Summer Dinner

Sometimes it's just too hot to actually cook.

Voila! The perfect summer meal.
Buon appetito :)

Welshcakes

Before I left for my Welsh Odyssey, I obviously did some reading up on places to go, things I should see and do, the local culture and, my favorite, the cuisine. Wales doesn't really have any kind of particular cuisine that it's known for, but it does have one little, adorably delicious treat that I stopped and bought every chance I had.

Welshcakes!

They are funny little cakes, baked on a griddle like a pancake but very dense almost like a cookie. They have raisins or currants in them, as well as spices like cinnamon or nutmeg, and are dusted with sugar the second they come off the bakestone.

Absolutely delicious.

I got these adorable heart shaped Welshcakes from a little shop in Cardiff Bay called Fabulous Welshcakes.

Fabulous Welshcakes in Cardiff Bay

I've been scouring the internet for recipes and I'm definitely going to make some Welshcakes of my own, so stay tuned!

Homemade Pasta

So last night on my way home from work, I was riding the T and thinking about what I wanted for dinner. My stomach was growling and I knew I didn't have a whole lot of options because I hadn't been grocery shopping in, ohhh, three weeks. And then I had a eureka moment. I knew exactly what I wanted.

Did you know you can turn this...

Into this?
Homemade pasta.
I've made it with my mom a few times, but it's not something we did very often and we almost always used some kind of pasta maker. Where I really learned to make homemade pasta was in Perugia while I was studying abroad. We took a day trip to a local farm, Orsini Farm, and there some old Italian Nonne taught us how to make homemade pasta entirely by hand.

It's super messy, but super easy. Easy enough that I can make it on week night. And I forgot how amazingly fresh homemade pasta tastes! I sauteed some shrimp in garlic, lemon and white wine and turned it into a scampi.
Buonissimo!

Steak a la Ina

A simple truth of life:
Everything I know about cooking I learned from my family and Ina Garten.

Melanie and I took a trip to Russo's in Watertown, aka Heaven, and I bought some amazing fresh veggies. Gorgeous fingerling potatoes and the most adorable baby brussels sprouts.

I decided to buy a nice filet mignon and make a feast of it. I love steak. LOVE it. But it's not something I cook at home. So who else would I turn to but Ina when making my feast? I used her recipe for filet mignon and it turned out incredible.

Pat the filet dry with a paper towel, the coat with olive oil, salt and pepper.
Sear it for 2 minutes on all sides in a very hot pan.

Then top with a tablespoon of butter - yes, a tablespoon of butter - and finish cooking in a 400 degree oven for about 8 minutes. Take it out of the oven and cover it with foil to rest for about 10 minutes. I decided to top mine with gorgonzola crumbles before covering it with foil. It comes out juicy and amazing and looks a little something like this:

With brussels sprouts and roasted fingerling potatoes and a nice glass of red wine, it's pretty much the perfect meal.
I die.
Thank you, Ina!

Shopping and Cupcakes!

I do not have a car. As a city dweller a car is not something I really have the need for. And besides, that's why God invented ZipCar. So Melanie and I decided to take a special trip this past Saturday and go to one of the happiest places on Earth.
A place where you can find everything you never knew you needed.
A magical place where dreams come true.
A little place called Target.

Ah, just typing the word puts a smile on my face!

An hour (and one shopping blackout) later, I stood at the register putting $200 on my card and said, out loud, "What the hell did I just buy?!"

One purchase that I can fully stand behind is a whimsical, sweet little cupcake stand. I saw it in the bakeware aisle and I think it actually waved at me. It wanted me to buy it and take it home. So I did. And then promptly baked cupcakes to fill said cupcake stand.

I turned this:

Into these.

Whimsical, sweet little Oatmeal Banana Cupcakes with Banana Cream Cheese Frosting to go with my adorable new cupcake holder.

Asparagus & Poached Eggs

You know those nights were you're just not hungry? Its dinner time, and you know you should eat something, but you're not really that hungry and the only thing that sounds remotely appealing to you is ice cream. That was my night tonight.

And then I thought instead of eating 4,000 calories worth of Ben & Jerry's, why not make a simple yet delicious dinner that's actually good for me? One that's elegant and not too filling. Oh, and that will photograph beautifully. Done aaaaand done.

Put a pot of water on to boil with a splash of white vinegar in it.* Then take some fresh asparagus spears and coat them with olive oil, salt and pepper. Throw those bad boys on your George Foreman and let them grill.

When the water has reached a rolling boil, turn the temperature down so it's more gentle. Crack in two eggs and leave them be. Do not touch them. Do not stir the water. For Three. Whole. Minutes. It's hard, trust me, but I know you can do it.


Arrange those beautiful asparagus spears on a pretty plate, and use a slotted spoon to gently take your eggs out of the water and place on top of the asparagus. Top with a little more salt and pepper and perhaps some shaved Parmesan.

I mean can we just take a moment to admire this little beauty?

Delicious, nutricious, and oh so gorgeous.
I can't wait to make this as a salad for a dinner party or ladies luncheon (because, you know, I do those kinds of things all the time).

What's your easy, go-to weekday dinner?


*I never really knew why you had to put vinegar in the water when you make poached eggs. My mom and my grandmothers always did it, and I just thought it was one of those things you did - like throwing salt over your shoulder or not leaving a loaf of bread upside down on your counter. Turns out it actually serves a purpose. The vinegar helps the egg keep its shape by causing the outer layer to congeal more quickly. Who knew!

Comfort Food

Lately I have been feeling a bit melancholy (more on that later. maybe.) and I just did not feel like doing a damn thing this weekend. I stayed in my adorable Coolidge Corner apartment, watched wedding shows (I'm addicted), and drank some vino. Oh, and I saw Black Swan. Amazing.

I digress.

Last night I decided to stay in and watch movies and I was craving something filling and comforting, full of carbs and a little sweet. Perfect solution: Blueberry Pancakes!

Oooooh baby. Fluffy pancakes, plump berries, all smothered in maple syrup. Major comfort food.

What's your favorite comfort foods when you're feeling blue?

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Not just any red velvet cupcakes.
Ina's Red Velvet Cupcakes.

Yes, I used the recipe from my new Ina Garten "How Easy is That?" cookbook. And honestly, they really were easy! And delicious. And pretty.
Oh, and did I mention delicious?

Sift together all the dry ingredients.

Mix together the wet ingredients - look at that pretty red! - and then add the dry and wet ingredients alternatively into the butter and sugar you've already beaten.

Would ya look at that?!

Fill up the cupcakes and pop them in the oven...

Ta daaa!

Once they cooled, I topped them off with Ina's ah.MAY.zing cream cheese frosting.
Because I made these to bring to a New Year's Eve party, I decided these babies needed to look their best.

They're wearing their pearls.
How. Adorable.

Best Present Ever

Remember when I confessed my undying love for Ina Garten?

Well lookie here at what my brother got me for Christmas.

This might be my favorite present that I received this year. My kitchen isn't going to know what hit it!

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Buttercream (Part II)

Remember this post? And how I bragged about how amazing these cupcakes were?

Well, as promised, I made them again. This time for our annual "Friendsgiving" dinner. And I think they may have been even better the second time around!

Flour and spices.

Sugars, eggs and melted butter.

Add the pumpkin and the batter is ready!

Let those little babies bake up for about 20 minutes.

Frost and decorate!
I don't know why I didn't take any photos of the frosting, but I'll sum it up for you - homemade caramel, 2 sticks of butter and lots of powdered sugar. Delish.

The Friendsgiving dinner was great. Lots and lots of great food, even better friends. My friend Kristen made this lovely poster so we could all write what we're thankful for. Take a look:

Sunday Fall Dinner

I've been working a 12-9pm shift at work for the past couple weeks. It ends on the 22nd, and then I'm back to a more normal schedule. Until then I'm stuck eating some weird portable dinners. I've been making full meals at like 9:30 am and bringing them to work to reheat during my break. It's not awful, but it's definitely made me miss being home to make a real meal. Saturdays I'm usually out doing something, so for the last few weeks Sunday nights have become my night to cook myself a nice dinner. It's finally gotten cold here. The leaves have fallen and it's definitely autumn, so I was craving a real autumn meal. Pork chops. Sweet potatoes. Yum and yum.

I made a rub for the pork chops with garlic, sage, a little white wine and olive oil, a splash of apple cider vinegar, and salt and pepper. I let the meat sit for about 30 minutes before I cooked in a pan on the stove top. The sweet potato I cut up into bit size chunks and roasted in the oven with some onion, olive oil, salt and pepper.


Voila! Instant fall comfort food.

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Buttercream

A few weeks ago Melanie made the most amazing cupcakes I've ever had. Pumpkin Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Buttercream. Seriously. She just found the recipe online and made them...and then we ate them all and gained about 10lbs a piece.

I wanted to bring something to the Halloween party that I went to, so I decided to make them myself. I used the same recipe Mel did and it was so easy! Except I burned the caramel twice before I got it right. Hey, it was my first time! I meant to take pictures, but I had to get my costume on and get to the party. Then I fully intended to take pictures at the party, but everyone ate them. Like, all of them.
Every. Single. One. Gone!
See?

If you want the recipe you can find it here. And if you want to see pretty pictures of the cupcakes, you can look at them on Melanie's blog.

Don't worry, there'll be plenty more opportunities to take cupcake pics as I'll definitely be making these again!

Oaks Inn

Did I ever tell you that my family owns a restaurant?

My great grandparents, my father's grandparents, Paolo and Teresa, came over from Italy in the early 1920's. My great-grandfather worked for a time at the Endicott Johnson Shoe Factory. My dad told me once that he was a healer. That he had a gift for helping people, for fixing them. People used to go to see him instead of going to the doctor's. Maybe that's where my brother gets it from. My great-grandmother was a housewife, I suppose. But with 8 kids, they needed to make a living somehow. And so in 1932 they opened Oaks Inn.

Yes, I realize the Italian on the menu doesn't really make any sense. To be honest, I don't think I've opened the menu since I was about 10 years old. The quote should read, "Un giorno senza vino e` come un giorno senza il sole." Don't worry, it's being updated.

Over the years, everyone on my dad's side of the family has worked there. My parents have old photos of them all. I'll have to get copies and upload them sometime. My dad even lived in the apartment above the restaurant when he was a little boy, before my grandparents bought their house. Today my father's cousins own the restaurant.

Someday, when I am rich, I am going to buy the restaurant from my cousins. It needs to be redecorated, reorganized, updated a little bit and brought back in time to its glory days. My brother said he'd help me. I won't touch the menu. Add to it a little bit perhaps, but the menu hasn't changed in years. But why should it? It's fantastic. I've literally gotten the exact same meal every time I've gone there since I was 10 years old.

Chicken Saltimbocca.
I mean, seriously?

My dad's favorite, Lemon Veal.


Homemade spaghetti and gnocchi.

I die.

Sunday Morning Breakfast

As you know, last Sunday I was a bit of a pig. This Sunday I decided I should make myself a nice breakfast, a real breakfast, one that has less than 5,000 calories. As you may also know, I'm repainting my bedroom. It's a big ass bedroom and I've been painting like a mad woman. My entire body aches and muscles I didn't even know I had scream in agony every time I move, so I figured I ought to treat myself to a nice breakfast.

I started with baby Yukon gold potatoes, onions, and broccoli.

While they cooked, I beat 4 eggs and some milk.

Then I cut up some herbed goat cheese and added it right into the eggs.

Once the veggies had softened up, I poured the eggs down over them, turned down the heat, and let it cook.

The tricky part is flipping it over! I used a big plate and managed not to make a huge mess everywhere.

Tadaa!

I can promise you, it tastes just as good as it looks. And I have lots of leftovers, so I can eat more later. YUM!

Now back to painting!