Green Lemonade

So, I've got another juice. It's almost the same as the last one, except it's expertly called a "Green Lemonade" by Natalia Rose. Her book, "The Raw Food Detox Diet" was given to me by that friend Whitney I mentioned earlier. Although I don't think my body would ever do well on a completely raw food diet, this book definitely gave my warped cheese-fry loving brain some nutritional insight.

One of these insights was how good fresh juice is for you. It's extremely enzyme-rich, which makes all the nutrients easily absorbed in your body and can therefore fuel you better! How cool!

And why not just eat vegetables, you may ask? Well, for one, that's a lot of chompin! And two, there are enzymes (what the heck is an enzyme?) trapped inside the fibers of fresh vegetables that can't be absorbed through normal digestion. But guess what? A juicer can release those darned enzymes! How miraculous (much like childbirth...or not).

I'm done rambling. This is Ms. Rose's favorite juice, the "Green Lemonade". She recommends enjoying it first thing in the morning, on an empty stomach.

Green Lemonade

Natalia Rose

1 head romaine lettuce

5 to 6 stalks kale

1 to 2 apples

1 whole lemon

1 to 2 inches fresh ginger

Process in juicer. Gulp 'er down!

Blueberry Muffins

I got so much for Christmas this year that it was simply impossible to pack it all in my suitcase back to NY. So the parental units and I packed whatever I couldn't fit (my Martha Stewart Cupcake and Cookie books, a cookie decorating book, 2 cookie sheets and The New Best Recipe Cookbook, among other things). I know, I'm a fairly spoiled young lady =) Get over it!

When the mailman came to deliver this nice, large, pretty heavy box, no one was home (such my luck). And, of course, the Post Service here in NY will not try to redeliver. Unfortunately I live 10 blocks away from the post office, which happens to be right next to the subway station, but is always closed when I get home. One morning a few weeks ago, I decided my arms were ready for some fun and decided to get said box.

Now, I am not a weak person, but as the post office woman laughed at me as I struggled out of the door, I realized the next 15 minutes were going to be brutal on my poor arms. With a hurt foot, I figured my arms could use a little workout. I got a full 2 blocks before I had to set my precious gifts down and take a breather.

I finally managed to lug the big box back to my apartment. And don't worry, even though my arms were sore for about 2 days afterwards, the contents of the box made up for it! And if I hadn't done said box lifting, I wouldn't have been able to share these really awesome blueberry muffins with my co-workers.

Blueberry Muffins

The New Best Recipe Cookbook

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 tablespoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 large egg

1 cup sugar

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

1 1/4 cups sour cream (I used greek yogurt)

1 1/2 cups frozen blueberries

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a standard 12-cup muffin tin and set aside.

Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl until combined. Whisk the egg in a second medium bowl until well combined and light-colored, about 20 seconds. Add the sugar and whisk vigorously until thick and homogeneous, about 30 seconds; add the melted butter in 2 or 3 additions, whisking to combine after each addition. Add the sour cream (or greek yogurt) in 2 additions, whisking just to combine.

Add the berries to the dry ingredients and gently toss just to combine. Add the sour cream (or yogurt) mixture and fold with a rubber spatula until the batter comes together and the berries are evenly distributed, 25-30 seconds (small spots of flour may remain, and the batter will be thick. Do not overmix).

Using a large spoon, divide the batter among the greased muffin cups. Bake until the muffins are light golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes.

While the muffins are cooling, mix 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon in a small bowl and melt 4 tablespoons butter in a small saucepan. After the baked muffins have cooled 5 minutes, working one at a time, dip the top of each muffin in melted butter and then cinnamon sugar. Set the muffins upright on a wire rack.

Cream-Filled Chocolate Sandwiches aka Oreos

Spice and I came to the conclusion the other day that there are few store-bought cookies we will eat. Most are pretty awful compared to a homemade cookie. Oreos, however, are definitely one-of-a-kind and we both will eat them store-bought. Nothing, however, beats homemade oreos. A crispy, chocolate cookie enveloping a super sweet vanilla filling. I'm salivating.

*Drool being wiped from chin.

Anywhoo, go make some oreos. And try not to eat them all.


Cream-Filled Chocolate Sandwiches
Martha's Cookie Book

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups sugar, plus more for flattening cookies

10 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

1 large egg, room temperature

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Into a bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream sugar and butter until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg; beat to combine. With mixer on low speed, gradually add flour mixture; continue beating until dough is well-combined.

Using a 1 1/4 inch ice cream scoop, drop dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Dip bottom of a glass in sugar; press to flatten cookies to about 1/8 inch thick.

Transfer to oven and bake until cookies are firm, 10 to 12 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Transfer baking sheets to wire rack to cool completely.

Place cream filling in a pastry bag and pipe about 1 tablespoon filling onto the flat side of half the cookies. Place remaining cookies on top, and gently press on each to squeeze filling to edges.

Vanilla Cream Filling

Martha's Cookie Book

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening

3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

1 tablespoon pure vanilla exract

With an electric mixer, cream butter and shortening until well-combined. On low speed, gradually add confectioners' sugar and continue beating until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add vanilla and beat to combine.

Did You Miss Me?

Greetings Foodies!

It has been quite sometime since I have graced this blog with my presence. And in my absence I am appalled at what has been done. Sugar, my darling roomie, has given you dessert after dessert, sure her chocolates, cupcakes, and cookies are delicious (I should know, I get to eat them all!) But I know first hand the perils of so many sweets, the dreaded Sugar Crash and the resulting withdrawals. I can see you now withering on the floor screaming for someone to give you just one more cookie, but it never is just one more, is it?

But don't worry I am here now and promise to help the best way I know how, with carbs.

For Christmas this year my parents got me The Bread Baker's Apprentice, and I have decided to work my way through this book one recipe a week and share what I have learned with all of you. Now keep in mind that some of these recipes are involved and many of them have steps that you have to do hours if not days before. But I promise you the results will be worth it.

Week 1 - Anadama Bread

I love this bread and it makes the best toast! This recipe makes 3 loaves and they do freeze well so I would recommend just doing the whole batch so you always have some yummy bread on hand.

Soaker:

6 ounces of course ground cornmeal aka polenta

8 ounces/ 1 cup of water

Dough:

20.25 ounces/ 4.5 cups of unbleached bread flour

2 teaspoons of instant yeast

8 ounces of water

1.5 teaspoon of salt

4 ounces of molasses

1 ounce of shortening

cornmeal for dusting

Day Before:

Make soaker by mixing cornmeal and water, cover with plastic wrap and let sit overnight at room temp

Make Dough:

Stir together 2 cups flour, yeast, soaker and water in mixer bowl. Cover with towel and ferment for 1 hour, until the mix begins to bubble.

Add remaining 2.5 cups of flour, salt, molasses, and shortening on low speed with paddle attachment, until all ingredients form a ball. Add water if necessary to make a soft, slightly sticky mass. Knead on medium speed for 6 to 8 minutes.

Lightly oil a bowl and transfer dough, rolling it around to coat with oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and ferment at room temperature fro 90 minutes, or until it doubles in size.

Remove dough from bowl and divide into 3 parts of 16 ounces. Shape the dough into loaves and place into slightly oiled bread pans (8.5 by 4.5 pans) Mist the top with cooking spray and loosely cover with plastic wrap.

Proof at room temperature fro 90 minutes or until loaves crest about pans.

Preheat oven to 350 with over rack in the middle shelf. Place bread pans on a sheet pan and remove plastic wrap. Mist tops of loaves with water and sprinkle cornmeal on top.

Bake for 20 minutes. Rotate the sheet pan and bake another 20/30 minutes until loaves are golden brown, and register at least 185 to 190 in center. Makes a hallow sound when thumped on the bottom.

Remove from pans immediately and cool on a rack for at least 1 hour before slicing or serving.

Lemon Tassies

Welcome back Spice! I knew she was still alive, but I'm sure some of you have been worried. I'll try to keep her posting as long as I can!

Onward:

My favorite pie is lemon. No meringue. Just lemon. My Dad makes it the best. Going home for Christmas this year, I got to taste my first Dad-made lemon pie in several long, lemon-missing years. It was bliss. Unfortunately, I only got a few slices in my pie hole before I headed back to the big apple.

These little dudes were supposed to help in my current lemon pie lacking situation (which is pretty awful). I was trying to not be a fat kid and make individual sized mini pies. Unfortunately, these were more like lemon cheesecake filling in a crust. Not bad! But not what I was looking for. I think I'm going to have to break down and make some lemon pie soon.

Lemon Tassies

Martha's Cookie Book

For the Crusts:

2 cups all-purpose flour

10 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

2 large egg yolks

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest

1/4 teaspoon coarse salt

For the filling:

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

1/3 cup sugar

1 large egg

3 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat two 24-cup mini-muffin tins with cooking spray.

Make crusts: Process flour and butter in a food processor until mixture is the consistency of fine crumbs. Add sugar, egg yolks, vanilla, lemon zest and salt. Process just until combined and sandy in texture; do not over-process.

Divide dough into quarters. Divide each quarter into 12 equal pieces, and shape into balls. Place each ball in a muffin cup; press into cup, stretching dough up the sides. Set each muffin tin on a baking sheet.

Bake crusts, rotating halfway through, until lightly browned all over and slightly darker at the edges, 18-20 minutes. Tap down any puffed centers of the shells with the end of a wooden spoon or your finger. Transfer sheets with muffin tins to wire racks to cool.

Make filling: With an electric mixer, beat cream cheese, sugar, egg, lemon zest and juice and vanilla on medium speed until smooth. Using a 1-inch ice cream scoop, fill the cooled crusts with filling.

Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until filling is set and just beginning to color at the edges, 10-12 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Juice

I used to think I knew a lot about nutrition. You know, calories in, calories out, and all that jazz. Yeah, fruits are veggies are important, but it doesn't really matter as long as your full. Thank goodness I met my friend Whitney who, even though a raw foodie, taught me so much about nutrients and feeding my body what it needs to take me through the day. I have such a healthy obsession now with vegetables and eating clean and am so thankful to her for turning me on to the benefits of a healthy diet.

Now, don't get me wrong. I don't sit every day just eating carrot sticks. My sweet tooth is still in full bloom! I do, however, take more pride than I ever have before in what I put in my body and have found that I can get much more out of a dance class if I am eating more than potato chips, french fries and chocolate cake.

One thing Whitney really turned me onto was fresh juice. There is a grocery store in the city called Westerly's (8th and 54th) that she took me to to experience my first fresh juice. Since then I have been hooked! So hooked, in fact, that I asked for a juicer last Christmas to enjoy the benefits of juice without the epic six dollar price tag each time.

I have played around with different juices for a year now and just love figuring out different combinations of fruits and vegetables I can get together! Here is my latest creation!


Sugar's Juice of the Day

Handful of blackberries
1/2 lemon, peeled
1/4 cucumber

2-3 stalks of kale
Several handfuls of spinach
1 green apple
1-2 stalks of celery
Thin slice of ginger

Viola juice! Isn't she a beauty?

Caramels

I have been meaning to make these for some time now. I had them on my list before Christmas and just never got around to it. Last weekend was the time, though. And boy, am I glad I found time for these little goobers! They are so sinfully delicous it should be a crime.

And here's a secret: They are SO stinkin' easy to make! The only thing you really need is a candy thermometer. Spice and I both had the day off on Monday, and we had planned to literally sit on the couch all day and catch up on Season 5 of Lost before the 6th and final season started. I had the brilliant idea to make these caramels while Spice took it upon herself to make 3 different kinds of cookies. Fat kid day!!!!!

What a success the day turned out to be. And by success I mean we watched 18 episodes of Lost and stuffed our faces full of cookies and caramels. Needless to say, after gorging myself on so much sugar, the caramels had to go. To the office that is! Where I got oh so many compliments and went skipping off to my desk.

Caramels

What a Dish!

2 cups white sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup corn syrup

1 cup evaporated milk

1 pint heavy whipping cream

1 cup salted butter

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Grease a 9 by 13 inch pan.

In a large pot over medium heat, combine the sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup, evaporated milk, whipping cream and butter. Monitor the heat of the mixture while stirring with a candy thermometer. When the thermometer reads between 235 and 240 degrees F, remove the pot from the heat.

Stir in the vanilla. Transfer to the prepared pan and let cool completely. When cooled, cut the caramel into squares and wrap in wax paper for storage.

Surprise Cookies

 

 

Every summer growing up, my family would visit a lake in Western Washington for vacation. This was probably one of 2 or 3 times I would see my aunt (who has 2 boys) each year. Being pretty much the only young girl in the family, she loved to shower me with gifts that her boys just wouldn't appreciate.

One particular summer I had an slight affinity (ok, fine. It was an obsession.) for Dove chocolates. I literally ate them around the clock. As a very active kid, I hadn't the slightest worry about pound gainage. I think on a week-long vacation, I probably ate my way through 4 bags of these. I got skills.

My aunt has remembered my fondness for these chocolates since that one summer probably about 8 years ago or so. Every time I get a package from her or see her for dinner or exchange Christmas presents, I ALWAYS get bags of these chocolate. I am extremely grateful even though my tastes have moved upward and onward since then (my favorite now and probably forever shall be Green and Black dark chocolate).

Like clockwork, my aunt presented me with several bags of Dove Chocolates while I was home for Christmas. With a plethora of Green and Black chocolate also neatly wrapped up under the tree for me, I've got plenty of chocolate on my plate to keep me busy. So, why not put some chocolate to good use in some cookies?!

Of course, I got the recipe from my Martha Cookie book. These cookies are great, I didn't have any milk, so I used greek yogurt instead, which worked out just swimmingly.

Surprise Cookies

Adapted from Martha Stewart's Cookies Book

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1/2 cup nonfat green yogurt

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Dove caramel filled chocolates

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt into a bowl.

Put butter and sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to medium-low; mix in egg, yogurt and vanilla. Mix in flour mixture, 1/2 cup at a time, until combined.

Roll dough into balls about 1 1/4 inch. Flatten dough and press in a chocolate candy. Cover candy with dough and roll back into ball. Place on a cookie sheet, spacing about 2 inches apart.

Bake cookies until firm, 8-10 minutes. Let cool completely on sheets on wire racks.

Baseball Cookies

I know it's not baseball season. I'm not THAT clueless about sports. Ok, maybe I am. But these aren't for me! My friend R is getting married in April and I am a bridesmaid! Go me! Actually, go R, but I'm pretty cool too! We actually have a pretty perfect team of bridesmaids. Spice is the party planner, our other friend is a stage manager, so she will be excellent at all the stuff the weekend of, R's other friend she has been BFF's with since childhood. And me? Well, I happen to be R's personal Martha Stewart. That's right. Be jealous.

My claim to fame at the wedding is going to be these cookies, which are to be the party favors for each guest. Weird that these aren't cute little groomsmen and brides all decorated in white, huh? Not really! R and her hubby to be are HUGE baseball fans and cheer for the Red Sox and Yankees, respectfully. Its quite a sight to see them cheering on their teams. Anyways, even Martha needs practice! So here are some cookies in preparation for the big day!



Cookie and the icing recipe. Go to town!

Garlicky Hummus

I'm a big grazer. I eat meals, yes, but I really like snacking and prolonging my eating time. Maybe I was an antelope in a past life, and just grazed on the plains, enjoying my time eating as much as I could throughout the day, before being run off or perhaps maniacally eaten by a lion in the scorching dessert heat. I also watch insane amounts of animal planet apparently.

Anyways, I really like dips. Any kind, really. And hummus is a good choice for me because even when I eat it all, it still isn't too terribly bad for me. And with the day I had yesterday, an entire batch of hummus was definitely in the cards. This hummus was great, although a little on the lemony side for me. I think next time I will only use one lemon and it shall be even more divine.

Garlicky Hummus
Adapted from Martha Stewart

4 garlic cloves, finally chopped
1 15-oz can of garbanzo beans
Juice from 2 lemons (next time I will only do 1)
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup part skim ricotta cheese
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
1/4 teasoon paprika
Pinch allspice
1/3 cup flat-leaf parsley

Place all ingredients in a food processor and puree until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Striped Icebox Cookies

So I've officially become obsessed with Martha Stewart's Cookie Book. Bad news bears for me, good news for coworkers and friends.

I stare at the book's spine every night, neatly put away with the other cookbooks. And it just sits there calling my name, telling me to just take a peek. A little peek never hurt anyone. But of course, as everyone knows, a tiny peek will lead to a cookie throwdown in my apartment. Especially with this book. Every cookie listed has a beautiful picture to go with it, showing just what the cookie would look like when made (basically, fun in a photograph). Gosh darn you Martha people!

I need to just buy stock in butter.

These are very pretty cookies. They would look lovely on a cookie platter. They have a delicate butter flavor and just enough sugary jam.

Striped IceBox Cookies
Martha Stewart's Cookie Book

for the filling:

 3/4 cup dried cherries

 1/3 cup red fruit jam (I used a homemade raspberry)

 1 tablespoons sugar

 1/8 teaspoon almond extract

for the dough:

 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal

 1 teaspoon baking powder

 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt

 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

 1 cup sugar

 1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Make filling: Process cherries, jam and sugar in a food processor until coarsely pureed. Transfer to a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, and stir in almond extract. Let cool completely.

Make dough: Whisk together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Put butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer; mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Mix in egg and vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined.

Transfer dough to a work surface. Divide into four equal parts. Roll one piece of dough between two sheets of parchment paper to a 3 1/2 by 9-inch rectangle about 1/4 inch thick. Repeat with the remaining dough pieces. Transfer with parchment to a baking sheet, and freeze 30 minutes.

Assemble cookies: Remove top pieces of parchment. Spread one-third of the filling evenly over one rectangle. Top with another rectangle; remove parchment. Repeat with remaining filling and rectangles, leaving the top rectangle uncoated. Wrap in plastic, and freeze 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Trim dough to a 3 1/4 by 8 1/2-inch brink. Cut into 1/4-inch thick slices. Space 2 1/2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with nonstick baking mats. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until edges are pale golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks.

Martha's Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie

So Annie Bananie is gone skiing for two whole weeks! Whatever will I do without my official taste tester?! I'll survive. Somehow.

I made her these chocolate chip cookies a la Martha Stewart as a bon voyage gift. She's going to need her strength to fly down those mountains with two pieces of wood stuck to her feet!

These made for a good, chewy chocolate chip cookie. I really liked the almost crystallized texture these had, I think from extra vanilla and brown sugar. You could definitely taste the extra amounts of each. I will definitely make these again, but not my favorite. These may have been a little too soft for me. Solid effort, Martha!

Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Martha Stewart's Cookie Book

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup unsalted butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1 teaspoon coarse salt

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Whisk together flour and baking soda in a bowl. Put butter and sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mis onmedium speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Add salt, vanilla, and eggs; mix until well blended, about 1 minute. Mix in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop heaping tablespoons of dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake cookies until edges turn golden but centers are still soft, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks 2 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks; let cool completely. Cookies can be stored between layers of parchment in airtight containers at room temperature up to 1 week.

Marshmallow Crunch Brownie Bars

I made these for a New Years party I went to. I thought anything with rice krispies, peanut butter, brownies and marshmallow would be awesome! I was correct. A plus for the day!

The different textures in just one bite of this can be overwhelming, so definitely cut them in small pieces!

Marshmallow Crunch Brownie Bars
Brown Eyed Baker

4 oz. unsweetened chocolate
2/3 cup unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups semi sweet chocolate chips, divided
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 bag miniature marshmallows
1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips
1 cup smooth peanut butter
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups rice krispies cereal

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 by 13 inch pan.

In a medium saucepan, melt the unsweetened chocolate, butter and 3/4 cup of the semi-sweet chocolate chips over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Set aside and cool for 5 minutes.

In a medium bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, mix the eggs thoroughly. Add the sugar and vanilla and whisk until well blended. Stir the melted ingredients into the egg mixture, mixing well. Stir in the dry ingredients and mix well. Fold in the remaining 1/2 cup of semi sweet chocolate chips.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes.

Remove the brownies from the oven and immediately sprinkle marshmallows over them. Return the pan to the oven for 3 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the milk chocolate chips, peanut butter and tablespoon of butter in a medium saucepan. Melt over low heat, stirring constantly until completely melted. Remove from heat, add rice krispies and mix well. Allow to cool for 3 minutes.

Spread the mixture over the marshmallow layer. Refrigerate until chilled before cutting.

Tuna Salad

I have a pretty pathetic confession to make about this tuna salad. Between us, Spice and I have literally gone through almost 6 batches of this in a week. How is this possible, you may ask? This tuna salad is THAT good! Even if you're not a huge fan of tuna, even if you don't like salad, even if you don't want to go to the grocery store, GET OVER IT AND MAKE THIS TUNA SALAD!

I started off eating this on toast, graduated to eating it with crackers and now I sheepishly eat it off a spoon, directly from the Tupperware container. Any of the above ways you choose to eat this stuff, I promise you it will be delicious.

Tuna Salad
Eating, Etc.

1 6-oz can tuna in olive oil, undrained
1/3 cup small curd cottage cheese
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1/2 cup purple onion, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 tablespoon capers, drained (I can't find capers at my grocery store, so I've been leaving it out)
Juice of half a lemon
pinch or two of dill weed
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 cup fresh cilantro

Mix the first 10 ingredients together. It's that easy.

Salted Brown Butter Crispy Treats

First things first: I had three of the weirdest dreams last night. I used to be the queen of strange dreams, but I haven't had too many weird ones since I graduated from college. I thought I had grown out of it. Apparently not. I'm telling you this in case you have an idea as to what any of these mean. The first one was at my parents' house and a Native American outside who was strategically trying to get in and kill us, although my dad didn't seem to think so until the very end of the dream. The second one involved a missing coffee maker and our downstairs neighbor standing in our bathroom. The third one I was in a lab of some kind looking for my brother. We were both teethless and sat down to play cards.

Stop looking at me like that! I told you, they were WEIRD! Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Onward to the food! I am obsessed with rice crispy treats. In high school, my friend's mother would make us a batch of them and literally cut it in half for us to eat. Ah, good times. What's so special about these, you may ask? Butter. Both in quantity and preparedness. These are literally just rice crispy treats with an extra punch of browned butter. Awesome!

Salted Brown Butter Crispy Treats
Smitten Kitchen

1 stick unsalted butter
1 10-oz bag marshmallows
Heaping 1/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt
6 cups Rice Krispies cereal

Coat an 8-inch square pan with cooking spray.

In a large pot, melt butter over medium heat. It will melt, then foam, then turn clear golden, then start to turn brown and smell nutty. Stir frequently.

As soon as the butter turns a nutty color, turn off the heat and add the marshmallows. If the butter does not melt them, turn the heat on low.

Remove from stove and stir in the salt and cereal together. Spread into prepared pan and let cool.

Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies

I received Martha Stewart's "Cookies" recipe book for Christmas this year. I have to say I took the cookbook on the plane with me and successfully leafed through the thing for almost 6 hours. That's skill, let me tell ya!

I carefully selected this cookie to begin my journey through the cookbook. Excellent choice. I LOVE them! It is a bit startling at first, because you're kind of like "It's a chocolate cookie...but there's another flavor niblet in there!" Meet gingerbread. Gingerbread, meet eater.

I love both chocolate (duh) and gingerbread, so I really like these. I don't think either of my roommates love them, though. So, maybe they're not for everyone. But they sure are for me! Go Martha!

Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies
Martha Stewart's "Cookies" Book

7-ounces semi-sweet chocolate
1 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
8 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoons freshly grated ginger
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup unsulfured molasses
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup granulated sugar

Line two baking sheets with parchment. Chop chocolate into 1/4-inch chunks; set aside. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and cocoa.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and grated ginger until whitened, about 4 minutes. Add brown sugar; beat until combined. Add molasses; beat until combined.

In a small bowl, dissolve baking soda in 1 1/2 teaspoons boiling water. Beat half of flour mixture into butter mixture. Beat in baking-soda mixture, then remaining half of flour mixture. Mix in chocolate; turn out onto a piece of plastic wrap. Pat dough out to about 1 inch thick; seal with wrap; refrigerate until firm, 2 hours or more.

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Roll dough into 1 1/2- inch balls; place 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Refrigerate 20 minutes. Roll in granulated sugar. Bake until the surfaces crack slightly, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Southwestern Cheese Dip

When I was in high school, my family and I frequented a restaurant called Santa Fe Cafe that served Southwestern food, which I apparently love based on this restaurant. We would always get the same thing: the cheese dip appetizer and the cheese enchiladas. The enchiladas were on a level all their own. They were literally a bowl of cheesy, spicy and enchilada-y goodness.

The cheese dip was its own beast. It was so good, I just wanted to go swim in a vat of it. My Stepmom and I decided we had to try to recreate it at home. Hence this recipe. This stuff is so processed its out of control, but if you can forget about that little tidbit of information, you will fall in love with this dip.

Spice and I started a monthly tradition of nachos at our apartment. We've only had one night of this routine (in which we ate an entire bag of Tostitos...ooops!), but next time I will surely be making this.

Southwestern Cheese Dip

1 lb. Velveeta
1/4 teaspoon red cayenne pepper
1 4-oz can chopped green chili's with juice
1/2 4-oz can chopped jalapeño chili's with juice
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 cup sour cream
1 tomato, finely chopped
1/4 cup finely chopped, sauteed onion

Heat all ingredients in a saucepan, stirring constantly, until bubbly. Serve with nacho chips.

Maple Walnut Fudge

I got a new camera for Christmas! I took that picture! Isn't that just a kick in the pants?!

I'm not at all excited about this new turn of events =)

I made this fudge as a Christmas present for my Dad. His favorite ice cream is a maple walnut that he gets somewhere specific that I can't think of off the top of my head. So I figured some fudge (which he loves) of the same flavor would be a welcomed addition to the holiday sweets piled in the refrigerator. 

I think Dad really liked this. I thought it was great, but it definitely was over-shadowed by the penuche fudge that wouldn't stay out of my mind or my mouth. Pesky fudge... 

Oh! And Happy New Year! 2010...moving up in the world!

Maple Walnut Fudge

All-recipes

2 tablespoons butter

2/3 cup evaporated milk

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups miniature marshmallows

1 12-ounce package real white chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1 1/2 teaspoons maple flavored extract

Line a 9 by 13 inch baking pan with foil.

Combine butter, evaporated milk, sugar and salt in medium, heavy-duty saucepan. Bring to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly, over medium heat. Boil for 4 1/2- 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

Stir in marshmallows, white chocolate chips, nuts and maple flavoring. Stir for 1 minutes or until marshmallows are melted. Pour into prepared baking pan. Refrigerate until firm.