La La Love You Is it weird that Valentines Day is one of my #1 favorite holidays? Especially considering the fact that I can't actually remember the last time I've had a boyfriend during this emo-as-hell day? Maybe it's just that I le love the idea of love (and that i want my life to be a magnetic fields song). But this also might stem from my preconceived ideas about living in New York. When I moved up here I had this really romantic idea that I'd find a super cute boyfriend who listened to good music, had a nice pup pup, and a sweet smile. Whenever we'd walk around, Jens Lekman and Todd Rundgren would be playing in the background and we'd drink bottles of wine all day in Central Park and laugh until our teeth fell out. But enough about me, let's talk about this super sweet and kindhearted breakfast-in-bed grilled cheese that won't stand you up on a Friday night I'm making for you and your lovie. And now here are the sweet ingredients: - 2 tbs of Nutella (ZOMG, right?) . Now some more berries! xoxo,
Steak au Poivre - The Showstopper I have a comment on this comment, then I have a comment for the OP. To Amy: Removing to foil is simply a way to keep the steaks warm whilst resting (FOR 5 MINUTES AT LEAST… ALWAYYYS!). When the OP says remove to foil, he/she doesn’t mean to wrap them tightly. They mean to place them in a plate, and form a loose ‘covering’ of foil. This will simply trap some of the heat and allow it to remain warm, without trapping too much moisture. To the OP and to anyone else who decides to try ‘flambe’: It is important to note: When you add cognac or any other high proof liquour to a hot pan, then ignite, you are not burning the alcohol itself, per se. - Never light alcohol while there is an open flame/heat source. - Notice how in the OP, they remove the pan from the stove and then light. - Keep a heavy lidded pan nearby, just in case things Do go awry (if you follow the first 2 tips, they won’t) - Always have at least an ABC rated fire extinguisher within arm’s reach
How to Make Crêpes Without a Crêperie A brief tutorial on how to make crêpes at home, no crêperie required. Just you, your stove and a bit of batter and you’ll have a plate full of thin pancakes in no time at all. I’ve always wanted to live abroad, even if just for a short time. While the dream of leaving and exploring was there, the reality was and is that I remain fully rooted in the Midwest.In college I was a single parent. In order to declare my Spanish major, I had to get the mandatory study abroad waived. Rather than live somewhere new and explore, I sat in my apartment and cooked, dreaming of leaving. To the eggs and milk, add in flour, melted butter and a bit of salt. When it’s time to cook, heat a pan with rounded edges over medium-high heat. Cook the crêpe for 30 seconds or so. Slide the crêpes into a flat pile and let them cool a bit while you repeat the process and make more crêpes. And that’s it. If you’re wondering, no, I still have not been to France, nor have I ventured to Australia.
Salted Caramel Lava Cake « vegetarianirvana As I promised in my last post, here is the recipe for the wonderful Salted Caramel Lava Cake I made on the evening of my book club get together. Couple of months ago for my birthday, my children made me a wonderful lunch of Stuffed Gnocchi and Salted Caramel Lava Cake. I’d seen many molten lava cake blog posts, sighed at the beautiful pictures knowing that it was not in my destiny to make these exotic gooey cakes. Firstly, I am not into baking, secondly I avoid recipes with eggs. However I was so inspired by the kiddies effort and their creativity in making a salted caramel version [because I love salted caramel much, much more than chocolate] that I decided to give it a try. But they hadn’t saved the recipe! Well, that gave me an excuse to blog surf for lava cake posts. I combined the method I found here [I simplified it further by skipping the step of seperating eggs] on Pioneer Woman’s blog and the recipe ingredients I found on Show me the Curry website. Salted Caramel Lava Cake.
Healthy Spinach Artichoke Dip There’s one appetizer that, if all else fails, we WILL order at a restaurant: spinach artichoke dip. Hey, it’s what we do. We look at other options and then go with the one that we know we’ll both love and consume way too much of. What’s wrong with that? Nothing. However, I have to say that I’m a homemade spinach artichoke dip virgin. This dip has all of 4 ingredients and tastes heavenly. 1 box frozen spinach, thawed and with the liquid squeezed out1 bag frozen artichokes, thawed and with the liquid drained away2 wheels of Laughing Cow Swiss cheese (you can do the light version here as well)1 tsp garlic powder¼ tsp cayenne peppersalt and pepper to taste In a food processor (or, if you like it chunky you can just mix in a bowl) process all of the ingredients together. I repeat: DEVOUR. Tagged as: artichokes, healthier dip recipe, healthy appetizer, healthy spinach artichoke dip, laughing cow cheese, perfect appetizer recipe, spinach, spinach artichoke dip, Swiss cheese
Creamy Avocado Shells + the Clockless Oven Save Someday, if you’re lucky and I feel like sacrificing our dignity, I will show you a picture of our lovely oven. Chris originally thought we should name this blog “The Timeless Kitchen” because the oven has no clock. That’s right, read ‘em and weep, literally. At some point the LYK oven’s clock shorted and started beeping uncontrollably, as our smoke alarm also tends to do. For our first few months living in the LYK we had to guess what the numbers on the temperature dial were since they had all conveniently worn off. Please try not to be jealous of our super upscale kitchen. Now that you’ve had a peek inside the real LYK I’ll tell you about this recipe we made from Angela at Oh She Glows. Save In fact, it was so heavenly that I forced myself to swallow whole al dente pasta shells just to get some creamy, zesty, herby carbs in me — still can’t chew due to the wisdom teething. Sorry if the thought of that grossed you out…it really wasn’t that bad. Creamy Avocado Shells makes 4 servings
How to cook perfect quiche lorraine Ah, it's picnic time of year again: an excuse, for the lazy ("spontaneous") among us to empty our wallets on the counters of fancy delicatessens in order to furnish the impromptu "al fresco feasts" the media demands of us. (Somehow, it's easier to hand over a banknote for a couple of sausage rolls when the sun's shining.) While I'm a sucker for luminous green olives and pungent cheeses worth more than my flat, I can't muster any sort of excitement for a supermarket quiche, so sadly damp and flabby in its foil tray. This classic French pastry has been done a major disservice by mass production: however imaginative the filling (I recently encountered one studded with meatballs, the memory of which still keeps me awake), they bear little resemblance to the delicately wobbling, full-flavoured beauties you can turn out at home. A quiche is essentially a rich baked custard, encased in crisp savoury pastry – even a real man should be able to see the virtues of that. A question of pastry Cream 1.
Favorite Family Recipes: Mongolian Beef I LOVE P.F. Changs but it can be a little pricy for what you actually get. I have been making this recipe for YEARS now and I always get rave reviews. Most people who have it say they actually like it MORE than P.F. Changs. You can make this dish for the entire family for the same price as one of these as a menu item! Ingredients 4 tsp. vegetable oil 2 tsp. ginger, minced 2 Tbsp. garlic, minced 1 c. soy sauce 1 c. water 1 c. brown sugar (packed) 2 c. vegetable oil 2 Lb. flank steaks ½ c. cornstarch 3 large green onions Instructions Make the sauce by heating 4 tsp. vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over medium/low heat.
Pops and Podge: Coconut Easter Cake with 7 Cake Tips! We are guest posting over at The Sweet Spot right now! So head on over to Paige's site and check out how to make yourself some cake pops. If you missed it, we will be posting those over here in the next few weeks :) Her site has some great recipes, so I would suggest you add her site to your blog roll. Over here at Pops and Podge we are going to post an Easter Cake today. I am working on my Easter Brunch menu that will be posted next week sometime and this cake has made the cut! I decided I wanted to give you some additional tips and tricks to add to your cake baking tool box. First make your cakes...I cheated again and just used two box white cake mixes. Then make your frosting. Tip #1: If you don't have one, go buy a large frosting coupler. Tip #2: When filling your bag, use a tall glass. Tip #3: Lazy Susan! Tip #4: Put frosting and wax paper under your cake when setting on your cake plate. Tip #5: Make a dam. Tip #6: Crumb layer. Tip #7: When frosting, start at the top. Linking up to:
Homemade Auntie Annes Pretzels I'm sorry to be the bearer of another diet busting recipe... really I am! I'm not intentionally trying to sway you from your positive eating habits, but we all know the Superbowl is coming up and it's not a day to snack on fruits and vegetables. It's a day of indulgence- so enjoy it for what it is! Now I'm sure the title of this post intrigued most of you- many of you have probably had Auntie Annes Pretzels. Well, I decided to give it a try and see for myself how authentic it really is and let me tell you- this is the real deal! Whether you like the traditional salted pretzel dipped in mustard or the sinfully delicious cinnamon and sugar pretzel dipped in icing, you have the instructions here to make them. Quick side note- Stephanie at Steph's Bite By Bite is organizing an Online Bake Auction to raise money for her Team In Training efforts to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Recipe Tips I recommend serving your pretzels immediately. Then add your brown sugar: Salt: Directions
cheese straws Meet my new favorite party trick. In dusting off a woefully-neglected group of recipes on my “Cook This” list, subcategory “Cheese” I came upon a curious confection known as a cheese straw. Despite making a note to try them, cheese straws were new to me, but seeing as they involve cheddar, butter, salt and red pepper flakes, I couldn’t imagine them being anything less than awesome. What I didn’t realize was that, in a ridiculously simple process that took no more than one hour from prep to snacking, what I’d really baked were a cheesy poofs/cheez doodle hybrid! It’s funny, all of these “cheese”-based snacks have never held my interest; they seemed so artificial, but not in a tasty way, like Twizzlers or Insert-Your-Shameful-Junk-Food-Habit-Here are. Except so much better: buttery, crisp, flavorful and just a little spicy. One year ago: Pistachio Petit-Four CakeTwo years ago: Whole Lemon Tart + Strawberry Tart Cheese Straws Adapted from The Lee Bros. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
cheesy baked artichoke dip in college i was a waitress and bartender at The Loring Bar & Cafe in Minneapolis. it is where i met alex, so it will always hold a very special place in my heart. it was a really great place to work - cool co-workers, great customers and excellent food. the one thing that we were known for was artichoke dip. i can't tell you how many times i ate that for dinner. it was incredible but since The Loring closed no other artichoke dip has even came close to replacing it. i have tried several recipes for artichoke dip that really sucked. too dry - to heavy - not enough flavor - i have covered them all. but this recipe is the last artichoke dip recipe i will ever need. it is similar to the Loring recipe - dare i say - it might be even better. let me put it this way - this is THE BEST artichoke dip! i apologize for the weird measurements - i doubled the original recipe because it just didn't make enough! alex did a beautiful job of modeling the dip :) Yield: Makes about 2 2/3 cups Preheat broiler.