Over the weekend I took down my Valentine’s Day decorations off the mantle. IT. WAS. TIME. I eventually want to put a pop of color on there…but I am not sure what color yet. This is what I came up with!
Everything is black & white…..just the way I like it.
There’s nothing that excites me more than a big stack of books & magazines waiting to be read. In the past few weeks I’ve been seeing more of my UPS man because I went on a little Amazon binge! I thought it might be fun to share with you what I’m reading; you can see what I’m up to!
1. The Food Matters Cookbook, by Mark Bittman (I can’t wait to get cracking! I’m so excited!! I love Mark Bittman)
2. Appetite for Reduction, by Isa Moskowitz (I already have made 3 recipes!!)
3. Power Foods, from the editors of Whole Living (GOOD food- organized in a great fashion. I want to eat it all!)
4. Potty Training Boys the Easy Way, by Caroline Fertleman & Simone Cave (yup, we’re in the middle of THAT)
5. Commited, by Elizabeth Gilbert (Checked out from the library. A fascinating look at marriage & commitment)
6. 3191 Quarterly (I love seeing glimpses of Stephanie & Mav’s lives)
7. Stress-Free Potty Training, by Sara Au & Peter L. Stavinoha Ph.D (you figure out what approach to take based on your child’s personality. Neat! Cross your fingers.)
1. Donna Hay (STUNNING food photography, simple recipes, a lovely Australian publication)
2. Jamie (very cool layout, the recipes intrigue me & I love anything Jamie Oliver)
3. Food & Wine (a magazine that Casey & I can enjoy together)
4. Martha Stewart Living (do I really need to say more?)
5. Sunset (great ideas for trips, quality recipes & great gardening tips! I’d love to work there one day!)
6. UPPERCASE (graphic design, cooking, FUN FUN FUN stuff!)
7. Anthology (living, style, design, interior decor, GORGEOUS photo styling)
8. Everyday Food (the magazine I thank for igniting my passion for food!)
A food related photo every day til 2012. Here’s week 8:
56/365 Insalata di Spinaci with my parents & Cooper
Two facts you might know about me:
1. I am a Leo & I’m pretty proud of it. But then tell me a Leo who isn’t…
2. I hate mayo and cringe at the mere sight of the word mayonnaise. I didn’t even know how to spell mayonnaise (THANKS, spell check!) because there is simply no reason for me to. EVER.
OK so I’m a Leo. Let’s discuss this briefly because I tend to go ON about astrology– especially at parties where I’ve been drinking too much… Being a Leo means that I live by the code “Productivity fueled by laziness.” As a result, I spend most of my time searching for recipes with ingredients I already have sitting in my pantry. I wonder if my incessant need to stockpile food is a Leo thing too? My grandmother who is a Leo does it… But then again I have a Capricorn mom so that could be the reason why. So yeah… I test out a lot of recipes that don’t require me to go to the grocery store more than twice a week. I also love coming up with things on the fly. I love tinkering with recipes because it fuels my pride when I get it right. This salad is definitely a product of that. I’m a Leo. RAWR.
And then the mayo thing…Uggh the mayo thing. You can imagine how repulsed I was to see Richard Blais DEEP FRY MAYO on Top Chef this week. I turned my head and plugged my ears like a 2 year old until the Quickfire challenge was over. Barf! There are thousands of recipes I pass by the instant I see “mayo” as an ingredient. It’s a shame because there are SOO many good ones out there…that are ruined by mayo. When I found this “cool slaw” recipe that uses cashews as the creamy base, I was intrigued. If the Everyday Chickpea Salad I recently made & fell in love with had the same cashew base, wouldn’t I love this one too? After mixing up the ingredients & letting it sit, I took a taste and thought it needed something. Because I set out to eat a substantial salad for lunch, I couldn’t see myself eating a whole bowl of the “cool slaw,” like I planned. Back into my pantry & fridge I went and came up with a few additions of my own–soy sauce, green onions, toasted sesame oil & toasted slivered almonds. A pretty fricking delicious Asian inspired coleslaw was birthed and it maintained the “vegan” status on the original recipe. Although I’m thinking of dipping into my freezer stash and adding shrimp or chicken…just cuz.
“I’ve never had almond cheesecake before!” my neighbor exclaimed after she stuffed her THIRD mini ginger almond cheesecake into her mouth. “Same here,” I muttered through my mouth full of cheesecake. We were standing around a plate of mini ginger almond cheesecakes on my kitchen island as if we were two college students huddled over a bong. You can be rest assured, we were just making sure to test each and every cheesecake for quality assurance! One bite after the next, I fell in love with the whipped cream & cream cheese ALCHEMY. Oh the fluffiness! The creaminess! And that thick spicy salty gingersnap crust? It slayed me. How many minis add up to an actual slice of cheesecake? Who cares!?
So…another faux cheesecake recipe that prevents me from making an official cheesecake! I’ve never made a real cheesecake and I kind of have no desire to when I find simple recipes like this one. I love the cream cheese aspect of cheesecakes….how it’s subtly savory and a little thick. But the thought of eating a whole slice of cheesecake makes my stomach turn. It’s just too rich and dense for my bones. I like creamy desserts that are light & fluffy with a little bit of savory crunch, and these little minis do just the trick! Now you’ll have to excuse me. I have one last mini cheesecake calling my name……
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Cross another item from my 31 comes before 32 list!
#28. Learn how to do latte art!
We’ve had our espresso machine since August, my birthday month. It came while I was away at IFBC, so Casey had a whole weekend to tinker with it and practice while I was away. He is now the main drink maker in our house simply because he excels at it. He makes me cappuccinos while I work on breakfast for us; we’re a good team! I’m still working on perfecting my espresso shots & latte art, but I’ve learned how to do it! Some days I make myself a fancy cappuccino with my breakfast and other days I opt for a strong Americano because I have no time to deal with it. I’m lucky to get coffee in me with my work schedule. There are some mornings where I feel like I need coffee to MAKE coffee, but in all honesty I don’t miss our french press that much.
Did you know that latte art is HARD? You need to pull a really good shot of espresso and your milk foam is CRUCIAL. Apparently it’s easier to achieve all of this on a big honking machine you see at a coffee shop. Not an easy feat for a home machine. I wish I had known that sooner.
You need “micro foam” in order to make pretty rosettas and swirls. It’s not super duper frothy; it looks like wet paint with teeny tiny bubbles. It’s super creamy and it makes your cappuccino EXTRA decadent. It really makes a difference, trust me.
The marriage of a good shot & good foam can be temperamental. Sometimes I pull a great shot and then the milk is bad…and then I get swoon-worthy milk with a terrible shot. It’s definitely a hard balance because there are many factors to consider- temperature, beans, tamping down hard enough, getting the wand in at the right angle for the milk steaming…and the most important part- THE GRIND of your beans. It also took us awhile to find the perfect espresso bean that produced the taste we were looking for. We use a lot of Barefoot Coffee Roaster’s beans (a local company) but my friend Christine got us HOOKED on Intelligentsia’s Black Cat Espresso. We get it shipped to our directly to our house!
We’ve had a slew of gray mornings in the past few weeks. A few Saturdays ago, I decided to make this cake to summon the sunshine. Even if it didn’t work, at least the taste of the cake would give the illusion of a warm sunny morning. All I had to do was whip out an orange and my zester and the sun immediately peered through the clouds and heated up my kitchen island. The last time this happened was during my cocktail hour a few weeks ago. There’s something about citrus in my kitchen; it has the power to cut through clouds the same way a good dish washing soap cuts through grease.
Walnuts, oranges & olive oil…the foundation in which dreams are built uopn. The walnuts are ground– not chunky and add a fantastic texture to this cake. The orange perfumes this treat and the olive oil adds that hint of earthy greenness in a way only olive oil can. The sweet Greek yogurt and the orange zest to the side add some fun, but honestly the powdered sugar on top of the cake is enough. This is the perfect cake for breakfast or as a snack in the afternoon with a good book and a huge mug of tea. Bring on the sun!
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