Christmas Cookies Episode 1 - Snowstorms

Beat 1 1/4 cups packed dark brown sugar and 1 stick butter until fluffy, then beat in 1 egg and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Whisk 1/2 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder, 3/4 teaspoon salt and 3/4 teaspoon baking soda; stir into the butter mixture. Slowly add 1 1/2 cups flour, I recommend you add this last ingredient slowly because you may not need all the flour.  My first batch I only used 1 cup and they were perfect.  Chill 30 minutes, then roll into balls and bake 12 minutes at 350 degrees.

It's Beginning to Look at Lot Like Christmas!

Since we generally travel for the holidays and our week away from home this Christmas grants no exception, I waste no time getting the tree up for maximum enjoyment and, as Ben points out, maximizing our holiday carbon footprint.  My environmentally conscious friends forgive me, but I love our tree.  Really, I love any tree.

Our Thanksgiving meal went off without a hitch, including the best free-range, locally raised (for you Al!) little bird ever to cross my oven (it's all in the brine!). Nicole, Ben and I feasted on all the trimmings including yukon gold potatoes, homemade cranberry sauce and my family's bread stuffing cooked both inside the bird (my fav!!) and in a dish for those of you who don't like to think about your stuffing having been in the turkey's behind (we'll add a shout out to Boxy here!). Ended our delicious day with homemade pumpkin pie and hand whipped cream. Yum!

After the requisite 45 minutes of laying around complaining about just how full we were and whether we might be stretching the limits of the human stomach, we cleaned up the kitchen, packed up the leftovers and commenced with Operation Christmas Tree!  With such a small condo we had to give up the 8' wonder that once adorned our Lincoln Park apartment in Chicago and settle for a smaller six footer.  But with all the loving holiday touches it still warms my heart as much as its grander cousin did.  And the bonus? Two less feet of tree to reassemble when the cat inevitably knocks it over.

Sin City Spectacular - Part 2

Tuesday was my dad's last day in Vegas and we spent a good chunk of time with him in the sports book or playing craps.  For dinner we took off to Bally's Steakhouse, his favorite Vegas spot, for a nice meal before he headed for his red-eye back to Michigan.  The food was good.  I have a hard time with steakhouses because Ben makes such incredible steaks.  I find it hard to justify paying such high prices for something we can do as well at home for far less.  But my dad seemed to enjoy his meal and it was nice to take him out for once rather than the other way around.

(Ben and I on the bridge between NYNY and MGM with the Strip behind us)

(Ben and my dad, same locale)

After dinner he headed to the airport and we hit the monorail for the Flamingo to see our second show of the trip, X Burlesque.  Short review - this show is for people who are too chicken to go to a strip club and want to fool themselves into thinking that they are somehow more virtuous than people walking the streets of Vegas, wallets weighted down with singles.  Fun show, decent music, six women with bodies I would pay to have.  But there was still a pole and a lot of boobs, let's not fool ourselves here people.  Just go to a strip club.  After the show we hit the craps table again for a great night, which made up for a whole lot of less than great play we'd done the preceding days.

Wednesday dawned later than our usual early rising time, certainly the result of a late night.  But it turned out to be great.  We headed to the Paris for breakfast, played craps fairly successfully there for a while and then headed back to the NYNY.  More craps, a little more success.  I know it doesn't sound very exciting, but Ben and I were having fun standing next to each other watching the dice get thrown.  Laughing and winning!

For our last night in Vegas we had tickets to the Lion King at the Mandalay Bay.  An amazing show! Preceded by the best meal I have EVER had on this continent (I am therefore discounting some of the incredible deliciousness we encountered in France and Italy this year, etc.).  We enjoyed three courses and wine pairing at Fleur de Lys, Chef Hubert Keller's Las Vegas branch of his renowned San Francisco restaurant.

(Courtesy of their website - the inside of Fleur de Lys)

We began with a champagne aperitif.  The perfect thing for me - I LOVE BUBBLES!  Our first course included Ben's trio of foie gras that included a foie gras cappucino and my braised veal cheek and yukon gold potato ravioli, paired with Sauternes and Italian Rosé, respectively.  Our mains included Ben's halibut with chorizo oil paired with a sauvignon blanc and my roasted guinea hen with asparagus risotto paired with a buttery chardonnay.  Our last and final perfect, incredible course was a shared chocolate souffle with sweet glasses of raspberry liqueour.  I have never, even been so blissfully happy after a meal in my life.


We ended up our trip quietly, with a little more gambling and lot of ambling around the city just enjoying being together and away from work.  It will be a while before we get another vacation, so we tried to soak up every last minute of relaxation before we boarded our crowded Southwest flight home.

Sin City Spectacular - Part 1

We arrived in Las Vegas after a long but uneventful flight and met up with my Dad at the New York New York.  Now yes, Ben and I like to gamble.  But as growing foodies we were as excited about the food as any of the rest of the Sin City experience.  And we wasted no time getting into it.  First night, dinner at Aureole, a Charlie Palmer restaurant located in the Mandalay Bay.  Any Top Chef fans out there may recognize the restaurant as one this season's chef cooked in, complete with the most incredible wine cellar run by "wine angels" who rise through its vertical construction in harnesses.

Our meals were fantastic - burrata and heirloom tomato caprese, grilled salmon with corn succotash and crispy potato, perfectly frenched and prepared rack of lamb, even my dad's chicken was exceptional.  But the highlight of the evening was the wine. It stands out as perhaps the best Pinot Noir I've ever tasted.  2006 Talbot Sleepy Hollow Vineyard Pinot Noir.  It retails for about $30 a bottle (with nauseating markup at any restaurant) and is worth every penny.  We capped our night off with some roulette and for the first and last time that weekend Ben walked away from the roulette table a winner.

Monday morning started with a trip to the spa.  Massages and facials! The perfect way to start a vacation.  After, we enjoyed lunch at Caesar's Palace at Bobby's Flay's Mesa Grill.   Not as upscale a selection and we were worried that my very picky dad would struggle with the Southwestern food, but he hung in with us, enjoying what he called, "the best burger he'd ever had."  Highlights of this meal include Goat Cheese Queso Fundido with a myriad of peppers and a blue corn pancake filled with barbequed duck.  Again - YUM!

Interior of the Mesa Grill, complete with open kitchen

Goat Cheese Queso Fundido and Blue Corn Pancake filled with BBQ Duck

We spent the afternoon at Caesar's playing roulette and then the sports book with my dad at Mandalay Bay betting on dog racing.  Part of me struggles with the playing the puppies because I know they often aren't well treated, but my dad consoled me by pointing out that there was nothing I could do for those dogs in that moment so I might as well put down my dollars in hopes that a bigger purse would keep the winning, showing and placing dogs well kept and cared for another day.  I realize this is a rationalization if I've ever heard one, but someday I'll rescue a greyhound and balance my puppy karma again.

We ended our evening with Phantom of the Opera: The Vegas Spectacular! at the Venician.  For all of you classic Phantom lovers, you wouldn't object to this show.  Essentially, it's the same Phantom less one or two of the more boring songs but including all the favorites, "Think of Me", "Angel of Music", "Masquerade", "All I Ask of You" and "Music of the Night."  And true to its billing, we didn't have to wait long for the "spectacular."  Every performance of Phantom begins with the auctioneer introducing the chandelier and its history and offering the bidders some "illumination" at which time the chandelier rises from its covered home on the stage to hang in its original place.  This is standard.  What this production added however, was a sight to behold.  Rather than just raising the original chandelier to the ceiling they assembled a FOUR TIERED chandelier (the additional three tiers had been suspended in various places across the theater's ceiling) over our watching heads.  By the time our eyes had returned to the stage, all the coverings had been removed and we were seated again in the Paris Opera House waiting to hear Carlotta sing "Think of Me." 

Thinking of thanking...

The run up to Thanksgiving has had me doing a lot of thinking, as cliche as it is, about what I'm thankful for and it's no short list.  I thought I'd share some of my thankful thoughts here.  Forgive me if I get a little sappy.

1.  I'm thankful for my health and fitness.  While I've been on a mission to lose the pounds over the past few years with some success, the thing my little weight loss adventure has given me most is a healthier, more fit body.  While I still can't just get up and run a 10K without a little training, at least not well, I feel great most of the time and am happy that I can be active and healthy (knock on wood!).  Now if I could just lose that last 10 pounds!

Call this my "before" photo, taken Christmas 2005

And my "after" photo, taken on by 27th birthday

2.  I'm thankful for stable employment.  I say that with no smugness or superiority.  It has broken my heart to watch so many of the people I love wonder where the next paycheck will come from.  I am thankful that as a government employee I don't have to worry about the ups and downs of employment in the private sector.  That's not to say I'm immune, but I have a bit more security.  And it makes me all the luckier and more grateful for stability in a job that, most days, I love.  I'm also thankful for my family's stable employment.  As a govie, Ben enjoys a similar stability.  My parents jobs also have unique elements that have protected them.

3.  I'm thankful for the memories.  I know it's sounds campy, but one of the things I am most glad of is that I've been able to travel to be part of all the special moments in the lives of the people I love.  Weddings, new babies, visits just for fun.  I'm so glad I've (we've) been able to do these things and I have the pics to prove it! (Pics below, just a handful of the memories I'm so thankful I was able to share in!)

Alyce and Dave's Wedding (Clarkston, MI, May 2005)

Scott and Shannon's Wedding (Pinckney, MI, July 2007)

Teresa and Nick's Wedding (Chicago, Oct 2007)

Most of the gang at G and Chuck's Wedding (Farmington Hills, MI, July 2008)

The ladies at Boxy's bach party (Detroit, MI, June 2009)

Missy and Bowers Wedding (West Bloomfield, MI, July 2009)

Boxy and Nick's Wedding (Ann Arbor, MI, Aug 2008)

 

And Dan and Erin and Jen and James, I didn't forget your wonderful weddings, I just don't have pics!

4.  I'm thankful for Ben.  Even after six years he still makes me laugh every day and even surprises me from time to time.  He's the first person I want to tell...everything.  He's always the brightest spot in my day.  I could go on, but we'd be risking some serious sappiness.

5.  And last, but certainly not least, I'm thankful for family and friends.  I am blessed with a wonderful family that even across the miles is there for me unconditionally and with friends of whom I can say the same.  As we get older and we spread further and further from one another, yet we still make time to be together, I realize how lucky I am to have incredible friends and now the incredible husbands, wives and children that come with them.  I can't wait to see how our friendships grow and change as the years pass.

My wee baby brother and me

Alyce, Dave, Ben and I in Avranches, France

The college gang meets Michelle and Gustavo!

Cole and I at Caribbean Breeze

Lots of DC friends all together to celebrate Nicole's birthday

At Teresa's Bachelorette Party

In VA Beach with some of my favorite people

And finally, an oldie but a goodie...if only Jomo were in this pic it would be perfect

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Whistful Shopping...

Knowing that I'll have to ship most of our Christmas gifts to Michigan every year, I take advantage of many of the pre-black Friday shipping deals that start hitting my inbox sometime around November 1st. In debating what to get my parents god-daughter this year, I stumbled on perler beads.  Remember these?  You assemble them on a pegboard, lay a piece of ironing paper over them and melt them together into your very own, handmade mosaic of choice.  Want to make the perfect kitty?  No problem, there's a pegboard for that.  Or a fishy? Yep, that one's there too.  I feel like this was an "art and craft" from our childhoods and I love to see those happy little inexpensive past times making a resurrgence! Now the only proble is deciding if I'm more excited to watch Sara's face when she opens her gift or to "help" her play with them!

Italian Paninis

This is the tasty sandwich I made to go with the butternut squash soup. I was hoping the saltiness of the prosciutto would balance the sweetness of the soup and viola! it worked quite well.

Ingredients (per panini):

Two slices good, dense bakery bread (I opted for whole foods pan de levain)
2 sprays of canola or olive oil cooking spray
1 Tbsp aged balsamic vinegar
3-4 1/4" think slices of fresh mozzarella
3 basil leaves
1 oz very thinly sliced prosciutto
4 thin slices of tomato

Spray the outside of both slices of bread with cooking spray and flip to build your sandwich. Brush the inside of both slides with the aged balsamic. Be conservative here so your sandwich doesn't get soggy. Lay the mozzarella on one side of the bread. On top of it lay your basil leaves, then the prosciutto, then the tomatoes. Top it off with the other slice of bread. Grill on a panini press or grill pan until the cheese is melty and the bread has toasted and you can see grill lines. NOTE: If you're using a grill pan, you'll need to put something heavy on top of your sandwich to simulate a panini press. I recommend an 8"x8" casserole dish.

One sandwich is probably enough for two people if you're enjoying something else with it like soup or a salad.

Butternut Squash Soup

Can you tell the theme for this weekend is butternut squash?  It's funny because I'm so excited to eat all these squashy delights yet as a kid my mother couldn't force it down my throat.  I hated the taste, the texture, everything about it!  But I guess I should say thanks, mom, I know you tried and finally I've learned to love it.

Since I was peeling and roasting squash for my risotto I decided to take on this Food Network soup as well and I'm so glad I did.  It's delicious and will make the perfect pair with my Italian Paninis (next recipe, coming soon!) for lunch tomorrow.  A few notes on the mods I made to this recipe.  It calls for two pounds of squash, pretty sure I used more like three and a half, the squash was huge.  Didn't change anything else though and the soup is perfect!!

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, smashed
2 fresh sage leaves
2 teaspoons kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 medium canned plum tomatoes
1 medium butternut squash (about 2 pounds), peeled, halved, seeded, and diced
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth or water
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan, optional

Heat the olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, sage, 1 teaspoon of the salt and season with pepper, to taste. Cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until soft and fragrant, about 15 minutes. Raise heat to medium-high, add the tomatoes, and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the tomatoes break up and the onions brown slightly, about 7 minutes. Add the squash and the remaining teaspoon salt, and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the squash is tender, about 12 minutes. Add the broth, bring to a simmer, and cook, uncovered, until the vegetables tender, about 20 minutes. Set aside to cool slightly.

Working in batches, puree the soup in a blender, or with an immersion blender. Return the soup to the pot and reheat over medium heat. Stir in the vinegar. Serve the soup in warm bowls with a touch of parmesan cheese if desired or garnish with sage leaves.

Roasted Butternut Squash Risotto

This is one of those dishes I just make without paying much attention to the ingredients.  But it's a great fall dish so I'm going to do what I can do get the recipe down here.  By the way, I'm using a stock photo because we dug in before remembering to take the picture!

Ingredients:

1 smallish butternut squash
3-4 Tbsp olive oil
48 oz chicken stock
1 large shallot, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, pressed or finely chopped
1 cup risotto
1 Tbsn butter
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesano Reggiano
Fresh sage leaves (optional)

To prepare the squash:  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Peel and dice the squash.  Toss diced squash in 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil.  Spread on a cookie sheet covered with aluminum foil.  Sprinkle with salt and fresh cracked pepper.  Roast the squash in the oven for 30 minutes. Remove from oven, allow to cool slightly and then puree.

To prepare the risotto:  In a large pot, bring the chicken stock to a boil and then reduce to a simmer.  In a separate large skillet over medium heat, drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil.  Add the shallot and the garlic, allow to soften, approximately 3 minutes.  Add the risotto.  Toss the rice in the olive oil in the pan and allow to toast for approximately 1 minute.  Add the first ladle of chicken stock to risotto, stirring occassionally.  The risotto will absorb the stock.  Continue adding ladles of chicken stock until the risotto is al dente and all the stcok in the pan has been absorbed, about 20-25 minute.  Turn the heat to low, add pureed squash, parmesan cheese and butter.  Continue stirring the risotto until the whole dish is up to temperature.  Serve immediately.  Garnish with sage leaves.

NOTE: I recommend serving this with seared scallops, but it can be a meal unto itself.  This particular recipe makes four hearty portions.

Lasagna from Scratch!

This recipe started out as Anne Burrell's recipe for lasagna rolls.  But 10 minutes into making her sauce I decided I thought the recipe was too bland and that I'm too lazy to handroll so I changed things up and made normal lasagna.

To make the sauce:

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 oz. diced pancetta
1 small diced yellow onion
2 cloves of garlic, smashed then minced
2 Tbsp dried basil
1 Tbsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2? cup good red wine
1 Tbsp tomato paste
2 28 oz can San Marzano tomatoes

Pour olive oil into a stock pot over medium high heat.  Add diced pancetta.  Brown pancetta in oil, stirring frequently, about 4 to 5 minutes.  Add diced onion.  Allow the onion to soften and begin to brown, about 4 minutes.  Salt liberally.  Add minced garlic, red pepper flakes, basil and oregano.  Allow the spices to toast, about 1 minute.  Increase the heat to high and add the 1/2 cup good red wine (I don't actually know how much I used, I just eye-balled it). Allow the alchol to cook off, about 1 minute and reduce the heat to medium.  Add the tomato paste and San Marzano tomatoes.  Smush the tomatoes in the pot with a wooden spoon.  Allow the mixture to come to boil.  Reduce the heat to low.  With an immersion blender, blend the mixture until all the large tomatoes are gone and the sauce is homogenous in texture.  Allow the sauce to simmer for 2 hours.

The lasagna:

1 16 oz box lasagna noodles
2 cups ricotta cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella
2 Tbsp grated pecorino cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesano reggiano cheese
Sauce


When the sauce has 30 minutes left to simmer, fill a large pot with water for the lasagna noodles and bring to boil.  Be sure to liberally salt the water. Add the lasagna noodles when the water is at a rolling boil and cook until al dente, approximately 10 minutes.  While noodles are cooking prepare a bowl with ice water (to submerge noodles in to stop the cooking process).  In a medium bowl mix, the ricotta cheese, 1 cup of the mozzarella, the pecorino cheese and 1/4 cup of the parmesan cheese.  Remove cooked noodles from pot to ice bath.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  To assemble lasagna, ladle one to two ladles full of sauce into the bottom of a 9" x 13" pan.  Layer the lasagna noodles into the pan, slightly overlapping one another (should require approx four noodles).  Spread approximately 1/3 of the cheese mixture on top of the noodles.  On top of the cheese mixture, layer one to two ladles full of sauce and spread evenly. Layer the noodles, cheese and sauce two more times.  On top of the final layer of sauce sprinkle the remaining mozzarella and 1/4 cup of parmesan.

Bake for 45 minutes or until cheese on top is brown and the lasagna is bubbling up at the sides.

Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting and serving.  Enjoy!