Tea and cookies

Today was such a relaxing day! We went to dogpark in the morning and then to Blockbuster to pick up some movies. We spent the rest of the day at home watching movies and playing in the kitchen. Well, Jon didn't play in the kitchen, just me. But it made me ever so happy. I made special treats for everyone. For Ringo, I made pumpkin treats. For Jon and I, I made almond horns.

I spent a month studying Health Law in Austria. I lived in Vienna, and it was a wonderful time. I loved sitting in the cafes, drinking melange, and eating croissants. The croissant has a storied history. To many, the croissant is a quintessential French delicacy. But to the Austrians, it is a Viennese tradition. According to the Viennese, the first croissant was made to celebrate the victory of the Austrians over the Turks in the battle of Vienna. Viennese bakers created the pastry in the shape of the crescent found on the Turkish flag.

I miss my days in Vienna, and every now and then try to recreate them here. These almond horns are not Austrian, by any means, but their crescent shape echoes the famous Viennese pastry. I served them with Vanilla Tea, also not Austrian, but I can't do coffee at night or I'd never sleep. So this is my Americanized take on an evening in Vienna.

Almond Horns

1 1/3 cups blanched whole almonds
1 cup confectioner's sugar
2 Tbsp orange flower water
1 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups AP flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup shortening
8 Tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
7-8 Tbsp cold water

1) In food processor, grind almonds and sugar to fine powder. Place mixture in large bowl and add orange flower water, butter, almond, and vanilla extracts. Using electric beater on medium speed, beat to a smooth paste. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 hour.
2) In medium bowl combine flour and salt. Break solid shortening into small pieces. Cut in shortening and cold butter with pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle cold water, 1 Tbsp at a time over mixture, mixing lightly with a fork after each addition, until pastry is just moist enough to hold together. Divide dough in half. Shape and flatten each piece of dough into disc. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until well chilled, about 1 hour.
3) Heat oven to 350. Working on lightly floured surface, roll out one of the dough halves unto a 12 x 15 rectangle. Cut dough into 4 equal strips horizontally, then 5 strips vertically. Each resulting square will measure 3". Place one of the squares on the work surface with one point facing down so it resembles a diamond. Using measuring spoon, take 1/2 tsp almond filling and roll into log. Place in center of square of dough. Brush edges of dough with tepid water and roll securely. Seal ends. Bend slightly in center to form crescent shape. Place on baking sheet. Repeat with remaining filling and dough.
4) Bake 20 minutes, or until slightly golden. Remove from baking sheet to wire rack to cool completely. Dust lightly with confectioners' sugar.

Vanilla Tea

1 vanilla-caramel tea
1 /4 split vanilla bean
dash of anise

1) Bring water to boil.
2) Place tea bag, vanilla, and anise in a cup. Add boiling water.
3)Let steep 4-5 minutes. Remove vanilla bean.
4)Add sweetener and milk.

Day of Atonement

Yom Kippur is not the most fun of all Jewish Holidays. You start fasting the night before, right before the first dose of synagogue. Then its rise and shine the next morning to head to another fun filled day of synagogue - a dose in the morning, and a dose in the afternoon that leads into the evening. Dose is the appropriate word because it really is like taking your medicine.

In Catholicism, there is the idea of confession. It's understood that everyone commits sins, but if you repent you'll be forgiven. In the Jewish religion, we have a "one time a year" confession - Yom Kippur. There's a lot of synagogue because instead of a weekly confession, we only have one day to get the sins out. The fasting is to help cleanse the soul. It reminds us of the pain we caused others, and shows our commitment to repentance.

By the end of the day I am the last person you want to talk to. I'm hungry, I'm tired, and I am sooo annoyed by all the people in synagogue who don't bother to put away their rudeness and disrespect on the day of atonement. Some people don't like to be spoken to before they have their morning coffee. Don't speak to me before break-the-fast.

Break-the-fast is supposed to be a light meal. I prepared ahead of time by making egg salad and cucumber salad. Perfect and light. This egg salad is Jon's favorite egg salad. It's a nice change from the usual, although we didn't bother to tell anyone it was "different" and no one noticed.

Cucumber Salad

1 cucumber, peeled and sliced thin
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup mayo
2 Tbsp mustard
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp chopped dill

1) place cucumber in colander with salt and let sit for 30 min. Rinse in cold water to rinse off salt and press out excess water with a paper towel.
2) Combine mayo and mustard. Add to cucumbers.
3) Season with salt, pepper, and dill.

Egg Salad

12 hardboiled eggs, peeled and coarsely chopped
3/4 cup mayo
1/4 cup chopped scallions
1 1/2 tsp curry powder
salt and pepper to taste

1) In medium bowl combine eggs, mayonnaise, scallions and curry powder.
2) Season with salt and pepper.

Lobster Bisque-style

Every now and then I stumble upon something at Trader Joes which intrigues me, worms its way into my cart, and then onto the table. Such was the case with lobster ravioli. Jon was equally excited.
"What kind of sauce are you going to use?"
"Hmmm, I hadn't really thought about it, do you have a preference?"
"Something creamy"

So off I went, in search of a cream sauce that wouldn't overpower the ravioli. Along the way I stumbled into Peabody's blog. Okay, it wasn't really a stumble, since I tend to head there as one of my first steps in recipe searches. I remembered seeing something about a lobster in her blog earlier this year. And then I found it. Her grilled corn and shrimp chowder. She claims it works best with lobster. I was a little disappointed because it was soup, but then I thought - there's not a huge difference between soup and sauce, so I placed her recipe squarely on the diving board and jumped off.

I used similar flavors and techniques, and added a few twists of my own to create a creamy sauce that perfectly complemented the lobster ravioli. Top with some roasted cherry tomatoes (mmmmm I love roasted tomatoes) and the dish looks half as fantastic as it tastes. Well, Jon doesn't like tomatoes, so he preferred the dish without tomatoes, but I loved it!

Sauce

¼ cup diced celery
¼ cup diced onion
¼ cup diced carrot
1 garlic clove, chopped
5 TBSP butter, divided
½ tsp coriander
a dash of white pepper
sea salt to taste
2 cups of chicken stock
1/4 cup white wine
1 cup heavy cream

1.In a large stock pot, cook celery, carrot, onion and garlic in 1 TBSP of butter. Saute for about 5 minutes, until tender.
2.Add coriander, white pepper and chicken stock. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce to a simmer. Simmer for about 30 minutes, while the stock reduces.
3.Add wine, cream and 4 Tbsp butter. Simmer another 20 minutes.

Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

1 pt cherry tomatoes, halved
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp fresh chopped basil

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Toss tomatoes with oil, salt, and pepper.
3. Spread tomatoes out on baking sheet and roast 20 min, or until skin begins to wrinkle
4. Combine with basil

Pretty in Pink

The only thing girlier than sipping champagne is sipping pink champagne. Champagne does come in a pink, or rose version, but sometimes its more fun to make your own. Champagne is often mixed with other fruity combinations to create drinks such as bellinis. I mixed the champagne with some raspberry vodka. Raspberry vodka + champagne = champagne colored drink. You wouldn't even know it had a hidden surprise! I had to change that so I added a splash of grenadine. Now I had a drink that was as good to look at, as it was to drink. And nothing goes better with ANTM than a girly pink drink.

A classic

A classic spinach salad consists of spinach, bacon, hardboiled eggs, and blue cheese. I hardly ever eat my spinach salads this way. Mine usually involve some variety of fruit, cheese, and nut. But sometimes classic is the way to go. So I tossed together some spinach, bacon, and mushrooms and swirled it with blue cheese dressing instead of blue cheese. I skipped out on the egg - I'm a rebel.

Spinach, Bacon and Blue Cheese Salad

10 cups baby spinach
10 slices cooked bacon, crumbled
1 pkg white mushrooms, sliced
1 tbsp minced fresh herbs
1 clove garlic, minced
blue cheese dressing

1) In a large bowl, toss together all ingredients but blue cheese.
2) Serve with blue cheese dressing.

On My Own

I hardly ever get the house to myself. Since I work so far away, I never get home before Jon, and during the weekends he likes to spend time with me *shudder*. Last night though, Jon went to LA to meet a friend for dinner which gave me free reign. I know a lot of you think I cook because I'm the world's greatest wife or other such nonsense. That's completely untrue. Jon is spoiled in the food department as a complete by-product. I first started cooking for myself. After a rough day of law school, nothing helped me unwind better than some time in the kitchen. At the time my roommate benefited from my culinary experiments. Now that I live with Jon, he's the beneficiary. I don't cook for him - I cook for me! So last night when he was gone I went all out for myself. A creamy chicken dish, risotto, spinach salad, and even a little alcoholic enjoyment of a new champagne drink I wanted to try. I got to enjoy dinner stretched out on the couch (as much as Ringo would let me) watching trashy tv (Yay for the new season of ANTM!) and chatting online with some friends. It was a perfect evening!

The chicken dish was phenomenal and left me licking the plate. Warning - it is FAR from healthy, but sometimes you need to treat yourself. The recipe is old, and I can't even remember who I got it from, so forgive me for not naming the source. I can tell you it's absolutely amazing and I may very well use the sauce for a variety of other dishes.....

Basil Chicken

1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup bread crumbs
2 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts
2 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 jar sliced pimento peppers
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1/8 tsp black pepper

1) Place milk and breadcrumbs in separate shallow bowls.
2) Dip chicken in the milk, then coat with bread crumbs. In a skillet over medium heat, fry chicken in butter or margarine, 6 minutes per side. Remove skillet and keep warm.
3) Add broth to the skillet; bring to a boil over medium heat. Stir to loosen browned bits from pan.
4) Stir in the cream and pimentos. Simmer and stir until heated through. To serve, pour the sauce over the chicken.

Fall Greenery

There are some foods, which just sound decadent. Risotto is one of those dishes. Simply mention that you are preparing risotto will definitely elicit some oohs and ahhs. In truth, there is nothing especially hard about risotto, but it is one to watch. Because of the constant stirring, it's a high maintenance food. But then again, I'm a bit of a high maintenance cook. And nothing compares to that rich, buttery, creamy flavor of risotto which makes it taste more unhealthy than it is. The only unhealthy aspect? The Parmesan cheese. And really, the cheese makes the risotto. I like this one because it has loads of green vegetables to make you feel like you're eating a farm - in a good way.Veggie Risotto
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/3 head of broccoli, trimmed
salt and pepper to taste
3 cups chicken broth
1 medium leek, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup arborio rice
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesean Cheese
1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed

1) Heat 1/2 Tbsp oil in medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add broccoli. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Saute about 2 minutes. Set aside.
2) Bring broth to simmer in medium saucepan over low heat. Cover, keep warm.
3) Heat remaining oil in large heavy pot over medium high heat. Add leeks and garlic. Saute until leeks begin to soften, about 3-4 minutes.
4) Add rice; stir until rice is translucent, about 3 minutes. Reduce heat to medium. Add 1/4 cup broth, stir until liquid is absorbed. Add broth 1/4 cup at a time, stirring constantly until each addition is absorbed before adding the next 1/4 cup, until there is only 1/2 cup broth remaining.
5) Add cheese, peas, broccoli, and remaining broth. Simmer until vegetables are just tender and risotto is creamy.
6) Season with salt and pepper.

Today's Post Brought To You By The Lemon

In Italy, lemons, or limoni, are everywhere. Italy produces several varieties of lemons. This ubiquitous fruit is used in one of the most popular Italian dishes - piccata. According to dictionary.com, there are several definitions for piccata, but all have one aspect in common. No matter whether you serve it with parsley or spices, butter or wine, piccata is not picatta without the lemon.

This is a very healthy version of piccata because it isn't dredged in flour, chicken broth instead of wine, and uses EVOO instead of butter. My best tip for making this a true piccata is to make sure to pound the chicken thin - scallopine style!

In tribute to the lemon, and to echo the flavors, I served this chicken piccata with the new lemon pepper papperdelle from TJs. It was a very citrusy night. Now mange!

Light Chicken Piccata

1/16 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2/3 Tbsp chopped fresh thyme
2/3 tsp chopped fresh tarragon
2/3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/3 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts, pounded thin
1/8 cup chicken broth

1) Heat oven to 400.
2) In a small bowl combine all ingredients but chicken and broth
3) Place chicken in pyrex baking dish , spoon herb mixture over top and pour broth over.
4) Bake 6 minutes on each side, or until cooked through
5) To serve, arrange chicken on platter and pour pan juices over it

Too tired to cook?

Yes, sometimes even I am too tired to cook. This is mostly due to me going back to work and the hellish commute I now face. I leave the house around 7 and get to work a smidge before 8:30. I leave work a little before 6 and get home by 7. That's a 12 hour day for those of you keeping track. Lately when I get home, the first thing I want to do is eat, and the last thing I want to do is cook. This meant a lot of pasta for dinner last week. Jon complained. I can't blame him. Since I sit in a cubicle all day loading myself up with carbs at night isn't the smartest or healthiest thing to do. So I'm falling back to old, easy favorites. You know, where you throw some marinade on meat and stick it in the oven.

Pork tenderloin is one of my favorite meals for this. It cooks quickly, and serves 2 perfectly. This one got doused in barbeque sauce and stuck in the oven at 375 for about 40 minutes. While it cooked I boiled some potatoes in milk and threw them in my kitchenaid with some salt, pepper, onion powder, and sage. By the time the potatoes were done, so was the pork. Jon was much happier with dinner last night and kept raving about how tender and flavorful the pork was - which comes naturally with baking. As for me? It was easy and therefore I was happy.

Dippity-Doo Dah

"Um have we met? Dip is my number one fav food group!" This quote is brought to you by Liz, in response to my question of what I should bring to dinner. This made it easy for me because I knew I could do no wrong and she would love whatever I made. I decided to play with my BDE by adding some horseradish and the ultimate dip addition - chives.

The horseradish added a nice kick and I really do think tarragon belongs in every dip. It just makes the dip taste so fresh. And since I'm on such a paprika kick this month I threw some of that in too.

The dip went over well. I paired it with some nice crisp green veggies. It's almost spring like. Of course, its hard to say if the dip was amazing, especially since Liz loves all dips so much. I will say this one didn't disappoint.

Horseradish Tarragon Dip

1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 clove minced garlic
2 Tbsp prepared horseradish
1 Tbsp minced fresh chives
1 tsp chopped fresh tarragon
1/2 tsp paprika
salt and pepper to taste

1) In medium bowl combine sour cream, mayo, garlic, horseradish, chives, tarragon, and paprika.
2) Season with salt and pepper.
3) Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

Cool as a Cucumber

I told you that I've been hankering for summer salads lately. Especially on the weekend when I don't want anything heavy. I also have a problem with using up cucumber. I'll buy one, and forget about it until it becomes a mushy mess in the fridge. I decided to take the bull by the horns and convert this cucumber to a salad before it got to that stage.

Cucumber salads are great if you love salty foods the way I do. But because of the "blandness" of the cucumber, they never get too salty . I add a little spice to mine which makes it even better!

Cucumber Salad with Paprika

1 cucumber, peeled and sliced thin
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp sugar
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup water
paprika
black pepper

1) Sprinkle cucumbers with salt and let stand for 45 minutes with a plate and a 5-pound weight on top.

2)Combine the sugar, vinegar, garlic powder, and water. Add the cucumbers and marinate for a few hours.

3) To serve, sprinkle paprika on half of the salad and black pepper on the other half.

E-stravaganza

I remember the first conversation I ever had with Abby. She remembers it too. I had just got the letter from UCLA giving me the names and phone numbers of my future roommates. When I spoke to Abby, she told me she had brown hair, brown eyes, and freckles. I pictured a cabbage patch kid. I made her tell me she was adorable. When I finally met her on move-in day I found she was not adorable, she was gorgeous. One of those people that could go out in a bathrobe with no makeup and still stop traffic. And yet, she had such a "girl next door" quality that made her approachable and made everyone love her instantly. She's the kind of girl you want to hate, but can't for the life of you find a reason. We hit it off almost immediately and remained roommates for 2 years. We've remained friends even longer.

I can't remember the first time I met Andy, but I would be willing to bet it was a loud, raucous fraternity party. I'm sure I wondered what this soft spoken, kind guy was doing in a fraternity. I'm sure we hit it off immediately. See, Andy was in Jon's fraternity back when Jon's fraternity was filled with good looking AND nice guys. It didn't stay that way very long, but back when I met Andy, he filled that criteria. Later, Andy would become my "boss" (as well as Abby's) as coordinator for Campus Tours. I know I must have liked him immediately because I was constantly trying to set him up with my friends. All failed attempts.

I remember when I first found out Abby and Andy were dating. It was Abby's 21st birthday, and I had just arrived at her apartment to get ready for festivities. The phone rang. Her roommate's eyes lit up.
"It's Andy," he whispered to me.
"ANDY?" I asked.
A mischievous grin lit up his face. "I've been waiting and waiting to tell you. They've been dating for 2 weeks now."

I remember where I was when I found out Abby and Andy were engaged. We had just gotten back into the country after Puerto Vallarta and were switching planes in Arizona. I was listening to my voice mail messages as we ran to the terminal. I heard Abby's voice. I heard the news. I started screaming in the middle of the airport. It was all I talked about on the plane and the drive home.

Last night was Abby and Andy's engagement party. Although I know Abby's family as well as my own, it was my first time meeting Andy's family. It was obvious where Andy got his kindness from. They are warm and generous people, and the party was amazing. Of course I didn't think to take pictures of the food but believe me - it was incredible. They even had cupcakes for dessert! It was so great to see the families together, to catch up with Abby's sister and her new husband, and even some people I haven't seen since college. I am so happy for Andy and Abby - I tear up everytime I think about them getting married. I can't wait for the wedding!

Gifts from the Garden

I love tomatoes. I love them cooked, I love them raw, and Jon makes fun of me, but give me a fresh tomato and some salt and I'm in heaven. So when a co-worker brought in fresh tomatoes from her garden this week, of course I took some home. I've been trying to decide what to make with them - everything sounded so good. But since it's the end of the summer, this is the last chance I have to use them in a fresh summer salad.

This salad is from my "Jewish Holiday Cookbook" by Joan Nathan. According to the recipe, tomatoes were hardly used in Eastern Europe because they were considered inedible in their raw form. Many people believed the tomato was poisonous. Jews were especially superstitious regarding the tomato. Nevertheless, this Hungarian Green Pepper and Tomato Salad shows that there is nothing to fear from the tomato. Unless you're afraid of a delicious dish!

This is such a light refreshing salad. Jon had some on its own with his lunch today, and I mixed mine with some pasta to create a summer pasta salad.

Hungarian Green Pepper and Tomato Salad (from Jewish Holiday Cooking)

2 green peppers
3 tomatoes
1 red onion
salt
1/4 cup white vinegar
2 tsp sugar
1/2 cup olive oil

1) Remove the white ribs and seeds from the green peppers and cut lengthwise into slices.
2) Slice and remove the seeds from the tomatoes.
3) Thinly slice the red onion.
4) Combine the salt to taste, vinegar, and sugar, and slowly whisk in the oil. Pour over the green peppers, tomatoes, and onion, arranged in a glass bowl.

Say Cheeeese

Cheesecake that is. See, 2 weeks ago, my aunt came to visit and we went to The Cheesecake Factory. As soon as we sat down, Jon announced he would be ordering cheesecake after dinner. Of course, as is always the case, there is never room for cheesecake after dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. I felt bad for him. I decided I would make him a cheesecake last week. I've never made a cheesecake before. But really? Isn't it just cream cheese? How hard could it be?

I decided an Oreo cheesecake was, as one of my friends would say "TWTG" (the way to go). Honestly, it was pretty easy, but it cracked. It was one of those "baby in the oven" moments - brownie points for whoever gets that reference. Everything was looking good, and then I opened the oven door. The door dropped with a loud "slam" and the cheesecake cracked. Bah!


So the cheesecake wasn't so pretty. Sad but true. I think the pictures are even worse. But it tasted like cheesecake so I must have done something right. Nevertheless, after all my hard work I waited for praise from the man. I watched with baited breath as he took a bite. Nothing. He didn't say anything. Didn't he realize I made this for him?

K: Well, how is it?
J: It tastes thick, like cheese.
K: It tastes like cheesecake!
J: You know I don't really like cheesecake, right?
K: What about last week? At The Cheesecake Factory?
J: I like it there, because it doesn't really taste like cheesecake.

Great, and now we have a huge thing of cheesecake left. Cheesecake that tastes like cheesecake. Guess my coworkers will have something else to munch on next week.

Oreo Cheesecake

1 pkg oreos
1/4 cup butter, melted
4 pkgs cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup sour cream
4 eggs

1) Preheat oven to 325.
2) Place 30 of the cookies in food processor and process until finely ground.
3) Add butter, mix well. Press firmly into bottom of 13 x 9 inch baking pan.
4) Beat cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended.
5) Add sour cream, mix well.
6) Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition.
7) Chop remaining cookies. Stir 1 1/2 cups of the chopped cookies into cream cheese batter.
8) Pour over crust, sprinkle with remaining chopped cookies.
9) Bake 45 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool. Refrigerate overnight.

It's been a rough week

And I apologize for not being a good blogger, but I'm tired and I left my camera in someone's car so I haven't blogged since I haven't been able to take pictures. But now I'm back with a vengeance.



First up, lemon butter cookies. These were especially for Jon since he loves lemon desserts. I'm not as big a fan. And now that I'm working again, I don't have to have baked good sitting around the house. I brought half of these into work and they were gone like they were cookies or something. My mom stopped by this week to view the new pad and had one. She spent the next 5 minutes telling me how good they are. Even I (me?), who doesn't like lemon desserts enjoyed these. They're crisp and buttery like my favorite shortbread cookies. The lemon is there, but it doesn't assault the senses. Instead they melt in your mouth and leave a light citrus aftertaste.

Lemon Butter Cookies

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
sugar for sprinkling

1) Using an electric mixture, mix butter and sugar in large bowl until creamy.
2) Add egg until batter is fluffy.
3) Mix in flour, lemon juice and zest, baking powder and salt. Mold dough into log on wax paper. Wrap in wax paper and refrigerate until firm.
4) Preheat oven to 350.
5) Unwrap dough and cut into 1/4 inch slices.
6) Transfer to ungreased non-stick cookie sheet. Sprinkle tops with sugar.
7) Bake 10 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned.

Birthday Overboard!

This was a major birthday weekend for me. I had two birthdays this weekend for people who are very close to me.



Friday was my brother's birthday. This entailed dinner with my family at Yardhouse. Yardhouse isn't anything special, but for the past few years, birthday dinners for my brother have started with a family meal out, then his friends would join him at the restaurant for a night of drunkenness which often times ended with him passed out on the driveway. So Yardhouse is a great place for both family dinners and drinking with friends. The problem with Yardhouse is that its not really conducive for conversation - especially on a Friday night. So there was a lot more pointing and nodding than actually catching up. I think I heard my bro mention that he's in Santa Barbara for the weekend, but who can ever really be sure?


Saturday was Sabrina's birthday. Sabrina and I met in college. She was in my sorority and best friends with one of my roommates, but we didn't really become close until Senior Year when we took History of the Beatles together. We sat next to each other and passed notes. We picked our favorite Beatles, planned our weddings, and decorated our gigantic houses we would have in the future. Next semester we took The American Musical. We sat next to each other and passed notes. All in all it was a pretty sweet gig. We were damn near inseparable. We were part of a group of girls who took trips to Vegas every year and all of us were very close. After graduation Sabrina was going to start applying to law schools. With a BA in theater I had zero job prospects and decided my pre-college goal of becoming a lawyer specializing in bioethics didn't sound like such a bad idea. Especially since Sabrina was applying to law school. We could sit next to each other, pass notes. It would be great. Except Sabrina ended up at a different law school than me. The next three years passed in a blur of emails, depression, and very little face time for the two of us. And 3 years of missed birthdays. So now that school is over, I just had to make the trek up to LA to celebrate.



I hate driving up to LA. Hate it hate it hate it. First there was a lane closure which backed up traffic for an hour. Then there was an accident which backed up traffic more. Took me forever to get up there. Luckily, I had reinforcements to boost my spirits when I got there. The world renowned Wee-Mo met me in Pasadena and babysat me for hours until dinner. She describes it excellently in her blog.

Dinner for Sabrina was at the Melting Pot. It was my first experience with this restaurant and I definitely think I would go back. For people like me, who have never been, its a fondue restaurant. Cheese, Meat, Chocolate - every kind you can imagine. There was endless food, and endless good times. I laughed so hard all night. I snorted, I gasped, I cried. I forgot how much I love my friends. It definitely made my drive worth it.

Happy Birthday Alex and Sabrina!

I'm such a lemming

Most of the time when everyone's doing something I don't want to do it. I hate the Oprah's book list, and I for sure wouldn't wear a pair of crocs. However, sometimes people know what they're talking about. An example of this is Amber's soft pretzels. They have gone around and around and around my cooking board. Everyone loves them. Myself? I have a weakness for soft pretzels. So much so that I avoid them because I have a hard time not eating a bunch of them. But its been a rough week and I deserved a treat. So I turned to Amber's recipe. And they are just as wonderful as everyone says they are. Jon loved them too. Even Ringo got a little taste and he most definitely approved.

See sometimes it pays to be a lemming. Lemmings get yummy pretzels.

Amber's Soft Pretzels

Ingredients:
1/8 cup hot water
1 package active dry yeast
1 1/3 warm water
1/3 cup brown sugar
4+ cups flour
Coarse kosher salt
Baking soda
Butter or shortening (to generously grease cookie sheets)

Directions:
In a large bowl mix together hot water and yeast until the yeast dissolves. Stir in the warm water and brown sugar and stir until the brown sugar dissolves.

Slowly add 4 cups of flour, stirring constantly. Continue stirring until the mixture is smooth and does not stick to the sides of the bowl.

Lightly flour counter. Dip your hands into extra flour. Knead the dough until it is stretchy and smooth. (Push it down and away from you with the palms of your hands, turning the dough as you work)

Grease cookie sheets generously with butter or shortening. Sprinkle greased cookie sheet(s) with kosher salt. Preheat oven to 475. (It is very important that you grease the cookie sheets very well)

Using liquid measuring cup fill a large saucepan at least 1/2 full of water. For each 1 cup of water, add 1 tbls baking soda.

Divide the dough into equal sized pieces.

Using the following 4 steps shape each dough ball into a pretzel shape...

1). Roll the dough into a rope 14" long and as thick as your thumb. Bend the dough into a U shape. (if you have trouble rolling the dough into a rope slightly wet your hands and try again).

2). Cross one end of the rope over the other one. The ropes should cross about three inches from the tips.

3). Twist the crossed ends, making a full turn. Fold the ends back, towards the middle of the U.

4). Open the ends slightly to form a pretzel shape. Press the ends into the dough firmly.

Bring water into saucepan to a gentle boil (not to many bubbles) Use pancake turner to lower each pretzel into the saucepan. Count slowly to 30. Then lift the pretzel onto the greased and salted cookie sheet (shaking off excess water back into the saucepan). Repeat until all the pretzels are done.

Sprinkle some kosher salt on top of the pretzels and put them in preheated oven. Bake for 8 minutes or until the pretzels are golden.

Pizza Party!

If you don't know by now, I'm on an online message board known as What's Cooking. I love the board because its a great place to find recipes. The same recipes circulate around and around the board and that's how you know they're good. The best end up on our own WC blog - Now that's what's cooking. And so last night when I wanted to make pizza, I knew exactly where to turn to find my crust recipe. This recipe comes from Allrecipes.com, a site I tend to avoid because there are too many recipes and I don't trust them. However, once they make it onto the WC blog,they become so much more trustworthy. This crust recipe was excellent however, if you're going to use it for a buffalo chicken pizza like I did you might want to bake the crust a little first before topping it. Frank's buffalo chicken sauce isn't very thick, so it tends to soak into the dough and then the dough never gets that great pizza dough consistency.

Buffalo Chicken Pizza made with Jay's Signature Pizza Crust (from Allrecipes)

1/2 packet active dry yeast
1/4 teaspoon brown sugar
3/4 cup warm water (110 degrees F / 45 degrees C)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon olive oil
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 grilled chicken breast, chopped
Franks hot sauce
1/2 red onion sliced
1 celery stalk, sliced thinly
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1. In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast and brown sugar in the water, and let sit 10 minutes.

2. Stir the salt and oil into the yeast solution. Mix in 1 1/4 cups of the flour.

3. Turn dough out onto a clean, well floured surface, and knead in more flour until the dough is no longer sticky. Place the dough into a well oiled bowl, and cover with a cloth. Let the dough rise until doubled in size; approximately 1 hour. Punch down the dough and form a tight ball. Allow the dough to relax a little before rolling out.

4. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. If you are baking the dough on a pizza stone, you may place your toppings on the dough, and bake immediately. If you are baking your pizza in a pan, lightly oil the pan, and let the dough rise 15-20 minutes before topping and baking it.



5. Top pizza with Frank's Hot Sauce, then veggies and chicken, then cheese.

5. Bake pizza in preheated oven, until the cheese and crust are golden brown, about 15-20 minutes.

I love it quick and hot

Get your mind out of the gutter! I'm talking about dinner. I love when dinner is easy and takes no time to prepare. And really? It doesn't get any easier than quesadillas. I think this is one of the first things I ever learned to make. You see, where I grew up in backwoods Pennsylvania, Home Ec was a required class. And 1/3 of Home Ec was cooking. And the first thing we made? Quesadillas. Seriously, in PA this is about as ethnic as it gets.

I was inspired by Joelen's recent post where she made eggplant quesadillas. Except, as we all know, I can't eat eggplant without getting very very sick. But Joelen also had a recipe for spicy roasted chicken which looked a whole heck of a lot like the SP sticky chicken which I make a lot. It gave me the idea to use the sticky chicken in a quesadilla. Nice and spicy with a little bit of Spanish swiss cheese to contrast.

Spicy Chicken Quesadillas

2 breasts chicken
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp paprika
olive oil
4 flour tortillas
swiss cheese

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2) Combine all seasonings in a small bowl and mix.
3) Season chicken pieces with seasoning mix liberally.
4) Place seasoned chicken in pyrex baking dish
5) Pour olive oil over chicken.
6) Bake in preheated oven uncovered for 30 min, or until done.
7) Allow chicken to cool, coarsely chop
8) Place 1 tortilla in hot pan over medium-high heat.
9) Add chicken and cheese, fold over and cook until cheese is melted.
10) Flip and cook other side for 30 sec.
11) Repeat with remaining tortillas, cheese, and chicken.

Cause I have Soooo much free time...

I am embarking on another blogging event. I'm sooo excited to be back in my kitchen (an even larger kitchen than the old apartment) it makes sense to up my blogging events to two. This one is hosted by Erika of Bean's Bistro.

"But Kate," you may ask, "what IS this event?" It's called Homegrown Gourmet and it's meant to spotlight local flavors/cuisines. Here are the rules:

• Anyone can play!
  
  
• A theme will be picked by the host. Participants will make a dish that follows the theme and that somehow represents their home region- town, state, area. Representation can feature a local ingredient, be a traditional dish from your area, or be a creative twist.
  
  
• Participants will have 3-4 weeks (host discretion) to complete their recipes and post them to their blog (or email the pics and text), and notify the host. The host will then post the results and then let everyone know via email or message board the results are up!
  
  
• An explanation of your dish is required; it can be a story about the local custom or ingredient, how you came about eating/ making the recipe, or an explanation about how your creative dish fits the theme.
  
  
• Fresh and local foods are encouraged!
  
  
• When the round is done, the host will announce their favorite dish by updating their blog. Favorite is completely subjective to the host- no one expects the host to make and taste test all the dishes, it is just something that strikes the host's fancy! The creator of the fave gets the honor of hosting the next round, if they so choose!

This round is sandwiches.


Whenever I think about "local" California foods, my mind goes straight to avocado. I grew up on the East Coast and avocado was never a regular menu item/ingredient. Perhaps that's because avocados aren't available year round, or maybe east coasters just aren't into avocado. All I know is, once I moved to Cali, avocados showed up EVERYWHERE. I definitely consider them a California fruit/vegetable (does anyone know what they are?) So of course I had to incorporate that into my sandwich.

I worked at El Torito Grill for years during college. ETG is known for their tableside guacamole. They charged $8 for it when I worked there, and that was years ago. I had to make it every night for about half my tables. Needless to say, I am now a guacamole expert. My guac is the talk of all my friends and family who specifically request it when they invite me to parties. I figured this would be perfect on a sandwich.

And another little tidbit about California? We're uber health conscious. No smoking, big on going to the gym, and really? burgers? not so much. My California sandwich features the CA meat of choice - chicken. I would have grilled it, but I haven't unpacked my grill pan yet. Never you mind, the baked chicken worked just as well.

So here it is in all its glory, my first entry into the Homegrown Gourmet - Cali Chicken Sandwich.

Cali Chicken Sandwich

1/2 chicken breast
salt
pepper
cumin
chili powder
1 hamburger bun, toasted
1 romaine lettuce leaf
2 slices swiss cheese
1 Tbsp guacamole (recipe below)

1) Season chicken with spices.
2) Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, or until done
3) Place lettuce on hamburger bun and top with chicken
4) Top chicken with cheese and guacamole

Guacamole

1 1/2 avocado
1 jalepeno, diced
salt
pepper
1/2 lime
1/2 cup pico de gallo (I make mine with diced tomatoes, cilantro, onions, lime juice)
garlic powder

1) Spoon avocado from peel and into shallow bowl
2) Add jalepeno, salt and pepper, and juice of lime
3) Mash well - making sure to crush the jalepeno completely or you will have a burning mouth later.
4) Fold in pico de gallo and garlic to taste - DO NOT MASH! You want the guac to be nice and chunky - don't crush the tomatoes!!!!

The Magic Letter "B"

Ah, the letter B. The inclusion or absence of this letter can change the meaning of a word so much. For instance, C-A-R is a fuel burning vehicle. Add, a B and all of a sudden you actually have fuel. For me, the letter B was very important yesterday. If I had hung signs everywhere saying "Garbage Sale" no one would come. However, simply by removing the letter B, all my stuff became things people would want to buy at a "Garage Sale."

Many thanks to Diane opened her garage for all our stuff - although she didn't do too badly herself! We managed to sell everything that wouldn't fit in our new apartment and made a neat little bundle of cash. And more importantly, we didn't have to move huge pieces of furniture we don't have room for. Diane herself made a nice little profit selling some of her old clothes.

Because we're good people, we donated all that we didn't sell to Goodwill - so really, everyone made out in the end.

Jon, Ringo, and I are firmly ensconced in our new home. And once I get all the boxes unpacked it will really be a home. But last night was no time to start. Instead I headed over to Liz's for a girl's night in. I love going to Liz's place because:
1) The food is ALWAYS amazing. Last night Liz served us homemade tamales and tres leches cake.
2) The company. Liz always makes you feel so welcome, doesn't mind when you talk during a movie, and lets you put your feet up on the couch.
3) The newest reason? The dogs. Liz has had Denny ever since I've known her. He's a 9 month old....?????? (No one's really sure, and every time I see him I throw out any ideas I already had - there's definitely some shepherd but who knows what else!) BUT Liz, has just opened her heart and home to a new sweet boy - Gizmo. Liz and Bill were going to start out fostering, but now that they've met him, they're not sure they'll be able to give him up. And after meeting him, I can't blame them. He's a 5-7 yr old golden retreiver. He's both beautiful and sweet.

Us girls ate dinner, watched tv, and just vegged. It was so relaxing - exactly what I needed after this past week. And then after I got to go home to my husband and puppy. So nice, so cozy.