Powdered Sugar Patterns

Even the most basic cake or brownies can look dramatic with the help of a piece of paper and powdered sugar.  My grandma used to put paper doilies on the top of a cake and then gently sprinkle powdered sugar over the entire cake and doily.  She would then carefully lift up the doily and the cake would be left with a delicate pattern.

If you don't have a doily (I'm guessing you don't...neither do I...), you can cut out basic shapes from a piece of paper.  Or even print out a design or letter on your computer to cut out.  Hearts, stars, four leafed clover, initials... the possibilities are endless!

Below is my grandma's famous Daffy Cake.  To give it a more personal touch, I cut out a 'K' to lay on top of the cooled cake.  I let my son sprinkle powdered sugar on top and I carefully removed the 'K' to reveal a fun personalized pattern on our cake. (and yes, I did cut out a piece of cake in the corner... I couldn't wait when it came out of the oven!)

Position your pattern on the cake or brownies and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Carefully remove the paper to reveal your fun pattern!

San Francisco

This weekend my husband and I flew down to San Fran for a weekend of exploring and eating.  A view of the Golden Gate Bridge from our hotel room.

At the wharf you can buy freshly caught and steamed crab, ready to eat right there!  If I wasn't so full from our breakfast at The Grove I would have done it!

After a couple Irish Coffees at Buena Vista, we continued on for a sundae at Ghiradelli.

For dinner we went to Fleur de Lys by Hubert Keller.  I am a big fan of this famous chef and watch his cooking shows as well as Top Chef Masters when he competed.  The food was beyond amazing and the four courses took almost three hours.  Worth every cent and every minute spent there.  Warning, below are some food geek photos I took of my courses...

I had a fun cocktail as we attempted to narrow down our food choices...

We were then greeted by an amuse-bouche of cold pepper soup and black and white quinoa salad.

My first course was Petrale Sole with crab, sea urchin and caviar olive oil puree with toasted bacon brioche.

Ooops, I forgot to take a photo of the second course before I ate it.  A Louisiana Prawn with citrus salad and tangerine sauce.

And again, I couldn't wait to eat so here is an 'after' photo of my third course.  Seared filet mignon with lobster truffled mac & cheese en brioche.

A photo of Tony's chocolate souffle with cherry and kirsch ice cream.  It had a fleur de lys pattern out of powdered sugar.

And my dessert which left me speechless. The Fleurburger.  Spiced dark chocolate ganache 'patty' on a french Beignet bun, a slice of passion fruit gelee as 'cheese' with thin slice of strawberry to look like a tomato slice.  Served along side frozen fennel ice cream Pommes Frites and a banana milkshake.  To die for. 

And as if that wasn't enough food, they brought us a little tray of assorted desserts.

Probably the best and most memorable meal of my life.  If you ever have plans to go to San Fran, call Fleur de Lys NOW and see if they have a reservation for you.  I made ours dinner reservations two months in advance...

French Breakfast Puffs

There isn't anything 'French' about these breakfast puffs, but thats what my grandma always called them.  And I don't mind if the name doesn't exactly reflect the baked good because they are such a delightful breakfast or afternoon treat.  A basic breakfast muffin dough that is topped with melted butter and a mixture of cinnamon and sugar.

I loved coming home from school or walking in to my grandma's house and smelling these warm muffings, fresh from the oven.  As I got older, my grandma would make a batch and package them up for me to take home.  I now make this recipe every few months, whenever I want something sweet but don't want to hassle with pancakes or a run to the bakery.  My kids and husband are just as big of fans of this treat as I am.  Light, sweet and and perfect with a cup of tea or coffee.

The dough doesn't take much time to make.  Just make sure your butter is soft (set it out on the counter for a few hours or overnight, or zap for a few seconds in microwave), and use a hand mixer to make it go faster.  But a hand mixer really isn't required!  I use an ice cream scoop to make my muffins very similar in size.

The finished product (against a very snowy backyard!).

5 1/2" and still counting and its only 10am.  Keep it coming Mother Nature! We've got plenty of warm muffins to keep us warm today! 

And by this evening our 4 1/2' tall snowman had grown quite a bit! (and yes, thats our hose caddy helping to hold him up...he got a little too heavy today!) 

French Breakfast Puffs, courtesy of Charlotte Smith

(click on above graphic to enlarge)

Sesame Chicken and Rice

My kids love teriyaki chicken.  From a restaurant.  I have never found a recipe for home made chicken teriyaki that they actually want to eat. The sauce isn't thick, the flavor isn't the same.  But today I came across a slow cooker recipe on Pinterest and tried it out with a few minor changes.  (please pardon my bad cell phone photo, above!)

My version is pretty basic, but requires about 60-90 minutes of stove time to simmer.  Basically simmering the chicken until cooked through and very tender. You could probably do this on low in your slow cooker, but no guarantees. (if you try it in a slow cooker, let me know how it works out!)

Sesame Chicken and Rice, courtesy of By Guess By Gosh
2lbs boneless/skinless chicken breast, cut in to 1 to 2" cubes
1/2 c. low sodium soy sauce
1/3 c. brown sugar, packed
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 T sesame oil
1 T ketchup
1 T toasted sesame (this is optional)
Rice

Combine all the ingredients (except sesame seeds) in a large nonstick pan on stove.  Turn heat to medium to get the liquid warmed up, then before it begins to boil, turn down to low, cover and let simmer for 60-90 minutes.  Stir occasionally so the chicken cooks evenly on all sides.  Check for doneness at 45 minutes just to make sure all is okay (the smaller the chicken cubes, the faster cooking time).

Meanwhile, make your choice of white or brown rice.  When you're ready to serve, place rice on plate and top with chicken mixture and sauce.  Sprinkle sesame seeds on top.

*For more texture you could add sliced water chestnuts and diced celery to the chicken mixture as it cooks.

And unfortunately no photos of this dinner.  I was starving and figured a picture of an empty plate wouldn't help with visuals....

Quick Appetizer Ideas

Today I hosted a small group of women for a photography class taught by professional photographer Erin Schedler.  Due to a forecast for snow this weekend, I wanted quick and easy appetizers... I wouldn't know how many gals would show up until the class actually started.  Snow was dumping outside (and still is!) and I was hoping to eliminate lots of leftovers.  My solution? Picking foods that my family likes and that could be used in future meals.  I also picked foods that didn't require guests to use forks or spoons.

I found mini cinnamon rolls at the grocery store.  About 12 for $4.  I put them on sticks that I use for cookies or other projects and stuck them in a vase filled with uncooked rice.  For a dip I mixed 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 tsp vanilla and a few tablespoons milk (you may want more/less milk depending on consistency you want).  This is a great buffet brunch idea!  And a thank you to pinterest for giving me this idea!

I sliced up two bell peppers and displayed on a platter with baby carrots and ranch dressing.  I also skewered grapes, strawberries and pineapples and placed on the same platter for a colorful display.  Plus, everything looks a little fancier when its on a skewer. And no need for utensils! 

I had a bag of Trader Joe's kettle corn (SO good), that I placed in a bowl with a scoop.  Guests can then scoop the popcorn in to cups.  Warning... this kettle corn is really good so you'll want to make sure you don't have many leftovers. Otherwise you'll eat it all yourself...  

Do you have any favorite appetizer ideas that require minimal work but look great and are popular with your guests?

Matzoh Ball Soup

Tonight I thought I'd try making Matzoh Ball soup.  It started out swell.  It ended in a soup that consisted of chicken broth, chopped veggies and matzoh 'dust' floating around.  The matzoh balls fell apart once they hit the broth.  FAIL! 

It started out pretty....

The matzoh mix looked successful...before being balled up and dropped in the soup.

And then.... disaster.  Matzoh mess.

The final result had one intact matzoh ball and lots of matzoh particles...

If only it looked like the photo in the recipe book!

Have you ever had a total recipe disaster?  Even if you follow the recipe exactly?

I spoke to a few friends and learned that the matzoh mixture needs to be refrigerated for a few hours before it is formed in to balls.  If only my cookbook had mentioned that!  And if only I had looked online... I found two recipes on Food Network's website that look more successful (here and here).  And no.  I am not posting the recipe for this particular soup recipe!

Maybe I should have looked online for other matzoh recipes... here are two from Food Network and both include the wording to chill the matzoh mix before forming in to balls.  I wish you luck if you

Avocado and Egg Sandwich

I despise lunch.  I used to look forward to lunch, especially when I worked downtown surrounded by a plethora of restaurants.  Pasta, mexican, sandwiches, seafood, american.  I never got bored of my options, but my wallet sure didn't like it. 

I have worked from home for almost nine years and it is rare for me to be able to leave the house to pick up something for lunch during the week.  Nothing ever sounds great for lunch at home, and its a bonus when I have leftovers from the previous night's dinner. I've been trying to come up with some new ideas.  Something quick and something not overly painful to make, especially for weekend lunch when I'm making food for four.  What do you like to eat for lunch?

For today's lunch with the family I surveyed the fridge and planned on a BLAT sandwich (bacon, lettuce, avocado, tomato).  I had already cooked the bacon so the only work would be slicing the avocado and tomato.  Then I recalled a Barefoot Contessa sandwich that used a fried egg along with bacon and avocado.  So we toasted up some bread, added bacon, fried egg, sliced avocado, salt/pepper and some cream cheese mixed with chopped green onion.  An excellent change from the usual coldcut sandwich.  Great flavors, good crunch and kept us full through the afternoon. 

Pork Carnitas

Whew.  After a well needed rest from the blog, I'm back and have some tasty recipes that I'm excited to try and share.  After reading a few recipes for pork carnitas, I couldn't resist the urge any longer and made a trip to the market for some pork shoulder. 

Our old neighborhood used to have a taco bus that served some seriously great (and seriously spicy) carnitas.  Carnitas means small meats and the carnitas I've had in the past are always so full of flavor and the meat is extra tender.  And after thoroughly questioning my cleaning lady, I discovered that the best tasting pork carnitas only require three ingredients to get the meat fork tender and seasoned.  Water, salt and white vinegar.  Seriously?  Why yes, I am.

In addition to the salt, water, vinegar and cubed pork, I added some fresh lime juice based on an idea I saw in another recipe.

3.5lbs of boneless pork shoulder cut in to 1-2" cubes.  In a pan with about 1/2 c. fresh lime juice, a few teaspoons salt, about a 1/2c. white vinegar and a few cups of water (not quite enough to cover all the meat), I let the meat simmer for a few hours until fork tender and then let it sear itself a bit when the liquid evaporated.  I tested a few cubes of meat and added a dash of ground cumin, a little more salt and a dash more of vinegar.

After about three hours of simmering, the meat fell apart.  I do recommend keeping a close eye on the meat when the liquid gets very low.  Some of the meat pieces became a little to crisp.  I shredded my pork a bit in the pan as it neared the end of cooking time.

I made a very basic slaw... only because I didn't have any other quick options.  Shredded cabbage with some poppyseed dressing and a few squeezes of lime.

Topping for the carnitas... lime wedges, chopped white onion, avocado, cilantro and crumbled queso fresco.

We used small corn torillas warmed in the oven for a few minutes at 200 degrees.  Top the tortilla with some pork and toppings of choice.  I liked an extra squeeze of lime a splash of vinegar (don't knock it 'til you try it) on mine. My husband preferred his with coleslaw.  Iris, our cleaning queen says she eats carnitas with a carrot slaw and lime/vinegar mix.

As sides I warmed some black beans, refried beans (our kids are obsessed with them), and made a batch of mexican rice (yes, out of a box...).

I ate the leftovers for lunch and we even had enough to make a couple small pork sandwiches slathered in BBQ sauce.  (We prefer Pete's Zesty Pulled Pork Sauce).

If you want more specific recipes than what I note above, you can check out Smitten Kitchen's post about pork carnitas here.  Very similar recipe, but a little different sauce mix to cook the pork in.