a drink & a story

I stumbled upon The Boys Club this morning, a new blog with great cocktail recipes, and a lovely story to accompany each one. Moving quickly throughout the day and rarely slowing to read has become all to familiar, and it's nice to stop and digest a little story now and then. Especially if a cocktail is involved.

cuppow!

This little guy is genius, I bring iced coffee to work in the summer in a mason jar and now it can have an actual lid. It's the little things man...

Learn more/purchase here.

when it get's warm out...

I start thinking of warm weather beverages. Today is actually not one of those days, it's nasty out. Monday and Tuesday however would have been a lovely day for one of these. See full recipe here.

roost

I'm having a 'how the hell did I forget about this amazing blog' moment. It's food, it's photography, it's making my stomach growl. I want to run home and make this cake this very moment.

all images via roost

it was a sucess

here's to many many more friendsgivings, cheers everyone!

The Taste of Fall

Once the weather starts getting cold and I say goodbye to iced coffee for 8 long months, I find adding a little chai helps make morning coffee slightly more interesting. With that in mind, I found a recipe for chai pumpkin loaf and thought it sounded like a perfect way to combine a few fall favorites. Not only was the outcome delicious and moist, but the recipe is very easy, which in the baking world I am a huge fan of. There are two steps, combine and bake. That, I can handle. 

2 Eggs

1 and 3/4 Cups Flour

1 and 1/2 Cups Sugar

2/3 Cup Pumpkin Puree

1/2 Cup Butter, melted
1/2 Cup Chai Tea Concentrate (I actually would add more next time)
1/4 Cup Buttermilk
1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda

1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1/4 Teaspoon Cloves
1/8 Teaspoon Ginger

Preheat to 350, combine all ingredients and whip together until smooth. Bake for 1 hour.

Original recipe found here

Farmer's Quesadilla

This is actually something I made last weekend but haven't gotten around to posting it until now. Will and I were going to the farmers market almost every Sunday and having these delicious quesadillas from one of the stands and we realized it was crazy easy to make. So last sunday, we did just that. I cheated a bit and bought Trader Joe's cooked baby beets, but other then that everything was fresh. We made them with beets, endive, spinach, tomato, onion, garlic, mild cheddar and a tomato basil tortillas. Delish.

Admittedly not great photos, and I sadly burned mine a bit, but you get the general idea.

When it's Grey Out

Any excuse to drink this would do, but let's blame it on the weather this time.

1. Throw every thing apart from the brandy into a pot and simmer for 45-60mins – or until the flavors of the spices come out.
2. Add the brandy and serve hot.

recipe found here

I'm in a food-mood today

Can you tell? This one goes out to Camille, who's little jingle about how to make 'egg in a hole' is forever engraved in my brain. Ask her about it some time, she'll love to sing it for you. Annnnyway, I saw this and it made me want breakfast. It's from a food blog I found today, A Cozy Kitchen. It's basically egg in a hole with prosciutto in a grilled cheese form. Simple, delicious, and possible what I'm having for dinner.

Fun with Figs

Ever since the salad I made a few weeks ago for Will's parents birthdays (figs, pears, gorgonzola, kiwi, and heirloom tomatoes ,essentially) I've had a small obsession with figs. Not that I've done much but droll over what other people are making, but it's a start. When I get back from NYC (leaving in 2 days!!eeeee!) I'm going to jump back on the cooking train, and stop relying on take out for dinner. The girl at our local Pho place recognizes me now and although flattered, I think it's a sign I need to start cooking.

As foodie-fate would have it, in the midst of my fig crush one of my favorite food blogs, Spoon Fork Bacon, posts 3 amazing sounding fig recipes. Now I just have to decide what to make first...

Fig Tart

Open Faced Italian Fig Sandwich 

Stuffed Figs

Stove 1, Maddy 0

I'm slightly embarrassed to admit tonight was the first time I've made dinner in the place, and therefor the first time I've used the oven. When we moved in there was a laundry list of things that was wrong with the oven (including a numberless dial on the stove), which I promptly emailed my landlord about with false admirations of a new sparkly over appearing in my life. Shockingly, that didn't happen, instead I got a "new" dial, which today I learned is far from accurate. I'm pretty sure our "handyman" waltzed down to a junk yard and plucked one off some old busted appliance and called it a day. Why I believed for a second the temperatures would be accurate I blame on naiveness and wine.

Needless to say, I discovered this evening you can break a glass pyrex dish in a gas oven, simply by turning the dial all the way up, who'd a thought? Word to the wise, who happen to own a 40 year old gas oven, get an internal thermometer. Minor snafus aside, the meal actually tuned out pretty damn good, mostly due to the fact that it was slathered in butter, but also because it's from a great cookbook which I highly recommend. My mom bought me Alice Waters; In the Green Kitchen, which is a great book to teach you some basic cooking techniques. Honestly the first thing I made out this book (a salsa) I wasn't a huge fan of, but the book more than redeemed itself with this simple recipe:

Baked Rockfish with Lemon and Parsley Butter

Make the lemon butter by combining 1 shallot (minced) with the juice of 1 lemon, and let sit for 10 minutes to macerate. Add chopped parsley, half a stick of butter, lemon zest, salt and pepper. Set aside and bake the rockfish in a shallow pan at 425, being careful that you're not actually baking it at 900 or what ever the hell I did. Bake for 8 minutes, cover in sauce and serve with a simple salad and bread, which you can also slather in your yummy butter. Simple, quick, and delicious.

Oh, and one more thing that makes my new kitchen a billion times better than the old one... THE VIEW!

Summer Pasta

After a jaunt to the farmer's market last weekend, I ended up buying gluton free lemon rosemary pasta, completely by accident. Don't ask me how I missed the enormous sign that read "gluton free" but it ended up being a very pleasant surprise. The pasta was fresh and flavorful and cooked in 3 minutes. If you hadn't of told me I would have honestly never known. The sauce I made was simple and light and perfect for a hot summer evening; garlic, lemon (juice and zest), white wine, parmesan, truffle salt, tomato and onion, topped with fresh basil.

Stumptown Stubbies

I need to get my hands on one of these bad boys. Not only do I have a mild obsession with cold brew in the summer, but the bottles are well designed. Win-win? I think so.

Childhood Summer

I stumbled upon this image today and it reminded me of the popsicles my Mom used to make us in the summer when we were kids. As many of you know, my mom is a junk food nazi and mere mention of Frosted Flakes would send her into a tantrum. Because of that, there were no Otter-pops in our freezer, but homemade fruit bars. If you had asked me  then I would have said it was torture, but now I see it was love.

This recipe is a bit different from hers, and yes sorry Mom, there is sugar added, but damn they sound good.

1 cup raspberries
1 cup blackberries
1 cup sliced strawberries
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons finely minced fresh mint

Combine raspberries, blackberries and sliced strawberries with the lemon juice and mint in a mixing bowl. Mash the berries a bit with the back of a large wooden spoon. Let this mixture sit for about a half hour to macerate.

Meanwhile, combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan and simmer until the sugar is dissolved. Let cool for about five minutes, then combine with the berry mixture.

Using a glass measuring cup with a spout, carefully pour the berry mixture into your popsicle molds.

Freeze for six hours. If your popsicles stick to the molds, hold them under warm running water to loosen.

recipe found here

Herb Ice Cubes

Simple. Genius. Will be making it's debut in a cocktail soon, this I can promise.

Summer Sips

One of my new favorite cocktail ingredients has got to be Dry Soda. This stuff is already great on it's own and used as a splash in a summer sip, it's even better. Last night I experimented with lemon grass, along with lemon, mint, gin and another new favorite, Cointreau. It's fresh and clean, has just the right amount of sweetness, I highly recommend trying!

BBQ Oysters

One of my favorite cabin activities, and one that usually keeps us all happily occupied, is cooking. There is never a shortage of amazing food at the cabin, and one of my personal favorites has become a tradition; BBQ Oysters. Not to say a raw oyster isn't great, but what isn't better slathered in garlic and butter? The recipe is simple, we buy medium oysters (slightly larger than shooters) from Tom Farmer, a little oyster shack in Allyn about 20 minutes from the cabin. Toss the whole oysters on the BBQ and once they pop, shuck the top off and slather with a mixture of olive oil, butter and garlic. Top with grated parmesan cheese and parsley and let bake for a few minutes. Simple as that, and before you know it you'll have gone through a few dozen.

Summer Sips

I've been pretending I know something about mixology lately due to my new bar eyeing me every time I walk by, and although my concoctions have been good so far, I'm ready for amazing. I found this recipe today from Food&Wine I'll have to give a spin:

Curry Turkey Burgers with Heirloom Tomatoes

Last Sunday I made some pretty amazing turkey burgers and haven't gotten a chance to write about them until now. It's been that kind of week. When Sarah was in town I had dinner with her family and her mom made these awesome burgers I've been wanting to recreate. I cruised down to the farmers market, picked up some heirloom tomatoes, fresh bread and arugula, and stopped off at the store for some ground turkey. I minced green onion and garlic, and combined with the turkey, curry powder, fresh ginger, salt and pepper. Simple as that, although I'm sure you could go nuts adding other stuff, like red bell peppers which I had planned, but forgot to pick up. I cooked the formed patties in a pan for maybe 15 minutes and served on hearty bread with the tomatoes, arugula, and a julienned carrot and fresh ginger mixture. Overall I was really pleased with how they turned out, but there are a few things I would change next time. For one, I think the burgers needed way more curry powder, and I felt like I had added quite a bit. Also, as yummy as the bread was, I think a simpler whole-grain hamburger bun would have been better, and made it easier to eat. It's a simple yummy summer dish though that I'll definitely make again, and highly recommend!

Life on the hill tastes good : 'Zaw

Perhaps you're like me and have found yourself in this situation before; hungry, lazy, and not in the mood to venture out into the rain. The cupboards are filled with cans of chili but you just want something a little, I don't know, fresher? On top of that, you're in the mood for a glass of wine, or perhaps a beer. Sounds like hell, right? So maybe my definition of hell is a bit warped, but sometimes you just want someone to put something delicious in your face, and you're more than happy to pay for it. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a solution: 'Zaw artisan bake at home pizza. They will deliver you not only a fresh, organic, healthy(ish) pizza, but an amazing salad and bottle of wine for $33. That my friends, is an amazing deal, and a genius business modle if you ask me. Perhaps it makes us all just a little bit lazier, but I'm all for it. It's about time businesses cater to not only the hungry, but the thirsty, and something somewhat healthy at that! The pizzas hare loaded with veggies, on flat bread and not at all greasy. They have quite a few locations, so you can order and have it delivered to just about anywhere in Seattle, and they only take about 12 minutes to bake. So the next rainy day you're not in the mood to cook, and amazing pizza and a glass of wine (or beer!) sounds pleasing, I highly recommend you check out 'Zaw.