texas, briefly

 (breakfast)

 (swimming) 

 (prep)

 (results)

(after the rain)

(home-cooked)

© all photos by me

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gilt taste

Who is that handsome man? Why, it's my lovely husband and he is on the front page of Gilt Taste for their "Sommelier Series" in which he selects five wines and tells you why you should buy them*. Speaking of Gilt Taste, they actually have some pretty good recipes and articles on there, like how to make a better pb & j, and shrimp tempura tacos.
*If you buy $100 or more you can get $20 off with this promo code: JEFFSDISCOUNT

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stuff to cook and bake

Salsa and black bean tortilla soup

Scallion and goat cheese muffins

Zucchini cheddar drop biscuits

Lemon feta dip

Black sticky gingerbread

White bean and roasted mushroom soup

Apple onion tart

cheese club: english chedder

This weeks cheese club featured English cheddars and homemade chutneys. I brought Montgomery and Isle of Mull (both delicious), made roasted pear chutney and more crackers.

crackers

As I mentioned before, I made my own crackers to go with some dips I had made for Thanksgiving. They were such a big hit that I made more a few days later and devoured them almost immediately. Seriously, they are the easiest thing to make (the hardest part is cleaning the food processor) and people are super impressed (maybe less so when they learn how easy they are!). The recipe is from my favorite cookbook, How to Cook Everything:

Blend 1 cup flour, dash of salt and 2 tablespoons of softened butter in a food processor. Add enough water to make a dough (about a 1/2 cup)*. Roll out on a cookie sheet and score lightly. Bake at 400° for 15-20 minutes (or until browned slightly). Cool and break apart.

*Before rolling out, add whatever flavor you want. I made six kinds (plain, Herbs de Provence, sea salt, Maldon and black pepper, olive oil, caraway seeds) but anything works. I'm excited to try more flavors!

foods this weekend

Cooked: two pumpkin pies (above), crackers, edamame, red pepper and spiced carrots dips.

Enjoyed: cheese picnic in the park (above), classic nyc dinner, and dim sum.

What do you eat?

tomato jam

Made some tomato jam...came out sweeter than I expected, but it was still pretty good with toast and eggs. I'm going to try it again with a little less sugar next time.
Image from here.

staten island ferry

Took a sunset cruise on the Staten Island Ferry to get some killer Italian food.

All photos by me.

kauai cookoff 2011

I'm proud to say that I come from a family who enjoys cooking, drinking and most of all, competing. For our last family vacation we engaged in a fierce cooking contest, and our trip to Kauai was no different. Not wanting to give up our reigning title, Jeff and I pulled out all the stops when it was our night to compete. Cooking for fourteen people is no easy feat, so we started out day early with a trip to the Hanalai farmers market and fish market.

Cocktails and hors d'oeuvres were served on the patio: a Hemingway daiquiri and an individual serving of cucumber mint soup (above). The soup was served with a macadamia nut gremolata, tobiko and a slice of watermelon radish. 

After the soup, everyone came inside for the pasta course, a fettuccine with fresh tomato sauce, scallops and shrimp (we used a simpler variation of this recipe). We served this and our main course with a William Fevre Chablis.

For our main course we roasted Hebi (a local white fish) and served it on wilted escarole (sorry for the poor photo). We had made an avocado-mango salsa to go on top but forgot to serve it (whatevs - it was good for breakfast the next day!).

Our dessert was a roasted pineapple crostata (recipe curtesy of Brooks Hadley, pastry chef at Del Posto) served with vanilla ice cream.

The other teams had strong showing as well (see their meals here), but there can only be one winner....

Champs! Take that family!!

picnic dinner

Every Monday night that we don't have other plans, we're going to have a picnic dinner. This week, we had bread and cheese, salad and pan-fried soft shell crab.

Photos by me.

heart shaped egg

Julia suggested I have a brunch themed housewarming party. Doesn't that sound lovely?
Image from here.

interweb randomness

Really enjoying the lovely images of these eggs (found here)....

....this beautiful handmade purse (found here)....

...and this fun wrapping paper (found here)!

brunch

Some friends and I met up for a casual backyard brunch this weekend. The pièce de résistance were these cinnamon pull-aparts - extra gooey and delicious!