Thursday night dinners

Tonight I tried out 2 new recipes, this lemon chicken (just ok) and broccoli cole slaw. I may need to make this cole slaw every week, it was so good. My mom and I couldn't stop eating it. I did add both seasoning packets, as the dressing tasted a little bland with just one, but it's a definite keeper! Would be great to make ahead for a party, since it is so easy. 

In other news, the power was out last Sunday for 18 hours. 18 hours, people. Do you know how much that cramped my netflix watching? But every so often, it can be nice to remind yourself that there's more to life than internet and tv. Plus I got a lot of reading done!

Pumpkin scones

This past weekend, my cousin decided to throw a "breakfast foods" dinner party. Um, yes please. I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to contribute, so I combed through my ever-growing list of recipes to try. I came across these pumpkin scones. And I drooled on my computer a bit. So I made these. A bit messy to make (they were hard to mix with a spatula, so I had to mix by hand). But they were oh so good. I'm simultaneously sad/glad that I didn't keep many of these in the house for me to snack on. (PS - trying to get better at taking pictures of the food I make - so here goes!)

New recipes

In keeping with my new year's resolutions, I've been trying out some new recipes. A couple of weeks ago, I made orzo with roasted vegetables. Instead of using the vegetables suggested, I used what we had on hand (bell peppers, grape tomatoes, and zucchini). I also skipped the pine nuts and scallions. But it still turned out great - really flavorful and healthy. 

Then tonight, I tried out a chicken stir fry. I saw this last night when I was watching Paula Deen at the gym, and while I was a little skeptical of trying out an asian dish from a southern lady, I decided to go for it. Again, I changed it based on what veggies we had (bell peppers and snow peas). It was so good. It tasted like takeout - only better! We all gave this a thumbs up. 

#15

Ok, I'm just now getting back in the swing of things. I promise I didn't go AWOL. I've been working on my resolutions (more on those later), watching 30 rock obsessively, and trying not to curse this hot windy weather we've been having. In between all that, I did go to Chocolatine. My cousin and I took my mom there for her birthday last weekend. It's a very cute, very small French cafe with absolutely drool-worthy desserts. We'd had a delicious lunch and pretended we were in France (it was more like how I envisioned France in my head - not how it was in real life) 

I wish I had known about it earlier - it would have been perfect for my cousin's bridal shower! Oh well. We'll just have to go back and pretend. :)

Countdown to hibernation

So this whole being an adult thing kinda stinks sometimes. I really miss those 2 week Christmas vacations. Even though my break is considerably shorter this year (3 days), I'm still really excited. I'm preparing myself for what I call my "hibernation." It's going to be 3 days chock full of:

-sweatpants (real pants? please.)

-Christmasy movies, including but not limited to: Elf, The Santa Clause, Love Actually, The Holiday, Christmas Vacation, A Christmas Story, Home Alone and It's A Wonderful Life

-a big stack of unread magazines

-no healthy food at all

(Actually, this may read like a lot of my weekends at home)

Also, this fruit compote will definitely be involved:

8 oz mixed dried fruit (chopped)

16 oz cherry pie filling

11 oz can mandarin oranges (drained)

1/3 cup brown sugar (packed)

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 cup bourbon (or apple juice)

Combine 1st 3 ingredients in 1 1/2 quart dish and set aside. Combine other ingredients and pour over mixture. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. 

We've never used bourbon in this before, but it sounds delicious. This is amazing over homemade waffles, which is how we have our Christmas breakfast every single year. I'm drooling a little bit just thinking of it. 

Work party

So even though I started Christmas shopping early this year, I couldn't seem to figure out what to get my co-workers. I went back and forth for a while, then eventually decided on the following: I'd get everyone a personalized mug, fill it with some peppermint bark, and bring some hot cocoa fixins. I brought a few different flavors of hot cocoa, candy canes, and gingerbread marshmallows. It went over really well - homemade peppermint bark is amazing, and it is so easy. This is the recipe I used, but here are my steps:

Melt dark chocolate in the microwave. Stir at 30 second intervals. I used a Pyrex casserole dish, since a sheet pan wouldn't fit in my fridge/freezer. I lined it with parchment and poured the chocolate. The good thing about this recipe is it doesn't have to look perfect, so while a sheet pan probably would have been easier and looked cleaner, the dish seemed to work fine too. Put in the fridge. Watch Hawaii Five-0 while you wait for it to firm up. Drool over this guy. Ok, back to that bark, don't get distracted. Crush candy canes. I put it in a ziploc bag and smashed them with a can, which was pretty fun. Take your dish out of the fridge (I'd say it takes about an hour to cool it in the fridge). Melt the white chocolate in the microwave, remember to stir often. Once melted, stir in crushed candy canes. Pour the mixture over the hardened dark chocolate and stick the dish back into the fridge. Now go watch Glee and the New Girl. The bark should be hard enough to break up by now. You can choose to share with friends and family, or keep a stash for yourself, up to you. It's so good, I may have to hide it from myself. 

Cooking with Sydney

So it's time for another cooking adventure with Sydney! (And it's always an adventure when I cook). Tonight, I made Pasta alla Formiana. I saw this on Giada's show a few weeks ago, and decided it would a perfect, comforting meal for a blustery day like today. Pasta is a speciality of mine, and I decided this would be a welcome change. Taking the advice of many of the reviews, I cut down the amount of oregano in the recipe (it calls for 1/4 cup, I used about 1 1/2 tablespoons) and added another garlic clove for added flavor. I kept taste-testing to make sure it didn't get mushy (and taste-testing is the best part of cooking). I pulled it out at 53 minutes and let it cool to just below lava hotness before popping it in my mouth. Yummy! Really flavorful and really easy. The sauce ended up tasting really similar to a pasta sauce, so I'm wondering if it would be possible to just use that in a pinch. Oh Giada, your recipes never fail me. 

In other news, happy December! I'm cracking open my advent calendar today!

#11

Today I decided to make these buckeyes, from Smitten Kitchen. All this time, I had been operating under the assumption that these require baking (clearly I only skimmed the recipe), so I wanted to wait until summer was over to make them. Well, they don't require any baking. But they make a perfect Fall, Halloween-time treat, so my waiting worked out. Pretty easy to put together, but a little messy (which is why I put up the picture from the recipe rather than a picture of my own). So good and so rich, these definitely won't last long around here. 

Thursday night dinners

I've mentioned before that Thursday nights have been designated my nights to cook. One of my 24x24 goals was to branch out a bit more and learn to cook something new. 

I've been watching the Food Network during my workouts (oftentimes causing me to drool all over the treadmill. Thanks Paula Deen and your beignets). The other day I happened to catch part of Giada's show. She made some delicious-looking grilled veggie sandwiches. They seemed easy enough for even me to attempt. But I think I have cooking ADD. Every time I read a recipe that's a little too long, my eyes start to glaze over and I go "eh whatever, I'll just wing it!!" So I read the recipe, but ended up doing a simpler version. I only used zucchini since we had some growing in the garden. I also nixed the tarragon and thyme. I cooked the zucchini in a pan instead of a grill (they turned out fine). I mixed the ingredients, made the sandwiches, and crossed my fingers for a good reaction from the guinea pigs parents. Let's just say...I would have pictures to share with you, except we all wolfed these down way too fast for me to capture some. We all loved it (even my die-hard carnivore dad). I will definitely be making these again!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween is one of my very favorite holidays, but for some reason I just haven't been in the mood. My low-key weekend: caramel apples and apple chips (they make your house smell amazing while they're baking!), and lots of (not-so-) scary movies. I watched paranormal activity (a dud), hocus pocus (a tradition) and now I'm settling into some classics: house of wax, house on haunted hill and the haunting. And I may just have to flip to the rocky horror picture show marathon once or twice. What are your halloween night plans?

Bits and pieces

Ever feel like the weekends are flying by and the weeks are dragging on? I guess that's just a fact of life. So much I'd like to be doing, and little time to do it in.

Well I have been doing a lot of shopping lately...

A silky skirt....

Studded sandals...

A cute cardigan...

[All items pictured from forever21.com]

(doesn't this cardigan remind you of mint chocolate chip ice cream??)

I also picked up a leather mini, a couple basic shirts, and perhaps the most perfect cardi ever at H&M. Long, boyfriend-style, in grey. I may just have to run back and pick it up in black.

I'm really interested in the fact that more stores (H&M and F21, so far) are coming out with their own magazines. It's kinda cool to see. (Plus, free magazines? Hello, I'm there)

On today's shopping trip (with one of my lovely cousins), we stopped by Crumbs bakery. If you haven't been there yet, GO. I feel like I'm a on a mission to spread the gospel of Crumbs. It's by far my fav cupcake shop (which says a lot, since I love me some cupcakes). I was only slightly bummed they didn't have my fav flavor: the Elvis (banana cupcake, banana frosting, with a dab of pb on top). Mmmm.

Je ne sais quoi

I took French all four years of high school, and people always looked at me a little funny when I told them that, since it's not the most "practical" language. But it's beautiful! Unfortunately I haven't kept up with it since then, and on my trip to France last year I only remembered enough to be able to order crepes (which is really all you need, to be honest). On my next trip to France (I'll make it back there for a trip longer than three days if it kills me), I'd love to hit up Laduree. They are probably the most famous macaroon makers in Paris, and their website is making me drool a little bit. They have an amazing menu that I actually printed out to put in my inspiration book, it's that gorgeous. Here are some pics for you to enjoy (every shop is so pretty!):

[Images: http://www.larudee.fr/]

Wouldn't having tea and macaroons on the Champs Elysees be so quintessentially French?