Composites

Inspiration from The Purl Bee

2011-11-17T10:16:00.004-06:00

I just picked up knitting (literally, two days ago) and I am excited to one day be able to make something more than a simple scarf. The Purl Bee blog, of the Soho fabric store, has so many beautiful fabric projects! I love to sew and have a hard time coming up with things to make; you can only sew so many pillow cases and curtains for your apartment! Lots of great holiday decorations and gift ideas.

Twisted felt garland Who doesn't love garland? And this one reminds me of candycanes!

Thanksgiving Linen Napkins We don't use paper napkins in our house

and I love the simplicity of these.

Hooded towel My mom had these when I was young, but adding the

sweet floral makes is extra cozy and precious.

Dopp Kit I have a fear of sewing zippers but I need

a new makeup bag and this one looks pretty easy!

Felt flower wreath This one is amazing!! I would like to figure out how to make it actually in the round and not attached to a flat piece of fabric, hmm...

Moving

2011-11-16T17:44:00.005-06:00

We are moving into a new apartment and I have gotten excited about re-organizing and re-purposing furniture. I have been planning in my head for weeks about what will go where and searching through inspiration online like crazy. Moving is a pain but it nice to sort through things and donate unused things that just clutter up our space.

I love the simple color palette of this room and the plants.

I have handfuls of vintage hankies and,

if my husband lets me, I want to frame them like this!

Simple, but full of warm textures.

Perfect, old furniture has so much character.

Rooms like this remind me to slowly fill my space,

instead of running to IKEA.

September 17th

2011-10-13T15:10:00.001-05:00

Sweet dreams

2011-06-08T17:49:00.002-05:00

want!

Summer, finally.

2011-06-08T07:15:00.005-05:00

Oak Street Beach

Miko's Italian Ice

Free concerts in Millennium Park.

I saw Iron and Wine this week and the crowd was insane.

First CSA produce box. Last night we had kale chips, white cheddar polenta with sauteed green garlic, shiitakes, and spinach topped with a fried egg.

Costal Michigan (part 1)

2011-05-29T19:49:00.015-05:00

Saugatuck, MI

At Uncommon Grounds Cafe. Sitting next to the roaster is a great feeling.

General Store down the road from our condo in Holland, MI

View of the lake from Mount Pisgah sand dune

Happy after running up the stairs on the sand dune

Hiking around Mount Pisgah

Lakeside home

Scrap metal ship

Coastal Michigan (part 2)

2011-05-29T19:23:00.010-05:00

We stumbled upon a beach beach in Tunnel Park

...and the sun was out for about 10 minutes.

New Holland Brew Pub

South Haven, MI

South Beach in South Haven

Beautiful market in Saugatuck / South Haven

Michigan groceries: variety pack of New Holland beer, Saugatuck Brewing Beer (only 2 made it home with us), Knickerbocker Gin from New Holland, Blackberry Cider, 3-berry jam, honey straws, potato-chive bread, and spring produce.

New Etsy Favorites

2011-05-14T22:14:00.006-05:00

Vanessa Villareal ceramics

Savory Baklava

2011-02-28T09:40:00.007-06:00

My favorite thing about having a smart phone is being able to look up recipes while I am out; no more aimlessly buying things at the grocery and then realizing all I can make are tacos when I get home! After work I entered a few things into an Epicurious.com app, I wanted to make a main dish vegetarian casserole. This recipe was the first that came up from the search and I was sold! The grocery store didn't have parsnips which the original recipe calls for and I added a couple of things (surprise!). Also, the explanation of how to assemble the dish was kind of complicated, so I just made mine up along the way. The vegetables were sweet and caramelized from the roasting and the flakey phyllo dough was the perfect wrapper for them.

Adapted slightly from Epicurious.com

Roasted Winter Vegetable Baklava

Ingredients:

1/4 cup pine nuts (2 ounces), toasted
1/4 cup fine dry plain bread crumbs, toasted
1 pound Yukon Gold potatoes
2 medium fennel bulbs, trimmed, reserving fronds, bulbs halved and sliced lengthwise 1/4 inch thick
1/2 pound carrots (3 medium), sliced diagonally 1/3 inch thick
1 large onion, halved and sliced
2 whole cloves garlic
1/4-1/2 pound fresh spinach
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup melted butter
2/3 cup vegetable stock
1/3 cup chopped dill
8 (17-by 12-inch) phyllo sheets, thawed if frozen

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425°F with racks in upper and lower thirds.

Slice potatoes 1/4 inch thick. Divide all vegetables (except spinach) between 2 large 4-sided sheet pans and toss each pan of vegetables with 3 tablespoons oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.

Roast vegetables, stirring and switching position of pans halfway through, until softened and golden brown in spots, 30 to 35 minutes. Leave oven on with 1 rack in middle.

Add 1/3 cup vegetable stock to each pan of vegetables and stir and scrape up brown bits from bottom. Chop 1/4 cup fennel fronds. Combine all vegetables in 1 pan and toss with fennel fronds and dill.

Brush baking dish with some of remaining olive oil. Cover stack of phyllo sheets with plastic wrap and a damp kitchen towel. Keeping remaining phyllo covered and working quickly, place 1 sheet in bottom of baking dish letting the phyllo overhang the sides of the dish, then gently brush with some oil (butter is better here!) and sprinkle with pine nuts and breadcrumbs. Place another phyllo sheet on top and repeat brushing and sprinkling. Top with a third sheet and brush with oil.

Spoon vegetables and spinach into phyllo shell. Fold overhang toward center over filling (it will not completely cover the vegetables) and brush edge with butter. Brush remaining 2 sheets of phyllo with butter and arrange on top of filling.

Bake in middle of oven until phyllo is deep golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool 5 minutes before serving.

In other news, our beer is totally dead! The yeast never got going properly and we had no idea what to do to make them happy. We are going to order a few more ingredient kits and give it another try. Kyle and I had a little moment of mourning last week when we realized if our beer had worked, it would have been ready on that very day. At least there are plenty of delicious brews we can drown our sorrows in while we work on the next batch.

Scenes from our apartment

2011-02-21T10:51:00.004-06:00

Shakespeare Garden

2011-02-04T09:58:00.003-06:00

It looks a little lifeless right now but in September...

Snow Day

2011-02-02T15:46:00.006-06:00

Everyday IPA

2011-01-30T16:48:00.008-06:00

For Christmas I got Kyle a homebrew kit from Brooklyn Brew Shop. We finally got around brewing today. The cool thing about the kit is that you brew one gallon, opposed to the typical five gallon. Not only does this make it a lot less scary, but we just cleared a little spot in cabinet for our beer to hang out for a couple of weeks. The whole process was pretty simple, the directions that came with the kit were very clear. But we have to wait four weeks to find out if our beer is any good!

An iced latte and an americano to get us going.

Supplies

Sanitizing

Used mash

Hops packets

At this point it sort of smelled like beer? Also, sort of smelled like animal feed and socks.

Let's hope this guy is nice and foamy in a couple of days!

Bread Machine

2011-01-25T20:20:00.010-06:00

For Christmas Kyle's Mom got us a bread maker. It is such an amazing appliance. Literally, all you have to do is measure out all your ingredients and dump them all in at once. Three hours later the apartment smells heavenly and you have fresh bread.

I have a problem meddling with recipes so some loaves have come out better than others. Several have tasted good, but were too short and dense. My favorite so far has been a whole-wheat-cinnamon-raisin-granola bread. Whew! Kyle's was quinoa-chive.

My grandpa is famous for making tons of bread and then giving out loaves all over town. When I was home last I wrote down his recipe for Lemon Bread. Seriously, it makes the best toast ever! I halved the recipe and threw everything in the bread machine. The recipe calls for milk, I used soy milk because that is what I had on hand.

This baby turned out to be huge.

I think it is twice as tall as all the other loaves we've made.

Albert's Lemon Bread

Preheat oven t0 350 degrees.

4 tablespoons yeast

1 cup warm water

1 cup warm milk

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon salt

7 cups bread flour

2 tablespoons lemon flavoring

1/4 cup melted butter

Mix together yeast, liquids, eggs, sugar, and salt. Add flour gradually, then lemon flavoring and butter. Knead until smooth. Let rise until double in size, poke down.

Make into 2-3 large loaves. Rise again and poke a few sets of holes (with a fork) in the top of the loaves. Bake at 350 degress for 30 minutes, until brown on top. (I brushed mine with melted butter half way through baking). OR get a bread machine and let it do all of the work.

Note to self

2011-01-23T19:06:00.004-06:00

Sick-day Noodle Soup:

Saute shallots and mushrooms in oil.

Add carrots and celery.

Cover with water. Add bay leaf, parmesan rind, "not chicken" bouillon cube.

Snap quinoa spagetti into fourths, toast in dry pan. Boil until still very chewy.

Add noodles to soup once carrots have softened.

Remove bay leaf and rind.

Top with fresh black pepper, sea salt, and chives.

Phone Photos

2011-01-18T21:11:00.009-06:00

I just got a new cell phone and dumped all my old photos onto the computer. I mostly take photos of my cats and meals that I eat by myself and feel like I need to share with someone. The photos are in reverse order and span about a year or more.

Butterscotch Pudding

2011-01-18T20:53:00.002-06:00

New Bookmarks

2011-01-11T20:05:00.006-06:00

Some new goodies that I've added to my bookmarks:

Confetti System These just make me want to throw a party!

Garlic Butter Roasted Mushrooms I could see a huge platter of these and a baguette disappearing pretty fast.

Etsy's Taste Test I haven't bought anything yet but I can't stop clicking through the pretties. So much easier for me to get lost in Etsy now.

Butterscotch Pudding Recipe Somehow I don't have cornstarch and it is driving me crazy.

Wedding Photography

2011-01-11T19:24:00.008-06:00

I've been obsessively browsing weddings online and have found a lot of dorky wedding photos (I'm looking at you, mustaches on a stick). Here are some photos from really adorable weddings. So charming!

images from Jonas Peterson, Max Wanger, and Jose Villa.

The first batch of homemade pasta

2011-01-02T15:57:00.005-06:00

This was so exciting for me. I was literally jumping up and down the in process. More to come!

First Snow of Winter

2010-12-05T12:18:00.001-06:00

Homemade Amaretto

2010-11-21T23:20:00.002-06:00

I love the idea of giving something homemade and edible for Christmas gifts. Last year I made white chocolate with crushed candy canes that turned out delicious and were really simple to make. If I decide to up the ante this year, this recipe for Homemade Amaretto sounds incredible! I am picturing some amazing hot chocolate right now...

Dancing

2010-11-01T18:04:00.003-05:00

I was looking through old photos and found these of Kyle dancing in his apartment in Columbus. :)

Stuffed Swiss Chard with Simple Tomato Sauce

2010-10-30T09:07:00.003-05:00

I had the day off yesterday and was able to borrow a car to make a huge grocery run. This recipe came from the Martha Stewart Living Cookbook: The New Classics. Her recipes are all great, however this turned out to be pretty labor intensive/time consuming. The recipes don't have preparation times and if you make homemade bread crumbs, fresh tomato sauce, steam rice, toast the nuts, and all that, it ends up taking a while. So anyway, this was a good thing to work on in little steps throughout the day while doing other things. I slightly changed the recipes proportions because the book says it serves 4 to 6 and I didn't want to make that much. Also, if you wanted to "veganize" the recipe, you could sub out the cheese for soft tofu.

Stuffed Swiss Chard

3 large bunches Swiss chard

Coarse salt

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 small leeks, white and pale-green parts only, trimmed, finely chopped, and well washed

6 medium scallions, white and pale-green parts only, thinly sliced

Freshly ground pepper

6 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted (I used coarsely chopped almonds)

3 cups cooked short-grain brown rice

1 3/4 cups finely grated aged provolone (I used parmigiano-reggiano)

6 tablespoons fresh ricotta cheese

3/4 cup fresh bread crumbs

Fresh Tomato Sauce

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Choose 12 large chard leaves (each should be about 10 inches long and 5 inches wide); set aside. Coarsely chop enough of the remaining leaves to make 4 1/2 cups. Bring a large pot of water to a boil; add and pinch of salt. Blanch whole leaves, 1 at a time, until tender and bright green, about 5 seconds. Lay flat on a baking sheet lined with paper towel to drain. (I used several baking sheets because I wanted the leaves to and not continue cooking in a big pile)

2. Melt butter with oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add leeks, scallions, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add chopped chard, and cook, stirring occasionally, until chard has wilted, about 3 minutes more. Transfer to a medium bowl, add nuts; let stand until cool. Stir in rice, cheeses, and bread crumbs. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

3. Place a blanched leaf facedown on a work surface. Cut out the thickest part o the stalk, about one-third of the way up leaf; slightly overlap the cut ends. Spoon 1 cup (I didn't measure this but probably used closer to 1/2- 3/4 cup filling) filling about one-third of the way up leaf. Fold bottom of leaf over completely, creating a 3 x 2 inch bundle (Like a little burrito!). Repeat with remaining leaves and filling.

4. Transfer to a 9 x 13 inch baking dish (I lightly oiled mine). Tent with foil. Bake until heated through, about 15 minutes. Spoon warm sauce onto plates (Bonus for using warm plates!); serve 2-3 bundles per plate.

Fresh Tomato Sauce

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

3 garlic cloves, minced (I used 2)

2 pounds ripe tomatoes, coarsely chopped (I used a 28 oz can of plum tomatoes)

2 teaspoons coarse salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1. Heat oil in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Add garlic, and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in tomatoes (and the juices from the can), salt, and pepper. Cook stirring occasionally, until tomatoes are soft, about 10 minutes.

2. Remove from heat, and let stand for 10 minutes. Pass the the medium disk of a food mill (I just put about 3/4 of the sauce in the blender). The sauce can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Reheat before serving.

Stop Motion Wedding

2010-10-27T19:58:00.003-05:00

I saw this video over at Design*Sponge and can't get over how perfect it is!

Lula Cafe

2010-10-26T15:51:00.003-05:00

My favorite restaurant in Chicago is transforming for Halloween. Kuma's Corner meets indie-rock. Such a funny concept, but I know it will be delicious!

Renegade Craft Fair

2010-09-12T21:48:00.011-05:00

Free photobooth!

Bought some beautiful hand-dyed napkins from Love, Daniella.

My favorite necklace broke a couple weeks ago and I was

able to track down Laura Lombardi to fix it for me.

Here are some other artists work that was beautiful and whose names I want to remember...

Bladon Conner : sustainably designed furniture

Verameat : jewelry that is simultaneously edgy and hilarious

Winter Session : classic and well crafted bags, aprons, etc. I really wanted a buy a bag, so perfect!

Shapes & Colors : hand printed textiles. If I wasn't under a "no more pillows" ban (boyfriends!) I could have definitely picked up some of these!

'90s Wendy's Training Videos

2010-09-05T17:51:00.002-05:00

I can't seem to get these videos to fit in the window right, but they are worth watching.

A Snack Revolution!

2010-09-01T23:54:00.002-05:00

Oven Roasted Chickpeas! They are so good! I have come across this idea at Apartment Therapy several times and hadn't tried it until now. Kyle has been at work really late for several nights and I was trying to think of a treat for him to come home to. He likes savory over sweet, so I think he will love these. The only problem is I can't stop eating them. Hopefully, he will make it home before I devour all of these crunchy little beans.

picture via Apartment Therapy

I rinsed canned chickpeas, tossed them in olive oil, salt, garlic powder, adobo seasoning, paprika, and cayenne pepper. Because it is so hot outside, I decided to use my toaster oven and it worked out really well. Bake the chickpeas at 400 degrees, stirring frequently, until they are brown and crispy, about 30-40 minutes.

"What Is It About 20-Somethings?"

2010-09-01T10:06:00.005-05:00

Virtually everyone I know who falls into the "20-somethings" category feels unsatisfied with where they are currently, especially when it comes to their job. Having recently graduated from college it is hard to figure out how to best use everything I spent 20 years working on. Also, looms the big question: what do I want to be when I grow up? We all want a bigger purpose than pouring someone a cup of coffee. But why can't I just take pride in what I do? I swear I have this dialog internally, with a friend, or co-worker daily.

The New York Times Magazine had this great article a couple weeks ago that addresses a lot of my personal concerns and explains so much about "my generation". Usually writing about our generation are very accusatory, however this article lays out research that simply explains why so many of us feel the way we do. What Is It About 20-Somethings?

"[Jefferey Jensen Arnett, a psychology professor, views] the 20s as a distinct life stage, which he calls “emerging adulthood.” Among the cultural changes he points to that have led to “emerging adulthood” are the need for more education to survive in an information-based economy; fewer entry-level jobs even after all that schooling; young people feeling less rush to marry because of the general acceptance of premarital sex, cohabitation and birth control; and young women feeling less rush to have babies given their wide range of career options and their access to assisted reproductive technology if they delay pregnancy beyond their most fertile years. "

"Just as adolescence has its particular psychological profile, Arnett says, so does emerging adulthood: identity exploration, instability, self-focus, feeling in-between and a rather poetic characteristic he calls “a sense of possibilities.” A few of these, especially identity exploration, are part of adolescence too, but they take on new depth and urgency in the 20s. The stakes are higher when people are approaching the age when options tend to close off and lifelong commitments must be made. Arnett calls it "the age 30 deadline.” "

"Does that mean it’s a good thing to let 20-somethings meander — or even to encourage them to meander — before they settle down? That’s the question that plagues so many of their parents. It’s easy to see the advantages to the delay. There is time enough for adulthood and its attendant obligations; maybe if kids take longer to choose their mates and their careers, they’ll make fewer mistakes and live happier lives. But it’s just as easy to see the drawbacks. As the settling-down sputters along for the “emerging adults,” things can get precarious for the rest of us. Parents are helping pay bills they never counted on paying, and social institutions are missing out on young people contributing to productivity and growth. Of course, the recession complicates things, and even if every 20-something were ready to skip the “emerging” moratorium and act like a grown-up, there wouldn’t necessarily be jobs for them all. So we’re caught in a weird moment, unsure whether to allow young people to keep exploring and questioning or to cut them off and tell them just to find something, anything, to put food on the table and get on with their lives."

Santa Barbara, California

2010-08-05T10:02:00.012-05:00

A couple weeks ago Kyle and I went to Santa Barbara for my cousin's wedding. After spending several days with my family at the beach and at the wedding we drove north up Highway 1. We stopped in San Luis Obispo, Big Sur, Carmel, Santa Cruz, and San Francisco.

The Santa Barbara Airport is tiny, mostly open-air, and beautiful.

La Super Rica. Delicious and authentic tacos, horchata, tortillas, etc.

The whole place is tiny with a tented teal patio for dining.

Santa Barbara Beach

Downtown Santa Barbara

Family at the Groom's Dinner

Flight of local beer

Farmer's market

Megan and Matt's Wedding

Watermelon Margarita Slices

2010-07-12T23:16:00.005-05:00

We had a cookout on our patio for the 4th of July and I knew I wanted to keep it pretty classic with burgers, potato salad, corn on the cob, ruffles and chip dip, and watermelon. Somewhere online I had read about poking a funnel into a watermelon and pouring in vodka. This sounded so incredible. However, I found an ever better recipe via my favorite lady, Martha Stewart. You basically turn a slice of watermelon into a margarita. And they were so good! Totally going to be my new summer party staple. I sort of followed her recipe...I never really measure anything so I guess I just used it as a guide line. Also, I would make the simple syrup the day before and let it cool, then mix the liquor with it later. It doesn't make sense to heat it all up on the stove like the recipe calls for. Put the slices in gallon sized plastic freezer bags while everything is marinating. After you take the fruit out, pour off all the delicious, boozy juice to drink later. Mmm...this will probably revolutionize your summer.

It's been awhile

2010-07-05T12:02:00.004-05:00

I totally abandoned my Wednesday baking ritual as you could probably tell. I still have been cooking and baking but I took a little break from the internet. It is fun to photo-document what I make and put the recipes online because if anything, I know where to look everything up in the future. So, hopefully, I can get in the swing of updating this thing again. Also, I have been extremely busy with work and now that it is summer, I have a lot of pool time I have to get in!

My birthday was a couple months ago and I got some great cookbooks from my mom...

Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar

The great thing about vegan cookie dough is that you can eat as much as you want! Also, I was carrying a plate of just baked gingersnaps over to my friend's house for a cookout and the cookies caught the eye of a man out walking with his friends--He said he had to have one and then gave me a dollar. Hah! My first official sale!

The Sweet Life in Paris: Delicious Adventures in the World's Most Glorious - and Perplexing - City
I devoured this book. It was amazing. David Lebovitz has a great sense of humor and I love his observations about Paris, it's people, and food. Between chapters are recipes for things like Cinnamon Meringue with Espresso Caramel Ice Cream, Chocolate Sauce, and Candied Almonds. And, yes, that is one recipe. I love this man.

Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone

I have to admit I haven't actually made anything from the cookbook yet, but once I do it's going to be great! So many vegetarian cookbooks are just full of side dish recipes for vegetables and this one has really great complete meal recipes.

Tea Time Cupcakes

2010-04-21T15:55:00.014-05:00

One of my favorite things is sipping tea while snacking on some juicy strawberries. Earl grey tea seems to be making it's way into a lot of popular dessert recipes and I wanted to get in on the action. I decided I would make strawberry cupcakes and top them with a creamy earl grey frosting. Surprisingly, it was really hard to find a recipe for strawberry cupcakes. I found a lot of recipes using box cake mix and jello mix, which is kind of gross and not what I was looking for. The other recipes where just vanilla cupcakes with strawberry frosting. After searching around some more, I decided to use a vanilla cupcake recipe and alter it.

Alright, so how did they turn out? Just okay. The cupcakes don't taste like earl grey tea at all. They are very faintly strawberry, not what I had planned. I didn't write this into the recipe because it didn't end up making a difference; I thought if I "juiced" some of the strawberries through a fine mesh sieve, it would make the batter pink and taste more like strawberry. I think I would have had to add a lot of juice to make this actually work and I don't know how that would affect the liquid ratios in the recipe. The cupcakes do taste really good, but just not as flavorful as I wanted them to be. The texture turned out well, the tops are kind of crunchy and the insides are fluffy and moist.

Okay, on to my next "fail": The frosting. I don't really like butter cream. Why did I decide to make it today? I think I was feeling kind of lazy and butter cream seemed to be the answer. My mixer isn't working properly, so the classic 7 Minute frosting was out because I knew my arm would fall off if I tried to whip it to perfection by hand. Anyway, I made the frosting with butter, a little whole milk, powdered sugar, a very small pinch of salt, vanilla, and some pink gel food coloring. It looked awesome, super smooth and creamy. It was kind of too sweet for my taste though. So then I added some earl grey tea and some finely chopped strawberries. I folded them in and something terrible happened. I don't know exactly what though. The frosting kind of...broke. I don't know if it started separating because I over whipped it, or if I should have whipped it more after adding the strawberries, or even if the liquid from the strawberries didn't incorporate. After mixing and tasting and adding and tasting, I feel totally sick. I over did it. And now I have 22 cupcakes and a ton of gross looking butter cream. Ugh.

a nice close up of my gross looking frosting

Tea Time Cupcakes
makes 24 cupcakes

Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
3/4 cup finely diced strawberries
1/2 tablespoon finely ground earl grey tea (I used one teabag)
1 1/4 cups whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line cupcake tin with paper liners.

2. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and tea together in a medium bowl.

3. In a separate, larger bowl, cream the butter. Gradually add the sugar, creaming until light and fluffy.

4. Add the eggs one at a time, and beat well after each addition. Fold in strawberries.

5. In a small bowl, combine the milk and vanilla.

6. To the butter mixture, add about one quarter of the flour mixture and mix well. Add about one quarter of the milk mixture and mix well. Continue alternating the flour mixture and milk mixture, beating after each addition until smooth.

7. Pour the batter into the cupcake tins. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the cake springs back when touched.

8. Remove from oven and let cool for about 10 minutes, then turn the cupcakes out of the tins and onto a rack to finish cooling completely.

Photographs

2010-04-16T20:57:00.002-05:00

I was just checking Design*Sponge and reading a photographer's recipe for sangria. There was a link to his blog and I just saw these pictures of a couple who has been married for 60 years. They are too much. I don't usually get all soft on the internet, but look at how sweet these are! AHH!

Vegan Banana Quinoa Muffins

2010-04-14T15:48:00.009-05:00

Yesterday I made muffins. This recipe for quinoa muffins looked interesting but a little boring. I added the use of whole wheat flour and made them vegan with a few changes. The muffins came out really moist and dense. The quinoa made them kind of nutty, which is awesome with the banana.

This photo is from the original recipe, with rasins and all purpose flour.
This gives you a good idea of the texture.
image from MSLO

This recipe made a lot of muffins, so after scooping the batter into muffin liners, I froze some of the un-cooked muffins. Every time I make something and tell Kyle it is in the freezer, we both have to laugh a little bit, because I am serious, it is an obsession. It is so easy to bake off a few goodies at a time, they just need a few minutes longer in the oven. Wrap the frozen muffins tightly and bake within a month or two so they don't get freezer burnt.

Also, I made the quinoa the night before, so it was cool when I mixed the ingredients together. This seemed easier and made more sense to me. I made a little extra and made awesome veggie burgers. Instead of making a yogurt sauce, I crumbed some feta into the mixture.

Something about baking vegan has been really fun, like a science experiment. So far, all of my recipe "improvements" have turned out great. It's also nice to know that I can share all of these treats with all my friends no matter what their eating habits.

Sorry, no photos...I was too concentrated on the muffins.

Vegan Banana Quinoa Muffins
makes 18 muffins

Ingredients
1 cup quinoa, rinsed
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup packed dark-brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (or cinnamon)
2 very ripe bananas, mashed
3/4 cup soy milk
1/4 cup coarsely chopped pecans
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium saucepan, bring quinoa and 1 cup water to a boil. Reduce to a simmer; cover, and cook until water has been absorbed and quinoa is tender, 11 to 13 minutes
Meanwhile, line muffins tins with paper liners. In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, sugar, baking powder, salt, pecans, pumpkin pie spice, and 2 cups cooked quinoa; reserve any leftover quinoa for another use.
In a small bowl, whisk together oil, soy milk, mashed banana, and vanilla. Add milk mixture to flour mixture, and stir just until combined; divide batter among prepared muffin cups.
Bake until toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool muffins in pan, 5 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container up to 5 days.

The bike is back!

2010-03-31T18:07:00.010-05:00

Today's to-do list: bake biscuits, do a couple loads of laundry, and get an Illinois driver's license. However, it was supposed to get up to 80 degrees and I realized it would be insane to go sit at the DMV all day. So I took a much needed adventure around Chicago.

After a little bike maintenance (I hadn't ridden since November!) I met Kyle and some of his friends from work for lunch in the West Loop.

Then, I rode to Oz Park, where I sat on a hill in the sun and watched a high school baseball game--the lions won! There is a Lush store near by so I went there and bought some soap that smells exactly like the Sticky Lemon Rolls I just made. After a little bit more wandering in and out of stores, passively looking for a pair of Toms, I started my ride home. The Map Room is really close to my house and for some reason, I hardly ever go in. Riding past, I realized I should treat myself to a beer. I asked the bartender for something citrusy and un-filtered. She poured me the Schneider Wiesen Edel-Weisse and it was perfect!

I rode 8.6 miles today. It felt awesome. I kind of forgot how obsessed with my bike I am. This morning I was trying to set up my camera on a trash can to take a photo of me and my bike, luckily my landlord was walking by and helped me out; he thought it was pretty funny I wanted to take a picture in the alley.

When I got home, I opened a few more windows in our apartment. Thurston and Lucy couldn't be happier.

In a little while Kyle and I are meeting some friends for dinner at Costa Rican restaurant with a huge patio. Ahh, what a great start to spring.

Sticky Lemon Rolls

2010-03-27T13:14:00.003-05:00

This recipe for Sticky Lemon Rolls was posted on The Kitchn last week and I have had the tab open on my browser ever since. I finally got around to making these rolls last night and they just came out of the oven a few minutes ago. This recipe was great because had never made cinnamon rolls before and I am totally crazy for lemon. They came out with the perfect texture--really fluffy and slightly crunchy on the top and bottom. When adding the powdered sugar for the glaze I just did it to taste, so the glaze wouldn't be too sweet. Also, I decided to do everything by hand and it was fun. My fancy mixer is great, but kneeding dough to perfection is very satisfying!

Sticky Lemon Rolls with Lemon Cream Cheese Glaze
Makes 12 large breakfast rolls

Lemon Roll Dough
1 envelope (0.25 ounces, or 2 1/2 teaspoons) yeast 
3/4 cup milk, warmed to about 100°F or warm but not hot on your wrist
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, very soft
1/4 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 lemons, zested
2 eggs

Sticky Lemon Filling
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon freshly-ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger
2 lemons, zested and juiced
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, very soft

Lemon Cream Cheese Glaze
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 lemon, zested and juiced

In the bowl of a stand mixer sprinkle the yeast over the warmed milk and let it sit for a couple minutes. With the mixer paddle, stir in the softened butter, sugar, vanilla, and one cup of the flour. Stir in the salt, nutmeg, and lemon zest. Stir in the eggs and enough of the remaining flour to make a soft yet sticky dough.

Switch to the dough hook and knead for about 5 minutes, or until the dough is elastic and pliable.

(If you do not have a stand mixer, stir together the ingredients by hand, then turn the soft dough out onto a lightly floured countertop. Knead the dough by hand for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the dough is smooth, pliable, and stretchy.)

Spray the top of the dough with vegetable oil, and turn the dough over so it is coated in oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a towel and let the dough rise until nearly doubled - about an hour.

In a small bowl, mix the sugar with the nutmeg and ginger, then work in the lemon zest with the tips of your fingers until the sugar resembles wet, soft sand. Stir in the juice of 1 lemon. (Reserve the juice of the second lemon for the glaze.)

Lightly grease a 13x9 inch baking dish with baking spray or butter. On a floured surface pat the dough out into a large yet still thick rectangle — about 10x15 inches. Spread evenly with the softened butter, then pour and spread the lemon-sugar mixture over top. Roll the dough up tightly, starting from the top long end. Cut the long dough roll into 12 even rolls, and place them, cut side up, in the prepared baking dish.

Cover the rolls with a towel and let them rise for an hour or until puffy and nearly doubled. (You can also refrigerate the rolls at this point. Cover the pan tightly with plastic wrap, and place it in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours. When you are ready to bake the rolls, remove the pan from the fridge, and let them rise for an hour.)

Heat the oven to 350°F. Place the risen rolls in the oven and bake for 35 minutes or until a thermometer inserted into a center roll reads 190°F.

Blueberry & Buttermilk Tart

2010-03-10T20:36:00.003-06:00

My first tart!

This was so satisfying because it worked. And it is delicious! Today was the first day of the year that the heat was off and a window was open. The fact that I was making this summery tart made the experience even better. The recipe can be found here. I didn't modify the recipe, however, I mixed everything by hand (let the butter soften first); there was no point in hauling my heavy mixer out for three minutes of mixing. When making the tart I totally forgot to build the crust up around the edges, so I was really worried the custard was going to seep to the bottom of the tart mess everything up but it turned out just fine.

Granola No-Bake Balls

2010-03-09T19:45:00.008-06:00

While looking for something to bake tomorrow I found this simple recipe for peanut-butter granola balls. We have some almond butter so I decided to take a little inspiration from the Martha Stewart recipe and whip up a snack. I was winging it so I didn't measure anything out, everything is approximate but it should still work fine.

photo from MSLO

Granola No-Bake Balls

3/4 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1 heaping tablespoon of each: ground flax seeds, wheat germ, unsweetened coconut, unsalted sunflower seeds, roughly chopped almonds
2 tablespoons Earth Balance (vegan) butter
2 tablespoons agave nectar
1 tablespoons maple syrup
1/3 cup almond butter
just a tiny pinch of salt
1/4 scant cup dried cherries

Toast all dry ingredients on a rimmed baking sheet in the oven (better yet, the toaster oven!) at 400 degrees. Keep a close eye on them, the toasting time will vary depending on how crowded the pan is. Remove when lightly browned.

Combine butter, sweeteners, almond butter, and salt in a small sauce pan. Warm on low heat until just melted, while stirring to combine. Add dry, toasted ingredients and dried cherries slowly into liquids, stirring to check consistency. When the mixture is sticky and no liquid remains at the bottom of the pan spoon into individual paper muffin liners. Put in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to let the balls cool and set up.

I have a pantry full of things that I could throw in next time and make something a little different...chocolate chips and cherries? Pecans and blueberries?

Vegan Cranberry-Cornmeal Quick Bread

2010-03-03T09:25:00.007-06:00

This weekend I am going to New York and finally get to visit to Babycakes! Kyle and I will be visiting some great people and my personal goal is to eat and drink my way through Brooklyn. I don't think it should be hard; we have some great places lined up to try.

My friend Brenna will be checking on our crazy cats over the weekend and I wanted to bake something to share with her. I started with this recipe from Epicurious but knew I wanted to make it so Betsy, who has dairy allergies, could eat it as well. Then I realized that I should really just go all the way and make it vegan. This was my first attempt to take a conventional recipe and replace multiple dairy ingredients to make it vegan. So here is the new and improved recipe!

Vegan Cranberry-Cornmeal Quick Bread
makes 2 loaves

Nonstick vegetable oil spray
2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups cornmeal
2 tablespoons wheat germ
1 cup sugar
3 teaspoons salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
2 1/2 cups soymilk "buttermilk", add 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar and let sit for 5 minutes to make soy-buttermilk
1 cup Earth Balance, melted
1 cup pure maple syrup
1 very ripe banana, mashed
2 tablespoons flax seeds plus 6 tablespoons water, whisk in bowl with fork
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
1 1/2 cups dried cranberries
raw sugar for sprinkling tops of loaves

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Spray 2 9x5x3-inch metal loaf pans with nonstick spray. Whisk both flours, cornmeal, wheat germ, sugar, salt, and baking powder in large bowl. Whisk soy-buttermilk, melted "butter", maple syrup, mashed banana, flax seed paste, and extract in medium bowl. Combine liquids with flour mixture; stir just until blended. Stir in chopped pecans and cranberries. Spoon batter into pans. Sprinkle tops of loaves with raw sugar.

Bake bread until top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into center of bread comes out clean, tenting bread loosely with foil if browning too quickly, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Cool in pan on rack 20 minutes. Turn out onto wire rack; cool.

For more information on vegan baking replacements look at the Post Punk Kitchen

Rosemary Crackers

2010-02-24T18:28:00.003-06:00

For the second week of my Bakeshop Wednesday project I really wanted to make a whole wheat sourdough. However, I forgot to look at the recipe before I went to Whole Foods yesterday. I need to get some rye flour and maybe attempt the bread next week. I looked at recipes all day trying to find one that I had all the ingredients for because I didn't want to go back to the store. While having tea at my friend Betsy's house I was looking though a cook book she had all about pizza and bread. I found a super simple cracker recipe. I kind of scribbled the recipe down and don't remember the name of the cook book, but since I changed a few things anyway I think it's okay.

Delicious Simple Crackers

10.5 ounces of all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons sunflower oil
6 tablespoons olive oil
8 tablespoons luke warm water
rosemary
sea salt
Italian seasoning mix (mine has oregano, red pepper flakes, basil, garlic powder, etc.)

Mix flour, oils, water, and a good pinch of all the seasonings in a large bowl. Mix up with your hands until incorporated. Transfer dough to work surface and knead until smooth. The dough should be oily enough that it doesn't stick, but add flour to your work surface if you need it. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Roll out dough as thin as possible (I probably could have rolled mine even thinner). Sprinkle with more seasonings and cut into "cracker sized" pieces. I lightly sprayed a baking sheet with olive oil spray then laid all the crackers on the sheet. Bake for 5-6 minutes; mine didn't brown very much. Transfer to wire rack to cool.

Somehow I had a great deal of self-control and didn't eat all of the crackers (with hummus) before Kyle got home. I could have finished all of them and pretended the whole thing never happened. However, these things are so good I wanted to share them. They are softer than crackers you would buy at the store...I might try using the pizza stone next time and that might make the texture different. Also, I might have to try a mix of whole wheat flour and some sesame seeds. It will be pretty amazing if these crackers make it another 15 minutes in our apartment.

Sourdough: trial one

2010-02-17T17:57:00.007-06:00

Every Wednesday I am going to bake something I have never made before. This week I started with a very basic sourdough. I got a sourdough starter from a friend and have been feeding it for several days. Everything seemed to be going well but my loaf turned out really flat. It has a good texture but just didn't hold it's shape very well. Also, I didn't slash the dough deep enough so it cracked, which I think contributed to it's flatness. Anyway, it's my first loaf of sourdough and I am proud of it even if it's kind of ugly.

Next week I might try a seeded whole wheat sourdough. I need to do some research on how the dough will hold it's shape better and I might get better results.

Kyle brought me these flowers this weekend. I think this little shelf was made just for them--the cats can't reach it!

Brenna came over this morning for banana-pecan pancakes; I added flax seed and wheat germ which turned out really well and made me feel a little better about cake for breakfast. I bought this delicious butter pecan syrup it was awesome with the pancakes.

Valentine's Day

2010-02-14T22:41:00.002-06:00

I am pretty sure this is our first "family portrait".

Happy Valentine's Day. We celebrated with some beautiful peonies, vegetable tempura, and sweet potato rolls.

Can cupcakes be "good for you"?

2010-02-09T15:36:00.003-06:00

Okay, so I am pretty sure these aren't a health food but they are much better for you than the traditional cupcake. I got this recipe for Zucchini Ginger Cupcakes from Epicurious several years ago and it is awesome. It calls for honey instead of sugar and instead of butter or milk you use olive oil--however, I used a mix of olive oil and canola oil because I didn't want the olive oil flavor to take over. The zucchini makes these cupcakes really moist, too. Because I still don't really understand the difference between muffins and cupcakes, I put raw sugar on the tops of half of the batch (aka muffins) and made cream cheese frosting for the other half (aka cupcakes). The cupcake liners I used are almost mini sized, so while the second batch was baking I sat in front of my mixer full of frosting and ate one, or two, too many...while they were still warm!! But, hey, they are full of veggies?! You could probably make these vegan really easily by using agave nectar and a mashed banana instead eggs.

In other news, it has been snowing since 5:30 this morning!

January Cookout

2010-01-31T19:24:00.003-06:00

Kyle and I had our friends Sage and Sarah over for a little summertime meal this weekend. I have been loving eating soup and wintry things but the "cookout" was awesome! Totally needed this time of year. Sage and Sarah brought over some barbecued seitan ribs. We also had red pepper black bean burgers, cilantro-lime cabbage, and roasted potato crisps with paprika. For dessert we had strawberries with nutella! So delicious!

Today we went to the new location of Filter (a much needed addition to Wicker Park). While walking there we found an area of Bucktown we had never really explored. We made plans to go back to Jane's for dinner and it was great! The restaurant was really beautiful inside--rustic wood beam ceiling, exposed brick walls, and really tiny. We shared corn chowder, Kyle had their garden burger and I had an angel hair pasta with spinach and chipotle pesto. Our meal was perfect and we both are excited to bring some friends back and share it with them.

Thurston

2010-01-27T13:06:00.000-06:00

Brownies!

2010-01-26T19:02:00.003-06:00

I never make brownies. Instead it is always cookies...and sometimes cupcakes. While looking at Kate Miss' blog (she makes these amazing necklaces), I found a brownie recipe she linked to. I realized I had everything I needed in my fridge and decided it was brownie time.

Here is the slightly altered brownie recipe from (Inside A Black Apple)

You need: mixing bowl, microwave proof dish, parchment, and an 8" sq. baking dish

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter (I used Earth Balance, so my friend Betsy with dairy allergies can eat them, too!)
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1 cup White Sugar (I used Evaporated cane juice)
2 large eggs
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup cocoa
Pinch salt
Tbsp Vanilla (I really like vanilla so I totally eyeballed this one)
Also--I added a small handful of dark chocolate chips...maybe half a cup? And about 1/4 cup of unsweetned shredded coconut. I have a reaaally hard time not tampering with recipes!

1. Preheat Oven to 390 (I have never baked anything at such a strange temperature--I set my oven on 375 and we will see what happens!)
2. Melt butter in microwave
3. Pour melted butter into mixing bowl, then add sugars. Mix well.
4. Add eggs, flour, cocoa, salt, and generous tablespoon-splash of vanilla, and mix well.
5. Line a glass baking dish with parchment, pour in batter, and pop in oven.
6. Bake 20-25 minutes, test with a toothpick in the center to see if they are done.
7. Cool until you can't stand it any longer. Let out a little wimper when you realize you should have baked brownies last week when you still had Jeni's salty carmel ice cream.

So now I remember that I don't make brownies because a) I love to lick the bowl b) they are delicious and I have no self control.

Vegetable Stock

2010-01-20T15:32:00.012-06:00

I had the day off today so, I set out to make vegetable stock. We have been using a lot of stock to make soups this winter--I have no doubt homemade stock will make homemade soup taste even better!

Fresh thyme, basil, and parsley

I coarsely chopped onions, garlic, shallot, carrots, and celery. To give the stock a little more depth of flavor, I sauteed the veggies in olive oil before covering completely with filtered water. Then, I just let it all simmer for about an hour and a half.

After the stock cooled for awhile I filtered it through cheese cloth and packaged it pint containers so I will have portions in the freezer. I think they should last 3 months or so?

While the stock was simmering, I decided to make some muffins. The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook has a simple muffin recipe that gives measurements to add whatever fruits or nuts you want. I decided to combine to delicious classics and make Blueberry Lemon Poppyseed muffins. I also added a little bit of flax seed meal just because it's good for you! The last batch I decided to top with a dollop of blueberry jam. I wish I would have though of it sooner; the muffins with the jam look so beautiful!

Sweet Dreams

2010-01-07T19:36:00.001-06:00

Something about our bedroom just looked so soft and pretty today, so I decided to take photos. The bedroom is definitely the most feminine room in the house. This is the first real "grown-up" bedroom I have had. I mean that growing up, and even in college, I literally had all of my possessions in my room because it was my only domain. I love not having a bunch of buzzing and glowing electronics (computer, TV, stereo...), it makes the room so much more peaceful. One of my favorite things to dig for at thrift store is vintage floral bedding, so our bed is full of it. I would love to find some old, super soft pin-striped sheets some day.

Brunch

2010-01-01T15:56:00.001-06:00

My friend's mom was in town this week so we all went to a Swedish breakfast place up north. It took us almost an hour to get there but it was so worth it. Tre Kronor was small and cheery and really delicous. Sometimes the classic breakfast of eggs, toast, and potatoes can be really slopped-up and greasy but theirs was perfect. I also shared a plate of pancakes, which were really more like crepes and were served with lingonberry jam--my favorite!! Next door this is great shop full of beautiful Scandinavian housewares.

Today, Kyle and I both have the day off, so we went out to brunch at Flo (their website really doesn't do the place justice). I should have taken a photo of the restaurant; everything was great. I had the polenta hash with sauteed veggies and poached eggs that were literally swimming in poblano sauce. To drink I had a super spicy homemade bloody mary. Kyle had a breakfast with black beans, scrabbled eggs, pico de gallo, and lots of cheese.

We were both stuffed but when I saw Hoosier Mama Pie Company I couldn't just pass by. Being a sucker for sweets, I ordered a house coffee and a huge slice of chocolate cream pie. Their store is tiny, but really perfect. The atmosphere is very 1950's kitchen in the most charming way. Also, I had a really hard time leaving the precious little mug I drank out of.

Thursday Morning

2009-12-10T10:51:00.001-06:00

It is cold and sunny in Chicago today. The light in my kitchen was really beautiful. My windows are frozen over, so it looks like I am living in an igloo.

Experimentation

2009-12-02T17:01:00.002-06:00

I had the day off today and decided to experiment with a couple classic recipes.

My friend Betsy is having a holiday party this weekend I wanted to make cookies. I baked some today and am saving some to bake on Saturday. To make the usual chocolate chip cookies a little more festive I added some cocoa powder and peppermint. They taste delicious!! However, next time I am going to add more cocoa, they aren't quite as dark as I wanted them to be.

My mom eats gluten-free and I am going home for the holidays. I want to make something for my family when I go home, so tonight I am trying polenta lasagna. I chopped up some baby portobellos and combined them with roasted garlic pasta sauce and a can of tomatoes. Then I lightly roasted some zuchini in the oven. I also layered spinach in with the ricotta mix and then covered everything with lots of cheese! Hopefully the polenta's texture is a nice compliment to the usual lasagna components.

Success!

2009-11-29T12:46:00.001-06:00

My Grandma's china ready to go the night before.

Thanksgiving was awesome. All of our food was delicious! It was the first time in our new apartment that we had all the burners on the stove full and the oven packed. Also, everything we made was vegetarian and most of it was dairy-free. We had just enough chairs and stools to seat everyone in our little place.

Stuffing (my first attempt and it was great!), mushroom gravy, a mountain of roasted garlic and chive mashed potatoes, squash soup with gruyere crostini.

Yams, cranberry-pear sauce, crackers and veggies.

Sweet onions, yams, green beans with crispy shallots, and white bean-quinoa loaf.

My plate totally loaded!

Thanksgiving preparations

2009-11-22T16:00:00.001-06:00

I have the Thanksgiving menu all planned out and I have three days in a row off from work! I wasn't planning on making any decorations but Betsy said that it would be very out of character for me to not come up with something. I was able to create decorations for our table and the only thing I bought were a few white pumpkins. My dad brought me some twine when he visited and I almost sent it back with him because I don't really need more crap laying around my house. However, look what I came up with! My neighbor had a huge branch come down in a wind storm a couple weeks ago so I snagged from twigs from her curb, cut out some paper leaves, and wrapped little glass jars with the twine and put votives inside. I think it looks pretty good for my first "tablescape"!

If I feel like it after dinner I might make some pie crust dough and save it in the freezer for the week. I have never actually made a pie before so I hope it turns out well!

Milwaukee

2009-11-21T22:54:00.001-06:00

Kyle and I took a day-trip on the Megabus today to Milwaukee.

The city was unbelievably beautiful! So many great buildings. We spent a lot of time in the art museum just enjoying the light-filled space.

I went to the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design for a pre-college program and hadn't been back since. They had this bazaar gallery that was totally made for me, full of vintage kitchens!!

There was also a great city market that reminded us both of the North Market in Columbus. Kyle and I stuck to our respective usuals--Mediterranean food and Mexican food.

And surprisingly, in a town full of breweries, the only beer we consumed was Ethiopian.

Belly Shack

2009-11-19T21:30:00.000-06:00

Last weekend I tried Belly Shack for the first time. I was really skeptical of it...Puerto Rican/Korean food? And nothing can replace the delicious Vella Cafe. However, it really surprised me! I had quinoa lettuce wraps with roasted portobello mushrooms and a crunchy apple slaw. I tried bites of the Asian meatball sandwich and the tofu plantian sandwich. They have soft-serve and I ordered the caramel with cinnamon. Seriously, the best soft-serve ever. The decor was cheesy...kind of Chipotle industrial but colder and darker. Anyway, the food was so much better than I expected and it is nice to have more reasonably priced food close to my house.

Tea-time and card games. It's starting to get cold!

Julius Shulman Film

2009-11-18T22:29:00.000-06:00

The film Visual Acoustics, a documentary about mid-century architectural photographer Julius Shulman is opening this week in Chicago. I have a few days off for Thanksgiving and I definitely want to see the film in my time off.

Foam

2009-11-15T21:19:00.000-06:00

(photo via kenliu)

One of my favorite things to do at work is make beautiful foam. Steaming milk is so satisfying and the result is like a cloud. I always want frothy milk to top my coffee at home but don't know how to get the same results. On Apartment Therapy today there is a post about how to make foam at home. I wonder if it will work as well with soy milk? Basically all you do it shake up some milk in a jar with a lid, then remove the lid, and microwave the milk until it's warm.

(photo via the kitchn)

2009-11-12T22:40:00.000-06:00

assorted photos I have saved to my computer because they are beautiful.
(via the selby, apartment therapy, and other places?)

Wednesday

2009-11-11T22:15:00.000-06:00

I found a girl carrying the moon on her back.

And then I made scones.

Collegiate Columbus

2009-11-10T23:47:00.000-06:00

I was catching up on Columbus news and I found some awesome photos of the Ohio State campus in the '60s.

Tuesday morning

2009-11-10T23:07:00.000-06:00

My First Thanksgiving

2009-11-04T12:06:00.000-06:00

Kyle and I are going to host Thanksgiving at our apartment this year. I am so excited to plan the menu. I think Thanksgiving food can be kind of bland (turkey) or gross (candied yams), but I love mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, pie, etc. I am excited to make everything a little "fresher" than usual. Also, I am going to make a veggie loaf instead of a turkey. The idea of a tofu loaf really doesn't excite me so I wanted to come up with something that would be really delicious. I talked to one of my friends at work and she helped me come up with a quinoa white bean loaf. I am going to saute onion, carrots, celery, garlic, and mushrooms. For gravy I think I will something really rich like a red wine mushroom gravy. The loaf should be protein heavy and not too starchy to serve with potatoes. Another of my friends helped me further create the loaf recipe by telling me about an online Loaf Generator. I entered in ingredients for the protein, carbohydrate, liquid, etc. and here is the recipe that I will use this as a guideline for ratios the ingredients.

Thanksgiving loaf

Ingredients:

1/2 cup pine nuts
2 TB olive oil
One onion, diced
One large garlic clove, minced
One large carrot, peeled and grated
Two celery ribs, diced
One cup mushrooms, cleaned and chopped
2 cups cooked white beans
1 cup cooked quinoa
1/4 to 1/2 cup vegetable broth, as needed
1 heaping TB flaxseed meal
1 tsp. dried basil
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
1/4 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. dried rosemary
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 tsp. salt

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350º. Spray a loaf pan or 8x8 square baking pan with nonstick spray and set aside (an 8x8 pan makes a crisper loaf).

Grind the pine nuts into a coarse meal using a food processor or spice/coffee grinder. Place in a large mixing bowl and set aside.

Sauté any vegetables you've chosen in the olive oil until soft. Add to the large mixing bowl along with all the remaining ingredients. Mix and mash together well, adding only as much liquid as needed to create a soft, moist loaf that holds together and is not runny (you may not need to add any liquid if the grains and protein are very moist). Add more binder/carbohydrate as needed if the loaf seems too wet.

Press mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until cooked through.

Let the loaf cool in the pan for 10 to 15 minutes, then turn out onto a plate or platter and slice. Serve with potatoes, vegetables, and vegetarian gravy, if desired.

Cold leftover slices of Thanksgiving loaf make a great sandwich filling.

Facebook Headquarters

2009-10-28T20:11:00.000-05:00

Studio O+A recently completed a new headquarters for Facebook. It looks like an awesome place to work, so many relaxed seating areas and little vignettes. It's funny because I think the design of their website is pretty underwhelming and sterile but this office is beautiful!

Read more about it here or here.

"My Parents Were Awesome"

2009-10-27T15:51:00.000-05:00

Another blog with great old photos.

And here is one of my preppy parents (and me!) in pastel circa 1987.

Wish list

2009-10-19T23:29:00.001-05:00

This apple slicer from the MoMA Store. I love when tools are so sculptural.
Vintage alarm clocks are so much more attractive than my digital clock. Plus, this clock lights up before it rings so it wakes you up more gently. Would that actually work? Who knows, but it is so charming!
Japanese masking tape in so many beautiful colors and patterns. Who knows what kinds of things I could find to tape up around my apartment!

Gruyere and Herb Scones

2009-10-16T10:25:00.000-05:00

This summer I would buy cheddar and herb scones from a bakery at the Wicker Park farmer's market. Having a savory baked good is so delicious and a nice change for breakfast. I was so excited to see this similar recipe posted on Design*Sponge this morning! I see these scones in my future.

Photo booth

2009-10-10T23:33:00.000-05:00

These photos are all from a collection of old photo booth photos found here. I don't know what makes them so charming, but something about photo booths is just so beautiful. Especially when the women in the photos are wearing red lipstick or little kids are giving each other bunny ears. I think part of what makes them so great is that when they were taken, these people never thought they would be shared like this. The expressions are so intimate, I love it.

Why so cold?

2009-10-10T22:58:00.001-05:00

So long summer

2009-10-01T22:55:00.000-05:00

I thought I would post a few pictures from this summer. I graduated from college, moved to Chicago, was jobless for two months (it was like being on long term vacation), and had an incredible amount of time to cook, bake, and ride my bike. Here are a few photos from along the way.

President Denny Griffith's studio in Columbus, Ohio.A very whirlwind graduation.

Moving out of Columbus.

So many summer birthdays.

4th of July cookout.

I will really miss summer, this one was so mild! However, I am excited for fall. We just got apple cider today at work and I think some veggie chili and cornbread is due soon! Riding my bike in the morning is already cold...I have to find where I packed away my gloves. Anyway, I am enjoying the cool weather and drinking hot chai again.

We finally have internet!!

2009-09-28T12:43:00.001-05:00

After living in Chicago for 4 months, we finally got internet installed! Hopefully, I will be able to update more frequently now.

I recently went home for my cousin Heather's wedding. The reception was on my uncle's farm in southern Kansas. It turned out to be a beautiful day and the farm was the perfect setting.

Late night pita

2009-07-08T11:13:00.000-05:00

This recipe is from The Easy Way to Artisan Breads & Pastries by Avner Laskin.

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups warm water
1 tablespoon dry yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
3 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
additional flour for assorted tasks

prep time: 20 minutes
resting time: 1 hour
rising time: 30 minutes
baking time: 5 minutes
makes: 10 pitas

1. In the bowl of a standing electric mixer with the dough hook attached, mix the water, yeast, sugar, and flour at low speed for 5 minutes. With the machine running, add the salt, switch to medium speed, and continue kneading for 10 minutes.

2. Place the dough in a floured bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rest for 1 hour. (My apartment is never warm enough for bread to rise, so put it in a sunny window or set the bowl your stove top when you are preheating your oven.)

3. Transfer the dough to a floured work surface and flatten it out with the palm of your hand to remove air pockets (punch down). Divide the dough into 10 equal pieces and roll each piece into a ball. Let rise on a floured surface for 30 minutes.

4. In the meantime, place a pizza stone in the lower half of the oven and preheat to 450 degrees. (I bought my pizza stone at Target and it was cheap. I recommend it! The bottom of the bread is crispy and the top is nice and soft if you use the stone.)

5. Using a floured rolling pin, roll each ball into a 5- to 6-inch circle, 1/8 inch thick. Place the pitas on the pizza stone (you will have to bake in several batches) and bake for 5 minutes, or until puffed with light brown spots on top.

6. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack.

I made a double batch and froze half of the bread. It should keep for a couple of weeks. Just thaw at room temperature and warm the bread in the oven or toaster oven for a few minutes.

Also, this bread definitely needs some homemade hummus!

To do list

2009-07-08T00:08:00.000-05:00

Ways to keep busy when you are unemployed:
Go for a walk.
Make lasagna.
Check Craigslist compulsively.
Make granola.
Make pita bread.
Make hummus.
Get tired of being in a hot kitchen and go for another walk.
Make long lists of more things to cook.

Strawberry Nut Bread

2009-07-03T11:55:00.000-05:00

I wanted to share the recipe for Strawberry Nut Bread. I don't remember where I found this originally, but I have altered it slightly. This bread is so good because it is so moist and the little bits of strawberries are awesome.

Strawberry Nut Bread

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 cups sliced fresh strawberries (one 16 oz package)
4 eggs
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
1 cup coarsely chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Sift together the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. In a separate medium sized bowl, beat the eggs, then whisk in the oil and strawberries. Add to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Mix in the nuts. Grease 2 bread loaf pans and fill half full with batter. I like to sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on the tops of the loaves. Bake for about an hour or until the bread passes the toothpick test. Cool the bread in the pans on a wire rack for 20-30 minutes. The loaves should come out easily from the pans, then continue cooling on the racks. Eat a slice right away. Then come back in 10 minutes and try it again. Then maybe again after dinner...

I went to the Green City Market this week in Lincoln Park. It was kind of drizzling but I got garlic scapes! Also, I saw this hilarious "green roof" mini-van.

Ranger Cookies

2009-06-30T00:35:00.000-05:00

Today I made the perfect cookies. My grandma has been making Ranger Cookies since the 1950s but I just now got the recipe. When she moved into a new town a neighbor brought over a plate of cookies and this recipe.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Cream: 1 cup shortening
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
Add: 2 beaten eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
Mix ingredients together.
Sift and add: 2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Add and stir: 1 cup oatmeal
1 cup coconut (I used sweetened because it was all I could find)
1/2 cup nuts (I used pecans, but walnuts would also be good)
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
Drop on greased cookie sheet, bake for 12-15 minutes

I froze half of the dough because it made so much. Plus...everyone knows that the dough is the best part! You could also add raisins instead of chocolate chips. I am going to play around with dried blueberries or cranberries next time.

Tonight I went downtown and saw The Feelies play for free. The show was so much fun and it was very summertime. However, next time I am packing a picnic and some beer.