Seriously delicious zucchini dish

So I get Martha Stewart Living each month (so what!?). This month she had a French chef make a casual meal that included "zucchini rounds with roasted tomatoes" serves 8. I read the recipe, followed parts, eliminated others, added stuff. Here's my adaptation that was fan-fricking-tastic.

Ingredients:

2 zucchinis sliced in 1/2 inch rounds
9 cloves of garlic
olive oil
3 Tablespoons of pine nuts
3 sprigs of thyme (off my thyme plant)
3 teaspoons of fresh basil (I use Doret brand frozen basil as an alternative to fresh or dried. It is cheap and in the frozen aisle at Trader Joe's)
1/4 cup of water
baking soda
1/3 cup chopped black olives
5 vine ripened tomatoes (about the size of a golf ball)
1 1/2 teaspoons of sugar
1/3 of pkg of Boursin (herb or pepper)

Okay, my presentation was less regal than the French chef's but so be it.

Here's what I did.

Step 1:
Preheat oven to 400.
Chop tomatoes into quarters. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, sugar 4 whole (peeled) cloves of garlic. Season with salt and pepper, toss, throw in oven in a small pan for 30 minutes. Note, the next time I will probably run the garlic through the press first.

Step 2:
Meanwhile, stovetop- add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a large skillet. Add zucchini in one layer. Salt, pepper, add in the 1/4 cup of water and 2 pinches of baking soda. WTF with the soda? Well the Frenchy said that it keeps the zucchini greener. It really did work. Cook the zucchini turning frequently about 15 minutes. Then put those puppies in an awaiting casserole dish sprayed lightly with PAM.

Step 3:
Meanwhile, take 2 more tablespoons of olive oil, the remaining 5 cloves (pressed or smashed) of garlic and all the pine nuts and heat for 3 minutes. Add in the olives. Mix, and set aside until the tomato mixture is done cooking. Once tomato mix is finished with it's 30 minutes in the hot box, add in the pine nut mixture to the tomatoes.

Step 4:
Okay it's assembly time now. Frenchy said to make little mounds of the tomato mixture on top of the single layer of rounds patiently waiting in the casserole dish. Yeah, easier said than done. I did attempt to do this but I think generally if you spread the mixture across the top of the zucchs, you will be fine.

Step 5:
This is all me. As Rosie and I surveyed the wondrous side dish, we said, you know what this needs? The answer (as is often the case in our house): Cheese. My first choice would have been Parmesan but we were out, and by happy accident, we had some left over Boursin. FABULOUS addition! We crumbled tiny pieces of the creamy bliss over the vegetables. I would say we used somewhere between 1/5-1/3 of the package. It wasn't a lot, but it was delicious!!!!

Step 6:
The glorious veggies need one more trip to the hot box. Put it in the oven for 10 minutes and serve. Seriously delicious zucchini dish.

Wacky Cake Recipe for Cupcakes

Must have ingredients:

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa (USE DARK COCOA-Hershey's makes one that will work)

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon vinegar

6 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 cup cold water

Possible additions that I have used (not all at the same time, pick one)

½ teaspoon of chipotle chili powder (or ancho works really well too)

1 cup cold coffee instead of water

1 teaspoon of instant espresso powder

1 teaspoon of orange oil

1 tablespoon of Kahlua or Grand Marnier

In a mixing bowl, mix all dry ingredients. Make three wells in the dry ingredients, one small, one medium sized, and one larger. In smallest hole put vanilla (or other addition from the list). In the middle size hole add the vinegar, and in the third the oil. Pour the cold water over the mixture and stir until moistened. Bake at 350°F preheated oven for 18-20 minutes, or until tester comes out clean. I have taken to using a ¼ cup measuring cup for transferring the mix to the cupcake liners. A scant ¼ cup will give you about 18 cupcakes. Sometimes a few more.

Other important cupcake tips-- when you remove them from the oven, use a baking rack to cool for just a few minutes in the pan. Remove from pan and then let them cool completely on the racks. Easy.

Updated Things you need for a wedding an abbreviated list

Okay, I need to make a checklist of things. Those of you who know me, know I am list fanatic. This post contains many instances of deliberate vagueness to leave a few surprises for the big day.

Personal
(G$)
Dress- have pattern(s) and definite picture picked out. Fabric shopping: main dress color, bodice trim fabric, lace, embellishments. Most likely will get some the fabric in California when in San Francisco. Of course I still need undergarments.

Shoes- Done.

Jewelry-
Bracelet: Lauren
Earrings: Lauren
Headpiece: Almost Done

Hair style- Done

Make-up- I don't know what the hell either of us are going to do on this front. I am guessing I will do my own and Rosie will wear some lip gloss.

(R$)
Rosie needs to:
pick out what she is going to wear, how she's going to do her hair, and what accessories she wants. She has a lot more work to do in this area. A lot.

Ceremony
Design processional
Write vows
Decide what Scott is going to say
Get Scott legally credentialed to wed us in MASS
Decide if we are going to have readers, what they are going to read
Get poles for chuppah
Music/musician for ceremony- we have a musician friend, and she agreed to do what we would like, just weighing out costs.
Glass for breaking (MAZEL TOV!)
Decide whether to insert same-sex marriage politics (TINY) into the ceremony
Work with Scott

Decorations
Guest book (or alternative)
Escort cards and display
Table linens DONE!
Table Numbers (Isn't it silly to just have 5 :)
Centerpieces DONE!
Hanging decorations Progress! Ordered stuff to make most. Will order the rest later.
Photo "booth"- Designed.
Candles (no decisions made)

Favors
Food favor containers purchased but need to be decorated and of course will then be awaiting food item
Take home favor is all Karla
Take home favor #2 is all my mom-- designed and in progress.

Music
This is all Rosie. Hired a DJ.

Food
All done for now except for cupcake flavors and making of cupcakes.
We are also responsible for getting the alcohol. We are going beer, wine, and 'signature cocktail.' We have to decide what our signature cocktail should be.

Reception
We need glasses for Rosie and me.

Out-of-towners
Assist with reservations at hotel
Assist with flights for some parties that need assistance
Make welcome packets
Assist with local travel arrangements

Rehearsal Dinner
Location picked out.

Invitations
Design
Make
Maps Karel is working on.
Address Karel is working on.
Mail
Make thank you cards

Floral
Thanks to the wonders of my mom, this is almost done. Our bouquets still need to be made, but this is the least of my worries-- my mom is on it! More to come, my crafters, more to come!

Boston Banana Cream Cupcakes

Finished cupcakes with caramelized banana on top.




Chocolate ganache awaiting final banana!


Kim working on the assembly line.


Naked cupcakes.

Cupcakes for ye wedding

I would like to make several different types of cupcakes for ye old gay wedding. I think that for sure, Chockylit's lavender cream filled vanilla cupcakes with citrus frosting.

I was also thinking about Cupcake Royale's salted caramel chocolate cupcakes. I freaking love salted caramel. I couldn't get enough of Trader Joe's version at the holidays. DELICIOUS!!!

Meanwhile, I meet someone today who knows the owner of Cupcake Royale today. It was a big thrill. I am such a cupcake geek!

Rosie is thinking lemon, but I don't really have a favorite. Would 5 dozen cupcakes be enough for 50 people? I just don't know.

Part 2 of Recipes

Here's the other things that I made:

Lavender cream filled cupcakes with a citrus cream cheese frosting-- a recipe from the now defunct Chockylit's cupcake blog.


Potato salad from the Salt Lick (although I added 4 strips bacon to mine and cut the mayo by 1/2). The key is truly brining the onions in pickle juice overnight.

Corn avocado salad from the Food Network. I subbed sundried tomatoes for the grape tomatoes.

And finally, I made hamburger and hot dog buns from scratch. The recipe is in this month's edition of Gourmet Magazine. More pictures are available on my facebook page-- see the album titled "Baked things."

Adventures in Memorial Day Baking/Concocting Part 1

This weekend I made several concoctions, baked goods and salads for our BBQ at Kim's.

Here's some recipes:

First, cocktails:

Ginger-Infused Vodka Lemonade

• 2 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup water
• 2 cups lemon juice
• Vodka (1 bottle)
• Ginger Ale
  
• Ice cubes

Directions

Pick out a good quality vodka for your mix. Cheap vodka tastes like ass with or without ginger infusion. This time, I used "Rain" -- some organic vodka that is very smooth and we already had it in the house.

2-3 days prior to using the vodka, you need to infuse it with ginger. Peel and dice about 1 ginger root and throw it in a bottle of vodka. Store in a cool dark place (I like the fridge). Shake it everytime you remember to mix the bits of ginger around. The day you are ready to use the vodka, strain out the ginger, and pour into initial vodka bottle or other vessel. Voila, ginger-infused vodka.

The day of/or day before, make a fairly sugary simple syrup. In a saucepan, combine the sugar and 2/3 cup water and place over medium heat. Bring the mixture to a boil, then cook the sugar until dissolved but the syrup is still clear. Don’t brown it! Remove from heat and cool.

You will also need 1 cup of lemon juice. I bought two bags of lemons from Trader Joes which was plenty. To maximize your juicing output, make sure your lemons are room temperature. Cold lemons don't juice well AT ALL. Mix the lemon juice with the cooled simple syrup. I like to also shave some of the lemon rind off to make twists. My twists are not very pretty-- just some rinds that I managed to carve off rings. I added some candied ginger to the bamboo spears and threw the lemons on. No big deal.

I had a pitcher of the lemon/sugar concoction and the vodka separate. In an iced glass I put 1 part lemon/sugar mix, 1 part ginger infused vodka, 1 part gingerale and then added water to fill the martini glasses. This is a sweet and refreshing drink!





Other recipes to come shortly...

Bad ass projects

AWESOME Altoid Garden Tin! Directions at the link. And why don't I have this moustache key holder? And doesn't every wedding need some moustache hankies?

Places to visit in SF

I have an upcoming work trip this summer to San Francisco, and I am stoked to get some craftacular shopping in and eating. Favorite haunts and places I've been dying to go for a while

Bell'occhio

Britex (ENORMOUS ribbon and button section!!! Pricey, but good grief, it's a marvelous store)

Mama's (Good eats, particularly brunch)

826 Valencia (A pirate shop!!!)

In-n-Out (eats-- cheap, I miss it.)

Amoeba Records (classic Haight/Ashbury)

Mijita Cocina (eats)

Standard 5&10 (Ace Hardware)

Modern Times Book store (feminista!)

Curiosity Shoppe

Cat Seto

The Ribbonerie-- That's right- an entire store that just sells ribbons!!!

Satin Moon

List to be continued...no yarn stores yet.

Taco Mix

Don't buy the kind in the store if you keep spices in the house:

1 tablespoon chili powder (I use a mix of chipotle, ancho, New Mexico, and regular)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon of sugar

Throw in a baggie or a tupperware and shake. Add into ground meat (or fake meat) with chopped up onions.

More Inspiration for Ye Olde Wedding

Homemade peeps and other bitchin crafts

Check out this website for homemade peeps!

And these shoes-- holy crap these are cute!

New Website/Save the Dates

I made our save the date cards with the utter and complete talents of my niece Lauren and then I found a website that had the same idea as me. Ours are far more DIY and less 'perfect' but I am super pleased with how they turned out so far. They still need the writing part on them...hopefully I can mail them out sooner rather than later, but don't hold your breath just yet.

Inspiration Board

I have been drawing out inspiration boards for parties for years. I had no idea that this is the big way of planning parties. Let me just say that it is totally helpful to do it on a computer rather than torture myself drawing and making collages. I don't have a name for our rockabilly-esque, DIY, Halloweenie wedding...I am open for suggestions as to what to call it.

We are definitely going with purples/lavenders and reds. The green dress is going to be purple/lavender. The flowers will be of yarn and paper. I am hoping to make wooden postcard save the dates....we shall see how it all goes, as there's wood burning involved which may be more of a pain in the booty than I am willing to put up with. I must do real work now...it has been said I have the "bug" which I am unhappy about. I have looming deadlines, tons of work and I am freaking out trying to get it all done. When I am tired and should be going to bed, I make inspiration boards.

The venue we picked said the little woof-woofs can come if the caterers are okay with it. Hazah!

airstream

airstream (14),
originally uploaded by flourgirl2007.

Honestly, could this be any cuter?

99 cent jr. bacon cheeseburger cucpake

99 cent jr. bacon cheeseburger cucpake,
originally uploaded by the weichbrodts.

Why haven't I made these?!?

Morgan's Bear

Inspired

I am totally feeling craft inspiration; no inspiration to work my day job, but whatevs. It happens from time to time. I found a few new crafty blogs in my search for wedding ideas. I think in a post modern recession wedding, my primary focus is cost effectiveness followed by theme. I have no less than 10 different themes marinating in me wee noggin all contingent upon a date and place. Rosie and I are looking at venues on Friday. I am getting more excited about the party planning aspect than I thought I would. My Monday Night Knitters (MNKs) are so talented in a variety of crafts that I hope they will agree to work on craftaculars through the year getting stuff done. The sweat shoppers in Texas used to work for food and alcohol...hope I can get that arrangement up here.

Festive Party Invitations

Festive Party Invitations ,
originally uploaded by finestationery.

Could these be any cuter?

Shiny

FINALLY!!!!!

Many thanks to my Monday Night Knitters, especially Casandra, Amber and Jimmy for helping me finish my first sweater! It fits Rosie perfectly! I am very pleased with how it came out.

Post Modern Depression Era Brunch: Eggs Benedict for two for $4.07

So I was intimidated to make Eggs Benedict from scratch, but actually it wasn't that hard, not that time consuming, and it was truly delicious.

Here's what you need from the sto. I shop at Trader Joe's and so the prices reflect TJ's expenses.

Butter (1 lb is $2.79)-- you only need 1 stick (70 cents). Can't use margarine, so don't even think about it.
English muffins (6 for $1.99, you need two, so 66 cents)
Eggs ($2.79/dozen, you need 7= $1.63)-- To make Eggs Benedict for 2 people you need 7 eggs. That's right, I said seven.
Canadian Bacon ($2.19 for 10 pieces, you need 4 pieces= 88 cents)
Lemon (35 cents at Russo's)
Tabasco Sauce ($1.99 Chili Pepper Sauce from TJ's= 10 cents)
White vinegar (pantry 10 cents)

There's one step to do the night before, which I scoffed at as a pain in the ass but it's not that bad.
Melt 1 stick of butter in the microwave until its liquid. Pour it into some container like a Tupperware and stick it in the freezer for 2+ hours. Stick a knife in it to get the solid mass out and you will see this gross milky scum on the bottom of the solid butter. Rinse it off with cold water. Hence, you have "clarified butter." Stick the butter back in the freezer till the morning when you are ready to use it. Seriously, it doesn't take that much effort, don't be a bum.

Okay, so it's breakfast time, yeah! I like to have my sous chef (Rosie) help me with things. First, if you don't cook much, get everything out that you need. The Frenchies call this mise en place. I do it because it's a habit, but let me tell you it's vital to do it for Eggs Benedict. The recipe is below which I have adapted from the Food Network (Sara Moulton's). She screwed up on the directions, so I fixed her errata.

Ingredients
2 English muffins split, toasted and buttered (Do this BEFORE you poach the eggs)
4 thick slices ham or Canadian bacon, warmed in the microwave
4 poached eggs
1/2 cup Hollandaise Sauce


Hollandaise Sauce:
3 large egg yolks and 1 1/2 tablespoons cold water
1/2 cup warm clarified butter (Clarify the night before then melt it in the morning in the microwave-- math majors out there, 1/2 cup of butter is one stick)
1 to 3 teaspoons fresh lemon juice (I don't think this is enough lemon juice. Vicki Lee's in Watertown/Belmont makes the most lemony Hollandaise I have ever had. I like about 2 tablespoons minimum lemon juice)
Dash Tabasco sauce (A dash is a tiny amount-- if you're a measuring freak, try 1/4 teaspoon)
Salt and pepper to taste (The original recipe calls for white pepper. I don't have that laying around and can't imagine buying it just for this-- if you don't mind the flecks of pepper, just deal)

Directions
Set up a double boiler to make the Hollandaise. All this is-- a saucepan with about 1-2 inches of simmering water with a smaller pan or bowl on top. Start a fire under the water and bring it to a simmer. I have one of those asinine ceramic stoves so I turn it to high to get it toward a boil then drop it to low when I am ready to do the eggs. You do NOT want the water to touch the bottom of the top pan/bowl. You will get scrambled eggs. BLECK!

In the pan/bowl that is going on top, BEFORE you put it over the water, mix 3 egg yolks (save the whites for something else) with 1 1/2 teaspoons of cold tap water. Whisk it until it gets frothy. Less than 1 minute.

Now put the egg mix over the simmering water. The water should barely be simmering. Here's another important step. You never stop whisking when you are making the Hollandaise.
Continue to whisk until the eggs are thickened, 2 to 4 minutes, being careful not to let the eggs get too hot. The mixture will start to thicken and be a pale yellow. Remove the pan or bowl from over the water and keep whisking for about a minute to cool the mixture a bit.

Again, with the whisking, very slowly add the melted butter, then whisk in lemon juice, Tabasco sauce and salt and pepper. If the sauce is too thick, whisk in a few drops of warm water. Serve immediately or keep the sauce warm for up to 30 minutes by placing the bowl/pan back on the double boiler but completely off the heat source. The whole mise en place thing comes in when you are drizzling in all the butter, juice and Tabasco.

Meanwhile, it's egg poaching time. Here's what you do. You need a large saucepan and fill with 2-3 inches of water. Bring this to a near-boil (not a rapid boil, just an in between state from a simmer to a boil). I turned my water on the same time I turned on my water for the Hollandaise. It can be ready and waiting for you to poach your eggs. Once you are about to start poaching your eggs, add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar to the water. I don't know exactly how this work but it keeps the eggs from glomming all together in a big fat mess. Okay, don't just crack the egg over the boiling pot-- that's just trouble. Instead, get out a bowl (or better yet four little bowls-- one for each egg). Crack the eggs separately into the bowl(s) and then add the eggs one at a time to the water. You can do this straight from the bowl. At this point, turn the fire down on the water-- you don't want a boil-- Some people stir the water before they drop the eggs in. I don't. The eggs are going to disperse a little in the water, but don't worry, they really will come out just fine.

Okay so cook the eggs for about 3-4 minutes. They will be runny in the center. Get'em out one at a time of the water with a slotted spoon and set on a plate. Now it's time to assemble: English muffin, butter, Canadian bacon, poached egg, and drizzle/smoother with Hollandaise.

Timing is a big issue for people, so let me go over a few timing things.

1. Turn on both pots of water at the same time, after you have all of your ingredients out and ready. Microwave the butter at this point as well.
2. Toast the muffins and butter them sooner rather than later unless you have a second person to be in charge of that part. If you have a sous chef, then they should be toasted right when you poach the eggs.
3. Warm up the Canadian bacon in the microwave-- don't cook it, just warm it up. This should be done while the eggs are poaching.
4. Make the Hollandaise BEFORE you poach the eggs. The Hollandaise requires your full attention until it is complete. Once it's done, your eggs should be ready to poach. If you have all of your eggs cracked and waiting for you it (back to that whole mise en place thing) it is a super easy move. To keep the Hollandaise warm, set it over the double boiler completely off the stove/heat. I like to set my top pan in crooked so that some of the steam escapes and the Hollandaise doesn't continue to cook. If it gets too thick for you, then add a teaspoon at a time of warm (NOT HOT) water and then guess what you do? Whisk it in.