Archive for the ‘Cooking & Foodie’ Category

As many of you may know (through previous blog posts) I love the show The Bachelor/ette.   The reason isn’t the show per say… it’s because each week a group of friends get together for dinner, dessert, reality tv watching and catching up.  It’s become a great tradition. and something I will surely miss when I move to the UK.   With my love for the Bachelor, and treating my friends, I was excited to make cupcakes today for tomorrow’s get together.  Since the show is moving to the tropical location of Puerto Rico, I decided to make Pineapple Upsidedown Cupcakes!

Pineapple Upsidedown Cupcakes

These were super easy to make, and unlike last week, I didn’t set off an alarm once.  (For me, this is a major victory!)  All you have to do is use a basic yellow cake mix for your cupcake.  For the topping, mix brown sugar (1 C) and brown sugar (6 T), and melt.  Pour into cupcake pan pre-sprayed with cooking spray.  Place pineapple and half a cherry… pour batter into tins and cook for about 17 minutes.  Trust me, these are simply divine and a great addition to the Bachelor tomorrow!  I am excited….

n addition to learning how to make cupcakes to wow friends at TV watching get togethers (just wait to see what I make for the Super Bowl next week!), I am also jumping into the fad of juicing.  You see, I am trying to up my veggie and fruits in order to get more healthy (and to off set the cupcakes!).  This weekend I juiced kale, beets, carrots, ginger, grapefruit, oranges, cucumbers, apples and more.  The idea is up my intake of the “good stuff”, and after a week… I am feeling the difference.

Homemade Juice... Packed with Vitamins! YUM

I am going to keep this up in prep for wedding beautification.  I mean, you can’t go wrong with homemade juice of beets, carrots, ginger and apples…right?

As for other 2012 Resolution Updates:

Now that we are nearly down with January, it’s time to take a look a how I am doing with my resolutions.

• Reading More: I am at about 60% complete for the Paris Wife, and I am in LOVE.  It’s a great read.  I should tackle it by the end of this week, getting me ready for my next read (TBD) of 2012.
• Remembering to Sparkle: I am making a daily effort to compliment others, use good manners and try to contribute positive energy/juju into the world.  And you know what?  I believe it’s working.  It’s making my days go by more smoothly… and it’s bringing great joy to others!
• Learning New Recipes: Check and Check
• Keep on Dancin’: This week alone, I have worked out at the gym four times which is a major improvement for myself!  I’m planning on doing the same next week.  Also, I’ve been in touch with a dance studio to set up private lessons for Neal and I to take lessons in March.  Such fun!
• Welcome Changes with Grace & Open Arms:  Now, this resolution I have been struggling with.  My life (as I anticipated) has massive changes on the horizon which is causing me anxiety and stress. (Hence the helpfulness of working out and eating well.) The other thing that is helping me get through the stress?  My darling Neal.  He is supportive and thoughtful wanting to always make sure that although he isn’t here he is from afar.  One of the biggest things that I love about Neal is his ever constant (and unending) patience.  For that, he is remarkable.

How are you, my lovely blog reader, doing with your resolutions and promises for 2012?  Keep up the good work all!

Have a marvelous and wonderful week!

Cheers,

In an attempt to broaden my cooking and baking knowledge in 2012 as part of my resolutions, I have decided to attempt to try to learn a recipe a month.  For January, I decided to beat the winter blues by creating a cupcake filled with citrus zest and a delish topping…enter in the the Lemon Meringue cupcake.

This cupcake was a two-process from creating the batter from stratch to a lemon curd (the filling in the cupcake) plus a the meringue topping.  I will say that everything was clipping right along in this cupcake making process until I made the meringue.  Now the directions were fairly scary, including creating a simple sugar syrup then pouring into a egg white mixture without touching the grease free bowl or mixer.   I turned my back for about 10 seconds a low and behold the syrup was burnt.  When I added it to the egg white mixture,  it created sugar crystals…. wrong for this recipe.   Round One: The simple syrup won. I thought I would roll with the punches here, I added the meringue to the cupcakes to be broiled for a perfect tint.  I began doing the dishes and got fairly distracted (I do this when I am in the kitchen…) and low and behold (again) the topping on the cupcakes, well burned.  Awesome.  Just awesome.   Round Two: Meringue won.

From that moment I removed the meringue topping and started all over. This time, I won and took on this recipe with flying colors. Yes please, thank you very much.   Just in time for yesterday’s episode of ABC’s The Bachelor.  Perfection.

Lemon Meringue Cupcakes!

Next up?  Pineapple Upside Down Cupcakes.  Yummy!

PS- In case you are wondering, my current read is The Paris Wife by Paula McLain.  I am at 25% (thank you Kindle) and really enjoying it.

Neal is on his way back to the United Kingdom, on his first flight from Spokane to Seattle… then onto London then ending at Manchester.   It’s another 20 hours for Neal to get back to Manchester, making it another long travel day for him.  This time his departure flight was later in the afternoon, which was nice.  We woke up had breakfast and watched two episodes of Stephen Fry in America.  We headed out to the airport, where I had misty eyes (as always).  Then, as we were walking through the airport I saw a mom saying goodbye to her military son.  That hit me like a ton of bricks…. in my head I had to keep telling myself, “Suck it up. Suck it up Belinda.” And that is just what I am trying to do.

Needless to say, Neal’s time in the US was fantastic as always.  I apologize for my lack of blogging…. but sometimes it seems so silly to blog about Neal when he is sitting on the couch next to me.   So, now for an update.

This trip was filled with time in Seattle with friends and family and yummy eats.   I tried my first Indian cuisine (surprisingly sweet and delish), had massive burritos, made traditional British eats (like yorkshire pudding, welsh cakes and trifle for Christmas dessert.), and tested cupcake recipes.   Yes, Neal’s two week trip was filled with more than enough food, causing me to begin working out ASAP.

I will say, the trifle was one major accomplishment.  It is a layer dessert typically made with Jello (or known as jelly in the UK) with whipped cream and custard.  I was incredibly nervous as this dessert was the finale of Christmas dinner.  I wasn’t sure if it would be right, if Neal would approve or if anyone would even enjoy it.  Surprisingly enough it was fantastic.  Woo-hoo!

Homemade Christmas Trifle

I’ll post later this week about NYE celebrations, resolutions, visa application, wedding updates and more….

Until the next post, here is a photo a Neal tackling his massive burrito:

Neal and his massive burrito

Tea

Today, I woke up with a cough.  One of those coughs that prevent you from breathing.  And the only thing that kept me human throughout the day was a delish lemon-ginger tea.  It helped keep me going through the day… feel just a bit better.  Hopefully if I keep up the tea regimen I can get over this nasty cough sooner than later.

Today I am grateful for continuing my adventures in the kitchen project….and not to give up when tackling a new idea.  Recently, I was shopping in the grocery store when a funny looking object stood out at me in the produce section: the Butternut Squash.  My first thought, “I want to make this oddly shaped squash my bitch.” Yes, that’s what I thought.  Making the Butternut Squash my Bitch.

The Butternut Squash... Friend or Foe?

I looked for recipes, that were vegetarian and freezer friendly, so I was happy to come across what seemed to be an approachable Butternut Squash Soup recipe.  I gathered my ingredidents, and when I was setting them up for this shot…  I realized I made a major rookie error: I forgot my broth.  Awesome.  Just awesome.

Soup Ingredients, Minus the Broth

I knew I could just use water but add spices (curry and cumin)…so I just powered on.  And I began to peel the dreaded Butternut Squash… and those little buggers are tough to peel.  And when I say tough, I mean nearly impossible.  (If you attempt this recipe, or anything with Butternut Squash have a good peeler… mine was a casualty of the squash!)

Add everything together and allow to simmer for 45 minutes or until your squash is soft.  I cut my pieces too large, so I simmered almost an hour.

Simmering Squash

I took my awesome hand blender Neal bought me on his last trip… and I went after pureeing the soup.  I was determined not to let this soup (and damn squash) to get the very best of me.  Well, the soup and squash had another idea as it burnt out my motor of my hand blender.  Sparks flew, swear words were said and a silent prayer went up as I realized everything was okay.   I kept saying in my head, “This squash will NOT get the best of me. You will finish it!!”  So I resorted to my blender… it worked, but I don’t think the consistency was how the recipe intended the soup.  Alas.

Final score?  I think it was a tie.  The Squash got the best of me (and some of my kitchen equipment) but at least I made soup that will feed me for the next two weeks.

Today, I am grateful that I tried something new…that I have a cupboard full of food and a freezer of homemade soups.

I love fall. By far, it is my favorite time of year.  I love the colors and the crisp fall air.  I love apple orchards, pumpkin pie, ghosts and goblins, diving into new novels and chunky wool sweaters.

Another thing I love about fall? Rich and hearty soups with a side of home made bread.  Talk about comfort food! Last weekend, I gave it a shot.

Fresh Herb Dinner Rolls

Finished Dinner Roll: Perfect Comfort Food!

I paired the dinner rolls with some delish minestone soup.  I love fall, but I especially love all the yummy comfort foods!  My next recipes to try? Tortellini Soup  and Curried Pumpkin-Apple Soup, stay tuned for more fall comfort food blog posts!

Last week, Neal and I headed up to Greenbluff for some good ol’ country fun.  (Yes, this city girl knows how to play along in the country…) With me off from work on Monday, we had plans to bring our lunch, pick some apples all in preparation of a delish homemade pie. First, we went to the ever popular Harvest House but when we asked if they allowed for “U-Pick” on the weekends, we were told “Nope.”

Oh.  Our country dreams were soon getting smaller and smaller, as we pulled out the map of the Greenbluff region. On the map of over twenty farms and ranches, there were only three (Harvest House included) that was open daily.  We took a gamble on Walter’s Fruit Ranch, and boy oh boy were we happy.

Not only did they allow us to pick our own apples… “Hello Honeycrisp!” but everyone was just right friendly.  We felt welcomed and included at the farm, and we enjoyed our time there… (yes, even this stiletto wearing city girl.)

From a tractor ride through the orchard to explaining how to pick the perfect apple, the folks at Walter’s Fruit Ranch knew their stuff, which I loved.  In the end, we picked about 5 lbs of different types of apples all to make a delish homemade pie this past week.

If you are planning on heading up to Greenbluff anytime this season, I would recommend heading up to Walter’s Fruit Ranch where you won’t have the gimmicks (inflatable castles for example) like other farms, just  authentic fun.

Just to prove we did in fact make a homemade pie, scroll to the bottom… yes please!

Hello homemade apple pie goodness... nice to meet you.

With Neal now in town, I have begun to test different recipes that I have mentioned in previous posts, especially those that highlight delicious fall flavors.

My first recipes to attempt was: Pumpkin Muffins.  This was a super simple recipes that called for yellow cake mix with pumpkin mix.  To kick the flavors up a notch, I added a 1/4 teaspoon of the following: allspice, pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg and cinnamon.  Also, I added about a 1/2 cup of coconut for texture.

Two ingredients.... Yes, just two!

Cream Cheese Frosting

For a bit of sweetness, I pulled together a homemade (of course) cream cheese frosting.  This I made up and was pretty simple: cream cheese, lemon juice and sugar.

Finished Muffins

Neal wasn’t too keen on the idea of cheese as a frosting.  In fact he grimaced a bit.  I however, loved them…and they are perfect for upcoming fall mornings.

For Satuday night’s dinner, I decided to take a crack at the Stuffed Bell Peppers.  This was especially fun, because Neal and I made the dinner together as if it was the most normal thing in the whole wide world.  (When in fact, it’s something we rarely get to do.)

This was another pretty simple recipe, and easily convertible into being vegetarian.  Instead of using a sausage for the stuffing, I subbed it with mushrooms.

Filling & Peppers

Onions, Mushrooms, Peppers and Garlic (the Stuffing)

Before going into the oven....

Finished meal, served with a garden salad

We did set off the smoke alarm once, but that’s part of the learning/cooking process. This dinner was surprisingly filling, and pretty healthy.  Veggies, long grain rice with delish salad.  After, we watched a movie with air popped popcorn (my personal favorite). All in all a pretty normal Saturday night and close to perfect.

Now, for the tonight’s dinner: Cheesy Broccoli Stuffed Potatoes. The biggest piece of advice for anyone testing this recipe,  cooking the potatoes takes over an hour so be prepared.  This part is super important, because otherwise you can’t scoop out the goodness of the potatoes.

My four "large" potatoes....

The stuffing for twice baked potatoes

Stuffed Potatoes... with a side salad and tilapia

The other tip that I would make would be to make sure to pick out the largest potatoes you can. Otherwise you will pierce the skin, making it “unstuffable”.

So far, the record is 3-0.  As in, I would recreate all of these recipes at one time or another.  Neal’s enjoyed them all, expect for the cream cheese frosting.

Up next:

• Pumpkin Donuts
• Crock Pot Mac & Cheese
• Vegetarian Tortilla Soup
• Basil Tomato Soup (based on the Nordstrom recipe)

So, I was on the phone with my mom tonight.  The conversation went as follows:

Mom: Belinda, what are you having for dinner tonight?

Me: Um… leftover pizza.  I still eat like a college student.

Mom: Oh.  Okay. (Pause) We saw on your blog that you were going to start cooking for when Neal is here, and we were worried you would try to start now…

Me: No, I’m waiting for when Neal gets here and when I don’t work that day.

Mom: You have basic stuff for dinners too, right?  Like pasta and sauce?  You make that right?

Me: (Pause) Ah, yeah.  Like the pasta and sauce.  I can cook that.

Just to prove that my pantry is well stocked of meal options and that Neal won’t be going hungry during his upcoming visit.

My Stocked Pantry

Don’t worry, as I test the fun recipes,  I will be sure to post… who knows, maybe I will do a flip cam session!