Our Engagement Party

Champagne Brunch

Caution: Picture Overload Ahead!

Now, I may be biased... but I believe that our Engagement Party was probably about the best ever!  My parents so graciously hosted everyone, around 50 people, in their backyard on May 4th (yes, Star Wars Day) to celebrate our engagement.  We decided to do an earlier party so that we could enjoy the beautiful day, and what's a better excuse to have an excessive amount of champagne than BRUNCH?! 

 

Invites from digibuddhaPaperie

Family and close friends gathered to share marvelous food, drinks and sweets.  Jamie and I had the time of our lives and we are so thankful to my parents and others that helped make our day so special.  My future father-in-law made a very short, sweet and funny toast. It made us that much more excited for the BIG PARTY to come early next year.

 

We're Engaged!!

The Proposal at Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens.

I have been trying to avoid using the phrase "FINALLY!" when announcing our engagement, but Jamie and I are finally engaged and boy, was it worth the wait!

 

By March 22, 2014 Jamie and I had been dating for 8 years, 4 months and 27 days.  Yes, I did the math... That is 438 weeks or 3,072 days or 73,728 hours or 4,423,680 minutes or 265,420,800 seconds, give or take... Heehee. 

 

It started as a regular Saturday morning. Jamie doesn't get  a lot of weekends off, so we try to plan something fun when he does.  We had decided the night before to go to the Huntingtion Library and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, CA, a place we had been many times before.  I was in the midst of a Biggest Loser Challenge at work and wanted to go to a place where we could do a lot of walking while site seeing.  It was me that suggested going to the Huntington because we hadn't been there in a while. (Little did I know that Jamie was already scheming and was going to suggest it anyway!) As we got ready that morning, Jamie "got a call" and had to go up to his dad's house to help him move something.  A task that is done by Jamie pretty often, so I thought nothing of it.  I came to find out later that he went to my parents house to have "the talk" with my dad.  Oh, to know what was discussed during that conversation!  But Jamie has since stayed pretty hush hush about it.  I guess I'll let that remain between them.  While he was gone, I got dressed, IN WORKOUT CLOTHES, threw my hair in a pony, and went very light on the makeup.  Believe me, if I had know what was going to happen later that day, I would have spent a little more time and effort, and maybe painted my nails too.  BUT, NO! He returned about an hour later and off we went to breakfast.   

 

Luckily, I also remembered to grab my brand new Nikon DSLR, to practice some of my photography.  The iPhone just would not have done the day justice...

 

After breakfast we drove to the Huntington, I tried to persuade Jamie to leave his hoodie in the car because the day warmed up nicely, his excuse was something to the effect of, "No I'll leave it on, I don't mind, plus I'll work up a good sweat".  The real reason being that the hoodie was hiding the bulge (of the ring box) in his pocket.  He told me later that in the car ride over I reached over to touch his leg and that I had my hand an inch away from the box! He was sweating bullets... 

 

Broccoli and Apple Slaw

Summer Broccoli and Apple Slaw with Dijon Agave Dressing

 

 

 

Summer has arrived and I am back at the blog.  It has been a busy and exciting few months, for sure.  Don't worry all of the updates are to come soon, but let's just say "the wait is over!" ::winkwink::

 

I abandoned the blog for a while, but I am back!  I've got a backlog of recipes and other posts that I can't wait to share with you! We have been grilling and chilling recently and one of my new obsessions are slaws.  But not the soggy, mayonnaisey, cabbagey slaw you may be used to (Sorry Dad!)  I've been experimenting with other veggies and more vinegar-based dressings.  There are so many prepackaged slaw mixes at the supermarket now that you don't have to be a slave to the mandolin or cutting board.  They can easily be dressed and mixed any way you want; the possibilities are endless.  I love that you can make them ahead of time.  I prefer to have mine refrigerated for 1 to 8 hours before serving, but I like my slaws pretty crispy.  Depending on the veggies you use and how you prefer your slaw, you can even make it up to a day in advance.

Tiramisu Cupcakes

Tiramisu Cupcakes with Mascarpone Whipped Cream Frosting

 

What would I do without cupcakes?  What would the world do without cupcakes?  We would be forced to create full sized desserts, of course... and where's the fun in that?  Cupcakes are portable, sharable, customizable, easy to decorate and there are no utensils needed to eat them!  If I had to create full sized layer cakes for all of my baking adventures I would be stuck with a giant cake that would sit in my fridge with three slices taken out of it and then be thrown away.  With cupcakes, I can bring some to work, share with friends and keep just as many as I want to keep at home. 

Think about it... if I make a batch of 24 cupcakes, the decorating possibilities are ENDLESS!  I can put filling in some, I can top them with different frostings, different swirling or decorating techniques, and I could even top each of the two dozen cupcakes with a different variety of sprinkle!!  And yes, I do have that many sprinkles...

Don't even get me started on cupcake liners either.... I'm sort of obsessed.  Does anyone else have this problem?  I'm at the store, planning to make a batch of cupcakes, and even though I have a bazillion liners at home already, if I see a pattern that I don't have yet, I HAVE to buy them.  Yes, I HAVE TO.  Sometimes I will even plan a new cupcake flavor or decorating style based on the new liners that I found.  Please tell me I'm not the only one that does this!

These Tiramisu cupcakes are definitely making it onto my permanent rotation of cupcakes creations.  Everyone at the event told me they loved them and the classic Tiramisu dessert translates perfectly into cupcake form, minus the lady fingers, which I don't think anyone missed. 

This cupcake is your basic white cupcake.  The center is removed, soaked in coffee liqueur syrup and stuffed back in with a little bit of frosting inside.  The topping is a Mascarpone Whipped Cream flavored with a little Kahlua as well.  In my recipe I've added an additional option for making a stabilized whipped cream in case you want to make these ahead of time. 

Roasted Strawberry Cornmeal Muffins

A Light Cornmeal Muffin Loaded with Sweet, Roasted Strawberries

 

 

I'm so sorry that I have abandoned the blog for the last few weeks, but to be honest, I have abandoned my kitchen a little bit too.  Our old house does not have air conditioning, and although we've had a relatively mild summer so far, heating up the oven to 350, means the house feels about that temperature too.  It's a great excuse to grill outside most nights, but I have yet to develop any baking recipes for the grill... Hmmm... that gets the wheels spinning...

 

 

The times that I have been able to suck it up and do some baking, I've really enjoyed using the fresh fruits of summer, and Fresh Strawberry Muffins can only be made better with ROASTED STRAWBERRIES.  I saw roasted strawberries all over the blogs and Instagram a few months ago and I thought I would try my hand at it.  And, man 'o man, these little suckers are good!  I had to resist snaking on all of them before they landed in my batter. 

 



King Arthur Flour Fudge Brownies

Only the Best Brownie Recipe... EVER!

 

First of all huuuge shout out to King Arthur Flour (no, I am not in any way tied to KAF, just a fan of their products and blog).  It is very rare that I take a recipe that I find and don't adjust or add to it in any way... but this one warrants following the recipe EXACTLY.  These brownies are the best I've tried. 

In fact, I made this recipe twice already.  The first time I followed the recipe, but couldn't get ahold of Dutch-Process Cocoa from my local grocery store, so I used the plain ol' unsweetened stuff.  The brownies were good but they weren't great, but I could see the potential.  The chocolate flavor in my first batch was just too strong and acidic.  So that lead me on my hunt to find Dutch-Process Cocoa so that I could recreate the recipe EXACTLY.  I finally found it at Cost Plus World Market.  The brand is called Droste. 

The difference between Dutch-Process and other cocoa powders is that it has been treated with an alkalizing agent that modifies its color and gives it a milder taste.  It has a neutral pH and isn't as acidic as well.  But beware for those of you looking to switch to Dutch-process in your other recipes... You cannot use Dutch-process cocoa in recipes that use baking soda as the leavening agent because the baking soda relies on the acidity of the cocoa to activate it.  You must use it in recipes that call for baking powder (rather than baking soda) for leavening.

The unfortunate part of the dutching process is that it removes the antioxidants from the chocolate, sometimes up to 90% are removed in a heavy dutching process.  Oh well! I guess that means I will still have to eat my square of dark chocolate after I enjoy my brownies... darn!  But really, are we truly eating brownies for the antioxidants?  I don't think so. 

Anyway, back to the brownies!  The second round went fantastic!  The brownies had an excellent chocolate flavor and by heating the butter and sugar together before adding it to the batter, it allows for the sugar to rise to the top during the baking process and gives you that awesome shiny, crackling top.  What's even better about these brownies?  You don't even have to get out the mixer!  Love it!

Fudge Brownies

From King Arthur Flour

Makes 24 brownies

1 cup unsalted butter
2 1/4 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp espresso powder
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached AP Flour
1 1/4 cups Dutch-Process Cocoa Powder
2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare a 9x13 baking pan with a light layer of baking spray. 

In a large bowl crack eggs and whisk in cocoa, baking powder, salt, espresso powder and vanilla.

In a small saucepan, over low heat, melt the butter.  Add in sugar and stir to combine.  Heat the butter and sugar mixture for a couple more minutes on the stove just until it is hot (110-120 degrees, not bubbling).  You can do this process in the microwave as well.  The mixture will become shiny as you heat it.  This process is what helps the sugar distribute more and gives you that shiny, crackly top. 

Add the warm sugar/butter mixture into the egg/cocoa mixture and stir until smooth.  Add the flour and chocolate chips and stir until smooth.  If you want the chips to remain solid chunks in your brownie and not melt into the batter, allow the batter to cool for 10-20 minutes before stirring in the chips. 

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake on the middle rack for 30-35 minutes, or until a cake tester or toothpick comes out with very moist crumbs, but no batter. Allow them to cool on a rack before cutting and serving. 

Enjoy!

Chicken Avocado Soup

A Light Soup with Shredded Chicken, Avocado, Lime and Cilantro.

I feel sorry for the people in the world that have that awful genetic trait that makes cilantro taste like dish soap. (It's true! I read about it!)  Even Julia Child had called cilantro's taste "offensive" and if she came across it she would "pick it out and throw it on the floor".  I also learned through my reading that the Oxford Companion to Food says that word coriander is said to derive from the Greek word for bedbug and that may have come about because some likened the smell of the herb to bedbug-infested sheets.  GROSS!

 

Now I don't know about all that soap and crushed bug nonsense... I love me some cilantro! I love its bright, fresh scent and I keep a bunch on hand at all times in my kitchen. I can't imagine this Chicken Avocado Soup without it. 

 

To all of those cilantrophobes out there, I don't blame you, it's not your fault! Let's all blame it on the OR6A2 gene and be done with it!  But don't fret, there may be hope for you... if you want to join in on the cilantro party wagon, try crushing it up!  By crushing the leaves it allows the enzymes to gradually change the soapy-scented aldehyde into other substances without any aroma.  And what's more crushed than a pesto?  Many cilantro haters have found that they can tolerate a cilantro pesto and that has eased them into enjoying cilantro at least a little bit more. 

 

The addition to cilantro in this soup adds an herby freshness that accompanies the lime and avocado perfectly.  The recipe is simple and it's a great way to use leftover chicken or even one of those awesomely cheap roasted chickens you get from the grocery store.  I wouldn't skimp on the cotija cheese either (and not because it is one of my new favorite things), but because it adds the perfect salty bite to balance out the acid of the lime, but if you must, try adding a touch more salt to the broth. 

 

Chicken Avocado Soup

Adapted from Skinny Taste

Serves 4

 

2 tbsp olive oil

5 cups chicken broth (I always use low-sodium)

2 cups shredded chicken (about 2-3 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded)

1 tomato, diced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 1/2 cups scallions, chopped

2 avocados, cut into bite-sized chunks

1/8 tsp cumin

1/8 tsp chile powder or cayenne if you want to spice it up. 

salt and pepper

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

 

To garnish:

limes, a couple wedges per person (I like a lot of lime)

sprinkle of cotija cheese

 

In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add 1 cup of the scallions and garlic and saute for 2 minutes.  Add tomato and cook for another minute.  Add chicken broth, cumin, chile powder, salt and pepper.  Stir and simmer on low for 15-20 minutes. 

 

In individual bowls, layer each with 1/2 cup shredded chicken (with a squeeze of lime), 1/2 an avocado, the remaining scallion and cilantro.  Ladle in about 1 cup of the broth and top with a sprinkle of cotija cheese.  Serve with lime wedges. 

 

Enjoy!