatoes that my brother-in-law made here with tons of garlic, cranberry sauce (that I forgot to put out with the meal. . . oops), onion tart c/o Michelle that was incredible, stuffing c/o Diane that was also incredible, roasted root vegetables with pine nut pesto that I made (another new recipe from F&W and it was super yummy if I do say so myself!), corn bread, roasted asparagus, and I believe that was it. For dessert, we had apple pie (that my mother-in-law made and has become quite famous in the family), cranberry pie (thanks to Leah!), and I made vanilla bean ice cream for the first time that was really rich but from what I heard pretty good, and pumpkin cheesecake that did NOT crack! Yeah! I was so proud that I took a picture:


Well that pretty much sums up the day! I wish I had taken more pictures, but what can you do. I was a little busy I guess! I'm glad that my new recipes weren't a disaster. I know you're not suppose to test out new recipes for a holiday (so say many chefs on TV. . . ) so while it was risky I have to say, "HAHA, Suckers!" I was suppose to have an additional dessert that was also a new recipe, but I'd like to forget that it ever happened. For those of you thinking about making Linzer Cookies, I have to advise against it. . . even if the pictures on the package are really cute and hard to resist, don't give in. And that is all. I hope your Thanksgivings were as wonderful as mine! Next up, Christmas! You better believe I'm already excited and looking forward to my Christmas baking (and I'm sure you are too, Jenni!) Happy Holidays!

Happy Halloween?

Some of us celebrated Halloween a week LATE because a certain sister (Diane) was sick. The cake was already made of course, hanging out in the freezer, so I just decorated it this past weekend for when we went over to Diane's house to celebrate. It was a wonderful evening. We ate chips, delicious guacamole, and CAKE! We also watched one of my favorite movies: CLUE! So here's the very traditional-looking jack-o-lantern cake that I made:


I should've taken a picture of the middle too after we cut into it, but of course didn't think about bringing my camera. It was a marble cake, and I died the white cake part of it orange. I also added chocolate chips because it didn't look chocolatey enough. It was good! Now I have to wait another year before using that cake pan again. Oh well.