The weekend has arrived! Not much to report beforehand; the past two days have been low key. But I did try to go for a run after work and had to call it quits after 20 minutes because the heat here was absolutely stifling. Why did I think I could run outside when it's 100 degrees and humid?! During the work week, I have a really difficult time waking up early enough to run. I'm one of those people who hits the snooze button for an hour before I finally put two feet on the floor and stumble over to the shower; so naturally I opt to run after work.
Keeping this post short and sweet for Friday, I'll jump right in to the eats and beats portion. The other day I made these lemon-ricotta muffins. They are super delicious and have a great texture that tastes like pound cake. A good treat to have around on Saturday and Sunday mornings with coffee. The beat is Dave Matthew's song "So Damn Lucky". It has a beautiful melody, and he paints the lyrics with his voice. I like seeing him solo with just the guitar in this video.
Any one have big plans for the weekend? I'll meet ya'll back here on Monday for another week of eats and beats!
Julia
Lemon-Ricotta Muffins: Makes 12 muffins
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/3 cup milk
6 tbsp butter, melted
2 large eggs
2 tsp freshly grated lemon peel
1 - Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease twelve 2 1/2 by 1 1/4 muffin-pan cups or line with paper baking liners. In large bowl, stir together flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder and salt.
2 - In medium bowl, with wire whisk or fork, mix together ricotta, milk, melted butter, eggs and lemon peel. Make well in center of flour mixture and pour in ricotta mixture; stir just until flour is moistened.
3 - Spoon batter into prepared muffin-pan cups. Sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons sugar over muffins. Bake 20-22 minutes, until muffins are golden brown, tops spring back when lightly touched, and toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean. Immediately remove from pan and cool on wire rack.
We've had a downpour of rain here the past two evenings, and my yard is thanking the man above for all this H2O. The flower bed in our front yard was knocking on death's door until Sunday night. You see, this is why I can't be responsible for another life - animal, mineral or vegetable. I have the best of intentions when it comes to gardening, but I was not blessed with a green thumb. Hopefully this is a skill I can (and will) improve upon as I get older. Until then my plants live to see another day! And this makes me happy. I even bought fresh flowers for the house this past weekend. It's a great way to add color and warmth to a home.
Speaking of home decor, the latest Restoration Hardware and Crate & Barrel catalogues found their way into my mailbox this week! I love flipping through the pages, eyeing each kitchen accessory and piece of furniture. In fact my latest want in life is a desk/work station at home. One of our guest bedrooms has a little nook that's the perfect amount of space for a work area: desk, chair, lamp, bulletin boards, etc. Then I could have my own reserved space to write and study. Particularly now that Crate & Barrel is advertising dorm room accessories for back to school, I'm all about my own work space.
Today, My Eats and Beats is going old school with Memphis Minnie and blackberry cocktails. Memphis Minnie's songs make me feel like I'm back in the South circa 1940. She is one the most influential female blues musicians and guitarists of all time. The eat to my beat is in fact a cocktail. Enter in blackberries, lime, cucumbers, mint and gin! This is a great mixed drink for summer. It's tart, a little sour and most refreshing.
Disclaimer: Too much of this blackberry cocktail may lead to "kissing in the dark".
Yield: Makes 5 cups
1 (0.75-oz.) package fresh mint sprigs
12 (1/4-inch-thick) cucumber slices
2 (6-oz.) packages fresh blackberries
3/4 cup fresh lime juice (about 3 limes)
8 to 12 tsp. turbinado sugar*
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. gin
1 cup cold club soda
Crushed ice
Garnishes: cucumber slices, fresh blackberries, lime wedges, lemon mint sprigs
Place first 5 ingredients in a large pitcher. Gently press mint leaves, cucumbers, and blackberries against side of pitcher with a wooden spoon to release flavors. Stir in gin and club soda. Serve over ice. Garnish, if desired.
*Superfine or powdered sugar may be substituted.
At 11 p.m. Saturday night I wanted to bake cookies. By 11 a.m. the following morning, I still wanted to bake cookies. Could I resist the urge any longer after 12 hours? I think not.
For those of you who may not know me well, there is one sweet, and one sweet only, that makes me weak in the knees. It is the cookie. At the very sight of these tasty morsels, I abandon all self control and bite into them. I simply can't say no. Perhaps my self proclaimed nickname should be "cookie monster". It would be a most accurate parallel, aside from the blue fur and puppet thing.
And what is my favorite cookie might you ask? Oatmeal raisin is the king of cookies in my book. The great thing about oatmeal raisin is that you can do so many variations of this cookie; and they're all scrumptious. For instance, white chocolate chip and cherry oatmeal cookies are delish. Or add chocolate chips to your batch of oatmeal raisin for a change.
But today, I went with the original recipe. And my twelve hours of deliberation over making these cookies was worth the wait. Ever so crisp around the edges and chewy on the inside, this batch of cookies was exactly what a cookie should be. And not a single one of them was burnt. All 3 dozen were golden to perfection.
Aside from baking this weekend, I started training to run a 5k in October. I've made the commitment to run the Susan G Komen Race for the Cure in Memphis October 30th; and I'll need every week's worth of time to train these legs to run. I went to Fleet Feet Sports on Saturday morning and bought a pair of Asics. I love them! Then I proceeded to run/walk at noon. In Memphis. With the humidity. NOT SMART. But I did it! I'm excited to go through this process and run my first 5k. But I will admit that my quadriceps are on fi-ya! I can't remember the last time I had to brace myself before sitting in a chair because my legs are so sore. But "no pain no gain", right?
I went to see "Despicable Me" Sunday night. It was so cute! The characters were adorable and the movie was funny. Surprisingly the theatre was packed with people age 18-30. There were hardly any children!
I chose The Temptations "Ain't too Proud to Beg" to go with my oatmeal raisin cookies. And honey I AIN'T too proud to beg when it comes to cookies. Trust me; I've done it before, and I will do it again. ; )
Can you believe we're almost half way through July? That's more than half way through the year! I'm shocked at how fast this year has gone by. Well, here's to another week of eats and beats!
Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! Julia
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies:
1/2 pound (2 sticks) of butter, softened
1 Cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 Cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 Cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 Cups Quaker Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
1 Cup raisins
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Beat together butter and sugars until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Stir in oats and raisins; mix well.
Drop by rounded tablespoon-fulls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet; remove to wire wrack. Makes about 3-4 dozen, depending on the size of cookie you want.
I'm convinced that I've been cursed in the kitchen this week. The past two nights I've made dinner, and the past two nights we've gone out to eat. Both meals were a flop! Why me, Lord? So to lift the weight of culinary frustration off my shoulders, I popped open a bottle of champagne. When in doubt, there's always cocktails.
I find it interesting that we, as a society, only associate champagne with celebrations. I happen to be a firm believer that champagne can be, and should be, enjoyed on any occasion. To accompany my glass of bubbly, I made a brown sugar fruit dip. I had quite the plethora of fruit in my refrigerator this week, so this dip was the perfect excuse to consume it. Otherwise it would go to waste within a few days.
I went to the wine market with every intention to purchase ONE bottle of champagne and walked away with TWO bottles! Who knows? Maybe I'll mess up dinner again tomorrow night, and then I'll be really glad I have that extra bottle of Domaine Ste Michelle to drown my sorrows.
But back to the brown sugar fruit dip. I found this recipe through Southern Living. Click here for the recipe. It's easy to whip together and is a great side to any fruit assortment. Just be aware that it needs to chill for 4 hours, so give yourself plenty of time before you're ready to serve it.
For today's post I'm featuring Chester French. They're a great American Indie Pop group who formed the band during their college years at Harvard University. I heard their song "She Loves Everybody" a few months ago and have been looking for an opportunity to play them on My Eats and Beats.
Oh the pleasures of a three-day weekend. How I miss it already, and it's not yet even Tuesday morning. This year Stewart and I remained in Memphis for the 4th of July. Although it hurts me to say this, because it sounds disgustingly "adult" of me, I felt productive in the fact that we caught up on laundry, cleaned the house, went grocery shopping, took my car to be serviced, ran errands, watered the yard and enjoyed some R&R time at home. Ouch! That was painful to put into words. But, life in the fast lane these past 3 weeks needed to pull over for a much needed pit stop.
I haven't even been spending quality time with my kitchen! I've been neglecting her and thus felt incomplete with no new adventures of cooking. The oven was rusty and the refrigerator was bare.
But what epicurean could resist cooking and baking on this our country's day of independence? With the dessert I made for our family gathering on Sunday, I was ready to sparkle and shine like a 4th of July firecracker!
Ya'll, I'm not kidding; this recipe takes the cake for best dessert. 100% home-made, and out of this world, Ina Garten's strawberry country cake made me proud to be an American...and proud to be a member of the happy plate club that afternoon (I added the blueberries for some blue with my red and white). Forget baking this cake, I was ready to devour the entire bowl of batter. Grated lemon and orange zest, made-from-scratch whipped cream, ripe strawberries and blueberries....YUM.
As I was baking this cake Sunday morning, I tuned into the "Frank Sinatra" radio station on Pandora. And within 20 minutes, I heard Glenn Miller's "In the Mood". I love the big band-era, and I'm pretty sure my Cuisinart electric mixer and I shared a moment during this song.
Like Thanksgiving and Christmas, 4th of July is one of those holidays best spent with family and friends. And of course, good food! Hope you enjoyed your Independence Day this year.
Enjoy these eats and beats! More the come this week. Julia
Ina Gartnen's Strawberry Country Cake
This recipe makes two 8-inch cakes. Ina splits one cake into two layers, but I felt it was too thin. So I used each cake as a full layer and added blueberries to make it my own.
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
3/4 cup sour cream, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
For the filling for each cake:
1 cup (1/2 pint) heavy cream, chilled
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 pint fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the bottom of two 8-inch cake pans. Then line them with parchment paper and butter and flour the lined pans. (I just used PAM baking spray; it works just as well)
Cream the butter and sugar on high speed in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy. On medium speed, add the eggs, 1 at a time, then the sour cream, zests, and vanilla, scraping down the bowl as needed. Mix well. Sift together the flour, cornstarch (Note: Whip this on high speed for a few minutes; it takes a while for it to become firm)ch, salt, and baking soda. On low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and combine just until smooth.
Pour the batter evenly into the pans, smooth the tops, and bake in the center of the oven for 40 to 45 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then remove to wire racks and let cool to room temperature. If using 1 cake, wrap the second well and freeze.
To make the filling for one cake, whip the cream, sugar, and vanilla in a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until firm. *Note: This takes a few minutes, and you want to whisk it with an electric mixer on high speed until firm.
Slice one of the cakes in half with a long, sharp knife (Or use one entire cake as the bottom layer). Place the bottom slice of the cake on a serving platter, spread with 1/2 the whipped cream and scatter with sliced strawberries. Cover with the top slice of the cake and spread with the remaining cream. Decorate with strawberries.
