Pasta Salad and Avett Brothers

I’m obsessed the new Kindle. In all truthfulness, I purchased the Kindle as a gift to Stewart this Valentine’s Day. He’s the compulsive reader in our marriage – breezing through magazines, newspapers, and novels daily. One would say I’m quite jealous of his ability to speed read. But I had no interest in the Kindle, or any e-book reading device for that matter. I professed to be a lover of the printed page, wanting to “physically hold a magazine” and “turn the pages of a novel or newspaper”. To spend hours in a bookstore on Sunday afternoons is one of my favorite pastimes.

But about ten days ago my reading world was rocked by Amazon’s Kindle. This thing is amazing! I read Water for Elephants in record time and am already a quarter of the way into The Paris Wife. At this rate, I’ll be reading a new book each week! I won’t write the equivalent of a product review (don’t worry), but I would strongly encourage anyone to enjoys reading to purchase one. It has fueled the fire for my current reading frenzy.

This weekend I made another variation of pasta salad – one of my childhood favorites. All it takes is a box of bowtie or elbow macaroni (or the pasta of your choice), a bottle of Good Seasons Italian All Natural dressing and whatever vegetables you have in your refrigerator. Cook the pasta as usual, drain (don’t rinse) and mix in large bowl with the dressing and chopped vegetables. This dish will last you about a week in leftovers; and it’s even better the next day. I bought cherry tomatoes, zucchini, squash, carrots and bell peppers for pasta primavera. A week later, no pasta primavera and my vegetables were on the verge of being inedible. So this was a quick fix to save those veggies and make lunch!

The Avett Brothers’ Bella Donna is a great song to accompany this dish. Something about the tune and its simplicity feels like springtime: sunshine, a cool breeze, fresh fruits and vegetables, and late afternoons sitting on the patio.







Cheers!
Julia

Oh Land and Vin Chaud

Hands down my favorite new artist this Friday is Oh Land. The Danish native currently lives in New York City. The daughter of an opera singer and organist, Oh Land was originally a dancer with the Royal Swedish Ballet until a spinal injury lead her to a career in music.

This twenty-five year old has model looks, killer fashion sense and mega musical talent. She just performed this week at SXSW in Austin, TX, and is headed to Dallas and Denver later this month.
Check out her video for "Sun of a Gun" below. Side note: I'd love to see the cast of Glee cover this song. If they ever do, you heard it here first!  

To see/hear more of Oh Land, click here. Other songs I'd recommend by this artist are White Nights, We Turn It Up and Lean.

Calling all wineos!

And now for the most amazing hot cocktail I've ever laid lips on - the vin chaud (hot wine). All joking aside, the first words out of my mouth, when I tasted this drink, were "Oh sweet Jesus". It's that good.

After the St. Pat's day cupcake fiasco, my eyelids were feeling heavy around 9 pm last night and my tummy was in the mood for a little night cap. I've read several different recipes for mulled wine, and the one below is my adaptation - given the ingredients I had on hand.

Vin Chaud (Hot Mulled Wine)
*1 serving

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups of red wine (I used Boxhead cabernet sauvignon)

1/4 cup water
1/8 cup sugar
1 lemon, sliced
orange zest (I used just a smidge)
pinch of ground cinamon (about 1/8 tsp)
Directions:
Heat the wine, water, sugar and cinamon in a pot over medium low heat. Stir occasionally until it simmers (not boiling) and a foam forms. Add the orange zest. Pour the wine into the glass while it's hot. Serve with a slice of lemon.

Cupcakes on Impulse for St. Pat's

 

The luck of the Irish clearly does not apply to Lebanese girls. At 11 p.m. last night I was picking green frosting out from beneath my fingernails. My cheeks were smudged with dry patches of chocolate cake batter, and the hard wood floor was splattered with butter cream.

My kitchen had transformed into a war zone over the course of two hours, and all from an impulsive decision at 8 p.m. to make rich chocolate cupcakes and green butter cream frosting (both from scratch) for St. Patrick’s day.

As I gazed upon my sweet creations, perfectly aligned in rows of four (one's missing in the photo because I ate it), the moment couldn’t help but be bitter sweet. I was happy to be done with baking and so unhappy to see the pile of dishes stacked in my sink. Never the less, I now know how to make my own butter cream frosting! The cupcakes are most rich in chocolate/cocoa. So if you’re a chocoholic, this batter has your name written all over it. I, candidly, can't get through one of these cupcakes before I need a tall glass or milk.

I love St. Patrick ’s Day. Truth be told, I love about any holiday that encourages people to dress festively and drink profusely in the good company of friends and family.

For an Irish beat, I chose Galway Girl sung by Steve Earl and Sharon Shannon. For my Gerard Butler fans out there, this is the song he sings at the pub in P.S. I Love You.



I hope you’re wearing green today to avoid getting pinched!
Julia


Rich Chocolate Cupcakes:
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 1/4 sticks of butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 - preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake tin with paper baking liners.
2 - combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, combine milk and vanilla. Set both aside.
3 - In a large bowl, with mixer at low speed, beat sugar and butter together just until blended. Increase speed to high; beat 3 minutes, or until mixture is light and creamy. NOTE: use a heave-duty mixer with whisk not paddle.
4 - reduce speed to low and add eggs in one at a time, beating well after each addition.
5 - add flour mixture alternately with milk mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat just until combined.
6 - spoon batter into muffin-pan cups, filling each about half way full. Bake 20-25 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center of cupcake comes out clean. Immediately remove from pans and cool completely on wire racks.
7 - Prepare frosting and frost cupcakes.

Butter cream frosting:
2 sticks of butter, softened
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
4 tbs milk

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and vanilla. Blend in the sugar (1/2 cup at a time), beating well after each addition. Beat in the milk and continue mixing until light and fluffy. Keep icing covered until ready to decorate.

Pesto and My Devils in Disguise

For Lent I gave up cookies. Sounds easy? Think again. Cookies, if you don’t know already, are my ultimate weakness. There's never an "I'll just have one" cookie moment. Does a chain smoker “just have one” cigarette a day? I think not. And I’ve yet to come across a cookie I didn’t like.

Coincidentally, do you know what also makes its annual appearance during the Lenten season? What stalks the doorways of every grocery store within a 10 mile radius of my house? What appears to have the face of girl empowerment and leadership but is truly out for my demise? Girl Scout cookies!

Right when I’m at my most vulnerable state, boxes of Thin Mints, Caramel deLites, Do-Sis-Dos, and Shortbread stare me straight in the face. I want desperately to buy cases of cookies and put smiles on all the little Girl Scouts’ faces. Yet, the exact opposite occurs. My method of avoiding these seven year olds is to walk in the grocery store right on the heels of someone else, so they won’t approach me. Or there’s always the hope of a side entrance.

My feelings towards these tempting cookie peddlers can only be summed up by the late great Elvis Presley’s “Devil in Disguise”.

Keeping with the theme of all foods green, I'm featuring a great recipe for home made pesto today. This pesto is a favorite of my mom and mine. And although it’s made fresh, you can place it in your freezer until you’re ready to use it! This pesto is perfect to use when making a Panini, bruschetta, pizza or pasta. Get creative and have fun with the versatility of this basil spread.

Enjoy!
Julia

Pesto:

Ingredients:1/2 Cup pine nuts
2 Cups fresh basil
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 Cup of Parmesan cheese (fresh grated)
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/2 Cup of olive oil

Directions:
Roast pine nuts for about five minutes in a pan over low heat. Remove pine nuts and place on paper towel or wax paper to cool. Add all ingredients to Cuisinart mixer and pulse until you have the right consistency.

Pistachio Cake and Adele

Here's to the start of a new week. Can you believe it's already mid-March? No doubt the years pass by faster as I get older. But here we are; another Monday and another work day no less. Due to my lack of self control around desserts, the pistachio cake I made now finds itself a new home at work on the 13th floor's break room. We'll see how this plays out. I got the cake out of my house. Good job. But now it is with me at work - within sight and smell!

Sunday afternoon I spent a few hours sifting through cook books, online recipes and food magazines, searching for new eats to make this week. Forget vegetables, fruits, and lean protein. I was on the hunt for butter, sugar, flour, etc. In other words...desserts.

Last Thanksgiving I had my first slice of pistachio cake and have been in love ever since. So I was thrilled to find a quick and easy recipe for pistachio cake in a cook book my mom gave me years ago. Even if you're skeptical, I encourage you to try it! This recipe, in particular, takes all of 5 minutes to throw together and won't require a huge time commitment in the kitchen.

The one word I would use to describe this cake is one I can never seem to speak out loud. There are few words that make me want to scrub my mouth clean as much as m-o-i-s-t does. Blah! There. I spelled it. And m-o-i-s-t it is! With it's light lime green color on the inside and golden brown coating on the outside, this cake is a great dessert to put together when you're in time crunch.

Adele's new single "Rolling in the Deep" has been on repeat, blaring through the speakers of my iPhone. She is a perfect pair to this pistachio bunt cake. I can't get enough of this song or this cake. Thankfully Adele's song won't add unwanted lbs to the hips no matter how many times I listen to it. The cake on the other hand...not so much.

Bon Appetit!
Julia



Pistachio Cake

Ingredients
1 white cake mix
1 cup oil
1 cup 7-up or Sprite
3 eggs
1 package instant pistachio pudding
1 teaspoon almond extract

Directions
Mix all ingredients together well. Grease and flour Bunt pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes.