Happy Friday!

The weekend is almost here!!

This morning's oatmeal mix:

Banana

Coconut

Chunky peanut butter

If you've never had PB in your oatmeal, do it NOW! Thanks for the idea, Kaitlin!

Open for business!

I am so happy to announce that my mom just launched her etsy site!:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/emmepurses 

Above is the purse she made for me. Here are some examples of the ones she has for sale:

Apricot silk with an adorable dragonfly pin

Black, white and hot pink!

They all have super cute liners, too.

Right now there are five up for sale, but she is making more and will post more soon. Each one is original. Check out her site, buy a purse, and check back soon for more!!

GO MOM!!!!

I DID IT!!

I made it on cutestfood.com!!!!!!

I submitted my Rainbow Cupcakes to cutestfood and they posted it!

Go look, go look, go look!!! I am a real baker blogger!!!

Ricotta gnocchi

Tonight I made homemade ricotta gnocchi. I've been wanting to make my own gnocchi forever, but always put it off because I thought it was really complicated and hard. Here's what I learned: it's actually so easy! Well, at least ricotta gnocchi is. I have yet to try making traditional potato gnocchi. Literally, you just combine your ingredients:

16 ounce container ricotta cheese, strained

1 egg

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 - 1 cup flour

That's it!

Okay, okay, it's slightly more complicated than that. But honestly, the hardest part was smooshing the dough into gnocchi form. Here is the full recipe:

Easy Ricotta Gnocchi
Serves 4

1 (16-ounce) container of whole-milk ricotta
1 large egg
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan or pecorino cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 - 1 cup flour

Set a strainer line with three coffee filters or paper towels over a bowl. Add the ricotta and let the cheese drain for about an hour. (This can be done several days in advance.)

In a large bowl, mix the strained ricotta, egg, cheese, and 3/4 cup of the flour until all ingredients are incorporated. Cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Check the dough by rolling a bit in your hand. It should be a bit tacky. If it clings to your fingers like bubble gum, incorporate more flour one tablespoon at a time until you reach a tacky, workable consistency. Refrigerate for another 15 minutes.

Before shaping, put a large pot of water on the stove to bring to a boil. Sprinkle a baking sheet with flour and set it close to your work space.

Sprinkle your hands and work surface with a little flour. Break off a tennis-ball sized piece of the dough and roll it into a thick log about 3/4-inch thick.

Using a bench scraper or sharp knife, cut the log into 3/4" pieces. You can leave them as little 'pillows' or shape them into the traditional grooved gnocchi by rolling them off the back of a fork with your thumb.

Transfer this batch to the baking sheet and toss with flour to prevent sticking. Repeat rolling process with the remaining dough.

Add 1 tablespoon of salt to the water and half of the gnocchi. Gently stir the gnocchi to make sure they don't stick. Once they bob to the surface, let them cook an additional 2 minutes. Remove gnocchi with a slotted spoon and transfer to a colander set over a bowl to finish draining.

Repeat with second batch of gnocchi.

Toss the gnocchi with sauce and serve immediately.

It doesn't look quite as delish in the photo, but trust me - they were soooo good. 

Make them, NOW!

Nantucket Daffodil Weekend

On Friday I made my very first trip to Nantucket! I went to babysit for Daffodil Weekend, which I looooved. Flowers EVERYWHERE!

Saturday was totally gorgeous, and we went to the beach to collect shells, then in to town to watch the parades.



First we watched the antique car parade.

Then, my favorite parade ever - dogs!

There was even a french bulldog!! Adorable :)

Unfortunately, on Sunday it rained. 

But, we made the best of it with a trip to the Whaling Museum!

Call me a nerd, but whales are kinda cool? This one is only a baby - not even fully grown!

Cute kids, nice weather, a trip to the beach, a french bulldog in a daffodil costume - all in all a great weekend on Nantucket!

Macaron fail

I have a confession.

Today I tried to make macarons (again).

And I failed. Totally and completely.

I figured I needed to share this fail, because if I only ever posted my baking successes, that wouldn't be honest, now would it? But it's hard for me. It really is. 

They started out so great! Dyed robin's egg blue, sitting on the baking sheet just waiting to go into the oven to fluff into their cute little macaron selves.

But...oh. I am sad to show you what emerged just ten minutes later.

FAIIIIL. Fail. Double fail.

Cracks? No feet??

After some blog searching, I discovered that my oven was too cold. Lesson, learned.

A few had teeny tiny hints of feet:

But nothing like my almost perfect first attempt.

So, I tried to fill a couple anyway. I mean, the flavors are still there, right?

 But I had to give up after a few tries. This guy looks like a sad version of the Hamburglar.

Then, I did something I almost never do. 

I threw the rest out. Uuuugh. They were just too pitiful! I couldn't bear to look anymore!

Just as a reminder (mostly to myself) - I got it right the first time.

I will try again. I WILL try again.

Boston Marathon

On Monday I celebrated my very first Boston Marathon! I literally could not believe how many people can run so so far! I spent the morning at my friend Samantha's apartment, which is at mile 24.5 on the marathon route. GREAT location. We were right near the end and I like to think our cheers helped the runners get through that last mile and a half sprint :)

Here is a picture of the male winner running by:

And me getting a high-five from Mike Allen, Mike's running partner and biffle from Cornell.

So proud of him for finishing!

Such an exciting day. I am starting to feel like a true Bostonian!

Old school dessert cups

Remember THESE?!

Cups of dirt.

-or-

Dirt and worms.

-or-

Worms in dirt.

While making these with my roomies I discovered we all call this nostalgic dessert something different, AND we all eat it in different ways. Literally, between 5 people, each had their own specialty. I like to get a little bite of everything in each spoonful, while Mike eats one worm first and one worm last. Liz mixes hers all together. Talk about childhood memories!

And then..

Banana cream pie. In a cup!

What is it about bananas, pudding, and Nilla wafers that is sooo good?

Both were totally delicious and brought me back to being seven years old. Ahh, the good life.

Cute enough??

Welcome to part one of my quest to get on cutestfood.com.

Bugs in the grass!!

What do YOU think? Are they cute enough??

I sure hope so..!
And these cupcakes fit oh so perfectly in my "new" antique cake stand. Thanks, Mom!

Mango madness

Mangos have been on sale at Whole Foods this week. So I've been eating roughly two per day. This month's Cosmo says smelling mangos makes you happier, so this is probably a healthy obsession. Right? Anyway, mangos are totally amazing by themselves. So amazing that I sometimes have trouble believing they're actually a "fruit". The other night I jazzed up the mango routine with a little mango sundae. Sliced mangos, whipped cream, and sprinkles! Just as delicious as a real sundae, minus ~700 calories! Sweet deal.

RUN, do not walk, to your nearest Whole Foods. Mmmmmmangos!

Cutest Food

I have a new website to share, and consequently, a new goal.

Cutestfood.com 

How have I not discovered this before?

I love to look at cute food. And I especially love to make cute food.

I need to be on this website.

Exhibit A:

Sunflower cupcakes

Exhibit B:

Rainbow Pancakes

Exhibit C:

Teeny red velvet cupcakes

Exhibit D:

Mini macarons

Exhibit E:

Rainbow cupcakes

All of these things are undeniably super cute. But they have all also been featured by someone else on cutestfood.com. I need something new! Different! Adorable!

So that, my friends, is my goal this week. I will make something soooo cute that it winds up on cutestfood. Because honestly, how can I not??

Apple and Goat Cheese Quesadilla

I L-O-V-E quesadillas. Really - who doesn't?? This weekend I invented a new scrumptious quesadilla...

Apple

Goat Cheese

Cheddar

Corn Tortillas

Mmmmmmm

100th post!

Can you believe it? One HUNDRED posts! 

I think I am a real blogger now.

Congrats to me!!

In order to celebrate, I'm going to share...my FAVORITE. Top-secret. Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe. This is a BIG deal, people. These are my signature cookies! 

They have the correct ratio of crunchy outside to gooey inside. They are wonderfully flat and crispy (I am not a cakey cookie fan). To be concise, these cookies are perfection. Reluctantly, here is the recipe:

Ingredients

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup margarine or butter, softened

1/2 cup shortening

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 egg

1 3/4 cup flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Beat brown sugar, sugar, butter, and shortening until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and egg; blend well. In a seperate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir in flour mixture  and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned.

YOU are WELCOME :)

Strawberry Banana Oatmeal

My breakfast this morning:

Oatmeal with strawberries, bananas, and toasted coconut. 

A nice tropical breakfast for a HOT tropical day!

Asparagus Swiss Cheese Tart

It's that time of year...asparagus season! Now, let's be honest: I eat asparagus all year long. It's one of my favorite veggies. But, it is exciting to know that it will soon be growing locally, and asparagus displays are already popping up all over grocery stores! Likewise, asparagus recipes are all over food blogs. I got inspired by a recipe from Cupcakes and Cashmere , with three simple ingredients:

Asparagus

Gruyere (or any other swiss cheese, I used Emmenthaler)

Puff pastry dough

Just bake your puff pastry for 8-10 min, top with cheese and asparagus, and pop it back in the oven at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes. For a more detailed recipe, check it out at Martha Stewart.

From this:

To this!

Just the right amount for dinner tonight and lunch tomorrow! I halved the recipe. Try it out!