super bowl party

The Super Bowl is this weekend and it promises to be a good one.  The Pats face the Giants again, hopefully to a better outcome this time (I'm a Pats fan, in case you couldn't tell).  Patriots fanness aside, everybody knows the most important part of a Super Bowl party are the snacks.  Here are a few recipes from around the web that look especially delicious (and not too complicated, so you'll have plenty of time to cheer on your favorite team)! 

:::meatball sliders:::

:::avocado quesadillas:::

:::mini corn dog muffins:::

:::fried pickle chips:::

:::deep dish fruit pizza:::

:::oatmeal cream pies:::

spice up your holidays

The countdown is on for Christmas dinner.  And unless you were planning on giving the gift of food poisoning this year, you probably haven't bought your groceries yet.  So, I thought I'd show you a few recipes that have caught my eye.  Each of these recipes gives an unexpected spin to traditional holiday flavors - a great way to impress your guests.

:::citrus cake:::

:::roasted brussels sprouts with cranberry pistachio pesto:::

:::mulled spice and brandy buttercream macarons:::

:::black-spiced rum eggnog:::

:::black sticky gingerbread:::

Mmmm.   What are you planning on eating/serving this year?

forget the pumpkin: try these christmas-worthy pies

I had really been hoping to share some Thanksgiving photographs with you, but Dan and I accidentally left our camera bag (including the cord that connects it to my computer) in Vail.  Don't despair - a friend will mail it soon, but until then, you'll have to bear with me.  Then, you'll have to check out some unseasonable Thanksgiving and fall photos :) Just think of it as my way of keeping you on your toes.

Anyway, even though Thanksgiving has passed and taken pumpkin pies with it (sigh), let's take a look at some other delicious pies and that could be great for Christmas. While we're at it why leave joy of the pies to just the holidays?  I, personally, would be up for eating these pies all winter long.

Stone Fruit Lattice Pie

Custard Pie

Momofuku's Crack Pie

Pear-and-Fig Pie-in-a-Jar

Raspberry and Dark Chocolate Ganache Tart

Hungry yet? I know I am.  

blog love: spoon fork bacon

Listen, this post is going to make me look bad.  I know it, but I'm okay with that.  Coming on the heels of my last two posts about food (featuring my own, mediocre photos), the photos and recipes in this post will blow your socks off and, of course, they have nothing to do with me.  Jenny and Teri's blog, spoon fork bacon, has inspired me to  put significantly more effort into my own food styling and cooking.  Hey, on the potentially positive side, at least I have loads of room for improvement? 

With gorgeous photography, amazing food styling, and delicious looking recipes (I must admit I haven't tried any of them...yet), spoon fork bacon just might be is without a doubt my new favorite spot to find recipes on the internet.  I mean pumpkin risotto AND seared scallops?  Clearly they had me in mind when they came up with that recipe.  Sigh.

Get me to a kitchen.  Stat.

maple vinaigrette dressing

Confession: I made this salad to go along with this pasta.  The flavors may not meld so well, but I had been wanting to make my own maple vinaigrette dressing for awhile now and what better place to do it than Maine?

I looked at a lot of recipes and this is the most straightforward one I found.  I didn't want any herbs or species to adulterate the maple flavor.  I actually made a salad almost identical to the one pictured with the vinaigrette recipe: lettuce, pear slices, blue cheese and crushed walnuts.  I did wish my lettuce had been slightly more delicate in flavor - perhaps a spring mix next time.

Maple Vinaigrette Dressing
Recipe from Drizzle and Dip

4 tbs olive oil
2 tbs red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp dijon mustard
1 tbs plus 1 tsp real maple syrup
salt

Combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly.  Pour onto salad just before serving.

marcella hazan's amazing 4-ingredient tomato sauce

This tomato sauce is SO easy to make and also so delicious.  As one of the commenters on the kitchn noted, the sauce is the perfect little black dress of tomato sauces.  You could easily add ingredients to dress it up a bit.  Some people suggested adding herbs and garlic.  Others recommended pureeing the onion that has been cooked in the sauce.  Almost everyone is adamant about not throwing away the onion that has been slow cooked in the tomato juices.

Marcella Hazan's Amazing 4-Ingredient Tomato Sauce, from her book, Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking via the kitchn

1 28 oz can of whole, peeled plum tomatoes (no seasoning)
1 small white onion, peeled
5 tbs butter
pinch of salt

Combine all ingredients in a medium sized pot (you want the tomatoes to pretty much cover the onion).  Simmer for about 45 minutes.  Crush the tomatoes a bit with a fork while cooking, until desired texture is reached.   Add freshly ground pepper and shaved parmesan when serving.

I added two peeled cloves of garlic and actually used crushed tomatoes, which was what we had on hand.  This eliminated any crushing on my part, but also limited my control over the consistency of the sauce.  If you like a pureed consistency, I'd recommend buying your tomatoes that way, so you don't have to worry about it! If you like chunky, stick with whole.

fireworks, mrs waite's orzo salad and whoopie pies

Here are a few pictures from our 4th of July holiday weekend...just in case you wanted to live vicariously through us...

A sunset over the lake.  I might have to do a series of lake sunsets, because they are so beautiful! We have been up to the lake 3 times and I already have so many awesome sunset pictures - mostly thanks to Dan, who is a great photog.

The crew taking the boat out to watch the lake's fireworks show.

I like the reflections of the other boats' lights in this picture.  

For the 4th itself, we came back to Kansas City and went to Dan's cousin Amy's house in Kansas City, Kansas.  I made Mrs. Waite's Orzo salad (recipe below), which was delicious as always, and a failed attempt at red, white and blue whoopie pies.

Double vanilla whoopie pie cakes.  The recipe called for a vanilla bean, which cost us a whopping $7.95 for one, saying it made a huge difference in the vanilla flavor of the cake.  We ended up having to double the recipe, but only bought one vanilla bean.   I couldn't taste any difference between the batch with the bean and the one without, so I don't think I would bother splurging on a vanilla bean again...maybe it was a faulty bean though?

The plan was to make strawberry and blueberry cream cheese fillings (complete with pieces of real fruit) in keeping with the red, white and blue theme.  However, the colors ended up being so light, that I decided the whoopie pies would have been more appropriate for a baby shower.  Sigh.

The whoopie pies that we brought to the party each only had one of the fillings.  Dan and I made this one just to show you what the two colors looked like.  Am I right about the baby shower thing, or what?

This is Amy and Glenn's house.  I am obsessed with it.  Obsessed. It was built in the 1890s, which is quite old for Kansas City.  And it is SO adorable inside.  Granted, it needed/still needs a lot of work, but so far they have been doing a great job fixing it up.  Perhaps while suffering from a bout of renovation amnesia, I vehemently offered to come sand moldings anytime they want!  I wish I had pictures of the inside of the house to show to you.  I'll have to go back over there someday and take some.  The layout reminds me so much of my dad's parents' house.  Also, Amy and Glenn had a little baby girl, Beatrice, this past spring.  I love the name Beatrice.  Ironically enough, my dad's mom's name was Beatrice too - the grandmother who lived in a house very similar to this one.  

Kansas City skyline as seen from Amy and Glenn's front yard.  A pretty amazing view, no?  Later, when it got dark, we had a 180 degree view of fireworks being set off all over the city.  

Now for the recipes:

Mrs. Waite's Orzo Salad

1 lb box of orozo

1/2 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup olive oil

3 tbs lemon juice (I just used the juice from one lemon)

1 cup scallions, sliced

1 cup feta cheese, crumbled

1 pint cherry tomatoes

salt and pepper to taste


Cook the orzo according to package directions.  Allow it to cool completely.

Toast the pine nuts in a 250 degree oven for 4 or 5 minutes.  Be careful that they don't burn!

Combine with rest of the ingredients.

Double Vanilla Whoopie Pies from Let's Make Whoopie...Pies 

Note: As I said before, I didn't think that the addition of a vanilla bean made much of a difference in the flavor of the cake.  However, feel free to include it if you're feeling extravagant!  Also, with or without the bean, this is a great recipe for vanilla whoopie pies - the consistency is perfect!  Finally, I found the whoopie pies to be a bit too sweet with the filling we included.  At the link above, they recommend combining these cakes with a chai filling, which I think would be amazing and plan to try this fall!

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup buttermilk

2 tbs whole milk

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 vanilla bean (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.

In a stand mixer, beat the butter for a minute or so (I found the butter does NOT have to be at room temperature to do this). 

Add the white and brown sugars and beat until you reach a light and creamy consistency.

Add the eggs one at a time.  

Slowly add the buttermilk with the mixer on low. **At this point it is going to look like your batter has curdled - don't be fooled! Dan and I started over, but this is in fact how it will look until you add the dry ingredients.**

In a small bowl add the baking soda to the milk.  Then add the vinegar to this mixture.

Add about half of the dry ingredients to the "curdled" mixture in the stand.  Then add the milk/vinegar mixture.  Then add the rest of the dry ingredients.

Finally, mix in the vanilla extract and vanilla bean scrapings (if you splurged on the vanilla bean).

Scoop mixture onto parchment paper.  Leave a couple of inches between each scoop. Depending on the size desired, or how many whoopie pies you need, you could do anywhere from 1 tbs to about 1/4 cup.  This batter spreads/grows quite a bit in the oven, so 1/4 cup ended up being a pretty big size, while the 1 tbs sized ones were more like two bites each once fully assembled.

Make for 8-10 minutes.  Allow them to cool completely before adding frosting/filling.

Strawberry/Blueberry Cream Cheese Filling adapted from The Tasty Kitchen recipe by Cake Dutchess

Note: Next time I think I would skip the food coloring and just add pieces of each fruit to a white cream cheese filling.  Also, if you're making these in hot temperatures (like we were, even though it's air conditioned in the house), I would highly recommend making the filling first and putting it in the fridge to cool/harden while you make the cakes.  This will make for a much less messy (aka stressful) whoopie pie filling experience.

1 stick butter, softened
8 oz cream cheese, softened
2 cups confectioner's sugar
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1-2 tsp strawberry or blueberry flavoring
red and blue food coloring until you reach desired color (if that ever even happens)
1/2 cup each of strawberries (diced) and blueberries (whole)...I think I would add even more next time as the fruit        
pieces were my favorite part


Beat the butter and cream cheese.  


Add the confectioner's sugar and salt and mix until combined.  


Add the food coloring and flavoring and mix.


Stir in the fruit pieces.