If You Don't Like Kale....Try, Try, Again

Kale and I didn't start off on the right foot. 

I read about this "amazing", "life-altering", green of a million health benefits and ran right out to the store to grab a giant bag to incorporate into my smoothies. This was before kale was splattered all over every trendy restaurant's menu and before you could buy it at Trader Joe's- so I was a little....uneducated about the green. 

I dragged that big giant bag home, read that I should pull the leaves off the stems and toss a good hearty handful into my blender with my fruits and chug it down with a post-workout smoothie.

Well THAT was a mistake.

I remember I vaguely interpreted that disclaimer about the stems being super bitter and that a little kale goes a long ways in a smoothie. I ended up washing the smoothie down the sink, throwing the remainder of my kale in the trash and vowing that glare at any person who exclaimed "I LOVE kale!". 

I avoided it for a few years, steering away from it on menus, in smoothies, and it certainly never graced my grocery basket ever again. 

Cue a dinner at Mintwood Place and sharing an appetizer of burrata, kales, hazelnut, apple & tamarind with friends. The crunch baked kale was outstanding. Dare I say I got territorial over the appetizer. Fast forward and a friend brought a kale and brussel sprout salad to a super bowl party. Again...delightful. 

It finally occurred to me that my initial interaction with kale had been a rushed, brash experience that resulted in a less than warranted aversion.

Looking for some healthy, quick snacks I can make to munch on while I am on marathon calls for work, I decided to jump on this kale chip bandwagon (making sure to truly remove all those stems!) and have found a new craving that isn't a samoa girl scout cookie.

Not to be a sell out....but... I LOVE baked kale chips. 

Watch out world...I may just buy a yoga mat now. 

If you are looking for Kale inspiration, I found mine here, and here. 

An Owl Birthday Cake

Some close friends of ours have an adorable little girl who just turned two and we got invited to the party! 

When our friends told us about the plans for her birthday party I volunteered to make the cake/cupcakes for the event, since I wanted to give the birthday girl something special. I originally thought of just doing a few batches of different cupcakes, but I quickly decided to do something a little more complicated after S told me that she had purchased some adorable owl cupcake topper decorations.

Via Beautiful Paper Crafts on Etsy

I couldn't get over how cute the owls were and I kept thinking that their simple shape was something I could maybe replicate as a cake! It took a lot of supply gathering and planning, and even more time, but it was such a fun project!

I sketched out an outline similar to the cupcake toppers, and then baked a chocolate sheet cake in a 9X13 pan. I also learned some things about baking a cake that has a flat top. I still had to level my cake so it was flat, but baking the cake submerged a pan of water seemed to help it bake a bit more evenly with less of a dome in the middle. 

After I got the cake baked and leveled. I put it in the freezer for 20-30 minutes. Then I used a template I had sketched to cut out the owl shape. Once the cake was cut, it was a matter of making the frosting. I followed this recipe for swiss meringue buttercream, and while the taste was spot on and exactly what I wanted, but the consistency wasn't what I needed for holding some pipping designs. I ended up having to alter the recipe and throw in some confectioners sugar to stiffen the frosting, but it still turned out decent. It is certainly something I still need to perfected, but I love the flavor of this less-sweet frosting. I had to mix brown, green, and orange in additional to some white frosting to decorate and used like 5-6 different pastry tips for a variety of textures. I also purchased some modeling chocolate to make the feet and eyes, which worked out really well!

So after about ten hours of baking, freezing, cutting, and decorating...I finally ended up with an owl that I was pretty proud of.

Whoooooooots turning two??? (Best. Birthday. Theme. Ever.)

I still can't get over how cute it turned out! It was really fun surprising S and Z with it! It was pretty cute/funny when we decided to have Z blow out the candles and sing happy birthday, she kind of hand a mini meltdown and kind of freaked out about the cake. She didn't want to get anywhere near it! Luckily, once she had a bite of the cake and cupcakes, she was sucking down frosting like a birthday girl should be!

Since the cake was chocolate I wanted to make some cupcakes for flavor variety. 

I made a lemon zested cake with fresh raspberry buttercream. They were a hit! I didn't think the kids would like them, but most of the kids really enjoyed these as well as the adults! The raspberry frosting was probably my best frosting to-date! It was amazingly tasty!

To really take it to a new level, I also wanted to make some mini "cupcake shooters" (as the BF called them) that were just vanilla vanilla and small for little hands! I saw someone used ketchup cups for mini cupcakes, and at our last burger outing, I hoarded a bunch of cups that were put to good use. 

They were just too cute for words! I loved hot little they were, and the fact that people who didn't want a big cupcake, could just have a little taste. These are certainly going to be my new go-to party option!

Overall, I am so excited that I pulled off some great treats for Z's birthday, and I really loved making the owl cake! Now I just need to find the next cake decorating project....

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Happy Halloween Friends!! I hope you have some spooootacular plans today!

One of my closest childhood friends had the mom who always had some homemade something around the house. Many of these treats were holiday traditions, or things she would make for special occasions. Considering I practically lived at their house in elementary school ( think America Girl dolls, Beanie Babies, Salute your Shorts, and old school Nintendo) I in affect adopted a love for many of the treats her family had, in addition to my own family's food themed traditions. One of my favorites that I adopted and made my own parents incorporate into our own holiday tradition repertoire was roasted pumpkin seeds. It was the perfect food tradition to tie with carving pumpkins every year.

Considering how serious I take my holiday traditions (I may or may not be a bit of a holidayzilla) this year I knew that carving a pumpkin meant I had to do it right. Now, I think I nailed the pumpkin I was going for using some power drills. So I was pretty thrilled when I ended up having enough pumpkin seeds from tha adventure to warrant making a batch of roast pumpkin seeds just like when I was growing up.

Normally one pumpkin isn't enough to get enough seeds, but I had picked a particularly seedy one which was great. Typically I would recommend to plan on having at least two pumpkins to gut to get enough seeds for this.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

2 cups fresh, raw, straight from the pumpkin seeds
1 teaspoon Worester Sauce
1 teaspoon Salt
3 Tablespoons Butter, melted.

You are going to clean off those seeds until all the guts of the pumpkin are off. I try to clean off as much gunk as possible as they are coming out of the pumpkin and then use a colander that has bigger drain holes to wash them for dayz. Then you are going to boil them. Ten minutes. Just plop them into salted boiling water and away you go.

Now you need to get them good and dry. Like NO moisture, or the salt will clump up on you. I put to paper towels on top of a grated drying rack and move them around for a few days until they are dry. If the paper towel holds any moisture, you'll want to change that once a day. Mine took two days to get completely dry.

Once dry, mix the melted butter, salt and Worcester sauce. Include the pumpkin seeds and stir to coat.

Heat oven to 225F. Spread seeds out on a pan and roast for 1-2 hours. Mine typically take 2 hours. Take them seeds out to check for burning and to stir on the pan every 20-30 minutes.
Voila! Amazingly tasty roasted pumpkin seeds!

**As a side note, if you want to make these without the pumpkin mess, or in say, like July, check out the option to order plain seeds that you could just start at the step where you throw them in the mixture. 

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Cauliflower Fettuccine Alfredo

One of two things is going on with my social media habits. 

1) I am either a really good pinner. (You can find me here)

OR

2) Pinterest really does have a plethora of really amazing and fantastic ideas and recipes.

Let's go with both so I can give myself a pat on the back. I've tried a few recipes that I have found interesting from Pinterest, but to-date, the most recent endeavor triumphs over the others.

Cauliflower. Fettuccine. Alfredo. Yes....CAULIFLOWER. 

It was epic. Creamy. Flavorful (and not tasting like purred veggies), garlicy, rich, filling, and at the same time didn't make me feel like a brick after I had eaten a nice size bowl. It also kept WAY better than traditional alfredo and didn't just break down into a whole bunch of oil. This was boyfriend and dude-friend approved. I can't stop raving about it.

I followed the Pinch of Yum recipe with a few minor modifications.

CREAMY CAULIFLOWER SAUCE

Author: Pinch of Yum

Serves: makes about 5 cups

 

INGREDIENTS

• 8 large cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 5-6 cups cauliflower florets ( I used one full head of a decent sized cauliflower)
• 6-7 cups vegetable broth or water (I used one box, and seemed to cover my cauliflower, but was only about 4-5 cups)
• 1 teaspoon salt (more to taste)
• ½ teaspoon pepper (more to taste)
• ½ cup milk (more to taste)- I had some cream on hand, so I used that instead, but a little less than 1/2 cup
• I added two types of cheese- Freshly grated peccorino and parm- I think this is what made the dish! I used probably 1/2ish in total.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Garlic: Saute the minced garlic with the butter in a large nonstick skillet over low heat. Cook for several minutes or until the garlic is soft and fragrant but not browned (browned or burnt garlic will taste bitter). Remove from heat and set aside.
2. Cauliflower: Bring the water or vegetable broth to a boil in a large pot. Add the cauliflower and cook, covered, for 7-10 minutes or until cauliflower is fork tender. Do not drain.
3. Puree: Use a slotted spoon to transfer the cauliflower pieces to the blender. Add 1 cup vegetable broth or cooking liquid, sauteed garlic/butter, salt, pepper, and milk. Blend or puree for several minutes until the sauce is very smooth, adding more broth or milk depending on how thick you want the sauce. You may have to do this in batches depending on the size of your blender. Serve hot! If the sauce starts to look dry, add a few drops of water, milk, or olive oil.

So I also have to say I am bit embarrassed to admit this...but I was so enamored with this sauce, that I had woofed down almost my entire bowl before I thought to take a photo...so you get a photo of my half eaten pasta. Glamorous. Not. (Also please pardon the blurry photo--again I was too involved with eating)

 I also had been having a cake craving. Which is pretty odd. I usually never crave cake. We even tried a cupcake to see if that would satisfy my craving...it did not. So I whipped up this little gem. An easy cake recipe, that completely hit the spot and satisfied that nagging craving!

 Has anyone else found some amazing recipes on Pinterest? I am excited to try this baked salmon!

Medium Rare

It is no secret that I love me a big piece of red meat with a side of potatoes in some form. Luckily the SO is just as enamoured with red meat and appreciates a fine meal complete with an ice cream sundae. Where did we have such a fantastic meal you ask?

Medium Rare.

With a prix fixe menu, you are guide exactly towards what is perfection:

Artisan Rustic Bread
Mixed Green Salad
Culotte Steak & Hand-Cut Fries w/ Secret Sauce

Sound simple? Simple, but downright scrumptious. Yes. I said scrumptious. That secret sauce is good enough to lick the plate. The bread is good enough to ask for a loaf to take home and smoother with nutella, and the salad....even the salad is so good you want seconds.

Best part is. You get seconds! After your first serving of fries and steak, you are served a second round from a hot pan, straight to your plate. Luckily, they bring a little extra sauce. Let's just say these are the worlds best left-overs.

Top this all of with...you guessed it. Ice Cream Sundae, complete with a cherry on top.

Next time the parents roll into town, this place is a must-go. (Wink wink parents).

A Date at Union Market

This past late summer/early fall the bf and I headed to the new (to me) Union Market, a year round "artisanal marketplace". It features a variety of places to eat, buy local meats and produce, and shops with unique and home-y products. Our first encounter was the crafty-bastards craft fair, that was a scene to say the least. While we would have loved to grab some food that day, there were just too many people and no where to sit. We have been talking about going back for months now, and since the bf is gone this entire week for work- we thought it a nice date space before we had a whole week apart.

As I am sure you remember, I LOVE me some oysters.Whenever the bf asks what I want to eat one my usual responses is "Oysters and watermelon". Needless to say, we have never gotten oysters together and we have certainly never fulfilled my dream of oysters AND watermelon. So after all the times he "poo-pooed" (his words not mine!) my oyster request, he suggested we try the Rappahannock Oyster Co.

We got seats right at the bar, and were able to watch them shuck and plate oysters. We each started with a delish beer, a bowl of oyster chowder (full of awesome, big oysters) and then each ordered six raw oysters to slurp down.

It was pretty stinkin' good. Oysters may easily make it into my favorite food list, I just can't get enough!

After our super yummy food, we wandered the market a little and then headed home and even had to brush a light dusting of snow off the car!

Comfort For Your Head and Heart

I have been on a bit of a book bender these days. It started when I was home for Christmas and I actually had down time where I didn't feel the need to drown myself in trash TV. I recently just finished all the books I had gotten around Christmas and I was in need of something new and preferably for the ipad since I was recently on a plane for 12ish hours making a round-trip visit to the Best Coast for some skiing.

As much as I love my ipad and reading on it...I get nostalgic and sometimes miss the feeling of a book. More than the book....I miss bookstores.

When I first moved to DC and Alex and I were tres poor, we used to spend our Saturdays camped out in a Barnes & Noble reading books for essentially free (we did purchase coffee to offset our shameful reading of books we never bought). While it was pretty stressful to not even be able to afford a book, I loved those Saturdays. I loved having no where else to be, and I loved feeling comfort in reading.

So to find my next book I wandered into a small bookstore in Spokane and did my usual assessment of the book covers to see if anything caught my eye. A few books caught my eye, but one really stood out as I looked over the stacks of new books.

I picked it up. Flipped through the cover and first pages thinking "could be a cute read", put it down and moved on. I later went back to snap a photo to remind myself I should look into it. 

A few days later I read some reviews on amazon and quickly got the hint that this was a MUST read book. I purchased it minutes before boarding my flight home and I read the entire way back.

I am hooked. Cheryl's words of advice are calm, rational, compassionate, heart-felt, re-relatable, heartwarming, eye-opening and a million other things that just fill you with goodness. I turn page after page and I realize how brutally spot on she is, and how so many of her responses, while not directly applicable to the deep questions of my life, have nuggets of truth that really hit home. I have laughed, I have cried, I have cringed, I have re-read certain letters just to soak in all of the beauty they contain. Simply put--it is a beautifully written compilation of advice letters that you will find comfort and inpiration in. So what I am saying is...go buy this. Read it. Love it. 

Couple this with a cup of my current favorite tea (since I can't afford this ), Yogi Egyptian Licorice, and I am set for a snuggly evening of feel-goodness.

Does anyone else get sad when a really good book ends? I try to have my next read lined up so I don't focus too much on the end of a good book. Any of you have some reading recommendations to help me through what will undoubtedly be a very sad finishing of this book?

At the Office

Something I can say without hesitation is that I really like my co-workers. I have some really awesome people that I work with. Smart, funny, incredibly accomplished, and we are all bonded. I swear there will be a reunion of sorts to get as all back together. in years to come. The last year of all our lives is reunion worthy.

Naturally these very smart people also share my love for all things sweet. So around the office we have become obsessed with the Sea Salt Caramel from Chop't. At 65 calories a piece, these little nuggets are heaven in two-to-three-bites. Bags of these have started appearing in desk drawers, and when you hit that breaking point, leave it to one of us, working in health care, to bring you a caramel.

They are perfection. Sweet. Salty. Chewy. Buttery. Delight.

 

 

Last night, it was a good friend, and co-workers final day before she moves on to the next great thing. To celebrate we headed too a rooftop bar, indulged in some summery cocktails and talked about how much we loved those caramels!

 



 

This morning it was super grey out. All I needed was a space needle out my window and I would have thought I was in Seattle! (A girl can dream right?). I hope we are headed into fall soon, skies like this make me lust for leggings, sweaters and a time when I can move my furniture back into it places since I can finally turn off the air conditioner. One can hope.

 

 

I have also been pretty busy at work, and I have neglected one of my favorite things! I forgot to flip the page on my royal wedding calendar!! So a few days later, I got to reveal this month's photo.

 

 

Now please excuse me while I got rummage through my purse to see if a lone caramel made it home with me this evening.





We Zoku Do You?

For Christmas I got my sister, her fiance, and my nephew a Zoku from WS. When we went up to spend New Years in SV with her we could resist to see it in action. What transpired from the orange juice popsicle was one of my favorite memories from being home. (We also witnessed a Wyatt kiniption that was spectacular)

So we poured some OJ in:

and then we seriously stood around and watched it freeze (in SEVEN minutes!)

This is what happened next:

Trying his first popscicle

Taking things into his own hands.

And this giddy life moment happened. Yes, at the end he attempts to wipe his sticky hands on me and then goes for the couch.

We had to take it away, as the popsicle stick was going to choke the little man.

That was when the kinipstion happened.

Oh.

My.

We.

Were.

Not.

Happy.

So we put it in a bowl and had to spoon it to him.

All I can say is: Love <3

Baked with Love

On a trip to IKEA (oh how many of those there will be in the next two-three months!) the lucky find of a set of "woodland creature" cookie cutters inspired me to battle the roaches (ok ok there really aren't roaches anymore, but I still have to poke fun at the situation) and the small kitchen and whip up some of my grandma Tory's rubber cookies (a gingerbread type cookie with the best frosting you will ever taste). This was my first attempt at the cookies and while they couldn't even come close to the delish ones I was so lucky to savor as a child, they were not bad.

My grandma had a scalloped cookie cutter which I have safely tucked away for when I have my own place (eeee! Oh wait! I DO!) to cut out her cookies. I wanted to do something special since I knew I would be taking these into work. That set of "woodland creature" cookie cutters just so happened to have a HEDGEHOG!! My department has kind of adopter the hedgehog as a mascot from some of our company materials. (Core values, etc.) For good measure I also made a few Idaho cookies with my new Idaho cookie cutter that I have yet to use. Here is what transpired:

 Making some dough

   Rolling and cutting

 Cut out hedgehogs

 IDAHO!

 Version #1 of the frosted hedgehogs

Some Idaho Love

Version two of frosted Hedgehogs

The cookies were a huge success at work and totally worth the tedious process. I always forget that rolling and cutting cookies takes like 6 hours longer than you estimate. The hedgehogs are pretty cute and I already have plans to use the rest of my creatures in the set of cookie cutters!

Recovery and Perfect Weekend

I am finally back among the living. I am not 100% but considering how sick I was, this is a vast improvement and I will take it. At this point I have a lingering cough, runny nose and am pretty much exhausted from doing ANYTHING. Luckily I had an awesome weekend and was ready to head back to work on Monday.


Friday I worked late since I was pretty behind from spending Monday in bed. But when I am focused and can manage to battle my growling stomach, staying late when not a lot of people around is great. I headed home and ate some left overs while watching TV and then caught up on 19 Kids and Counting and Grey's before heading to bed. (Now after my marathon of 19 Kids and Counting I am having a reoccurring dream about being the Duggar family's nanny...OMG)


Saturday morning started off at a leisurely pace, with me relishing in the freedom to sleep in. Around 1 I met up with a friend and went to Cheesetique in Del Ray. This had been on my to-do list for a long time when I lived in VA, but just had never found the time. Well what finally pushed me to make the effort to drive out there was looking online and seeing that they had a "Grown up Grilled Cheese" made with Beecher's Cheese. Beecher's is made in Seattle and is absolutely delish, so I had to go try this grilled cheese. We had a lovely little chat and got to sit outside and enjoy the sun (and wind).


After a great lunch we headed to Old Navy to look for some summer clothes, and then stopped in at Barnes & Noble. Since we had made the trip out to Alexandria we figured we should stop at the Crate and Barrel outlet and then also go to Whole Foods. The WF in Alexandria is the the only place I have found mizithra cheese which is one of my all time favorites. So naturally I bought a little wedge of that to munch on over the weekend.


We headed back in to DC to check out a kitchen store in Capitol Hill called Hill's Kitchen. The store is amazing! I could have spent hours and hours just looking at all the kitchen contraptions and books that are available here. But the real find.....IDAHO cookie cutters! (Blog to follow on making Idaho sugar cookies!) Hill's Kitchen had an amazing assortment of kitchen gadgets, pots n' pans, knives, practical and impractical. I will for sure be going here for my next set of married friends, birthdays, Christmas, etc.. They have a variety of price points too which makes it even more enjoyable of a store!


After dinner we fulfilled a DC goal I have had for a long time: Eat at Good Stuff Eatery (Top Chef Spike Mendelsohn's burger place). The burgers were very good. Juicy, flavorful, appropriate portion and seasoned well. The fries...a bit soggy which is not my favorite. But the crowning jewel of the night...toasted marshmallow milkshakes. There are not words to describe how amazing these were. It really tasted like a marshmallow roasted on an open campfire. MMmmMmMmMMM.

My cheeseburger (tomato rejected) and the fries

The evening concluded with watching a movie and some TV which was perfect since all that moving about had pretty taken it out of feeble-cold-ridden body.

Sunday I went grocery shopping, cooked some enchiladas and watched a series of fabulous movies (good TV on mothers day!)

Preparation

Final Product!

It was a blissful weekend and luckily it recharged me for a busy busy week.

Home for the Holiday(s)

My first week at home has been wonderful (despite STILL being sick, pretty sure I am going to lose my voice and have a cough for the next year of my life) but spending time with the family has been great. Wyatt and Nicole took off today (Jon had to go back yesterday which was sad, but I relished in every moment I got to spend with Wyatt. While I know I am a bragging Aunt, I think you would have to agree with me that Wyatt is the most amazing, adorable and sweet loving little guy you will ever meet! Last week I got to have an entire afternoon alone with him while Nicole took one of her architecture exams and it was the best 4 hours I have had in a long time. He is really engaged with people and laughs a lot! Last night I got him barreled over with laughs singing my version of "your a maniac a maniac!" he loved it! He hasn't started crawling yet, but he is getting really close and when you hold him sometimes he will start jumping up and down with his legs like he is in his jumper, so he is ready to go!

Here are some favorites of Wyatt:

Wyatt became increasingly aware of Theo and really wanted to "play" with him by the end of his visit. Luckily Theo can put up with Wyatt petting (rather pulling large chunk of fur). But I have a feeling Wyatt and Theo are going to be good buddies.

Me and Wyatt

Wyatt Hanging out with the Christmas tree awaiting Santa.

For Christmas eve we went to my Aunt Dixie's house for our traditional get together with them, my family and my cousins who live in Mtn. Home. It was crazy to see my second cousins...every year they get taller and more grown up! We did our usual Christmas gift game and then had a delish dinner and opened presents. My cousins got me a great little microwave steamer and my aunt and uncle got me a much needed scarf and glove set.

Christmas morning we got some exciting news... (More information to come!) and then ate breakfast, did stockings, and started on gifts. Wyatt had to take a break for a mid-morning nap but then joined us and was really into unwrapping (and eating) the wrapping paper. Family friends came over to see Wyatt (and us) and then the rest of the day consisted of constructing and decorating the gingerbread house ( another post) and decorating gingerbread cookies which is a long standing family tradition. We use food coloring and toothpicks to draw designs on the cookie frosting. Some turn out really cool...some are really ugly....

Tomorrow we are going to go skiing in the afternoon and then I am sure I am going to need to take a nap for sure. Hope everyone had a great Christmas!!

Rustico

I have wanted to go to this restaurant for a very long time, and for some reason or another it just never really happened. But at last, I finally made to Rustico in Alexandria! It is right across the street from my coffee house (well my old coffee house) and had a great little outside sitting area which we were able to get a table on. The beer offerings were awesome and I tried out a Smuttynose browndog ale (we are totally guessing if that was the right name) but it was dark, nutty and completely delish!

We ordered three of their "small dishes":


PEI MUSSELS
white wine broth & creamy chorizo polenta

CREAMY ACORN POLENTA
orange braised pork shoulder,
sweet and spicy pumpkin seeds


SALT ROASTED BEET SALAD
goat cheese fondue, blood orange vinaigrette,
pistachio dust

The polenta was amazing. I seriously have dreams about eating it. It is an experience for one's mouth that is blissful. After dinner we headed to get a sweet treat at the Dairy Godmother. This place will keep me coming back to Alexandria for sure!

Edible bliss was the theme for the evening for sure!