Crabcakes and Football

Here are things I will always miss about home:

• Being 30 minutes away from the Lilly sale, and being able to go over multiple days.
• The Phillies.
• Houses with yards.

The DC area has none of these things.  And it likely never will.  I’ve come to accept it.  In return, I have conceded one thing to DC.  One thing that no other metropolitan area can claim as its own.  Old Bay.

If you’re not familiar, it’s a seasoning blend that people here put on crabs.  As I don’t get the whole crab thing, I put it on fries, in these crackers, and more recently, in Annie’s Mac and Cheese Bites.

I got the inspiration from Cari Faye, who has a crab mac and cheese she raves about.  While I didn’t add any seafood to this, the Old Bay was a fun tweak that gave the mac and cheese a hometown flair.  Each cup is creamy, indulgent, and portable–a winning combination for any and all summer entertaining.

To make 18, you will need:

• 12 oz. (3/4 box) macaroni noodles
• 1 1/2 C breadcrumbs
• 6 T melted butter
• 3 C cheddar cheese, divided
• 2 T cold unsalted butter
• 1 T Old Bay seasoning
• 1 egg, beaten lightly
• 1/4 C yogurt (I used full-fat)
• 1/2 C milk (I used skim)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray muffin tins with nonstick cooking spray.  Combine bread crumbs, melted butter, and 1/2 C cheddar cheese in bowl until mixture resembles coarse sand.  Scoop out about 1/8 C of mixture (I used my 1/4 C measure to do this), and pour into prepared muffin tins.  Use the bottom of the cup to press the mixture down the bottom, and up the sides a bit.

Meanwhile, prepare pasta according to package directions.  In measuring cup, mix egg, yogurt and milk.  Drain pasta, and add 2 C cheese, 2 T cold butter, Old Bay, and milk mixture.  Fill each muffin tin with 1/4 C pasta mixture, and top with remaining 1/2 C cheese.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until tops are golden in color.  Remove from oven and let cool 10 minutes before sliding the cups out of the pan.

Long Weekends

Nothing trumps a long weekend, when everyone scrambles to get to the beach.  Everyone except you.  You  walk to town without waiting for the lights to change, because there are no cars on the road.  You get to those random things on your to do list that have been hanging over your head for too long.  You  park at the grocery store without doing battle behind the wheel of your SUV.  You make plans with friends.  And you bake.  Something a little more special than what you would on a typical weekend, because you’re not in any rush.

This weekend, it was Sparkly Red Velvet Brownie Bites, from A Farmgirl’s Dabbles.

They’re exactly the kind of brownies I love.  Gooey and dense, with a healthy layer of frosting slathered on top.  They also gave me a chance to use the red velvet cake flavor Santa put in my stocking this year.

And they SPARKLE!  What more could you want from a baked good?

To make an 8 x 8 pan’s worth, you will need:

• 1 stick cold butter, diced
• 3 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 1/2 C sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 oz. liquid red food coloring, a 1/4 tsp. red food gel, or 1 T red velvet cake flavor
• 1 C flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Line an 8 x 8 pan with tinfoil, and spray with nonstick cooking spray.  In a large, heavy bottomed pot, melt diced butter and chocolate, stirring as needed.  Remove from heat and whisk in sugar.  Crack eggs and whisk in, one at a time.  Stir in vanilla, salt, and red coloring.  Add flour and baking powder and stir, just till combined.  Pour batter into prepared pan and bake until tester inserted in center comes out with just a few crumbs, about 35-40 minutes.

Let brownies cool completely.  Unfortunately for the world, it takes brownies several hours to cool.  Exercise willpower.

You can make the frosting at any point in the game, and just let it hang out till your brownies are cool.  I made mine while the brownies baked.  To make the cream cheese frosting, you will need:

• 8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
• 4 oz. unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 2 C powdered sugar

Beat cream cheese and butter together on medium speed till light and fluffy.  Stir in vanilla, and slowly beat in powdered sugar.

When brownies have cooled, add layer of frosting, and a healthy coating of clear sanding sugar (mine was from this variety pack, also from Santa).  Slice brownies into 1 x 1 inch squares.  To make clean cuts, wipe knife after each slice.

 

On Long Distance Friendships

My husband and I were shocked, a year or so out of college, when we realized that none of our closest friends live anywhere near us.  We only half joke that if we become billionaires, we’re going to pay to move everyone onto our street.  It’s tough living far away from your best friends.  Instead of having them wander over when they smell meat hitting the grill in your backyard, you have to invite them, and clear schedules, and hope that traffic isn’t bad on the way over.  Worse yet, you have to buy a plane ticket to see them.  That’s what it takes to visit  Queen Cupcake these days.

But at least I can eat pesto risotto and pretend like we’re together at Risotteria.  We chanced upon it during the great birthday celebration of 09, and it’s since become a staple in QC’s life.  I’ve tried to recreate the dish before, to no great success.  What should be a creamy dish, oozing cheese out of every bite, instead becomes a soupy mess.  As a die-hard risotto fan, I refused to let this dish elude me.

One recent, rainy night, I nailed it.  I finally made a pesto risotto worthy of sharing.  With family.  And friends.  No matter how far away they are.  One bite of this and I was with Queen Cupcake and SCL at our cozy table in the West Village.  A girl can dream.

To make pesto risotto to feed 4, you will need:

• 2 shallots, finely chopped
• 2 T olive oil
• 1 C Arborio rice
• 1/2 C dry, white wine
• 3 C chicken stock
• 1 C peas, fresh (shelled), or frozen
• 1 small container pesto (please do make your own if you have that kind of time)
• 1/2 C shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 C grated Parmesan cheese

Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a heavy bottomed pan.  Add shallots, cooking till translucent, about 4 minutes.  Stir in rice, and toast, 1 minute.  Add wine, and cook till it reduces by half, about 2 minutes.  Add 1/2 C chicken broth, stirring occasionally, until almost all absorbed.  Continue adding broth by the 1/2 cupful until rice is cooked.  I just reach my wooden spoon in the great big pot and taste a grain or two when things are looking steamy.

When the rice is done, leave the heat on, stirring constantly until broth is almost all absorbed.  Though you’d want to leave some creaminess in a traditional risotto, you’re about to add pesto, which is largely made of olive oil.  Keeping your risotto too creamy here is going to leave you with risotto soup.  So stir, stir, stir, and when you don’t see any liquid on the bottom of the pot, remove it from heat, and throw in the peas and the pesto, and stir till combined.  Add cheeses and stir again.  Dish out into cute little bowls and enjoy.

*To make this dish vegetarian, just use veggie stock instead of chicken stock.

I’m Here

I had a cookout today, and have major plans for grilling all weekend long. Or, for my husband to grill all weekend long.

Last week I was here though, hence the lack of posting.

Forgive me, dear readers, if you weren’t the first things on my mind.

I was busy making major decisions, like whether to park it on the beach or by the pool.

But that’s all behind me, and I’m looking ahead, with lots of posts to come.  Be excited.

On Simple Baking

There are OMG Cupcakes, and there are dark chocolate ganache tarts.  They are showstoppers, guaranteed to send your friends into a frenzy, wondering how you manage to do it all–have a career, a social life, and an impressive baking repertoire.  There are times and places for these types of baked goods.

But this is the kind of baked good I love.  This is a cake.  It doesn’t have icing.  It didn’t take hours.  It’s homely.  Yep, I’ll say it.  I’m a food blogger, and not everything I make is as lustrous as swirly-frostinged cupcakes, and chocolate-filled shells.  Some of it, and sometimes the best of it, is everyday fare.  The kind of food you’d prepare on a whim, with things that are never more than an arm’s length away.

Deb is the champion of this kind of dish, and strawberry summer cake is no exception.

To make one, you will need:

• 6 T butter, softened
• 1 1/2 C flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 C sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 C milk (I used whole)
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 lb. strawberries, hulled and halved

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9 or 10 inch Springform pan.

Whisk flour, baking powder and salt in small bowl.  Beat butter and sugar in bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Add egg and beat until incorporated.  Slowly add milk and vanilla.  Add flour mixture and mix just till combined.  Pour batter into prepared pan.  Arrange strawberry halves, cut side down, on top of batter in single layer.  Bake cake for 10 minutes.  Reduce heat to 325 degrees, and bake for 40-50 more.  Test for doneness wherever you think you won’t hit a strawberry.

Let cool at least 20 minutes before removing from Springform, top with powdered sugar, if desired, and serve in large wedges.

 

Thankful

Dear readers, I’m in the midst of my busiest time of year at work.  There are dozens of deadlines looming over my head, twelve-hour days that pass in the blink of an eye, and numerous after-hours events that I can’t pass up.

Dear readers, when I’m busy at work, I’ve been known to get a teensy bit stressed.  Like, snap-at-my-husband, crank out frozen meals one after another, eat my weight in butter and sugar, and complain more than is good for anyone stressed.

Dear readers, the other day, one of my favorite eleven year olds put things in perspective for me.  After working on a long, difficult project for school, he insisted on listing three things he was thankful for at the bottom.  And if an eleven year old can stop to think of things he’s thankful for, surely I can do the same.

1. Super preppy Sunday mornings

2.  Texting with SCL and emailing with Queen Cupcake

3. A weekend nice enough to spend outdoors.

The other day, I got a thank you note from CV in the mail.  It came out of nowhere and at the end of a day that had been so fantastic, I couldn’t hold it together anymore.  I burst into tears and spent a solid minute crying.  AGOMYR wrote me a completely unnecessary, and so totally appreciated thank you note last week that made my day.  This evening I have a list of ten people I need to write thank you notes to for one reason or other.  And while I don’t think my thanks will send anyone into hysterics, I hope the recipients will feel the sentiment behind the words I put on paper.

How about you dear readers?  What are you thankful for?  And who in your life deserves your thanks?

On Feeding the Masses

There have been a couple of occasions this year for which I’ve needed to feed baked goods to more than 2 dozen people.  In case you can’t jump from point A to point B, let me elaborate.  A batch of cupcakes is 24.  I only have 2 muffin tins.  Tell me I need to feed more than 24 people and I’m at a loss.  Cookies won’t always hit the spot.  Even a 9 x 13 pan of brownies can’t cover that many folks if you want to eat more than 2 bites.  So on one recent occasion, I turned to Texas, where everything is bigger.

Especially the sheet cakes.  The idea hit me out of nowhere one day, and when it did, I knew I was on to a good thing.  After comparing a couple of recipes, I went with The Pioneer Woman’s for a couple of reasons:

1.  Ree lives in Oklahoma, which is pretty darn close to Texas.  Ergo, authenticity.

2.  I made one of Ina’s sheet cakes (albeit a white one) last year, and found it a little dry.

3.  I haven’t used my PW cookbook in a while.

4.  I had all the ingredients, and I didn’t have to wait for butter to soften.

If I had a nickel for every time I made a recipe because it didn’t involve waiting for butter to soften….

While the recipe didn’t disappoint, it did fool lots of taste testers into thinking it was a brownie.  Fine by me.  It was chocolate, it was gooey, and it had a layer of ganache-like frosting on top.  There’s nothing wrong with that.

To make a Texas sheet cake that will feed an inordinate amount of people, you will need:

For the cake:

• 2 C flour
• 2 C sugar
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 4 (heaping) T cocoa powder
• 2 sticks butter
• 1 C boiling water (I added 1 T espresso powder to mine)
• 1/2 C buttermilk
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. vanilla

For the frosting:

• 1 3/4 stick butter
• 4 (heaping) T cocoa powder
• 6 T milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 lb. (minus 1/2 C) powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine flour, sugar, and salt in mixing bowl.  Melt butter in saucepan and add cocoa.  Add water, and let boil for 30 seconds.  Pour over flour mixture and stir till combined, and cooled slightly.  In small bowl (or measuring cup) beat buttermilk, eggs, baking soda and vanilla.  Stir mixture into chocolate mixture, and beat till combined.  Pour into sheet pan and bake until cake is done, about 20 minutes.

While the cake is baking, make the frosting.  Melt butter in small saucepan (I used the same one) and stir in cocoa.  Remove from heat.  Add milk, vanilla, and powdered sugar and stir to combine.  Pour over cake immediately after it comes out of oven.

Let cool, and slice into as many squares as necessary.  I got a solid 40 out of mine.

Snack Responsibly

My husband doesn’t like to watch certain movies with me because I will recite every single line right along with the characters.  Beauty and the Beast, A League of Their Own, 10 Things I Hate About You, and Mean Girls, are just a few titles on the “off limits” list.  The first time I saw Mean Girls, it gave voice to so many of my inner-most thoughts, it was all I could do not to commit the lines to memory the first time around.
“She’s a life ruiner!”

“I’m a mouse…duh”

“Ohmigod I love your skirt, where did you get it?”

“Boo, you whore!”

and most importantly, “Girls who eat their feelings.”

Ladies, gentlemen, I am a girl who eats my feelings.  I just didn’t know it until I saw Mean Girls.

It certainly explains all the brownies.

So earlier this year, I started trying to eat more green things, and fewer chocolate things.  It’s been an uphill battle, to say the least.  Because around 3:00 every day, I get hungry and I need a snack.  Yes, I am 27, and I still need an after school snack.  But look!  I found a green one!  One I can eat with no guilt!  And one that still tastes like I should feel guilty about it.  Roasted Edamame with Cranberries.  From Tracy Shutterbean!

To make enough for a week’s worth of snacking, you will need:

• 1 1/2 C edamame (I use frozen, and thaw it first)
• 2 tsp. olive oil
• coarse salt
• 1/3 C dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with foil.  Toss edamame with olive oil on prepared sheet, and sprinkle salt on top.  Roast for 20-22 minutes, giving the mixture a toss about halfway through.  When finished, the edamame should be brown and some of the skin should look crinkly.  Let cool and toss with cranberries.  Per Tracy’s suggestion, I threw mine in a jar and shook it up.

My Whirlwind Adventures. And Brownies.

Dear readers, in the past two weeks I have slept in the following places:

Last Wednesday: Chevy Chase, MD

Last Thursday: Washington, DC

Last Friday, Saturday: Main Line, PA

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday: Washington, DC

Wednesday: Chevy Chase, MD

Thursday, Friday: Washington, DC

And today is Saturday and I’m back to the Main Line because Queen Cupcake is in town!

In that time, almost everything I’ve eaten has come from a place that cooks food for me, or the Trader Joe’s freezer section.

Almost everything.  The important exception being Judy Levey’s Brownies.  These come from the same colleague who brought us Man Catcher Brownies.  Isn’t she the best?  While working too fast, I neglected to add the proper amount of cocoa powder, instead adding 1/4 C more than necessary.  It turned out to be quite a fortuitous mistake, as my brownies turned out incredibly dark, and were seriously chocolatey.

Do I like them more than Man Catchers?  I don’t know.  Some time ago I decided that I love brownies far too much to ever land on a definitive best brownie.  These are just another worthy choice in my brownie arsenal.

To make 16, you will need:

• 3/4 C sifted all-purpose flour
• 1/2 C Dutch process cocoa powder (or 3/4 C if you’re looking to make the death by chocolate version I threw together)
• 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 C) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 C sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 C chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Sift flour, cocoa powder, and a pinch of salt into a bowl.  In a large bowl with an electric mixer cream together the butter and sugar, and beat till light and fluffy.  Add the eggs, 1 at a time, stopping to scrape down the sides as necessary.  Stir in vanilla.  Add flour mixture, stirring just till incorporated.  Pour batter into buttered and floured (or dusted with cocoa powder) 9 inch square pan.

Bake 25-30 minutes, or until brownies pull away from sides of the pan, and toothpick comes out with crumbs adhering to the sides.  If you can wait, let brownies cool before cutting into squares.

This Week

Remember way back in the summer when I documented a week in my life?  Ali Edwards, the creative genius behind the project, was back in action last week, and so was I.  I realized pretty early in the week that doing this project in the spring, when I work full time, was going to be way different than doing it in the summer, when I don’t.  I tried to keep my camera(s) with me all day, but folks, work gets busy, and that’s just not always possible.  Thus, the following shots put together reflect more of a day in my life.  I’m still oh-so-grateful to have them.

The morning after a busy evening in the kitchen.

Kids’ cereal is the best.  Even if it is pure sugar.

Speaking of pure sugar, here’s my daily Starbucks stop.  Best morning team in the DC area.  I pass 2 other Starbucks in favor of this one.

Errands after work.

On the road.

Post-work pick me up with AGOMYR.

My favorite pizza (and a trip home to see Pops and Wooden Nickels).

Running in my new Free Run +2′s.  These are the second pair I’ve bought in a month.  I love them!

Curling up for the night with Christian Grey.  Oh dear readers, it’s terrible.  Also, amazing.