Domestic

I've moved!

2010-08-29T18:05:00.001-04:00

Hey guys - I decided to rename my blog and move it over to Wordpress. From now on that's where it will be - check it out!!

http://melaniejanem.wordpress.com/

Happiness

2010-08-29T10:17:00.000-04:00

A few reasons that I'm smiling on this lovely Sunday morning:

1. I still can't get over this seriously amazing sandwich/work of art that one of the kids brought for lunch on Friday. As a former sandwich artist (whattup Subway!), I know just how much talent this must have required. Behold:

2a&b. I made two fantastic purchases in Harvard Square yesterday.

2a: This awesome print of monuments in Paris. It's actually wrapping paper, but I plan to frame it!

2b: A Charley Harper coloring book!!!!!! Call me a child, call me a preschool teacher, but I am beyond excited to start coloring in my "own" Charley Harper (*favorite artist alert*) masterpieces. Next stop: CVS for a 64-pack of crayons with a sharpener in the back (do they still make those??).

3. T-minus 3 days until I move into my new adorable apartment with Domenica and Fina. There will be baking, and lots of it :)

Hope everyone is having a sunny and funny weekend!

Wildlife Wednesday: Lobster Edition

2010-08-25T19:40:00.001-04:00

For this week's edition of Wildlife Wednesday, I give you.... lobsters! As you know, Mike and I dined on some delicious lobster on our Newburyport excursion this past weekend. Though it may seem a little yuck to share a WW that revolves around EATING the wildlife, I assure you... these pictures are too great to pass up.
*Warning: some lobster advocates may find this offensive. Please accept my sincere apologies.

It all began at Michael's Harborside (recommended by the locals as a great seafood joint).

Mike ordered his wildlife whole,

while I opted for a roll.*

Digging in!

Mike loved his wildlife so much he decided to wear a bib of it.

Yaaaay!

Then, I dared him to eat an eyeball. I know, G-r-o-s-s.

Wah.

Why are you making me do this.

Taste-testing!

Ooof.

The aftermath.

I want my mom!

In case the lobster advocates are feeling sad and/or enraged, here are some additional wildlife photos to brighten your Wednesday.

*Unintentional poem.

Rain, rain, GO AWAY!

2010-08-24T20:42:00.001-04:00

Is this rain getting to anyone else? I checked the weather this morning and was NOT pleased to see this image:

of Tropical Storm I-Make-It-Rain-Sideways sitting over Boston as hour after hour clicked by on the radar map. Literally just sitting there dumping rain on us. To make matters worse, the next few days look like this:

YUCK-o!

This has resulted in me being in my jammies and in bed by 8PM.* Which has luckily resulted in me being able to play on the internet and stumble upon these happy, sunny pictures to share with you.

From Emily

Cuteoverload.com

Can't WAIT to see this!

*Fingers crossed* Here comes the sun!

*Duh, I go to bed at 8PM on my own free will, because I am a grandma.

The best cupcake I've ever had.

2010-08-22T19:31:00.000-04:00

I'm about to tell you about the best cupcake I've ever tasted in my 23 years on earth. This a big statement for me, and I hope you all understand the gravity of this proclamation. As someone who eats an absurd amount of cupcakes, to place one single cupcake at the top of the list is a bold move. But trust me when I say....

this is the best cupcake I've ever had.

It all began with this sign stopped me dead in my tracks.

I L-O-V-E stuffed cupcakes. In my opinion, the only way to make a cupcake better is to stuff it with more frosting.

The epic cupcake was born in Pralines Bakeshop, which recently tried out for Food Network's Cupcake Wars. So you know they've gotta be good.

There were six or seven stuffed cupcake flavors, but I forgot them all when I heard the first two ingredients of my epic cupcake: homemade caramel and sea salt.

Sold.

We deemed it most appropriate to enjoy our sea salt cupcake by the... ocean.

Are you ready for this???

Chocolate buttercream. Homemade caramel sauce. Sea salt. Chocolate ganache drizzles. Praline crumbles.

All atop a vanilla cupcake stuffed with buttercream and more AH-MAZ-ING caramel sauce.

I can't talk about it anymore.

Thank you for coming in to my life, perfect epic cupcake.

Newburyport

2010-08-22T18:58:00.000-04:00

This Saturday Mike and I headed to Newburyport, MA to do a little exploring, get in some beach time, and celebrate my upcoming golden birthday. As was predicted, I fell head over heels in love with the area. Adorable shops? Check. Funky antique stores? Check. Beaches, stuffed cupcakes, old New England houses? Check, check, check!!

The day started off with a BANG when we stopped at Trader Joe's to grab some picnic supplies, and I found these:

Um, helllloooo! Another s'more item to add to my growing repertoire :)

After a zippy drive up 95, we arrived in town and immediately began posing with some local gems.

Unicorn street, obvi.

Then we did some antique hunting.

Love.

L-o-v-e.

And I picked up this totes cute vintage chair to replace the current one at my desk!

We headed to the beach for a picnic and PRESENTS!

Mike gave me these gorgeous earrings that I've been wanting for 100 years. I am one lucky girl!

Finally, we stopped at Michael's Harborside for a yummy lobster dinner.

What a great day!

Wildlife Wednesday: Penguin Edition

2010-08-18T22:06:00.001-04:00

As I have a deep obsession with taking and posting photos of flowers and cute animals, I have decided to institute "Wildlife Wednesdays". This is essentially just a made-up excuse to take and post even more flower and adorable animal photos. Just call it "research". WW commences... now.

This frog is maybe notso cute or flowery but it fits with the theme so we're gonna go with it. Ribbit!

And now for the penguins! I recently took a quick trip (i.e. what is the attention span of a three-year-old) to the New England Aquarium and snapped a few pics of these truly adorbs penguin friends. If you're wondering if it gets any cuter and/or cooler than these guys - it doesn't.

Have you guys seen the penguin power ad campaign from the aquarium? I think it is pure genius. Exhibits A, B, C, and especially, D:

These make my day. All day, every day. My birthday is in 5 days. I would like a penguin, please!

Emma and Topher's wedding!

2010-08-18T21:38:00.001-04:00

HI!! I'm finally back! It has been a whirlwind past couple of weeks, and I appreciate you all bearing with me for my extended missingness. This past weekend I was back at Cornell for Emma and Topher's wedding, and I am SO excited to share pictures with you! The wedding was absolutely beautiful, perfectly put together, and an all-around awesome time back in Ithaca with some awesome people! From the hockey game at Lynah rink the night before, to a photo shoot in front of the clock tower, to the gorgeous reception site, here are some pictures from the wedding extravaganza:

*Thanks to the various 121ers I stole most of these photos from :)

Happy Weekend!

2010-08-13T09:17:00.001-04:00

Miss Melanie

Quinn, age 3

I mean... could it BE any cuter?

I'm off to Ithaca in t-minus 30 minutes for Emma and Topher's WEDDING!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

2010-08-11T18:49:00.001-04:00

I texted Melanie and asked for her password and when she asked why, I told her that I would be guest blogging. Her response? Wooo go for it!
The first thing I will blog about is the baby corn I found attached to the normal sized corn that I was shucking a mere 10 minutes ago, look at this thing:

The next area of business would be me showing off my pictures from our family trip (that Melanie didn't attend) to Washington D.C.

SpongeBob and I

This was when we lost my parents...

We had lots of fun in this museum.

These next photos are from the Spiedie Fest and Balloon Rally:

Two balloons were blown up and took off literally feet away from where my friend and I were standing.

Then we got inside one:

My mom and I passed a huge field of sunflowers all facing the opposite way on our way to Cooperstown over the weekend.

If you want to look at more of my pictures, here's the link to my photostream: www.flickr.com/photos/emily_martin

Running the numbers

2010-08-03T20:24:00.000-04:00

*Attention*

I've been running the numbers... and this blog is about to be M.I.A. for the next two weeks. You see, as of yesterday, I started working at summer camp in the morning and babysitting in the afternoon. A quick calculation tells me that this breaks down to ~ten hours/day spent with children ages three and under. Which brings my exhaustion level up to 96.9%. It also reduces my me (read: cooking & blog) time to under one hour/day. Furthermore, I am 100% convinced that I need at least 9.5 hours of sleep/night to function (grossly unrealistic), and anything less would result in a two-year-old-like meltdown.

All of these numbers add up to zero time to blog. My apologies.

However, the good news is that I finally have some funny kid anecdotes to share. Like how there is a set of identical two-year-old twins at camp who come dressed exactly alike every day and the only way we are able to tell them apart is one has a slightly larger cowlick than the other.

Ah, the joys of youth. See you soon, blogworld!

Boston Harbor Islands

2010-08-01T21:03:00.000-04:00

On Saturday, Mike and I took a little day trip to George's Island, one of twelve Boston Harbor Islands. A quick ferry ride takes you to a quiet island with an awesome view of the Boston skyline and a HUGE fort to explore (and bring out your inner kid!). Here are some pictures from our adventure!

Peanut Butter Surprise Cupcakes

2010-07-29T12:18:00.000-04:00

Have you ever had a peanut butter cupcake? I haven't. But I've always wanted to. So I invented them.*

And... you know me. I just had to kick it up a notch. So I embedded a *surprise* in these peanut butter cupcakes.

Can you guess what it is?

Any ideas?

TA-DA! Ready??....

Peanut Butter Cupcakes with a Peanut Butter Cup Center and Chocolate Buttercream

This is better than that time that I made it to the regional round of Invention Convention in 3rd grade for inventing non-slip bathroom floors.

Though I know I should be patenting this recipe and making the big $$$$, I believe in good karma and am therefore going to share it with y-o-u!

Here is the cupcake recipe. After about ten minutes of baking, push a peanut butter cup into the center. Bake for 10-13 more minutes. Allow to cool, and top with the chocolate buttercream found here.

*Disclaimer: I am probably not the person to discover peanut butter cupcakes. But it makes me feel good to think that I am.

Fresh tomato and ricotta salad

2010-07-27T22:20:00.000-04:00

LOOK at those gorgeous tomatoes! Usually I am not a tomato fan, but I can't help but love the fresh, juicy, local tomatoes popping up all over farmers markets! I am also a h-u-u-u-u-g-e fan of ricotta. Mmm, mm, good. I found another easy Everyday Food recipe that combined the two! Here's what you need:

1 1/2 lb day-old crusty bread, cut into one inch cubes

2 lb tomatoes, cut into one inch cubes

1/2 small red onion, cut in thin strips

1/2 cup basil leaves, torn

*I used 1/3 of a fresh zucchini, because I had it on hand

1 15oz container of ricotta cheese, drained

3 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

Three easy steps:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and toast the bread cubes for 20 minutes.

2. Combine the remaining ingredients (except ricotta), and toss with toasted bread.

3. Allow the mixture to sit for 20-30 minutes, or until the bread has absorbed all of the liquids.

Serve with a dollop of ricotta cheese and a drizzle of olive oil.

So fresh and easy - a perfect summer dish!

Christmas in July

2010-07-26T20:49:00.002-04:00

Today I received a *surprise* package in the mail from my Aunt Connie! It was filled with adorable goodies (see below) and included a note: "Happy early birthday and Christmas in July!" So cute!

My two favorite things: cupcakes and CHRISTMAS.

Just in case I need monthly cupcake inspiration :)

And some sort of teeny tiny cupcake gadget. Quarter to show size. It had Japanese writing on it? Maybe it belongs to Hello Kitty.

I got inspired by the Christmas in July theme and decided to play Santa to myself, with a little jcrew.com early birthday shopping spree. Among other things, I emerged with these two fancy headbands:

Thanks, Aunt Connie! You made my day!

Homemade Veggie Burgers

2010-07-26T20:34:00.000-04:00

Yummers! Lately I've been trying to take my flexitarianism to a whole new level. *Cough* The truth: I had a few burger/bacon/chicken-filled weeks of complete carnivorism and I am trying to take it down a notch. The hardest part of trying to eat less meat, for me, is making sure I still get enough protein. Luckily, I found a recipe in Everyday Food magazine (amazing amazing - best subscription I have) for these EASY meat-free burgers. And the best part? Low fat, and packed with protein.

I have to be honest, though. Here is what the "burger patty" looked like when I followed the recipe:

Don't you worry. I am a whiz in the kitchen. I put on my culinary thinking cap, rummaged in the cupboard for some bread crumbs, threw in another egg, and....

Success!

Topped with an avocado, sans bun (so yummy it didn't need one!), and served with a side of sweet potato wedges.

Here is the recipe (adapted from Everyday Food):

Ingredients

1/2 cup bulgur

1 cup boiling water

1 (15 oz) can of pinto beans, rinsed and coarsely chopped

1/2 cup finely shredded carrot

1/2 cup shredded swiss cheese

1 tbsp finely chopped red onion

2 eggs

1/2 - 3/4 cup bread crumbs

salt & pepper

olive oil

Instructions

Combine bulgar with boiling water and cover until bulgar has absorbed the water (about 30 minutes). Place the bulgar in a fine strainer to drain excess water. Combine with remaining ingredients, seasoning liberally with salt and pepper. Form into 1/2 cup patties, and cook in a tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat until brown on both sides and cooked through.

Philly here I come!

2010-07-23T13:25:00.000-04:00

Bye bye, Boston!

I'm off to Philadelphia to see one of my BEST and OLDEST friends, Erin.

Last time I was there I officially fell in love with french bulldogs.

Can't wait to see what Philly has in store for me this time! Catch ya on the flipside, Beantown.

Fact.

2010-07-21T12:18:00.000-04:00

I am more likely to purchase kitchen-related items than clothes.

Evidence: my recent trip to Anthropologie.

Surrounded by gorgeous dresses, earrings, and tops....

I went with bowls.

But honestly - who can resist their kitchen section?

They remind me of rainbow sherbet! Soooo in love.

Zucchini and feta couscous salad

2010-07-19T20:29:00.000-04:00

Recently I've been getting inspired by We are not Martha's feta salad recipes. I had some Israeli couscous in my cupboard that I've been wanting to try out for-ev-er, so I came up with this yummy, simple salad!

Here's what you need:

1 1/3 cup uncooked couscous

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon red wine vinegar

1/2 cup diced zucchini

handful of feta cheese

pepper to taste

Toast the couscous in 1T olive oil on medium heat for 5 minutes. Slowly pour in 1 3/4 cup boiling water. Cover and allow to simmer on medium-low heat for 12 minutes. Toss with remaining ingredients.

So easy and so good!

In case you've been wondering...

2010-07-19T16:34:00.000-04:00

...what I did with those shiny things from my recent antique shopping trip. I am happy to report the pretty blue jar has settled in nicely on my counter, and was recently filled with homemade maple-nut granola. Yum!

And the fancy pin found a fancy home atop my mom's latest creation, this gorgeous navy clutch!

Inside:

Simply adorbs.

Zzzzipadeedoodah

2010-07-18T18:06:00.000-04:00

Ahh, the magic of zipcar. For those of us non-car-owners, zipcar provides a way to get around to run errands or take fun little day trips. Today, Mike and I zipped over to Needham to visit Treat cupcake bar. This seemingly quick one-stop trip somehow turned into a full-fledged eating bonanza.

It all started when we "accidentally" ordered WAY too much food at Friendly's Express.

Yum?

Then we ventured out to find our cute little zipcar!

I loved the "power" button. No key needed!

Zzzzoooom! We're off!

We made a quick stop in the park to play ring around the rosie. Mike is seriously messing with the rosie flow here.

Luckily, as a preschool teacher, running around in circles is my job. So I showed him how it's done.

Phew! Back to cupcakes and the eating bonanza. Enter, Treat.

Here's the deal:

1. Pick a cupcake (I went with "gold" - aka vanilla?)

2. Pick a frosting base (Buttercream pour moi!)

3. Pick up to three toppings (oreo, Butterfinger, rainbow sprinkles)

4. The cupcake bartender mixes up your frosting a la Coldstone Creamery and hands it to you in the adorable box:

*Coke can used to show size. So.much.frosting.

Mike went with rainbow sprinkles and nerds. Weird combo but I have to hand it to him, it was actually really good!

Sugar overload. But soo worth the trip.

Fresh berries with mascarpone cream

2010-07-18T17:27:00.000-04:00

I've always been intrigued by mascarpone cheese. Is it cheese? Is it cream? Is it cream cheese?

Here's what I know it is:

on sale at Whole Foods.

I can almost never resist WF sale items. This stems from my inability to resist any and all things that are sold at Whole Foods.

I digress. After a little google-search sesh, I found a recipe for mascarpone cream:

1/2 cup mascarpone

1/3 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Beat until light and fluffy, and cream holds soft peaks.

I put the cream on fresh blueberries and strawberries. And yeah, okay, there's a little chocolate ganache in there too. Simple and pretty!

Happy Birthday, Miss Meghann!

2010-07-18T17:10:00.001-04:00

Whew, so many July birthdays!!

Happy birthday to another fabulous teacher and loyal reader,

Miss Meghann!

For your birthday, I got you this giant piece of macaroni. You can pick it up in Faneuil Hall.

:) Have a GREAT day!!

Still feelin' peachy!

2010-07-15T19:54:00.000-04:00

Ohmygosh. I went BACK to the farmer's stand and bought eleven more peaches today. Am I obsessed? Just a little?

When you see this peach crisp, you will understand why. Just another good old Martha standby. Sweet, syrupy peaches & crispy, crunchy, nutty crust. Oooohhh. The smell.

Feast your eyes on this:

The good news: no butter, minimal sugar.

The bad news: I'm not very good at sharing.

Oh! Don't mind if I do.

Genius.

2010-07-15T19:38:00.000-04:00

Do you know the Pioneer Woman? She has an ah-mazing cooking, baking, photography, home and garden, etc, etc, all things amazing, blog. Like seriously amazing.

I thought her life couldn't get any cooler until I saw.....

this.

*photo from here

These are flour and sugar drawers. In her kitchen.

This woman is absolutely genius. In my future life, when I have a billion dollars to build the kitchen of my dreams, these babies will be #1 on my list. So, SO awesome.

Shiny things

2010-07-14T21:33:00.000-04:00

Here's the thing about antique shopping: I used to think it was the.worst.thing.e.v.e.r. My parents have loved antiquing for as long as I can remember, and for as long as I can remember I have been dragged along on their antique adventures. Childhood road trips consisted of meandering through upstate NY, stopping at each and every shop along the way. I could not, for the life of me, understand what was *so great* about stores upon stores full of smelly, dusty, OLD THINGS. I used to sit in the car for seemingly endless hours - which, looking back on my 7-year-old self, was probably more like 15 minutes - and CRY until my parents would come back with armfuls of (what I now understand are) valuable goodies.

Boy, have times changed. I NEVER thought I would say it, but antique & vintage shopping is soO fun and fab. I checked out a couple local shops with my dad today and wound up with three shiny, pretty things:

A old blue jar! I can't wait to fill it with something fun and put it in my kitchen.

Fancy earrings and a glittery pin for the new clutch my mom is making for me - gorg!

Feeling peachy?

2010-07-14T17:19:00.000-04:00

Let's talk about the perfect peaches at the farm stand down the road.

They FEEL perfect.

They LOOk perfect.

They SMELL perfect.

They TASTE p-e-r-f-e-c-t.

And I'm sure if peaches could make noise, these ones would sound like angels singing.

Today, I made those perfect peaches into positively peachy preserves. Oh boy, oh boy!

The recipe calls for twelve ripe peaches but I obviously went with lucky number thirteen - one for eating :)

Here's the tricky part: you have to peel them. It's actually not too bad, just boil the peaches for a minute, plop them in ice water, and the skin should come right off!

What was I saying about the way they look?

Oh, right...perfect. Hello beautiful sunset.

Post-attack by the potato masher. Are you wishing for smell-o-vision yet?

Twelve smooshed peaches + three tablespoons lemon juice + one cup sugar + one pack fruit pectin = Positively Peachy Preserves.

TA-DA!

Makeitmakeitmakeitmakeit.

2 new purses, LOTS of new fabric!

2010-07-13T21:22:00.001-04:00

Attention ladies! (and gentlemen?)

My mom just listed two new purses on etsy:

Pretty in pink

Blue and yellow plaid

She has one that is almost ready:

A new style!

AND she just got a whole bunch of gorgeous/funky/fab new fabric:

Black and white on the outside, yellow bumblebees for the inside! *My personal favorite.

If you like any of the fabrics (how could you not??), shoot her an email at emmepurses@gmail.com and you can have one yourself!

I take mine everywhere :)

Check her out!: http://www.etsy.com/shop/emmepurses

Summer vegetable pizza

2010-07-12T19:08:00.001-04:00

Tonight was pizza night at my house, made even more awesome by two great discoveries:

1. Fleischmann's pizza crust yeast

I found this at Wegman's (l-o-v-e.) and was a little hesitant to try it out. Isn't yeast yeast? How can you "specially formulate" it? Freaked me out.

Anywho, I'm glad to report that this little package made the BEST, crispiest, most delicious pizza crust I've had! And it didn't need any time to rise! Perfection.

2. Fresh summer veggies

These cute little guys came from (you guessed it!) our garden. This is the FIRST tomato of the season!

A make-your-own-pizza buffet!

Yu-u-u-ummmy in my tu-u-u-ummmy.

Snickerdoodles

2010-07-12T18:50:00.000-04:00

Today I made snickerdoooOOodles. I had forgotten how yummy and simple they are! And they travel well, if you happen to be sending them in a care package to someone you know ;)

I used this recipe by Martha Stewart.

Happy Birthday, Amy!

2010-07-12T12:45:00.003-04:00

Happy Birthday to Miss Amy!,

my fellow newbie teacher and lover of baked goods.

I could NOT find a picture of us together, so here is a pic of an adorable puppy in hopes that you will actually get one and share it with me:

Adopt me puhleeeeez
*from cuteoverload.com

Le garden

2010-07-09T21:44:00.000-04:00

High on the list of things I did not inherit from my mom:

her green thumb.

Her are some pictures from her amazing garden(s).

Banana Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Buttercream

2010-07-08T20:43:00.003-04:00

Holy moly. You want to taste goodness? Make these banana cupcakes. You want to taste even-better-ness? Slap on a little brown sugar buttercream. You want to make them superbly cute? Roll out some fondant flowers.

There you have it. A recipe for success.

My cupcake baking went a little backwards today, as in I started with toppings first. I impulsebought a package of Wilton pre-made fondant at the store the other day, and have been itching to do something with it ever since.

So I added some color and got inspired by these gorgeous flowers in the garden:

Replicated in fondant form:

Well aren't you just adorbs!

Anywho, after I made my cupcake toppings, I needed a cupcake! I was trying to find something semi-healthy that doesn't involve 2 sticks of butter and 4 cups of sugar (it is bathing suit season after all), and stumbled upon Bakerella's banana cupcake recipe. Overripe banana = less butter and less sugar needed! I used even less sugar than the recipe suggests, and soy milk instead of whole.

THEN, I needed a frosting! I was trying to think of yummy things that go with bananas (chocolate, peanut butter, i.e., everything?), and settled on the classiest combo I could come up with: brown sugar, a la bananas foster. I made up my own recipe (!) for the frosting, and it went a little something like this:

1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1 - 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 tablespoon milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

Beat the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add 1/4 cup powdered sugar and beat until incorporated. Add milk, vanilla, and another 1/4 cup of sugar. Beat for a minute or so, and add another 1/4 cup of sugar. Based on the consistency you want, add the last bit of powdered sugar, or more to your liking. Makes enough frosting for 12 cupcakes or 24 mini cupcakes.

SYTYCD

2010-07-07T19:08:00.003-04:00

I can't even tell you how much I love So You Think You Can Dance. It makes my Wednesday nights, because of things like this:

Just to give you a little background,
Alex (the one in red) is a trained ballet dancer.

In the words of Lil C:

Buck.

Don't get crabby, have a drink!

2010-07-07T16:58:00.001-04:00

The epic journey that is crab-trapping.

I spent my 4th of July hanging out on Mike's family's dock in Ocean City, NJ. Throughout the afternoon we caught or were visited by many curious creatures, including, but not limited to:

12 crabs

1 hermit crab

2 sand sharks

1 jellyfish

1 starfish
7 ducklings

Wowee! If you know me and my love of the aquarium, you'll know that being able to touch a shark (even if it didn't have any teeth AND puked all over us) = best day ever.

The dock had two crab traps attached to it, so we checked them throughout the day and that's how we found all those creatures!

While attempting Pop pop's signature "don't get clawed by the crab while pulling it out of the trap" move, Mike did, in fact, get clawed.

Owwwwch!

Luckily the crabs got distracted clawing each other, just in time for me to snap a pic!

Then the crab got thirsty.

Gimme gimme gimme!

MINE.

Too...much...beer...

(no crabs were harmed in the taking of this photo)

Unfortunately we decided to let the crabbies go and continue on their sideways journey of life.

Take me back to this!!

4th of July festivities!

2010-07-06T19:51:00.001-04:00

My dearest readers,

I am SO sorry for being M.I.A. the past week. I've been busy attending bachelorette parties and playing at the beach. Here are some beautiful 4th of July photos so you can see what I've been up to!

Love,

Melanie

Can you handle those sunset colors? What a gorgeous weekend. Missing the beach already!

S'mores cookies

2010-07-01T20:43:00.003-04:00

I know what you're probably thinking. Why's this girl so obsessed with s'mores? They're good, but maybe not so good that they need to be recreated in every baked good imaginable. But I say, maybe they do.

I set out today to make chocolate chip cookies for my upcoming trip to the shore. But, when I opened the cabinet, fate stepped in. Fate in the form of mini marshmallows falling on my head. Alright, okay, fate, I'll incorporate those mallows into my cookies. And you know what? Yeah, I'll throw in some graham cracker crumbs too.

And just like that, s'mores cookies were born.

I followed this recipe, and added 3/4 cup of graham cracker crumbs to the dough. Then I put a mini marshmallow or two on top of the scoops of dough. They came out verrryyy flat but very delicious. I would suggest using copious amounts of cooking spray on your baking sheet, as those little mallows are sticky.

S'mores goodness without the grill (ours was stolen. I think the robber reads this blog)? Sign me up!

Homemade Strawberry Jam

2010-07-01T17:05:00.001-04:00

Strawberry season is upon us! Is there anything better?

Today I set out to make Buscia's secret strawberry jam recipe. Here's what I learned:

It is not so secret at all. It's actually on the back of the pectin pack.

Don't you just hate it when that happens? Here I am, envisioning Buscia spending hours over the stove perfecting her secret recipe, and its really just three steps and three ingredients. It's sort of like finding out Santa isn't real. But, to her credit, Buscia's strawberry jam is the best I've ever tasted!

Here we go...

Cut off the tops of 4lbs of strawberries (mashed = ~4cups). No, this does not mean 4 cartons.

Yes, I went a little overboard on strawberry purchasing.

Now, smooooosh them! I used a potato masher and it worked beautifully.

Add 1 1/2 cups sugar and one pack of fruit pectin. Stir for three minutes, and voila!

Homemade strawberry jam!

Happy Birthday, Miss Tracey!

2010-07-01T12:48:00.000-04:00

Happy birthday to one of my most faithful readers and treat-tryers, Miss Tracey! Thanks for always appreciating my baked goods and letting me escape to kindergarten (almost) daily :)

I wish I was in Boston to bake you a delicious birthday treat, but I got you these flowers instead!

Happy birthday to one of the best kindergarten teachers I know!

Potato and Rosemary Frittata

2010-06-30T19:52:00.001-04:00

A gorgeous, scrumptious, EASY, one-pan-wonder.

Keeping with the Ithaca theme, tonight's dinner came from the Moosewood cookbook.

The ingredient list...

The easy-peasy steps:

1. Cook with your mom. It's always better that way :)

2. Saute potatoes, onions, and garlic in olive oil (and a little butter!) until soft.

3. Add spices. We used rosemary, picked from the garden!

3. Pour beaten eggs over the potatoes. Sprinkle with cheese. Cover, and allow to cook over medium-low heat until the eggs are cooked through.

4. Stick it under the broiler until golden brown - about 2 or 3 minutes.

5. Cut, and serve. We tripled the recipe to feed the five of us, and even had some left over!

Bon appétit!

Iron Kettle Farm

2010-06-30T19:28:00.001-04:00

On our way back from Ithaca, Emily and I stopped at Iron Kettle Farm. In the fall, it becomes Iron Kettle Pumpkin Farm and is THE place to go for...

pumpkin picking,

cute baby animals,

and your standard, run-of-the-mill, we-must-be-in-upstate-New-York-now pumpkin paraphernalia.

Don't question, just go with it.

Anywho, this time of year there are still many cute baby animals, including a teeny tiny bun who may or may not be the illegitimate child of Professor Blueberry.

Resemblance??

There was also a strange half goat/half human hybrid.

I swear it is smiling at us. And thinking something along the lines of "Heh heh heh. I am going to distract you by smiling and looking human-like as I chew this piece of straw and then I am going to eat your camera!" Am I right or am I right?

Oh, and we picked up these gorgeous cherries!

♥Cornell♥

2010-06-29T21:16:00.001-04:00

Cornell University, you have my heart.

Today I took a ride up to Ithaca with Emily, and we spent the afternoon on campus. It made me love and miss Cornell even more than I already do! This marks 1+ years post-grad and I stand by my belief that college is the best years of your life.

Ithaca is gorges (yeah I said it) in the summertime, and campus was surprisingly busy. It was not the same being on campus without the Class of 2009, but it was nice to relive some of my favorite Cornell things for the afternoon!

First things first - I picked up a Statler salad. How do I even begin to describe the Statler salad? I think it's something you have to experience to understand. It's good enough to spend 20 minutes waiting in a 50+ person line - every day. You heard me right; senior year I had a Statler salad for lunch day in and day out. There's just something so great about picking ingredients for your own salad, unlimited toppings, and delicious dressings. There's also something so great about wasting away the afternoon enjoying your salad with 8 of your closest friends. That, in a nutshell, is the greatness that is the Statty salad. Feast your eyes on today's creation:

Oh, and a side of sweet potato fries :)

Then we wandered around campus snapping pics with Emily's amazing camera...

I didn't even try to resist getting this AMAZING cover for my iPod.

Here is Sage Chapel, where Emma and Topher are getting married in August! Cannot WAIT for the wedding!

Finally, we stopped for some Dairy Bar ice cream.

We got Nutty Buddy Franklin: peanut butter ice cream with fudge swirls and peanut butter cups.

This is the "one scoop" size. Puh-leez.

I only got this far in. You know I am not one to throw away ice cream ("there's always room!") but it really was that big. But oooh so delicious.

See you in August, beautiful Cornell!

Congrats, grad!

2010-06-29T20:27:00.002-04:00

This past weekend I was (and still am) home to celebrate my baby sister's high school graduation. It made me realize that I am now five years out of high school and officially old. I remember graduating and wondering where I would be for our five-year reunion (which was, unfortunately, never planned) - and here I am! Full-fledged adulthood!

Anyway, the graduation party was super fun - full of family, friends, and food.

The spread...

Poor man's caviar - recipe here.

Homemade salsa

Cheese plate

Fruit

And veggies!

Of course, the dessert plate: pink lemonade cookies, PB blondies, and peanut butter cup cookies!

Emily's request...puppy chow. Yum!

Juuust having a photo shoot in the garden!

Congrats, Emily! Good luck next year :)

Peanut Butter Blondies

2010-06-25T20:40:00.005-04:00

With homemade chocolate frosting. Need I say more?

I think I need to start a "chocolate and peanut butter" section in my recipes. There are few things I love and appreciate more than the combination of chocolate and peanut butter. And when the peanut butter comes in blondie form? Yes, yes, and yes.

Alright - I'll admit it. This recipe breaks one of my cardinal rules of baking - it requires using the stove. I'm a no-fuss baker. If I can make it all in one bowl, I will. Using the stove = extra pots to clean, extra time, and extra patience. I don't have patience. But for this particular choco/PB combo, I'll have to stick it out. This is just one recipe you can't walk away from.

As always, thanks again, Joy the Baker! Truly the most fabulously delicious baking recipes out there. If you haven't yet, you must go check her out!

Here we go...

Combine 10 tablespoons unsalted butter with 2 cups dark brown sugar in a medium saucepan on medium heat. Stir until the butter melts, then remove from heat. It should look something like this...

Oh, hello. Don't you look gorgeous!

Add 1 cup of natural peanut butter. Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes.

Whisk in two eggs and two teaspoons vanilla. Look at these cute little guys from a local farm!

Mix together 2 cups flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon baking powder. Add to the wet ingredients and stir until combined.

Spread into a 9x13 pan and bake for 20 minutes at 325 degrees.

Meanwhile, get started on that chocolate frosting.

Uh huh. Looks about right. Somewhere between chocolately heaven and fluffy frosting goodness.

Beat 6 tablespoons softened unsalted butter with 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Add 1/2 cup powder sugar and 1 tablespoon milk - beat until combined. Add 1 cup powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons milk - beat until fluffy. Melt 3/4 cup chocolate chips (I used semi-sweet) in the microwave and add to the mixture.

Saving these babies for Emily's grad party tomorrow. They are currently sitting in a neat little tupperware at my feet as I ride the Greyhound back home. Must resist. Must. resist.

Celebrity sighting

2010-06-23T17:06:00.000-04:00

Woke up this morning to meet Kaitlin and Bethenny for brunch at Cafe Cluny in the West Village. As Alix and I got on the subway, I said... "We are going to see someone famous today. I just FEEL it." I swear!

Fast forward to thirty minutes later...

I was trying to decide between Brioche French Toast and the Breakfast Club Sandwich...

Went with the french toast (duh)...

Oh the fluffiness!

...when none other than Amy Poehler walks in and sits at the table next to us! The Amy Poehler from SNL, and Parks and Recreation, and this hysterical skit. I so, so wanted to take a picture but she looked so cute and pregnant and normal that I felt badly interrupting her brunch. I hope a picture of her seat at the cafe will do?

What a trip! I <3 NY.

In the Heights

2010-06-23T00:17:00.002-04:00

I also could not leave the city without seeing a Broadway show. It's been so long! The last show I saw (I'm a little embarrassed to admit) was "The Little Mermaid" two years ago.

We stood in line at TKTS and I snapped some touristy photos.

We ended up getting some sweeeet half-price tickets to "In the Heights". And GREAT seats on the orchestra level! The show is set in Washington Heights and has fantastic music. And it won a Tony for best musical!

I LOVED it. Love love loved it. I mean, how can you not love a show starring the one and only Corbin Bleu from High School Musicals 1, 2, and 3?

From high school...

To Broadway!

I highly recommend this show. Fun music, great dancing, awesome singing, HSM star. Just call me a teeny bopper. But seriously, go see it!

Magnolia Bakery

2010-06-22T23:40:00.000-04:00

I have been thoroughly enjoying my mini-vacay in NYC and could not leave the city without a trip to Magnolia! Definitely some of the best cupcakes I've ever had.

I walked in and was amazed/excited/super pumped for air conditioning. Oh wait. Silly me. I was amazed/excited super pumped for air conditioning AND to see s'mores cupcakes.

We promptly ordered some, and also couldn't resist the red velvet!

Here's the s'mores. I'm about to make a pretty big statement...

...I think mine are better.

Okay, I'm biased. Magnolia, please don't sue me.

BUT, for me, it all comes down to the frosting. And meringue icing instead of real marshmallow just wasn't cutting it. Though I will say the chocolate ganache center was fab!

Mmmmmagnolia.

Happy Father's Day!

2010-06-20T11:10:00.000-04:00

Happy Father's Day to my awesome, super smart DAD.

I love you Dad! See you soon!

Annutto's Farm Stand

2010-06-17T14:10:00.001-04:00

There are two really great things about Annutto's Farm Stand in Oneonta, NY:

1. Fresh, local produce

And lots of it!

2. Sprinkles

I know you're probably thinking...

Sprinkles? In a farm stand? Two whole aisles of them?

Yes, yes, and yes.

GENIUS. Match made in heaven.

Between some "belated Easter gifts" (as if I need a reason to receive sprinkles) from Mike's parents, and my own inability to resist sprinkles, I now have six new containers. See below:

Rainbow sanding sugar

Neon fish

Festive red, white, and blue stars. Just in time for 4th of July!

Pink piggies!

COWS!

And finally, some good old-fashioned rainbow jimmies. My personal favorite.

If you ever need sprinkles, you know who to call!

This girl needs to get baking.

Happy Birthday Domenica!

2010-06-15T09:46:00.001-04:00

HAPPY 23rd Birthday to my beautiful best friend, Domenica! Dome and I have been friends since we were six years old. We started out in the same first-grade girl scout troop and now we are going to be roomies as grown-ups here in Boston!!

Love you Domey! Have a fabulous day!!

PS - Check her out over at D*Tales!

Waldorf Chicken Salad

2010-06-14T22:55:00.002-04:00

I've never been a big chicken salad fan. Not really loving the mayo. But, I recently tried some homemade chicken salad (a la Mike's grandmother - so you know it's gotta be good), and I fell in love. I've since come to believe that when it's done right and made fresh, chicken salad can be an amazing dish!

I spent this past weekend in upstate New York celebrating Mike's sister's graduation. Needless to say there was plenty of BBQing going on, and plenty of leftovers. We (okay, I) decided to use the leftover grilled chicken to make a chicken salad. Here's the simple recipe I followed...

Dice up roughly five cups of cooked chicken.

In a bowl, mix together the chicken, two medium celery stalks (chopped), two scallion (chopped), one large green apple (finely diced), 3/4 cup mayonnaise, two tablespoons fresh lemon juice, one tablespoon freshly chopped herb (parsley, basil, oregano, whatever you like), and salt and pepper to taste.

Toast up ~six tablespoons chopped walnuts, and add them to the mix.

Chill for a few hours or overnight, then serve with toasted bread. Preferably on a patio 8-)

Hello, summer!

2010-06-14T22:14:00.004-04:00

I have the best job in the world. Know why? It's super fun. I get to hang out with cute little four-year-olds all day. I am referred to as "Miss Melanie". I go on field trips. Coloring is a legitimate activity.

Oh, and I get summers off.

I also get adorably fab end-of-the-year gifts. Like this new box from Beacon Hill Chocolates. Either the two-year-olds read this blog OR their parents had a very lucky guess. I plan to design my future kitchen around it.

I now have a collection of three of these boxes, and I believe there is one of each size! The most recent was filled with a double-decker layer of deliciousness...

Woof!

I also received this mug that I have been eyeing at Anthropologie for years!

So happy!

So, I will be spending the next month or so basking in the sun, traveling home and to NYC, getting back in shape (!), wandering around farmers markets, and baking, baking, baking! I don't know how all of you grown-ups do it, but this sure is the life.

Welcome, sweet summer :)

S'more success

2010-06-11T19:48:00.002-04:00

SSSS'MORE SSSUCCESS!

After the other night's smorefail, I decided to walk away and sleep on it. I awoke in the morning with an idea - more graham cracker! More crumbs!

I made the new and improved bars and took them to my work picnic, and...

These bars were a hit.

I'm being modest... they were a smashing success.

Here is what I came up with. It looks complicated, but trust me it is easier than you think!

Layer one - graham cracker crust
(adapted from Beantown Baker)
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/3 cups graham cracker crumbs
3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
Beat butter and sugar on high until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. In a separate bowl, whisk together graham cracker, flour, baking powder, and salt, then add to butter, sugar, and egg mixture. Stir until incorporated, then spread dough on the bottom of a greased 9x13 pan.

Layer two - brownie
Make a box of milk chocolate brownie mix (you will need 2 eggs, 1/2 - 3/4 cup oil, 1/4 cup water). Add a handful of chocolate chips, then spread on top of the graham cracker dough.

At this point, you will need to bake the brownie/graham dough at 350 degrees for 28 minutes. Let cool for a 5-10 minutes, and turn your oven up to broil for layers three and four.

Layer three - graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup brown sugar
Mix until incorporated. Sprinkle on top of brownie.

Layer four - marshmallow
Sprinkle a layer of mini marshmallows on top of the graham cracker crumbs. Put under the broiler for ~30 seconds. Keep an eye on it - the marshmallows will burn fast!

Get out some knives and forks, and serve while still warm and gooey. Get ready to get crumbs EVERYWHERE :)

Thank you, friends and family, for all your comments and concern. I couldn't have done it without you!

S'more experimentation

2010-06-09T23:14:00.003-04:00

I L-O-V-E s'mores. Not just love. L.O.V.E. Looove.

I love them perfectly plain.

I love them as cupcakes.

I love them as ice cream.

So, I thought I'd try something new. S'mores bars. Why not?

It was an experiment. A delicious one. Something along the lines of graham cracker crust, brownie mix, mini marshmallows.

But, sadly...it tasted all brownie. The poor little graham crumbs were lost in the goo of melted marshmallow.

But I will keep trying! This is my promise to you...

I will find the perfect s'more bar recipe. I will bake. I will taste-test. I will share. It will leave you wanting s'more!

...I took the s'more joke too far. I hope you can forgive me. And come back for s'more :)

Zucchini Patties

2010-06-09T22:54:00.001-04:00

I like to think I learned 75% of my cooking abilities from my mom, and 25% at the Cerasaro household. You see, Domenica was not only my best friend growing up, but also THE friend with THE pool. Which means... I spent 95% of my summer days at her house. Me and my blonde hair were all but adopted into her Italian family, and with this came lots of eating and lots of cooking. It was at Domenica's house that I tried my first hamburger (at age 15, I am embarrassed to admit), learned about pepper cookies (oxymoron?), and discovered the beauty of meatballs.

It is also where I was introduced to Zucchini Patties. Delicious, amazing, can't-eat-just-one zucchini patties. And these little green pancakes have now been a staple in my own household, with the ever-growing batch of zucchini from our garden. Oooooh baby are they good. And easy to make!

Recipe - courtesy of Trace C.

1 medium zucchini, shredded

1 cup flour

2 eggs

1/4 cup grated cheese

Garlic powder

Black pepper

Olive oil

Mix all ingredients. Add spices to taste. Cook patties in olive oil on medium heat until golden brown.

That's my stack! Go make your own!

How to make pizza...even better.

2010-06-01T21:33:00.004-04:00

My best friend Domenica over at D*Tales recently wrote a post about her love of pizza. I couldn't agree more...I could DEFINITELY eat pizza every day, for the rest of my life. No question.

Pizza is amazing on its own, and I love that you can change it up with a million different kinds of toppings. But, yesterday I discovered a way to make pizza even better....

Grill it.

I just...

I mean. Fresh mozzarella. Tomato. Basil. Balsamic glaze (HellO chef Mélanie! I made my own balsamic reduction!)...

On a crispy homemade crust.

RUN, do not walk, to the store.

Buy a grill. Buy some charcoal.

Put pizza dough on it.

Pretend to be a chef and make a balsamic reduction.

Prepare yourself for a cheeeesey ooey crunchy YUM.

Take me out to the ball game..

2010-05-31T23:14:00.001-04:00

Cause it's root, root, root for the RED SOX!

Saturday night we went to the Red Sox game - my first of the season!

I believe we played the Kansas City Royals - and I believe we won, 1-0! I was more than a little distracted by taking pictures. And the wave. I LOVE the wave.

And cotton candy.

I literally cannot leave a baseball game without buying/consuming neon pink cotton candy. Good news: it's only 57 calories a bag!

Let's go Red Sox!

Grillin' and Chillin'

2010-05-31T15:26:00.005-04:00

Happy Memorial Day!

In order to celebrate the holiday weekend, we bought a super cute mini grill and a combo badminton/volleyball net. Fun for all! Peter and Emily (the sibs) came into town and we grilled and badmintoned the weekend away.

Mike was super intense.

Emily was not.

*note the birdy flying past her*

We grilled just about everything we could get our hands on...

Shrimp, chicken, cheeseburgers

Corn, asparagus, zucchini

And s'mores for dessert!

Summertime is almost here!

PS - Thanks Emily, for letting me use your fab camera this weekend!

Meet my Mac

2010-05-28T21:30:00.000-04:00

Meet my new Macbook. Ever since the incident, I have been waiting and waiting ever so (im)patiently for it to be "the right time" to get a new laptop. Well, my friends, the time is NOW. Apple just started their fab back-to-school-sale, which means teachers and students get a discount on laptops as well as...(drumroll please)...a free iPod touch.

I am sooooo happy and in love with my new little friends. And if the burglar happens to be reading this, STAY AWAY! With only four days of school left (!!) and my new gorgeous FAST Macbook, expect the blogging to come back at full speed!

Photo credit: apple.com

Coolidge Corner

2010-05-23T21:10:00.000-04:00

SORRY I have been SO m.i.a! Usually the weekend is my catch-up blog time, but this weekend has been so busy and exciting - we signed a lease for our apartment next year!! I'm going to be living in Coolidge Corner with Fina and Ellen, literally right in the heart of Coolidge Corner. Perfect location, off the B line (thank goodness), and close proximity to lots of amazing things:

...just to name a few :)

Reason #66 why I love my job

2010-05-20T14:05:00.001-04:00

Our conversation at the lunch table today went something like this:

Child wearing corduroy Christmas tree pants on an 80-degree day: I have a baby in my belly. *sticks out belly*

Me: Oh? Is it a boy or a girl?

Cords: A boy.

Me: And where did he come from?

Cords: Nantucket. (pause) That's how it got in there. It was a crumb, and then it grew up! *sticks out belly again* See how big it is??

Later...

Cords licked another child's (already half-eaten) apple. He claimed it was because he'd never TASTED an apple with lunch before!

Kids say (and do) the darndest things.

Reason #65 why I love my job

2010-05-17T20:53:00.002-04:00

I received one of those most special gifts a preschool teacher can get - a portrait! One of my little ones handed this to me, announced "I drew this picture of YOU!" and promptly grabbed my hand and kissed it.

Uuuuuggghhh. Unbelievable cuteness. Sometimes I can't even stand it.

Kickass Cupcakes

2010-05-16T20:33:00.002-04:00

The name says it all. These cupcakes are deliciously kick-ass!

Awhile back I got a BuyWithMe coupon (similar to Groupon) for a half dozen cupcakes from Kickass Cupcakes in Wellesley. Despite my hacking cough, unbelievably congested sinuses, sneeze attacks and raspy voice (I am such a joy to be around), Mike (boyfriend-saint) and I ventured over to Wellesley this afternoon to pick out a box of kickass goodies. Here's what we ended up with:

Green Monster

The deets: "chocolate cupcake with a chocolate beer ganache center and green chocolate beer frosting topped with cocoa nibs"

Beer ganache center? I'm either really excited or really nervous to try.

Cinnamon Chai Pecan Sticky

"spiced up cupcake covered with gooey caramel pecan topping"

Yes, please.

Gluten-free vanilla

For Miss Gluten-free Feena Been :)

Cookies and Cream

Oreos. Say no more.

Cookie Dough

"Chocolate chip cookie dough in a vanilla cupcake and vanilla buttercream frosting with chocolate sauce"

Combining cookies and cupcakes...why didn't I think of that??

Lucky Cupcake

"luscious lemon cupcake with white chocolate buttercream and candied ginger, comes with a fortune"

I think the fortune was something like "the time is now" but I can't remember because the cupcake was demolished in ~3 seconds...

...MIKE.

For now I am holding off on taste-testing because my poor little taste buds are being suffocated by this kicking-my-ass cold. But I promise to share my favs once my tasting abilities are back on track!

Reason #64 why I love my job

2010-05-16T19:56:00.000-04:00

I walked in to the library on Friday to find this gem...

JUST your standard gigantic cupcake birthday cake.

...that's all I have to say about that.

How to make friends

2010-05-13T21:13:00.001-04:00

Here's what I've learned:

Baking makes you friends.

When I moved to Boston I had ~3 friends. I started baking, and now I have at least 9! Chocolate chip cookies = friends. Red velvet cupcakes = more friends. Chocolate peanut butter whoopie pies = so many friends.

If you want to make friends, just whip up some whoopie pie cakes,

(which are essentially just cupcake tops, which is essentially the best part of the cupcake, no question)

Then, spread some peanut butter buttercream in those cakes.

Sandwich.

Share.

Then, charge your cell phone. You're about to have a whoooole lot of friends.

Recipe here!

Happy Tuesday

2010-05-11T09:37:00.002-04:00

Good morning!

Is it just me, or is Tuesday the most neglected weekday? Monday is ugh, Monday. Wednesday is hump day. Thursday is almost the weekend. Friday is FRIDAY!! But poor Tuesday gets no love.
So,

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

Here's today's oatmeal mix

(Can you tell this is my new favorite thing? I've been getting inspired by Kath Eats)

Toasted almonds

Banana

Blueberry flax seeds - discovered these at Trader Joe's last night! They add a teeny bit of nutty/blueberry taste plus LOTS of fiber.

Happy Mother's Day!

2010-05-09T13:27:00.001-04:00

Happy Mother's Day! I thought I'd pay a little tribute to the woman who:

-introduced me to my love of baking

-taught me to cook

-instilled my love of flowers

-showed me how to be a great teacher

-and so so much more...

with a nice 2nd-grade-style poem.

MOM, who

Acts rational even when I'm not,

Really gives good hugs,

Cooks amazing meals,

Is the best listener and advice-giver I know.. I couldn't

Ask for a better mother!!

I love you, Mom!!

Little Pea

2010-05-06T22:12:00.001-04:00

This is the story of Little Pea, Mama Pea, and Papa Pea.

Little Pea, by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, is hands-down my new favorite children's book. Little Pea loves to do typical ...little pea... things. Except for one thing.

He hates candy.

You see, Peas eat candy for dinner and spinach for dessert.

Five pieces of candy. NOW can I have dessert?

This is the cutest book I've read in awhile. Next time you're with a bunch of three-year-olds, read it to them. They'll eat it right up!

Avocado pound cake

2010-05-04T20:18:00.003-04:00

I bought a 4-pack of avocados at Trader Joe's last week (that's a lot of avocados). Then I stumbled upon yet another FAB Joy the Baker recipe: Avocado Pound Cake. Avocados? Cake? I like both of those things! Combining them? Genius! Here is the recipe.

Avocado Pound Cake
3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup yellow cornmeal

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

3 cups sugar

4 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

3/4 cup buttermilk

flesh of 1 1/2 ripe avocados, just over a cup to a cup and a half of avocado, mashed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two loaf pans and set aside.

In a medium sized bowl, sift together flour, cornmeal, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside. Set the four eggs out on the counter to come to room temperature while you beat the butter and sugar.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter on medium speed until softened and pliable. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add the avocado and beat another minute to incorporate. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure that everything is thoroughly mixed.

Add the eggs one at a time, beating 1 minute after the addition of each egg. Beat in vanilla extract.

Reduce the mixer speed to low and add half of the flour mixture, all of the buttermilk, and then the rest of the flour mixture. Beat just until combined.

Divide the dough between the two loaf pans and place in the oven. Turn the oven down to 325 degrees F. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean. I checked my cakes every ten minutes or so after the 30 minute mark. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then invert onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

I cut the recipe in half and only made one loaf. I have to admit I don't really taste any avocado in the cake, but it is super moist and yummy! Try it out!

Sunny Sunday brunch

2010-05-03T21:39:00.000-04:00

How great has the weather been for the past few days? Okay, maybe it's a liiiittle too hot. Maybe I got a liiiittle bit sunburned. Maybe I haven't been able to sleep because its 900 degrees in my room. But I will take this sunshine over rainy, windy, cloudy typical Boston weather ANY day. The sunshine inspired a brunch picnic Sunday morning (resulting in said sunburn). I cooked up some Joy the Baker buttermilk pancakes, with my own little added twist of pecans and bananas.

Ohhh MAN were they good! Here is the recipe.

1 cup buttermilk

2 eggs

2 Tablespoons vegetable oil

1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

1 cup all-purpose flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

4 teaspoons light brown sugar

1 teaspoon salt

Whisk together milk, eggs and vegetable oil in a medium bowl, then whisk in the butter.

Stir together flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in another medium bowl. Whisk in egg mixture until combined.

Spray a griddle or skillet with nonstick vegetable spray. Working in batches of 3 (or 6 if your griddle will allow) pour 1/3-cup measures of batter onto skillet and cool until bubbles have formed on the top and sides of the pancakes and broken, about 2 minutes. Flip pancakes with a spatula and cook until undersides are golden, about 1 minute more. Lower heat if pancakes brown too quickly. Serve with maple syrup or molasses.

We had ours with some maple syrup, strawberries, and... nutella. LoveloveLOVE!

Eaten while enjoying the Sunday edition of the NY Times - with my favorite section: wedding announcements! No, let's not get ahead of ourselves; I like to look for people from Cornell, Binghamton, or fun "how we met" stories.

It's about time I discovered we had a front yard: perfect little Sunday morning/afternoon!

Stella

2010-05-03T21:14:00.002-04:00

Saturday night Mike and I had our date night at Stella in the South End. Usually "date night" means cooking dinner for ourselves at my house, so this was a nice change of pace. We were celebrating the official end of Mike's first-year law school classes - wooohooo! We got a nice seat on the patio (for patio meal numero tres).

We started out with some hummus and bread.

Due to the Boston water *crisis*, I replaced my water with a pink guava lemonade :)

I ordered the ricotta balls a buffalo mozzarella center - ohhh sooo creamy and cheesy and good.

With a side of asparagus -

grilled to perfection!

Mike got the seafood saffron risotto.

I do NOT like seafood and even I thought this was delish!

Except for this little friend lingering on the side.

Yuck.

We got warm pecan pie with vanilla gelato for dessert

Then we walked FIVE MILES from the South End --> home. So I don't even feel guilty about dessert!

Reason #63 why I love my job

2010-05-02T18:42:00.000-04:00

Lately, we've been learning about farms in our classroom. It's been a really fun unit; playing in the mud, "milking a cow", making our own ice cream, and an upcoming trip to the farm! But we also obviously had to bake. For Christmas, Josie gave me these GREAT cookie cutters:

cow,

sheep,

and bunny!

I found the barn cookie cutter on my trip to Concord. Friday we spent the afternoon baking, decorating, and playing in the sunshine. And I get paid to do this??

Kudos to Ali for the adorable cow and sheep decorations. Here is one of the kids' magical creations!:

Five new purses

2010-05-02T13:48:00.001-04:00

My mom just listed five more purses on etsy , so go check them out! Here is my favorite:

Hurry up and buy it, before I get it for myself!

Bottega Fiorentina

2010-05-02T13:26:00.001-04:00

Friday night after work I met up with Fina for one of three sequential outdoor patio meals, the first at Bottega Fiorentina on Newbury St. This weather makes it pretty impossible to be inside!! We had the perfect spot for people watching, and, of course, sipping Sangria.

Fina ordered the Butternut Squash Tortellini in a sage butter sauce.

And I got Linguine with pesto

Toooo much pesto for my tastes!

So I filled up on bread instead.

Definitely recommended for a super cheap, super authentic Italian meal!

Happy Friday!

2010-04-30T09:46:00.000-04:00

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!

2010-04-29T20:48:00.000-04:00

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!!

2010-04-27T22:29:00.000-04:00

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

2010-04-27T22:03:00.001-04:00

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

2010-04-26T20:40:00.003-04:00

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

2010-04-22T18:13:00.004-04:00

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

2010-04-22T16:01:00.001-04:00

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

2010-04-21T16:13:00.000-04:00

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??

2010-04-20T20:26:00.001-04:00

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

2010-04-19T22:51:00.000-04:00

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

2010-04-17T18:04:00.001-04:00

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??