Still Summer

Nectarine, marscapone, and gingersnap tart (recipe from Smitten Kitchen)

New Ingredients

Since the summer is long past, and there are plenty of people around to help eat whatever I may fancy cooking/baking, this blog doesn't have its original purpose to serve anymore. But it would make me a bit sad to just abandon it; it has been a good experience and I still get asked occasionally if I'm going to update and keep it up (by which I am quite flattered that you are still looking at this, thank you). 

And so I think I will work on being a more diligent blogger... but the content will be changed up a bit. Instead of posting what I'm cooking/baking on a regular basis, I will share the more exciting recipes I try. Posts will probably be even less frequent, but I hope that you will be patient with me.

Also, my friend Ben and I are trying to cook together more often and perhaps have a dinner party every other weekend if our schedules will allow it. I am happy to write that we just cooked our first successful dinner party this past weekend. If you are so inclined to join us in the future, let us know; we would love to have new guests =)

Ben, the Connoisseur of Cheese, made a fabulous blackberry chutney to accompany the array of cheeses: Asiago, Havarti, Edam, Fontina and a smoked cheddar.

(chutney recipe from Recipezaar)

In the lower left corner is a wedge salad of iceberg lettuce, apple slices, and bacon bits drizzled with asiago peppercorn dressing and some fresh asiago (this salad was influenced by my summer housemate; thank you, Richard!)

Jambalaya stuffed peppers (recipe from Made Healthier)

"Farm Stand" Corn Bread - with whole corn kernels! (recipe from Baking and Books)

Cheers!

Mint Chocolate Cupcakes

An extremely belated post, I know. I made these mint chocolate cupcakes near the end of the summer for Christine's birthday. Her favorite flavors are chocolate and mint, so I thought that this would be a great recipe to try. They turned out well, especially the chocolate part -- so dark! -- and I just wanted to post and share the recipe... if anyone is still checking this blog at all... anyone?

(recipe from The Repressed Pastry Chef)

2 Things

Tonight, I will be making 2 things:

1) Eggs and tomato, served with white rice

and...

2) Strawberry sour cream muffins (recipe from Boston.com)

Spanakopita

Yooo hooo, I'm making spanakopita again :D

Wontons

Wontons with shrimp, pork, napa cabbage, shittake mushrooms (recipe from my mom)

and a really yummy dipping sauce!

By the way, did I mention that Tastespotting is back? :D

Meatballs

Pineapple meatballs (recipe from Blog Chef)

Cake

Marbled banana bundt cake (recipe from The Hungry Housewife)

Except I'm not baking it in a bundt pan

Cup in a Cup

Peanut butter cup cupcakes in 2 flavors!  Chocolate (recipe from RazzleDazzle) and peanut buttery (recipe from Cream Puffs in Venice)

Pop!

This is a belated post, but I had to post a picture because this time the photos were done by a very talented photographer: Drew : ) Take a good look at the picture because it's the best one ever posted on this blog!

The idea for these "firecrackers in your mouth" cupcakes came from Noble Pig but I left out the crazy color sprinkles and opted for a classic vanilla recipe from Amy Sedaris instead. I was soooo excited with anticipation for making these for the Fourth of July but had to contain myself so as not to spoil the surprise ingredient of the Pop Rocks. Oh, I could just pour that stuff into my mouth all day. I ended up making 38 cupcakes in total over 2 days... and I hope that those who had one/some of these cupcakes enjoyed eating them as much as I enjoyed making them.

Muffins

Banana raspberry swirl muffins (recipe from Seven Spoons)

Bread!

Brioche (recipe from Professional Baking textbook)

and Sweet Bread (thank you, Bert!)

Attempt #2

Edit: Yay, this second batch came turned out pretty well :D I made a lot so please come and feast on chocolate covered things

So yesterday's chocolate dipped strawberries came out okay... it tasted quite delicious (because it is chocolate and strawberries after all) but from a tempering standpoint, I didn't get the temperatures quite right, which resulted in a bit of blooming.

I went down to the Strip District to get some more strawberries today, and will be having some more dipping fun with those, as well as with almonds, pretzels, apricots, and whatever else I can scavenge in the kitchen.

I will also be trying my hand at brioche today =)

Strawberries...

...dipped in dark chocolate

I'll be dipping strawberries this evening. Come over and we can have a dipping party! Feel free to bring something to dip :D

Beef & Snow Peas

Beef and snow pea stir fry (recipe from SuperCook)

Spunow

I know this post is not about something that you can come over and eat right now, but this story is just made my afternoon.

Popeye's favorite...

Spanakopita! (recipe from Epicurious)

Goodbye, Dear Tastespotting

During my lunch break today, I discovered, to my utter dismay, that Tastespotting is out of operation. I will miss this site incredibly; it was my portal to the food blogging world, my go-to whenever I needed a recipe whether it be a quick dinner or a fancy dessert. I could always trust it for quality recipes and ideas. What will I use now?? While Food Gawker is not quite the same as Tastespotting, I admire the food blog community for coming together and keeping the spirit alive with almost 200 posts in one weekend! 

Well, after weeding through some terrible recipe sites on my own (with no photos, or worse...) I decided to give this banana yogurt bread recipe a try. I substituted half of the chocolate chips with dried cranberries -- one can never go wrong with dried cranberries.

Muffins!

Mango raspberry muffins (recipe from Get Baked)

and Apple chocolate chunk muffins (recipe from The Crepes of Wrath)

Thai Fried Rice

Thai Fried Rice (recipe from Real Thai Recipes)

Heads up: muffins later this week

Noodles and Rice

Sesame noodles with bok choy, red peppers, mushrooms, and snow peas (adapted from Adventures in Shaw)

Cucumber salad (recipe from Veggie Paradise)

[Sorry, no pics of this]

Black rice pudding with coconut milk (recipe from RecipeZaar)

I actually cooked all this yesterday evening for dinner with Eamae - who was visiting for the weekend - Caryn, and Krosendale. It was a lovely dinner with lovely people.

There's still some sesame noodles and plenty of black rice pudding (I made a huge batch) waiting to be eaten! They're both really good chilled, so it's perfect for a hot, lazy Sunday.

Strawberries in Squares

Strawberry oatmeal squares (recipe from Kathleen)

Why am I using the oven when it's 90 degrees outside (and almost 90 indoors)...

Edit: ahhhhh, the silicone pan twisted around itself when I was taking it out of the oven. Now it's more like strawberry oatmeal pile instead of squares. Oh well, it's still quite tasty!

Behold! A specimen of strawberry oatmeal pile.

Thyme for Tilapia!

Lemon Thyme Tilapia (recipe from 28 Cooks)

My good neighbors Sandy and Judy gave to me my very own pot of thyme, so I have fresh herbs to use for this recipe! Having fresh thyme definitely makes up for the little bit of freezer burn on the filets =)

Thai Chicken Sautee

Thai chicken sautee (recipe from Elle's New England Kitchen)

no cilantro or limes... will try lemons?

Dinnertime

Garlic beef with broccoli [and shittake mushrooms] -- served with white rice

(damn, can't find the shittake mushrooms)

edit: I found the mushrooms hiding behind the tortilla chips!

Ricotta This, Ricotta That

1. Lemon ricotta pancakes with sauteed apples (recipe from Smitten Kitchen)

Photo by Beverly

2. Strawberry ricotta muffins (recipe from Taste.Au.Com)