Happy Cinco De Mayo

I've taken a little break to finish my semester but I've got lots of posts to catch up on. I'll be back soon!

Cupcakes in Real Egg Shells

My little sister sent me this idea courtesy of Cupcake Project. It's such a fun concept so I decided to make them for a friend to surprise her little girls with. I can't wait to hear about their reactions. They didn't turn out as pretty as I'd hoped, but I think they'll still be fun.

Chicago Style Italian Beef

This post is brought to you by my sweet friend Kristin. By the power of the internets, she could make this in her home in Wisconsin and I can share it with you from my house in Philadelphia. I'm so excited that she'd share her recipe with us. I met Kristin after she moved to Philadelphia from Chicago and brought with her the deliciousness that is Italian Beef.  Apparently, like cheesesteaks, there is a right way to order your sandwich. Your options include "hot and wet" and "dipped and sweet." Whoa, Chicago!

Easter Cupcakes

I was browsing various food blogs one day, like I do, and came across this recipe for pistachio cupcakes. Yum, right? You use boxed cake mix, which I'm ok with sometimes. I love making stuff from scratch, but I also love stuff not taking forever. I figured Easter was great occasion to try this recipe out and make some adorable nest cupcakes. They're cute and really easy: the perfect combination for holiday baking.

Utica Chicken Riggies

Chicken Riggies is Utica, NY's culinary claim to fame. It's rigatoni pasta in a mildly spicy blush sauce. It's up for debate who invented it with many Utica area restaurants taking credit. There are various versions. Some use sweet peppers where some use hot. Some add mushrooms and black olives. This is my favorite version.

Irish Cream Chocolate Cake

I've been on a Bailey's kick lately that coincides nicely with St. Paddy's Day. I knew I wanted to make a cake with Bailey's but couldn't find quite what I was looking for. I settled on an Irish cream chocolate cake. I sat with that idea for a few days before I inspiration struck on exactly what I wanted to do with it and I was so pleased when it finally did. Irish Cream chocolate cake with a coffee cream filling and Irish Cream Dark Chocolate ganache. Yes, please!

Irish Coffee Blondies

I had already decided what recipes I was going to make for St. Patrick's Day when I opened the Martha's March issue and saw this recipe. I knew I needed to include it in the rotation. I love blondies, truthfully. I also love coffee and whiskey. Sounds like a match made in heaven.

Reuben Mac n' Cheese

Rachael Ray is one of those chefs that you either love or hate. I'm somewhere in the middle. You'll never hear me say EVOO and I wouldn't want to spend an evening with her, but damn can the woman cook. Somehow she whips out 30 minute meals that really are good. I love stuff stirred into mac and cheese and Rachael Ray has a bunch of great recipes. This one promises not to disappoint. It's two of my favorite things combined. I didn't get pictures of the process on this one, sorry guys. But the final product looks great.

Cabbage, Leek and Apple Soup

St. Patrick's Day is fast approaching, so I thought I'd take a break from regional foods and do some Irish inspired dishes. I love traditional corned beef and cabbage. I considered making corned beef from scratch but decided that my hectic schedule didn't allow for the set-up and 10 day brine that calls for. I settled on making some more modern dishes with the same core ingredients.

Normally the weather is cold and snowy or rainy and bowl of soup is just right. This week the weather is gorgeous - sunny and 70's. Not quite soup weather, but hopefully this still hits the spot for some of you.

Garbage Plates

I went to college and met some of my greatest friends in Rochester, NY. It was there that I was introduced to the Garbage Plate. Originated at Nick Tahou Hots, a garbage plate is usually half macaroni salad, half homefries topped with two cheeseburgers, onions, mustard and a house-made "hot sauce." There are other options like french fries or beans, red hots, white hots, or eggs. I was a vegetarian when I was first introduced to Tahou's and it was a bit overwhelming. I always got grilled cheese on mine and part of me still prefers that. Now, about that "hot sauce." It's a meat sauce of sorts that, truth be told, really grossed me out. I figured it was just the meat bits and grease off the grill. And you want to ladle that over my food?? No way. Remember, vegetarian. So I when I decided to make these at home I knew I had to make it, but didn't really want to.  Thankfully I had a good Rochester friend with me to show me the error of my ways and I think I may be a convert. There I said it. I think I like the "hot sauce." It has so much more flavor than I ever knew. It still looks like dog food, but it is pretty delicious.

Blogiversary

Today is my one year blogiversary! What a fun year it's been. I just want to say thank you to everyone who reads my blog, eats my food and shares their ideas. It's really fun for me to do and I appreciate you guys being a part of it. 

Are there recipes you'd like to see? Cuisines I should experiment with? Ingredients you'd like me to incorporate? Shout it out, because I want to hear your ideas.

Here's an even more adventurous second year!

Philly Cheesesteaks

I've been thinking about the idea of regional foods and how strongly we identify them with the places we love. I figured I'd introduce you to quintessential foods from places I've called home starting the cheesesteak.

When I first moved to Philly I lived a few doors down from Pat's King of Steaks and Geno's, the two "famous" cheesesteak places. Pat's is gritty and everything great about Philly including a commeration of the filming of the great motion picture "Rocky". Geno's is the Disneyland of cheesesteaks. The neighborhood always smelled like grilled meat and onions. The traditional cheesesteak is made "wiz wit" mean cheese wiz with onions. I prefer provolone to wiz any day. Save yourself the headache of dealing with the lines and make one at home.

Vegan Shepherd's Pie

I'm always looking for a healthier twist on comfort foods. My British heritage has ingrained a love of meat and potatoes in me. I love a good shepherd's pie but it's not exactly figure friendly. A friend suggested trying it with lentils and kale instead of meat and I thought it sounded so good. Kale and lentils are both full of fiber and iron. I thought I'd switch out the traditional seasoning for ones that paired well with lentils. I also mixed yams and gold potatoes for additional flavor and color. This recipe is also gluten free as a nod to the friend who suggested it. I used corn starch as a thickener instead of flour. Corn starch has twice the thickening power of flour and doesn't cloud your dish like flour does. Vegan can be delicious!

This recipe takes a bit of prep and will go more smoothly if you have all your ingredients prepared and collected before you start cooking. This idea is known as mise en place, French for "putting in place." This way, you won't have to stop during the cooking process to gather and prepare things.

Savory Broccoli and Cheddar Porridge

One of my favorite comfort foods is porridge. Be it oatmeal, Cream of Wheat or grits, there's something about it that soothes me. I recently rediscovered Cream of Wheat and have been eating a lot of it. I usually just eat it plain or with a little brown sugar. I thought a savory version might be delicious. Here's what I came up with.

Valentine's Day Red Velvet Cake

I've had a total crush on red velvet cake since I first tried it. Some people say it's just chocolate cake with red food coloring. I disagree. The buttermilk and vinegar add a depth of flavor that basic chocolate cake just doesn't have. I just love it.

Originally dutch processed cocoa was used and the acidic reaction of the vinegar and buttermilk brought out the red anthocyanin in the cocoa powder. It's true and it's science! I've tried multiple recipes; southern versions, english versions, martha versions, I've tried them all. This recipe is the result of trial and error combining the styles and processes I like best. I hope you enjoy it.  Here's the printable recipe.

Honey-Chipotle Turkey Meatballs

The January issue of Everyday Food was the Light Issue. There are lots of great lightened versions of comfort foods. This recipe in particular caught my eye. I'm a fan of using ground turkey in place of ground beef. I generally always use turkey unless I'm making meatloaf. I also love spicy things, so I knew I wanted to try this. You should as well.  Here's the printable recipe.

Banana Bourbon Layer Cake

I've been a little fixated since the last layer cake I made and when I saw this I knew I wanted to taste it. I was not disappointed. This recipe is moderately easy. The things that may trip some people up are whipping egg whites and cream and flambe. Ya you heard me. FLAMBE! It's awesome and you should try it. This is another Martha Stewart recipe so I've included her printable recipe.

Peach Stuffed Pork served with Brussel Sprouts with Bacon and Gorgonzola

As you've heard, my friends Holly and David have an awesome kitchen. This is the same David who graciously taught us all to make bread. When Holly invited me to cook dinner at their place I, of course, said yes. It was so much fun! Cooking in a great kitchen is its own pleasure to me, but doing it with fun friends is the best. I cook alone so often and it is much more pleasurable to cook with other people hanging/helping out.

My mom canned all things peaches over the summer. Peach jam. Peach halves in syrup. And just peach syrup. The jam and peaches are long gone, as they were super delicious. But that peach syrup has been nagging at me. What to do with it? Serve it over pancakes? Or poured over cake? Then it hit me. PORK! That sound so yummy, right? I found a Martha Stewart recipe that sounded delicious and modified it. You can find the original recipe here. This is another one of those recipes that looks beautiful when you serve it, but takes minimal effort.

Making bread as taught by David de Gruyl

My friend David always has amazingly delicious homemade bread at his house. Leaven bread is something I've never had success at. There's something about the blooming of the yeast and rising that I can't get right. David assured me that I was capable. And he makes it looks so easy! I learned some good tips and tricks from him that I will now pass on to you lovely folks.

Vegetarian Stuffed Eggplant

I was browsing recipes looking to use a bag of Morningstar Farms sausage-style crumbles and found a bunch of good stuffed squash recipes. This is what I came up with after reading through them. 

Stop SOPA!

A lot of sites have gone dark today in protest of SOPA, "Stop Online Piracy Act" (H.R. 3261) and PIPA, "ProtectIP Act" (S.968) and I thought I'd say something about it. Like many people are saying, this isn't the way to go about curbing piracy. It's so far reaching that people like myself could be shut down as would many of my favorite websites like Google, Reddit and Craft. If we want to get technical, I share copyrighted recipes with you guys and I could be prosecuted for it. I'm not a lawyer yet people, so let's do what we can to avoid that. Here's what you can do to help stop it:

1. Google's site had lots of good information. https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/
2. Find out if your U.S. Representative or Senator supports SOPA or PIPA at  SOPAOpera.org.
3. Use the tools at AmericanCensorship.org, Engine Advocacy and POPVOX to tell Congress where you stand.

Have your voice heard! See that linking I did? Ya, that would be breaking the rules.

Layer cake!

Saturday I had an awesome time helping a friend make her first layer cake. It was my personal favorite-yellow cake with chocolate frosting. She made the cake layers from scratch and the were delicious! Now I want to make so many tall layer cakes. Who needs one?